"Keep away from the lawyers," he counselled the losers. "They'll get
half the money out of you if you hire them. We'll settle after
appraisal."
The men that he talked to seemed sullen in spite of his assurances. They
seemed to be repressing taunts or reproaches merely in consideration of
the fact that he was holding the purse-strings. He noted this demeanor,
and feared to ask questions.
Clare Kavanagh rode with him; she had not left his side, even when he
led his crews into perilous places and entreated her to keep back.
And they rode away together down the long stretch of highway from the
hills to the village. Behind them, against the dusk, glowed the red,
last signals of the dying fires: tree-trunks upraised like smouldering
torches, the timbers of the falling buildings tumbling from their props
and sending up showers of sparks. A pale sliver of new moon made the red
of the fires even more baleful, and the two who rode together looked
back and felt the obsession of something they had never experienced
before.
Pages:
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