American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories, American
“‘Right ye are,’ says I to Norah; and I don’t know when I’ve been that
amused. After disportin’ me-self among the most laughable moral
improvements of the revised shell games I took meself to the shore for
the benefit of the cool air. ‘And did ye observe the Durbar, Miss
Flynn?’
“‘I did,’ says she, reflectin’; ‘but ’tis not safe, I’m thinkin’, to
ride down them slantin’ things into the water.’
“‘How did ye fancy the shoot the chutes?’ I asks.
“‘True, then, I’m afraid of guns,’ says Norah. ‘They make such noise in
my ears. But Uncle Tim, he shot them, he did, and won cigars. ’Tis a
fine time we had this day, Mr. Carnahan.’
“‘I’m glad you’ve enjoyed yerself,’ I says. ‘I suppose you’ve had a
roarin’ fine time seein’ the sights. And how did the incubators and the
helter-skelter and the midgets suit the taste of ye?’
“‘I—I wasn’t hungry,’ says Norah, faint. ‘But mother ate a quantity of
all of ’em. I’m that pleased with the fine things in the new Coney
Island,’ says she, ‘that it’s the happiest day I’ve seen in a long
time, at all.’
“‘Did you see Venice?’ says I.
“‘We did,’ says she. ‘She was a beauty. She was all dressed in red, she
was, with—’
“I listened no more to Norah Flynn. I stepped up and I gathered her in
my arms.
“‘’Tis a story-teller ye are, Norah Flynn’, says I. ‘Ye’ve seen no more
of the greater Coney Island than I have meself. Come, now, tell the
truth—ye came to sit by the old pavilion by the waves where you sat
last summer and made Dennis Carnahan a happy man. Speak up, and tell
the truth.’
“Norah stuck her nose against me vest.
“‘I despise it, Denny,’ she says, half cryin’. ‘Mother and Uncle Tim
went to see the shows, but I came down here to think of you. I couldn’t
bear the lights and the crowd. Are you forgivin’ me, Denny, for the
words we had?’
“‘’Twas me fault,’ says I. ‘I came here for the same reason meself.
Look at the lights, Norah,’ I says, turning my back to the sea—‘ain’t
they pretty?’
“‘They are,’ says Norah, with her eyes shinin’; ‘and do ye hear the
bands playin’? Oh, Denny, I think I’d like to see it all.’
“‘The old Coney is gone, darlin’,’ I says to her. ‘Everything moves.
When a man’s glad it’s not scenes of sadness he wants. ’Tis a greater
Coney we have here, but we couldn’t see it till we got in the humour
for it. Next Sunday, Norah darlin’, we’ll see the new place from end to
end.”
XXI.
LAW AND ORDER
I found myself in Texas recently, revisiting old places and vistas. At
a sheep ranch where I had sojourned many years ago, I stopped for a
week. And, as all visitors do, I heartily plunged into the business at
hand, which happened to be that of dipping the sheep.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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