Gold mines and mining -- Fiction; Nevada -- Fiction; Western stories
"Lord, what a world!" chuckled Bill. "And you're wondering if we can
have one. Honey, you wait and see what kind of an automobile Mrs.
Baker Cole buys, and then you buy two just like it. Or else you find
one that costs just twice as much as hers."
"Don't tease so, Bill. But really, I _do_ want one. And I--miss Little
Dorrit, sort of. There are beautiful trails here, winding around
through trees, and I've noticed that the really nicest people ride
every morning. I've wished, when I saw them starting out or coming
back, that I could go, too."
"Do you want Little Dorrit, honey?" Bill lifted the necklace of
Parowan gold spun into the finest of twisted threads and set with
emeralds that made her skin look whiter. Bill had stood over the
jeweler while that necklace was being made, and the result was a happy
one.
"Oh, no--Little Dorrit hasn't got the style. I was wondering if we
couldn't buy a couple of saddle horses. I'm crazy about Mrs.
Burlingame's riding habit, Bill--and I've got one planned that would
beat it. And I know the tailor who made hers. And Bill, couldn't
we--no, I don't want to take a house, either. Not yet. I don't know
enough of the nicest people, and couldn't entertain. I'd rather just
stay here for awhile longer. Wouldn't you?"
Bill secretly loathed hotel life, and his heart had given a great
thump when she almost wanted a house like the Burlingame's. But he did
not mention either his loathing or his desire. Why should he? His
business was to keep Doris happy, to gratify every passing whim,
except when the whim changed before gratification was humanly
possible.
They went together next day and chose an automobile, and hired a
chauffeur warranted to give satisfaction and promised a speedy demise
if ever he forgot to drive cautiously when his mistress was in the
car.
In the new automobile they drove out to a famous horsebreeder's place,
and bought two saddle horses, and Doris ordered her riding habit and
was deliciously happy for several hours. Then she awoke to the fact
that it was a sheer waste of money, time and energy to have no maid to
look after her clothes and do her hair and fetch and carry. Besides,
Bill was getting acquainted with men and wanted to go here and there,
looking up what he called "propositions," and Doris felt that it would
look much better, and give her more real freedom, if she had a maid to
accompany her on drives and at the beach----
"And then I wouldn't have to keep an eye on my parasol and purse and
book and bathrobe, and everything, Bill-dear," she detailed,
unconsciously justifying what she instinctively felt would not meet
with Bill's approval. "My maid would look after everything while I
was in the surf. That would be her business." She was talking to
Bill's back, which made her uncomfortable. She wished he would not
stand staring out of the window, like that, while she talked things
over with him. It was getting to be a regular habit. She always liked
to see a person's face when she talked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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