A NOCTURNAL RIDE.
Of the details of this ride I need hardly speak. Anxious to avoid the rioters, I steered1 my course by as northerly a curve as was practicable. The street lamps were, of course, unlighted, but the glow of innumerable fires reflected from every window, and beaten downwards2 by the crimson3 clouds overhead, was now turning night into day. As I galloped4 through the streets of Marylebone, I caught a glimpse of the Attila wheeling far away over what seemed to be Kensington. But of the few awkward incidents I can scarcely now remember one; my chief enemy indeed was a poignant5 anxiety about Lena.
178It must have been ten o’clock by the time I galloped into Islington, tired, hungry, and unkempt, but devoured6 by emotions which sternly forbade a halt.
Five minutes brought me to the villa7, and throwing the reins8 over the railing, I pushed the gate aside and entered. The door of the house was open, and the sound of voices came from within. Revolver in hand I entered, but a glance dispelled9 my apprehensions10. The little room so familiar to me was full of terrified women, with here and there a sturdy workman among them. At my entrance there was something like a panic, but I speedily reassured11 the company.
“Where are Miss Northerton and the old lady?” was my first question after soothing12 the tumult13. A sister of charity came forward.
“Up-stairs. Do you bring any message? Mrs. Hartmann, I must tell you, is dying.”
“But Miss——?”
“Is safe and in attendance upon her.”
A wave of delight rolled through me. How selfish we all are! The news about Mrs. Hartmann weighed as nothing with me for the minute.
“Can I send a message to the young lady?”
“Is it important?”
“Very.”
“Then I will take it myself.”
179I scribbled14 a few words on a scrap15 of paper and handed it to the sister, who immediately left the room. I had not long to wait before she returned, saying that the lady would see me up-stairs.
I was shown up to the sick-room, where Lena was sitting by the bedside. She greeted me with a regard chastened by the gravity of the occasion. After a moment’s delay, I stepped up to the bed and looked at the patient. She had been unconscious, so they told me, for some time, and was now dying rapidly. A few hurried whispered words told the story. Mrs. Hartmann had gone to Westminster with Lena on the fatal morning of the previous day, to witness the great labour demonstration16, and the old lady had been brutally17 trampled18 in Parliament Street by the mob. Indeed, but for a company of volunteers who succeeded in momentarily beating back the rush, both ladies would have perished, said the sister. Mrs. Hartmann, thus barely snatched from death, had felt well enough to struggle back to Islington with Lena, having, after an hour of weary waiting, and at great expense, procured19 a cart and driver. Everything seemed on the high-road to chaos20, and the return was only accomplished21 after great risks had been run from the mob. Things looked better, however, when they managed to get out of the more 180central districts, and ultimately they reached the villa in safety, considerably23 surprised at the relatively24 quiet state of the neighbourhood. Soon after entering the house, however, Mrs. Hartmann was attacked by violent pains and nausea25, and on the advent26 of a friendly doctor it was found that she had sustained the most grave internal injuries. H?morrhage set in later, and she rapidly became worse. Before becoming unconscious she had dictated27 a letter for her son (nobody knew that he was alive, added my informant), and had desired Lena to hand it to me for transmission. Very pathetic in character, it narrated28 the facts here recorded, and ended with “a last appeal” to him from a “dying mother” to better his dark and misguided life.
Poor lady, she little knew who her son really was, and how he had himself unwittingly hurried her to the grave.
Mrs. Hartmann passed away about an hour later. Lena and I reverently29 kissed the aged22 and venerable forehead, and paid the last tributes to our friend. Then leaving the death-chamber30, I took Lena into a morning room and acquainted her with my extraordinary experiences since we had parted. She listened with the keenest interest, and was appalled31 to think that Hartmann—the anarchist32 assailant of 181London—could be the son of the poor harmless lady whose body lay so still in the adjoining chamber. Sometimes indeed she seemed quite unable to follow me, and bent33 searching glances on me as if to make sure that I was not after all romancing. No doubt my tale sounded fantastic; but conceive the man who could “romance” on so peculiarly solemn an occasion!
“But did you not see the a?ronef yourself?” I asked.
“No, we were hopelessly jammed up in the crowd near Whitehall. The wildest rumours34 were afloat, fires were breaking out everywhere, cannon35 booming, and the mob breaking into shops and stores. It was impossible to see far owing to the smoke.”
A bright trail of light flashed down the heavens to the south-west.
“Look, Lena! look! there is the Attila itself! Now will you believe me?” The deluge36 of fire had not yet ceased to fall! We stood riveted37 with horror to the window.
“Do you see the search-light glowing on her bow—the blazing petroleum38 splashing down from her sides on to the house-tops? Ah! there will be a pretty story to tell of this in the morning.”
Lena could only gasp39 in answer. The Attila with her one electric eye stood out sharply against the 182crimson-hued clouds, with trails of fire lengthening40 out behind her. And as the burning liquid fell, one could see the flames from the gutted41 houses leap upwards42 as if to greet it. Whole acres of buildings were ablaze43, and one dared not think what that deluge must mean for the desperate mobs below. And no human art could avail here. In this extraordinary vessel44 the vices45 and powers of man had been brought to a common focus. The Attila seemed mad with the irresponsibility of strength, and yet to the captain of that fell craft, now suspended in mid-air over the doomed46 city, I had somehow to transmit the letter of his dead mother. The thought struck us both at once.
“What about that letter?” said Lena, as we watched the destructive gyrations of the a?ronef. I took it from her hand reverentially.
“I shall do my best to deliver it. One of the crew” (I remembered Schwartz’ remark) “is likely to descend47 shortly. Possibly I may meet him. If not, I must wait for my chance. Believe me, Lena, this letter, if I can ever deliver it, will prove the most terrible retribution possible. And now we must be off; your parents are seriously alarmed, and for their sakes you must ride back with me without delay.”
183
“LOOK, LENA! LOOK!”
185It was late in the morning when I snatched a broken rest at the Northertons’. But in seeking my sofa—it was far too terrible a time to think of bed—I had at least the consolation48 that Lena was restored safe and sound to her father and mother, and last, and perhaps not least, to myself. It seemed, too, that we could detect some lull49 in the fury of the conflagration50, though to what this was due we were unable, of course, to ascertain51. Lull, however, or no lull, caution was still indispensable, and old Northerton and the butler, armed to the teeth, kept a dreary52 vigil till the morning broke in sullenness53.
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1
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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4
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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5
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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8
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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9
dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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11
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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12
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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13
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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14
scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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15
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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16
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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17
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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18
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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19
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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20
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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21
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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22
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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23
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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24
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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25
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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26
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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27
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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28
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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30
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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31
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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32
anarchist
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| n.无政府主义者 | |
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33
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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34
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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35
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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36
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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37
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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38
petroleum
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| n.原油，石油 | |
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39
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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40
lengthening
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长 | |
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41
gutted
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| adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏 | |
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42
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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43
ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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44
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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45
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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46
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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47
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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48
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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49
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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50
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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51
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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52
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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53
sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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