FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138  
139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   >>   >|  
Helen removed her shawl from the opposite seat, as a young man, wrapped in a cloak, with a green shade over his eyes, and a general air of feebleness, got in and sank back with a sigh of weariness or pain. Evidently an invalid, for his face was thin and pale, his dark hair cropped short, and the ungloved hand attenuated and delicate as a woman's. A sidelong glance from under the deep shade seemed to satisfy him regarding his neighbors, and drawing his cloak about him with a slight shiver, he leaned into the corner and seemed to forget that he was not alone. Helen and Amy exchanged glances of compassionate interest, for women always pity invalids, especially if young, comely and of the opposite sex. The major took one look, shrugged his shoulders, and returned to his book. Presently a hollow cough gave Helen a pretext for discovering the nationality of the newcomer. "Do the open windows inconvenience you, sir?" she asked, in English. No answer; the question evidently unintelligible. She repeated it in French, lightly touching his cloak to arrest his attention. Instantly a smile broke over the handsome mouth, and in the purest French he assured her that the fresh air was most agreeable, and begged pardon for annoying them with his troublesome cough. "Not an invalid, I hope, sir?" said the major, in his bluff yet kindly voice. "They tell me I can have no other fate; that my malady is fatal; but I still hope and fight for my life; it is all I have to give my country now." A stifled sigh and a sad emphasis on the last word roused the sympathy of the girls, the interest of the major. He took another survey, and said, with a tone of satisfaction, as he marked the martial carriage of the young man, and caught a fiery glance of the half-hidden eyes,-- "You are a soldier, sir?" "I was; I am nothing now but an exile, for Poland is in chains." The words "Poland" and "exile" brought up all the pathetic stories of that unhappy country which the three listeners had ever heard, and won their interest at once. "You were in the late revolution, perhaps?" asked the major, giving the unhappy outbreak the most respectful name he could use. "From beginning to end." "Oh, tell us about it; we felt much sympathy for you, and longed to have you win," cried Amy, with such genuine interest and pity in her tone, it was impossible to resist. Pressing both hands upon his breast, the young man bent low, with a fl
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138  
139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
interest
 

French

 

glance

 

Poland

 

unhappy

 
country
 
sympathy
 

invalid

 
opposite
 

hidden


satisfaction

 

martial

 
survey
 

caught

 
carriage
 

marked

 
emphasis
 
malady
 

stifled

 

roused


listeners

 

longed

 

beginning

 

breast

 

genuine

 

impossible

 

resist

 

Pressing

 

respectful

 

stories


pathetic

 
kindly
 

brought

 

soldier

 

chains

 
revolution
 

giving

 
outbreak
 

lightly

 
neighbors

drawing
 

slight

 
shiver
 
satisfy
 

sidelong

 

leaned

 
compassionate
 

invalids

 
glances
 

exchanged