'
In following out his thought he had forgotten that
which suggested it; but now his eye fell again upon
the corpse. The shadow had now altogether un-
covered it. He saw the sharp profile, the chin in the
air, the whole face, ghastly white in the moonlight.
The clothing was grey, the uniform of a Confederate
soldier. The coat and waistcoat, unbuttoned, had
fallen away on each side, exposing the white shirt.
The chest seemed unnaturally prominent, but the
abdomen had sunk in, leaving a sharp projection at
the line of the lower ribs. The arms were extended,
the left knee was thrust upward. The whole posture
impressed Byring as having been studied with a view
to the horrible.
'Bah!' he exclaimed; 'he was an actor--he
knows how to be dead.'
He drew away his eyes, directing them resolutely
along one of the roads leading to the front, and re-
sumed his philosophizing where he had left off.
'It may be that our Central Asian ancestors had
not the custom of burial. In that case it is easy to
understand their fear of the dead, who really were a
menace and an evil. They bred pestilences. Children
were taught to avoid the places where they lay, and
to run away if by inadvertence they came near a
corpse. I think, indeed, I'd better go away from this
chap.'
He half rose to do so, then remembered that he
had told his men in front and the officer in the rear
who was to relieve him that he could at any time be
found at that spot.
Pages:
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87