Hooper's ranch1 proved to be entirely2 enclosed by a wall of adobe3 ten feet high and whitewashed4. To the outside it presented a blank face. Only corrals and an alfalfa patch were not included. A wide, high gateway6, that could be closed by massive doors, let into a stable yard, and seemed to be the only entrance. The buildings within were all immaculate also: evidently Old Man Hooper loved whitewash5. Cottonwood trees showed their green heads; and to the right I saw the sloped shingled7 roof of a larger building. Not a living creature was in sight. I shook myself, saying that the undoubted sinister8 feeling of utter silence and lifelessness was compounded of my expectations and the time of day. But that did not satisfy me. My aroused mind, casting about, soon struck it: I was missing the swarms9 of blackbirds, linnets, purple finches, and doves that made our own ranch trees vocal10. Here were no birds. Laughing at this simple explanation of my eerie11 feeling, I passed under the gate and entered the courtyard.
It, too, seemed empty. A stable occupied all one side; the other three were formed by bunk12 houses and necessary out-buildings. Here, too, dwelt absolute solitude13 and absolute silence. It was uncanny, as though one walked in a vacuum. Everything was neat and shut up and whitewashed and apparently14 dead. There were no sounds or signs of occupancy. I was as much alone as though I had been in the middle of an ocean. My mind, by now abnormally sensitive and alert, leaped on this idea. For the same reason, it insisted--lack of life: there were no birds here, not even _flies_! Of course, said I, gone to bed in the cool of evening: why should there be? I laughed aloud and hushed suddenly; and then nearly jumped out of my skin. The thin blue curl of smoke had caught my eye; and I became aware of the figure of a man seated on the ground, in the shadow, leaning against the building. The curl of smoke was from his cigarette. He was wrapped in a _serape_ which blended well with the cool colour of shadow. My eyes were dazzled with the whitewash--natural enough--yet the impression of solitude had been so complete. It was uncanny, as though he had materialized out of the shadow itself. Silly idea! I ranged my eye along the row of houses, and I saw three other figures I had missed before, all broodingly immobile, all merged16 in shadow, all watching me, all with the insubstantial air of having as I looked taken body from thin air.
This was too foolish! I dismounted, dropped my horse's reins17 over his head, and sauntered to the nearest figure. He was lost in the dusk of the building and of his Mexican hat. I saw only the gleam of eyes.
"Where will I find Mr. Hooper?" I asked.
The figure waved a long, slim hand toward a wicket gate in one side of the enclosure. He said no word, nor made another motion; and the other figures sat as though graved from stone.
After a moment's hesitation18 I pushed open the wicket gate, and so found myself in a smaller intimate courtyard of most surprising character. Its centre was green grass, and about its border grew tall, bright flowers. A wide verandah ran about three sides. I could see that in the numerous windows hung white lace curtains. Mind you, this was in Arizona of the 'nineties!
I knocked at the nearest door, and after an interval19 it opened and I stood face to face with Old Man Hooper himself.
He proved to be as small as I had thought, not taller than my own shoulder, with a bent20 little figure dressed in wrinkled and baggy21 store clothes of a snuff brown. His bullet head had been cropped so that his hair stood up like a short-bristled white brush. His rather round face was brown and lined. His hands, which grasped the doorposts uncompromisingly to bar the way, were lean and veined and old. But all that I found in my recollections afterward22 to be utterly23 unimportant. His eyes were his predominant, his formidable, his compelling characteristic. They were round, the pupils very small, the irises24 large and of a light flecked blue. From the pupils radiated fine lines. The blank, cold, inscrutable stare of them bored me through to the back of the neck. I suppose the man winked25 occasionally, but I never got that impression. I've noticed that owls26 have this same intent, unwinking stare--and wildcats.
"Mr. Hooper," said I, "can you keep me over night?"
It was a usual request in the old cattle country. He continued to stare at me for some moments.
"Where are you from?" he asked at length. His voice was soft and low; rather purring.
I mentioned our headquarters on the Gila: it did not seem worth while to say anything about Box Springs only a dozen miles away. He stared at me for some time more.
"Come in," he said, abruptly27; and stood aside.
This was a disconcerting surprise. All I had expected was permission to stop, and a direction as to how to find the bunk house. Then a more or less dull evening, and a return the following day to collect on my "dare." I stepped into the dimness of the hallway; and immediately after into a room beyond.
Again I must remind you that this was the Arizona of the 'nineties. All the ranch houses with which I was acquainted, and I knew about all of them, were very crudely done. They comprised generally a half dozen rooms with adobe walls and rough board floors, with only such furnishings as deal tables, benches, homemade chairs, perhaps a battered28 old washstand or so, and bunks29 filled with straw. We had no such things as tablecloths30 and sheets, of course. Everything was on a like scale of simple utility.
All right, get that in your mind. The interior into which I now stepped, with my clanking spurs, my rattling31 _chaps_, the dust of my sweat-stained garments, was a low-ceilinged, dim abode32 with faint, musty aromas33. Carpets covered the floors; an old-fashioned hat rack flanked the door on one side, a tall clock on the other. I saw in passing framed steel engravings. The room beyond contained easy chairs, a sofa upholstered with hair cloth, an upright piano, a marble fireplace with a mantel, in a corner a triangular34 what-not filled with objects. It, too, was dim and curtained and faintly aromatic35 as had been the house of an old maiden36 aunt of my childhood, who used to give me cookies on the Sabbath. I felt now too large, and too noisy, and altogether mis-dressed and blundering and dirty. The little old man moved without a sound, and the grandfather's clock outside ticked deliberately37 in a hollow silence.
I sat down, rather gingerly, in the chair he indicated for me.
"I shall be very glad to offer you hospitality for the night," he said, as though there had been no interim38. "I feel honoured at the opportunity."
I murmured my thanks, and a suggestion that I should look after my horse.
"Your horse, sir, has been attended to, and your _cantinas_[B] are undoubtedly39 by now in your room, where, I am sure, you are anxious to repair."
[Footnote B: Saddle pockets that fit on the pommel.]
He gave no signal, nor uttered any command, but at his last words a grave, elderly Mexican appeared noiselessly at my elbow. As a matter of fact, he came through an unnoticed door at the back, but he might as well have materialized from the thin air for the start that he gave me. Hooper instantly arose.
"I trust, sir, you will find all to your liking40. If anything is lacking, I trust you will at once indicate the fact. We shall dine in a half hour----"
He seized a small implement41 consisting of a bit of wire screen attached to the end of a short stick, darted42 across the room with the most extraordinary agility43, thwacked a lone15 house fly, and returned.
"--and you will undoubtedly be ready for it," he finished his speech, calmly, as though he had not moved from his tracks.
I murmured my acknowledgments. My last impression as I left the room was of the baleful, dead, challenging stare of the man's wildcat eyes.
The Mexican glided44 before me. We emerged into the court, walked along the verandah, and entered a bedroom. My guide slipped by me and disappeared before I had the chance of a word with him. He may have been dumb for all I know. I sat down and tried to take stock.
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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whitewash
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| v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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shingled
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| adj.盖木瓦的；贴有墙面板的v.用木瓦盖(shingle的过去式和过去分词形式) | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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baggy
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| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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irises
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| n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花） | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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bunks
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| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
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tablecloths
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| n.桌布，台布( tablecloth的名词复数 ) | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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aromas
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| n.芳香( aroma的名词复数 )；气味；风味；韵味 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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