And I could not help contrasting his rambling emotionalism with the logic—the relentless, diamond-like justesse—of the mining engineer. He is the very antithesis of that pellucid and homogeneous character. The sanguine temperament …
What is a man of this type doing in Gafsa?
Mystery!
The rest of us, the cynical Greek doctor, the artist-sage and lover of Arab institutions, myself (flint-maniac)—to say nothing of men like Dufresnoy—we all contrive to fit, after a fashion, into the place; we have a raison d'etre. But this composite, unadaptive city-dweller: how incongruous a figure against that background of palms and barren mountains!
An enigmatical creature, and yet not wholly unlovable; he may be unsound or even unprincipled, he may be deficient in qualities that go to make men respected and satisfied with the world in general, but he possesses, I think, certain citizen-virtues unintelligible to the self-centred, rustic type of mind. He could be stirred to acts of unworldly enthusiasm; he would share his last crust with some shipwrecked sailor, or shed his blood gaily for a generous idea. And he is plainly in hard case just now.
A stepchild of nature….
"You have a very good English accent, Count."
"We were carefully brought up in languages. Not every one understands
Polish, you know."
"By the way, how does it come about that you, being a Pole, should have a
Russian family name?"
The question seemed to astonish and perplex him. At last he said: