"
Then he was gone, and Jacqueline was laughing over his shoulder back
to Pierre.
Through his daze and through the rising clamor of the music, a voice
said beside him: "You look sort of sick, dude. Who's your friend?"
"Don't you know him?" asked Pierre.
"No more than I do you; but I've ridden the range for ten years around
here, and I know that he's new to these parts. If I'd ever glimpsed
him before, I'd remember him. He'd be a bad man in a mix, eh?"
And Pierre answered with devout earnestness: "He would."
"But where'd you buy those duds, pal? Hey, look! Here's what I've been
waiting for--the Barneses and the girl that's visitin' 'em from
the East."
"What girl?"
"Look!"
The Barnes group was passing through the door, and last came the
unmistakable form of Dick Wilbur, masked, but not masked enough to
hide his familiar smile or cover the well-known sound of his laughter
as it drifted to Pierre across the hall, and on his arm was a girl in
an evening dress of blue, with a small, black mask across her eyes,
and deep-golden hair.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183