forest swept down in an unbroken tide to the porch
of the isolated roadside tavern; a swift stream filled
the wooden structure with the ceaseless murmur of
water. In the dusty, gold gloom of a spacious
stable Gordon unhitched his team. Outside, in a
wooden trough, he splashed his hands and face,
then entered the dining room.

A long table was occupied by an industrious company
that broke the absorbed silence only by explosive
requests for particularized dishes. Above the
table hovered the wife of the proprietor, constantly
waving a fly brush -- streamers of colored paper
fastened to a slender stick -- above the heads of her
husband and guests.

Gordon Makimmon ate largely and rapidly, ably
seconded by the strange passenger and Buckley
Simmons. The priest, Merlier, ate sparingly, in
an absent, perfunctory manner. Lettice Hollidew,
at the opposite end of the table, displayed the generous
but dainty appetite of girlhood. The coat
to her suit, with a piece of lace pinned about the
collar, and a new, flat leather bag with a silver
initial, hung from the back of her chair.

They again listlessly took their places in the stage.
Buckley Simmons emulated the stranger in lighting
a mahogany-colored cigar with an ornamental band
which Buckley moved toward his lips before the
swiftly approaching conflagration. Gordon drove

[[24]]

p023 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p024w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p025

v?