"
"Oh," said he, "you are all against me, I know; and I am not sure that
this place is not rather too solemn for me. What is the good of being
wiser than the aged, if one has more commandments to keep?"
Things, however, settled down in time. Barbara, I think, must have been
taken to task as well, because she gave up her attempts at wit; and the
end of it was that a quiet friendship sprang up between the incongruous
pair, like that between a wayward young brother and a plain, kindly,
and elderly sister, of a very fine and chivalrous kind.
It must not be thought that we spent our time wholly in these emotional
relations. It was a place of hard and urgent work; but I came to realise
that, just as on earth, institutions like schools and colleges, where a
great variety of natures are gathered in close and daily contact, are
shot through and through with strange currents of emotion, which some
people pay no attention to, and others dismiss as mere sentimentality,
so it was also bound to be beyond, with this difference, that whereas on
earth we are shy and awkward with our friendships, and all sorts of
physical complications intervene, in the other world they assume their
frank importance.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167