And once or
twice every season since I've been in the habit of dropping in there
and raising the very devil out of sheer resentment. It's a wonder some
fellow hasn't killed me, for it's a fact that I've thrashed every man
in the blamed place except Jim Briggs--and some of them two or three
times. And I make them line up at the bar and drink at my expense, and
all that sort of foolishness.
"That may sound to you like real depravity," he concluded, "but it's a
fact in nature that a man has to blow the steam off his chest about
every so often. I have got drunk in Cariboo Meadows, and I have raised
all manner of disturbances there, partly out of pure animal spirits,
and mostly because I had a grudge against them. Consequently I really
have given them reason to look askance at any one--particularly a nice
girl from the East--who would have anything to do with me. If they
weren't a good deal afraid of me, and always laying for a chance to do
me up, they wouldn't let me stay in the town overnight. So you can see
what a handicap I was under when it came to making your acquaintance
and courting you in the orthodox manner."
"You've made a great mistake," she said bitterly, "if you think you've
removed the handicap.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158