a long drink. He drank mechanically, without any
evidence of desire or pleasure; he resembled a man
blindly performing a fatiguing operation in his
sleep; he had the fixed, open eyes of a sleep-walker,
the precise, unnatural movements. The lantern
burned steadily, the horses slept with an audible
breathing. Finally the jug was empty; he endeavored
to drink twice after that was a fact before discovering
it.

He rose stiffly and threw open the door. Dawn
was flushing behind the eastern range; the tops
of the mountains were thinly visible on the brightening
sky. His dwelling, with every window closed,
was silvery with dew. He walked slowly, but without
faltering, to the porch, and mounted the steps
from the sod; the ascent seemed surprisingly steep,
long. The door to the dining room was unlocked
and he entered; in the thinning gloom he could distinguish
the table set as usual, the coffee pot at Lettice's
place glimmering faintly. He turned to the
left and passed into their bedroom. The details of
the chamber were growing clear: the bed was placed
against the farther wall, projecting into the room,
its low footboard held between posts that rose slimly
dark against the white counterpane beyond; on the
right were a window and high chest of drawers, on
the left a stand with a china toilet service and a
couch covered with sheep skins, roughly tanned and

[[230]]

p229 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p230w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p231

v?