We and the World: A Book for Boys. Part IEwing, Juliana Horatia
General
We and the World: A Book for Boys. Part I
Ewing, Juliana Horatia
Sea stories
First, a white thing lying on the ground, and it was the widow's cap,
and then Mrs. Wood herself, with a gaunt lanky-looking man, such as Mary
Anne had described. Her head came nearly to his shoulder, as I was well
able to judge, for he was holding it in his hands and had laid his own
upon it, as if it were a natural resting-place. And his hair coming
against the darker part of hers, I could see that his was grey all over.
Up to this point I had been too much stupefied to move, and I had just
become conscious that I ought to go, when the white cap lying in the
moonlight seemed to catch his eye as it had caught mine; and he set his
heel on it with a vehemence that made me anxious to be off. I could not
resist one look back as I left the garden, if only to make sure that I
had not been dreaming. No, they were there still, and he was lifting the
coil of her hair, which I suppose had come down when the cap was pulled
off, and it took the full stretch of his arm to do so, before it fell
heavily from his fingers.
When I presented myself to my mother with the bunch of flowers still in
my hand, she said, "Did my Jack get these for Mother?"
I shook my head. "No, Mother. For Mrs. Wood."
"You might have called at the farm as you passed," said she.
"I did!" said I.
"Couldn't you see Mrs. Wood, love?"
"Yes, I saw her, but she'd got the tramp with her."
"What tramp?" asked my mother in a horror-struck voice, which seemed
quite natural to me, for I had been brought up to rank tramps in the
same "dangerous class" with mad dogs, stray bulls, drunken men, and
other things which it is undesirable to meet.
"The great lanky one," I explained, quoting from Mary Anne.
"What was he doing with Mrs. Wood?" asked my mother anxiously.
I had not yet recovered from my own bewilderment, and was reckless of
the shock inflicted by my reply.
"_Pooring_ her head, and kissing it."
CHAPTER V.
"To each his sufferings; all are men
Condemned alike to groan.
The tender for another's pain--"
GRAY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account