It was the time when the night-hawk, soaring high in air and circling wantonly, suddenly drops like a thunderbolt down, down till nearing the ground it calls a sudden halt in its fall, and cutting a tremendous angle and letting out a short sound deep as the lowest string of a bass1 violin shoots up into the failing light of the evening; it was the time when the whippoorwill essays to wake the darkening sky with his insistent2 demands for the beating of that unfortunate youth, poor Will; it was the time when the sun, having left his kingdom in the western sky, stretches forth3 his wand of sovereignty from behind his curtains and touching4 the fleecy clouds changes them into precious jewels, ruby5, pearl, and amethyst6; it was, in fine, the time when the day is done and the twilight7 brings quiet and peace and slumber8 to the restless world.
However—and the exception proves the rule—it did not bring quiet and peace and slumber to Master Clarence Esmond. In fact, it so chanced that the twilight hour was the time when he was deprived of these very desirable gifts; for his sleep was just then rudely broken.
First, a feeling of uneasiness came upon his placid9 slumbers10. It seemed to him, in those moments between sleeping and waking, that a very beautiful fairy, vestured in flowing white, and with lustrous11 and shining eyes, appeared before him. She gazed at him sternly. “Oh, it’s you, is it?” murmured Clarence. “I’ve been looking for you, star-eyed goddess. Be good enough, now you’re here, to supply me with one or two first-class adventures in good condition and warranted to last.” In answer to which, she of the starry12 eyes extended her wand and struck her suppliant13 a smart blow on the forehead. As she did this, the light in her eyes went out, her form lost its outline, fading away after the manner of a moving picture effect into total darkness.
Clarence’s eyes then opened; it was not all a dream—the loose board above him had fallen and struck him on his noble brow. Also, although his eyes were open, he could see very little. Almost at once he realized where he was. Almost at once he recalled, with the swiftness thought is often capable of, the varied14 events of the day. Almost at once, he perceived that the boat, no longer drifting, was moving swiftly as though in tow.
Clarence sat up. There was a splashing of the water quite near the boat. He rubbed his eyes and peered into the gathering15 darkness. A brown hand, near the prow16, was clasped to the gunwale. Then Clarence standing17 up looked again. From the hand to the arm moved his eyes; from the arm to the head. Beside the boat and swimming vigorously was a man, whom, despite the shadows of the evening, Clarence recognized as young and swarthy. They were rapidly nearing shore.
“Say!” cried Clarence. “Look here, will you? Who are you?”
The swimmer on hearing the sound of the boy’s voice suspended his swimming, turned his head, and seeing standing in what he had supposed to be an empty boat, a young cherub18 arrayed in a scanty19 suit of blue, released his hold and disappeared under the water as though he had been seized with cramp20.
The boat freed of his hand tilted21 very suddenly in the other direction, with the result that the erect22 cherub lost his balance so suddenly that he was thrown headlong into the waters on the other side.
Simultaneously23 with Clarence’s artless and unpremeditated dive, the strange swimmer came to the surface. He had thought, as our young adventurer subsequently learned, that the figure in the boat was a ghost. But ghosts do not tumble off boats into the water; neither do ghosts, when they come to the surface, blow and sputter24 and cough and strike out vigorously with an overhand stroke, which things the supposed ghost was now plainly doing. The stranger, therefore, taking heart of grace, laid the hand of proprietorship25 upon the boat once more. Clarence from the other side went through the same operation.
“What did you spill me for?” he gasped26.
“I didn’t know anyone was in the boat,” returned the stranger with a slightly foreign accent. “When you stood up and spoke27, I was plumb28 scared.”
“I really think I’m rather harmless,” remarked the boy, blithely29. “Never yet, save in the way of kindness, did I lay hand on anybody—well hardly anybody. Where are we anyhow?”
“We’re on the Mississippi River,” returned the other guardedly.
“Oh, thank you ever so much. I really thought we were breasting the billows of the Atlantic.”
Meanwhile, they had drawn30 within a few feet of the shore, on which Clarence now cast his eyes. On a sloping beach in a grove31 surrounded by cottonwoods blazed a ruddy fire. Standing about it but with their eyes and attention fixed32 upon the two swimmers was a group consisting of a man a little beyond middle age, a woman, apparently33 his wife, a younger woman, a boy a trifle older and larger than Clarence, a girl of twelve, and five or six little children. In the camp-fire’s light Clarence perceived that they were, taking them all in all, swarthy, black-haired, clad like civilized34 people, and yet in that indescribable wild way of which gypsies possess the secret.
“Come on,” said the man, as the boat touched the shore.
“Excuse me,” said Clarence politely, “but I’m not dressed to meet visitors. The water is fine anyway; and it’s not near so dangerous as it’s cracked up to be. Can’t you get a fellow at least a pair of trousers?”
“You’ll stay here, will you?”
“I certainly will,” answered the youth, turning on his back and floating. “I’ve had enough of being out on the Mississippi to last me for several weeks at the very least. Go on, there’s a good fellow,—and get me something to put on.”
With a not ill-natured grunt35 of assent36, the man walked up the sloping bank. As he passed the watchful37 group he uttered a few words; whereupon the larger gypsy boy came down to the shore and fixed a watchful eye upon the bather, while the others broke up and gave themselves to various occupations. Clarence’s rescuer went on beyond the fire, where two tents lay pitched beside a closed wagon—a prairie schooner38 on a small scale. After some search in which the young woman assisted him, he issued from the larger tent with a pair of frayed39 khaki trousers and an old calico shirt.
Returning to the river’s edge, he beckoned40 the swimmer, who, quick to answer the call, seized the clothes and darted41 behind the largest cottonwood. Clarence was dressed in a trice.
“I wish,” he observed, walking up to his rescuer, “to thank you for saving me. I’ve never been on a big river before; and I was afraid to try swimming. I say,” and as Clarence spoke, he gazed ruefully at his nether42 garment, “who’s your tailor?”
“What’s your name, boy?”
“Clarence Esmond, age 14, weight 110 pounds, height five feet two in my—”
“And how did you come to be in that boat?”
Clarence, involuntarily gazing at his frail43 craft and noticing that the older gypsy, assisted by the boy, had already beached it, and was now getting ready to give it a new coat of paint, proceeded to tell at some length his various encounters with the bright-eyed goddess of adventure since his departure that morning from McGregor. While he was telling his rather incredible tale all the party gathered about him. Not all, he observed, were gypsies. The little girl of twelve was as fair-skinned as himself. She was a beautiful child, with face most expressive44 of any passing emotion. It was to her that Clarence presently found he was addressing himself. One of his subtle jokes, lost on the gypsies, drew a smile of appreciation45 from the little girl. She was dainty in her dress—which was in no respect gypsy-like.
“There’s another adventure here,” Clarence reflected. “Where did they get her?” However, he was content to keep these thoughts to himself. At the conclusion of his story, Clarence addressed himself to the young man.
“And now, sir, where am I?”
“You’re in Wisconsin.”
“Oh, I’ve crossed to the other side, have I? And about how far down the river am I from the town of McGregor?”
“You are—” began the younger gypsy, when his senior cut him short, and spoke to him hurriedly for some minutes in a language strange to Clarence’s ears.
“I say,” interrupted Clarence, “my folks must be awful anxious about me. Would you mind letting me know how far I am from McGregor? I want to get back.”
“You are over thirty-five miles from McGregor,” said the older man, thoughtfully doubling the actual distance.
“Whew! Where can I get a train? I’ve got to get back.”
“Hold on,” said the elder; “what does your father do?”
“He’s a mining expert.”
“Is he rich?”
“I suppose he is. That’s what people say; and if you get me back, I’ll see that you’re paid.”
Again the two men conferred. Watching them eagerly, Clarence gathered these items of information: the elder was called Pete, the younger, Ben; they were not in agreement, coming almost to blows; Pete was the leader.
After further talk the two women were called into council. Suddenly the older, a withered46 hag with deep eyes and heavy and forbidding brows, turned to Clarence.
“Your hand!” she said, laconically47.
“Charmed to shake with you,” responded the amiable48 adventurer, extending his open palm.
Instead of clasping it, the woman caught it tight, and dragging Clarence close to the fire began eagerly to scrutinize49 the lines on his palm.
“You’ll live long,” she said.
“Not if I have many days like this,” commented Clarence.
“You’ll have lots of wealth.”
“No objection, I’m sure, ma’am.”
“You will learn easy.”
“That’s the very way I propose to learn.”
“You’ll marry three times.”
“Oh, I say; cut out at least two of those wives, won’t you?”
“You’ll have a big family.”
“No objection to children, ma’am.”
Suddenly the woman paused, gazing fixedly50 at the boy’s palm.
“Oh!” she suddenly screamed. “The cross! the cross! It’s there. I see it. Say, boy, you’re a Catholic.”
“You’re another,” retorted Clarence, indignantly.
“You are! You are!” And with a cry like that of some wild animal, the woman ran and hid herself in the larger tent.
“Boy,” said Pete, “we’re going to take care of you.”
“Thank you; but if it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon take care of myself.”
“You’ll do as I tell you,” said Pete, gazing angrily at the lad. “You may be a fraud. We will find out, and if your story is true, we’ll see about getting you back to your people.”
“Oh, you will, will you?—Good night!” and with this Clarence turned and dashed up the river. Pete, followed by Ezra, was after him at once. The old man was quick to catch up with him, and he made this fact known to the boy by striking him with his closed fist a blow on the mouth which brought him flat to the earth. Pete kicked his prostrate51 prey52 as he lay, and was about to renew his brutality53, when Ben roughly pulled his senior away.
“Look here!” cried Clarence ruefully, as he picked himself up. “Next time you want me to do something, tell me. You needn’t punch ideas in through my mouth. I guess I can take a hint as well as the next one.”
“You’d better do what Pete says,” whispered Ben not unkindly. “It’s no use trying to get away from him. I’ll be your friend.”
“Thank you. By the way, would you call kicks and cuffs54 adventures?”
The man shrugged55 his shoulders.
“Well, I was singing the praises of the goddess of adventure this morning. I wanted to meet her the worst way. Well, I’ve been meeting her all day and I’m kind of tired. If I get my hands on her, I’ll hold her under water till she’s as dead as a door-nail.”
“Oh, yes!” said the mystified Ben.
But the adventures of that day were not yet over, as Clarence, to his cost, was soon to learn.
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1
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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amethyst
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| n.紫水晶 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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8
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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suppliant
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| adj.哀恳的；n.恳求者，哀求者 | |
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14
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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18
cherub
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| n.小天使，胖娃娃 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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20
cramp
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| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
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tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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24
sputter
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| n.喷溅声；v.喷溅 | |
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proprietorship
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| n.所有（权）；所有权 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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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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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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29
blithely
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| adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地 | |
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30
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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32
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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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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35
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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39
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
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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41
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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42
nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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43
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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44
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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45
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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46
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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47
laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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48
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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49
scrutinize
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| n.详细检查，细读 | |
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50
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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51
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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52
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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53
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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54
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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55
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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