The Turmoil Booth Tarkington (best reads .txt) š
- Author: Booth Tarkington
Book online Ā«The Turmoil Booth Tarkington (best reads .txt) šĀ». Author Booth Tarkington
Mrs. Sheridan tossed her head fretfully upon the pillow. āYou did the best you could, papa,ā she said, impatiently, āso come to bed and quit reproachinā yourself for it.ā
He glared at her indignantly. āReproachinā myself!ā he snorted. āI aināt doinā anything of the kind! What in the name oā goodness would I want to reproach myself for? And it wasnāt the ābest I could,ā either. It was the best anybody could! I was givinā him a chance to show what was in him and make a man of himselfā āand here he goes and gets ānervous dyspepsiaā on me!ā
He went to the old-fashioned gas-fixture, turned out the light, and muttered his way morosely into bed.
āWhat?ā said his wife, crossly, bothered by a subsequent mumbling.
āāāMore like hookworm,ā I said,ā he explained, speaking louder. āI donāt know what to do with him!ā
IIIBeginning at the beginning and learning from the ground up was a long course for Bibbs at the sanitarium, with milk and zwieback as the basis of instruction; and the months were many and tiresome before he was considered near enough graduation to go for a walk leaning on a nurse and a cane. These and subsequent months saw the planning, the building, and the completion of the New House; and it was to that abode of Bigness that Bibbs was brought when the cane, without the nurse, was found sufficient to his support.
Edith met him at the station. āWell, well, Bibbs!ā she said, as he came slowly through the gates, the last of all the travelers from that train. She gave his hand a brisk little shake, averting her eyes after a quick glance at him, and turning at once toward the passage to the street. āDo you think they ought toāve let you come? You certainly donāt look well!ā
āBut I certainly do look better,ā he returned, in a voice as slow as his gait; a drawl that was a necessity, for when Bibbs tried to speak quickly he stammered. āUp to about a month ago it took two people to see me. They had to get me in a line between āem!ā
Edith did not turn her eyes directly toward him again, after her first quick glance; and her expression, in spite of her, showed a faint, troubled distaste, the look of a healthy person pressed by some obligation of business to visit a ābadā ward in a hospital. She was nineteen, fair and slim, with small, unequal features, but a prettiness of color and a brilliancy of eyes that created a total impression close upon beauty. Her movements were eager and restless: there was something about her, as kind old ladies say, that was very sweet; and there was something that was hurried and breathless. This was new to Bibbs; it was a perceptible change since he had last seen her, and he bent upon her a steady, whimsical scrutiny as they stood at the curb, waiting for an automobile across the street to disengage itself from the traffic.
āThatās the new car,ā she said. āEverythingās new. Weāve got four now, besides Jimās. Roscoeās got two.ā
āEdith, you lookā āā he began, and paused.
āOh, weāre all well,ā she said, briskly; and then, as if something in his tone had caught her as significant, āWell, how do I look, Bibbs?ā
āYou lookā āā He paused again, taking in the full length of herā āher trim brown shoes, her scant, tapering, rough skirt, and her coat of brown and green, her long green tippet and her mad little rough hat in the mad modeā āall suited to the October day.
āHow do I look?ā she insisted.
āYou look,ā he answered, as his examination ended upon an incrusted watch of platinum and enamel at her wrist, āyou lookā āexpensive!ā That was a substitute for what he intended to say, for her constraint and preoccupation, manifested particularly in her keeping her direct glance away from him, did not seem to grant the privilege of impulsive intimacies.
āI expect I am!ā she laughed, and sidelong caught the direction of his glance. āOf course I oughtnāt to wear it in the daytimeā āitās an evening thing, for the theaterā ābut my day wristwatch is out of gear. Bobby Lamhorn broke it yesterday; heās a regular rowdy sometimes. Do you want Claus to help you in?ā
āOh no,ā said Bibbs. āIām alive.ā And after a fit of panting subsequent to his climbing into the car unaided, he added, āOf course, I have to tell people!ā
āWe only got your telegram this morning,ā she said, as they began to move rapidly through the wholesale district neighboring the station. āMother said sheād hardly expected you this month.ā
āThey seemed to be through with me up there in the country,ā he explained, gently. āAt least they said they were, and they wouldnāt keep me any longer, because so many really sick people wanted to get in. They told me to go homeā āand I didnāt have any place else to go. Itāll be all right, Edith; Iāll sit in the woodshed until after dark every day.ā
āPshaw!ā She laughed nervously. āOf course weāre all of us glad to have you back.ā
āYes?ā he said. āFather?ā
āOf course! Didnāt he write and tell you to come
Comments (0)