He wrote an address on a couple of pieces of paper which he found in the
drawer of the table, and fastened them to the box and trunk with some
mucilage. Then he took his fur cap, and having banged on the fat Irish
servant-girl's door, and told her that her mistress was lying insensible
in his study, he left the house without delay. It wanted still an hour
to the time for the earliest morning train to New York, and, as the
young man did not care to subject himself to questions and remarks from
the officials at the village depot, he determined to walk down the
track, a distance of between four and five miles, to the station below.
Off he started accordingly, and, arriving there in ample time, was able
to eat a good breakfast of cold meat, hard-boiled eggs, and
crackers--all the solid contents of the refreshment-room--before his
train got in. He bought his ticket, stepped on board, flung himself into
a seat, and left all behind him.
CHAPTER XXXII.
WHERE TWO ROADS MEET.
The velvet-cushioned seat on which he sat felt very comfortable, and
the great speed at which he was being carried along was agreeable to
him. He had been busily occupied, with little rest of any kind, and
scarcely any sleep, for nearly three days; and his mind had been all the
time engrossed by the most harrowing thoughts and experiences. It was
all over now; nothing could ever again give him apprehension or anxiety;
the past was dead and never could live again; the future was arranged,
and it was simple enough: he, and the woman who had given him birth,
would sail together for Europe on Monday morning, at twelve o'clock. He
would have abundant wealth--all the property had been converted into
ready money, and would be taken with them--and he might live as
luxuriously, as sensually, as much like a pampered animal as he pleased,
or as he could. He would forget that he had a mind, or a heart, or a
soul; they had none of them served him in good stead; but he had some
reliance on his body. There were few that could compare with it in the
world, and he felt convinced that he should be able to derive a great
deal of enjoyment out of it before the time for its death and decay came
round. At all events, he was resolved that no form of indulgence to his
bodily appetites should go unproved; and when one grew stale he would
try another. With such enormous vitality and capacity to be and to
appreciate being voluptuous, he could hardly fail to avenge himself for
the hardships he had undergone thus far.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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