Reflections in a Golden Eye Read Online Free Page A

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     pantomime performed for their own amusement and for the benefit of spectators. Even when
     the froth showed on his mouth, the horse moved with a certain fractious grace as though
     aware of being watched. And after it was over he stood quite still and sighed once, in
     much the same manner as a young husband would sigh laughingly and shrug his shoulders when
     giving in to the will of a beloved and termagant wife. Except for these mock rebellions
     the horse was now perfectly trained.
    To all the regular riders the soldiers at the stables had given nicknames that they used
     when speaking among themselves. Major Langdon was called The Buffalo. This was because
     when in the saddle he slumped his great heavy shoulders and lowered his head. The Major
     was a fine horseman and, when a young Lieutenant, he had made a rare name for himself on
     the polo field. On the other hand, Captain Penderton was no rider at all, although he
     himself was not aware of this. He sat rigid as a ramrod in the exact position taught by
     the riding master. Perhaps he would not have ridden at all if he could have seen himself
     from the rear. His buttocks spread and jounced flabbily in the saddle. For this reason he
     was known to the soldiers as Captain Flap Fanny. Mrs. Penderton was called simply The
     Lady, so great was the esteem in which she was held at the stables.
    This morning the three riders started at a sedate walk, Mrs. Penderton leading. Private
     Williams stood watching them until they were out of sight. Soon he heard from the ring of
     the horses' hoofs on the hard path that they had broken into a canter. The sun was
     brighter now and the sky had darkened to a warm, brilliant blue. In the fresh air there
     was the odor of dung and burning leaves. The soldier stood so long that at last the
     Sergeant came up to him and roared good naturedly: 'Hey, Unconscious, you mean to gawk
     there forever?' The sound of the horses' hoofs could be heard no longer. The young soldier
     pushed back his bangs from his forehead and slowly set about his work. He did not speak
     all day.
    Then late in the evening Private Williams dressed in fresh clothes and went out to the
     woods. He walked along the edge of the reservation until he reached the stretch of woods
     he had cleared for Captain Penderton. The house was not brightly lighted as it had been
     before. Lights showed only in one room to the right upstairs, and in the small porch
     leading from the dining room. When the soldier approached, he found the Captain in his
     study alone; the Captain's wife, then, was in the lighted room upstairs where the shades
     were drawn. The house, like all the houses on the block, was new, so that there had been
     no time for shrubs to grow in the yard. But the Captain had had twelve ligustrum trees
     transplanted and put in rows along the sides so that the place would not seem so raw and
     bare. Shielded by these thick leaved evergreens, the soldier could not easily be seen from
     the street or the house next door. He stood so close to the Captain that if the window had
     been open he could have reached out and touched him with his hand.
    Captain Penderton sat at his desk with his back turned to Private Williams. He was in a
     constant fidget as he studied. Besides the books and papers on his desk there was a purple
     glass decanter, a thermos bottle of tea, and a box of cigarettes. He drank hot tea and red
     wine. Every ten or fifteen minutes he put a new cigarette in his amber cigarette holder.
     He worked until two o'clock and the soldier watched him.
    From this night there began a strange time. The soldier returned each evening,
     approaching by way of the forest, and looked at all that went on within the Captain's
     house. At the windows of the dining and sitting rooms there were lace curtains through
     which he could see, but not easily be seen himself. He stood to the side of the window,
     looking in