The day, however, had been cloudless and unusually hot. Prescott had driven in from his wheat farm at some distance from the settlement, and he now walked toward the hotel. He was twenty-eight years old, of average height and rather spare figure; his face, which had been deeply bronzed by frost and sun, was what is called open, his gray eyes were clear and steady, the set of his lips and mould of chin firm. He looked honest and good-natured, but one who could, when necessary, sturdily hold his own. His attire3 was simple: a wide 2 gray hat, a saffron-colored shirt with flannel4 collar, and a light tweed suit, something the worse for wear.
As he passed along the sidewalk he looked about. The small, frame houses were destitute5 of paint and any pretense6 of beauty, a number of them had raised, square fronts which hid the shingled7 roofs; but beyond the end of the street there was the prairie stretching back to the horizon. In the foreground it was a sweep of fading green and pale ocher; farther off it was tinged8 with gray and purple; and where it cut the glow of green and pink on the skyline a long birch bluff9 ran in a cold blue smear10. To the left of the opening rose three grain elevators: huge wooden towers with their tops narrowed in and devices of stars and flour-bags painted on them. At their feet ran the railroad track, encumbered12 with a string of freight-cars; a tall water-tank, a grimy stage for unloading coal, and a small office shack13 marked the station.
Prescott, however, did not notice much of this; he was more interested in the signs of conflict on the persons of the men he met. Some looked as if they had been violently rolled in the dust; others wore torn jackets; and the faces of several were disfigured by bruises15. Empty bottles, which make handy clubs, were suggestively scattered16 about the road. All this was unusual, but Prescott supposed some allowance must be made for the fact that it was the anniversary of the famous victory of the Boyne. Moreover, there was a community of foreign immigrants, mixed with some Irishmen and French Canadians, but all professing17 the Romish faith, engaged in some railroad work not far away.
In front of the hotel ran a veranda18 supported on wooden pillars, and a row of chairs was set out on the match-strewn sidewalk beneath it. Most of them were occupied 3 by after-supper loungers, and several of the men bore scars. Prescott stopped and lighted his pipe.
“Things seem to have been pretty lively here,” he remarked. “I came in to see the implement19 man and found he couldn’t talk straight, with half his teeth knocked out. It’s lucky the Northwest troopers have stopped your carrying pistols.”
One of the men laughed.
“We’ve had a great day, sure. Quite a few of the Dagos had knives, and Jernyngham had a sword. Guess he’d be in trouble now, only it wasn’t one you could cut with.”
“How did he get the sword?”
“It was King Billy’s,” explained another man. “Fellow who was acting21 him got knocked out with a bottle in his eye. Jernyngham got up on the horse instead and led the last charge, when we whipped them across the track.”
“Where’s the Protestant Old Guard now?”
“Some of it’s in Clayton’s surgery; rest’s gone home. When it looked as if the stores would be wrecked22, Reeve Marvin butted23 in. Telephoned the railroad boss to send up gravel24 cars for his boys; told the other crowd he’d bring the troopers in if they didn’t quit. Ordered all strangers off on the West-bound, and now we’re simmering down.”
“Where’s Jernyngham?”
The man jerked his hand toward the hotel.
“In his room, a bit the worse for wear. Mrs. Jernyngham’s nursing him.”
Pushing open the wire-mesh mosquito door, Prescott entered the building. Its interior was shadowy and filled with cigar smoke; flies buzzed everywhere, and the smell 4 of warm resinous25 boards pervaded26 the rank atmosphere. The place was destitute of floor covering or drapery, and the passage Prescott walked down was sloppy27 with soap and water from a row of wash-basins, near which hung one small wet towel. Ascending28 the stairs, he entered a little and very scantily29 furnished room with walls of uncovered pine. It contained a bed with a ragged30 quilt and a couple of plain wooden chairs, in one of which a man leaned back. He was about thirty years old and he roughly resembled Prescott, only that his face, which was a rather handsome one, bore the stamp of indulgence. His forehead was covered by a dirty bandage, there was dust on his clothes, and Prescott thought he was not quite sober. In the other chair sat a young woman with fine dark eyes and glossy31 black hair, whose appearance would have been prepossessing had it not been spoiled by her slatternliness and cheap finery. She smiled at the visitor as he walked in.
“If you’d come sooner, we might have kep’ him out o’ trouble,” she said. “He got away from me when things begun to hum.”
Her slight accent suggested the French Canadian strain, though Prescott imagined that there was a trace of Indian blood in her. Her manners were unfinished, her character was primitive32, but Prescott thought she was as good a consort33 as Jernyngham deserved. The latter had a small wheat farm lying back on the prairie, but his erratic34 temperament35 prevented his successfully working it. Prescott was not a censorious person, and he had a liking36 and some pity for the man.
“Well,” he said, in answer to the woman’s remark, “that was certainly foolish of him. But what had he to do with the row, anyway?” 5
“Have a drink, and I’ll try to explain,” said Jernyngham. “A big cool drink might clear my head, and I feel it needs it.”
“You kin20 have soda37, but nothin’ else!” the woman broke in. “I’ll send it up; and now that I kin leave you, I’m goin’ to the store.” She turned to Prescott. “Nothin’ but soda; and see he don’t git out!”
She left them and Jernyngham laughed.
“Ellice’s a good sort; I sometimes wonder how she puts up with me. Anyhow, I’m glad you came, because I’m in what might be called a dilemma38.”
As this was not a novelty to his companion, Prescott made no comment, and by and by two tumblers containing iced liquid were brought in. Jernyngham drained his thirstily and looked up with a grin.
“It isn’t exhilarating, but it’s cool,” he said. “Now, however, you’re curious about my honorable scars—I got them from a bottle. It broke, you see, but there’s some satisfaction in remembering that I knocked out the other fellow with the flat of the Immortal39 William’s sword.”
“You’ll get worse hurt some day,” Prescott rebuked40 him severely41.
“It’s possible, but you’re wandering from the point. I’m trying to remember what led me into the fray42 in the incongruous company of certain Hardshell Baptists, Ontario Methodists, and Belfast Presbyterians. As a young man, my sympathies were with the advanced Anglicans, perhaps because my people were sternly Evangelical. Then the whole thing’s unreasonable—what have I to do, for instance, with the Protestant succession?”
“It isn’t very plain,” said Prescott. “Still, everybody knows what kind of fool you are.” 6
“I live,” declared Jernyngham. “You steady, industrious43 fellows grow. The row began at the ball-game—disputed base, I think—and our lot had got badly whipped at the first round when I stood on the veranda and sang them, ‘No Surrender.’ That was enough for the Ulster boys, and three or four of them go a long way in this kind of scrimmage.”
Prescott had no sympathy with Jernyngham’s vagaries44, but one could not be angry with him: the man was irresponsible. In a few moments, however, Jernyngham’s face grew graver.
“Jack14,” he resumed, “I’m in a hole. Never troubled to ask for my letters until late in the afternoon, and now I don’t know what to do unless you can help me.”
“You had better tell me what the trouble is.”
“To make you understand, I’ll have to go back some time. Everybody round this place knows what I am now, but I believe I was rather a promising45 youngster before I left the old country, a bit of a rebel though, and inclined to kick against the ultra-conventional. In fact, I think honesty was my ruin, Jack; I kicked openly.”
“Is there any other way? I can’t see that there’s much use in kicking unless the opposition46 feels it.”
“Don’t interrupt,” scowled47 Jernyngham. “This is rather deep for you, but I’ll try to explain. If you want to get on in the old country, you must conform to the standard; though you can do what you like at times and places where people of your proper circle aren’t supposed to see you. I didn’t recognize the benefits of the system then—and I suffered for it.”
He paused with a curious, half-tender look in his face. 7
“There was a girl, Jack, good as they’re made, I still believe, though not in our station. Well, I meant to marry her—thought I was strong enough to defy the system—and she, not knowing what manner of life I was meant for, was fond of me.”
“What manner of life were you meant for?”
Jernyngham laughed harshly.
“The Bar, for a beginning; I’d got my degree. The House later—there was strong family influence—to assist in propagating the Imperial idea. Strikes one as amusing, Jack.”
Prescott thought his companion would not have spoken so freely had he been wholly sober, but he had long noticed the purity of the man’s intonation48 and the refinement49 that occasionally showed in his manners.
“You’re making quite a tale of it,” he said.
“Well,” resumed Jernyngham, “I didn’t know what I was up against; the system broke me. When the stress came, I hadn’t nerve enough to hold out, and for that I’ve been punished. My sister—she meant well—got hold of the girl, persuaded her to give me up—for my sake, Jack. Wouldn’t see me, sent back my letters, and I came to Canada, beaten.”
He paused.
“There’s a reason why you must try to realize my father and sister. He’s unflinchingly upright, conventional to a degree; Gertrude’s a feebler copy, as just, but perhaps not quite so hard. Well, I’ve never written to either, but I’ve heard from friends and the conclusion seems to be that as I’ve never asked for money I must have reformed. There’s a desire for a reconciliation50; my father’s getting old, and I believe, in their reserved 8 way, they were fond of me. Don’t be impatient; I’m coming to the point at last. I’d a letter to-day from Colston—though the man’s a relative, I haven’t seen him since I left school. He and his wife are passing through on their way to British Columbia and the idea seems to be that he should see me and report.”
Prescott made a sign of understanding. Jernyngham, stamped with dissipation and injured in a brawl51, and his small homestead where everything was in disorder52 and out of repair, were hardly likely to create a favorable impression on his English relatives. Besides, there was Mrs. Jernyngham. The effect of her appearance and conversation might be disastrous53.
“Now,” continued Jernyngham, “you see how I’m fixed54. I haven’t much to thank my people for, but I want to spare them a shock. If it would make things easier for them, I don’t mind their thinking better of me than I deserve.”
His companion pondered this. It was crudely put, but it showed a rather fine consideration, Prescott thought, for the people who were in part responsible for the man’s downfall; perhaps, too, a certain sense of shame and contrition55. Jernyngham’s desire could not be found fault with.
“What are you going to do about it?” he asked.
“Nothing,” said Jernyngham with a reckless laugh. “You’ll do all that’s needed; I mean to leave my friends to you. Strikes me as a brilliant idea, though not exactly novel; made a number of excellent comedies. Did you ever see ‘Charley’s Aunt’?”
Prescott frowned.
“I don’t deal.”
“Think! You’re not unlike me and we’re about the 9 same age; Colston, hasn’t seen me for fourteen years; his wife never!”
“No,” objected Prescott. “It can’t be done!”
“It’s hardly good form to remind you of it, Jack, but there was a time when we took a grading contract on the line and you got into trouble close in front of the ballast train.”
Prescott’s determined56 expression changed.
“Yes,” he conceded; “it gives you a pull on me—I can’t go back on that.” He spread out his hands. “Well, if you insist.”
“For the old man’s sake,” said Jernyngham. “I want you to take the Colstons out to your place and entertain them for a day or two; they won’t stay long. They’re coming in by the West-bound this evening.”
“Then,” exclaimed Prescott, “they’ll be here in half an hour, if the train’s on time! If there are any points you can give me about your family history, you had better be quick!”
“In the first place, I was rather a wild youngster, with an original turn of mind and was supposed to be a bit of a rake, though that wasn’t correct—my eccentricities57 were harmless then. Your word ‘maverick’ describes me pretty well: I didn’t belong to the herd58; I wouldn’t be rounded up with the others and let them put the brand on. That’s no doubt why they credited me with vices11 I didn’t possess.” Jernyngham laughed. “Still, you mustn’t overdo59 the thing; you want delicately to convey the idea that you’re now reformed. The part requires some skill; it’s a pity you’re not smarter. Jack. But let me think——”
He went into a few details about his family, and then Prescott left him and, after giving an order to have his 10 team ready, proceeded to the station. It was getting dark, but the western sky was still a sheet of wonderful pale green, against which the tall elevators stood out black and sharp. The head-lamp of a freight locomotive flooded track and station with a dazzling electric glare, the rails that ran straight and level across the waste gleaming far back in the silvery radiance. This helped Prescott to overcome his repugnance60 to his task, as he remembered another summer night when he had attempted to hurry his team across the track before a ballast train came up. Startled by the blaze of the head-lamp and the scream of the whistle, one of the horses plunged61 and kicked; a wheel of the wagon62, sinking in the loose ballast, skidded63 against a tie; and Prescott stood between the rails, struggling to extricate64 the beasts, while the great locomotive rushed down on them. There was a vein65 of stubborn tenacity66 in him and it looked as if he and the horses would perish together when Jernyngham came running to the rescue. How they escaped neither of them could afterward67 remember, but a moment later they stood beside the track while the train went banging by, covering them with dust and fragments of gravel. Prescott admitted that he owed Jernyngham something for that.
Nevertheless there was no doubt that the part he had undertaken to play would be difficult. He could see its humorous side, but he had not been a prodigal68; indeed he was by temperament and habit steady-going and industrious. The son of a small business man in Montreal, he had after an excellent education abandoned city life and gone west, where he had prospered69 by frugality70 and hard work. He was by no means rich, but he was content and inclined to be optimistic about the future. 11
When he reached the station, he found that the usual crowd of loungers had gathered to watch the train come in. Lighting71 his pipe, he walked up and down the low platform, wondering uneasily how he would get through the next few days. Jernyngham, he felt, had placed him in a singularly embarrassing position.
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1
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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shingled
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| adj.盖木瓦的；贴有墙面板的v.用木瓦盖(shingle的过去式和过去分词形式) | |
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8
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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10
smear
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| v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑 | |
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11
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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15
bruises
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| n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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professing
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| 声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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butted
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| 对接的 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sloppy
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| adj.邋遢的，不整洁的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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vagaries
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| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
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45
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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49
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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51
brawl
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| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
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52
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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53
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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54
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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55
contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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56
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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57
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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58
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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59
overdo
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| vt.把...做得过头，演得过火 | |
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60
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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61
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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62
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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63
skidded
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| v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区 | |
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64
extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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65
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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66
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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67
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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68
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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69
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
frugality
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| n.节约，节俭 | |
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71
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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