“He’s badly hurt, Lady French,” he said, his brogue rough with compassion3 for her; “he seems to have a couple of ribs4 broken, and there’s probably concussion5 too, and it might be a bit of a crush under the horse.”
“Oh!” said Lady Susan stonily6. Then, her brain travelling slowly on, “Can we carry him between us? He only weighs nine six.”
As she spoke7 she saw that Bunbury, Slaney, and others were hurrying towards them; it did not surprise her, everything seems to be drawn8 naturally into the suction of disaster.
Afterwards she realized that it was a long time before a messenger returned with a blue counterpane, and other messengers with a couple of rails from a wooden paling. A species of hammock was made, and Hugh was, with utmost care, laid in it; she noticed that Dr. Hallahan told the bearers not to walk in step. Then Bunbury led up Slaney’s horse, and told her she must get{185} on to it, that she was not able to walk. Bunbury was white and silent; Slaney’s eyes were moist, and her voice unsteady. She seemed to Lady Susan extraordinarily9 kind.
They made her drink some whisky out of his flask10, and she rode on after the hammock down a sheep-track, along a bohireen that was like the bed of a rocky stream, into yet another endless bohireen. Slaney walked beside her; they did not speak, but she knew that Slaney was sorry for her. It made her quite sure that Hugh was dying.
“Where are the hounds?” she said suddenly. “Are they killed too?”
“Dan’s got them,” Bunbury answered; “the fox went down one of the clefts11 in that field, and Fisherman and Mexico went after him. The others are all right.”
Lady Susan rode on in silence, and Bunbury, leading his horse, walked by Slaney. It was quite unnecessary that he should walk, yet Slaney understood.
They neared at length a white house with fir-trees round it; there was a back{186} entrance into the lane, and the hammock was carried into a yard where strange lumber12 lay about; a broken pumping-engine, signal-posts, long white gates.
“Mr. Glasgow’s house was nearest,” said Slaney, with her eyes on the ground. “Dr. Hallahan is afraid to take him farther.”
The back door of the house was open, and they went in, finding themselves in the kitchen.
“Nobody in,” said Dr. Hallahan, exploring the back premises13 rapidly, “and no one here either,” opening and shutting the door of Glasgow’s office. “Carry him up. I know the house.”
The hammock, with its light burden, was engineered up a narrow staircase; as Lady Susan followed, she noticed Glasgow’s gloves on the hall-table, his hunting-crop in a rack. They reminded her of all that was now so very far away, they added inconceivably to his reality and yet to his remoteness. Meeting him again would be more difficult than she had thought.
Dr. Hallahan opened the door of a room on the landing.
“This is a spare room, I think——” he said, and stopped short.
A woman started up from a table at which she was writing, and stared at them. Her hair was straw-coloured, and drooped14 in nauseous picturesqueness15 over her coal-black eyebrows16; her face was fat and white, her dress was a highly-coloured effort at the extreme of the latest fashion but one; the general effect was elderly.
“I beg your pardon,” said Dr. Hallahan, recovering himself; “we’ve brought Captain French here, he’s very badly hurt, and I can’t take him any farther. Perhaps you could show us where to put him—or ask Mr. Glasgow?”
“Mr. Glasgow has left;” the voice was nasal and cockney. “You can take the gentleman into his room for the present, but I’m going to have an auction17 of this furniture in less than a week. I’m just taking an inventory18 now.”
Sheets of foolscap paper were scattered19 on the table, the list of the furniture sprawled20 over them in large, black, irregular writing. Slaney had seen that writing before; she felt as if she were in a bad dream—a dream that she had dreamt before, one that was both tragic21 and ridiculous.
“Had I arrived lawst evening things might have been different,” went on the yellow-haired lady; “but I missed my train.”
Then, with an air that irresistibly22 suggested the footlights, she moved from behind the table into a clear space in the room. The bad dream culminated23; Slaney knew what was coming.
“Perhaps I had better introduce myself,” said the yellow-haired lady,—“I am Mrs. Glasgow.”
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收听单词发音
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1
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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2
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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3
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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4
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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5
concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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6
stonily
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| 石头地，冷酷地 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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9
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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10
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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11
clefts
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| n.裂缝( cleft的名词复数 )；裂口；cleave的过去式和过去分词；进退维谷 | |
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12
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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13
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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14
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
picturesqueness
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16
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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17
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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18
inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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19
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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20
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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21
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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22
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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23
culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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