Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad
page 77 of 228 (33%)
page 77 of 228 (33%)
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seen. Very sweet. Most interesting. A little cloudy naturally. .
. . Mr. Renouard! I hope you are not a sceptic. It's so consoling to think. . ." "Those plantation boys of mine see ghosts too," said Renouard grimly. The sister of the philosopher sat up stiffly. What crudeness! It was always so with this strange young man. "Mr. Renouard! How can you compare the superstitious fancies of your horrible savages with the manifestations . . . " Words failed her. She broke off with a very faint primly angry smile. She was perhaps the more offended with him because of that flutter at the beginning of the conversation. And in a moment with perfect tact and dignity she got up from her chair and left him alone. Renouard didn't even look up. It was not the displeasure of the lady which deprived him of his sleep that night. He was beginning to forget what simple, honest sleep was like. His hammock from the ship had been hung for him on a side verandah, and he spent his nights in it on his back, his hands folded on his chest, in a sort of half conscious, oppressed stupor. In the morning he watched with unseeing eyes the headland come out a shapeless inkblot against the thin light of the false dawn, pass through all the stages of daybreak to the deep purple of its outlined mass nimbed gloriously with the gold of the rising sun. He listened to the vague sounds of waking within the house: and suddenly he became |
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