Reflections in a Golden Eye (14 page)

The soldier did not have time to rise from his squatting position. He blinked at the
light and there was no fear in his face; his expression was one of dazed annoyance, as if
he had been inexcusably disturbed. The Captain was a good marksman, and although he shot
twice only one raw hole was left in the center of the soldier's chest.

The reports from the pistol aroused Leonora and she sat up in bed. As yet she was still
only half awake, and she stared about her as though witnessing some scene in a play, some
tragedy that was gruesome but not necessary to believe. Almost immediately Major Langdon
knocked on the back door and then hurried up the stairs wearing slippers and a dressing
gown. The Captain had slumped against the wall. In his queer, coarse wrapper he resembled
a broken and dissipated monk. Even in death the body of the soldier still had the look of
warm, animal comfort. His grave face was unchanged, and his sun browned hands lay palms
upward on the carpet as though in sleep.