"Yes, I will. You tried to throw yourself into my son's place to save him, and I can't say too much in your favor. And you will reap your reward when the time comes. 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant,' can be said of you."
Old Master came in while she was sitting there. He appeared to be pleased with the attention she showed[Pg 194] me, or his pleasure might have proceeded from his discovery that her temper was improved. "You'll be all right now pretty soon," he said. "I don't believe that I'd read too much. It isn't well to strain your mind. Has your young master told you that he is preparing himself for examination? He is nearly ready, and will be by the time court meets next week. He's afraid that he won't get through without a bobble, but I think he'll go through like a flash. He has decided3 to enter old Judge Bruce's office. The old fellow doesn't know much but he is a good palaverer and has a pretty fair practice. He never was a real judge, you know—was a candidate once and came off with the title but missed the office."
As Old Master became warmer toward me, Old Miss grew cooler; her countenance4 while she talked had been kindly5, but now it was veiled with a frown. The prospect6 of seeing Young Master established as a lawyer lifted my spirits, but the sight of his mother's displeasure toward me threw them down. Old Master observed the change in the atmosphere. "Madam," said he, "I have been thinking that we need a new carpet for the parlor7."
"Indeed," she replied, bowing with a mocking grace, "I am delighted to credit your eye-sight with a[Pg 195] sudden improvement. I have spoken of the condition of that carpet until I am tired of it. It's the talk of the neighborhood, I'm sure. Mrs. Ramsey turned up her nose at it the other day, and I couldn't help thinking that it was a pretty pass indeed to be humiliated9 in my own house by such a thing as she is. And it was no longer ago than last fall that her husband had to sell an old negro woman that had been in the family all her life."
"Huh," grunted10 the old man, winking11 slyly at me. "Did she turn up her nose very high?" He grabbed out a red handkerchief, snorted into it and sat looking at her with the water of an old mischief12 standing13 in his eyes.
"General, don't laugh at me. I am the last person in this world that you should laugh at. Don't you do it!"
"But, madam, you are the first person I should laugh with."
"I don't see how you can laugh at anybody after what we have gone through with lately, blood spattered on our door-sill; but I actually believe that you have been gayer since that awful event." With that remark she flounced out of the room, and the old man sat there, looking out into the blue space of the [Pg 196]speckless day, silent and absorbed. After a time he turned his old eyes slowly upon me.
"The youth whose promise in life embraces the prospect of a broad scope should be taught that at the end of it all—this alluring14 rain-bow—lies disappointment. Sometimes when I have seen my men in the field, with no thought of the morrow and with never a worry except some trifling15 physical ill, I have wished that I was one of them. I started out wrong," he went on, shaking his head slowly up and down. "Horses can be called back from a false spurt16 in the race, and another start taken, but men must go on. Dan, I have stood by and seen you trying to educate yourself, and I have said nothing, although I know that education is often the sensitizing of a nerve that leads to misery17. To be a gentleman means to possess a large ability to feel, and to feel is to worry, to brood and to suffer. Men of the North and gentlemen of the South, the phrase has gone forth18. Our old Virginia blood is gentle, in society; but alone, it is hot with the lingering fire of the cavalier. Do you know what I am saying?" he asked, deepening the wrinkles in his brow.
"No, sir; I don't know that I do."
"I suppose not. I have been beating the devil around an oratorical19 stump20, sir," he said, his scrawny,[Pg 197] red neck stiffening21. "I don't know that I understand myself. Is that Bob or Clem coming up the stairs? It's Bob. Glad to see you doing so well," he added, getting up. And standing for a moment, he put his hand on my head. "You are a noble fellow, even if you are a slave and a negro."
Going out he met Young Master coming in. The young man saluted22; the old man gave him a smile and a kindly nod and passed on. Bob spoke8 to me; said he was glad to see me improving so fast; he sat down and took up his book. He opened it at random23, knowing it so well that any place offered an understandable beginning, but he did not read. He turned his eyes toward me and said: "You remember that about two months ago a gentleman named Potter bought the old Jamison place, over on the pike? Mother and I called on the family. And since then I have been over there a number of times, though I have said nothing about it to even you. All my life I have been gazing about to discover a sweet secret, and I think I've found one. Yes—and her name is Jane." At this he laughed, threw down his book, shoved his chair back and put his feet on the table. "The name is well enough, no doubt, but in this part of the country we usually associate it with a black wench, you know; and I was impudent[Pg 198] enough to ask Mrs. Potter why she didn't call her Jenny, but she shut me up with, 'she was named for my mother and it is an honorable name, I'm sure.' And it is, too—it takes on bright colors as I associate it with her. But I never thought that I could be smitten24 with a girl named Jane. It struck me that they had nick-named a rose—said scat to a lily. Do you know what she did? Came over here to see you. Said she wanted to see a hero. I brought her up and she looked upon you as you lay here unconscious. As a usual thing, a boy is born in love—falls in love with his nurse if no one else is handy—but I have escaped pretty well. Oh, I did rather love the Webster girl, and I confess to breathing hard whenever Miss Flemming, the old maid school-teacher, came about; but I'm sure I never was knocked senseless with a perfumed slung-shot until I met Jane. Well, the name's all right; is like the finest music—takes you some time to discover its beauties. I told her that I was going to be a lawyer and she said that was charming; declared that she was coming to hear my first speech. I wish she would; I could shame Demosthenes."
Not since he was a small boy had I heard him rattle25 on so, and it was a delight to me. Of late his over-manishness and his abstraction had told of too deep an[Pg 199] absorption in his books, of an impatient ambition gnawing26 him, and this chaffy27 talk and the idle light of his countenance relieved a fear that had crept into my mind.
"There is something more than beauty about her," he went on, taking pleasure in the interest I was showing. "She reminds Uncle Clem of a blooded horse, he says. I was inclined to take exceptions at this, but remembered that it was but an expression of real enthusiasm. She steps like a fawn28, springs off the turf before she appears to have touched it. My first feeling toward her was one of gladness. I was selfish enough to believe, or to fancy that I believed, she had been created to delight me. And when I removed my eyes from her, I felt sad. Her eyes laughed at me and her lips seemed to say, I have found a fool. At the gate she had jumped off a horse and was in a riding habit when she came running into the room. She was in no wise embarrassed by me. After a while she said that she was hungry and I was startled. I could not conceive of that creature sitting down to vulgar bread, and I was stupid enough to say that I didn't see how she existed in the winter, with the roses all gone. I knew she must eat roses. And she smote29 me hard by replying that cabbages came on about the[Pg 200] time roses gave out. This tickled30 her mother immensely and she shook her fat sides and fanned herself with the wing of a guinea hen. I am getting all my visits mixed, perhaps, but I am giving you a collection of impressions. The mother is ignorant and the father is coarse. He made money driving mules31 to New Orleans and bought the Jamison farm. Yes, her mother and father are plebeian32, but the girl is a patrician33 of the rarest type. She told me that she had just come from school. I asked her if she were sure she had not just come from a gallery of famous portraits. This tickled her and my blood danced in rhythm with her laugh. Every line of my prose, law, oratory34, turned up crackling like drying leaves and was blown away, but all the poetry I had read remained, blooming anew. Now you know how bad off I am, and you may congratulate yourself that you can't follow me into this new domain35. Oh, what is so delicious as a fool's love affair! But I wonder if she's going to have fun with me and then tell me to go. No, sir, I'm going to win her love if actions, words and devotion count for anything. Dan, she has given me new blood. Good thing that something has happened, for this quiet, expectant life is almost unbearable36."
[Pg 201]
"What's that?" cried Mr. Clem, stepping into the room. "Quiet life, do I hear? Well, it won't always be this quiet, my son. Lincoln will be nominated for the presidency37 as sure as you live, and the chances are that he'll get in, and then what? War, my boy; red-whiskered war. The South is as sore as a stone-bruise and won't accept an abolitionist. Our high aristocrats38 have been hankering a long time for a fight and they are going to get it."
"Let it come," replied Young Master, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It will be a tournament, music, smiles and flowers. Then we'll all eat out of the same bowl."
"Don't you fool yourself!" the old man exclaimed, and I saw that he was deeply in earnest. "It won't be a tournament. It will look more like a butcher's pen."
"But the blood-letting will be good for our swollen39 pride. It will give us all a chance to strut40 like a turkey gobbler, and, Uncle Clem, it will bring up the price of horses."
"By the hoofs41, I hadn't thought of that. I never saw a young fellow improve as fast as you do, Bob. In the last week or so you have said several pretty good things. You are getting the proper grasp on truth; and if a man has truth in one hand it needn't make any[Pg 202] difference what the other fellow has in both hands. Yes, sir, if a war should break out, the horse market would hold up its head and snort. But say, Bob, wasn't there a little love mixed up in what you were saying as I came in?"
"Not a little, uncle. All."
"Yes, if you wish to put it that way."
"High stepper, Bobbie; trot43 a mile in—I mean she's all right. Good nostrils—shapely nose, you understand. Laughs well, teeth all sound, and if I were a young fellow, I'd agree to pay her way into every show that might come along, and make a fire for her every morning. Why, Dan, you appear to be tickled nearly to death. I want to tell you that I found that money on the bed where I dropped it. Talk about your heroes of old, why—"
I interrupted him with a sign of real distress44. "I must beg of you and of everyone else, Mr. Clem, not to try to make a hero out of me. But there is a hero under this roof—"
"Dan," Young Master broke in, "I have just sharpened my knife and I am almost tempted45 to cut off your ears. Of what use is an ear when you turn it from heart-felt praise to catch the unsympathetic tones of[Pg 203] average life? And now when anyone starts to compliment you upon your heroism46, I command you to keep your ears open and your mouth shut. You did act the part of a hero. Shut up, not a word out of you."
Mr. Clem swore with a horsey oath that I was a hero, and I was compelled to sit there and listen to his extravagant47 praise.
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1
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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smiting
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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4
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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8
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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9
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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11
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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12
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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13
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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oratorical
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| adj.演说的，雄辩的 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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21
stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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23
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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24
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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25
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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26
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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27
chaffy
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| adj.多糠的，如糠的，无用的 | |
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28
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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30
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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31
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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32
plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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33
patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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34
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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37
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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38
aristocrats
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| n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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39
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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40
strut
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| v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆 | |
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41
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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42
prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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43
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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44
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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45
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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46
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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47
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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