The frontier
was to him a place of varied diversion, Independence a stimulating
center. So diffident that the bashful David seemed by contrast a man
of cultured ease, he was now blushing till the back of his neck was red.
On the other side of the fire a lady and gentleman stood arm in arm
under an umbrella. The two faces, bent upon Leff with grave attention,
were alike, not in feature, but in the subtly similar play of
expression that speaks the blood tie. A father and daughter, David
thought. Against the rough background of the camp, with its litter at
their feet, they had an air of being applied upon an alien surface, of
not belonging to the picture, but standing out from it in sharp and
incongruous contrast.
The gentleman was thin and tall, fifty or thereabouts, very pale,
especially to one accustomed to the tanned skins of the farm and the
country town. His face held so frank a kindliness, especially the eyes
which looked tired and a little sad, that David felt its expression
like a friendly greeting or a strong handclasp.
The lady did not have this, perhaps because she was a great deal
younger.
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