Here are the quotations for this week (February 19th to 25th):
1. …'He was just the same. You'd ha' thought he'd show up
in England like a fresh stiff on snow - but you never noticed him. You never
heard him; and if he didn't want to be seen he wasn't there. He just joined up
with his background…'
2. …He drank, and the tune rose louder, and he
straightened himself yet more. Then he put out his long-taloned hands to a piece
of plate opposite, and fingered it lovingly…he found the spring, pressed it, and
laughed weakly. He rose from his chair and inspected a picture on the wall, then
moved on to another picture, the mess watching him without a word…
3. Advancing cautiously to the river front, Gunga Dass stepped
from tussock to tussock until he had reached a smooth patch of sand directly in
the line of the boat's fire. The occupants of the boat took no notice. Here he
stopped, and with a couple of dexterous turns of the wrist, pegged the bird on
its back with outstretched wings…Half a dozen wild crows flew over at once to
see what was going on, and also, as it proved, to attack the pinioned bird...
The sources of last week's extracts (Feb 12th to 18th) are as
follows:
1. (...'But though we were dead-tired, we did not forget to go to the
Boy’s rooms and put away his revolver...) This is from "Thrown Away" in
Plain Tales from the Hills.
2. ('...The exploded shell of an old brown cartridge dropped out of
one of the pockets and rolled at my feet...' ) This is from 'The Strange
Ride of Morrowbie Jukes' from Wee Willie Winkie.
3. ( '...He shouted wanst or twice, an’ thin I heard him say: "They
shud ha’ got the range long ago...') This is from 'Love o’ Women' in
Many Inventions.
Good wishes to all, John R