Arizona -- Fiction; Grand Canyon (Ariz.) -- Fiction; Western stories
A small woman sat by the window that overlooked the Square. Her brown
hair was just touched with gray. Her small round face was a little
faded, with faint lines around eyes and lips. It was not an
intellectual face, but it was sweet and patient, from the delicate
curve of the lips to the slight downward droop of the eyebrows above
the clear blue eyes. All the sweetness and patience was there with
which the wives of high tempered, obstinate men are not infrequently
blessed.
"Mary, this is young Enoch Huntingdon," said Seaton.
Mrs. Seaton offered her hand, which Nucky took awkwardly and
unsmilingly. "How do you do, Enoch! Mr. Seaton told me about your red
hair and your fine old name. Are you going to stay with us a little
while?"
"I don't know, ma'am," replied Enoch.
"Sit down, Enoch! Sit down!" Seaton waved Enoch impatiently toward a
seat while he took the arm chair beside his wife. "Mary, I've got to
take that trip to San Francisco, after all. Houghton and Company
insist on my looking into that Jameson law-suit for them."
Mary Seaton looked up, a little aghast. "But mercy, John! I can't get
away now, with Sister Alice coming!"
"I know that. So I'm going to take Enoch with me."
"Oh!" Mary looked from her husband to Enoch, sitting awkwardly on the
edge of the Chippendale chair. His usually pale face was a little
flushed and his thin lips were set firmly together. From her scrutiny
of Enoch's face, she turned to his hands. They were large and bony and
the thumb and first two fingers of his right hand were yellow.
"You don't look as if you'd been eating the right kind of things,
Enoch," she said, kindly. "And it's cigarettes that give your lips
that bad color. You must let me help you about that. When do you
start, John dear?"
"To-morrow night, and I'm afraid I'll be gone the best part of three
weeks. By that time, I ought to know something about Enoch, eh?"
For the first time Enoch grinned, a little sheepishly, to be sure, and
a little cynically. Nevertheless it was the first sign of tolerance he
had shown and Mr. Seaton was cheered by it.
"That will give time to get Enoch outfitted," said Mary. "We'll go up
to Best's to-morrow morning."
"This suit is new," said Nucky.
"It looks new," agreed Mrs. Seaton, "but a pronounced check like that
isn't nice for traveling. And you'll need other things."
"I got plenty of clothes at home, and I paid for 'em myself," Nucky's
voice was resentful.
"Well, drop a line to that Italian you've been living with, and tell
him--" began Mr. Seaton.
"Aw, he'll be doin' time in Sing Sing by the time I get back,"
interrupted Nucky, "and he can't read anyhow. I always 'tended to
everything but going to the bank for him."
"Did you really?" There was a pleasant note of admiration in Mrs.
Seaton's voice. "You must try to look out for Mr. Seaton then on this
trip. He is so absent-minded! Come and I'll show you your room,
Enoch. You must get ready for dinner."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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