They were a quarreling pack of sentimentalists. From all
accounts Miss Etta must have been at that time a rugged girl of
twenty-eight, of striking, if ungentle, appearance; and only the
unsteadied sensibilities and the too-ready acrimony could have
foreshadowed the large blatant woman she was to become, a woman who
alternated between a generous flow of emotion on the one hand and an
unimaginative hardness on the other. Only Lin Darton could have given
promise then of the middle-class, semi-prosperous business man who was
to justify the Darton tradition. But from all that I could gather of
those younger days, before Con's marriage to Selma Perkins, he was the
cock of the walk, holding the reins over them all by virtue of his
shrewdness, apparently understanding the robust, over-blooded strains of
their temperament and not unwilling to sound these at his pleasure.
My own experience dates back to the first time that he stood out for me
a vivid picture in that sagging barn-like old farmhouse behind the elms.
I was ten years old then, and I was already beginning to think highly of
my father's profession, which that winter had sent him into a nest of
small asthma-ridden towns. It was my privilege to trot by his side,
carrying his worn black medicine case and endeavoring vainly to keep
pace with his long jerky strides.
Pages:
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558