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