Garman And Worse A Norwegian Novel, Alexander Lange Kielland [best novels to read in english .txt] 📗

For The Young,  To Be Constantly On Their Guard Against

The Danger. Johnsen Could See For Himself To What Lengths He Had Allowed

Himself To Be Carried Yesterday.

 

"There Is,  However,  One Thing," Continued The Dean,  "In Which You Show

Very Great Merit,  My Dear Young Friend,  And For This Very Reason I Have

Had,  And I May Say Still Have,  Great Hopes Of You. What I Speak Of Is

Your Integrity,  And The Natural Leaning Towards Truth And Sincerity,

Which Seems To Pervade Your Whole Nature. But,  My Dear Friend,  How Can A

Man Claim To Be Sincere When He Comes Forward And Cries,  'I Love Truth

Beyond Everything,  And My Heart Is Full Of Love For What Is Elevated And

Pure,' And Then It Appears All The Time That The Love With Which His

Heart Was Full Is Nothing More Than An Earthly Love For The Woman Who

Has Put These Thoughts Into His Mind? Now,  Can You Deny That This Was

Your Case Yesterday?"

 

Johnsen Could Not Exactly Deny The Accusation,  And The Dean Seized Upon

The Half-Confession He Had Made,  And Continued His Homily,  Without

Betraying A Sign Of Weariness. And When He At Last Took His Leave,  Which

Was Not Till Nearly Twelve O'Clock,  He Said,  "I Will Look In again This

Afternoon. Your Thoughts Are Doubtless So Much Occupied That You Will

Not Go Out To-Day,  And Perhaps It Would Look Quite As Well If You Stayed

At Home."

 

The Next Day Also Johnsen Remained In His Room,  And The Dean Paid Him A

Visit,  Both Morning And Afternoon. At Length,  All At Once,  His

Conversion Was Accomplished. In a Moment It Seemed Clear To Him By How

Little He Had Escaped Getting On The Wrong Path,  And Now All The

Apprehensions Which He Had Felt On His First Visit To Sandsgaard Again

Reappeared. He Felt How Near He Had Been To Forgetting And Abandoning

His Mission--That Mission Among The Poor,  Which Was Really His Duty; But

Now His Eyes Were Opened,  And That Very Affection,  The Strength Of Which

He Had Now Only Begun To Recognize,  He Would Bring As A Peace-Offering

For His Shortcoming,  And For Having So Nearly Been Untrue To Himself And

To His Calling.

 

He Sprang Up And Grasped The Dean'S Hand. "Thank You! Thank You! You

Have Saved Me!" His Eyes Flashed,  And His Broad,  Powerful Bosom Seemed

To Swell. At That Moment The Dean Might Have Sent Him To Certain Death,

And He Would Have Obeyed.

 

As They Drove Back From Sandsgaard,  The Dean Narrowly Observed His Young

Friend. The Visit At The Garmans' Had Not Passed Off Quite So

Successfully As Some Of The Others Which They Had Paid,  Where The

Inspector'S Calm And Genuine Manner Had Made A Favourable Impression.

The Dean Thought,  However,  That It Was Better Not To Carry Things Too

Far,  Now That They Seemed To Have Taken A Good Direction. They Did Not,

Therefore,  Pay Any More Visits,  But Drove Home To The Dean'S To Get A

Cup Of Chocolate,  Which Miss Barbara Had Prepared For Them.

 

Miss Cordsen Had Now Two Patients To Attend To,  For Rachel Had Also Kept

Her Room For Some Days. The Old Lady Went To And Fro Between The Two. It

Was Not Easy To Discover How Much She Comprehended Of It All. Her Mouth,

Surrounded By Its Innumerable Wrinkles,  Was So Tightly Closed That

Gossip Was,  For Her,  Out Of The Question. Calmly And Methodically Did

Chapter 13 Pg 96

Miss Cordsen Carry On Her Duties. Both Upstairs And Down Were To Be Seen

Her Well-Starched Cap-Strings,  And The Faint,  Old-Fashioned Smell Of

Lavender Seemed To Hang In Her Very Clothes.

 

Rachel Sat For Hours Looking Before Her,  Without Caring To Do Anything.

To Think That This Should Be The End Of All Her Hopes! Was It,  Then,

Impossible To Find A Man With Courage In His Heart,  And Blood In His

Veins? She Felt That She Was Precluded From Any Line Of Action That

Would Really Satisfy Her,  Condemned As She Was To A Life Of Daily

Drudgery; But Her Thoughts Became More And More Embittered,  First

Against Him Who Had Deceived Her,  And Finally Against The Whole Human

Race.

 

Madeleine,  On The Contrary,  Had No Feelings Of This Nature; But She Had

A Feeling Of Dread,  Which Seemed Daily To Increase. She Felt That The

Duplicity Of Her Friend Was So Great,  So Enormous,  That It Quite Passed

Her Imagination; And Then The Thought That It Must Be He--He,  To Whom

Alone,  Among All This World Of Strangers,  She Felt Herself Attracted On

The Very Ground Of His Sincerity! Again And Again These Thoughts Arose

Within Her And Tortured Her. She Felt As If Her Foothold Must Be

Insecure For Evermore. A Stain Of Impurity Seemed To Have Passed Over

Her Life,  Which Made Her Timid And Apprehensive Of All These So-Called

Friends Who Had Thus Misunderstood And Deceived Her.

 

The Morning After That Night She Was Awakened By Fanny,  Who Came Into

Her Room In Her Dressing-Gown Before It Was Quite Light. The Truth Was,

Fanny Had Not Slept Very Soundly,  Tormented As She Was The Whole Time By

Her Fears,  And By Wondering From Whence The Warning Came. It Was Quite

Certain That It Must Have Proceeded Either From Miss Cordsen Or

Madeleine,  For The Windows Of Both Rooms Were Open. If It Were

Madeleine,  The Plot Had Become So Involved That She Did Not Dare To

Think Of It. If It Were Miss Cordsen,  It Was Bad Enough,  But Still Not

So Desperate. From The Sound She Guessed That It Must Be A Glass Of

Water,  Or Something Of That Sort,  And As Soon As Day Began To Dawn She

Got Up And Left Her Room In The Hope Of Clearing Up The Mystery.

Madeleine Sat Up As She Heard Fanny Come In.

 

"I Beg Pardon,  Madeleine. I Came To See If You Could Give Me A Glass Of

Water. There Is A Spider In Our Water-Bottle."

 

She Drew Back The Curtains,  And There,  Sure Enough,  Stood The

Water-Bottle With Its Glass. Fanny Gave A Sigh Of Relief,  And Left

Madeleine Still Gazing In astonishment. It Was More Than She Could

Understand.

Chapter 14 Pg 97

 

The Autumn Rains Had Now Begun In earnest. Day After Day The Water Came

Down In Streams,  And At Night It Could Be Heard Pattering On The

Window-Panes,  And Dripping From The Eaves,  Every Time One Woke.

Chapter 14 Pg 98

At First The Rain Came For A Long Time From The South-West,  But There

Was Nothing Wonderful In That,  For The South-West Is A Rainy Quarter.

But When It Rained For A Whole Fortnight With A North Wind,  People Who

Were Weatherwise Maintained That If It Once Began To Rain Steadily From

The North,  There Would Be No End To It.

 

One Morning The Wind Ceased,  But The Clouds Lay Heavy And Lowering

Overhead; And Now The Weatherwise Averred,  With Much Shaking Of Heads,

That It Would Be Worse Than Ever. The Morning,  However,  Actually Passed

Without Rain,  And The Air Grew Lighter And Clearer; But Just As The

Aspect Began To Improve,  The Drizzle Again Commenced.

 

The Rain Now Set In With Renewed Vigour,  With All Its Pleasing Varieties

Of Shower And Deluge; But The Worst Form It Took Was When It Poured

Persistently And Unmercifully From Morning To Night.

 

The New Moons Came In With Rain And Went Out With Rain,  And Every Day Of

The Calendar Was Alike Wet. The Wind Veered About To Every Point Of The

Compass,  And Heaped Up Banks Of Fog Out To Sea,  And Heavy Masses Of

Cloud Up In The Mountains,  Which Finally Drifted Together,  And Poured

Down Their Contents In Torrents All Along The West Coast.

 

And Now The Storms Began In earnest,  And Went Soughing Through The Trees

In The Avenue,  And Whistling In The Rigging Of The Vessels That Were

Laid Up For The Winter.

 

In The Old House At Sandsgaard Each Separate Wind Had Its Own Pet

Corner,  To Which It Returned With Delight Every Autumn. The North Wind

Came Howling Along Between The Warehouses; The South Wind Took The Wet

Leaves From The Garden And Hurled Them In Handfuls Against The

Window-Panes; The East Wind Whirled Down The Chimneys Till All The Rooms

Were Full Of Smoke; While The Pet Amusement Of The West Wind Was To Make

A Clatter With All The Loose Tiles On The Roof,  During The Whole

Livelong Night.

 

The Consul Kept Going And Looking At The Barometer,  And Tapping It To

See If The Quicksilver Was Rising Or Falling: But,  To Tell The Truth,  It

Did Not Seem To Make Much Matter Which It Did; For The Sky,  The Clouds,

The Rain,  And The Storm Had All Got Into Such A Jumble,  That The Weather

Continued Equally Abominable,  Week After Week,  During The Whole Winter.

 

In The Ship-Yard Work Went On But Slowly,  For Garman And Worse Were Not

So New-Fangled As To Build Under Cover; But Mr. Robson Still Thought

That He Would Be Ready By The Appointed Day,  Although The Weather

Certainly Was "The Very Devil!"

 

But The Person Who Most Of All Anathematized The Weather,  And Indeed The

Whole West Coast,  And Everything That Belonged To It,  Was Our Friend Mr.

Aalbom. When He Left His House In The Morning,  The Wind And Rain Would

Persist In beating In His Face,  And When He Came Out Of School,  They

Were So Obliging As To Follow Him Right Up Again To His Very Door. When

He Had Gone Part Of The Way Down The Avenue,  The Wind Managed To Blow

Down On The Top Of His Umbrella,  Which,  After Many Struggles,  It Finally

Chapter 14 Pg 99