Chapter 4

Miss Fanny Borlan found Jack¹ awaiting her at San Francisco.

"What made you run away?"

"Why, Fanny, didn't Tom tell you about it?" queried² Jack.

"Tom? Oh, you mean Mr. Ruger. He only sent me down here."

"Just like him, Fan; very few words he ever wastes. Ah, sister, we don't have such men out East."

"So the stage-driver told me," said Fanny, demurely³.

"There, Fan, you're poking⁴ fun now. Wait till I get through. Only for Tom, you would have found me at Ten Mile Gulch⁵, hanging by the neck to the limb of that tree just in front of the Home."

"Hanging, Jack?"

"Hanging, Fan—lynched for a murder I never committed. Tom came along just in the nick of time, and—Well, Fan, perhaps you saw some of the Ten Milers before you came away?"

"Yes, Jack; and there was only one whole nose in the lot, and I do believe that was out of joint⁶. But, oh, Jack! if they had taken your life!"

"Never mind now, sis. Tom was too many for 'em; and here I am safe. We'll wait here till Tom comes down, for I've got one of his horses, which he thinks more of than he does of himself; then for home, sis."

Mr. Tom Ruger went down, as he said he would, and remained with them several days. On the morning that they were to sail, Fanny said to Tom:

"I wish you were going with us, Mr. Ruger. We shall miss you very much. Won't you go?"

Mr. Ruger was talking with Jack at the time, but he heard Fanny—he always heard what she said.

He did not reply at once, however, but said to Jack, in a low tone:

"Jack, you know what I have been—can I ever become worthy⁷ of her?"

And Jack answered, promptly⁸:

"God bless you, Tom, you are worthy now!"

"Thank you, Jack—if you believe!"

Then he went over to Fanny.

"I will go," was all he said.

It was a great wonder to both Jack and his sister how Tom could have got ready for the journey on so short a notice; but one day, more than a year afterward⁹, Tom said to Jack:

"Old friend, I'm not what I was, I hope. Ever since I first saw Fanny on the road to Ten Mile Gulch, I have tried to live differently. I hope I am better, for she said last night that she would take me for better or worse."

And Jack wondered no more.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

3 demurely   

adv.装成端庄地，认真地

参考例句：

• "On the forehead, like a good brother,'she answered demurely. "吻前额，像个好哥哥那样，"她故作正经地回答说。 来自飘（部分）
• Punctuation is the way one bats one's eyes, lowers one's voice or blushes demurely. 标点就像人眨眨眼睛，低声细语，或伍犯作态。 来自名作英译部分

4 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

5 gulch   

n.深谷，峡谷

参考例句：

• The trail ducks into a narrow gulch.这条羊肠小道突然下到一个狭窄的峡谷里。
• This is a picture of California Gulch.这是加利福尼亚峡谷的图片。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

8 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

9 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。