At that epoch1 I prided myself on being a man of resource; and I proceeded to prove it in a fashion that even now fills me with satisfaction. I annexed2 the remainder of that bottle of soothing3 syrup4; I went to Sol Levi and easily procured5 delivery of the other five. Then I strolled peacefully to supper over at McCloud's hotel. Pathological knowledge of dope fiends was outside my ken--I could not guess how soon my man would need another dose of his "hop7," but I was positively8 sure that another would be needed. Inquiry9 of McCloud elicited10 the fact that the ex-jockey had swallowed a hasty meal and had immediately retired11 to Room 4. I found Room 4 unlocked, and Brower lying fully6 clothed sound asleep across the bed. I did not disturb him, except that I robbed him of his pistol. All looked safe for awhile; but just to be certain I took Room 6, across the narrow hall, and left both doors open. McCloud's hotel never did much of a room business. By midnight the cowboys would be on their way for the ranches12. Brower and myself were the only occupants of the second floor.
For two hours I smoked and read. The ex-jockey did not move a muscle. Then I went to bed and to a sound sleep; but I set my mind like an alarm clock, so that the slightest move from the other room would have fetched me broad awake. City-bred people may not know that this can be done by most outdoor men. I have listened subconsciously14 to horsebells for so many nights, for example, that even on stormy nights the cessation of that faint twinkle will awaken15 me, while the crash of the elements or even the fall of a tree would not in the slightest disturb my tired slumbers16. So now, although the songs and stamping and racket of the revellers below stairs in McCloud's bar did not for one second prevent my falling into deep and dreamless sleep, Brower's softest tread would have reached my consciousness.
However, he slept right through the night, and was still dead to the world when I slipped out at six o'clock to meet the east-bound train. The bag--a small black Gladstone--was aboard in charge of the baggageman. I had no great difficulty in getting it from my friend, the station agent. Had he not seen me herding17 the locoed stranger? I secreted18 the black bag with the five full bottles of soothing syrup, slipped the half-emptied bottle in my pocket, and returned to the hotel. There I ate breakfast, and sat down for a comfortable chat with McCloud while awaiting results.
Got them very promptly19. About eight o'clock Brower came downstairs. He passed through the office, nodding curtly20 to McCloud and me, and into the dining room where he drank several cups of coffee. Thence he passed down the street toward Sol Levi's. He emerged rather hurriedly and slanted21 across to the station.
"In about two minutes," I observed to McCloud, "you're going to observe yon butterfly turn into a stinging lizard22. He's going to head in this direction; and he'll probably aim to climb my hump. Such being the case, and the affair being private, you'll do me a favour by supervising something in some remote corner of the premises23."
"Sure," said McCloud, "I'll go twist that Chink washee-man. Been intending to for a week." And he stumped24 out on his wooden foot.
The comet hit at precisely25 7:42 by McCloud's big clock. Its head was Brower at high speed and tension; and its tail was the light alkali dust of Arizona mingled26 with the station agent. No irresistible27 force and immovable body proposition in mine; I gave to the impact.
"Why, sure, I got 'em for you," I answered. "You left your dope lying around loose so I took care of it for you. As for your bag; you seemed to set such store by it that I got that for you, too."
Which deflated28 that particular enterprise for the moment, anyway. The station agent, too mad to spit, departed before he should be tempted29 beyond his strength to resist homicide.
"I suppose you're taking care of my gun for me, too," said Brower; but his irony30 was weak. He was evidently off the boil.
"Your gun?" I echoed. "Have you lost your gun?"
He passed his hand across his eyes. His super-excitement had passed, leaving him weak and nervous. Now was the time for my counter-attack.
"Here's your gun," said I, "didn't want to collect any lead while you were excited, and I've got your dope," I repeated, "in a safe place." I added, "and you'll not see any of it again until you answer me a few questions, and answer them straight."
"If you think you can roll me for blackmail," he came back with some decision, "you're left a mile."
"I don't want a cent; but I do want a talk."
"Shoot," said he.
"How often do you have to have this dope--for the best results; and how much of it at a shot?"
He stared at me for a moment, then laughed.
"What's it to yuh?" he repeated his formula.
"I want to know."
"I get to needing it about once a day. Three grains will carry me by."
"All right; that's what I want to know. Now listen to me. I'm custodian31 of this dope, and you'll get your regular ration32 as long as you stick with me."
"I can always hop a train. This ain't the only hamlet on the map," he reminded me.
"That's always what you can do if you find we can't work together. That's where you've got me if my proposition doesn't sound good."
"What is your proposition?" he asked after a moment.
"Before I tell you, I'm going to give you a few pointers on what you're up against. I don't know how much you know about Old Man Hooper, but I'll bet there's plenty you _don't_ know about."
I proceeded to tell him something of the old man's methods, from the "boomerang" to vicarious murder.
"And he gets away with it?" asked Brower when I had finished.
"He certainly does," said I. "Now," I continued, "you may be solid as a brick church, and your plans may be water-tight, and old Hooper may kill the fatted four-year-old, for all I know. But if I were you, I wouldn't go sasshaying all alone out to Hooper's ranch13. It's altogether _too_ blame confiding33 and innocent."
"If anything happens to me, I've left directions for those contracts to be recorded," he pointed34 out. "Old Hooper knows that."
"Oh, sure!" I replied, "just like that! But one day your trustworthy friend back yonder will get a letter in your well-known hand-write that will say that all is well and the goose hangs high, that the old man is a prince and has come through, and that in accordance with the nice, friendly agreement you have reached he--your friend--will hand over the contract to a very respectable lawyer herein named, and so forth35 and so on, ending with your equally well-known John Hancock."
"Well, that's all right."
"I hadn't finished the picture. In the meantime, you will be getting out of it just one good swift kick, and that is all."
"I shouldn't write any such letter. Not 'till I felt the feel of the dough36."
"Not at first you wouldn't," I said, softly. "Certainly not at first. But after a while you would. These renegade Mexicans--like Hooper's Ramon, for example--know a lot of rotten little tricks. They drive pitch-pine splinters into your legs and set fire to them, for one thing. Or make small cuts in you with a knife, and load them up with powder squibs in oiled paper--so the blood won't wet them--and touch them off. And so on. When you've been shown about ten per cent, of what old Ramon knows about such things, you'll write most any kind of a letter."
"My God!" he muttered, thrusting the ridiculous derby to the back of his head.
"So you see you'd look sweet walking trustfully into Hooper's claws. That's what that newspaper ad was meant for. And when the respectable lawyer wrote that the contract had been delivered, do you know what would happen to you?"
The ex-jockey shuddered37.
"But you've only told me part of what I want to know," I pursued. "You got me side-tracked. This daughter of the dead pardner--this girl, what about her? Where is she now?"
"Europe, I believe."
"When did she go?"
"About three months ago."
"Any other relatives?"
"Not that I know of."
"H'm," I pondered. "What does she look like?"
"She's about medium height, dark, good figure, good-looking all right. She's got eyes wide apart and a wide forehead. That's the best I can do. Why?"
"Anybody heard from her since she went to Europe?"
"How should I know?" rejoined Brower, impatiently. "What you driving at?"
"I think I've seen her. I believe she's not in Europe at all. I believe she's a prisoner at the ranch."
"My aunt!" ejaculated Brower. His nervousness was increasing--the symptoms I was to recognize so well. "Why the hell don't you just shoot him from behind a bush? I'll do it, if you won't."
"He's too smooth for that." And I told him what Hooper had told me. "His hold on these Mexicans is remarkable38. I don't doubt that fifty of the best killers39 in the southwest have lists of the men Old Man Hooper thinks might lay him out. And every man on that list would get his within a year--without any doubt. I don't doubt that partner's daughter would go first of all. You, too, of course."
"My aunt!" groaned40 the jockey again.
"He's a killer," I went on, "by nature, and by interest--a bad combination. He ought to be tramped out like a rattlesnake. But this is a new country, and it's near the border. I expect he's got me marked. If I have to I'll kill him just like I would a rattlesnake; but that wouldn't do me a whole lot of good and would probably get a bunch assassinated41. I'd like to figure something different. So you see you'd better come on in while the coming is good."
"I see," said the ex-jockey, very much subdued42. "What's your idea? What do you want me to do?"
That stumped me. To tell the truth I had no idea at all what to do.
"I don't want you to go out to Hooper's ranch alone," said I.
"Trust me!" he rejoined, fervently43.
"I reckon the first best thing is to get along out of town," I suggested. "That black bag all the plunder44 you got?"
"That's it."
"Then we'll go out a-horseback."
We had lunch and a smoke and settled up with McCloud. About mid-afternoon we went on down to the livery corral. I knew the keeper pretty well, of course, so I borrowed a horse and saddle for Brower. The latter looked with extreme disfavour on both.
"This is no race meet," I reminded him. "This is a means of transportation."
"Sorry I ain't got nothing better," apologized Meigs, to whom I had confided45 my companion's profession--I had to account for such a figure somehow. "All my saddle hosses went off with a mine outfit46 yesterday."
"What's the matter with that chestnut47 in the shed?"
"He's all right; fine beast. Only it ain't mine. It belongs to Ramon."
"Ramon from Hooper's?"
"Yeah."
"I'd let you ride my horse and take Meigs's old skate myself," I said to Brower, "but when you first get on him this bronc of mine is a rip-humming tail twister. Ain't he, Meigs?"
"He's a bad _caballo_," corroborated48 Meigs.
"Does he buck49?" queried50 Brower, indifferently.
"Every known fashion. Bites, scratches, gouges51, and paws. Want to try him?"
"I got a headache," replied Brower, grouchily52. "Bring out your old dog."
When I came back from roping and blindfolding53 the twisted dynamite54 I was engaged in "gentling," I found that Brower was saddling the mournful creature with my saddle. My expostulation found him very snappy and very arbitrary. His opium-irritated nerves were beginning to react. I realized that he was not far short of explosive obstinacy55. So I conceded the point; although, as every rider knows, a cowboy's saddle and a cowboy's gun are like unto a toothbrush when it comes to lending. Also it involved changing the stirrup length on the livery saddle. I needed things just right to ride Tiger through the first five minutes.
When I had completed this latter operation, Brower had just finished drawing tight the cinch. His horse stood dejectedly. When Brower had made fast the latigo, the horse--as such dispirited animals often do--heaved a deep sigh. Something snapped beneath the slight strain of the indrawn breath.
"Dogged if your cinch ain't busted56!" cried Meigs with a loud laugh. "Lucky for you your friend did borrow your saddle! If you'd clumb Tiger with that outfit you could just naturally have begun pickin' out the likely-looking she-angels."
I dropped the stirrup and went over to examine the damage. Both of the quarter straps57 on the off side had given way. I found that they had been cut nearly through with a sharp knife. My eye strayed to Ramon's chestnut horse standing58 under the shed.
收听单词发音 |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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annexed
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| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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syrup
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| n.糖浆，糖水 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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ranches
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| 大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 ) | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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subconsciously
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| ad.下意识地，潜意识地 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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herding
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| 中畜群 | |
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secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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deflated
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| adj. 灰心丧气的 | |
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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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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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ration
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| n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应 | |
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confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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killers
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| 凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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44
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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45
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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46
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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51
gouges
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| n.凿( gouge的名词复数 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…v.凿( gouge的第三人称单数 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出… | |
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52
grouchily
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| adv.不高兴地，发牢骚地 | |
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53
blindfolding
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| v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的现在分词 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗 | |
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54
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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55
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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56
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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57
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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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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