登陆注册
40886700000022

第22章 GENERAL ALISON TO MRS.

DRAKE,THE COLONEL'S WIFETo return,now,to where I was,and tell you the rest.We shall never know how she came to be there;there is no way to account for it.She was always watching for black and shiny and spirited horses -watching,hoping,despairing,hoping again;always giving chase and sounding her call,upon the meagrest chance of a response,and breaking her heart over the disappointment;always inquiring,always interested in sales-stables and horse accumulations in general.How she got there must remain a mystery.

At the point which I had reached in a preceding paragraph of this account,the situation was as follows:two horses lay dying;the bull had scattered his persecutors for the moment,and stood raging,panting,pawing the dust in clouds over his back,when the man that had been wounded returned to the ring on a remount,a poor blindfolded wreck that yet had something ironically military about his bearing -and the next moment the bull had ripped him open and his bowls were dragging upon the ground:and the bull was charging his swarm of pests again.Then came pealing through the air a bugle-call that froze my blood -"IT IS I,SOLDIER -COME!"Iturned;Cathy was flying down through the massed people;she cleared the parapet at a bound,and sped towards that riderless horse,who staggered forward towards the remembered sound;but his strength failed,and he fell at her feet,she lavishing kisses upon him and sobbing,the house rising with one impulse,and white with horror!Before help could reach her the bull was back again -She was never conscious again in life.We bore her home,all mangled and drenched in blood,and knelt by her and listened to her broken and wandering words,and prayed for her passing spirit,and there was no comfort -nor ever will be,I think.But she was happy,for she was far away under another sky,and comrading again with her Rangers,and her animal friends,and the soldiers.Their names fell softly and caressingly from her lips,one by one,with pauses between.She was not in pain,but lay with closed eyes,vacantly murmuring,as one who dreams.Sometimes she smiled,saying nothing;sometimes she smiled when she uttered a name -such as Shekels,or BB,or Potter.Sometimes she was at her fort,issuing commands;sometimes she was careering over the plain at the head of her men;sometimes she was training her horse;once she said,reprovingly,"You are giving me the wrong foot;give me the left -don't you know it is good-bye?"After this,she lay silent some time;the end was near.By-and-by she murmured,"Tired ...sleepy ...take Cathy,mamma."Then,"Kiss me,Soldier."For a little time,she lay so still that we were doubtful if she breathed.Then she put out her hand and began to feel gropingly about;then said,"I cannot find it;blow 'taps.'"It was the end.

End

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 霜林染红待君归

    霜林染红待君归

    没想到,十几年的别离,最终还是相遇。唐枫差一点不记得那个让他初中一直欢笑的叶霜林了,但即使想起,也终是让他后悔一生。
  • 聊斋世尊

    聊斋世尊

    天柱倾,地维乱,九鼎碎,三皇治世一去不回;魑魅魍魉、妖魔鬼怪混居一堂,众生沉沦,争斗不休;时光流逝,纪元交替,新秩序初现端倪;一个异世的灵魂来到这个吐故纳新的时代;一个个熟悉而又陌生的名字响彻耳旁;争私利,夺大义,劈荆斩棘,永往无前;或粉身碎骨,灰飞烟灭;或凌云绝顶,永恒不朽!
  • 公路上的鬼

    公路上的鬼

    除了一些喜欢宅的鬼魅喜欢呆在电梯、医院、殡仪馆里,还有一些爱逛街的游魂,他们穿梭在公路上,找寻能邂逅的有缘人……
  • 书山堆起来的神

    书山堆起来的神

    这是个以书为尊的神奇世界,只要你能写出来,就有实现的可能。当写出人之初,性本善而得到天地认可的时候,他疯狂了!当因此而获得巨大力量的时候,他差点就成了精神病!带着一个盗版网站资源库穿越的风辰子,今生必定成为这个以书为尊的世界的神!俯瞰众生!
  • 相约博物馆

    相约博物馆

    丹麦——我叫安德斯,丹麦锡尔克堡博物馆的馆长,每天和木乃伊、陶罐这些千百年前的东西打交道。我失去了妻子,尽管这一生中我们从来不曾互相了解。英国——我叫蒂娜,一个普通的农妇,日复一日做一些养鸡、打扫之类的琐碎活计。我和丈夫一起生活了四十年——不,应该说是我们一起只生活了一天,之后的四十年全是这一天的重复——没有意外、没有修改。一场来自五十年前的邀请,让原本人生绝无可能交集的两个人相遇,通过54封信件建立起的连接,宁静又悠长,在作者舒缓、深沉的叙述中,我们看到了人与人之间真正彼此理解的可能。
  • 我的智障神级选择系统

    我的智障神级选择系统

    【爆笑轻松文,单女主】选择吧!1.在闹市中脱掉上衣,以亚马逊战士的方式百米冲刺。奖励:上热搜,新闻,成为新一代网红!2.解开腰带,以最妖娆的姿态跳起宅舞。奖励:以扰乱治安等十几个罪名锒铛入狱!五秒内做出选择,否则抹杀!叶欢穿越了,但自己的系统却有点奇怪??如果不选却又要被抹杀?我能不能不选啊!qq群号:758113883
  • 女穿男之美男如花

    女穿男之美男如花

    旅游不小心滚下阶梯,竟狗血的穿越,而且还是女穿男身,真是悲喜交加啊!果然穿越过去遇到了不少的俊男,美男和美女!最重要的是遇到了生命中最重要的两人,他是无情宫的宫主,气质清冷却长着妖娆美丽,迷人摄魂,迷倒众生的脸蛋。他是皇宫的大皇子,未来的天子,冷酷,放浪,阳光,老练集于一身,当然脸也英俊的没话说。于是快乐,伤心,纠结,难择都如期光顾了我,我该选择谁?又该舍弃谁?
  • 豪门第一神婿

    豪门第一神婿

    但就算主角不在乎,也不想便宜了这个害死母亲的二房,便戳穿了她假怀孕的戏码,二房差点被赶出家门,最终求得老爷子的原谅。
  • 浮生千面

    浮生千面

    一座北方小城里犯罪案件频发,人心惶惶,且看临危受命的女警官如何组队“打怪”升级。
  • 三国之曹操是我爹

    三国之曹操是我爹

    雅无道穿越到三国乱世中,成为了曹操收养的义子。战神张飞很强?被杀的丢盔弃甲。智圣诸葛亮很厉害?轻松间退兵百里!孙权被吓到龟缩江东,数风流人物,还看雅无道