The sensitive mind of the young Westerner responded to its soul appeal.
He stood for half an hour enraptured3 with its grandeur4. Two greatrivers, the Potomac and the Shenandoah, rushing through rock-hewn gorgesto the sea, unite here to hurl6 their tons of foaming7 waters against thelast granite8 wall of the Blue Ridge9 Mountains.
Beyond the gorge5, through which the roaring tide has cut its path, liesthe City of Washington on the banks of the Potomac, but sixty milesaway--a day's journey on a swift horse; an hour and a half by rail.
Cook at first had sharply criticized Brown's selection of such a placefor the scene of the Great Deed. As he stood surveying in wonder thesublimity of its scenery he muttered softly:
"The old man's a wizard!"The rugged10 hills and the rush of mighty11 waters called the soul to greatdeeds. There was something electric in the air. The town, the rivers,the mountains summoned the spirit to adventure. The tall chimneys of theUnited States Arsenal12 and Rifle Works called to war. The lines of hillswere made for the emplacement of guns. The roaring waters challenged theskill of generals.
The scout felt his heart beat in quick response. The more he studied thehills that led to High Knob, a peak two thousand four hundred feet inheight, the more canny13 seemed the choice of Brown. From the top of thispeak stretches the county of Fauquier, the beginning of the Black Beltof the South. Fauquier County contained more than ten thousand Slavesand seven hundred freed negroes. There were but nine thousand eighthundred whites. From this county to the sea lay a series of adjoiningcounties in which the blacks outnumbered the whites. These countiescontained more than two hundred and sixty thousand negroes.
The Black Belt of Virginia touched the Black Belts of North Carolina,South Carolina and Georgia--an unbroken stretch of overwhelming blackmajority. In some counties they outnumbered the whites, five to one.
This mountain gorge, hewn out of the rocks by the waters of the rivers,was the gateway14 into the heart of the Slave System of the South. And itcould be made the highroad of escape to the North if once the way wereopened.
Another fact had influenced the mind of Brown. The majority of theworkmen of Harper's Ferry were mechanics from the North. They would notbe enthusiastic defenders15 of Slavery. They were not slave owners. In afight to a finish they would be indifferent. Their indifference16 wouldmake the conquest of the few white masters in town a simple matter.
Cook felt again the spell of Brown's imperious will. He had thought theold man's chief reason for selecting Harper's Ferry as the scene was hisquixotic desire to be dramatic. He knew the history of the village.
It had been named for Robert Harper, an Englishman. Lord Fairfax, thefriend of George Washington, had given the millwright a grant of it in1748. Washington, himself, had made the first survey of the place andselected the Ferry, in 1794, as the site of a National Armory17.
Colonel Lewis Washington, the great-grandson of Washington's brother,lived on the lordly plantation18 of Bellair, four miles in the country.
Brown had learned that the sword which Frederick the Great had given toWashington, and the pistols which Lafayette had given him hung on thewalls of the Colonel's library.
He had instructed Cook to become acquainted with Colonel Washington,and locate these treasures. He had determined19 to lead his negro army ofinsurrection with these pistols and sword buckled20 around his waist.
Cook was an adventurer but he had no trace of eccentricity21 in hischaracter. He thought this idea a dangerous absurdity22. And he believedat first that it was the one thing that had led his Chief to selectthis spot. He changed his mind in the first thirty minutes, as he stoodstudying the mountain peak that stood sentinel at the gateway of theBlack Belt.
With a new sense of the importance of his mission he sought a boardinghouse. He was directed by the watchman at the railroad station, agood-looking freedman, an employee of the Mayor of the town, to thewidow Kennedy's. Her house was situated23 on a quiet street just outsidethe enclosure of the United States Arsenal.
Cook was a man of pleasing address, twenty-eight years old, blue-eyed,blond, handsome, affable, genial24 in manner and a good mixer. Withintwenty-four hours he had made friends with the widow and every boarderin the house.
They introduced him to their friends and in a week he had won the goodopinion of the leading citizens of the place. A few days later thewidow's pretty daughter arrived from boarding school and the youngadventurer faced the first problem of his mission.
She was a slender, dark-eyed, sensitive creature of eighteen. Shy,romantic, and all eyes for the great adventure of every Southern girl'slife--the coming of the Prince Charming who would some day ride up toher door, doff25 his plumed26 hat, kiss her hand and kneel at her feet?
Cook read the eagerness in her brown eyes the first hour of theirmeeting. And what was more serious he felt the first throb27 of emotionthat had ever distressed28 him in the presence of a woman.
He had never made love. He had tried all other adventures. He had nevermet the type that appealed to his impulsive29 mind. He was angry withhimself for the almost resistless impulse that came, to flirt30 with thisgirl.
It could only be a flirtation31 at best and, it could only end inbitterness and hatred32 and tragedy in the end. He had done dark deeds onthe Western plains. But they were man deeds. No delicate woman had beeninvolved in their tangled33 ethics34.
There was something serious in his nature that said no to a flirtationof any kind with a lovely girl. He had always intended to take womenseriously. He did take them seriously. He wouldn't hesitate to kill aman if he were cornered. But a woman--that was different. He triedto avoid the eyes of Virginia. He couldn't. In spite of all, seatedopposite at the table, he found himself looking into their brown liquiddepths. They were big, soulful eyes, full of tenderness and faith andwonder and joy. And they kept saying to him:
"Come here, stranger man, and tell me who you are, where you came from,where you're going, and what's your hurry."There was nothing immodest or forward in them. They just kept callinghim.
She was exactly the type of girl he had dreamed he would like to marrysome day when life had quieted down. She was of the spirit, not theflesh. Yet she was beautiful to look upon. Her hair was a dark, curlingbrown, full of delicate waves even on the top of her head. Her handswere dainty. Her body was a slender poem in willowy, graceful35 lines. Hervoice was the softest Southern drawl.
The Kennedys were not slave holders36. The pretty daughter joyfully37 helpedher mother when she came home from school. Her sentiments were Southernwithout the over emphasis sometimes heard among the prouder daughtersof the old regime. These Southern sentiments formed another impassablebarrier. Cook said this a hundred times to himself and sought to makethe barrier more formidable by repeating aloud his own creed38 when in hisroom alone.
The fight was vain. He drifted into seeing her a few minutes alone eachday. She had liked him from the first. He felt it. He knew it. He hadliked her from the first, and she knew it.
Each night he swore he'd go to bed without seeing her and each night helaughed and said:
"Just this once more and it won't count."He felt himself drifting into a tragedy. Yet to save his life hecouldn't lay hold of anything that would stand the strain of the sweetinvitation in those brown eyes.
To avoid her he spent days tramping over the hills. And always he cameback more charmed than ever. The spell she was weaving about his heartwas resistless.
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1
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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2
oratorio
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| n.神剧，宗教剧，清唱剧 | |
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3
enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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7
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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8
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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10
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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12
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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13
canny
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| adj.谨慎的，节俭的 | |
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14
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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15
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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16
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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17
armory
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| n.纹章，兵工厂，军械库 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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22
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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doff
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| v.脱，丢弃，废除 | |
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plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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30
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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31
flirtation
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| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
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32
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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33
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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34
ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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35
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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36
holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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37
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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