The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1902-12-18
The Kiss

/
! When the tumult was at its highest,
and the officers hustled about noisely
near the cannon, man in plain clothes
appeared on horseback from behind
the church, lifting his hat, said:
Ellis lIghness, Lieut.. Gen. Won Rab-
bek, invites the gentlemen officers
to his house for tea"
And the man on horseback raised
his hat again and disappeared behind
the church.
A half an hour later the officers, 10
/ in number, stood at the threshold of
the generals house. They were met
| by Won Rubbek himself, a good-looking
old man of about co. in plain clothes.
/ The general shook their hands and
| smiled, though it was clearly evident
on his face that he invited the officers
merely because he thought decency
required it.
When the officers entered the large
dining room, ten or l2 ladies and gentle.
men were already seated by the long
table, drinking tea.
Gentlemen, there are so many of
you here that it is impossible to intro
duce you one by one!" said the general
in a loud voice, trying TO appear very
cheerful. Introduce yourselves, gen
tlemen, as best you like
The officers, some with very serious,
| even stern faces, others smiling for
cedly, and all feeling rather awkward,
made bows to those in the room and
seated themselves by the table to drink
+ tea.
Capt. Ryabovich, a small, round
shouldered man, in. spectacles and
| lynN-like sidewhiskers, felt more awk-
ward than any of his fellow officers.
While some of his colleagues tried to
! look serious, and others smiled for
cedly, his face, his lynX-like sidewhisk-
! ers, and his spectacles seemed to say:
81 am the most timid, the most bash
full and colorless officer in the entire
! brigade" At first he could not fix
his attention on any one face or OBJ
! ject in the room. The faces, dresses,
the cut-glass decanters filed with
cognac, the steam rising from the
| glasses of tea,-all these blended into
one huge impression, which filed
| Ryabovich with confusion and with a
desire to hide his head somewhere. But
little later he mastered himself, ana
recovering his sight, began to observe
things.
Won Rabbek and his family were skill
| fully entertaining the officers, looking
after their glasses and their mouths,
inquiring now and then, whether all
of them were drinking, whether every
ones tea was sweet, why this one ate
no biscuits, why that one drank no
cognac. And the more Ryabovich
looked on and listened the less he liked
this far from sincere but well-discip-
lined family.
After tea the officers stepped into
the parlor, where they found many
| young and good-looking women. The
piano began to thunder; then a sad
waltz was waited through the wide
open windows, and somehow every
body recalled that spring was in the
air All began to feel the fragrance
of young poplar, roses, and lilacs,
which filled the room. Under the in
fuence of the music, the cognac began
to tell on Ryabovich--he smiled and
watched the women, and it seemed to
him that the odor of roses, poplar and
lilacs came not from the garden, but
from the faces and the dresses of the
| women.
Soon dancing sets were formed
| Ryabovich stood near the door, among
those that did not dance. He had
never danced in his life, he had never
clasped the waist of woman. Rabo-
Vlch liked to see man taking strange
glrl by the waist for dance, but he
could never imagine himself in the
position of that man. There was n
time when he envied his comrades their
daring and cleverness and he suffered
The knowledge that he was shy, round
shouldered, long-waisted, with lynx-
IKE sideWhiskers, panied him acutelv:
but in the course of time this feeling
wore off, and now as he looked at the
dancers he no longer envied them, but
merely smiled sadly.
When the quadrille started, tho
young Won Rabbek invited two of tho
olicerS for game of billiards. To
while his time away Ryabovich fol-
lowed them. He watched the PLAYERS
indiirerently, and before long he be-
gan to feel lonesome, and it seemed
10 him that he was in eyerybody's wav
there.
lie decided to return to the parlor
but as soon as he walked out of tho
billiard room he noticed that he did
not know where to go. He turned to
his right, and soon found himself in n
half-dark cabinet, which he had NOT
passed on his way to the billiard room.
He stood there awhile, then he opened
the door before him and entered n
perfectly dark room. The dun sounds
of a melancholy mazurka were now
heard from behind the door. Here. as
in the parlor, the windows were wide
open, and the odor of poplar, lilacs
and roses filled the air.
Ryabovich paused in hesitation.
| SuHJanl,- 1,,io1, 4,