putterings 413 < 414 > 415 index
a knife here, a rag there; padded depths to, and fro
For a while, not noticing her, he fussed about his canvas, using a knife here, a rag there, passing to and fro across the scaffolding, oblivious of the flight of time, until at length the waning light began to prophesy dusk, and he came to himself with a guilty start.
Below, in the studio, Valerie sat, fully dressed except for hat and gloves, head resting in the padded depths of an armchair, watching him in silence.
“I declare,” he said, looking down at her contritely, “I never meant to keep you all this time. Good lord! Have I been puttering up here for an hour and a half! It’s nearly eight o’clock! Why on earth didn’t you speak to me, Valerie?”
“It’s a braver girl than I am who'll venture to interrupt you at work, Kelly,” she said, laughingly.
ex Robert W. Chambers, The Common Law, Illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson (1911) : 71
U California copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link
same (via google books) : link
NYPL copy/scan (via hathitrust), with scenes (only one that I can count) “from the Selznik All-Star Special Photoplay Production” : link
—
Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933) : wikipedia
The novel yielded two silent films :
1916 : wikipedia
1923 : wikipedia