FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   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   164   165   166   167   168   169   >>   >|  
at which they at once began to go hardly left him time to raise a protest. Not a little anxious, he thought only of watching the horizon and keeping a lookout for obstacles. The trees vanished on either side almost unseen. Their foliage overhead made a rhythmical sound as of moaning waves. Night insects dashed themselves to death against the lamps. "We shall get there right enough," Mazeroux ventured to observe. "There's no need to put on the pace." The speed increased and he said no more. Villages, plains, hills; and then, suddenly in the midst of the darkness, the lights of a large town, Le Mans. "Do you know the way to the station, Alexandre?" "Yes, Chief, to the right and then straight on." Of course they ought to have gone to the left. They wasted seven or eight minutes in wandering through the streets and receiving contradictory instructions. When the motor pulled up at the station the train was whistling. Don Luis jumped out, rushed through the waiting-room, found the doors shut, jostled the railway officials who tried to stop him, and reached the platform. A train was about to start on the farther line. The last door was banged to. He ran along the carriages, holding on to the brass rails. "Your ticket, sir! Where's your ticket?" shouted an angry collector. Don Luis continued to fly along the footboards, giving a swift glance through the panes, thrusting aside the persons whose presence at the windows prevented him from seeing, prepared at any moment to burst into the compartment containing the two accomplices. He did not see them in the end carriages. The train started. And suddenly he gave a shout: they were there, the two of them, by themselves! He had seen them! They were there: Florence, lying on the seat, with her head on Sauverand's shoulder, and he, leaning over her, with his arms around her! Mad with rage he flung back the bottom latch and seized the handle of the carriage door. At the same moment he lost his balance and was pulled off by the furious ticket collector and by Mazeroux, who bellowed: "Why, you're mad, Chief! you'll kill yourself!" "Let go, you ass!" roared Don Luis. "It's they! Let me be, can't you!" The carriages filed past. He tried to jump on to another footboard. But the two men were clinging to him, some railway porters came to their assistance, the station-master ran up. The train moved out of the station. "Idiots!" he shouted. "Boobies! Pack of
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   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   164   165   166   167   168   169   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
station
 

ticket

 

carriages

 

pulled

 

Mazeroux

 
moment
 
shouted
 

collector

 
suddenly
 

railway


compartment

 

started

 
accomplices
 

presence

 
continued
 

footboards

 
giving
 
glance
 

prepared

 

prevented


windows

 

thrusting

 

persons

 

Sauverand

 

roared

 

footboard

 

master

 

assistance

 

Idiots

 

Boobies


clinging

 
porters
 

leaning

 

shoulder

 

Florence

 
balance
 

bellowed

 
furious
 

carriage

 
bottom

seized
 

handle

 
jostled
 
dashed
 

insects

 

rhythmical

 
moaning
 

increased

 
ventured
 

observe