Short Fiction Kate Chopin (best e reader for android .txt) đ
- Author: Kate Chopin
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The night fell calm and beautiful, with the delicious odor of the pines floating upon the air. But the three did not sit up to enjoy it. Before the stroke of nine, Aiken had already fallen upon his bed unconscious of everything about him in the heavy drunken sleep that would hold him fast through the night. It even clutched him more relentlessly than usual, thanks to GrĂ©goireâs free gift of whiskey.
The sun was high when he awoke. He lifted his voice and called imperiously for âTite Reine, wondering that the coffeepot was not on the hearth, and marveling still more that he did not hear her voice in quick response with its, âIâm cominâ, Bud. Yere I come.â He called again and again. Then he arose and looked out through the back door to see if she were picking cotton in the field, but she was not there. He dragged himself to the front entrance. GrĂ©goireâs bed was still on the gallery, but the young fellow was nowhere to be seen.
Uncle Mortimer had come into the yard, not to cut wood this time, but to pick up the axe which was his own property, and lift it to his shoulder.
âMortimer,â called out Aiken, âwhurâs my wife?â at the same time advancing toward the negro. Mortimer stood still, waiting for him. âWhurâs my wife anâ that Frenchman? Speak out, I say, before I send you to hâ âl.â
Uncle Mortimer never had feared Bud Aiken; and with the trusty axe upon his shoulder, he felt a double hardihood in the manâs presence. The old fellow passed the back of his black, knotty hand unctuously over his lips, as though he relished in advance the words that were about to pass them. He spoke carefully and deliberately:
âMiss Reine,â he said, âI reckon she musâ of done struck Natchitoches paâish sometime toâard de middle oâ de night, on dat âar swifâ hoss oâ Mr. Sanchunâs.â
Aiken uttered a terrific oath. âSaddle up Buckeye,â he yelled, âbefore I count twenty, or Iâll rip the black hide off yer. Quick, thar! Thur ainât nothinâ four-footed top oâ this earth that Buckeye canât run down.â Uncle Mortimer scratched his head dubiously, as he answered:â â
âYas, Masâ Bud, but you see, Mr. Sanchun, he done cross de Sabine befoâ sunup on Buckeye.â
A Respectable WomanMrs. Baroda was a little provoked to learn that her husband expected his friend, Gouvernail, up to spend a week or two on the plantation.
They had entertained a good deal during the winter; much of the time had also been passed in New Orleans in various forms of mild dissipation. She was looking forward to a period of unbroken rest, now, and undisturbed tĂȘte-Ă -tĂȘte with her husband, when he informed her that Gouvernail was coming up to stay a week or two.
This was a man she had heard much of but never seen. He had been her husbandâs college friend; was now a journalist, and in no sense a society man or âa man about town,â which were, perhaps, some of the reasons she had never met him. But she had unconsciously formed an image of him in her mind. She pictured him tall, slim, cynical; with eyeglasses, and his hands in his pockets; and she did not like him. Gouvernail was slim enough, but he wasnât very tall nor very cynical; neither did he wear eyeglasses nor carry his hands in his pockets. And she rather liked him when he first presented himself.
But why she liked him she could not explain satisfactorily to herself when she partly attempted to do so. She could discover in him none of those brilliant and promising traits which Gaston, her husband, had often assured her that he possessed. On the contrary, he sat rather mute and receptive before her chatty eagerness to make him feel at home and in face of Gastonâs frank and wordy hospitality. His manner was as courteous toward her as the most exacting woman could require; but he made no direct appeal to her approval or even esteem.
Once settled at the plantation he seemed to like to sit upon the wide portico in the shade of one of the big Corinthian pillars, smoking his cigar lazily and listening attentively to Gastonâs experience as a sugar planter.
âThis is what I call living,â he would utter with deep satisfaction, as the air that swept across the sugar field caressed him with its warm and scented velvety touch. It pleased him also to get on familiar terms with the big dogs that came about him, rubbing themselves sociably against his legs. He did not care to fish, and displayed no eagerness to go out and kill grosbecs when Gaston proposed doing so.
Gouvernailâs personality puzzled Mrs. Baroda, but she liked him. Indeed, he was a lovable, inoffensive fellow. After a few days, when she could understand him no better than at first, she gave over being puzzled and remained piqued. In this mood she left her husband and her guest, for the most part, alone together. Then finding that Gouvernail took no manner of exception to her action, she imposed her society upon him, accompanying him in his idle strolls to the mill and walks along the batture. She persistently sought to penetrate the reserve in which he had unconsciously enveloped himself.
âWhen is he goingâ âyour friend?â she one day asked her husband. âFor my part, he tires me frightfully.â
âNot for a week yet, dear. I canât understand; he gives you no trouble.â
âNo. I should like him better if he did; if he were more like others, and I had to plan somewhat for his comfort and enjoyment.â
Gaston took his wifeâs pretty face between his hands and looked tenderly and laughingly into her troubled eyes. They were making a bit of toilet sociably together in Mrs. Barodaâs dressing-room.
âYou are full of surprises, ma belle,â he said to her. âEven I can never count upon how you are going to
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