Читать книгу Lantern Marsh онлайн

81 страница из 92

“Hello, Doc! Well, well, well, if here ain’t Doc Horne!” exclaimed Livermore, advancing to shake the physician’s hand. “I tell yuh, doc, it’s a pretty frisky lot o’ people. You kin tie your horse to the fence, case you git a call an’ have to leave early. One o’ the boys’ll show you.”

“Is that scoundrel, Alec Dent, here to-night?” asked Horne in a mock-whisper, leaning over the side of his buggy.

“Yes, an’ dancin’ is goin’ to start directly, Doc. Alec has just had a pint o’ rye whiskey an’ there ain’t enough furniture left on the kitchen floor fer an Esquimo to start house-keepin’ with.”

“Whoop!” laughed Horne in a loud chuckle, as he touched his horse with the whip. “Erastus, you old reprobate, you old skunk!”

Women were busy preparing five long tables under the pine trees for the refreshments which would be served at midnight. Mauney was inveigled into carrying benches by Myrtle McGee, one of the acknowledged belles of the countryside, who came up to him in her usual direct way, carrying a pile of plates, and smiling seductively.