"Alexander Green - Crimson Sails" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Alexander)

woodshed, and he felt that the light of a plain lamp, were the three of
them together now, would have been a joy unsurpassed to the woman who
had gone on to the unknown Beyond.
About three months previously the young mother's finances had come
to an abrupt end. At least half of the money Longren had left her was
spent on doctors after her difficult confinement and on caring for the
newborn infant; finally, the loss of a small but vital sum had forced Mary
to appeal to Menners for a loan. Menners kept a tavern and shop and was
considered a wealthy man. Mary went to see him at six o'clock in the
evening. It was close to seven when the neighbour woman met her on the
road to Liss. Mary had been weeping and was very upset. She said she was
going to town to pawn her wedding ring. Then she added that Menners
had agreed to lend her some money but had demanded her love in return.
Mary had rejected him.
"There's not a crumb in the house," she had said to the neighbour. "I'll
go into town. We'll manage somehow until my husband returns."
It was a cold, windy evening. In vain did the neighbour try to talk the
young woman out of going to Liss when night was approaching. "You'll get
wet, Mary. It's beginning to rain, and the wind looks as if it will bring on a
storm."
It was at least a three hours' brisk walk from the seaside village to town,
but Mary did not heed her neighbour's advice. "I won't be an eyesore to
you any more," she said. "As it is, there's hardly a family I haven't
borrowed bread, tea or flour from. I'll pawn my ring, and that will take
care of everything." She went into town, returned and the following day
took to her bed with a fever and chills; the rain and the evening frost had
brought on double pneumonia, as the doctor from town, called in by the
kind-hearted neighbour, had said. A week later there was an empty place
in Longren's double bed, and the neighbour woman moved into his house
to care for his daughter. She was a widow and all alone in the world, so
this was not a difficult task. "Besides," she added, "the baby fills my days."
Longren went off to town, quit his job, said goodbye to his comrades
and returned home to raise little Assol. The widow stayed on in the sailor's
house as a foster mother to the child until she had learned to walk well,
but as soon as Assol stopped falling when she raised her foot to cross the
threshold, Longren declared that from then on he intended to care for the
child himself and, thanking the woman for her help and kindness,
embarked on a lonely widower's life, focusing all his thoughts, hopes, love
and memories on the little girl.
Ten years of roaming the seas had not brought him much of a fortune.
He began to work. Soon the shops in town were offering his toys for sale,
finely-crafted small model boats, launches, one and two-deck sailing
vessels, cruisers and steamboats; in a word, all that he knew so well and
that, owing to the nature of the toys, partially made up for the hustle and
bustle of the ports and the adventures of a life at sea. In this way Longren
earned enough to keep them comfortable. He was not a sociable man, but
now, after his wife's death, he became something of a recluse. He was
sometimes seen in a tavern of a holiday, but he would never join anyone
and would down a glass of vodka at the bar and leave with a brief: "yes",
"no", "hello", "goodbye", "getting along", in reply to all his neighbours'