On this night, before the hour was late, three persons were seated in the balmy air on the outside of the dwelling4, talking together in low tones.
They were Fred Whitney, whose bandaged arm rested in a sling5, Monteith Sterry, and Jennie Whitney. The memory of the recent affliction suffered in the death of the father naturally subdued6 the voices and tinged7 the words with a seriousness that would not have been felt at other times.
Young Sterry, as already stated, had accepted an engagement with the Live Stock Association, which required him to investigate the operations of the rustlers over a large portion of Wyoming and Montana, and to report at regular intervals8 to his superior officers.
This was perilous9 business, but Sterry set about the work with a vigour11, directness and intelligence that were felt over an extent of territory numbering hundreds of square miles, and made him a marked man by the rustlers, who are always quick to identify their friends and enemies. It seemed to make little difference, however, to him, who loved the excitement. He was a capital pistol and rifle-shot, a fine horseman, and as devoid12 of fear as the men against whom he directed his movements.
Unconsciously Monteith Sterry brought a grievous peril10 upon his friends, who held him in so high regard. Hated intensely by the rustlers, they were not long in learning that he spent a great deal of his time at the Whitneys. They came to be regarded, therefore, as aiders and abettors of his. This enmity was emphasized by the attack of which an account has been given.
"I think, Fred," said his sister, oppressed by the shadow that had fallen across the threshold, "we ought to sell out and leave this country."
"Why?" he gently asked.
"Because not only of what happened yesterday, but of the certainty that such attacks will be repeated."
"What reason have you to fear their repetition?" asked Monteith.
"Matters are growing worse between the cowmen and the rustlers; I have heard our men talk, and you have said so yourself."
"I cannot deny it," replied their visitor, thoughtfully smoking his cigar. He would have been pleased had her brother, now the head of the little household, decided13 to make his home once more in the East, for then he would take up the study of his profession of law and be placed where he could often meet them.
"It would be cowardly to sell out and abandon the country through fear of those men," said the brother, to whom the proposition was not pleasant.
"But suppose you should be their next victim?" suggested Jennie, with a shudder14.
"I don't think I shall be a victim," he quietly responded; "this wound won't bother me long, and with Budd and Grizzly15 to help, we can laugh at all the rustlers in the country."
"It is hardly a matter of courage," ventured Sterry, "for no one knowing you or your sister would question your bravery, but it is rather the peace of mind of your mother and her. It will be a long time, if ever, before your parent recovers from the shock of yesterday. No matter how confident and plucky16 you may be, Fred, you know it is no guarantee against a bullet from one of those scamps at five hundred or a thousand yards. I shudder to think of what might happen."
Fred turned and looked full in the handsome face of the fellow beside him.
"It strikes me that you are showing little faith in your own words. Why do you remain where you are a marked man when there is no need of it, and where your personal danger is certainly as great as mine?"
This argumentum ad hominem was so unexpected that Sterry was embarrassed for the moment, but found voice to reply:
"I have no mother and sister dependent on me, as you have."
"But you have brothers, sisters, father and mother, and therefore the more to mourn if you should fall. The fact is, Mont, I feel that it is a duty you owe to them to give up the dangerous calling you have adopted. You not only do not need it, but are squandering17 time that ought to be given to the study of your profession, and you have become so feared and hated by the rustlers that they will go to any length to 'remove' you."
"The more cause, therefore, why I should stay," responded the other.
"A poor argument—"
The discussion was interrupted by the sound of a horse's hoofs18. Some one was riding toward them on a gallop19, and speedily loomed20 to view in the bright moonlight. The three instinctively21 ceased speaking and gazed curiously22 at the horseman, who reined23 up in front of where they were sitting.
Hospitality is limitless in the West, and, before the stranger had halted, Fred Whitney rose from his chair and walked forward to welcome him.
The man was in the costume of a cowboy, with rifle, revolver and all the paraphernalia24 of the craft.
"Is your name Whitney?" asked the horseman, speaking first.
"It is; what can I do for you?"
"Do you know Mont Sterry?"
"He is a particular friend of mine," replied Whitney, refraining from adding that he was the young man sitting a few paces away with his sister and hearing every word said.
"Well, there's a letter for him; if I knew where to find him I would deliver it myself. Will you hand it to him the next time you meet him?"
As he spoke25 he leaned forward from his saddle and handed a sealed envelope to Fred Whitney, who remarked, as he accepted it:
"I will do as you wish; I expect to see him soon; won't you dismount and stay over night with us?"
"No; I have business elsewhere," was the curt26 answer, as the fellow wheeled and spurred off on a gallop.
Budd Hankinson and Grizzly Weber, the two hired men, were absent, looking after the cattle, for the rustler1 is a night hawk27 who often gets in the best part of his work between the set and rise of sun.
Mrs. Whitney was sitting in the gloom, alone in her sorrow. Jennie wished to stay with her, but the mother gently refused, saying she preferred to have none with her. No light was burning in the building, and that night the weather was unusually mild.
Mont Sterry accepted the paper from the hand of his friend and remarked, with a smile:
"I suspect what it is. When the rustlers don't like a man they have a frank way of telling him so, supplemented by a little good advice, I fancy I have been honoured in a similar way."
He deliberately28 tore open the envelope, while Jennie and her brother looked curiously at him. The moonlight, although strong, was not sufficiently29 so to show the words, which were written in lead-pencil. Fred Whitney, therefore, struck a match and held it in front of the paper, while the recipient30 read in a low voice, loud enough, however, to be heard in the impressive hush31:
"MONT STERRY: If you stay in the Powder River country twenty-four
hours longer you are a dead man. Over fifty of us rustlers have
sworn to shoot you on sight, whether it is at Fort McKinley,
Buffalo32, or on the streets of Cheyenne. I have persuaded the
majority to hold off for the time named, but not one of them will
do so an hour longer, nor will I ask them to do so. We are bound
to make an honest living, and it is weak for me to give you this
warning, but I do it, repeating that if you are within reach
twenty-four hours from the night on which this is handed to
Whitney I will join them in hunting you down, wherever you may be.
"LARCH33 CADMUS."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
rustler
|
|
| n.[美口]偷牛贼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
ranch
|
|
| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
soothed
|
|
| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
sling
|
|
| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
tinged
|
|
| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
perilous
|
|
| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
vigour
|
|
| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
devoid
|
|
| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
shudder
|
|
| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
grizzly
|
|
| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
plucky
|
|
| adj.勇敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
squandering
|
|
| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
hoofs
|
|
| 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 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
loomed
|
|
| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
reined
|
|
| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
paraphernalia
|
|
| n.装备；随身用品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
curt
|
|
| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
hawk
|
|
| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
recipient
|
|
| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
hush
|
|
| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
buffalo
|
|
| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
larch
|
|
| n.落叶松 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |