His wife was long dead—starved with cold on a winter night, so certain gossips loved to tell; his son the miser had driven out of England, and subsequent rumours8 of the young man’s death troubled him not at all.
p. 136So it came about that, when the “Ring o’ Bells” was masterless, an obscure maiden9, who had dwelt there since Mrs. Merle’s demise10, found herself possessor of all the money, for Miser Merle left no will. Minnie Merle was his orphaned11 niece, and when the old man’s unhappy partner shuffled12 off, he bethought him of this girl. As a relation, lacking friends or position, she would come without wages. So, from the position of domestic servant in a Plymouth tradesman’s family at three pounds a year, Minnie was exalted13 to be the handmaid of Miser Merle without remuneration of any kind.
“A man’s own flesh and blood,” he said, when first she came, “will understand, but I don’t want to poison your regard for me with money, or reduce you to the level of a hireling. You are my niece; you and Nicholas Merle, in the North Country, are all the kindred left to me now that my wife has been taken.”
So Minnie settled at the “Ring o’ Bells,” and, being young and healthy, survived conditions that had thrust her aunt untimely into the grave. The old man never trusted his niece again after a day upon which he caught her helping15 two hungry tramps to bread and cheese, because Minnie’s idea of a pennyworth was far more liberal than Mr. Merle’s; but she stayed at the inn, encouraged to the dreary16 necessity by local friends, who hinted to her, behind p. 137her uncle’s back, that such self-denial must in the long run find itself rewarded.
Then the Miser, who would not put on a pair of new boots while an old pair hung together, went through a long day wet-footed, and so received his death-blow. His last conscious utterance17 was a frantic18 petition to the medical man from Plymouth, when that worthy19 told him how all hope was vain.
“Then you did ought to take half fees,” he gasped20. “As an honest man, so you did; an’ God’s my witness that, if you don’t, I’ll never give you no peace after I’m took!”
But the physician had a material soul, feared nothing, and held out for his bond after the patient’s departure. Minnie Merle, now a young woman of three-and-twenty, reigned21 at the “Ring o’ Bells,” and, with sense scarcely to have been expected from one of such youth and peculiar22 experience, she did wisely as maiden hostess of the little tavern23. Albeit24 not lavish25, she gave better value for money than Mr. Merle had given; the inn grew in popularity with the moor5-men; and romance of an exciting nature hung about the place, because many husbands were in the air for Minnie, and as yet she had given no sign that the happy man was chosen. To discuss the subject with the woman herself was not possible for men, but Tibby Trout26, an ancient gammer who cooked at the “Ring o’ Bells,” enjoyed the complete p. 138confidence of her mistress, and all that Minnie desired to publish she merely murmured into Tibby’s ear. The intelligencer had seventy years of experience behind her, and was considered even more artful than old.
Tibby enjoyed to serve in the bar, as a change from the kitchen; and at such times, when her mistress was not by, she would discourse27, mete28 praise and blame, waken hope here, here chasten a mind grown too confident.
“Be it true, Aaron French, as you told a chap to Moreton that you knawed how the cat would jump?” she asked, on a night when the bar was full.
Aaron, a sand-coloured and a sanguine29 man, grew hot and laughed.
“Why,” he said, “a chap may put wan14 an’ wan together without any harm.”
“No harm except to hisself. The wan an’ wan you’m putting together in your foolish head—well, her may have named your name thoughtful-like now an’ again, but not these many days now. In fact, you’d best to say nought30 about her to anybody, for you’m awnly like to look a fule come presently if you do. That man at your elbow might explain if he would.”
Aaron French turned upon the labourer whom Tibby indicated, and sudden anger shook his high-pitched voice into a squeak31.
p. 139“This be your work, then, Elias Bassett,” he said, furiously. “You to dare! You—the most penniless chap ’pon Dartymoor!”
The young man addressed regarded Aaron without emotion. Elias stood a head taller than his rival, was ten years younger, and very much poorer; but he had a handsome face, a sturdy body, and a stout32 right arm.
“You’m a silly poult,” he said contemptuously. “As if a sandy-headed little monkey like you would take any maiden onless he wanted her money. An’ Mistress Merle have got two pounds for every one of yours. As for me, I doan’t care a cuss for the stuff, and wish to God ’twas all drownded in Dart. All men know that I kept company with her afore her uncle died, never knowin’ as she was gwaine to have his ill-got money; an’ I wish her never had got it; for then her might have looked at me very like. But when it comed out her was up to her neck in gold, so to say, I knowed it must stand between us, and that a gamekeeper weren’t no husband for her.”
“You seed yourself as others seed you—an’ that’s a very rare thing,” said another man.
“All the same, you’re a zany for your pains,” declared the old woman, who had learned what she desired to learn. “You kept company with missus—you say so. Then ’twas her place, not yours, to p. 140say what was to be done after she was lifted up in the land. I doan’t mean for a moment that she’d look at a velveteen coat, so you needn’t fox yourself as you’ve got any chance at all with her—yet her did, careless-like, name your name to me among other chaps as didn’t ’pear to have learnt any manners in their bearin’ toward women.”
A strong pulse stirred Elias Bassett’s slow nature and made him stare at the withered33 old woman.
“No call to glaze34 like a gert bull wi’ your eyes so round as pennies,” she said. “An’ what’s more, you needn’t take no comfort from what I’ve told ’e. I reckon her ban’t for no Dartymoor market. Wi’ her mort o’ money an’ dearth35 o’ years, her can very well wait awhile wi’out jumping at the first clodpole among ’e as offers.”
At this moment a strange man came among them and the subject was dropped for that time, before the interesting spectacle of a face unfamiliar36 to all present.
The new arrival carried himself as one superior to his company. He was booted and spurred, held in one hand a pair of holsters, in the other a riding-whip. He gave no general salute37 to those present, neither did he order refreshment38, but casting one quick glance about him, addressed himself to Gammer Trout and asked to see the mistress of the inn.
p. 141Nicholas Merle was a big, clean-shorn man, with bright eyes, quick movements, and the assertive39 manner of one accustomed to have his way. There was no contempt in his attitude to the folk assembled, but he took it for granted that he exceeded them in importance, even as his interests rose above their own; and not one among them questioned the assumption.
“Acquaint Mistress Merle that I am come—her cousin Nicholas from Yorkshire.”
Tibby curtseyed and went to do his bidding, while the new arrival out-stared each man present in turn, then went to the peat fire and kicked it.
“Give ’e gude day,” said Elias Bassett, in a friendly tone. “I daresay now this here lonesome auld40 Moor do seem but a wisht, pixy-ridden place to a gen’leman like you be.”
“It is very well, my good fellow—a little contracted, that is all. The wolds are more spacious41, but a gentleman might make a living here if others would but let him. Does anybody with a fat purse ride this way?”
Elias and his companions stared, and the lower jaw42 of Mr. French fell until he appeared imbecile. Yet the stranger’s cynical43 hint brought up his listeners a little more on to a level with him. Their virtue44 owed it to itself to stand as high as his confessed or pretended rascality45.
p. 142“That sort of talk leads to a hemp46 collar, mister,” murmured Bassett; but Merle shook his head.
“Mere talk leads nowhere,” he answered. “It is the fashion of you clowns to take a jest in earnest. But have no fear. I am not come among you with any such purpose as the road. To-day I have ridden from Exeter and, since leaving Moretonhampstead, saw nought but carrion47 crows and a fox or two. This place tempts48 no man to dishonesty. I can see upon your faces that you scarce know the meaning of the word.”
Gammer Tibby returned, and Merle, nodding in a friendly way to all present, followed her through the bar to the private chambers49 behind it. Then, hardly had the horseman clanked from sight, when Ostler Joe Mudge appeared with his mouth full of news.
“Wheer be the gen’leman to? Not here? Then I can speak. Aw jimmery, what a hoss—if ’tis a hoss! Never seed the like in all my years! Come an’ catch sight for yourselves, sawls, for you’ll never believe me. Eyes like a human, an’ a body all so bright as brimstone, to the last hair in the tail of un!”
While the loafers inspected a big horse of unusual colour, Nicholas Merle introduced himself to his cousin. They had never met before, and a deep interest and instant friendship wakened in Minnie’s breast for the only relation she possessed50 in the p. 143world. He was a tall, resolute51 man of thirty-five, with strange oaths and fatherly manner. He declared that chance alone brought him so far south, and that being at Exeter he had determined52 with himself to see his relations.
“Not until I reached Moreton did I hear of our uncle’s death; then I should have come no farther, but I knew of your existence, and thought I would at least get a memory of you. And a very pleasant memory it will be, Cousin, for you’re the queen of the Dartmoors, I hear, and so you should be. I never want to see a prettier maid.”
But these statements, despite the speaker’s convincing utterance and bluff53 manner of discourse, were by no means true. Nicholas Merle, chancing upon a journal nearly a year old, had read therein of his miser uncle’s passing; and he knew that only one life stood between him and the dead man’s fortune. So he forsook54 his usual haunts, to the satisfaction of better men, and galloped55 westward56 to look into the matter for himself.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
miser
|
|
| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
mound
|
|
| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
dart
|
|
| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
moor
|
|
| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
moors
|
|
| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
heartily
|
|
| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
rumours
|
|
| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
demise
|
|
| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
orphaned
|
|
| [计][修]孤立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
shuffled
|
|
| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
wan
|
|
| (wide area network)广域网 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
frantic
|
|
| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
tavern
|
|
| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
albeit
|
|
| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
lavish
|
|
| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
trout
|
|
| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
mete
|
|
| v.分配；给予 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
sanguine
|
|
| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
nought
|
|
| n.／adj.无，零 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
squeak
|
|
| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
glaze
|
|
| v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
dearth
|
|
| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
unfamiliar
|
|
| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
salute
|
|
| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
refreshment
|
|
| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
assertive
|
|
| adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
auld
|
|
| adj.老的，旧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
spacious
|
|
| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
cynical
|
|
| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
rascality
|
|
| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
46
hemp
|
|
| n.大麻；纤维 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
carrion
|
|
| n.腐肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
tempts
|
|
| v.引诱或怂恿（某人）干不正当的事( tempt的第三人称单数 )；使想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
chambers
|
|
| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
resolute
|
|
| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
bluff
|
|
| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
forsook
|
|
| forsake的过去式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
galloped
|
|
| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
westward
|
|
| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |