It was not nearly so imposing1 an event as a good many others which had stirred the community during the previous twelve months. There were already two regiments2 in the field recruited from our end of Dearborn County, and in these at least six or seven companies were made up wholly of Octavius men. There had been big crowds, with speeches and music by the band, to see them off at the old depot3.
When they returned, their short term of service having expired, there were still more fervent4 demonstrations5, to which zest6 was added by the knowledge that they were all to enlist7 again, and then we shortly celebrated8 their second departure. Some there were who returned in mute and cold finality—term of enlistment9 and life alike cut short—and these were borne through our streets with sombre martial10 pageantry, the long wail11 of the funeral march reaching out to include the whole valley side in its note of lamentation12. Besides all this, hardly a week passed that those of us who hung about the station could not see a train full of troops on their way to or from the South. A year of these experiences had left us seasoned veterans in sightseeing, by no means to be fluttered by trifles.
As a matter of fact, the village did not take Battery G very seriously. To begin with, it mustered13 only some dozen men, at least so far as our local contribution went, and there was a feeling that we couldn’t be expected to go much out of our way for such a paltry14 number. Then, again, an artillery15 force was somehow out of joint16 with our notion of what Octavius should do to help suppress the Rebellion. Infantrymen with muskets17 we could all understand—could all be, if necessary. Many of the farmer boys round about, too, made good cavalrymen, because they knew both how to ride and how to groom18 a horse. But in the name of all that was mysterious, why artillerymen? There had never been a cannon19 within fifty miles of Octavius; that is, since the Revolution. Certainly none of our citizens had the least idea how to fire one off. These enlisted20 men of Battery G were no better posted than the rest; it would take them a three days’ journey to reach the point where, for the first time, they were to see their strange weapon of warfare21. This seemed to us rather foolish.
Moreover, there was a government proclamation just out, it was said, discontinuing further enlistments and disbanding the recruiting offices scattered22 over the North. This appeared to imply that the war was about over, or at least that they had more soldiers already than they knew what to do with. There were some who questioned whether, under these circumstances, it was worth while for Battery G to go at all.
But go it did, and at the last moment quite a throng23 of people found themselves gathered at the station to say good-by. A good many of these were the relations and friends of the dozen ordinary recruits, who would not even get their uniforms and swords till they reached Tecumseh. But the larger portion, I should think, had come on account of Lieutenant24 Ransom25.
Dwight was hail-fellow-well-met with more people within a radius26 of twenty miles or so, probably, than any other man in the district. He was a goodlooking young man, rather stocky in build and deeply sunburned. Through the decent months of the year he was always out of doors, either tramping over the country with a level over his shoulder, or improving the days with a shotgun or fishpole. At these seasons he was generally to be found of an evening at the barber’s shop, where he told more new stories than any one else. When winter came his chief work was in his office, drawing maps and plans. He let his beard grow then, and spent his leisure for the most part playing checkers at the Excelsior Hotel.
His habitual27 free-and-easy dress and amiable28 laxity of manners tended to obscure in the village mind the facts that he came from one of the best families of the section, that he had been through college, and that he had some means of his own. His mother and sisters were very respectable people indeed, and had one of the most expensive pews in the Episcopal church. It was not observed, however, that Dwight ever accompanied them thither29 or that he devoted30 much of his time to their society at home. It began to be remarked, here and there, that it was getting to be about time for Dwight Ransom to steady down, if he was ever going to. Although everybody liked him and was glad to see him about, an impression was gradually shaping itself that he never would amount to much.
All at once Dwight staggered the public consciousness by putting on his best clothes one Sunday and going with his folks to church. Those who saw him on the way there could not make it out at all, except on the hypothesis that there had been a death in the family. Those who encountered him upon his return from the sacred edifice31, however, found a clue to the mystery ready made. He was walking home with Julia Parmalee.
There were others whose passionate32 desire it was to walk home with Julia. They had been enlivening Octavius with public displays of their rivalry33 for something like two months when Dwight appeared on the scene as a competitor. Easy-going as he was in ordinary matters, he revealed himself now to be a hustler in the Courts of love. It took him but a single day to drive the teller34 of the bank from the field. The Principal of the Seminary, a rising young lawyer, and the head bookkeeper at the freight-house, severally went by the board within a fortnight.
There remained old Dr. Conger’s son Emory, who was of a tougher fibre and gave Dwight several added weeks of combat. He enjoyed the advantage of having nothing whatever to do. He possessed35, moreover, a remarkably36 varied37 wardrobe and white hands, and loomed38 unique among the males of our town in his ability to play on the piano. With such aids a young man may go far in a quiet neighborhood, and for a time Emory Conger certainly seemed to be holding his own, if not more. His discomfiture39, when it came, was dramatic in its swift completeness. One forenoon we saw Dwight on the street in a new and resplendent officer’s uniform, and learned that he had been commissioned to raise a battery. That very evening the doctor’s son left town, and the news went round that Lieutenant Ransom was engaged to Miss Parmalee.
An impression prevailed that Dwight would not have objected to let the matter rest there. He had gained his point, and might well regard the battery and the war itself as things which had served their purpose and could now be dispensed40 with. No one would have blamed him much for feeling that way about it.
But this was not Julia’s view. She adopted the battery for her own while it was still little more than a name, and swept it forward with such a swirling41 rush of enthusiasm that the men were all enlisted, the organization settled, and the date of departure for the front sternly fastened, before anybody could lay a hand to the brakes. Her St. Mark’s Ladies’ Aid Society presented Dwight with a sword. Her branch of the Sanitary42 Commission voted to entertain the battery with a hot meal in the depot yard before it took the train. We have seen how she went and had herself photographed standing43 proudly behind the belted and martial Dwight. After these things it was impossible for Battery G to back out.
The artillerymen had a bright blue sky and a warm sunlit noontide for their departure. Even the most cynical44 of those who had come to see them off yielded toward the end to the genial45 influence of the weather and the impulse of good-fellowship, and joined in the handshaking at the car windows, and in the volley of cheers which were raised as the train drew slowly out of the yard.
At this moment the ladies of the Sanitary Commission had to bestir themselves to save the remnant of oranges and sandwiches on their tables from the swooping46 raid of the youth of Octavius, and, what with administering cuffs47 and shakings, and keeping their garments out of the way of coffee-cups overturned in the scramble48, had no time to watch Julia Parmalee.
The men gathered in the yard kept her steadily49 in view, however, as she stood prominently in front of the throng, on the top of a baggage truck, and waved her handkerchief until the train had dwindled50 into nothingness down the valley. These observers had an eye also on three young men who had got as near this truck as possible. Interest in Dwight and his battery was already giving place to curiosity as to which of these three—the bank-teller, the freight-house clerk, or the rising young lawyer—would win the chance of helping51 Julia down off her perch52.
No one was prepared for what really happened.
Miss Parmalee turned and looked thoughtfully, one might say abstractedly, about her. Somehow she seemed not to see any of the hands which were eagerly uplifted toward her. Instead, her musing54 gaze roved lightly over the predatory scuffle among the tables, over the ancient depot building, over the assembled throng of citizens in the background, then wandered nearer, with the pretty inconsequence of a butterfly’s flight. Of course it was the farewell to Dwight which had left that soft, rosy55 flush in her dark, round cheeks. The glance that she was sending idly fluttering here and there did not seem so obviously connected with the Lieutenant. Of a sudden it halted and went into a smile.
“Oh, Mr. Pulford! May I trouble you?” she said in very distinct tones, bending forward over the edge of the truck, and holding forth56 two white and most shapely hands.
Marsena was standing fully53 six feet away. Like the others, he had been looking at Miss Parmalee, but with no hint of expectation in his eyes. This abrupt57 summons seemed to surprise him even more than it did the crowd. He started, changed color, fixed58 a wistful, almost pleading stare upon the sunlit vacancy59 just above the head of the enchantress, and confusedly fumbled60 with his glove tips, as if to make bare his hands for this great function. Then, straightening himself, he slowly moved toward her like one in a trance.
The rivals edged out of Marsena’s way in dum-founded silence, as if he had been walking in his sleep, and waking were dangerous. He came up, made a formal bow, and lifted his gloved hands in chivalrous61 pretence62 of guiding the graceful63 little jump which brought Miss Parmalee to the ground—all with a pale, motionless face upon which shone a solemn ecstasy64.
It was Marsena’s habit, when out of doors, to carry his right hand in the breast of his frock-coat. As he made an angle of his elbow now, from sheer force of custom, Julia promptly65 took the movement as a proffer66 of physical support, and availed herself of it. Marsena felt himself thrilling from top to toe at the touch of her hand upon his sleeve. If there rose in his mind an awkward consciousness that this sort of thing was unusual in Octavius by daylight, the embarrassment67 was only momentary68. He held himself proudly erect69, and marched out of the depot yard with Miss Parmalee on his arm.
As Homer Sage70 remarked that evening on the stoop of the Excelsior Hotel, this event made the departure of Battery G seem by comparison very small potatoes indeed.
It was impossible for the twain not to realize that everybody was looking at them, as they made their way up the shady side of the main street. But there is another language of the hands than that taught in deaf-mute schools, and Julia’s hand seemed to tell Marsena’s arm distinctly that she didn’t care a bit. As for him, after that first nervous minute or two, the experience was all joy—joy so profound and overwhelming that he could only ponder it in dazzled silence. It is true that Julia was talking—rattling on with sprightly71 volubility about all sorts of things—but to Marsena her remarks no more invited answers than does so much enthralling72 music. When she stopped for a breath he did not remember what she had been saying. He only knew how he felt.
“I wish you’d come straight to the gallery with me,” he said; “I’d like first-rate to make a real picture of you—by yourself.”
“Well, I swow!” remarked Mr. Newton Shull, along in the later afternoon; “I didn’t expect we’d make our salt to-day, with Marsena away pretty near the whole forenoon, and all the folks down to the depot, and here it turns out way the best day we’ve had yet. Actually had to send people away!”
“Guess that didn’t worry him much,” commented the boy, from where he sat on the work-bench swinging his legs in idleness.
Mr. Shull nodded his head suggestively. “No, I dare say not,” he said. “I kind o’ begrudge73 not bein’ an operator myself, when such setters as that come in. She must have been up there a full two hours—them two all by themselves—and the countrymen loafin’ around out in the reception-room there, stompin’ their feet and grindin’ their teeth, jest tired to death o’ waitin’. It went agin my grain to tell them last two lots they’d have to come some other day; but—I dunno—perhaps it’s jest as well. They’ll go and tell it around that we’ve got more’n we can do—and that’s good for business. But, all the same, it seemed to me as if he took considerable more time than was really needful. He can turn out four farmers in fifteen minutes, if he puts on a spurt74; and here he was a full two hours, and only five pictures of her to show for it.”
“Six,” said the boy.
“Yes, so it was—countin’ the one with her hair let down,” Mr. Shull admitted. “I dunno whether that one oughtn’t to be a little extry. I thought o’ tellin’ her that it would be, on account of so much hair consumin’ more chemicals; but—I dunno—somehow—she sort o’ looked as if she knew better. Did you ever notice them eyes o’ hern, how they look as if they could see straight through you, and out on the other side?”
The boy shook his head. “I don’t bother my head about women,” he said. “Got somethin’ better to do.”
“Guess that’s a pretty good plan too,” mused75 Mr. Shull. “Somehow you can’t seem to make ’em out at all. Now, I’ve been around a good deal, and yet somehow I don’t feel as if I knew much about women. I’m bound to say, though,” he added upon reflection, “they know considerable about me.”
“I suppose the first thing we know now,” remarked the boy, impatiently changing the subject, “McClellan ’ll be in Richmond. They say it’s liable to happen now any day.”
Newton Shull was but a lukewarm patriot76. “They needn’t hurry on my account,” he said. “It would be kind o’ mean to have the whole thing fizzle out now, jest when the picture business has begun to amount to something. Why, we must have took in up’ards of $11 to-day—frames and all—and two years ago we’d ’a’ been lucky to get in $3. Let’s see: there’s two fifties and five thirty-fives, that’s $2.75, and the Dutch boy with the drum, that’s $3.40, counting the mat, and then there’s Miss Parmalee—four daguerreotypes, and two negatives, and small frames for each, and two large frames for crayons she’s going to do herself, and cord and nails—I suppose she’ll think them ought to be thrown in—”
“What! didn’t you make her pay in advance?” asked the boy. “I thought everybody had to.”
“You got to humor some folks,” explained Mr. Shull, with a note of regret in his voice. “These big bugs77 with plenty o’ money always have to be waited on. It ain’t right, but it has to be. Besides, you can always slide on an extra quarter or so when you send in the bill. That sort o’ evens the thing up. Now, in her case, for instance, where we’d charge ordinary folks a dollar for two daguerreotypes, we can send her in a bill for—”
Neither Mr. Shull nor the boy had heard Mar-sena’s descending78 steps on the staircase, yet at this moment he entered the little work-room and walked across it to the bay window, where the printing was done. There was an unusual degree of abstraction in his face and mien—unusual even for him—and he drummed absent-mindedly on the panes79 as he stood looking out at the street or the sky, or ‘whatever it was his listless gaze beheld80.
“How much do you think it ’ud be safe to stick Miss Parmalee apiece for them daguerreotypes?” asked Newton Shull of his partner.
Marsena turned and stared for a moment as if he doubted having heard aright. Then he made curt81 answer: “She is not to be charged anything at all. They were made for her as presents.”
It was the other partner’s turn to stare.
“Well, of course—if you say it’s all right,” he managed to get out, “but I suppose on the frames we can—”
“The frames are presents, too,” said Marsena, with decision.
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收听单词发音
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1
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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2
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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3
depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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4
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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5
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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6
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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7
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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8
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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9
enlistment
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| n.应征入伍，获得，取得 | |
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10
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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11
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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12
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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13
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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14
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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15
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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16
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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17
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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18
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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19
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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20
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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21
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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22
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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23
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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24
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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25
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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26
radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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27
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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28
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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30
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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31
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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32
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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33
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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34
teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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35
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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37
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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38
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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39
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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40
dispensed
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| v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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41
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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42
sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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43
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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44
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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45
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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46
swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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47
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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48
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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49
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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50
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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52
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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53
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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54
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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55
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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56
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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57
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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58
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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59
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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60
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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61
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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62
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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63
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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proffer
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| v.献出，赠送；n.提议，建议 | |
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67
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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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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70
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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enthralling
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| 迷人的 | |
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begrudge
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| vt.吝啬，羡慕 | |
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spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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77
bugs
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| adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误 | |
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78
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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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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81
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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