De Chauxville turned the handle.
"Again let me impress upon you the advisability of implicit obedience,"
he said, with delicate insolence. "I mentioned the Charity League; but
that is not my strongest claim upon your attention. I have another
interesting little detail of your life, which I will reserve until
another time."
He closed the door behind him, leaving Etta white-lipped.
CHAPTER XXXI
A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT
A Russian forest in winter is one of nature's places of worship. There
are some such places in the world, where nature seems to stand in the
presence of the Deity; a sunrise at sea; night on a snow-clad mountain;
mid-day in a Russian forest in winter. These places and these times are
good for convalescent atheists and such as pose as unbelievers--the
cheapest form of notoriety.
Paul had requested Catrina and Maggie to drive as quietly as possible
through the forest. The warning was unnecessary, for the stillness of
snow is infectious, while the beauty of the scene seemed to command
silence. As usual, Catrina drove without bells. The one attendant on his
perch behind was a fur-clad statue of servitude and silence. Maggie,
leaning back, hidden to the eyes in her sables, had nothing to say to
her companion. The way lay through forests of pine--trackless,
motionless, virgin.
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