The snow man

CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I 5 II 33 III 56 IV 85 V 113 VI 176 VII 205 VIII 253 IX 288 X 316 XI 350 XII 367 XIII 400 XIV 421 XV 436 XVI 449 XVII 470 XVIII 489 XIX 506 XX 519 CONCLUSI...

As he had not noticed the irregularity in the plan of the room, he could not tell whether the passage-way into which the door opened was in a thick wall, or between two walls jo...

M. Goefle did not find it necessary to look into the closet, after he had once taken possession of the double-bedded room. Glancing at the mantle-piece, he saw a pair of heavy c...

“An advocate!” thought the adventurer. “Well, he will talk, anyhow! A lawyer must always have a little wit and talent. He may prove an agreeable companion if he is sensible enou...

“Oh, no, no, dear Monsieur Goefle, it is not so, indeed! I know that you are both honorable and kind-hearted. Every one considers you so, and even the baron, who thinks ill of e...

He entered, first, the long frescoed gallery that traversed the whole of the main building, and which was decorated with passable success, in imitation of the Italian taste, int...

“The people of this country have a singular standard; but there is no disputing about tastes! I do not agree with them. He seems to me ugly and deformed, but comical and good-hu...

“My dear Olga,” she said, “I implore you tell the baron yourself that I cannot endure him. You will be doing me a great service. Stay! I will prove my gratitude. There is the br...

“Mountebank or not, he is an extraordinary man,” replied the major, “and a man of genuine nobility of character, too, which is more! Last month, at Stockholm, I myself saw him f...

“I wish you would explain it to me,” replied Cristiano; “for I have been trying in vain to recall where I could have seen him; if we ever did meet, the circumstances must have b...

“No, Monsieur Goefle. Ulph will certainly come immediately. Besides, if you want anything more, let me go and get it. There’s nothing like choosing your own bill of fare; but th...

“There is something, but so vague that I cannot tell whether it is not merely a dream. It is a recollection of a strange, wild country, even grander in its features than this ar...

“I must ask leave to pass rapidly over what follows; the recollection is most painful. In crossing part of the Apennines on foot, my poor father received a slight wound in the l...

“As a usual thing, I banished these reflections from my mind, but they sometimes made me very anxious. And then, the pleasures that were intoxicating me so did not give me any r...

“Of Celano,” said Christian; “again on the borders of a beautiful lake. I assure you, Monsieur Goefle, that my destiny is linked in with lakes; there certainly is some mystery u...

“But I must not forget to tell you of a well-known individual whom I happened to meet at this time; an interesting encounter that reconciled me for some days longer to my wander...

“When I awoke, my head was still heavy and vacant, and in fact I was feeling extremely ill; I was in the same place, but had been robbed of everything. I thought at first that i...

“Permit me, Monsieur Goefle,” answered Christian; “in the matter of pride there is no middle course; it must be everything or nothing. I have tried poverty, and I know how easy...

After telling this direct falsehood, and serving his uncle’s second meal, he was going away, when the old man asked for a certain Bible which he seldom used, and which stood on...

Christian had no time to employ his imagination in hunting for answers to this riddle. The day was rapidly drawing to a close. It was only half-past one in the afternoon, and al...

“I do really feel quite unwell. I have felt so two or three times to-day. What a poor machine is man! Anything that his reason cannot explain either frightens him or annoys him....

“The young couple had now been established at Waldemora for about three years, with their one son, whom they idolized. The sweet temper of the baroness had modified the slight h...

“Oh, that was only a dream! Go and look, Christian. You will be more successful than I was, if you can find a practicable door there. Do you think I did not go and examine the p...

On his way back to the bear-room, the lawyer considered whether he ought to communicate to Christian the understanding he had entered into with Stenson, and concluded that he wa...

“Well, well! Who can say that I am not shrinking from the pursuit of the real truth? Shall I be a mere cowardly courtier of this problematical being? Is it not my duty to satisf...

“Very good,” said Christian, half in disgust and half in pity; “now get up and go. I pardon you, but never voluntarily cross my path again; and if we chance to meet, no matter w...

Christian was familiar with Marivaux, whose works present such a striking union of elaborate thought, with simplicity of feeling and passionate emotion. He had been deeply penet...

By this time supper had been served to the guests at the new chateau, and the size and beauty of the splendid Christmas-cake, which, according to the Norwegian usage, was to rem...

“Well, but will it act quickly? I want to sleep two or three hours, and then get up and attend to some business. Can you guarantee that I shall regain my usual command of my fac...

Scarcely had the doctor of laws spoken before a firework, placed upon another islet at the rear of the course, went off with a formidable noise. It was the signal for starting.

“Not so very singular,” said Christian; “I have observed this trifling deformity in other people. For instance, I noticed it in the Baron de Waldemora, and much more obvious tha...

Before going to sleep, he had said something on the subject to the doctor of laws, but he was opposed to his going, since he did not care anything about the hunt himself. Christ...

The danneman, Joë Bœtsoi, was standing at his threshold. He was a fine man, of some forty-five years, with hard features, contrasting strangely with his kindly and straightforwa...

In this peaceful and primitive scene, which he was imagining as the frugal recompense of his travels and labors, he naturally tried to form an idea of the companion who would be...

“He is one of the largest I have ever seen. But begin and talk low; he has very good ears, and, in less than a quarter of an hour, he will hear every word we say.”

“You must pardon me for what I have done,” he said to the two young officers. “I had strong suspicions that that great spotted creature was a mother; did I tell you she was spot...

Just as the young Dalecarlian had finished these mysterious words, a sleigh, advancing at great speed, began rapidly to gain upon them, and the resounding voice of the coachman...

“Look and see from what direction the whiffs of the fog come. The wind is from the south, and it is quite mild. If the fog passes to your left, you must turn to your right. As f...

After the collation, they declared that they had heard enough about the feats of the hunters, and Martina proposed that they should play hide-and-seek, a game that they had enjo...

Christian began to search everywhere for his manuscript. To write another would have required half an hour’s work, and the clock was striking seven. He rummaged in his box, whic...

“Yes, yes, Monsieur Goefle, listen,” resumed Martina, assuming, artlessly, a pretty little air of importance. “Two hours ago--or two hours and a half, perhaps--we young folks, a...

“Oh, Christian has a very good cause!” said M. Goefle, who had come to listen to the examination, and who, now that it was concluded, was conducting his guests to his apartment,...

“I have these documents at my house in Gevala, in fact,” replied M. Goefle. “They have been verified by experts, and are authentic; but has it not been fully proved, at present,...

“That way!” he said, pointing to the left. Having thus replied, he returned to his reading, very glad to see Christian withdraw, and saying to himself that the baron had strange...

Tea and coffee were served to the company in the hunting-gallery, and, in about a quarter of an hour, all the persons designated by the major and the minister, together with the...

The opportunity for pleading was too fine to be lost; M. Goefle could not help taking advantage of it. He spoke with inspiration, summed up the facts of the case rapidly, relate...

“No!” cried Christian, kissing the letter of his generous friend; “I understand better than he thinks how limited the resources of this country are, and what great sacrifices su...

“You see, then, that you do not intend to flee the tempest, but to seek it. Well, that is always the way with the young, at least when they are intelligent; instinct and fate dr...