FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112  
113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   >>   >|  
and times!" But she broke that silken thread quickly. "Go on. What would we do next?" "Oh, next an orange-packing factory. You'd enjoy seeing the oranges running like mad down a sloping trough, pretending they're all equal, till the boys watching spy out the bruised ones that are sneaking along, and pitch 'em away before they can say 'knife.' By and by the small, no-account oranges are sent about their business, which is to play second fiddle, and the big, noble-fellows, who're worthy to succeed, fall first into the hands of girls, who wrap them up in squares of white paper. My faith, but those girls' hands go fast! It makes you feel like heat-lightning just to watch 'em fly! Anybody who wants to can order a box of picked oranges, each wrapped in paper, with a lady's name and a verse in her honour printed on it. Lots of fellows do that. When you'd seen the factory I'd drive you back to Los Angeles, and we'd get there after dark. But there's a searchlight on my car equal to a light on a battleship, and her name alone's enough to illuminate the road. I've christened her Bright Angel." He paused for half a second; but if the analogy meant anything to his companion she did not choose that he should know. "And then?" she said. "Then--if you'd seen enough of Los Angeles, I'd ask you to let your Irish girl pack up. And I'd start off with you--for good. I mean, you and the maid, and the cat, and Billy. Billy's the other shuvver, besides me. I'd take you to Santa Barbara." "That's one of the places on my programme." "And Monterey." "Another of my places. But I want to go to the Yosemite. You couldn't motor me there." "I could guide you. I've known horses longer than I've known motors. And I know the Yosemite. Once I got hurt in a kind of accident. I wasn't good for much, for a while afterward. And as I couldn't do any work I went and loafed in the Yosemite Valley. I'd always wanted to go. It was grand. But it would be heaven to see it again with y--with an angel." Angela traced the steel embroidery on a gray _suede_ bag which lay on the table. She had got it the other day to serve as understudy for the gold bag which was "taboo" for public use at present. She was glad that the forest creature did not know, and never would know, that she had secretly bought back his gold bag. If he found out, it might be his turn to misunderstand. "How were you hurt in an accident?" she asked, for the sake of diverting the tal
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112  
113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
oranges
 

Yosemite

 

accident

 

fellows

 

couldn

 
places
 
Angeles
 

factory

 
shuvver
 

Barbara


forest

 

present

 
creature
 

bought

 
secretly
 

diverting

 
programme
 
misunderstand
 

loafed

 

Valley


embroidery

 

heaven

 

Angela

 

wanted

 

traced

 

afterward

 

public

 

Another

 

horses

 

longer


understudy

 
motors
 

Monterey

 

account

 

worthy

 
succeed
 

fiddle

 
business
 

sneaking

 
orange

packing
 

quickly

 
silken
 
thread
 

running

 

watching

 
bruised
 

pretending

 
sloping
 

trough