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Bacheller, Irving, 1859-1950

"Darrel of the Blessed Isles"

"I know it's shabby, but, after all, I'm fond o' the
old thing. I love good clothes, but I can't afford them now."
Then he bade her good night and came away.


XXX
Evidence
It was court week, and the grand jury was in session. There were
many people in the streets of the shire town. They moved with a
slow foot, some giving their animation to squints of curiosity and
shouts of recognition, some to profanity and plug tobacco. Squire
Day and Colonel Judson were to argue the famous maple-sugar case,
and many causes of local celebrity were on the calendar.
There were men with the watchful eye of the hunter, ever looking
for surprises. They moved with caution, for here, indeed, were
sights and perils greater than those of the timber land. Here
were houses, merchants, lawyers, horse-jockeys, whiskey, women.
They knew the thickets and all the wild creatures that lived in
them, but these things of the village were new and strange. They
came out of the stores and, after expectorating, stood a moment
with their hands in their pockets, took a long look to the right
and a long look to the left and threw a glance into the sky, and
then examined the immediate foreground.


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