She could accord her father with one grace: he was not in any
manner a hypocrite. “You’re a biologist, aren’t
you?”
He began to talk of his own impressions of biology as a commonplace
magazine reader who had to get what he could from the monthly reviews, and
was glad to meet with any information from nearer the fountainhead. Few approached the émigrés directly, preferring to stare covertly from behind
their fans, while pretending to admire the simple elegance of Lady Bicknacre’s
neo-classical refurbishments. To be free of outward distraction, he
shut his eyes and concentrated upon the scraps she had given him; and shortly,
with his eyes still closed, he began to describe Ruth's island: the mountain at one
end, with the ever-recurring scarves of mist drifting across the lava-scarred face;
the jungle at the foot of it; the dazzling border of white sand; the sprawling store
of the trader and the rotting wharf, sundrily patched with drift-wood; the native
huts on the sandy floor of the palm groves; the scattered sandalwood and ebony;
the screaming parakeets in the plantains; the fishing proas; the mission with its
white washed walls and barren frontage; the lagoon, fringed with coco palms,
now ruffled emerald, now placid sapphire. ‘You are mad, if you
think he will give you a sou. ‘Alcide’ or no ‘Alcide,’ there is
not a music hall manager in London or Paris who would not give you an
engagement on your own merits. "I merely asked the question," he said, after he had enjoyed the boy's suspense
for a moment.
Video ID: TW96aWxsYS81LjAgQXBwbGVXZWJLaXQvNTM3LjM2IChLSFRNTCwgbGlrZSBHZWNrbzsgY29tcGF0aWJsZTsgQ2xhdWRlQm90LzEuMDsgK2NsYXVkZWJvdEBhbnRocm9waWMuY29tKSAtIDMuMTM4LjE3NC4yMzUgLSAzMC0wNi0yMDI0IDA5OjUxOjA5IC0gMTIxMjUyNzQxOQ==
This video was uploaded to damaulifm.org on 28-06-2024 05:24:41