登陆注册
5590000000064

第64章 CHANCE TAKES A HAND(3)

Jean had it stamped indelibly upon her brain.She waited,with a quick intake of breath when the picture stood out with a sudden clarity before her eyes.

A "close-up"group of officers and men,--and some of the men Americans in face,dress,and manner.But it was one man,and one only,at whom she looked.Tall he was,and square-shouldered and lean;with his hat set far back on his head and a half smile curling his lips,and his eyes looking straight into the camera.Standing there with his weight all on one foot,in that attitude which cowboys call "hipshot."Art Osgood!She was sure of it!Her hands clenched in her lap.Art Osgood,at Nogales,Mexico.Serving on the staff of General Kosterlisky.Was the man mad,to stand there publicly before the merciless,revealing eye of a motion-picture camera?Or did his vanity blind him to the risk he was taking?

The man at whom she sat glaring glanced sidewise at some person unseen;and Jean knew that glance,that turn of the head.He smiled anew and lifted his American-made Stetson a few inches above his head and held it so in salute.Just so had he lifted and held his hat high one day,when she had turned and ridden away from him down the trail.Jean caught herself just as her lips opened to call out to him in recognition and sharp reproach.He turned and walked away to where the troopers were massed in the background.It was thus that she had first glimpsed him for one instant before the scene ended;it was just as he turned his face away that she had opened her eyes,and thought it was Art Osgood who was walking away from the camera.

She waited a minute,staring abstractedly at the refugees who were presented next.She wished that she knew when the picture had been taken,--how long ago.

Her experience with motion-picture making,her listening to the shop-talk of the company,had taught her much;she knew that sometimes weeks elapse between the camera's work and the actual projection of a picture upon the theater screens.Still,this was,in a sense,a news release,and therefore in all probability hurried to the public.Art Osgood might still be at Nogales,Mexico,wherever that was.He might;and Jean made up her mind and laid her plans while she sat there pinning on her hat.

She got up quietly and slipped out.She was going to Nogales,Mexico,wherever that was.She was going to get Art Osgood,and she didn't care whether she had to fight her way clear through "Warring Mexico."She would find him and get him and bring him back.

In the lobby,while she paused with a truly feminine instinct to tip her hat this way and that before the mirror,and give her hair a tentative pat or two at the back,the grinning face of Lite Avery in his gray Stetson appeared like an apparition before her eyes.She turned quickly.

"Why,Lite!"she said,a little startled.

"Why,Jean!"he mimicked,in the bantering voice that was like home to her."Don't rush off;haven't seen you to-day.Wait till I get you a ticket,and then you come back and help me admire ourselves.I came down on a long lope when somebody said you caught a street car headed this way.Thought maybe I'd run across you here.Knew you couldn't stay away much longer from seeing how you look.Ain't too proud to sit alongside a rough-neck puncher,are you?"Jean looked at him understandingly.Lite's exuberance was unusual;but she knew,as well as though he had told her,that he had been lonesome in this strange city,and that he was overjoyed at the sight of her,who was his friend.She unpinned her hat which she had been at some pains to adjust at the exact angle decreed by fashion.

"Yes,I'll go back with you,"she drawled."I want to see how you like the sight of yourself just as you are.

It--it's good for one,after the first shock wears off."She would not say a word about that Mexican picture,she thought;but she wanted to see if Lite also would recognize Art Osgood,and feel as sure of his identity as she had felt.That would make her doubly sure of her self.She could do what she meant to do without any misgivings whatsoever.She could afford to wait a little while and have the pleasure of Lite's presence beside her.Lite was homesick and lonesome;--she felt it in every tone and in every look;--almost as homesick and lonesome as she was herself.She would not hurt him by going off and leaving him alone,even if she had not wanted to be with him and to watch the effect that Mexican picture would have upon him.Lite believed Art Osgood was in the Klondyke.She would wait and see what he believed after he had seen that Nogales picture She waited.She had missed Lite in the last day or so;she had seemed almost as far away from him as from the Lazy A.But all the while she talked to him in whispers when he had wanted to discuss the Jean picture,she was waiting,just waiting,for that Nogales picture.

When it came at last,Jean turned her head and watched Lite.And Lite gave a real start and said something under his breath,and plucked at her sleeve afterwards to attract her attention.

"Look--quick!That fellow standing there with his arms folded.Skin me alive if it isn't Art Osgood!""Are you sure?"Jean studied him.

"Sure?Where're your eyes?Look at him!It sure ain't anybody else,Jean.Now,what do you reckon he's doing down in Mexico?"

同类推荐
  • 戒杀四十八问

    戒杀四十八问

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 金箓十回度人晚朝开收仪

    金箓十回度人晚朝开收仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 胜宗十句义论

    胜宗十句义论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 晋政辑要

    晋政辑要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 东原录

    东原录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 2014年中国微型小说排行榜

    2014年中国微型小说排行榜

    本书从2014年全国公开发表的数万篇微型小说沙里淘金,精选而成。这本书的作品代表了本年度微型小说的最高水准,作品或讴歌生活中的真善美,传播正能量,或针砭社会中的假丑恶;或充满哲理,或诙谐幽默,或夸张变形;既有文坛大家的作品,又有专门从事微型小说创作的作家的作品。作品既有可读性,又耐读,融艺术性与可读性为一体。
  • 桂林不浪漫的故事

    桂林不浪漫的故事

    光盘,广西第四、六、七届签约作家,中国作家协会会员、广西作家协会理事。获广西、全国报纸副刊好作品二等奖以上30余次。创作及出版长篇小说6部,在花城、上海文学、作家、钟山、北京文学等中国核心刊物发表作品若干,迄今共发表各类作品150余万字。
  • 妖惑②:蛟郎

    妖惑②:蛟郎

    他娘的!这个女人到底知不知道羞耻?一天到晚在客栈里招蜂引蝶不说,还宣称自己是个“寡妇”?!他若不好好给她“教训”一下,岂不有辱他“沙漠之王”的名号!王八蛋!这个男人到底有没有脑袋?他十四年前就被她休了,还想教她守什么狗屁妇道?!她若不给他点颜色瞧瞧,这“风骚老板娘”的招牌岂不要给人拆了……
  • 乱世闪婚险恶心

    乱世闪婚险恶心

    ……这年秋天来得很早,没到立秋,天上就飘起了小雪。亚历山大在他的地里收割葡萄,看着葡萄地里落满了清雪,就感叹着,看来今年要不顺哪。唐久凌这天也去了亚历山大的葡萄地,望着地上的雪,和亚历山大一样感慨,这是天灾。亚历山大说,天灾不怕,怕的是人祸。人祸终于来了。……张作霖势力壮大,清政府无力征剿,就将其招安。张作霖协助清缴土匪势力,后又消除蒙患,维护国家统一,被逐步提升,先后担任奉天督军、东三省巡阅使等,号称东北王,成为北洋军奉系首领。他成立了东三省陆军整理处,与孙中山、段祺瑞及卢永祥结成同盟。第二次直奉战争胜利后,张作霖打进北平,任陆海军大元帅,代表中华民国行使统治权……
  • 参观欧洲“豪宅”(全集)

    参观欧洲“豪宅”(全集)

    《浮云流水间:欧洲庄园》,本书以欧洲庄园为主题,共介绍包括La Papessa乡村别墅、干邑区的Chanteloup庄园、丹麦Dronninggaard城堡在内的九个庄园。《尘世闲影中:欧洲庄园》,本书介绍了西班牙安达卢西亚、葡萄牙法鲁、爱尔兰、德国海德堡、希腊林佐斯、意大利、英国等地的7个庄园。《英国人家:家园尽自由》,充满柔和色彩的墙壁,有伊特鲁里亚式花纹,地板是华丽的大理石,以亚当名字命名的壁炉由小型柱子支撑,而屋外是风景如画的花园,室内则配上碎花或条纹图案的布艺。《眷然归与情:法国人家》,本书作者在法国采访数个家庭后的感悟和体会。
  • 我家祖母好英武

    我家祖母好英武

    一朝穿越,竟然穿到土匪窝里,嫡亲的祖母是土匪头子,自己是小土匪……祖母很痴情,这辈子的心愿就是等祖父回来,活到老等到老……宋大娘很傲娇,最喜感春伤秋,最爱诗词歌赋……福姨很神秘,医术高明,却不想悬壶济世……阿满力大无穷,有吃有喝,幸福美满……
  • 愿你是阳光,明媚不忧伤

    愿你是阳光,明媚不忧伤

    如果生活没有阳光,黑夜中依然会有风景,风景中依然会有星光,星光下依然会有小桥,小桥下依然会有渡船,渡船依然会扯起风帆到海角。还有心花,还有希望,这是我们的生活,这是我们的阳光,黑夜中有我们的心灵,心灵中有不灭的阳光。《愿你是阳光,明媚不忧伤》精选《哲思》创刊十年以来最受读者欢迎,最具正能量的文字,霸气传递正能量:我们并不需要向外界索取,而应该在自身内心深处点燃能照亮旅途的阳光,不用点亮世界,能温暖自己欢愉四周就好。
  • 生活·文学与思考

    生活·文学与思考

    李炳银参与文学活动,从事文学批评写作,已有近20年的历史了。同这个已不算短的时间相比,所取得的成果显得十分单薄。每想到此,不免汗颜。选入这本书中的论文共有三个部分,它们是有关作家作品的论评,有关小说、散文创作的思考,有关报告文学创作研究的文章。这些文章写作发表的时间几乎伴随着我全部的文学评论研究历史。
  • 著名发明家成才故事(中国名人成才故事)

    著名发明家成才故事(中国名人成才故事)

    本套书精选荟萃了中国历史上最具有代表性的也最具有影响力的名人,编辑成了这套《中国名人成才故事》(共10册),即《著名政治家成才故事》、《著名军事家成才故事》、《著名谋略家成才故事》、《著名思想家成才故事》、《著名文学家成才故事》、《著名艺术家成才故事》、《著名科学家成才故事》、《著名发明家成才故事》、《著名财富家成才故事》、《著名教育家成才故事》等,这些故事既有趣味性,又蕴含深刻的道理,能够带给我们深刻的启迪,是青少年课外不可缺少的精神食粮。
  • 萌妃有毒:王爷别想逃!

    萌妃有毒:王爷别想逃!

    “嗯啊~好痛!我说,你就不能轻点吗?”深吸一口气,梓歆眉头紧蹙看着面前手拿药瓶给她涂药的男人。“现在知道痛了?刚才在外面不是挺能逞强的吗?”男人脸色阴郁,富有磁性的声音里带着微微的怒火,但更多的是心疼的责备。“我,我那不是担心你们出事吗?”梓歆无语,要不是担心他会出事她会不顾自身安全跑来救他,没一句好话不说,还挨了一顿批评,真是好心当成驴肝肺!“你做什……”被她郁闷的表情逗笑了,男人心神一动,在她还没来得及反应的时候倾身吻上了她。“把那个们去掉,你担心我一个人就够了。”PS:欢迎加入。萌妃有毒:王爷别想逃,群号码:617583459