[Gutenberg 53009] • Patience Sparhawk and Her Times: A Novel

Excerpt from Patience Sparhawk: And Her Times

Billy ambled up and down the steep roads of the fragrant pine woods on the hills behind Monterey, and the girls gave him no further heed. Patience' 5 long plait having been shaken loose m her wild lurches over the dash board, she swung about, dangled her legs out of the buggy, and commanded Rosita to braid her hair. The legs she kicked recklessly against the wheel were not pretty. They were long and thin, clothed with woollen stockings darned and wrinkled, and angled off with copper-toed boots. She wore a frock of faded gingham, and chewed the strings of a sunbonnet.

Don't pull so, and do hurry, she exclaimed as the Spanish girl's deft slow fingers moved in and out of the scanty wisps.