Page:Garshin - A Red Flower (1911).djvu/28

26 it shall cast off its old cover, and appear in a new and marvellous beauty." He had almost forgotten the flower, but, in ascending the entrance stairs, he again noticed in the dense and darkened grass, on which the dew had just begun to fall, two little red objects. He straggled behind the others, and waited for an opportune moment when the watchman would turn his back. No one had noticed that he jumped over the flower bed, broke off the flower, and hid it hastily in his bosom, inside his shirt. When the fresh leaves, wet with dew, came in contact with his body, he became deathly pale, and opened his eyes wide in terror. A cold sweat covered his forehead.

The hospital lamps were lighted. Awaiting their supper, most of the inmates lay in their beds, save those few restless ones who walked back and forth in the corridor and in the rooms. Our patient was among the latter. He walked, convulsively pressing his arms crosswise on his breast; it seemed as if he wished to crush the blossom in this manner. Upon meeting someone he would avoid him, in fear of coming in contact with the hem of his dress. "Keep away! keep away!" he would exclaim. Little attention was paid