Jack London

The Valley of the Moon Jack London

Book Excerpt: lame. It was a small room, not disorderly, because of lack offurnishings to disorder it. The plaster, discolored by the steamof many wash-days, was crisscrossed with cracks from the bigearthquake of the previous spring. The floor was ridged, wide-cracked, and uneven, and in front of the stove it was wornthrough and repaired with a five-gallon oil-can hammered flat anddouble. A sink, a dirty roller-towel, several chairs, and awooden table completed the picture. An apple-core crunched under her foot as she drew a chair to thetable. On the frayed oilcloth, a supper waited. She attempted thecold beans, thick with grease, but gave them up, and buttered aslice of bread. The rickety house shook to a heavy, prideless tread, and throughthe inner door came Sarah, middle-aged, lop-breasted, hair-tousled, her face lined with care and fat petulance."Huh, it's you," she grunted a greeting. "I just couldn't keepthings warm. Such a day! I near died of the heat. An' littleHenry cut his lip awful. The docRead More