Page 283 - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Around the World in 80 Days

Several hours passed. The weather was dismal, and it
was very cold. Fix sat motionless on a bench in the station;
he might have been thought asleep. Aouda, despite the
storm, kept coming out of the waiting-room, going to the

end of the platform, and peering through the tempest of
snow, as if to pierce the mist which narrowed the horizon
around her, and to hear, if possible, some welcome sound.
She heard and saw nothing. Then she would return,
chilled through, to issue out again after the lapse of a few
moments, but always in vain.
Evening came, and the little band had not returned.
Where could they be? Had they found the Indians, and
were they having a conflict with them, or were they still
wandering amid the mist? The commander of the fort was
anxious, though he tried to conceal his apprehensions. As
night approached, the snow fell less plentifully, but it
became intensely cold. Absolute silence rested on the
plains. Neither flight of bird nor passing of beast troubled
the perfect calm.
Throughout the night Aouda, full of sad forebodings,
her heart stifled with anguish, wandered about on the
verge of the plains. Her imagination carried her far off,
and showed her innumerable dangers. What she suffered
through the long hours it would be impossible to describe.

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