AN IMMENSE crowd had gathered at the hotel awaiting John’s arrival. The news of his arrest had stirred the town to feverish1 excitement.
Without turning to the right or left, or answering a look of recognition, he marched between two soldiers through the mass of men and boys in the office and climbed the stairs to the rooms of the United States Commissioner2 who was waiting to receive him.
The Commissioner handed him the warrant and he merely glanced at its title:=
```"THE UNITED STATES VERSUS3 JOHN GRAHAM
````CONSPIRACY4 AND MURDER"=
“I shall hold you without bail5, Mr. Graham,” said the Commissioner.
John merely nodded his head.
“To the county jail, sergeant6!”
The soldiers turned and John descended7 the stairs, and again passed through the crowd, his head erect8, his face an immovable mask.
In fifteen minutes the heavy bolt shot into place and he was a prisoner awaiting trial for life, locked in a filthy9 cell of the common jail of the county of Independence.
He had often been to this jail as a lawyer to interview prisoners whom he had defended at various times, but he had paid no attention to the building. The complaints of the discomforts10 of the jail he had always taken as a humorous contribution to life.
He was amazed to discover that the place into which he had been suddenly thrust was an inner room opening into a corridor with no means of light or ventilation save the single iron-grilled door—a veritable hell-hole whose heat was so stifling11 and air so foul12 with disgusting odours he could scarcely breathe. By the rays of the little kerosene13 lamp which hung in the corridor, flickering14, sputtering15 and stinking16, he saw that there was not a trace of furniture in the room, not even a pile of straw on which to sleep. The floor had evidently not been swept in a year, the dust lay in piles, and the room had just been vacated by four perspiring17 Negro convicts who had been removed to the penitentiary18 to serve sentences for burglary, arson19 and murder.
It was impossible to sit down, it was unthinkable to lie down, and so for five hours back and forth20 he walked the length of his cell like a caged panther.
For the first hour his proud spirit was sustained by the enormity of the degradation21 thus heaped upon him. He felt sure that such treatment was given him for a purpose. He knew that all the prisoners of the county were not treated as swine. In his anger he paused once, determined22 to demand a chair or bed of some kind, and found that he could only make his wants known by yelling down two flights of stairs to the guard who stood at the outer door of the last floor. He could not thus humiliate23 himself.
For the first time he realised what it meant to be deprived not only of the comforts but the common decencies of human life. In fierce anger he silently raved24 for two hours and then a strange calm came over his soul. His hands grasped the iron bars of the door and he stood as if in a trance while the unconscious minutes lengthened25 into hours. A beautiful face bent26 above him. Her voice, low and tender with the music of love, filled all space. The stifling cell vanished. He was in the open fields with her hand in his. He woke with a laugh, and caught the glint of the first beams of the rising sun stealing through the window of the corridor.
0295
A Negro boy brought his breakfast of corn bread and bacon in a dirty tin plate.
John looked at it a minute with a curious smile: “No, thank you, my boy, I’ve just had my breakfast of ambrosia27. I’ll take a chair, however, if the jailor can spare one!”
“Yassah, I’ll tell ‘im when I goes down,” he replied. “But I spec dey ain’t none lef. We got lots er boarders now.”
He placed the plate on the floor by the door, and grinned.
“Dey wuz er young lady come ter see ye las’ night, sah, but dey wouldn’t let ’er in!”
John smiled.
“What time was it?”
“Bout two er clock.”
“Yes, I saw her,” John slowly said with a strange look in his deep-set eyes. “She came up and stayed with me until sunrise.”
The Negro backed cautiously away muttering. “He got ‘em sho!” and darted28 down the steps. The fact that he was being kept in solitary29 confinement30 and refused communication of any kind with friend or counsel, roused every force of John Graham’s character.
When the Attorney General who had come down from Washington called at ten o’clock he greeted him with a laugh through the bars of his door:
“Excuse my lack of hospitality, General Champion,” he said; “I’d offer you a chair, but the hotel is crowded and we’re short of chairs just now.”
“Haven’t you a chair or a bed in your cell?” he enquired31, peering in. “It’s an outrage32. Bring two chairs here at once!” he thundered to the attendant.
“Mr. Graham,” said the General cordially, “I’ve hastened to you as a friend. I was a member of Congress with your uncle. We were warm personal friends. I’ve known several of your people, and always found them the salt of the earth.”
“Thanks,” John interrupted, a smile playing about the corners of his eyes.
“I wish to be of help to you if you will let me. It has long been known to the Department of Justice that you are the Chief of the Klan in North Carolina.”
“I congratulate the Department of Justice on the attainment33 of such interesting knowledge,” John broke in.
“Do you deny it?”
“I’m not discussing it.”
“You must know, Mr. Graham, that the organisation34 is doomed35, and that you are in an extremely dangerous position. I trust you realise this?”
“Quite warm last night, General!”
“Come, come, young man, I’m your friend——”
“It’s a pleasure to meet a friend; do you think it will rain?”
“You are to be put on trial for your life——”
“My idea is that we are in for a long dry spell, General.”
“Tut, tut, my boy, come now, don’t try my temper with such nonsense. President Grant is not hostile to the South. He grieves over the necessity of the severe laws which he is now enforcing. His only desire is to pacify36 these disorders37. The Klan must be stamped out. You have realised this—I know that you have led parties who have inflicted38 summary justice on some of the scoundrels who are operating in its disguises. Is not this a fact?”
John laughed.
“I know it,” affirmed the General.
“Then why ask me?”
“I know that you have tried to stamp out the disorders,” the General repeated. “Whatever the impulses which led a man of your high character into this lawless conspiracy, you have realised at last its dangerous character. You are in a position to render the South and the Nation an enormous service. Help me to restore law and order in the South and the Government will show its gratitude39.”
“You mean exactly?”
“That you give me the information needed to wipe the Invisible Empire out of existence——”
“And in return?”
The General placed his hands on the bars and leaned close.
“The President has promised me to immediately appoint you an Assistant Prosecuting40 Attorney, and in six months promote you to the high honour of a United States Circuit Judgeship.”
John’s fist suddenly shot through the iron bars, struck the General in the mouth, and hurled41 him in a heap against the wall of the corridor, as he cried with rage:
“D——n you! How dare you thus insult me?”
The General picked up his broken glasses from the floor, wiped a drop of blood from his lip, shook his fist at the man who glared at him through the barred door, and shouted:
“I’ll make you pay dearly for this!”
John laughed in his face.
“But you won’t make me that offer again, will you?”
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收听单词发音
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1
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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2
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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versus
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| prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下 | |
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4
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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5
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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6
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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7
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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8
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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9
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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10
discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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11
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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12
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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13
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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14
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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15
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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16
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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17
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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18
penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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19
arson
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| n.纵火，放火 | |
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20
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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21
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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22
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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23
humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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24
raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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25
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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27
ambrosia
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| n.神的食物；蜂食 | |
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28
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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29
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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30
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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31
enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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32
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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33
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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pacify
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| vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰 | |
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disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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38
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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40
prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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41
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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