Mrs. Wilson Woodrow

“ Thomas alone retained her poise.
"Ain't they the critters for you!" she exclaimed, gazing admiringly at Carrothers's back. "They's two games they can sure beat us at—poker and love. Here were Myrtle an' Mis' Evans raisin' each other to the limit, an' Preacher had 'em cold decked from the start." ”

“ Nitschkan with indubitable reason and practicality.
"I do' know," with a slight shrug of the shoulders. "I always been used to the boys. They know an' I know that I wouldn't look at one of 'em now; but Shock, the big fool, he don't know nothin', an' Lord! but he's jealous."
"Jealous! Catsfoot!" replied Mrs. Nitschkan with sturdy scorn. "I'd like to see any man kick an' cuff me about as he pleases; that's what I'd like to see, an' you always yellin' about bein' free!"
There were tiny flickers of fire in Mrs. O'Brien's eyes. ”

“ Thomas at the farther end of the hall, pausing in her occupation of serving raspberries into small saucers, with a very large iron spoon. "Myrtle cavortin', an' the Pearl carryin' on with Bob Flick! You see if they ain't some shots passed before we get home. An' ain't it a high note for the Pearl not to dance. That's always the way with them perfessionals; they're so contrary that they take pleasure in puttin' their lights under bushels just to spite folks. My!" as Myrtle floated by her, "ain't that girl wild to-night! ”

“ They know I'd knife him without countin' one, two, three. Oh, you—you—tramp woman! You know a lot about huntin' an' fishin'; but you know a mighty little about women. You ain't never been one."
"Now, Pearl, there ain't no occasion to spit like a cat," returned Mrs. Nitschkan, unmoved by these taunts. "An' if you give me much more sass, I'll jerk you over the fence and throw you out in the road. Oh!" with a scornful laugh, "I ain't a mite af eared of that knife they say you always keep down in your stockin'."
But Mrs. O'Brien's tempest of anger had fallen to calm as quickly as it had flamed. ”

“ With that sixth sense common in isolated communities, where the interest in the drama before one's eyes is intense and absorbing, because at any moment the spectator may be called from the seclusion of the audience to take his place among the actors before the footlights, the participators in the raspberry festival were all intuitively aware that the immanent, psychological moment was at hand. ”

“ Thomas. "My patience! Ain't it somethin' beautiful the way we take on when accidents happen to them, an' what do they do fer us in pain or grief? I've seen a man sit with his feet up on the kitchen stove readin' a newspaper an' never turnin' a hair, while his wife was screamin' herself black in the face with the strikes in the next room. Cheer up, Myrtie! They ain't no man worth it."
"Frank is," sobbed Myrtle. ”

“ O'Brien indifferently, but with perfect acquiescence. "But, say, Nitschkan, I wasn't doin' a thing—just standin' at the gate, talkin' to a—a—fellow when Shock come down the road. Well, I wisht you'd 'a' seen him!" the reminiscent coquetry of her smile brightening her weary eyes. "That French-Irish face of his'n was blacker 'n a thunder-cloud an' his eyes was a-blazin' fire. We had it hot an' heavy about all night. Shock, you know him; he can't bear to see another man so much as look at me."
"Then what you always a-teasin' him for, Pearl?" asked Mrs. ”

“ Her man's one of the best miners in the camp, an' he's got to go down an' bring out mine."
Mrs. Evans, completely in the power of the younger and larger woman, had merely cocked her head and gazed at her with cool defiance; but now her expression changed. In the world, so in Zenith. The eternal feminine knows modification, but no change. There had been warfare between herself and Myrtle ”

“ Put me down on the ground an' I'll see to it."
In the interval of waiting the women busied themselves in making coffee for the miners, and the always increasing crowd lingered breathlessly, and for the most part, silently. ”