Part 17 (1/2)
Gordon laughed. He found the girl distinctly amusing. ”I wonder,” he said idly, ”how Jack will like taking a spending trip around the country. Not very much, I fancy. I imagine he's more for the happy fireside act, isn't he?”
The girl laughed, too. ”I think you're awfully good,” she said, ”to take so much trouble over my affairs. I think you're right, too. I never thought of it before. I don't believe I'll take Jack, after all.”
”I wonder, now,” ventured Gordon, ”if any of the others--”
The girl shook her head. ”No, not a bit better,” she answered. ”I'll tell you, though, what you might do. You might break off your engagement with that girl back East you've been telling me about, and then ask me. I'm not sure but what you'd do pretty well. You've got money, they say, and that's a good deal. Of course, you're rather conceited, but then you're not bad-looking. On the whole--”
Gordon cut her short. ”I beg off,” he cried; ”a joke's a joke, but you're rather rubbing it in. I tried to be funny with the wrong person; I'll admit it. Speaking of Rose, though; that reminds me again--I'm going to see if I can't persuade her to come out here soon; it's taking so much longer to get things in shape than I thought it would, and I was wondering--do you suppose you'd mind asking her to stay with you? The hotel, to be frank, is pretty near the limit, and then there'd be a chaperon, too, while if you invited her--”
The girl nodded. ”Sure,” she said; ”glad to. I'd really like to see--”
She stopped abruptly. A pair of black ducks swung swiftly across the decoys, and like a flash the gun leaped to her cheek. The two quick reports sounded almost as one, and the two ducks struck the water, dead. The girl rose.
”Come on,” she cried, ”that makes our dozen. We've got to be getting back home.”
By the time Gordon had launched the little skiff and brought the ducks ash.o.r.e, she had deftly harnessed the horse to the old buggy, and stood waiting for him. Tossing the ducks under the seat, he stood back for her to get in, and then, with a sudden impulse, stepped forward again, blocking her path. Very dainty, very charming, she stood there with a little smile of understanding on her lips.
”Ethel,” he whispered.
She made no answer. A sudden gust of pa.s.sion shook him. He took one quick step forward, and clasped her in his arms. ”Ethel,” he whispered hoa.r.s.ely, ”suppose there wasn't any other girl.”
With a glance enticing beyond words, she raised her eyes to his. ”Oh, but there is,” she answered, and yet she made no move to free herself, and in another moment their lips met.
CHAPTER VII
A DOUBLE BLOW
”Some one,” said Ethel Mason, ”has to go to town for me this afternoon. There are a dozen things I've got to have right away.”
She looked at Gordon as she spoke, but he smilingly shook his head in answer.
”Some one,” he said lightly, ”doesn't mean me. I've got to drive over to the Iroquois to see Haskins about that smelting proposition, and you know what that means; I shan't be back till supper time at the earliest. Otherwise I'd do your marketing for you with all the pleasure in life.”
The girl nodded, and turned to Rose Ashton. ”Isn't he clever at excuses?” she said. ”Preparing for married life, I suppose.”
Rose laughed in answer. A week in the little cabin on Burnt Mountain had changed her a hundredfold for the better. The color in her cheeks and the animation of her whole expression bore witness that her surroundings were to her complete satisfaction.
”I'll go for you, Ethel,” she said; ”unless,” she added, turning to Gordon, ”you'll take me with you, d.i.c.k. I'd like to go.”
Gordon doubtfully shook his head. ”I'd like nothing better, of course,” he said; ”but I don't believe you should attempt it, Rose.
You have no idea what these mountain roads are like in places; it's about as rough as an ocean voyage. And as far as that goes, I don't believe you want to walk to town and back, either. It's altogether too far. You'll be sensible to stay at home and rest.”
The girl's face showed her disappointment, and she was about to protest, when Harrison spoke.
”He's right, Miss Ashton,” he said, ”that ride's a tough one for anybody, and the trip to town ain't much better. It's all right goin', but comin' back ain't no joke. I'll go to town myself, an' be glad of the excuse--unless,” he added, with a grin, ”Jim here wants to go 'nstead of me. If he wants the job, it's his for the askin'.”
Mason's look was sufficient answer. The idea of leaving his beloved fifth level for an entire afternoon savored almost of sacrilege. Even the brief trip home for lunch always somehow exasperated him with a sense of time wasted, and an afternoon--a whole long afternoon--