It
was crude and repellant, devoid of anything that could please the most
lenient eye, for the bare frame houses rose, with their rough boarding
weathered and cracked by frost and sun, hideous almost in their
simplicity, from the white prairie. Paint was apparently an unknown
luxury, and pavement there was none, though a rude plank platform
straggled some distance above the ground down either side of the
street, so that the citizens might not sink knee-deep in the mire of
the spring thawing. Here and there a dilapidated wagon was drawn up in
front of a store. With a clanging of the big bell the locomotive
rolled into the little station, and Maud Barrington looked down upon a
group of silent men who had sauntered there to enjoy the one relaxation
the desolate place afforded them.
There was very little in their appearance to attract the attention of a
young woman of Miss Barrington's upbringing. They had grave bronzed
faces, and wore, for the most part, old fur coats stained here and
there with soil, and their mittens and moccasins were not in good
repair; but there was a curious steadiness in their gaze which vaguely
suggested the slow stubborn courage that upheld them through the
strenuous effort and grim self-denial of their toilsome lives. They
were small wheat-growers who had driven in to purchase provisions or
inquire the price of grain, and here and there a mittened hand was
raised to a well-worn cap, for most of them recognized Miss Barrington
of Silverdale Grange.
Pages:
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65