United States or Guinea ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Riasantzeff shrugged his shoulders, and at last blurted out: "Deuce take it! Such a night, eh? It seems to have got hold of me, too. I say, suppose we drive back, and " Yourii did not at first understand what he meant. "There are some fine girls there, you know. What do you say? Shall we go back?" continued Riasantzeff, sniggering. Yourii blushed deeply.
They walked past Riasantzeff who scowled at them as they went towards the gate. At some distance Sanine noticed another group of young men whom he did not know and who stood, like a flock of sheep, with their heads close together. In their midst stood Schafroff, talking and gesticulating, but he became silent on seeing Sanine. The others all turned to look at the last-named.
Lialia, her cheek propped against one of the cold, damp pillars of the veranda, let the rain beat upon her bare head, so that her hair was wet through. "My princess is displeased ... Lialitschka!" said Riasantzeff, as he drew her closer to him, and lightly kissed moist, fragrant hair.
"It's nothing more than tomfoolery," he muttered. "For shame!" was Sina's indignant protest. Yourii glanced in disgust at Ivanoff's long, smooth hair and turned away. "To take the case of Soloveitchik," resumed Riasantzeff, and again his eyes twinkled. "I always thought him a nincompoop a silly Jew boy. And now, see what he has shown himself to be!
"And do you like fighting when you are drunk?" asked Novikoff. "No," replied Sanine, "I'd rather fight when I am sober, but when I'm drunk I'm the most good-natured person imaginable, for I have forgotten so much that is mean and vile." "Everybody is not like that," said Riasantzeff. "I'm sorry for them, that's all," replied Sanine.
"Ah! you're a better shot than I am," said Riasantzeff pleasantly. Yourii was delighted by such praise, although he always professed to care nothing for physical strength or skill. "I don't know about better," he observed carelessly, "It was just luck." By the time they reached the hut it was quite dark.
Some ran races and others clambered up the hill-side. All around was so calm and bright and the green woods so fair, that nothing sad or sinister could cast its shadows on their souls. "If everybody were to jump about and run like this," said Riasantzeff, flushed and breathless, "nine-tenths of the world's diseases would not exist." "Nor the vices either," added Lialia.
"No, I had no idea of it, either," said Yourii, with a touch of irony that was lost upon Riasantzeff, who whipped up the horse and, after a while, remarked: "Pretty girl, wasn't she? I know her. She's the old fellow's grandchild," Yourii was silent. His contemplative mood was in a moment dispelled, and he now felt convinced that Sanine was a coarse, bad man.
Sina sat down without speaking. Her pretty face looked sad and dejected. "Now then, tell us all about it," said Ivanoff. "As I came out of the club last night," began Riasantzeff, "a soldier rushed up to me and stammered out, 'His Excellency's shot himself! I jumped into a droschky and got there as fast as I could. I found nearly the whole regiment at the house.
Kousma, it's time to boil the potatoes! He! He!" Riasantzeff picked up the old fellow's flint-lock, and laughingly showed it to Yourii. It was a rusty old barrel-loader, very heavy, with wire wound round it. "I say," said he, "what sort of a gun do you call this? Aren't you afraid to shoot with it?" "He! He! I nearly shot myself with it once!
Word Of The Day