I decided not to part from the two unhappy women just then and leave
them alone with their misfortune. But Heaven willed otherwise. The
Crimean War had been decided upon, and our regiment was the first to
be sent to the front. So I was taken from my dear friends just when
they needed me most.--
XI
A mixture of light and darkness appeared in a corner of the eastern
sky, something like the reflection of a distant conflagration. The
light spread farther and farther, and swallowed many a star. It
looked as if some half-extinguished firebrand of a world had blazed
up again, and was burning brightly once more. But no! that was
neither a world-catastrophe nor a conflagration: some mysterious new
creation was struggling into existence. And after the noiseless
storm and battle of lights, the moon appeared, angry-looking, and
ragged-edged. In the light of the moon the speaker too looked
strange and fantastic, like a relic of a world that is no more.
The old man continued:--
Well, on that day we turned a new leaf in our lives. Till then we
had been like people who live against their own will, without aim or
object.
Pages:
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127