Beauty Stanton insisted the cowboy had ruined her
business and that she had a terror of him. But Neale doubted the
former statement. All business, good and bad, grew in Benton. It was
strange that as this attractive and notorious woman conceived a
terror of Larry, she formed an infatuation for Neale. He would have
been blind to it but for the dry humor of Place Hough, and the
amiable indifference of Ancliffe, who had anticipated a rival in
Neale. Their talk, like most talk, drifted through Neale's ears.
What did he care? Both Hough and Ancliffe began to loom large to
Neale. They wasted every day, every hour; and yet, underneath the
one's cold, passionless pursuit of gold, and the other's serene and
gentle quest for effacement there was something finer left of other
years. Benton was full of gamblers and broken men who had once been
gentlemen. Neale met them often--gambled with them, watched them. He
measured them all. They had given life up, but within him there was
a continual struggle. He swore to himself, as he had to Larry, that
life was hopeless without Allie Lee--yet there was never a sleeping
or a waking hour that he gave up hope. The excitement and allurement
of the dance-halls, though he admitted their power, were impossible
for him; and he frequented them, as he went everywhere else, only in
search of a possible clue.
Pages:
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321