Reuben easily obtained the consent of several of these citizens to follow him, and, as they went on, the number swelled4 to ten or a dozen. Doubtless many more could have been incorporated in the impromptu5 procession had it not been so hopelessly dark.
The lawyer led his friends through the gate, and began pushing his way up the gravelled path through the crowd. No special opposition6 was offered to his progress, for the air was so full of snow now that only those immediately affected8 knew anything about it. Although the path was fairly thronged9, nobody seemed to have any idea why he was standing11 there. Those who spoke12 appeared in the main to regard the matter as a joke, the point of which was growing more and more obscure. Except for some sporadic13 horn-blowing and hooting14 nearer to the house, the activity of the assemblage was confined to a handful of boys, who mustered15 among them two or three kerosene16 oil torches treasured from the last Presidential campaign, and a grotesque17 jack-o’-lantem made of a pumpkin18 and elevated on a broom-stick. These urchins19 were running about among the little groups of bystanders, knocking off one another’s caps, shouting prodigiously20, and having a good time.
As Reuben and those accompanying him approached the house, some of these lads raised the cry of “Here’s the coppers21!” and the crowd at this seemed to close up with a simultaneous movement, while a murmur22 ran across its surface like the wind over a field of corn. This sound was one less of menace or even excitement than of gratification that at last something was going to happen.
One of the boys with a torch, in the true spirit of his generation, placed himself in front of Reuben and marched with mock gravity at the head of the advancing group. This, drolly23 enough, lent the movement a semblance24 of authority, or at least of significance, before which the men more readily than ever gave way. At this the other boys with the torches and jack-o’-lantem fell into line at the rear of Tracy’s immediate7 supporters, and they in turn were followed by the throng10 generally. Thus whimsically escorted, Reuben reached the front steps of the mansion25.
A more compact and apparently26 homogeneous cluster of men stood here, some of them even on the steps, and dark and indistinct as everything was, Reuben leaped to the conclusion that these were the men at least visibly responsible for this strange gathering27. Presumably they were taken by surprise at his appearance with such a following. At any rate, they, too, offered no concerted resistance, and he mounted to the platform of the steps without difficulty. Then he turned and whispered to a friend to have the boys with the torches also come up. This was a suggestion gladly obeyed, not least of all by the boy with the low-comedy pumpkin, whose illumination created a good-natured laugh.
Tracy stood now, bareheaded in the falling snow, facing the throng. The gathering of the lights about him indicated to everybody in the grounds that the aimless demonstration28 had finally assumed some kind of form. A general forward movement was the first result. Then there were admonitory shouts here and there, under the influence of which the horn-blowing gradually ceased, and Tracy’s name was passed from mouth to mouth until its mention took on almost the character of a personal cheer on the outskirts29 of the crowd. In answer to this two or three hostile interrogations or comments were bawled30 out, but the throng did not favor these, and so there fell a silence which invited Reuben to speak.
“My friends,” he began, and then stopped because he had not pitched his voice high enough, and a whole semicircle of cries of “louder!” rose from the darkness of the central lawn.
“He’s afraid of waking the fine ladies,” called out an anonymous31 voice.
“Shut up, Tracy, and let the pumpkin talk,” was another shout.
“Begorrah, it’s the pumpkin that is talkin’ now!” cried a shrill32 third voice, and at this there was a ripple33 of laughter.
“My friends,” began Reuben, in a louder tone, this time without immediate interruption, “although I don’t know precisely34 why you have gathered here at so much discomfort35 to yourselves, I have some things to say to you which I think you will regard as important. I have not seen the persons who live in this house since Tuesday, but while I can easily understand that your coming here to-night might otherwise cause them some anxiety, I am sure that they, when they come to understand it, will be as glad as I am that you are here, and that I am given this opportunity of speaking for them to you. If you had not taken this notion of coming here tonight, I should have, in a day or two, asked you to meet me somewhere else, in a more convenient place, to talk matters over.
“First of all let me tell you that the works are going to be opened promptly36, certainly the furnaces, and unless I am very much mistaken about the law, the rolling mills too. I give you my word for that, as the legal representative of two of these women.”
“Yes; they’ll be opened with the Frenchmen!” came a swift answering shout.
“Or will you get Chinamen?” cried another, amid derisive37 laughter.
Reuben responded in his clearest tones: “No man who belongs to Thessaly shall be crowded out by a newcomer. I give you my word for that, too.”
Some scattered38 cheers broke out at this announcement, which promised for the instant to become general, and then were hushed down by the prevalent anxiety to hear more. In this momentary39 interval40 Reuben caught the sound of a window being cautiously raised immediately above the front door, and guessed with a little flutter of the heart who this new auditor41 might be.
“Secondly,” he went on, “you ought to be told the truth about the shutting down of the furnaces and the lockout. These women were not at all responsible for either action. I know of my own knowledge that both things caused them genuine grief, and that they were shocked beyond measure at the proposal to bring outside workmen into the town to undersell and drive away their own neighbors and fellow-townsmen. I want you to realize this, because otherwise you would do a wrong in your minds to these good women who belong to Thessaly, who are as fond of our village and its people as any other soul within its borders, and who, for their own sake as well as that of Stephen Minster’s memory, deserve respect and liking42 at your hands.
“I may tell you frankly43 that they were misled and deceived by agents, in whom, mistakenly enough, they trusted, into temporarily giving power to these unworthy men. The result was a series of steps which they deplored44, but did not know how to stop. A few days ago I was called into the case to see what could be done toward undoing45 the mischief46 from which they, and you, and the townspeople generally, suffer. Since then I have been hard at work both in court and out of it, and I believe I can say with authority that the attempt to plunder47 the Minster estate and to impoverish48 you will be beaten all along the line.”
This time the outburst of cheering was spontaneous and prolonged. When it died away, some voice called out, “Three cheers for the ladies!” and these were given, too, not without laughter at the jack-o’-lantem boy, who waved his pumpkin vigorously.
“One word more,” called out Tracy, “and I hope you will take in good part what I am going to say. When I made my way up through the grounds, I was struck by the fact that nobody seemed to know just why he had come here. I gather now that word was passed around during the day that there would be a crowd here, and that something, nobody understood just what, would be done after they got here. I do not know who started the idea, or who circulated the word. It might be worth your while to find out. Meanwhile, don’t you agree with me that it is an unsatisfactory and uncivil way of going at the thing? This is a free country, but just because it is free, we ought to feel the more bound to respect one another’s rights. There are countries in which, I dare say, if I were a citizen, or rather a subject, I might feel it my duty to head a mob or join a riot. But here there ought to be no mob; there should be no room for even thought of a riot. Our very strength lies in the idea that we are our own policemen—our own soldiery. I say this not because one in a hundred of you meant any special harm in coming here, but because the notion of coming itself was not American. Beware of men who suggest that kind of thing. Beware of men who preach the theory that because you are puddlers or moulders49 or firemen, therefore you are different from the rest of your fellow-citizens. I, for one, resent the idea that because I am a lawyer, and you, for example, are a blacksmith, therefore we belong to different classes. I wish with all my heart that everybody resented it, and that that abominable50 word ‘classes’ could be wiped out of the English language as it is spoken in America. That is all. I am glad if you feel easier in your minds than you did when you came. If you do, I guess there’s been no harm done by your coming which isn’t more than balanced by the good that has come out of it. Only next time, if you don’t mind, we’ll have our meeting somewhere else, where it will be easier to speak than it is in a snowstorm, and where we won’t keep our neighbors awake. And now good-night, everybody.”
Out of the satisfied and amiable51 murmur which spread through the crowd at this, there rose a sharp, querulous voice:
“Give us the names of the men who, you say, were responsible.”
“No, I can’t do that to-night. But if you read the next list of indictments52 found by the grand jury of Dearborn County, my word as a lawyer you’ll find them all there.”
The loudest cheer of the evening burst upon the air at this, and there was a sustained roar when Tracy’s name was shouted out above the tumult53. Some few men crowded up to the steps to shake hands with him, and many others called out to him a personal “good-night.” The last of those to shake the accumulated snow from their collars and hats, and turn their steps homeward, noted54 that the whole front of the Minster house had suddenly become illuminated55.
Thus Reuben’s simple and highly fortuitous conquest of what had been planned to be a mob was accomplished56. It is remembered to this day as the best thing any man ever did single-handed in Thessaly, and it is always spoken of as the foundation of his present political eminence57. But he himself would say now, upon reflection, that he succeeded because the better sense of his auditors58, from the outset, wanted him to succeed, and because he was lucky enough to impress a very decent and bright-witted lot of men with the idea that he wasn’t a humbug59.
At the moment he was in no mood to analyze60 his success. His hair was streaming with melted snow, his throat was painfully hoarse61 and sore, and the fatigue62 from speaking so loud, and the reaction from his great excitement, combined to make him feel a very weak brother indeed.
So utterly63 wearied was he that when the door of the now lighted hallway opened behind him, and Miss Kate herself, standing in front of the servant on the threshold, said: “We want you to come in, Mr. Tracy,” he turned mechanically and went in, thinking more of a drink of some sort and a chance to sit down beside her, than of all the possible results of his speech to the crowd.
The effect of warmth and welcome inside the mansion was grateful to all his senses. He parted with his hat and overcoat, took the glass of claret which was offered him, and allowed himself to be led into the drawing-room and given a seat, all in a happy daze64, which was, in truth, so very happy, that he was dimly conscious of the beginnings of tears in his eyes. It seemed now that the strain upon his mind and heart—the anger, and fright, and terrible anxiety—had lasted for whole weary years. Trial by soul-torture was new to him, and this ordeal65 through which he had passed left him curiously66 flabby and tremulous.
He lay back in the easy-chair in an ecstasy67 of physical lassitude and mental content, surrendering himself to the delight of watching the beautiful girl before him, and of listening to the music of her voice. The liquid depths of brown eyes into which he looked, and the soft tones which wooed his hearing, produced upon him vaguely68 the sensation of shining white robes and celestial69 harps—an indefinitely glorious recompense for the travail70 that lay behind in the valley of the shadow of death.
Nothing was further from him than the temptation to break this bright spell by speech.
“We heard almost every word of what you said,” Kate was saying. “When you began we were in this room, crouched71 there by the window—that is, Ethel and I were, for mamma refused to even pretend to listen—and at first we thought it was one of the mob, and then Ethel recognized your voice. That almost annoyed me, for it seemed as if I should have been—-at least, equally quick to know it—that is, I mean, I’ve heard you speak so much more than she has. And then we both hurried up-stairs, and lifted the window—and oh! but we listened!
“And from the moment we knew it was you—that you were here—we felt perfectly72 safe. It doesn’t seem now that we were very much afraid, even before that, although probably we were. There was a lot of hooting, and that dreadful blowing on horns, and all that, and once somebody rang the door-bell; but, beyond throwing snowballs, nothing else was done. So I daresay they only wanted to scare us. Of course it was the fire that made us really nervous. We got that brave girl’s warning about the mob’s coming here just a little while before the sky began to redden with the blaze; and that sight, coming on the heels of her letter—”
“What girl? What letter?” asked Reuben.
“Here it is,” answered Kate, drawing a crumpled73 sheet of paper from her bosom74, and reading aloud:
“Dear Miss Minster:
“I have just heard that a crowd of men are coming to your house to-night to do violent things. I am starting out to try and bring you help. Meanwhile, I send you my father, who will do whatever you tell him to do.
“Gratefully yours,
“Jessica Lawton.”
Reuben had risen abruptly75 to his feet before the signature was reached.
“I am ashamed of myself,” he said; “I’ve left her out there all this while. And she was ill, too! There was so much else that really she escaped my memory altogether.”
He had made his way out into the hall and taken up his hat and coat.
“You will come back, won’t you?” Kate asked. “There are so many things to talk over, with all of us. And—and bring her too, if—if she will come.”
With a sign of acquiescence76 and comprehension. Reuben darted77 down the steps and into the darkness. In a very few minutes he returned, disappointment written all over his face.
“She’s gone. Gedney, the man I left with the sleigh, says she went off as soon as I had got out of sight. I had offered to have him drive her home, but she refused. She’s a curiously independent girl.”
“I am very sorry,” said Kate. “But I will go over the first thing in the morning and thank her.”
“You don’t as yet know the half of what you have to thank her for,” put in the lawyer. “I don’t mean that it was so great a thing—my coming—but she drove all the way out to my mother’s farm to bring me here to-night, and fainted when she got there. She was really ill. If her father is still here, I think he’d better go at once to her place, and see about her.”
The suggestion seemed a good one, and was instantly acted upon. Ben Lawton had been in the kitchen, immensely proud of his position as the responsible garrison78 of a beleaguered79 house, and came out into the hallway now with a full stomach and a satisfied expression on his lank80 face.
He assented81 with readiness to Reuben’s idea, when it was explained to him.
“So she druv out to your mother’s place for you, did she?” he commented, admiringly. “That girl’s a genuwine chip of the old block. I mean,” he added, with an apologetic smile, “of the old, old block. I ain’t got so much git-up-and-git about me, that I know of, but her grandfather was a regular snorter!”
“We shall not forget how much we are obliged to you, Mr. Lawton,” said Kate, pleasantly, offering him her hand. “Be sure that you tell your daughter, too, how grateful we all are.”
Ben took the delicate hand thus amazingly extended to him, and shook it with formal awkwardness.
“I didn’t seem to do much,” he said, deprecatingly, “and perhaps I wouldn’t have amounted to much, neether, if it had a-come to fightin’ and gougin’ and wras’lin’ round generally. But you can bet your boots, ma’am, that I’d a-done what I could!”
With this chivalrous82 assurance Ben withdrew, and marched down the steps with a carriage more nearly erect83 than Thessaly had ever seen him assume before.
The heavy front door swung to, and Reuben realized, with a new rush of charmed emotion, that heaven had opened for him once more.
A servant came and whispered something to Miss Kate. The latter nodded, and then turned to Reuben with a smile full of light and softness.
“If you will give me your arm,” she said, in a delicious murmur, “we will go into the dining-room. My mother and sister are waiting for us there. We are not supper-people as a rule, but it seemed right to have one to-night.”
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1
disapproved
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| v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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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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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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13
sporadic
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| adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的 | |
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hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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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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16
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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pumpkin
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| n.南瓜 | |
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urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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drolly
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| adv.古里古怪地；滑稽地；幽默地；诙谐地 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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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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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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47
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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48
impoverish
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| vt.使穷困，使贫困 | |
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49
moulders
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| v.腐朽( moulder的第三人称单数 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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50
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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51
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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52
indictments
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| n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告 | |
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53
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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54
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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55
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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56
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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57
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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58
auditors
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| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
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59
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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60
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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61
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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62
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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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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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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81
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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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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