Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 25, 2025
There passed before me in procession the face of Laurence with all its boyish bloom stripped from it and the glory of its youth vanished; and the bowed and humbled head of James Eustis, one of the large and noble souls of this world; and the innocent beauty of Mary Virginia, wistfully appealing; followed them the beautiful ruthless face of Hunter, dazzlingly blonde, gold-haired as Baldur; and the piglike eyes and heavy jowl of Inglesby, brutally dominant; and then the dear whimsical visage of the Butterfly Man himself.
John Flint cast upon this charming likeness one brief and pregnant glance. "Regular old Durham shorthorn, isn't he?" he commented in a low voice. "Wants to charge right out of his frame and trample. Take a look at that nose, parson like a double-barreled shotgun, for all the world! Beautiful brute, Inglesby. Makes you think of that minotaur sideshow they used to put over on the Greeks."
At sight of some of the signatures my head swam I felt saddened, disillusioned, almost in despair for humanity. I suppose Inglesby had thought it wiser to preserve these letters possibly for his own safety; but no wonder he had locked them up! I looked at the Butterfly Man openmouthed. "You wouldn't think folks wearing such names could be that rotten, would you?
His red face glowed with pleasure; he swelled with a pride very different from Mary Virginia's. I thought he had an upholstered look in his glossy clothes, reminding me unpleasantly of horsehair furniture. "He looks like a day coach in July," growled the Butterfly Man in my ear, disgustedly. Inglesby at this moment perceived Hunter and beamed upon him, as well he might!
But let Inglesby have Mary Virginia by way of fair exchange. Mr. Inglesby was well aware that Miss Eustis would not for one moment consider him unless she had to. He proposed to so arrange affairs that she had to. Naturally, he looked to his private secretary to help him bring about this desirable end. And at this opportune moment fate played into his hands in a manner that left Mr.
Cease speaking in parables, Bughunter, and tell us what's on your mind." The Butterfly Man hesitated for a moment. Then: "Why, it's this way," said he, slowly. "I hear things. A bit here and there, you see, as folks tell me. I put what I've heard together, and think it over. Of course I didn't need anybody to tell me Inglesby was sore because the Clarion got away from him. He expected it to die.
Let us suppose you agree to accept no, don't interrupt me yet, please. And keep your seat, Miss Eustis. You may smile, but I would advise you to consider very seriously what I am about to say to you, and to realize once for all that Mr. Inglesby is in dead earnest and prepared to go to considerable lengths. Well, then, as I was about to say: suppose you agree to accept his proposal!
He knew that not even an Inglesby could hope to find a Mary Virginia more than once in a lifetime, and the haughtier she was the more she pleased him; it added to his innate sense of power, and this in itself endeared her to him inexpressibly.
She dragged her hand free and waved him back with a splendid indignation. But Inglesby was out of hand; he had taken the bit between his teeth, and now he bolted. "Do you think I'm made of stone?" he bellowed, and the mask slipped altogether. There was no hypocrisy about Inglesby now; this was genuine. "Well, I'm not! I'm a man, a flesh-and-blood man, and I'm crazy for you and you're mine!
Inglesby doesn't really give a hang whether Eustis sinks or swims. He'd as lief back him as not, for in the long run it's good business to back a winner. But it's you he's playing for, and on that count all is fish that comes to his net. Now do you begin to see?" Mary Virginia began to see. She looked at the unruffled man before her a bit wonderingly.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking