'Wait--oh do wait! NO-O, I won't give it to you, I'll read it aloud.
I'll read you the choice bits,--hic! Oh dear! Do you think if I drink
water it would take off this hiccup? HIC! Oh, I feel perfectly
helpless.'
'Isn't that the letter about uniting the dark and the light--and the
Flux of Corruption?' asked Maxim, in his precise, quick voice.
'I believe so,' said the Pussum.
'Oh is it? I'd forgotten--HIC!--it was that one,' Halliday said,
opening the letter. 'HIC! Oh yes. How perfectly splendid! This is one
of the best. "There is a phase in every race--"' he read in the
sing-song, slow, distinct voice of a clergyman reading the Scriptures,
'"When the desire for destruction overcomes every other desire. In the
individual, this desire is ultimately a desire for destruction in the
self"--HIC!--' he paused and looked up.
'I hope he's going ahead with the destruction of himself,' said the
quick voice of the Russian. Halliday giggled, and lolled his head back,
vaguely.
'There's not much to destroy in him,' said the Pussum.
Pages:
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793