| 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| 1 | 74 | 149 | 223 | 297 |
|
"
Do we come in the way? I wonder--"
The light of that day went the way of its brethren, and with the later
watches of the frosty darkness rose the strange star again. And it was
now so bright that the waxing moon seemed but a pale yellow ghost of
itself, hanging huge in the sunset. In a South African city a great man
had married, and the streets were alight to welcome his return with his
bride. "Even the skies have illuminated," said the flatterer. Under
Capricorn, two negro lovers, daring the wild beasts and evil spirits,
for love of one another, crouched together in a cane brake where the
fire-flies hovered. "That is our star," they whispered, and felt
strangely comforted by the sweet brilliance of its light.
The master mathematician sat in his private room and pushed the papers
from him. His calculations were already finished. In a small white phial
there still remained a little of the drug that had kept him awake and
active for four long nights. Each day, serene, explicit, patient as
ever, he had given his lecture to his students, and then had come back
at once to this momentous calculation. His face was grave, a little
drawn and hectic from his drugged activity. For some time he seemed lost
in thought. Then he went to the window, and the blind went up with a
click. Half way up the sky, over the clustering roofs, chimneys and
steeples of the city, hung the star.
He looked at it as one might look into the eyes of a brave enemy. "You
may kill me," he said after a silence. "But I can hold you--and all the
3
2
Page
Quick Jump
|