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Ma Briskow resembled nothing so much as one of those hideous "crayon enlargements" he had seen in farmhouses atrocities of an art long dead for she was clad in an old-fashioned basque and skirt of some stiff, near-silk material, and her waist, which buttoned far down the front and terminated in deep points, served merely to roof over but not to conceal a peculiarity of figure which her farm dress had mercifully hidden.
You'd better take it. Think carefully." When there came no response to this warning, Gray shrugged. "Very well! There is nothing further, except to complete the transfer and proceed with the business of the meeting. Mr. Briskow will be the next president, and I shall occupy the position of vice-president and treasurer now held by you " The effect of this declaration was electric.
Here was a side to the Briskow character that he had not suspected, and it gave him a new light upon Buddy, for brother and sister were much alike; it showed him more clearly the size of the task he had volunteered to undertake. He heard the father speaking, and reluctantly withdrew his eyes from Allie's flaming face. "He likes you, Mr.
Gray began to believe that his luck had changed. "Where does Mr. Briskow live?" he inquired. "Out beyond Ranger, somewhere. But " "I'm going to visit that field, anyhow. This will give me an excuse." "Nonsense!" The jeweler did not like to have fun poked at him.
Allie Briskow went to her room, and there she studied her reflection in the mirror carefully, deliberately, before saying: "You can do it. You've got to do it, for he's hurt. When a girl is hurt like that, it makes a woman of her, but when a man's hurt it makes him a little boy. I I guess it pays to keep on praying."
That's dirty. You was lyin' when you said " "Have it that way. I've run out of patience." Ozark Briskow, too, had reached the limit of his endurance; he exploded. Momentarily he lost his head and cursed Gray vilely. For answer the latter moved close and slapped him across the mouth, saying: "Fight, you idiot!"
"I have a reason. I can't take a generation; I'd be too late." "Too late for what?" But Allie refused to answer. "We'll start in to-day and we'll work double tower till one of us plays out. What d'you say?" At first Mrs. Ring took this energetic declaration with some reserve, but before long she realized with consternation that Allie Briskow was in deep earnest and that this was not a soft berth.
"Yes, Ma." "Tse! Tse! Tse!" It was a sympathetic cluck. "Was she a wicked princess?" The query was gently put, but it deeply affected the man. He tried to smile, failed, then like a forlorn little boy he came and bowed his head beneath her hand. "I knew you'd understand, Mother Briskow, so I I ran to you with my hurt, just as I used to run to my Mother Gray."
Miss Allegheny Briskow lifted her head, nodded shortly, and stared over the hoe handle at Gray. Her gaze was one of frank curiosity, and he returned it in kind, for he had never beheld a creature like her. Gray was a tall man, but this girl's eyes met his on a level, and her figure, if anything, was heavier than his. Nor was its appearance improved by her shapeless garment of faded wash material.
Evidently the other speaker had, for there came the sound of low laughter, a sound that stabbed Allie Briskow like a bayonet and left her white and furious. She sat motionless for a long time, and something told her that as long as she lived she would never forget, never forgive, that laughter.
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