FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93  
94   95   96   97   >>  
. 'She wants me to write to her,' he began presently. 'Says she doesn't mind the spelling, if I'll only write. Fancy her saying that!' 'O, shut up, will you?' said Edward savagely; and once more we were silent, with only our thoughts for sorry company. 'Let's go off to the copse,' I suggested timidly, feeling that something had to be done to relieve the tension, 'and cut more new bows and arrows.' 'She gave me a knife my last birthday,' said Edward moodily, never budging. 'It wasn't much of a knife--but I wish I hadn't lost it!' 'When my legs used to ache,' I said, 'she sat up half the night, rubbing stuff on them. I forgot all about that till this morning.' 'There's the fly!' cried Harold suddenly. 'I can hear it scrunching on the gravel.' Then for the first time we turned and stared each other in the face. * * * * * The fly and its contents had finally disappeared through the gate, the rumble of its wheels had died away. Yet no flag floated defiantly in the sun, no cannons proclaimed the passing of a dynasty. From out the frosted cake of our existence Fate had cut an irreplaceable segment: turn which way we would, the void was present. We sneaked off in different directions, mutually undesirous of company; and it seemed borne in upon me that I ought to go and dig my garden right over, from end to end. It didn't actually want digging; on the other hand no amount of digging could affect it, for good or for evil; so I worked steadily, strenuously, under the hot sun, stifling thought in action. At the end of an hour or so, I was joined by Edward. 'I've been chopping up wood,' he explained, in a guilty sort of way, though nobody had called on him to account for his doings. 'What for?' I inquired stupidly. 'There's piles and piles of it chopped up already.' 'I know,' said Edward, 'but there's no harm in having a bit over. You never can tell what may happen. But what have you been doing all this digging for?' 'You said it was going to rain,' I explained hastily. 'So I thought I'd get the digging done before it came. Good gardeners always tell you that's the right thing to do.' 'It did look like rain at one time,' Edward admitted; 'but it's passed off now. Very queer weather we're having. I suppose that's why I've felt so funny all day.' 'Yes, I suppose it's the weather,' I replied. '_I've_ been feeling funny too.' The weather had nothing to do with it, as we w
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93  
94   95   96   97   >>  



Top keywords:

Edward

 

digging

 

weather

 
explained
 
thought
 

feeling

 
suppose
 

company

 

steadily

 

chopping


garden
 

guilty

 

strenuously

 

worked

 

action

 
stifling
 

amount

 

joined

 

affect

 
happen

admitted

 
passed
 

gardeners

 

replied

 

stupidly

 

inquired

 

chopped

 
doings
 

called

 

account


hastily

 

floated

 

birthday

 

moodily

 

budging

 

arrows

 

relieve

 

tension

 

rubbing

 

spelling


presently

 

suggested

 

timidly

 

thoughts

 

silent

 

savagely

 
forgot
 

frosted

 

existence

 

dynasty