The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart
page 79 of 289 (27%)
page 79 of 289 (27%)
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be brief, for cables cost money. It said, "Safe. Well. Love." And
Henri, who seemed to have strange and ominous powers, sent it almost immediately. Total cost, as reported to Sara Lee, two francs. He took the money she offered him gravely. "We shall cable quite often," he said. "He will be anxious. And I think he has a right to know." The "we" was entirely unconscious. "And now," he said, when he had gravely allowed Sara Lee to pay her half of the breakfast, "we must arrange to get you out of Calais. And that, mademoiselle, may take time." It took time. Sara Lee, growing accustomed now to little rooms entirely filled with men and typewriters, went from one office to another, walking along the narrow pavements with Henri, through streets filled with soldiers. Once they drew aside to let pass a procession of Belgian refugees, those who had held to their village homes until bombardment had destroyed them--stout peasant women in short skirts and with huge bundles, old men, a few young ones, many children. The terror of the early flight was not theirs, but there was in all of them a sort of sodden hopelessness that cut Sara Lee to the heart. In an irregular column they walked along, staring ahead but seeing nothing. Even the children looked old and tired. Sara Lee's eyes filled with tears. "My people," said Henri. "Simple country folk, and going to England, where they will grieve for the things that are gone--their fields and |
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