Carey was debarred from talking over the
wires to the Prince Albert man for the reason that they were on
officially bad terms. He blamed the latter for his transfer to
the Flats.
Carey slept in a loft over the office, and got his meals as Joe
Esquint's, across the "street." Joe Esquint's wife was a good
cook, as cooks go among the breeds, and Carey soon became a great
pet of hers. Carey had a habit of becoming a pet with women. He
had the "way" that has to be born in a man and can never be
acquired. Besides, he was as handsome as clean-cut features,
deep-set, dark-blue eyes, fair curls and six feet of muscle could
make him. Mrs. Joe Esquint thought that his mustache was the
most wonderfully beautiful thing, in its line, that she had ever
seen.
Fortunately, Mrs. Joe was so old and fat and ugly that even the
malicious and inveterate gossip of skulking breeds and Indians,
squatting over teepee fires, could not hint at anything
questionable in the relations between her and Carey. But it was
a different matter with Tannis Dumont.
Tannis came home from the academy at Prince Albert early in July,
when Carey had been at the Flats a month and had exhausted all
the few novelties of his position. Paul Dumont had already
become so expert at the code that his mistakes no longer afforded
Carey any fun, and the latter was getting desperate. He had
serious intentions of throwing up the business altogether, and
betaking himself to an Alberta ranch, where at least one would
have the excitement of roping horses.
Pages:
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264