Arizona -- Fiction; Grand Canyon (Ariz.) -- Fiction; Western stories
That evening Enoch went to see the pictures. There were perhaps a
hundred of them, telling the story of the religion of the Navahos.
Only one whom the Indians loved and trusted could have procured such
intimate, such dramatic photographs. They were as unlike the usual
posed portraits of Indian life as is a stage shower unlike an actual
thunder storm. There was indeed a subtle passion and poignancy about
the pictures that it seemed to Enoch as well as to the President, only
a fine mind could have found and captured. He had made the rounds of
the little room twice, threading his way abstractedly through the
crowd, before he came upon Diana. She was in white, standing before
one of the pictures, answering questions that were being put to her by
a couple of reporters. She bowed to Enoch and he bowed in return, then
stood so obviously waiting for the reporters to finish that they
actually withdrew.
Enoch came up and held out his hand. "These are very fine, Miss Allen."
"I thought you were not coming to see them," said Diana. "It makes me
very happy to have you here!"
"Does it?" asked Enoch quickly. "Why?"
"Because--" here Diana hesitated and looked from Enoch's stern lips to
his blue eyes.
"Yes, go on, do!" urged Enoch. "For heaven's, sake, treat me as if I
were a human being and not--"
It was his turn to hesitate.
"Not the Washington Monument?" suggested Diana.
Enoch laughed. "Am I as bad as that?" he asked.
Diana nodded. "Very nearly! Nevertheless, for some reason I don't
understand, I've had the feeling that you would like the pictures and
get what I was driving at, better than any one."
"Thank you," said Enoch slowly. "I do like them. So much so that I
wish that I might own them, instead of the Indian Bureau. The
President, to-day, told me the Indian Bureau ought to buy them. And
also, he asked me to bring you to see him to-morrow."
A sudden flush made roses in Diana's beautifully modeled cheeks.
"Did he! Mr. Huntingdon, how am I ever going to thank you?"
"I deserve no thanks at all. It was entirely the President's own idea.
In fact, I had not intended to come to your exhibition."
"No? Why not? Do you dislike me so much as that? And, after all, Mr.
Secretary, if the pictures are interesting, the fact that a woman took
them should not prejudice you against them."
"Abbott's been giving me a bad reputation, I see," said Enoch. "I'll
have to get Jonas to tell you what a really gentle and affectionate and
er--mild, person I am. I've a notion to reduce Abbott's salary."
"Charley Abbott is a dear, and he's a devoted admirer of yours," Diana
exclaimed.
"And of yours," rejoined Enoch.
"He's very discerning," said Diana, her eyes twinkling and the corners
of her mouth deepening. "But you shall not evade me this way, Mr.
Huntingdon. Why didn't you want to see my pictures?"
"I didn't say that I didn't want to see them. Women are always
inaccurate, or at least, so I have heard."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account