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قراءة كتاب A Book o' Nine Tales.
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A
Book o’ Nine Tales
ARLO BATES
BOSTON
ROBERTS BROTHERS
1891
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| Tale the First: | A Strange Idyl | 7 |
| Interlude First: | An Episode in Mask | 55 |
| Tale the Second: | The Tuberose | 67 |
| Interlude Second: | An Evening at Whist | 89 |
| Tale the Third: | Saucy Betty Mork | 101 |
| Interlude Third: | Mrs. Fruffles is at Home | 131 |
| Tale the Fourth: | John Vantine | 141 |
| Interlude Fourth: | The Radiator | 155 |
| Tale the Fifth: | Mère Marchette | 163 |
| Interlude Fifth: | “Such Sweet Sorrow” | 189 |
| Tale the Sixth: | Barum West’s Extravaganza | 201 |
| Interlude Sixth: | A Business Meeting | 221 |
| Tale the Seventh: | A Sketch in Umber | 233 |
| Interlude Seventh: | Thirteen | 253 |
| Tale the Eighth: | April’s Lady | 263 |
| Interlude Eighth: | A Cuban Morning | 285 |
| Tale the Ninth: | Delia Grimwet | 301 |
Tale the First.
A STRANGE IDYL.
A BOOK O’ NINE TALES.
A STRANGE IDYL.
I.
He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent. He rested upon his back, staring at the ceiling, on whose white surface were twinkling golden dots and lines in a network which even his broken mind knew must be the sunlight reflected from off the water somewhere. The windows of the chamber were open, and the sweet summer air came in laden with the perfume of flowers piquantly mingled with pungent sea odors. Now and then a bee buzzed by the casement, or a butterfly seemed tempted to enter the sick-room—apparently thought better of it, and went on its careless way.
Of all these things the sick man who lay there was unconscious, and the sweet young girl sitting by his bed was too deeply buried in her book to notice them. For some time there was no movement in the chamber, until, the close of a chapter releasing for an instant the reader’s attention, she looked to discover that the patient’s eyes were open. Seeing him awake, she rose and came a step nearer, thereby making the second discovery, more startling than the first, that the light of reason had replaced in those eyes the stare of delirium.
“Ah,” she said, softly, “you are awake!”
The invalid turned his gaze toward her, far too feeble to make any other movement; but he made no attempt to speak.
“No,” she continued, with that little purring intonation which betrays the feminine satisfaction at having a man helpless and unable to resist coddling; “don’t speak. Take your medicine, and go to sleep again.”
She put a firm, round arm beneath his head, and bestowed upon him a spoonful of a colorless liquid, afterward smoothing his pillows with deft, swift touches. He submitted with utter passiveness of mind and body, ignorant who this maiden might be, where he was, or, indeed, who he was. Painfully he endeavored to think, to remember, to understand; but with no result save confusing