Read Under the Tonto Rim (1991) for Free Online

they gave a sinister effect.
    "That's Denmeade," whispered Mr. Jenks. "We're lucky. Now, young lady, use your wits."
    They rode on the few remaining rods, and reaching the rude hitching rail in front of the fence, they halted the horses. Mr. Jenks dismounted and greeted the big man at the gate.
    "Howdy, teacher!" he replied in a deep pleasant drawl.
    "Fine, thank you, Denmeade," returned Mr. Jenks as he extended his hand over the fence. "I've brought a visitor to see you. This is Miss Lucy Watson of Felix."
    Lucy essayed her most winning smile as she acknowledged the introduction.
    "Glad to meet you, miss," responded Denmeade. "Get down an' come in."
    Dismounting, Lucy approached the gate, to look up into a visage as rugged as the rock wall above. Denmeade was not old or grey, though his features showed the ravages of years. Lucy had no time to mark details. The man's eyes, grey and piercing as those of an eagle, caught and held her gaze.
    "If you please, I'd like to talk to you alone before I go in," she said appealingly.
    Denmeade removed the huge battered black sombrero, and ran a brawny hand through his thick dark hair. The grey eyes twinkled and a smile changed the craggy nature of his face.
    "Wal, seein' as Edd ain't hyar, I reckon I can risk it," he drawled.
    Mr. Jenks suggested that they sit in the shade; and presently Lucy found herself seated on a stump, facing this curious backwoodsman. He seemed a more approachable person than she had pictured, yet there was something about him, strong, raw, fierce, like the wilds in which he lived. Lucy had worried about this coming interview; had schooled herself to a deliberate diplomacy. But she forgot worry and plan. The man's simplicity made her sincere.
    "Mr. Denmeade, I want a job," she announced bluntly.
    It was good to see his astonishment and utter incredulity. Such a situation had never before happened in his life. He stared. His seamed visage worked into a wonderful grin.
    "Wal, I reckon yo're foolin'," he said, and he turned to Jenks. "Teacher, shore you've hatched some kind of a joke."
    "No, Denmeade. Miss Watson is in earnest," replied the school-teacher.
    "Indeed I am," added Lucy, trying to restrain her impulsiveness.
    But Denmeade still could not take her seriously. "Wal, can you chop wood, carry water, pick beans, an' hop around lively--say fer a fellar like my Edd?"
    "Yes, I could, but that is not the kind of a job I want," returned Lucy.
    "Wal, there ain't no other kin' of work up hyar fer a woman," he said seriously.
    "Yes, there is...It's to make better homes for the children."
    "Better homes! What you mean?" ejaculated Denmeade.
    Briefly Lucy explained some of the ways the homes in the wilderness could be made happier for women and children. Denmeade was profoundly impressed.
    "Wal now, young woman, I reckon it's good of you to think of them nice an' pretty ways fer our kids an' their mothers. But we're poor. We couldn't pay you, let alone fer them things they need so bad."
    Lucy's heart throbbed with joy. She knew intuitively that she had struck the right chord in this old backwoodsman. Whereupon she produced her papers.
    "It's a new thing, Mr. Denmeade," she said earnestly. "State welfare work. My salary and the expenses I incur are paid by the state. It's all here for you to read, and my references."
    Denmeade took her papers in his horny hands and began to read with the laborious and intense application of one to whom reading was unfamiliar and difficult. He took long to go over the brief typed words, and longer over the personal letter from the superintendent of the state department that had engaged Lucy. Finally he absorbed the import.
    "Welfare! State government! Dog-gone me!" he ejaculated, almost bewildered. "Say, Jenks, what ails them fellars down thar?"
    "Perhaps they have just waked up to the needs of this north country," replied the teacher.
    "Shore them papers don't read like they had an axe to grind. Reckon it ain't no politics or some trick