He fell asleep indeed at once, but woke with a start sometime in the night, with the impression of a sound in his ears. Had he really heard something? Or was it only the tail-end of a dream? Wood-lined houses talk in the night. Was it only the pitch pine whispering of the old free days in the scented5 woods? He could not be sure, so he lay still and listened.
And as he waited, it came again—a low, wailing6 cry, long-drawn and somewhat curdling7 to the blood.
Outside or inside? He could not be sure.
Cats? Cats can do wonders in the way of uncanny noises, but somehow this did not sound like cats. There was something human, or inhuman8, in it, and his door suddenly shook as though something tried to get in.
He bethought him to feel for Punch. But his hand fell on space, and as he struck a match to see the time and what had become of his companion, the church bell tolled9 one dismal10 stroke, and he saw Punch standing11 like a bronze statue at the door, with his nose down at the crack, his tail on the droop12, and every hair apparently13 on the bristle14.
At the glow of the match the drooping15 tail gave one slow swing, but he did not look round.
Graeme struck another match, and lit his candle, and jumped into his shoes.
"What is it, old fellow?" And Punch scraped furiously at the door again, and so explained that part of the matter.
There came a sudden scuffling fall against the door. Punch rasped at it with his front feet in strenuous16 silence. If he had been able to give voice it would have been a relief to both of them. His mute anxiety added to the weirdness17 of the proceedings18, and Graeme experienced a novel creeping about the nape of the neck.
Ghosts or no ghosts, however, it had to be looked into. He picked up a heavy boot, turned the key, and flung open the door. Punch went down the stairs in two long bounds, and a rush of cold air put out the candle. He laid it down and followed cautiously, ready to launch the boot at the first sign of uncanniness.
The rush of night air came through a small pantry opening off the hall. The window in it was wide open, and there was no sign of Punch. He and the ghost had evidently gone through that way. Graeme and the boot followed.
It was a dark night between moons. The velvet-black vault19 was brilliant with stars, but the earth was full of shadows. The fleshy leaves of the eucalyptus20 trees showed pale against the darkness. The night wind set them rustling21 eerily22. From somewhere beyond them, past the dark hedge, there came a sound of subdued23 strife24. Graeme clutched his boot and sped towards it, drenched25 with dew from every disturbed branch.
The sounds led him into the potato patch in the lower garden, and in the dimness he became aware that Punch was standing on something that struggled to get up and was held down by the great brown paws and body.
No ghost, evidently. Graeme dropped his boot and stooped and laid hold of the struggler, and knew in a moment, in spite of his own disturbance26 of mind, that this ghost at all events had materialised into the bodily form of Master Johnnie Vautrin, and he wondered how many more might have done the same if they had been followed up as closely.
He lifted the squirming small boy who had not spoken a word.
"So this is what Sark ghosts are made of, is it, Master Johnnie?" he asked, giving him a shake. "You little scamp! For once you shall have what you jolly well deserve," and he carried him, kicking and wriggling28, back to the house, shoved him through the window, and held him with one hand while he got through himself. Punch followed with an easy bound, and they all went upstairs. Graeme found his candle, and lit it and looked at his prisoner.
Johnnie was covered with mould from the potato patch, but his black eyes gleamed through it as brightly as ever, and, as far as Graeme could distinguish through its masking, his face showed no sign of confusion.
"Do you know what we do with naughty little ghosts in England, Johnnie?"
Johnnie's eyes glittered like a snake's.
"We spank29 'em, Johnnie. I'm going to spank you—hard."
Then Johnnie spoke27.
"I'll put tha evil eye on you."
"Two if you like, my son,—or twenty if you've got 'em handy. Evil eyes rather tickle30 me. We'll see which makes most impression—my hand or your eye," and he laid the black-magic man across his knee, and gave him such a genuine motherly quilting as he had never experienced in his life before. Hot blows he was accustomed to, but this cool, relentless31, tingling32 flagellation, all on the one spot, and continued till every particle of blood in his body seemed to leap to meet each stroke, was new to him, and it made a great and lasting33 impression.
He did not cry, but tried to bite and scratch the operator, and Punch stood looking on with a grave smile on his face and a slowly swinging tail expressive34 of the greatest satisfaction.
Discipline over, Graeme handed him out through the pantry window, bade him to go home to bed, and fastened the window behind him. The night passed without further disturbance, and Graeme awoke as the dawn glimmered35 golden on his wide-open window.
In ten minutes he was racing36 bareheaded past Colinette and La Forge towards Les Laches, a towel round his neck and Punch bounding silently by his side. They had stolen out the back way through the top of the post-office fields, and had left Scamp still prisoner in the woodhouse, lest the hysterical37 joy of his release should disturb the ladies.
And presently they were racing back home, all aglow38 with the tingling kisses of the waves, and rough of hair with the salt and the wind.
The sun was up but not yet stripped for the long day's race to the west. The eastern skies still gleamed through a faery haze39 with the soft iridescence40 of a young ormer shell, the tender pinks and greens and golds of the new day's birth-chamber mellowing41 upwards42 into the glorious blue of a day of days.
'The year's at the spring, The day's at the morn; Morning's at seven; The hillside's dew-pearled: The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn; God's in his heaven— All's right with the world!'
The lilt of the joyous43 words had often been with him as he sped through the sleeping fields to his morning plunge44.
This day of days, as though his soul forecasted what was coming, they sang in his heart and on his lips. His cure was surely near completion. The salt was regaining45 its savour. Life was worth living again.
And it was then, when he had come through the valley and was ready to climb again, that the glory came to him.
As the two friends sprang lightly over the turf wall into the garden of the Red House, they saw a sight which one of them will not forget as long as he lives.
The Red House. The gap in the hedge. The cottage.
The Red House. The gap in the hedge. The cottage.
In the gap of the tall hedge, where the path led down to the cottage,—ringed in its darkness like a lovely picture in a sombre frame, with a pale eucalyptus rising stately on either side; and behind it all, and gleaming softly through and round it all, the tender glories of the new day,—stood a girl in a dove-coloured dress, bareheaded, holding the dew-pearled branches apart with her two hands, and gazing at him with wide eyes, and parted lips, and startled face.
And the girl was Margaret Brandt.
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收听单词发音
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1
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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sprawl
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| vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延 | |
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4
flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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5
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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6
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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7
curdling
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| n.凝化v.（使）凝结( curdle的现在分词 ) | |
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8
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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9
tolled
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| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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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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12
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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15
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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weirdness
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| n.古怪，离奇，不可思议 | |
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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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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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eucalyptus
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| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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eerily
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| adv.引起神秘感或害怕地 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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26
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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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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28
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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spank
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| v.打，拍打(在屁股上) | |
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30
tickle
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| v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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32
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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33
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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39
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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40
iridescence
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| n.彩虹色；放光彩；晕色；晕彩 | |
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41
mellowing
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| 软化，醇化 | |
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42
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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44
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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45
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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