Love, courtship, marriage, were
words that no longer had any meaning for him. All the tenderness and
humanity he had felt for her in the days of her father's sickness were
gone. They were burned away, as the water and the grass were. When he
saw her solicitude for David, his contempt for the weak man hardened
into hatred. He told himself that he hated them both, and he told
himself he would crush and kill them both before David should get her.
The desire to keep her from David was stronger than the desire to have
her for himself. He did not think or care what he felt. She was the
prey to be won by cunning or daring, whose taste or wishes had no place
in the struggle. He no longer looked ahead, thought, or reasoned. The
elemental in him was developing to fit a scene in which only the
elemental survived.
They broke camp at four the next morning. For the last few days the
heat had been unbearable, and they decided to start while the air was
still cool and prolong the noon halt. The landscape grew barer. There
were open areas where the soil was soft and sifted from the wheels like
sand, and dried stretches where the alkali lay in a caked, white crust.
Pages:
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429