From the Waterhead Hotel, at Coniston, the plan had been laid to retrace9 their way a few miles over the same road by which they had come from Windermere, make a stop for two or three hours at the Rothay Hotel, and then drive on to Keswick that same afternoon. But just as they were rolling into Grasmere, the off-leader, with the total depravity peculiar10 to animal nature, struck the only stone visible within a hundred yards on that perfect roadway, laming11 himself instantly and in most pronounced fashion. This chanced to be the first mishap12; but then could you really call an accident a mishap that simply necessitated13 a three-days’ stay in the beautiful Wordsworth district? Our sunshiny little party, at any rate, chose not so to regard it, and scoured14 the whole lovely region on foot, reading Wordsworth’s poetry in their halts by the roadside, and growing familiar with every foot of the lanes he so dearly loved. Not content with their morning spent in the Grasmere Church, and beside his grave in the little churchyard without, they even made their wav to Wordsworth’s old home—beautiful Rydal Mount—hoping, on the strength of a card of introduction to the gentleman residing there, to possibly be allowed to see the house. The gentleman, however, when they presented themselves at his door, politely bowed them out instead of in, and they were fain to content themselves with the lesser15 privilege of inspecting the prettily16 terraced garden.
When, after the three days’ rest, the off-leader had been coaxed17 into proper driving condition, they started off once more, but rather late in the afternoon, planning to take things in quite leisurely18 fashion, out of regard for the same off-leader, and depending upon the wonderful English twilight19 to bring them into Keswick before ten o’clock. It happened to be a local holiday in Cumberland, and as a result here and there they encountered a solitary20 specimen21 of humanity prone22 upon his back or his face, just as it chanced, by the roadside, or, not quite so badly off as that, reeling along to wherever home might be in that apparently23 houseless region. At six o’clock, on one of the highest points on the road that leads to Keswick, they stopped at the Nag’s Head, a typical roadside inn, for supper, the sounds of revelry in whose tap-room at once accounted for the sorry customers they had met upon the road before they reached it. It was exceedingly interesting to the American contingent24 of the party to gain a little insight into the life of the English “navvies;” and they passed the little tap-room, reeking25 with smoke and smelling of pipes and beer mugs, rather more often than circumstances would warrant, for the sake of looking in on the jolly fellows, and catching26 a sentence or so of their almost unintelligible27 dialect. A truce28 to all this, however, for fear you should imagine, and with reason, that even at this late stage I am going to fare so wide of my province of story-teller as to conduct you in guide-book fashion through the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland. But, nevertheless, up to this same Nag’s Head Inn we simply had to come, because some one else, in whom we have an interest, is coming there too as fast as a good road-horse can carry him. It seems that opposite the Nag’s Head Inn the Church of England has built a tiny edifice29, and as though to apologize for the apparent unreasonableness30 of building any church there whatsoever31, they have made a most miniature affair of it. A placard suspended within proclaims the fact that it is the smallest church in all England, and beneath it a contribution-box, of dimensions out of all proportion to the surroundings, invites spare shillings for the maintenance of the lonely little parish.
The peculiar isolation32 of the place appeals to the average tourist in most pathetic fashion, and no sooner have our friends of the driving party crowded within the diminutive33 door than Mr. Harris, hat in hand, commences to take up a collection, with a view to making a radical34 addition to the contents of the roomy contribution-box. Just as he is concluding the exercise of this truly churchly function, and Marie-Celeste is dropping her very last sixpence into the depths of the appealing hat, the little doorway35 is suddenly darkened—-as it has need to be when any one comes through it—and in the next second Ted5 is standing36 in their midst. The collection goes sliding on to the floor, to be re-collected at leisure, and everybody, with the exception of Mr. Farwell, is trying to seize Ted’s hand at once. Precedence, however, is given to the claims of Marie-Celeste, and the upturned face is greeted with the most prodigious37 kiss.
“I thought we should happen to meet you somewhere on this trip,” said Mr. Harris, when things had subsided38 enough for an attempt at conversation, groping the while on all-fours, and with Harold’s help, for the fugitive39 shillings on the floor.
“Well, you can hardly call it happening to meet, when I’ve been riding since early this morning to catch you. I expected to overtake you at Grasmere, but found you were well on your way to Keswick by the time I reached it.”
“Well, where did you come from, anyhow, old fellow?” asked Harold, pleased beyond measure that Ted had seen fit to follow them up in this fashion. He could not imagine whatever had suddenly brought it about, after all the neglect of the summer; but that did not in the least diminish his delight.
“I came from home, Harold,” Ted replied; “I went back there two weeks ago, but it was so lonely I couldn’t stand it, and so when I found out through the Allyns about where you were, 1 came posthaste after you. Besides, you know, when I discovered that my brake had been walked off with in a rather cool fashion, I concluded I had some rights in the case, and came to look after them. I see it’s been terribly abused,” glancing in the direction of the brake, which, minus the horses, stood in front of the inn across the narrow road; “it was as good as new when you started.”
But these last remarks, so like the old Ted, but for the fact that he was not in the least in earnest, were hardly listened to at all by Harold. He was thinking his own glad thoughts. Five weeks yet till the Harrises would sail for home! Ted would have a chance to redeem40 himself in that time and make up for all his coldness and neglect; and the joy of it all was that it looked as though he was going to try to do it.
“Half crown, please, for being permitted to join the party,” said Mr. Harris, presenting the hat to Ted, after making sure that none of the coins were still missing; and Ted, though wholly bent41 on practising close economy, felt the circumstances justified42 the outlay43, and did as he was bid.
There was only one person to whom Ted’s coming was not a source of unalloyed pleasure. The addition of a seventh member to the party made it necessary that some one should occupy the vacant back seat on the brake between the grooms44, and Mr. Farwell was gentleman enough to insist upon being allowed to take his regular turn in the matter. He would not have minded this much, however, only that, being endowed with average qualities of discernment, he soon realized he had been obliged to take a back seat in more senses than one. Dorothy continued to be most polite and friendly, but that Ted filled the role of an old and privileged friend was at once evident on the face of things, and Mr. Farwell endeavored to accept the situation with the best grace possible, and succeeded, be it said to his credit, remarkably45 well.
Mr. and Mrs. Harris were soon taken into Ted’s confidence—the very next day, in fact, as they were sitting in the garden of the hotel at Keswick—and listened as raptly to his narration46 of all that had happened these last few weeks as the little circle outside the cottage door had listened to Marie-Celeste. Ted, however, made no excuses for himself, whereas Marie-Celeste’s account was full of them; and so one narration was naturally far less plausible47 than the other. The one fact that seemed to Mr. and Mrs. Harris to defy credulity was that Ted should have fallen into the hands of the Hartleys, for in what other little cottage in all England could such a transformation48 have been wrought49? Where else could he have been brought into such close touch with all the old home interests as he had been there, first through Chris and afterward50 through Donald and Marie-Celeste, and where else could he have come to see so clearly that he had been wilfully51 trampling52 upon all that is truest and best in life? “Fritz,” said Mrs. Harris that evening, as in company with Marie-Celeste they were strolling home from an hour spent in the little churchyard where the great poet Southey is buried, “I think it is beautiful to realize what a grand part Providence53 plays in the world.”
“Providence!” said Marie-Celeste thoughtfully; “really, I do not know just what people mean by Providence.”
“The word is from the Latin,” said her father, who, with most college men, liked to bring his knowledge of derivations to the front now and then, “and the dictionary, I think, would tell you that it means God’s thoughtful care for everything created.”
“Exactly,” said Mrs. Harris, “only it seems to me that people are often in too much of a hurry to make use of the word, for you can’t he certain until you are able to look hack54 upon a thing whether it was surely of God’s ordering or man’s short-sighted scheming. Still I am inclined to believe, even at this stage of the proceeding55, that our coming over here this summer has indeed been a beautiful providence and a few weeks later, for good and sufficient reasons, there was not a shadow of doubt on that score left in the mind of any one.”
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1
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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2
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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3
waterproofs
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| n.防水衣物，雨衣 usually plural( waterproof的名词复数 )v.使防水，使不透水( waterproof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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4
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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5
ted
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| vt.翻晒，撒，撒开 | |
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6
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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8
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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9
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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10
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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11
laming
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| 瘸的( lame的现在分词 )； 站不住脚的； 差劲的； 蹩脚的 | |
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12
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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13
necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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15
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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16
prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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17
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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18
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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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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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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21
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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24
contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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25
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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26
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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27
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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28
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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29
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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30
unreasonableness
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| 无理性； 横逆 | |
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31
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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32
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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33
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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34
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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35
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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36
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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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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38
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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39
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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40
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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41
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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42
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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43
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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44
grooms
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| n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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45
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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46
narration
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| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
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47
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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48
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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49
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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50
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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51
wilfully
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| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
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52
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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53
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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54
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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55
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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