The family party was complete except for Emil, and Oscar’s wife who, in the country phrase, “was not going anywhere just now.” Oscar sat at the foot of the table and his four tow-headed little boys, aged11 from twelve to five, were ranged at one side. Neither Oscar nor Lou has changed much; they have simply, as Alexandra said of them long ago, grown to be more and more like themselves. Lou now looks the older of the two; his face is thin and shrewd and wrinkled about the eyes, while Oscar’s is thick and dull. For all his dullness, however, Oscar makes more money than his brother, which adds to Lou’s sharpness and uneasiness and tempts12 him to make a show. The trouble with Lou is that he is tricky13, and his neighbors have found out that, as Ivar says, he has not a fox’s face for nothing. Politics being the natural field for such talents, he neglects his farm to attend conventions and to run for county offices.
Lou’s wife, formerly14 Annie Lee, has grown to look curiously15 like her husband. Her face has become longer, sharper, more aggressive. She wears her yellow hair in a high pompadour, and is bedecked with rings and chains and “beauty pins.” Her tight, high-heeled shoes give her an awkward walk, and she is always more or less preoccupied16 with her clothes. As she sat at the table, she kept telling her youngest daughter to “be careful now, and not drop anything on mother.”
The conversation at the table was all in English. Oscar’s wife, from the malaria17 district of Missouri, was ashamed of marrying a foreigner, and his boys do not understand a word of Swedish. Annie and Lou sometimes speak Swedish at home, but Annie is almost as much afraid of being “caught” at it as ever her mother was of being caught barefoot. Oscar still has a thick accent, but Lou speaks like anybody from Iowa.
“When I was in Hastings to attend the convention,” he was saying, “I saw the superintendent19 of the asylum20, and I was telling him about Ivar’s symptoms. He says Ivar’s case is one of the most dangerous kind, and it’s a wonder he hasn’t done something violent before this.”
Alexandra laughed good-humoredly. “Oh, nonsense, Lou! The doctors would have us all crazy if they could. Ivar’s queer, certainly, but he has more sense than half the hands I hire.”
Lou flew at his fried chicken. “Oh, I guess the doctor knows his business, Alexandra. He was very much surprised when I told him how you’d put up with Ivar. He says he’s likely to set fire to the barn any night, or to take after you and the girls with an axe21.”
Little Signa, who was waiting on the table, giggled22 and fled to the kitchen. Alexandra’s eyes twinkled. “That was too much for Signa, Lou. We all know that Ivar’s perfectly23 harmless. The girls would as soon expect me to chase them with an axe.”
Lou flushed and signaled to his wife. “All the same, the neighbors will be having a say about it before long. He may burn anybody’s barn. It’s only necessary for one property-owner in the township to make complaint, and he’ll be taken up by force. You’d better send him yourself and not have any hard feelings.”
Alexandra helped one of her little nephews to gravy24. “Well, Lou, if any of the neighbors try that, I’ll have myself appointed Ivar’s guardian26 and take the case to court, that’s all. I am perfectly satisfied with him.”
“Pass the preserves, Lou,” said Annie in a warning tone. She had reasons for not wishing her husband to cross Alexandra too openly. “But don’t you sort of hate to have people see him around here, Alexandra?” she went on with persuasive27 smoothness. “He IS a disgraceful object, and you’re fixed28 up so nice now. It sort of makes people distant with you, when they never know when they’ll hear him scratching about. My girls are afraid as death of him, aren’t you, Milly, dear?”
Milly was fifteen, fat and jolly and pompadoured, with a creamy complexion29, square white teeth, and a short upper lip. She looked like her grandmother Bergson, and had her comfortable and comfort-loving nature. She grinned at her aunt, with whom she was a great deal more at ease than she was with her mother. Alexandra winked30 a reply.
“Milly needn’t be afraid of Ivar. She’s an especial favorite of his. In my opinion Ivar has just as much right to his own way of dressing31 and thinking as we have. But I’ll see that he doesn’t bother other people. I’ll keep him at home, so don’t trouble any more about him, Lou. I’ve been wanting to ask you about your new bathtub. How does it work?”
Annie came to the fore18 to give Lou time to recover himself. “Oh, it works something grand! I can’t keep him out of it. He washes himself all over three times a week now, and uses all the hot water. I think it’s weakening to stay in as long as he does. You ought to have one, Alexandra.”
“I’m thinking of it. I might have one put in the barn for Ivar, if it will ease people’s minds. But before I get a bathtub, I’m going to get a piano for Milly.”
Oscar, at the end of the table, looked up from his plate. “What does Milly want of a pianny? What’s the matter with her organ? She can make some use of that, and play in church.”
Annie looked flustered32. She had begged Alexandra not to say anything about this plan before Oscar, who was apt to be jealous of what his sister did for Lou’s children. Alexandra did not get on with Oscar’s wife at all. “Milly can play in church just the same, and she’ll still play on the organ. But practising on it so much spoils her touch. Her teacher says so,” Annie brought out with spirit.
Oscar rolled his eyes. “Well, Milly must have got on pretty good if she’s got past the organ. I know plenty of grown folks that ain’t,” he said bluntly.
Annie threw up her chin. “She has got on good, and she’s going to play for her commencement when she graduates in town next year.”
“Yes,” said Alexandra firmly, “I think Milly deserves a piano. All the girls around here have been taking lessons for years, but Milly is the only one of them who can ever play anything when you ask her. I’ll tell you when I first thought I would like to give you a piano, Milly, and that was when you learned that book of old Swedish songs that your grandfather used to sing. He had a sweet tenor33 voice, and when he was a young man he loved to sing. I can remember hearing him singing with the sailors down in the shipyard, when I was no bigger than Stella here,” pointing to Annie’s younger daughter.
Milly and Stella both looked through the door into the sitting-room34, where a crayon portrait of John Bergson hung on the wall. Alexandra had had it made from a little photograph, taken for his friends just before he left Sweden; a slender man of thirty-five, with soft hair curling about his high forehead, a drooping35 mustache, and wondering, sad eyes that looked forward into the distance, as if they already beheld36 the New World.
After dinner Lou and Oscar went to the orchard37 to pick cherries — they had neither of them had the patience to grow an orchard of their own — and Annie went down to gossip with Alexandra’s kitchen girls while they washed the dishes. She could always find out more about Alexandra’s domestic economy from the prattling38 maids than from Alexandra herself, and what she discovered she used to her own advantage with Lou. On the Divide, farmers’ daughters no longer went out into service, so Alexandra got her girls from Sweden, by paying their fare over. They stayed with her until they married, and were replaced by sisters or cousins from the old country.
Alexandra took her three nieces into the flower garden. She was fond of the little girls, especially of Milly, who came to spend a week with her aunt now and then, and read aloud to her from the old books about the house, or listened to stories about the early days on the Divide. While they were walking among the flower beds, a buggy drove up the hill and stopped in front of the gate. A man got out and stood talking to the driver. The little girls were delighted at the advent40 of a stranger, some one from very far away, they knew by his clothes, his gloves, and the sharp, pointed25 cut of his dark beard. The girls fell behind their aunt and peeped out at him from among the castor beans. The stranger came up to the gate and stood holding his hat in his hand, smiling, while Alexandra advanced slowly to meet him. As she approached he spoke41 in a low, pleasant voice.
“Don’t you know me, Alexandra? I would have known you, anywhere.”
Alexandra shaded her eyes with her hand. Suddenly she took a quick step forward. “Can it be!” she exclaimed with feeling; “can it be that it is Carl Linstrum? Why, Carl, it is!” She threw out both her hands and caught his across the gate. “Sadie, Milly, run tell your father and Uncle Oscar that our old friend Carl Linstrum is here. Be quick! Why, Carl, how did it happen? I can’t believe this!” Alexandra shook the tears from her eyes and laughed.
The stranger nodded to his driver, dropped his suitcase inside the fence, and opened the gate. “Then you are glad to see me, and you can put me up overnight? I couldn’t go through this country without stopping off to have a look at you. How little you have changed! Do you know, I was sure it would be like that. You simply couldn’t be different. How fine you are!” He stepped back and looked at her admiringly.
Alexandra blushed and laughed again. “But you yourself, Carl — with that beard — how could I have known you? You went away a little boy.” She reached for his suitcase and when he intercepted42 her she threw up her hands. “You see, I give myself away. I have only women come to visit me, and I do not know how to behave. Where is your trunk?”
“It’s in Hanover. I can stay only a few days. I am on my way to the coast.”
They started up the path. “A few days? After all these years!” Alexandra shook her finger at him. “See this, you have walked into a trap. You do not get away so easy.” She put her hand affectionately on his shoulder. “You owe me a visit for the sake of old times. Why must you go to the coast at all?”
“Oh, I must! I am a fortune hunter. From Seattle I go on to Alaska.”
“Alaska?” She looked at him in astonishment43. “Are you going to paint the Indians?”
“Paint?” the young man frowned. “Oh! I’m not a painter, Alexandra. I’m an engraver44. I have nothing to do with painting.”
“But on my parlor45 wall I have the paintings — ”
He interrupted nervously46. “Oh, water-color sketches47 — done for amusement. I sent them to remind you of me, not because they were good. What a wonderful place you have made of this, Alexandra.” He turned and looked back at the wide, map-like prospect48 of field and hedge and pasture. “I would never have believed it could be done. I’m disappointed in my own eye, in my imagination.”
At this moment Lou and Oscar came up the hill from the orchard. They did not quicken their pace when they saw Carl; indeed, they did not openly look in his direction. They advanced distrustfully, and as if they wished the distance were longer.
Alexandra beckoned49 to them. “They think I am trying to fool them. Come, boys, it’s Carl Linstrum, our old Carl!”
Lou gave the visitor a quick, sidelong glance and thrust out his hand. “Glad to see you.”
Oscar followed with “How d’ do.” Carl could not tell whether their offishness came from unfriendliness or from embarrassment50. He and Alexandra led the way to the porch.
“Carl,” Alexandra explained, “is on his way to Seattle. He is going to Alaska.”
Oscar studied the visitor’s yellow shoes. “Got business there?” he asked.
Carl laughed. “Yes, very pressing business. I’m going there to get rich. Engraving’s a very interesting profession, but a man never makes any money at it. So I’m going to try the goldfields.”
Alexandra felt that this was a tactful speech, and Lou looked up with some interest. “Ever done anything in that line before?”
“No, but I’m going to join a friend of mine who went out from New York and has done well. He has offered to break me in.”
“Turrible cold winters, there, I hear,” remarked Oscar. “I thought people went up there in the spring.”
“They do. But my friend is going to spend the winter in Seattle and I am to stay with him there and learn something about prospecting51 before we start north next year.”
Lou looked skeptical52. “Let’s see, how long have you been away from here?”
“Sixteen years. You ought to remember that, Lou, for you were married just after we went away.”
“Going to stay with us some time?” Oscar asked.
“A few days, if Alexandra can keep me.”
“I expect you’ll be wanting to see your old place,” Lou observed more cordially. “You won’t hardly know it. But there’s a few chunks53 of your old sod house left. Alexandra wouldn’t never let Frank Shabata plough over it.”
Annie Lee, who, ever since the visitor was announced, had been touching54 up her hair and settling her lace and wishing she had worn another dress, now emerged with her three daughters and introduced them. She was greatly impressed by Carl’s urban appearance, and in her excitement talked very loud and threw her head about. “And you ain’t married yet? At your age, now! Think of that! You’ll have to wait for Milly. Yes, we’ve got a boy, too. The youngest. He’s at home with his grandma. You must come over to see mother and hear Milly play. She’s the musician of the family. She does pyrography, too. That’s burnt wood, you know. You wouldn’t believe what she can do with her poker55. Yes, she goes to school in town, and she is the youngest in her class by two years.”
Milly looked uncomfortable and Carl took her hand again. He liked her creamy skin and happy, innocent eyes, and he could see that her mother’s way of talking distressed56 her. “I’m sure she’s a clever little girl,” he murmured, looking at her thoughtfully. “Let me see — Ah, it’s your mother that she looks like, Alexandra. Mrs. Bergson must have looked just like this when she was a little girl. Does Milly run about over the country as you and Alexandra used to, Annie?”
Milly’s mother protested. “Oh, my, no! Things has changed since we was girls. Milly has it very different. We are going to rent the place and move into town as soon as the girls are old enough to go out into company. A good many are doing that here now. Lou is going into business.”
Lou grinned. “That’s what she says. You better go get your things on. Ivar’s hitching57 up,” he added, turning to Annie.
Young farmers seldom address their wives by name. It is always “you,” or “she.”
Having got his wife out of the way, Lou sat down on the step and began to whittle58. “Well, what do folks in New York think of William Jennings Bryan?” Lou began to bluster59, as he always did when he talked politics. “We gave Wall Street a scare in ninety-six, all right, and we’re fixing another to hand them. Silver wasn’t the only issue,” he nodded mysteriously. “There’s a good many things got to be changed. The West is going to make itself heard.”
Carl laughed. “But, surely, it did do that, if nothing else.”
Lou’s thin face reddened up to the roots of his bristly hair. “Oh, we’ve only begun. We’re waking up to a sense of our responsibilities, out here, and we ain’t afraid, neither. You fellows back there must be a tame lot. If you had any nerve you’d get together and march down to Wall Street and blow it up. Dynamite60 it, I mean,” with a threatening nod.
He was so much in earnest that Carl scarcely knew how to answer him. “That would be a waste of powder. The same business would go on in another street. The street doesn’t matter. But what have you fellows out here got to kick about? You have the only safe place there is. Morgan himself couldn’t touch you. One only has to drive through this country to see that you’re all as rich as barons61.”
“We have a good deal more to say than we had when we were poor,” said Lou threateningly. “We’re getting on to a whole lot of things.”
As Ivar drove a double carriage up to the gate, Annie came out in a hat that looked like the model of a battleship. Carl rose and took her down to the carriage, while Lou lingered for a word with his sister.
“What do you suppose he’s come for?” he asked, jerking his head toward the gate.
“Why, to pay us a visit. I’ve been begging him to for years.”
Oscar looked at Alexandra. “He didn’t let you know he was coming?”
“No. Why should he? I told him to come at any time.”
Lou shrugged62 his shoulders. “He doesn’t seem to have done much for himself. Wandering around this way!”
Oscar spoke solemnly, as from the depths of a cavern63. “He never was much account.”
Alexandra left them and hurried down to the gate where Annie was rattling39 on to Carl about her new dining-room furniture. “You must bring Mr. Linstrum over real soon, only be sure to telephone me first,” she called back, as Carl helped her into the carriage. Old Ivar, his white head bare, stood holding the horses. Lou came down the path and climbed into the front seat, took up the reins64, and drove off without saying anything further to any one. Oscar picked up his youngest boy and trudged65 off down the road, the other three trotting66 after him. Carl, holding the gate open for Alexandra, began to laugh. “Up and coming on the Divide, eh, Alexandra?” he cried gayly.
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1
varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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emblems
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| n.象征，标记( emblem的名词复数 ) | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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tempts
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| v.引诱或怂恿（某人）干不正当的事( tempt的第三人称单数 )；使想要 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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gravy
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| n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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flustered
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| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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prattling
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的现在分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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engraver
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| n.雕刻师，雕工 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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51
prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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52
skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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53
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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54
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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55
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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56
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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57
hitching
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| 搭乘； （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的现在分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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58
whittle
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| v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀 | |
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59
bluster
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| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
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60
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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61
barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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62
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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63
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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64
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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65
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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66
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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