She turned
upon him with a pitiless mockery which, I see now, must have left in his
mind the conviction that she had been but making game of him; while I
never doubted myself the dupe. Not once had she received me as I now saw
her: though the night was warm, her deshabille was yet a somewhat
prodigal unmasking of her beauty to the moon! The conviction in each of
us was, that she and the other were laughing at him.
"We locked in a deadly struggle, with what object I cannot tell. I do not
believe either of us had an object. It was a mere blind conflict of
pointless enmity, in which each cared but to overpower the other. Which
first laid hold, which, if either, began to drag, I have not a suspicion.
The next thing I know is, we were in the water, each in the grasp of the
other, now rolling, now sweeping, now tumbling along, in deadly embrace.
"The shock of the ice-cold water, and the sense of our danger, brought me
to myself. I let my brother go, but he clutched me still. Down we shot
together toward the sheer descent. Already we seemed falling. The terror
of it over-mastered me. It was not the crash I feared, but the stayless
rush through the whistling emptiness. In the agony of my despair, I
pushed him from me with all my strength, striking at him a fierce, wild,
aimless blow--the only blow struck in the wrestle. His hold relaxed. I
remember nothing more.
Pages:
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229