As very few of the bathers could swim, this all took place
in the close vicinity.
At first Wilhelm had been rather shocked to see the two sexes
bathing together, and that the girls and married women--coming out
of the sea with their legs and arms bare, and their clinging, wet
bathing dresses revealing the outline of their forms with
embarrassing distinctness--should calmly stroll back to the bathing
houses under the open gaze of the men. For that reason he even
refrained from going to the shore at the bathing hour, or bathing
there himself. By degrees, however, he grew accustomed to it, seeing
that nobody thought anything of it, and that the almost nude figures
disported themselves among their equally unconcerned parents,
relatives, and friends with the naive unconsciousness of South Sea
Islanders.
As he made his way, not too easily, over the rolling shingle between
the chattering, lazy groups, he saw his neighbor of the table d'hote
sitting, a little apart, on a camp stool under a large dark
sunshade, an open book on her lap, and her eyes fixed on the smooth,
bright surface of the ocean. She noticed Wilhelm, and smiled and
nodded pleasantly, almost before he could bow to her. There was
something of invitation in her nod, which, however, he did not
follow, he could not have said exactly why.
Pages:
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395