Virginia went with this man passively--to an appointment which, but an hour ago, she had promised herself she would not keep. Her inmost soul was stirred, just as before. Then it had been few words, now it was a little common song. But the strange power of the man held her close, so she realized that for the moment at least she would do as he desired. In the amazement1 and consternation2 of this thought she found time to offer up a little prayer: "Dear God, make him kind to me."
They leaned against the old bronze guns, facing the river. He pulled her shawl about her, masterfully yet with gentleness, and then, as though it was the most natural thing in the world, he drew her to him until she rested against his shoulder. And she remained there, trembling, in suspense3, glancing at him quickly, in birdlike, pleading glances, as though praying him to be kind. He took no notice after that, so the act seemed less like a caress4 than a matter of course. He began to talk, half-humorously, and little by little, as he went on, she forgot her fears, even her feeling of strangeness, and fell completely under the spell of his power.
"My name is Ned Trent," he told her, "and I am from Quebec. I am a woods runner. I have journeyed far. I have been to the uttermost ends of the North, even up beyond the Hills of Silence."
And then, in his gay, half-mocking, yet musical voice he touched lightly on vast and distant things. He talked of the great Saskatchewan, of Peace River, and the delta5 of the Mackenzie, of the winter journeys beyond Great Bear Lake into the Land of the Little Sticks, and the half-mythical lake of Yamba Tooh. He spoke6 of life with the Dog Ribs7 and Yellow Knives, where the snow falls in midsummer. Before her eyes slowly spread, like a panorama8, the whole extent of the great North, with its fierce, hardy9 men, its dreadful journeys by canoe and sledge10, its frozen barrens, its mighty11 forests, its solemn charm. All at once this post of Conjuror's House, a month in the wilderness12 as it was, seemed very small and tame and civilized13 for the simple reason that Death did not always compass it about.
"It was very cold then," said Ned Trent, "and very hard. _Le grand frete_[A] of winter had come. At night we had no other shelter than our blankets, and we could not keep a fire because the spruce burned too fast and threw too many coals. For a long time we shivered, curled up on our snow-shoes; then fell heavily asleep, so that even the dogs fighting over us did not awaken14 us. Two or three times in the night we boiled tea. We had to thaw15 our moccasins each morning by thrusting them inside our shirts. Even the Indians were shivering and saying, 'Ed-sa, yazzi ed-sa'--'it is cold, very cold.' And when we came to Rae it was not much better. A roaring fire in the fireplace could not prevent the ink from freezing on the pen. This went on for five months."
[Footnote A: _Froid_--cold.]
Thus he spoke, as one who says common things. He said little of himself, but as he went on in short, curt16 sentences the picture grew more distinct, and to Virginia the man became more and more prominent in it. She saw the dying and exhausted17 dogs, the frost-rimed, weary men; she heard the quick _crunch, crunch18, crunch_ of the snow-shoes hurrying ahead to break the trail; she felt the cruel torture of the _mal de raquette_, the shrivelling bite of the frost, the pain of snow blindness, the hunger that yet could not stomach the frozen fish nor the hairy, black caribou19 meat. One thing she could not conceive--the indomitable spirit of the men. She glanced timidly up at her companion's face.
"The Company is a cruel master," she sighed at last, standing20 upright, then leaning against the carriage of the gun. He let her go without protest, almost without thought, it seemed.
"But not mine," said he.
She exclaimed, in astonishment21, "Are you not of the Company?"
"I am no man's man but my own," he answered, simply.
"Then why do you stay in this dreadful North?" she asked.
"Because I love it. It is my life. I want to go where no man has set foot before me; I want to stand alone under the sky; I want to show myself that nothing is too big for me--no difficulty, no hardship--nothing!"
"Why did you come here, then? Here at least are forests so that you can keep warm. This is not so dreadful as the Coppermine, and the country of the Yellow Knives. Did you come here to try _la Longue Traverse_ of which you spoke to-day?"
He fell suddenly sombre, biting in reflection at his lip.
"No--yes--why not?" he said, at length.
"I know you will come out of it safely," said she; "I feel it. You are brave and used to travel. Won't you tell me about it?"
He did not reply. After a moment she looked up in surprise. His brows were knit in reflection. He turned to her again, his eyes glowing into hers. Once more the fascination22 of the man grew big, overwhelmed her. She felt her heart flutter, her consciousness swim, her old terror returning.
"Listen," said he. "I may come to you to-morrow and ask you to choose between your divine pity and what you might think to be your duty. Then I will tell you all there is to know of _la Longue Traverse_. Now it is a secret of the Company. You are a Factor's daughter; you know what that means." He dropped his head. "Ah, I am tired--tired with it all!" he cried, in a voice strangely unhappy. "But yesterday I played the game with all my old spirit; to-day the zest23 is gone! I no longer care." He felt the pressure of her hand. "Are you just a little sorry for me?" he asked. "Sorry for a weakness you do not understand? You must think me a fool."
"I know you are unhappy," replied Virginia, gently. "I am truly sorry for that."
"Are you? Are you, indeed?" he cried. "Unhappiness is worth such pity as yours." He brooded for a moment, then threw his hands out with what might have been a gesture of desperate indifference24. Suddenly his mood changed in the whimsical, bewildering fashion of the man. "Ah, a star shoots!" he exclaimed, gayly. "That means a kiss!"
Still laughing, he attempted to draw her to him. Angry, mortified25, outraged26, she fought herself free and leaped to her feet.
"Oh!" she cried, in insulted anger.
"Oh!" she cried, in a red shame.
"_Oh!_" she cried, in sorrow.
Her calm broke. She burst into the violent sobbing27 of a child, and turned and ran hurriedly to the factory.
Ned Trent stared after her a minute from beneath scowling28 brows. He stamped his moccasined foot impatiently.
"Like a rat in a trap!" he jeered29 at himself. "Like a rat in a trap, Ned Trent! The fates are drawing around you close. You need just one little thing, and you cannot get it. Bribery30 is useless! Force is useless! Craft is useless! This afternoon I thought I saw another way. What I could get no other way I might get from this little girl. She is only a child. I believe I could touch her pity--ah, Ned Trent, Ned Trent, can you ever forget her frightened, white face begging you to be kind?" He paced back and forth31 between the two bronze guns with long, straight strides, like a panther in a cage. "Her aid is mine for the asking--but she makes it impossible to ask! I could not do it. Better try _la Longue Traverse_ than take advantage of her pity--she'd surely get into trouble. What wonderful eyes she has. She thinks I am a brute32--how she sobbed33, as though her little heart had broken. Well, it was the only way to destroy her interest in me. I had to do it. Now she will despise me and forget me. It is better that she should think me a brute than that I should be always haunted by those pleading eyes." The door of the distant church house opened and closed. He smiled bitterly. "To be sure, I haven't tried that," he acknowledged. "Their teachings are singularly apropos34 to my case--mercy, justice, humanity--yes, and love of man. I'll try it. I'll call for help on the love of man, since I cannot on the love of woman. The love of woman--ah--yes."
He set his feet reflectively toward the chapel35.
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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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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thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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caribou
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| n.北美驯鹿 | |
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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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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bribery
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| n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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apropos
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| adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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