If
only I could have made her see things with my own eyes
--but I could not. She regarded me as an invalid whose
health was undermined by a wasting illness and who needed
nursing and coddling on the slightest provocation. Instead
of drawing Nature's inference that, what cannot live,
should die, she clung to the slender thread of life that
sometimes threatened to break--but never on these drives.
I often told her that, if I could make my living by
driving instead of teaching, I should feel the stronger,
the healthier, and the better for it--my main problem
would have been solved. But she, with a woman's instinct
for shelter and home, cowered down before every one of
Nature's menaces. And yet she bore up with remarkable
courage.
A mile or so before I came to the turn in my road the
forest withdrew on both sides, yielding space to the
fields and elbow-room for the wind to unfold its wings.
As soon as its full force struck the cutter, the curtains
began to emit that crackling sound which indicates to
the sailor that he has turned his craft as far into the
wind as he can safely do without losing speed.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163