DOI article:
Crackanthorpe, Hubert: A study in sentimentality
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27812#0179
A Study in Sentimentality
By Hubert Crackanthorpe
* PHANTOM regiment of giant mist-pillars swept silently
/A across the valley; beaded drops loaded each tuft of coarse,
dull-tinted grass ; the peat-hags gaped like black, .dripping flesh-
wounds in the earth's side; the distance suggested rectangular fields
and wooded slopes—vague, grey, phantasmagoric ; and down over
everything floated the damp of fine rain.
Alec's heavy tread crunched the turfed bridle-path rhythmically,
and from the stiff rim of his clerical hat the water dribbled on to
his shoulders.
It was a rugged, irregular, almost uncouth face, and now the
features were vacantly huddled in a set expression, obviously
habitual. The cheeks were hunched up, almost concealing the
small eyes ; a wet wisp of hair straggled over the puckered
forehead, and the ragged, fair moustache was spangled by the
rain.
At his approach the sheep scampered up the fell-side ; then,
stood staring through the mist in anxious stupidity. And Alec,
shaking the water from his hat, strode forward with an almost
imperceptible gleam on his face. It was so that he liked the valley
—all colourless and blurred, with the sky close, overhead, like a low,
leaden ceiling.
By-and-by
By Hubert Crackanthorpe
* PHANTOM regiment of giant mist-pillars swept silently
/A across the valley; beaded drops loaded each tuft of coarse,
dull-tinted grass ; the peat-hags gaped like black, .dripping flesh-
wounds in the earth's side; the distance suggested rectangular fields
and wooded slopes—vague, grey, phantasmagoric ; and down over
everything floated the damp of fine rain.
Alec's heavy tread crunched the turfed bridle-path rhythmically,
and from the stiff rim of his clerical hat the water dribbled on to
his shoulders.
It was a rugged, irregular, almost uncouth face, and now the
features were vacantly huddled in a set expression, obviously
habitual. The cheeks were hunched up, almost concealing the
small eyes ; a wet wisp of hair straggled over the puckered
forehead, and the ragged, fair moustache was spangled by the
rain.
At his approach the sheep scampered up the fell-side ; then,
stood staring through the mist in anxious stupidity. And Alec,
shaking the water from his hat, strode forward with an almost
imperceptible gleam on his face. It was so that he liked the valley
—all colourless and blurred, with the sky close, overhead, like a low,
leaden ceiling.
By-and-by