ass cases that first night must have gone the same way,
long before this. It was only one splendid breath they had, in spite of
their brave mockery at the winter outside the glass; and it was a losing
game in the end, it seemed, this revolt against the homilies by which
the world is run. Paul took one of the blossoms carefully from his coat
and scooped a little hole in the snow, where he covered it up. Then he
dozed awhile, from his weak condition, seemingly insensible to the cold.

The sound of an approaching train awoke him, and he started to his feet,
remembering only his resolution, and afraid lest he should be too late.
He stood watching the approaching locomotive, his teeth chattering,
his lips drawn away from them in a frightened smile; once or twice he
glanced nervously sidewise, as though he were being watched. When
the right moment came, he jumped. As he fell, the folly of his haste
occurred to him with merciless clearness, the vastness of what he had
left undone. There flashed through his brain, clearer than ever before,
the blue of Adriatic water, the yellow of Algerian sands.

He felt something strike his chest, and that his body was being thrown
swiftly through the air, on and on, immeasurably far and fast, while his
limbs were gently relaxed. Then, because the picture-making mechanism
was crushed, the disturbing visions flashed into black, and Paul dropped
back into the immense design of things.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Troll Garden and Selected Stories, by
Willa Cather

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