"Cather, Willa - O Pioneers!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cather Willa Sibert)

"Oh, hunting pictures in Germany, and
Robinson Crusoe and funny pictures about
cannibals. I'm going to paint some slides for
it on glass, out of the Hans Andersen book."

Alexandra seemed actually cheered. There is
often a good deal of the child left in people who
have had to grow up too soon. "Do bring it
over, Carl. I can hardly wait to see it, and I'm
sure it will please father. Are the pictures col-
ored? Then I know he'll like them. He likes
the calendars I get him in town. I wish I could
get more. You must leave me here, mustn't
you? It's been nice to have company."

Carl stopped the horses and looked dubi-
ously up at the black sky. "It's pretty dark.
Of course the horses will take you home, but I
think I'd better light your lantern, in case you
should need it."

He gave her the reins and climbed back into
the wagon-box, where he crouched down and
made a tent of his overcoat. After a dozen
trials he succeeded in lighting the lantern, which
he placed in front of Alexandra, half covering
it with a blanket so that the light would not
shine in her eyes. "Now, wait until I find my
box. Yes, here it is. Good-night, Alexandra.
Try not to worry." Carl sprang to the ground
and ran off across the fields toward the Linstrum
homestead. "Hoo, hoo-o-o-o!" he called back
as he disappeared over a ridge and dropped
into a sand gully. The wind answered him like
an echo, "Hoo, hoo-o-o-o-o-o!" Alexandra
drove off alone. The rattle of her wagon was
lost in the howling of the wind, but her lantern,
held firmly between her feet, made a moving
point of light along the highway, going deeper
and deeper into the dark country.



II


On one of the ridges of that wintry waste
stood the low log house in which John Bergson
was dying. The Bergson homestead was easier