It reposed at the
bottom of her satchel. He made choice of the steamer on which
she should continue her journey, and thoughtfully chose The
Naiad--a slow boat, with no reputation for speed to sustain. It
meant two or three days longer on the river, but what of that?
There would be no temptation in the engine-room to attach a
casual wrench or so to the safety-valve as an offset to the
builder's lack of confidence in his own boilers. He saw to it
that her state-room was well aft--steamers had a trick of blowing
up forward.
Ne had now reached a state of the utmost satisfaction with
himself and the situation. Betty was friendly and charming. He
walked with her, and he talked with her by the hour; and always
he was being entangled deeper and deeper in the web of her
attraction. "When alone he would pace the deck recalling every
word she had spoken. There was that little air of high breeding
which was Betty's that fascinated him. He had known something of
the other sort, those who had arrived at prosperity with manners
and speech that still reflected the meaner condition from which
they had risen.
"I haven't a thing to offer her--this is plain madness of mine!"
he kept telling himself, and then the expression of his face
would become grim and determined. No more of the river for him
--he'd get hold of some land and go to raising cotton; that was the
way money was made.
Slow as The Naiad was, the days passed much too swiftly for him.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98