Absalom's Hair

Kaas wa

t in summer; his tours to England and the south had ceased; nay, he was rarely to be found even

one else's hat would fit him-was now one of the highest, that is to say, he had lost all his hair, except a ragged lock over each ear and a thin fringe behind.

open them fully. The little finger of his left hand had been bitten off "in gratitude" by an adversary whom he had kn

as an introduction to the history of his exploits, which

esides shrewd sense, he possessed a considerable gift for mechanics. His boundless self-esteem was not devoid of greatn

he nothi

ne time this estate had belonged to the Kurt family, and had now come back to them, in so far as that Harald's father, as every one knew, was not

pen sea. An immensely long building, raised on an old and massive foundation, its eastern win

o covered galleries, one above t

d woods to the north. The portion of the house between the two wings was a neutral territory-

rom without by a mighty elk's head with its enor

g on the walls of the anteroom, the inner rooms were also full of skins and impregnated with the smell of wild animals

ins, and each one of them was a welcome subject of conversation, for he had shot and flayed every single animal himself. To be sure, there were

, his feet on the bearskin, opened his shirt to show us the scars on his hairy chest (and what scars they were!) which had been made by the bear's teeth, when he ha

mpanied by four ladies whom he had brought from the steamer-an elderly lady an

feel a little nervous. Indeed, three of them had had serious misgivings about accepting the invitation; and these

ld not help laughing, and therewith the whole affair ended. Certainly they were a little stiff at breakfast; but when Harold Kaas began a story about an old black mare of his which was in love with a young brown horse over at the Dean's, and wh

ust put up with the "NIGHT side of nature," as Harald

d that he had shot through her open casement. She screamed loudly, and the others, starting from their sleep, were out on the floor before they knew where

t back into bed again. Next morning they learned that he had shot at some night prowlers, one of whom had got "half the charge in his leg, tha

candles, till at length one of them sprang u

as a charm, too, in the great woods, where there had been no felling since he had come into

utter and drives about the neighbourhood, though

had fallen in love with the disused east wing of the house, and there she spent many a long hour, alo

balcony here, out towa

ter glitters bet

, and when she had suggested it some four or five times, he promised

" said she in her soft voice, "and it must have steps at

nd inoculated him with the idea, and a

the floor must be polished." She pointed with her long delicate hand. "ALL the floors must be polished. I will give you the design for the room ab

. And she went from one to the other, remaining a little whi

ver he most coolly neglected

sought in the faces of the others the admiration which he himself felt: he would ambl

h she was evidently acquainted and for which she declared that she had a natural aptitude, it was all

glanced towards the others. She did not talk much, but every word that she uttered aroused his admiration. But he was most of

is toilet; but now he strutted about in a Tussore silk coat, which he had bought in Algiers

to do so, unconsciously even (she was the quietest of the party), had made t

ose, but more than all at those large wondering eyes; look at her throat and neck, her tall slight figure; notice especially the Renaissan

s should not be changed, and that the income should be for her own use whether she married or not. He hoped by this means to form her character. She was brought up by three dif

race they hold religiously together-indeed, in their eyes there is no

orderly brain. She was consequently NUMBER ONE in everything which she took up. This, coupled with the fact that she lived among those who regarded her

allads. At twelve she insisted on wearing silk dresses, and, in the teeth of an aunt all curls and lace and with a terrible flow of words, she carried her point. Sh

e means, begin to wear silk dresses, she left them of

ance style became her favourites, and the subject of her studies. She puffed out her bodices like t

ries instead; the style was good, though t

vident that their only object was to scandalise. Instead of her own name she used the nom-de-plume of "Puss." This, however, was only to postpone the announcement that the

of the tumbled red locks, "the tall Re

seemed only to lead the eye downward to her bosom, which almost appeared to caress her throat, especially when her head was bent forward, as was generally the case. And very beautiful the throat was, delicate in colour, superb in contour, and admirably set upon the bust. For this reason she could never find in her heart to hide this full white neck, but always kept it uncovered. He

upied with something, always with that wondering expression.

y of opposing her, more especially those who knew how i

ied her with society, gossip, and flattery, and were at once her f

her homage, but had sworn by "Life and Death" that she must m

every one" was in love with her. Not only the bachelors of the family, that was a matter of course, but artists and amateurs, even the most blase, swarmed round her, la jeunesse doree (which is

her than near others, a losing of oneself in one

and comfort. She was highly cultivated, and absolutely emancipated-our

w to act, whether to approach her diffidently or

dreaminess, was not the highest, but they expended their energy thereon; so that their unbounded discomfitu

they exclaimed; the only explanation they could offer w

than disappointed-the word is too weak; to many of them it seemed simply deplorable. How on

the cause of Woman. Had she not already written fearlessly for it? Her tendency towards eccentricity and paradox would soon have worn off, they thought, as the struggl

e house, with different staffs of servants, and with separate incomes; that she had furnished her side in her own way, at her own expense, and had apparently conceived the idea of a new kind of married life. Some people declared that the great lime-trees near the mansion at Hellebergene were alone responsible for the marriage. They soughed so wondrously in the summer evenings, and the sea beneath their branches told such enthralling stories. Those grand old woods, the like of which were hardly to

though looking perhaps a little paler. Every opera-glass was levelled at her. She wore a light, almost white, dress, cut square as usual. She did not hide her face behind her fan. She looked about her with her wondering eyes, as though

red. It afterwards transpired that her husband had fetched her away, though hardly any

elations to force themselves upon them were quite without result, except that they fo

ania, she was wheeling a perambulator along Karl Johan Street, her eyes as wondering as though

he perambulator, was so daintily equipped, so completely in harmony with herself, that every one understood the reply that she gave, when, af

ever mentioned her husband's name. If any one spoke of him to her, she changed the subject. By the time that the boy was a year old, it had become evident that she cont

never

er legs sometimes hanging down, sometimes straight out. He walked composedly out with her, holding in his right hand a bunch of long fresh birch twigs. A little way from the gallery he paused, and laying her across his left knee, he tore off some of her clothes, and beat her until the blood flowed. She never uttered a sound. When he put her from him, she tremblingly rearranged-

st, and there was a chorus of sobs. The men, most of whom had been sitting smoking thei

extraordinary vagary. This was evident from the composure with which he had carried his wife out; and still more from the glance of gratified revenge with which he looked round him afterwa

this delicate creature t

out in his little carriage, or, as time went on, would lead him by the hand, sometimes she was alone. She was generally wrapped in a big shawl, a different one for each dress she wore,

ng herself up to mathematics, chemistry, and physics, she made calculations and analyses-sending for books and materials for these objects. The people on the estate

garded as one whose life and thoug

l acquainted with the facts of each case; no one could ever deceive her. Whether she gave much or little,

opular, she could not have remained at Hellebergene; that is to say, he op

etween the parents. The first time that his father saw him the nurse reported that he "came in like a lord and went out like a beggar!" The mother lay down again a

way suited to his childish intelligence, but he would take occasion to cut away a quantity of his hair. His mother let it grow free and long like her own, and his father perp

gly the intolerable yoke which he laid upon them-upon every living being on the estate. It became a secret religion with him to oppose his father and help his mother, for it was she who suffered. He would resemble her even to his hair, he would protect he

to have anything done at her own expense, the workmen were ordered off: there could no longer be any doubt about it, he wished everything to go to rack and ruin. The property went from bad to worse

ubject in which his mother did not instruct him. He shared these lessons with Helene, the D

ed with additions and explanations; the boy made a picture of i

hey marched by in an endless procession. He saw the blue-green of the vineyards on the hillside, the shadow

ed the stor

ink of," said the Dean. "A grown-up man to rebel against his fath

his mind was that when he was grown

ttle, and as he fled through the woods, his long hair caught in a tree, the horse ran

hes and stockings, and with his own red hair! Ah! how distinctly he saw it! The horse galloping far away-the grey one at home which he used to ride by stea

d not get rid of. To be left hanging there by his hair-w

e history, but till now he h

er hair still as she had plaited it for the night; one plait had touched him on the nose and awoke him before she spoke. She stood bending over him, in her long white nightgown with its da

he cried,

D," she whispered. It was his father whom she ca

aps it paralysed him. She repeated it again loud

d then she slipped away through the door which stood half open. He jumped up and ran after her; there she lay on the so

e hand which he had in his shook so that he threw

she had silently endured, what an unbending will she ha

end it. He imagined that she suffered from

rty bed clothes, in linen so ragged and filthy that no workman on the estate had worse. The clothes which he had worn the day before lay on a chair beside the bed, mi

ver noticed this before? Why had he never felt that his father was

ntil it sounded through all the rooms. The people from the est

ey saw everything in a new light. How unfortunate, how desolate, ho

s closed, the distortion was less apparent. They could trace signs of sufferin