FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37  
38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   >>   >|  
e canonized him; she put his picture and his sword, belt and epaulets in the conspicuous place in the parlor; she used his record for gallantry to get herself social position and a place of honor at public gatherings. Her house stood back from the highway in a grove of elms and walnuts. Its angularity was relieved by a porch with a flat roof that had a railing about it and served as a balcony for the second-story lodgers. There were broad halls through the middle of the house down-stairs and up. Olivia and Pauline had the three large rooms in the second story on the south side. They used the front room as a study and Pauline's bedroom was next to it. Late one afternoon she was seated at the study window watching a cherry-red sun drop through the purple haze of the autumn. She became conscious that some one was on the balcony before the window of the front room across the hall. She leaned so that she could see without being seen. Sharp against the darkening sky was the profile of a young man. Olivia joined her and followed her glance. The profile remained fixed and the two girls watched it, fascinated. It certainly was a powerful outline, proud and stern, but with a mouth that was sweet in its kindliness and gentleness. "I wonder what he's thinking about," said Olivia, in an undertone; he was not fifteen feet from them. "I suppose, some scheme for conquering the world." Most of Battle Field's youth came from the farms of that western country, the young men with bodies and brains that were strong but awkward. Almost all were working their way through--as were not a few of the women. They felt that life was a large, serious business impatiently waiting for them to come and attend to it in a large, serious way better than it had ever been attended to before. They studied hard; they practised oratory and debating. Their talk was of history and philosophy, religion and politics. They slept little; they thought--or tried to think--even more than they talked. At a glance this man was one of them, a fine type. "He's handsome, isn't he?" said Pauline. "But--" She did not finish; indeed it was not clear to her what the rest of her protest was. He reminded her of Dumont--there was the same look of superiority, of the "born to lead." But his face seemed to, have some quality which Dumont's lacked--or was it only the idealizing effect of the open sky and the evening light? When the bell rang for suppe
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37  
38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Olivia

 

Pauline

 

glance

 

balcony

 

window

 

profile

 

Dumont

 

Almost

 
working
 

effect


idealizing

 

impatiently

 

waiting

 
attend
 

business

 
quality
 
lacked
 
strong
 

conquering

 
evening

scheme

 

suppose

 

Battle

 

bodies

 

brains

 

country

 

western

 

awkward

 

thought

 
reminded

protest
 
talked
 
handsome
 

finish

 

practised

 

oratory

 
debating
 
studied
 
attended
 

politics


religion
 

superiority

 

history

 

philosophy

 

remained

 

railing

 

served

 

lodgers

 

walnuts

 

angularity