"GREY, Zane - Light Of The Western Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grey Zane)

In the past Miss Hammond's sense of humor had often helped her to
overlook critical exactions natural to her breeding. She kept
silence, and she imagined it was just as well that her veil hid
her face at the moment. She had been prepared to find cowboys
rather striking, and she had been warned not to laugh at them.

This gentleman of the range deliberately reached down and took up
her left hand. Before she recovered from her start of amaze he
had stripped off her glove.

"Fine spark, but no wedding-ring," he drawled. "Lady, I'm glad
to see you're not married."

He released her hand and returned the glove.

"You see, the only ho-tel in this here town is against boarding
married women."

"Indeed?" said Madeline, trying to adjust her wits to the
situation.

"It sure is," he went on. "Bad business for ho-tels to have
married women. Keeps the boys away. You see, this isn't Reno."

Then he laughed rather boyishly, and from that, and the way he
slouched on his sombrero, Madeline realized he was half drunk.
As she instinctively recoiled she not only gave him a keener
glance, but stepped into a position where a better light shone on
his face. It was like red bronze, bold, raw, sharp. He laughed
again, as if good-naturedly amused with himself, and the laugh
scarcely changed the hard set of his features. Like that of all
women whose beauty and charm had brought them much before the
world, Miss Hammond's intuition had been developed until she had
a delicate and exquisitely sensitive perception of the nature of
men and of her effect upon them. This crude cowboy, under the
influence of drink, had affronted her; nevertheless, whatever was
in his mind, he meant no insult.

"I shall be greatly obliged if you will show me to the hotel,"
she said.

"Lady, you wait here," he replied, slowly, as if his thought did
not come swiftly. "I'll go fetch the porter."

She thanked him, and as he went out, closing the door, she sat
down in considerable relief. It occurred to her that she should
have mentioned her brother's name, Then she fell to wondering
what living with such uncouth cowboys had done to Alfred. He had
been wild enough in college, and she doubted that any cowboy
could have taught him much. She alone of her family bad ever