But you are not really hungry, except for something
which is not food! And you are not waiting for anything except for
permission to talk! I give it to you--talk, children! Talk yourselves
hoarse! It will do you good! And I will personate supreme wisdom by
listening to you in silence!"
A kind of shamed laugh went round the company,--then followed the
scuffling of feet, and grating of chairs against the floor, and
presently the table was completely surrounded, the men sitting close up
together, and Sergius Thord occupying his place at their head.
When they were all seated, they formed a striking assembly of
distinctly marked personalities. There were very few mean types among
them, and the stupid, half-vague and languid expression of the modern
loafer or 'do nothing' creature, who just for lack of useful work plots
mischief, was not to be seen on any of their countenances. A certain
moroseness and melancholy seemed to brood like a delayed storm among
them, and to cloud the very atmosphere they breathed, but apart from
this, intellectuality was the dominant spirit suggested by their
outward looks and bearing. Plebeian faces and vulgar manners are,
unfortunately, not rare in representative gatherings of men whose
opinions are allowed to sway the destinies of nations, and it was
strange to see a group of individuals who were sworn to upset existing
law and government so distinguished by refined and even noble
appearance.
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