Спрут: Калифорнийская история
Chapter I
Togetalltherewasoutoftheland,tosqueezeitdry,toexhaustit,seemedtheirpolicy.When,atlast,thelandwornout,wouldrefusetoyield,theywouldinvesttheirmoneyinsomethingelse;bythen,theywouldallhavemadefortunes.Theydidnotcare.“Afterusthedeluge.”
Lyman,however,wasobviouslyuneasy,willingtochangethesubject.Herosetohisfeet,pullingdownhiscuffs.
“Bytheway,”heobserved,“Iwantyouthreetolunchwithmeto-dayatmyclub.Itiscloseby.Youcanwaittherefornewsofthecourt’sdecisionaswellasanywhereelse,andIshouldliketoshowyoutheplace.Ihavejustjoined.”
Attheclub,whenthefourmenwereseatedatasmalltableintheroundwindowofthemainroom,Lyman’spopularitywithallclasseswasveryapparent.Hardlyamanenteredthatdidnotcalloutasalutationtohim,someevencomingovertoshakehishand.Heseemedtobeeveryman’sfriend,andtoallheseemedequallygenial.Hisaffability,eventothosewhomhedisliked,wasunfailing.
“Seethatfellowyonder,”hesaidtoMagnus,indicatingacertainmiddle-agedman,flamboyantlydressed,whoworehishairlong,whowasafflictedwithsoreeyes,andthecollarofwhosevelvetcoatwassprinkledwithdandruff,“that’sHartrath,theartist,amanabsolutelydevoidofeventhecommonestdecency.Howhegotinhereisamysterytome.”
Yet,whenthisHartrathcameacrosstosay“Howdoyoudo”toLyman,Lymanwasaseagerinhiscordialityashiswarmestfriendcouldhaveexpected.
