It was nice then, so peaceful and quiet.

He scuttled in shadow along the east wall of the stockade and then followed the south wall until he was at the rear of the two frame buildings.

First it was the Nations against themselves, then it was them against the whites.

She was carrying a quirt, and she started to raise it, then let it fall again and dangle from her wrist.

And then there was a numbing blow to the heart, and another gut-flattening blow to the stomach

The herd was watered and then thrown onto a broad grass flat which was to be the first night's bedground.

It was not until he moved across the porch that he became aware of them, and then it was too late.

He looked around in surprise, then noticed that Fred Powell was clutching his chest.

He paused only long enough to ascertain that Jess's buckskin was still missing and that his own gray was all right, then climbed through a back window and dropped to the ground outside.

The finished -- and drastically cut -- product would begin with a hazy longshot of Joyce entering the suds, then bursting above the pool's surface clad in layers of lavender lather, and I had a hunch this item was going to sell tons and tons of soap ; ;

Maybe Lou was only unconscious, but right then I thought he must be dead.

For several weeks we eyed one another almost like sparring partners, and then one day Uncle was slightly indisposed and stayed home ; ;

Then the darkness thinned, and there was light again, and then bright sunlight.

I was puzzled by the remark, then I recalled the voice of mild Professor Howard Griggs three years ago in a university lecture on primitive societies.

It was only then that he turned to look at Penny.

The enemy came looming around a bend in the trail and Matsuo took a hasty shot, then fled without knowing the result, ran until breath was a pain in his chest and his legs were rubbery.

Back in the house a hoodlum named Red Buck, sore because Billy had been allowed to leave unscathed, jumped from a bunk and swore he was going after him to kill him right then.

For lawyers, reflecting perhaps their parochial preferences, there has been a special fascination since then in the role played by the Supreme Court in that transformation -- the manner in which its decisions altered in `` the switch in time that saved nine '', President Roosevelt's ill-starred but in effect victorious `` Court-packing plan '', the imprimatur of judicial approval that was finally placed upon social legislation.

We followed the asphalt road for a few miles and then swung off onto a smaller road which was nothing more than two tire marks on the earth.

If Franklin was an authentic genius, then Alexander Hamilton, with his exceptional precocity, consuming energy, and high ambition, was a political prodigy.

The easiest thing would be to sell out to Al Budd and leave the country, but there was a stubborn streak in him that wouldn't allow it.

Her blond hair was frowzy, her dress torn in several places, and her shoes were so completely worn out that they were practically no protection.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and went down on one knee, taking her weight so that some of the wind was driven out of him.

There was an artificial lake just out of sight in the first stand of trees, fed by a half dozen springs that popped out of the ground above the hillside orchard.

I was shown, instead, a batch of white tickets of the sort handed out, he told me, every morning.

Its front was windowless, but irregularities in the masonry might be an indication that windows, now blinded, had once looked out upon the street.

The only reason we brought you was to get Miller out.

It was all right to put a bunch of ranchers onto horses, to call them Night Riders, to set out to attack the largest mining combination the country had ever seen if all they wanted was adventure.

He seemed very pleased with himself, as though some intricate scheme was working out exactly as he had planned.

By failing to do as he was told instantly -- to take out a permit or return the gun to his car -- he had played into Lord's hands.

Macklin was the third man to come out, and he came unhurriedly.

Prosecutor Baird immediately assumed he was hiding out there after the shooting and began preparing an indictment.

I found a trooper once the Apache had spread-eagled on an ant hill, and another time we ran across some teamsters they'd caught, tied upside down on their own wagon wheels over little fires until their brains was exploded right out o' their skulls.

The mere fact that the tall figure with the rifle and field glasses had been seen riding that way was enough to frighten three rustling homesteaders out of the Upper Laramie country in a single week.

Jess's coarse features twisted in a surprised grin which was smashed out of shape by Curt's fist.

So long as Sally's pa was coming out best on the haggle, Dan didn't feel the need of putting in his two-bits' worth.

Then, with a glory that almost wiped out the deep, downward sags in her careworn face, Matilda leaned over the wheel and shouted to Hez, who was stumbling along in the heat and the dust on the opposite side of the wagon `` Pa!!

And she was deeply thankful that she could see her now, out there in the midst of a gay, youthful circle, skipping and singing, `` Farmer in the dell, Farmer in the dell, Heigh-ho the dairy-oh, the farmer in the dell ''.

She was glad, completely and unselfishly glad, to see that things were working out the right way for both Sally and Dan.

Whoever was out there hiding in the brushy cover was besieging the Antler house and, having spotted his approach, was determined to drive him off before he could get into the fight.

From the time the chocks were pulled until the plane was out of sight, he knew Donovan would keep his back to the strip.