Once he turned, picked up
my time-table, and consulted it.
The lady had to feign a continued lack of consciousness in order
to deceive the enemy. But fits of coughing, provoked by the smoke,
exposed her true condition. As to me, I was very uncomfortable,
and very tired. And I meditated; I plotted.
The train was rushing on, joyously, intoxicated with its own
speed.
Saint Etienne!....At that moment, the man arose and took two steps
toward us, which caused the lady to utter a cry of alarm and fall
into a genuine swoon. What was the man about to do? He lowered the
window on our side. A heavy rain was now falling, and, by a
gesture, the man expressed his annoyance at his not having an
umbrella or an overcoat. He glanced at the rack. The lady's
umbrella was there. He took it. He also took my overcoat and put
it on.
We were now crossing the Seine. He turned up the bottoms of his
trousers, then leaned over and raised the exterior latch of the
door. Was he going to throw himself upon the track? At that speed,
it would have been instant death. We now entered a tunnel. The man
opened the door half-way and stood on the upper step. What folly!
The darkness, the smoke, the noise, all gave a fantastic
appearance to his actions.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104