II THREE MEN

 Three men left the landing place of the airplane and started for Tickfall, four miles away.

The Rev¹. Vinegar Atts arrived first because he was in a hurry, and ran every step. He staggered into the Hen-Scratch saloon in the last stages of physical exhaustion², and dropped down in a chair beside a table.

Three negroes sprang to their feet, terrified by the colored clergyman’s appearance and manner.

“Whut ails³ you, Vinegar?” Skeeter Butts⁴ exclaimed. “You look like you done been run by a ha’nt!”

“Wusser ’n dat, nigger,” Vinegar panted, as he wiped the copious⁵ perspiration⁶ from his bald head, and reached out a trembling hand for the reviving drink which Figger Bush had thoughtfully brought him. “I done seen a chariot of fire come straight down from de glory of de Lawd!”

Hitch⁷ Diamond glanced at the empty glass, and then nodded significantly to Skeeter Butts.

“Don’t gib him any more, Skeeter,” he suggested. “De revun is done had too many drams already.”

“’Tain’t so,” Vinegar grunted⁸. “I ain’t drunk. I’m seein’—things!”

“I ketch on,” Hitch chuckled⁹. “I done seen things in my day, too. I seen a purple elerphunt wunst. I wus settin’ on de side of a puffeckly straight wall ticklin’ one of dese here ukuleles. Whar you been at? Whut else did you see?”

“Been out in de swamp. Seen a chariot of fire come down outen de sky. I heard it zoonin’ fer a long time—sounded like a automobile¹⁰. All de birds in de woods flew up to see it, an’ squalled like dey wus skeart to death. It lit out in de Little Moccasin prairie.”

“Whut happened when she lit?” Figger Bush inquired.

“I didn’t stay to see,” Vinegar sighed. “Fer a fack, I wus makin’ myse’f absent befo’ she lit.”

Suddenly Skeeter Butts began to laugh. He slapped his brown hand upon his thigh¹² and cackled like a hen. The more he laughed the funnier something got to him.

“I knows whut ails Vinegar, brudders,” he snickered. “He’s done see a——”

Skeeter’s assertion paused in midair, because the door of the Hen-Scratch saloon was pushed open, and the second man had arrived from Moccasin prairie.

This man was a stranger, and was built on circular lines, round head, round eyes, round face, round body. His character and modes of thought and action also followed curved lines. There was nothing straight about him.

“Good evenin’, brudders,” he greeted them. “My name am Red Cutt. Kin¹¹ you-alls tell me whut town dis is?”

“How come you don’t know whar you is at?” Skeeter asked suspiciously.

“I jes’ landed,” Red Cutt remarked simply.

“Didn’t de train corndoctor tell you whar you wus gittin’ off?” Hitch Diamond rumbled¹³. “Or mebbe you rid de brake rods?”

“Naw, suh,” Red Cutt replied smilingly. “I rode through de air.”

“Gimme somepin to hold on to, niggers,” Figger Bush snickered, as he sat down with pretended weakness in a chair and grasped the legs of the table. “Here’s one nigger whut says he seen a chariot of fire, and here comes a secont nigger whut says he took a ride in it.”

“’Twarn’t no chariot of fire,” Cutt said easily. “It was a airship. Didn’t none of you niggers ever see no airplane?”

“Suttinly,” Skeeter Butts answered. “I done seen a millyum of ’em in N’Awleens. But you is de fust cullud aviator¹⁴ I’s seen.”

“Dar ain’t many in de worl’,” Cutt said quietly. “I reckin I’m about de fust nigger flier in de worl’.”

“Listen to dat,” Vinegar Atts exploded. “Ef I hadn’t been so skeart I’d ’a’ had good comp’ny back to town.”

“Wus you de brudder dat wus bellerin’ so loud?” Cutt inquired. “I heard somebody, but I couldn’t locate ’em. I couldn’t find no good landin’ place close to town. I wus skeart I’d tear up a lot of fences an’ telegram poles ef I landed in Tickfall. I wus skeart I’d hab to pay fer ’em. So I landed out in de swamp.”

“Dat wus right,” Figger Bush laughed. “No Tickfall niggers, excusin’ Skeeter Butts, is got to see a airship, an’ I b’lieves dat Skeeter is lyin’. Ef you’d landed in town, all us Tickfalls would hab fell in a well or run ourselfs to death.”

At this moment the green-baize doors of the saloon were pushed open and a white man entered. The third man had arrived in Tickfall.

At first glance he appeared to be a mechanic. His hands were large, black with the grime of machinery¹⁵, and hard. His face and clothes were streaked¹⁶ with grease. The skin of his face had been whipped by the air until it was tanned like leather.

“Good evenin’ boss,” Skeeter exclaimed, standing¹⁷ up and taking the stranger in at a glance. “Er—dis here is a cullud bar, an’ us cain’t serve de white——”

“I don’t want a drink,” the young man answered. “I want some information. Do any of you know where Mr. Arsene Chieniere lives?”

There was silence for a moment, then Vinegar interpreted:

“He means Mr. Arson¹⁸ Shinny!”

“O—suttinly, suh,” Skeeter exclaimed. “He lives right straight out dis road whut goes in front of dis saloon. I seen Miss Jew-ann Shinny pass here to-day—gwine todes home.”

“Miss Juan?” the young man asked, giving the beautiful Latin pronunciation, and speaking the word like a caress¹⁹.

“Dat’s de lady,” Skeeter answered. “Dey lives ten miles out on dis here road.”

“Where can I hire a flivver to take me out there?”

“I’s de only taxi-man in town,” Skeeter said, as he reached for his cap. “I’ll take you out dar in twenty minutes fer two dollars.”

“Get busy,” the young man answered, as he sat down to wait.

The other three negroes sat whispering to each other for a few minutes, then Vinegar inquired:

“Beg pardon, boss; ain’t you a railroad man?”

“Yes,” the stranger answered, with a barely perceptible hesitation²⁰.

“I knowed it,” Vinegar chuckled. “I bet Miss Jew-ann Shinny is gwine be glad to see you!”

“I’ll go to see now,” the young man smiled, as he heard Skeeter’s machine at the door.

1 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

2 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

3 ails   

v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳

参考例句：

• He will not concede what anything ails his business. 他不允许任何事情来干扰他的工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Measles ails the little girl. 麻疹折磨着这个小女孩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

5 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。

6 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

7 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

8 grunted   

（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

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

9 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

10 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

11 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

12 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

13 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

14 aviator   

n.飞行家，飞行员

参考例句：

• The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
• Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。

15 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

16 streaked   

adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• The children streaked off as fast as they could. 孩子们拔脚飞跑 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• His face was pale and streaked with dirt. 他脸色苍白，脸上有一道道的污痕。 来自辞典例句

17 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

18 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

19 caress   

vt./n.爱抚，抚摸

参考例句：

• She gave the child a loving caress.她疼爱地抚摸着孩子。
• She feasted on the caress of the hot spring.她尽情享受着温泉的抚爱。

20 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。