Cowboys -- Fiction; Montana -- Fiction; Ranch life -- Fiction; Western stories
"Oh. When did you come?" she asked casually, and was whisked away by
the man before Andy could tell her. The other girl was there also, and
the three ran gleefully down to meet a roller larger than the others
had been; met it, were washed, with much screaming and laughter, back
to shore and stood there dripping. Andy glared down upon them and
longed for the privilege of drowning the fellow.
"We're going up into the plunge," called Mary. "Come on. I'll see you,
when I come out." They scampered away, and he, calling himself many
kinds of fool, followed.
In the plunge, Andy was still more at a disadvantage, for since he was
a spectator, a huge sign informed him that he must go up stairs. He
went up with much difficulty into the gallery, found himself a seat
next the rail and searched long for Mary among the bathers below. He
would never have believed that he would fail to know her at sight, but
with fifty women, more or less, dressed exactly alike and with ugly
rubber caps pulled down to eyebrows and ears, recognition must
necessarily be slow.
While he leaned and stared, an avalanche of squeals came precipitately
down the great slide; struck the water and was transformed to gurgling
screams, and then heads came bobbing to the surface--three heads, and
one of them was Mary's. She swept the water from her eyes, looked up
and saw him, waved her hand and scrambled rather ungracefully over the
rail in her wet, clinging suit. The others followed, the man trotting
at her heels and calling something after her.
Andy, his brows pulled down over unhappy eyes, glared fixedly up at
the top of the slide. In a minute they appeared, held gesticulating
counsel, wavered and came down together, upon their stomachs. The
strange girl was in the lead, with Mary next holding to the girl's
feet. Behind her slid the man, gripping tightly the ankles of Mary.
Andy's teeth set savagely together, though he saw that others were
doing exactly the same; old women, young women, girls, men and boys
came hurtling down the big slide, singly, in couples, in three and
fours.
The spectacle began to fascinate him, so that for a minute or two he
could forget Mary and the man. There was a roar of voices, the barking
as of seals, screams, laughter and much splashing. Men and women dove
from the sides like startled frogs into a pond; they swam, floated and
stood panting along the walls; swung from the trapeze (Andy,
remembering his career with the circus, when he was "André de Gréno,"
Champion Bareback Rider of the Western Hemisphere, wished that his leg
was well so that he could show them a few things about that trapeze
business) and troubled the waters with much splashing. He could not
keep Mary always in view, but when he did get sight of her she seemed
to be having a very good time, and not to be worrying in the least
about him and his sins.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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