They seemed prematurely aged and worn with labor, anxiety, and ill
nourishment. Doubtless somewhere in these ruins a flower like Jay Jules
had once flourished; doubtless somewhere in that graceful nymph herself
the germ of this dreary maturity was hidden. Hemmingway welcomed them
with a seriousness equal to their own. The supper was partaken with the
kind of joyless formality which in the southwest is supposed to indicate
deep respect, even the cheerful Jay falling under the influence, and it
was with a feeling of relief that at last the young man retired to his
fenced-off corner for solitude and repose. He gathered, however,
that before "sun up" the next morning the elder women were going to
Rattlesnake Bar for the weekly shopping, leaving Jay as before to
prepare his breakfast and then join them later. It was already a change
in his sentiments to find himself looking forward to that tete-a-tete
with the young girl, as a chance of redeeming his character in her
eyes. He was beginning to feel he had been stupid, unready, and withal
prejudiced.
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