When the cattle had been secured, Flora6 Grant welcomed the new arrivals graciously, and after a while they sat down to supper with the hired men in a big room. It was plainly furnished, but there was everything that comfort demanded, for the happy mean between bareness and superfluity had been cleverly hit, and George thought Miss Grant was responsible for this. He sat beside her at the foot of the long table and noticed the hired hands' attitude toward her. It was respectful, but not diffident. The girl had no need to assert herself; she was on excellent terms with the sturdy toilers, who nevertheless cheerfully submitted to her rule.
When the meal was over, Grant led his guests into a smaller room, and produced a bag of domestic tobacco.
"The stock have gone far enough," he said. "You'll stay here to-night."
Flett looked doubtful, though it was obvious that he wished to remain. He was a young, brown-faced man, and his smart khaki uniform proclaimed him a trooper of the Northwest Mounted Police.
"The trouble is that I'm a bit late on my round already," he protested.
"That's soon fixed," said Grant.
He opened a roll-top desk, and wrote a note which he read out:
"'Constable7 Flett has been detained in the neighborhood of this homestead through having rendered, at my request, valuable assistance in rounding up a bunch of cattle, scattered8 in crossing the flooded river.'"
"Thanks," said Flett. "That kind of thing counts when they're choosing a corporal."
Grant turned to George with a smile.
"Keep in with the police, Lansing—I've known a good supper now and then go a long way. They may worry you about fireguards and fencing, but they'll stand by you when you're in trouble, if you treat them right. If it's a matter of straying stock, a sick horse, or you don't know how to roof a new barn, you have only to send for the nearest trooper."
"Aren't these things a little outside their duties?" Edgar asked.
The constable grinned.
"Most anything that wants doing badly is right in our line."
"Sure," said Grant. "It's not long since Flett went two hundred miles over the snow with a dog-team to settle a little difference between an Indian and his wife. Then he once brought a hurt trapper a fortnight's journey on his sledge9, sleeping in the snow, in the bitterest weather. They were quite alone, and the hurt man was crazy most of the time."
"Then you're supposed to look after the settlers, as well as to keep order?" suggested Edgar, looking admiringly at the sturdy young constable.
"That's so," replied Flett. "They certainly need it. Last winter we struck one crowd in a lonely shack10 up north—man, woman, and several children huddled11 on the floor, with nothing to eat, and the stove out—at forty degrees below. There was a bluff12 a few miles off, but they hadn't a tool of any kind to cut cordwood with. Took us quite a while to haul them up some stores, though we made twelve-hour marches between our camps in the snow. We had to hustle13 that trip."
He paused and resumed:
"Better keep an eye on that bunch of young horses, Mr. Grant; bring them up nearer the house when the nights get darker. Those Clydesdales are mighty14 fine beasts and prices are high."
Grant looked astonished.
"I've been here a good many years, and I've never lost a horse," he declared.
"It doesn't follow you'll always be as lucky," the trooper said pointedly16.
"I was told that property is as safe in the West as it is in England,"
Edgar broke in.
"Just so," remarked the trooper. "They say that kind of thing. I never was in the old country, but young mavericks17 aren't the only stock to go missing in Alberta, which isn't a long way off. The boys there have their hands full now and then, and we have three or four of the worst toughs I've struck right in Sage18 Butte."
Grant leaned forward on the table, looking steadily19 at him.
"Hadn't you better tell me what you have in your mind?"
"I can't give you much information, but we got a hint from Regina to keep our eyes open, and from things I've heard it's my idea that now that the boys have nearly stopped the running of Alberta cattle across the frontier, some of the toughs they couldn't track mean to start the same game farther east. Some of you ranchers run stock outside the fences, and I guess one could still find a lonely trail to the American border."
"Well," said Grant, "I'm glad you told me." He turned to George. "Be careful, Lansing; you would be an easier mark."
They strolled outside; and after a while George joined Flora, and sauntered away across the grass with her. It was a clear, still evening, and the air was wonderfully fresh.
"Though he wouldn't let me thank him, I feel I'm seriously indebted to your father, Miss Grant," he said. "Our horses were worn out, and the stock had all scattered when he turned up with the trooper."
"I believe he enjoyed the ride, and the night in the rain," replied Flora. "You see, he had once to work very hard here, and now that things have changed, he finds it rather tame. He likes to feel he's still capable of a little exertion20."
"I shouldn't consider him an idle man."
Flora laughed.
"That would be very wrong; but the need for continual effort and the strain of making ends meet, with the chance of being ruined by a frozen crop, have passed. I believe he misses the excitement of it."
"Then I gather that he built up this great farm?"
"Yes; from a free quarter-section. He and my mother started in a two-roomed shack. They were both from Ontario, but she died several years ago." The girl paused. "Sometimes I think she must have had remarkable21 courage, I can remember her as always ready in an emergency, always tranquil22."
George glanced at her as she stood, finely posed, looking out across the waste of grass with gravely steady eyes, and it occurred to him that she resembled her mother in the respects she had mentioned. Nevertheless, he felt inclined to wonder how she had got her grace and refinement23. Alan Grant was forceful and rather primitive24.
"Have you spent much of your time here?" he asked.
"No," she answered. "My mother was once a school-teacher, and she must have had ambitious views for me. When the farm began to prosper5, I was sent to Toronto. After that I went to Montreal, and finally to England."
"You must be fond of traveling."
"Oh," she said, with some reserve, "I had thought of taking up a profession."
"And you have abandoned the idea?"
She looked at him quietly, wondering whether she should answer.
"I had no alternative," she said. "I began to realize it after my mother's death. Then my father was badly hurt in an accident with a team, and I came back. He has nobody else to look after him, and he is getting on in life."
Her words conveyed no hint of the stern struggle between duty and inclination25, but George guessed it. This girl, he thought, was one not to give up lightly the career she had chosen.
Then she changed the subject with a smile.
"I suspect that my father approves of you, perhaps because of what you are doing with the land. I think I may say that if you have any little difficulty, or are short of any implements that would be useful, you need only come across to us."
"Thank you," George responded quietly.
"Mr. West mentioned that you were on a farm in this country once before. Why did you give it up?"
"Somebody left me a little money."
"Then what brought you back?"
She was rather direct, but that is not unusual in the West, and George was mildly flattered by the interest she displayed.
"It's a little difficult to answer. For one thing, I was beginning to feel that I was taking life too easily in England, It's a habit that grows on one."
He had no desire to conceal26 the fact that he had come out on Sylvia's behalf—it never occurred to him to mention it. He was trying to analyze27 the feelings which had rendered the sacrifice he made in leaving home a little easier.
"I don't think the dread28 of acquiring that habit is common among your people," Flora said mischievously29. "It doesn't sound like a very convincing reason."
"No," replied George, with a smile. "Still, it had some weight. You see, it isn't difficult to get lazy and slack, and I'd done nothing except a little fishing and shooting for several years. I didn't want to sink into a mere30 lounger about country houses and clubs. It's pleasant, but too much of it is apt to unfit one for anything else."
"You believe it's safer, for example, to haul stovewood home through the Canadian frost or drive a plow under the scorching31 sun?"
"Yes; I think I feel something of the kind."
Flora somewhat astonished him by her scornful laugh.
"You're wise," she said. "We have had sportsmen here from your country, and I've a vivid memory of one or two. One could see by their coarse faces that they ate and drank too much; and they seemed determined32 to avoid discomfort33 at any cost. I suppose they could shoot, but they could neither strip a gun nor carry it on a long day's march. The last party thought it needful to take a teamload of supplies when they went north after moose. It would have been a catastrophe34 if they had missed their dinner."
"Going without one's dinner has its inconveniences," said George.
"And thinking too much about it has its perils," she retorted.
George nodded. He thought he knew what she meant, and he agreed with it. He could recall companions who, living for pleasure, had by degrees lost all zest35 for the more or less wholesome36 amusements to which they had confined their efforts. Some had become mere club loungers and tattlers; one or two had sunk into gross indulgence. This had had its effect on him: he did not wish to grow red-faced, slothful, and fleshy, as they had done, nor to busy himself with trivialities until such capacities for useful work as he possessed37 had atrophied38.
"Well," he said, "nobody could call this a good country for the pampered39 loafer."
Flora smiled, and pointed15 out across the prairie. In the foreground it was flecked with crimson40 flowers; farther back willow41 and poplar bluffs42 stretched in bluish smears43 across the sweep of grass that ran on beyond them toward the vivid glow of color on the skyline. It was almost beautiful in the soft evening light, but it conveyed most clearly a sense of vastness and solitude44. The effect was somehow daunting45. One thought of the Arctic winter and the savage46 storms that swept the wilds.
"I've heard it called hard," she said. "It undoubtedly47 needs hard men; there is nothing here that can be easily won. That's a fact that the people you're sending over ought to recognize."
"They soon discover it when they get out. When they've had a crop hailed or frozen, the thing becomes obvious."
"Did you lose one?"
"I did," George rejoined rather gloomily. "I've a suspicion that if we get much dry weather and the usual strong winds, I may lose another. The wheat's getting badly cut by driving sand; that's a trouble we don't have to put up with in the old country."
"I'm sorry," said Flora; and he knew she meant it. "But you won't be beaten by one bad season?"
"No," George answered with quiet determination. "I must make a success of this venture, whatever it costs."
She was a little puzzled by his manner, for she did not think he was addicted48 to being needlessly emphatic49; but she asked no questions, and soon afterward50 the others joined them and they went back to the house. Early on the following morning, George started homeward with his cattle, and as they rode slowly through the barley-grass that fringed the trail, Edgar looked at him with a smile.
"You spent some time in Miss Grant's company," he remarked. "How did she strike you?"
"I like her. She's interesting—I think that's the right word for it.
Seems to understand things; talks to you like a man."
"Just so," Edgar rejoined, with a laugh. "She's a lady I've a high opinion of; in fact, I'm a little afraid of her. Though I'm nearly as old as she is, she makes me feel callow. It's a sensation that's new to me."
"And you're a man of experience, aren't you?"
"I suppose I was rather a favorite at home," Edgar owned with humorous modesty51. "For all that, I don't feel myself quite up to Miss Grant's standard."
"I didn't notice any assumption of superiority on her part."
"Oh, no," said Edgar. "She doesn't require to assume it; the superiority's obvious; that's the trouble. One hesitates about offering her the small change of compliments that generally went well at home. If you try to say something smart, she looks at you as if she were amused, not at what you said, but at you. There's an embarrassing difference between the things."
"The remedy's simple. Don't try to be smart."
"You would find that easy," Edgar retorted. "Now, in my opinion, Miss Grant is intellectual, which is more than anybody ever accused you of being, but I suspect you would make more progress with her than I could do. Extremes have a way of meeting, and perhaps it isn't really curious that your direct and simple views should now and then recommend you to a more complex person."
"I notice a couple of beasts straying yonder," George said dryly.
Edgar rode off to drive the animals up to the herd52. George, he thought, was painfully practical; only such a man could break off the discussion of a girl like Miss Grant to interest himself in the movements of a wandering steer53. For all that, the beasts must be turned, and they gave Edgar a hard gallop54 through willow scrub and tall grass before he could head them off and afterward overtake the drove.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
checkered
|
|
| adj.有方格图案的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
implements
|
|
| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
plow
|
|
| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
prosper
|
|
| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
flora
|
|
| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
constable
|
|
| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sledge
|
|
| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
shack
|
|
| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bluff
|
|
| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
hustle
|
|
| v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
pointedly
|
|
| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
mavericks
|
|
| 未烙印的牲畜( maverick的名词复数 )； 标新立异的人，不合常规的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
sage
|
|
| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
exertion
|
|
| n.尽力，努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
tranquil
|
|
| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
refinement
|
|
| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
primitive
|
|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
inclination
|
|
| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
analyze
|
|
| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
mischievously
|
|
| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
scorching
|
|
| adj. 灼热的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
discomfort
|
|
| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
catastrophe
|
|
| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
zest
|
|
| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
wholesome
|
|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
atrophied
|
|
| adj.萎缩的，衰退的v.（使）萎缩，（使）虚脱，（使）衰退( atrophy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
pampered
|
|
| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
crimson
|
|
| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
willow
|
|
| n.柳树 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
bluffs
|
|
| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
smears
|
|
| 污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
daunting
|
|
| adj.使人畏缩的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
addicted
|
|
| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
modesty
|
|
| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
herd
|
|
| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
steer
|
|
| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |