United States or Greece ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Hollis's face was slightly pale, but there was a steady, unwavering gleam in his eyes as he walked to within five feet of Dunlavey and stood quietly beside the table looking at him. "Dunlavey," he began slowly, in a soft, even voice, in which there was not a hint of excitement, "I haven't anything to do with enforcing the law that seems to have come to Union County.
The little front porch had lost a puncheon here and there in the flooring perhaps on some cold winter night when Hollis's energy was not sufficiently exuberant to convey him to the wood-pile; the slender posts that upheld its roof seemed hardly strong enough to withstand the weight of the luxuriant vines with their wealth of golden gourds which had clambered far over the moss-grown clapboards; the windows had fewer panes of glass than rags; and the chimney, built of clay and sticks, leaned portentously away from the house.
"Boss," he said, as Hollis, disengaging himself, turned and faced him, "I've writ quite a nice little thing on 'Love. Mebbe you'd like to " He caught Hollis's frown and immediately retreated to his pony, his grin broadening as he went. He cackled with mirth as Hollis's voice reached him. "Ace," he said gravely, "don't attempt to write a poem on 'Love' until you've had some experience."
He will make it hot for the caballeros. Well, good luck to him, poor devil! He was perfectly stunning." We walked on. "I wonder whether the charm worked you remember Hollis's charm, of course. If it did . . . Never was a sixpence wasted to better advantage! Poor devil! I wonder whether he got rid of that friend of his. Hope so. . . . Do you know, I sometimes think that "
The pony had halted within a foot of the edge of a high cliff whose side dropped away sheer, as though cut with a knife. Down below, perhaps a hundred feet, was an immense basin, through which flowed a stream of water. To Hollis's right, parallel with the stream, the cliff sloped suddenly down, reaching the water's edge at a distance of two or three hundred feet.
"I'm saying this to you," he said, "no man ain't ever thrashed Bill Dunlavey yet and I ain't allowing that any man is ever going to. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" He slammed the door and was gone. Hollis turned from the door to see a dry smile on the face of the man at the window. "Fire eater, ain't he?" observed the latter, as he caught Hollis's glance. Hollis smiled.
He found that the range boss was fully as tall as he; indeed, Hollis discovered that he was compelled to look up slightly in order to meet the latter's level gaze. Norton smiled peculiarly; there was a friendly expression in his eyes, but mingled with it was a reserved, appraising, speculative gleam, which drew a smile to Hollis's lips. "So you're Jim Hollis's boy?" said Norton. "My new boss?"
He had submitted some of them to Potter, but the printer had assured him that he did not care to assume the responsibility of publishing them. Thereupon Ace had importuned Norton to intercede with Hollis on his behalf. On his visit this morning Norton had brought the matter to Hollis's attention.
A deeper sensation was in store for the spectators. Before Jenkins Hollis's appearance most of them had heard of his intention to compete, but the feeling was one of unmixed astonishment when entry No. 12 rode into the arena, and, on the part of the country people, this surprise was supplemented by an intense indignation. The twelfth man was Jacob Brice.
Word Of The Day