【英文原著类】JUST DAVID(公正的大卫).pdf

JUST DAVID
JUST DAVID
BY ELEANOR H.{HODGMAN} PORTER
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JUST DAVID
CHAPTER I
THE MOUNTAIN HOME
Far up on the mountain-side stood alone in the clearing. It was roughly
yet warmly built. Behind it jagged cliffs broke the north wind, and
towered gray-white in the sunshine. Before it a tiny expanse of green
sloped gently away to a point where the mountain dropped in another
sharp descent, wooded with scrubby firs and pines. At the left a footpath
led into the cool depths of the forest. But at the right the mountain fell
away again and disclosed to view the picture David loved the best of all:
the far-reaching valley; the silver pool of the lake with its ribbon of a river
flung far out; and above it the grays and greens and purples of the
mountains that climbed one upon another's shoulders until the topmost
thrust their heads into the wide dome of the sky itself.
There was no road, apparently, leading away from the cabin. There
was only the footpath that disappeared into the forest. Neither, anywhere,
was there a house in sight nearer than the white specks far down in the
valley by the river.
Within the shack a wide fireplace dominated one side of the main
room. It was June now, and the ashes lay cold on the hearth; but from the
tiny lean-to in the rear came the smell and the sputter of bacon sizzling
over a blaze. The furnishings of the room were simple, yet, in a way, out
of mon. There were two bunks, a few rude fortable chairs,
a table, two music-racks, two violins with their cases, and everywhere
books, and scattered sheets of music. Nowhere was there cushion, curtain,
or knickknack that told of a woman's taste or touch. On the other hand,
neither was there anywhere gun, pelt, or antlered head that spoke of a
man's strength and skill. For decoration there were a beautiful copy of the
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JUST DAVID
Sistine Madonna, several photographs signed with names well known out
in the great world beyond the mountains, and a festoon of pine