Prev | Current Page 142 | Next

Brand, Max, 1892-1944

"Black Jack"

A period had been placed after
Terry's old life. And this was how he rode into the new.
The long and ever-changing mountain twilight began as he wound through
the lower ranges. And when the full dark came, he broke from the last
sweep of foothills and El Sangre roused to a gallop over the level toward
Craterville.
He had been in the town before, of course. But he felt this evening that
he had really never seen it before. On other days what existed outside of
Bear Valley did not very much matter. That was the hub around which the
rest of the world revolved, so far as Terry was concerned. It was very
different now. Craterville, in fact, was a huddle of broken-down houses
among a great scattering of boulders with the big mountains plunging up
on every side to the dull blue of the night sky.
But Craterville was also something more. It was a place where several
hundred human beings lived, any one of whom might be the decisive
influence in the life of Terry. Young men and old men were in that town,
cunning and strength; old crones and lovely girls were there. Whom would
he meet? What should he see? A sudden kindness toward others poured
through Terry Hollis.


Pages:
130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154