And she began to revolve him before eyes that searched
hopefully for possibilities of his giving her precisely what her
nerves craved.
"It would be queer, wouldn't it," she mused--she was watching him
swim--"if it should turn out that I had come up here to learn,
instead of to teach?"
And he--In large presences he was always at his best--in the large
situations of affairs, in these large, tranquillizing horizons of
nature. He, too, began to forget that she was a refined, delicate,
sensitive lady, with nerves that writhed under breaks in manners
and could in no wise endure a slip in grammar, unless, of course,
it was one of those indorsed by fashionable usage. His health came
flooding and roaring back in its fullness; and day by day the
difficulty of restraining himself from loud laughter and strong,
plebeian action became more appalling to him. He would leave the
camp, set off at a run as soon as he got safely out of sight; and,
when he was sure of seclusion in distance, he would "cut loose"--
yell and laugh and caper like a true madman; tear off his
superfluous clothes, splash and thresh in some lonely lake like a
baby whale that has not yet had the primary lessons in how to
behave.
Pages:
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297