Active Service, Stephen Crane [classic books for 11 year olds TXT] 📗

Instance,

The Glories Of A Statuesque Neck,  Doing it All With The Manner Of

A Splendid And Fabulous Virgin Who Knew Not That There Was

Such A Thing as Shame. Her Stockings Were Of Black Silk.

 

Coleman Presently Answered her Only In monosyllable,

Making small Distinction Between Yes And No. He Simply Sat

Watching her With Eyes In which There Were Two Little Covetous

Steel-Coloured flames.

 

He Was Thinking,  "To Go To The Devil-To Go To The Devil-To Go

To The Devil With This Girl Is Not A Bad Fate-Not A Bad Fate-Not A

Bad Fate."

Chapter 16

" Come Out On The Balcony," Cooed nora. "There Are

Some Funny Old Storks On Top Of Some Chimneys Near Here

And They Clatter Like Mad All Day And Night."

 

They Moved together Out To The Balcony,  But Nora

Retreated with A Little Cry When She Felt The Coldness Of The

Night. She Said That She Would Get A Cloak. Coleman Was

Not Unlike A Man In a Dream. He Walked to The Rail Of The

Balcony Where A Great Vine Climbed toward The Roof. He

Noted that It Was Dotted with. Blossoms,  Which In the Deep

Purple Of The Oriental Night Were Coloured in strange

Shades Of Maroon. This Truth Penetrated his Abstraction

Until When Nora Came She Found Him Staring at Them As If

Their Colour Was A Revelation Which Affected him Vitally.

She Moved to His Side Without Sound And He First Knew Of

Her Presence From The Damning fragrance. She Spoke Just

Above Her Breath. "It'S A Beautiful Evening."

" Yes," He Answered. She Was At His Shoulder. If He

Moved two Inches He Must Come In contact. They

Remained in silence Leaning upon The Rail.

Finally He Began To Mutter Some Commonplaces Which

Meant Nothing particularly,  But Into His Tone As He Mouthed

Them Was The Note Of A Forlorn And Passionate Lover. Then

As If By Accident He Traversed the Two Inches And His

Shoulder Was Against The Soft And Yet Firm Shoulder Of

Nora Black. There Was Something in his Throat At This

Time Which Changed his Voice Into A Mere Choking noise.

She Did Not Move. He Could See Her Eyes Glowing

Innocently Out Of The Pallour Which The Darkness Gave To

Her Face. If He Was Touching her,  She Did Not Seem To

Know It.

 

"I Am Awfully Tired," Said Coleman,  Thickly. "I Think I

Will Go Home And Turn In."

 

" You Must Be,  Poor Boy," Said Nora Tenderly.

 

"Wouldn'T You Like A Little More Of That Champagne?"

 

" Well,  I Don'T Mind Another Glass."

 

She Left Him Again And His Galloping thought Pounded to

The Old Refrain. " To Go To The Devil-To Go To The Devil-To Go

To The Devil With This Girl Is Not A Bad Fate-Not A Bad Fate-

Not A Bad Fate." When She Returned he Drank His Glass Of

Champagne. Then He Mumbled: " You Must Be Cold. Let

Me Put Your Cape Around You Better. It Won'T Do To Catch

Cold Here,  You Know."

 

She Made A Sweet Pretence Of Rendering herself To His

Care. " Oh,  Thanks * * * I Am Not Really Cold * * * There

That'S Better."

 

Of Course All His Manipulation Of The Cloak Had Been A Fervid

Caress,  And Although Her Acting up To This Point Had Remained in

The Role Of The Splendid And Fabulous Virgin She Now Turned her

Liquid Eyes To His With A Look That Expressed knowledge,  Triumph

And Delight. She Was Sure Of Her Victory. And She Said:

"Sweetheart * * * Don'T You Think I Am As Nice As Marjory ?" The

Impulse Had Been Airily Confident.

It Was As If The Silken Cords Had Been Parted by The Sweep Of

A Sword. Coleman'S Face Had Instantly Stiffened and He Looked

Like A Man Suddenly Recalled to The Ways Of Light. It May Easily

Have Been That In a Moment He Would Have Lapsed again To His

Luxurious Dreaming. But In his Face The Girl Had Read A Fatal

Character To Her Blunder And Her Resentment Against Him Took

Precedence Of Any Other Emotion. She Wheeled abruptly From

Him And Said With Great Contempt: " Rufus,  You Had Better Go

Home. You'Re Tired and Sleepy,  And More Or Less Drunk."

 

He Knew That The Grand Tumble Of All Their Little Embowered

Incident Could Be Neither Stayed or Mended. "Yes," He

Answered,  Sulkily,  "I Think So Too." They Shook Hands Huffily

And He Went Away.

 

When He Arrived among The Students He Found That They Had

Appropriated everything of His Which Would Conduce To Their

Comfort. He Was Furious Over It. But To His Bitter Speeches They

Replied in jibes.

 

"Rufus Is Himself Again. Admire His Angelic Disposition. See

Him Smile. Gentle Soul."

 

A Sleepy Voice Said From A Comer: " I Know What Pinches

Him."

 

" What ? " Asked several.

 

"He'S Been To See Nora And She Flung Him Out Bodily."

 

" Yes?" Sneered coleman. "At Times I Seem To

See In you,  Coke,  The Fermentation Of Some Primeval

Form Of Sensation,  As If It Were Possible For You To De-

Velop A Mind In two Or Three Thousand Years,  And Then

At Other Times You Appear * * * Much As You Are

Now."

 

As Soon As They Had Well Measured coleman'S Temper All Of

The Students Save Coke Kept Their Mouths Tightly Closed. Coke

Either Did Not Understand Or His Mood Was Too Vindictive For

Silence. " Well,  I Know You Got A Throw-Down All Right," He

Muttered.

 

"And How Would You Know When I Got A Throw Down? You

Pimply,  Milk-Fed sophomore."

 

The Others Perked up Their Ears In mirthful Appreciation Of

This Language.

 

" Of Course," Continued coleman,  " No One Would Protest

Against Your Continued existence,  Coke,  Unless You Insist On

Recalling yourself Violently To People'S Attention In this Way.

The Mere Fact Of Your Living would Not Usually Be Offensive To

People If You Weren'T Eternally Turning a Sort Of Calcium

Light On Your Prehensile Attributes."

Coke Was Suddenly Angry,  Angry Much Like A Peasant,  And His

Anger First Evinced itself In a Mere Sputtering and Spluttering.

Finally He Got Out A Rather Long Speech,  Full Of Grumbling noises,

But He Was Understood By All To Declare That His Prehensile

Attributes Had Not Led him To Cart A Notorious Woman About The

World With Him. When They Quickly Looked at Coleman They Saw

That He Was Livid. " You-"

 

But,  Of Course,  There Immediately Arose All Sorts Of Protesting

Cries From The Seven Non-Combatants. Coleman,  As He Took Two

Strides Toward Coke'S Corner,  Looked fully Able To Break Him

Across His Knee,  But For This Coke Did Not Seem To Care At All. He

Was On His Feet With A Challenge In his Eye. Upon Each Cheek

Burned a Sudden Hectic Spot. The Others Were Clamouring,  "Oh,

Say,  This Won'T Do. Quit It. Oh,  We Mustn'T Have A Fight. He Didn'T

Mean It,  Coleman." Peter Tounley Pressed coke To The Wall

Saying: " You Damned young Jackass,  Be Quiet."

 

They Were In the Midst Of These. Festivities When A Door

Opened and Disclosed the Professor. He Might. Have Been

Coming into The Middle Of A Row In one Of The Corridors Of The

College At Home Only This Time He Carried a Candle. His Speech,

However,  Was A Washurst Speech : " Gentlemen,  Gentlemen,

What Does This Mean ? " All Seemed to Expect Coleman To Make

The Answer. He Was Suddenly Very Cool. "Nothing,  Professor," He

Said,  " Only That This-Only That Coke Has Insulted me. I Suppose

That It Was Only The Irresponsibility Of A Boy,  And I Beg That You

Will Not Trouble Over It."

 

" Mr. Coke," Said The Professor,  Indignantly,  " What Have

You To Say To This? " Evidently He Could Not Clearly See Coke,

And He Peered around His Candle At Where The Virtuous Peter

Tounley Was Expostulating with The Young Man. The Figures Of

All The Excited group Moving in the Candle Light Caused vast And

Uncouth Shadows To Have Conflicts In the End Of The Room.

 

Peter Tounley'S Task Was Not Light,  And Beyond That He Had

The Conviction That His Struggle With Coke Was Making him Also

To Appear As A Rowdy. This Conviction Was Proven To Be True By

A Sudden Thunder From The Old Professor,  " Mr. Tounley,  Desist ! "

 

In Wrath He Desisted and Coke Flung Himself Forward. He

Paid Less Attention To The Professor Than If The Latter Had Been A

Jack-Rabbit. " You Say I Insulted you? He Shouted crazily In

Coleman'S Face.

 

"Well * * * I Meant To,  Do You See ? "

 

Coleman Was Glacial And Lofty Beyond Everything.

"I Am Glad To Have You Admit The Truth Of What I Have Said."

 

Coke Was,  Still Suffocating with His Peasant Rage,  Which

Would Not Allow Him To Meet The Clear,  Calm

Expressions Of Coleman. "Yes * * * I Insulted you * * * I Insulted

You Because What I Said Was Correct * * My Prehensile Attributes

* * Yes But I Have Never----"

 

He Was Interrupted by A Chorus From The Other Students.

"Oh,  No,  That Won'T Do. Don'T Say That. Don'T Repeat That,  Coke."

 

Coleman Remembered the Weak Bewilderment Of

The Little Professor In hours That Had Not Long Passed,

And It Was With Something of An Impersonal Satisfac-

Tion That He Said To Himself: " The Old Boy'S Got His

War-Paint On Again." The Professor Had Stepped

Sharply Up To Coke And Looked at Him With Eyes That

Seemed to Throw Out Flame And Heat. There Was A

Moment'S Pause,  And Then The Old Scholar Spoke,  Bit-

ing his Words As If They Were Each A Short Section Of

Steel Wire. " Mr. Coke,  Your Behaviour Will End Your

College Career Abruptly And In gloom,  I Promise You.

You Have Been Drinking."

 

Coke,  His Head Simply Floating in a Sea Of Universal Defiance,

At Once Blurted out: " Yes,  Sir."

 

"You Have Been Drinking?" Cried the Professor,  Ferociously.

"Retire To Your-Retire To Your----Retire---" And Then In a Voice Of

Thunder He Shouted:  "Retire."

 

Whereupon Seven Hoodlum Students Waited a Decent

Moment,  Then Shrieked with Laughter. But The Old

Professor Would Have None Of Their Nonsense. He Quelled them

All With Force And Finish.

 

Coleman Now Spoke A Few Words." Professor,  I

Can'T Tell You How Sorry I Am That I Should Be

Concerned in any Such Riot As This,  And Since We Are

Doomed to Be Bound So Closely Into Each Other'S

Society I Offer Myself Without Reservation As Being

Willing to Repair The Damage As Well As May Be,  Done. I

Don T See How I Can Forget At Once That Coke'S Conduct

Was Insolently Unwarranted,  But * * * If He Has Anything

To Sayof A Nature That Might Heal The

Breach I Would Be Willing to To Meet

Him In the Openest Manner." As He Made These Re-

Marks Coleman'S Dignity Was Something grand,  And,

Morever,  There Was Now Upon His Face That Curious

Look Of Temperance And Purity Which Had Been Noted

In New York As A Singular Physical Characteristic. If

He. Was Guilty Of Anything in this Affair At All-In Fact,

If He Had Ever At Any Time Been Guilty Of Anything-

No Mark Had Come To Stain That Bloom Of Innocence.

The Professor Nodded in the Fullest Appreciation And

Sympathy. " Of Course * * * Really There Is No Other

Sleeping placei Suppose It Would Be Better-"

Then He Again Attacked coke. "Young Man,  You

Have Chosen An Unfortunate Moment To Fill Us With A

Suspicion That You May Not Be A Gentleman.   For The

Time There Is Nothing to Be Done With You."  He Addressed

The Other Students. " There Is Nothing for

Me To Do,  Young Gentleman,  But To Leave Mr. Coke In your Care.

Good-Night,  Sirs. Good-Night,  Coleman." He Left The Room With

His Candle.

 

When Coke Was Bade To " Retire " He Had,  Of Course,  Simply

Retreated fuming to A Corner Of The Room Where He Remained

Looking with Yellow Eyes Like An Animal From A Cave. When The

Others Were Able To See Through The Haze Of Mental Confusion

They Found That Coleman Was With Deliberation Taking off His

Boots. " Afterward,  When He Removed his Waist-Coat,  He Took

Great Care To Wind His Large Gold Watch.

 

The Students,  Much Subdued,  Lay Again In their

Places,  And When There Was