To a pleasant remark of the bride he responded, but no sound issued,
then breathing heavily into his larynx, the reply roared upon them
like a burst of thunder, seriously threatening the gravity of the
meal. He retired abruptly into moist and self-conscious silence,
fearful of feasting his eyes on this disturbing loveliness.
As soon as compatible with decency, he slipped back to his bunk in
the shed behind, and lay staring into the darkness, picturing the
amazing occurrences of the evening. At the memory of her level
glances he fell a-tremble and sighed ecstatically, prickling with a
new, strange emotion. He lay till far into the night, wakeful and
absorbed. He was able, to grasp the fact but dimly that all this
dazzling perfection was for one man. Were it not manifestly
impossible he supposed other men in other lands knew other ladies as
beautiful, and it furthermore grew upon him blackly, in the thick
gloom, that in all this world of womanly sweetness and beauty, no
modicum of it was for the misshapen dwarf of the Bar X outfit.
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