SECTION 21.

 The marshal went out, and a few moments later the jailer came back, with a meal which presented a surprising contrast to the ones he had previously¹ served. There was a tray containing cold ham, a couple of soft boiled eggs, some potato salad, and a cup of coffee with rolls and butter.

“Well, well!” said Hal, condescendingly. “That's even nicer than beefsteak and mashed² potatoes!” He sat and watched, not offering to help, while the other made room for the tray on the table in front of him. Then the man stalked out, and Hal began to eat.

Before he had finished, the camp-marshal returned. He seated himself in his revolving³ chair, and appeared to be meditative⁴. Between bites, Hal would look up and smile at him.

“Cotton,” said he, “you know there is no more certain test of breeding than table-manners. You will observe that I have not tucked my napkin in my neck, as Alec Stone would have done.”

“I'm getting you,” replied the marshal.

Hal set his knife and fork side by side on his plate. “Your man has overlooked the finger-bowl,” he remarked. “However, don't bother. You might ring for him now, and let him take the tray.”

The camp-marshal used his voice for a bell, and the jailer came. “Unfortunately,” said Hal, “when your people were searching me, night before last, they dropped my purse, so I have no tip for the waiter.”

The “waiter” glared at Hal as if he would like to bite him; but the camp-marshal grinned. “Clear out, Gus, and shut the door,” said he.

Then Hal stretched his legs and made himself comfortable again. “I must say I like being your guest better than being your prisoner!”

There was a pause.

“I've been talking it over with Mr. Cartwright,” began the marshal. “I've got no way of telling how much of this is bluff⁵ that you've been giving me, but it's evident enough that you're no miner. You may be some newfangled kind of agitator⁶, but I'm damned if I ever saw an agitator that had tea-party manners. I suppose you've been brought up to money; but if that's so, why you want to do this kind of thing is more than I can imagine.”

“Tell me, Cotton,” said Hal, “did you never hear of ennui⁷?”

“Yes,” replied the other, “but aren't you rather young to be troubled with that complaint?”

“Suppose I've seen others suffering from it, and wanted to try a different way of living from theirs?”

“If you're what you say, you ought to be still in college.”

“I go back for my senior year this fall.”

“What college?”

“You doubt me still, I see!” said Hal, and smiled. Then, unexpectedly, with a spirit which only moonlit campuses and privilege could beget⁸, he chanted:

  “Old King Coal was a merry old soul,

    And a merry old soul was he;

  He made him a college, all full of knowledge—

    Hurrah⁹ for you and me!”

 

“What college is that?” asked the marshal. And Hal sang again:

  “Oh, Liza-Ann, come out with me,

  The moon is a-shinin' in the monkey-puzzle tree!

  Oh, Liza-Ann, I have began

  To sing you the song of Harrigan!”

 

“Well, well!” commented the marshal, when the concert was over. “Are there many more like you at Harrigan?”

“A little group—enough to leaven¹⁰ the lump.”

“And this is your idea of a vacation?”

“No, it isn't a vacation; it's a summer-course in practical sociology.”

“Oh, I see!” said the marshal; and he smiled in spite of himself.

“All last year we let the professors of political economy hand out their theories to us. But somehow the theories didn't seem to correspond with the facts. I said to myself, 'I've got to check them up.' You know the phrases, perhaps—individualism, laissez faire, freedom of contract, the right of every man to work for whom he pleases. And here you see how the theories work out—a camp-marshal with a cruel smile on his face and a gun on his hip¹¹, breaking the laws faster than a governor can sign them.”

The camp-marshal decided¹² suddenly that he had had enough of this “tea-party.” He rose to his feet to cut matters short. “If you don't mind, young man,” said he, “we'll get down to business!”

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

3 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

4 meditative   

adj.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• A stupid fellow is talkative;a wise man is meditative.蠢人饶舌，智者思虑。
• Music can induce a meditative state in the listener.音乐能够引导倾听者沉思。

5 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

6 agitator   

n.鼓动者；搅拌器

参考例句：

• Hitler's just a self-educated street agitator.希特勒无非是个自学出身的街头煽动家罢了。
• Mona had watched him grow into an arrogant political agitator.莫娜瞧着他成长为一个高傲的政治鼓动家。

7 ennui   

n.怠倦，无聊

参考例句：

• Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来，常觉百无聊赖。
• Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。

8 beget   

v.引起；产生

参考例句：

• Dragons beget dragons,phoenixes beget phoenixes.龙生龙，凤生凤。
• Economic tensions beget political ones.经济紧张导致政治紧张。

9 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

10 leaven   

v.使发酵；n.酵母；影响

参考例句：

• These men have been the leaven in the lump of the race.如果说这个种族是块面团，这些人便是发酵剂。
• The leaven of reform was working.改革的影响力在起作用。

11 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。