Even as the poor old soldier gazed, half petrified2, the lad pushed a cartridge3 home feverishly4 into one of the chambers6, and raised the weapon, with a stern resolution, up to his temple. Sir Thomas recognized in that very moment of awe7 and terror that it was the exact attitude and action of Harry's dead father. The entire character and tragedy seemed to have handed itself down directly from father to son without a single change of detail or circumstance.
The old man darted8 forward with surprising haste, and caught Harry's hand just as the finger rested upon the trigger.
"My boy! my boy!" he cried, wrenching9 the revolver easily from his trembling grasp, and flinging it, with a great curve, to the other end of the garden. "Not that way! Not that way! I haven't reproached you with one word, Harry; but this is a bad return, indeed, for a life devoted10 to you. Oh, Harry! Harry! not by shuffling11 off your responsibilities and running away from them like a coward, not by that can you ever mend matters in the state you have got them into, but by living on, and fighting against your evil impulses and conquering them like a man—that's the way, the right way, to get the better of them. Promise me, Harry, promise me, my boy, that whatever comes you won't make away with yourself, as your father did; for my sake, live on and do better. I'm an old man, an old man, Harry, and I have but you in the world to care for or think about. Don't let me be shamed in my old age by seeing the boy I have brought up and loved as a son dying in disgrace, a poltroon12 and a coward. Stand by your guns, my boy; stand by your guns, and fight it out to the last minute."
Harry's arm fell powerless to his side, and he broke[Pg 336] down utterly13, in his shame and self-abasement flinging himself wildly upon the seat beneath the lime-trees and covering his face with his hands to hide the hot tears that were bursting forth14 in a feverish5 torrent15.
"I will go," he said at last, in a choking voice, "I will go, uncle, and talk to Milly."
"Do," the Colonel said, soothing16 his arm tenderly. "Do, my boy. She's a good girl, and she'll advise you rightly. Go and speak to her; but before you go, promise me, promise me."
Harry rose, and tried to shake off Sir Thomas's heavy hand, laid with a fatherly pressure upon his struggling shoulder. But he couldn't; the old soldier was still too strong for him. "Promise me," he said once more caressingly17, "promise me; promise me!"
Harry hesitated for a second, in his troubled mind; then, with an effort, he answered slowly, "I promise, uncle."
Sir Thomas released him, and he rushed wildly away. "Remember," the Colonel cried aloud, as he went in at the open folding windows, "remember, Harry, you are on your honour. If you break parole I shall think very badly, very badly indeed, of you."
But as the old man turned back sadly into his lonely library, he thought to himself, "I wonder whether I oughtn't to have dealt more harshly with him! I wonder whether I was right in letting him off so easily for two such extremely—such extremely grave breaches18 of military discipline!"
点击收听单词发音
1 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 petrified | |
adj.惊呆的;目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆,使惊呆;变僵硬;使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 cartridge | |
n.弹壳,弹药筒;(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 feverishly | |
adv. 兴奋地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 feverish | |
adj.发烧的,狂热的,兴奋的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 wrenching | |
n.修截苗根,苗木铲根(铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土)v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的现在分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 shuffling | |
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 poltroon | |
n.胆怯者;懦夫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 torrent | |
n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 caressingly | |
爱抚地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 breaches | |
破坏( breach的名词复数 ); 破裂; 缺口; 违背 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |