Roy Norton

“ Marie Devinne, of doubtful ancestry, vivacious, French Canadian, and silly, flitting as a cheerful butterfly across the days, dancing as a cheerful will-o'-the-wisp at nights, elusive, fickle, and tempestuous. And, most important, but not lost to life or association, the irrepressible Kentucky Smith, boyish, reckless, and handsome, with a laugh that won hearts, a smile that conquered, and a fearlessness that commanded respect.
“That's Pitkok,” Dan said to me on the day after I saw the arrival of the native voyageur, pointing a grimy finger at the Indian. “The devil's in that Siwash. ”

“ Sam Barstow was about to lam some fellow from Dawson for dancin' too many times with Marie Devinne! Ha, ha, ha!”
He threw his head back, and laughed with loud enjoyment.
“That little Marie certainly leads Sam something of a hurdle race, all right. She knows that Sam's crazy about her, and I reckon she thinks a heap of him, right down in her silly little insides; so she leads Sam up to the fool trough every once in a while, and then laughs when he drinks.”
“Care for Sam? Her? Pshaw!” Bessie exclaimed. “What big fools men can be! ”

“ That Marie Devinne is a little devil. And she'll make Sam Barstow look like a sucker yet, before she's through with him. Poor cuss! That feller's got too many dark horses runnin' in his head, to stand for too much. He's a simple sort, but I've noticed that when his kind go, they go hard. ”

“ He explains that there is just income enough so that all the bills are always being paid, and that I owe nothing, and once in a while he insists that if I need any more money than I am getting, he can arrange to get it from the estate, whatever it is. ”