With Thorpe there could be no half-way measure. He saw that the rupture1 with his sister was final, and the thrust attained2 him in one of his few unprotected points. It was not as though he felt either himself or his sister consciously in the wrong. He acquitted3 her of all fault, except as to the deadly one of misreading and misunderstanding. The fact argued not a perversion4 but a lack in her character. She was other than he had thought her.
As for himself, he had schemed, worked, lived only for her. He had come to her from the battle expecting rest and refreshment5. To the world he had shown the hard, unyielding front of the unemotional; he had looked ever keenly outward; he had braced6 his muscles in the constant tension of endeavor. So much the more reason why, in the hearts of the few he loved, he, the man of action, should find repose7; the man of sternness, should discover that absolute peace of the spirit in which not the slightest motion of the will is necessary, the man of repression8 should be permitted affectionate, care-free expansion of the natural affection, of the full sympathy which will understand and not mistake for weakness. Instead of this, he was forced into refusing where he would rather have given; into denying where he would rather have assented9; and finally into commanding where he longed most ardently10 to lay aside the cloak of authority. His motives11 were misread; his intentions misjudged; his love doubted.
But worst of all, Thorpe's mind could see no possibility of an explanation. If she could not see of her own accord how much he loved her, surely it was a hopeless task to attempt an explanation through mere12 words. If, after all, she was capable of misconceiving the entire set of his motives during the past two years, expostulation would be futile13. In his thoughts of her he fell into a great spiritual dumbness. Never, even in his moments of most theoretical imaginings, did he see himself setting before her fully14 and calmly the hopes and ambitions of which she had been the mainspring. And before a reconciliation15, many such rehearsals16 must take place in the secret recesses17 of a man's being.
Thorpe did not cry out, nor confide18 in a friend, nor do anything even so mild as pacing the floor. The only outward and visible sign a close observer might have noted19 was a certain dumb pain lurking20 in the depths of his eyes like those of a wounded spaniel. He was hurt, but did not understand. He suffered in silence, but without anger. This is at once the noblest and the most pathetic of human suffering.
At first the spring of his life seemed broken. He did not care for money; and at present disappointment had numbed21 his interest in the game. It seemed hardly worth the candle.
Then in a few days, after his thoughts had ceased to dwell constantly on the one subject, he began to look about him mentally. Beneath his other interests he still felt constantly a dull ache, something unpleasant, uncomfortable. Strangely enough it was almost identical in quality with the uneasiness that always underlay22 his surface-thoughts when he was worried about some detail of his business. Unconsciously,--again as in his business,--the combative23 instinct aroused. In lack of other object on which to expend24 itself, Thorpe's fighting spirit turned with energy to the subject of the lawsuit25.
Under the unwonted stress of the psychological condition just described, he thought at white heat. His ideas were clear, and followed each other quickly, almost feverishly26.
After his sister left the Renwicks, Thorpe himself went to Detroit, where he interviewed at once Northrop, the brilliant young lawyer whom the firm had engaged to defend its case.
"I'm afraid we have no show," he replied to Thorpe's question. "You see, you fellows were on the wrong side of the fence in trying to enforce the law yourselves. Of course you may well say that justice was all on your side. That does not count. The only recourse recognized for injustice27 lies in the law courts. I'm afraid you are due to lose your case."
"Well," said Thorpe, "they can't prove much damage."
"I don't expect that they will be able to procure28 a very heavy judgment," replied Northrop. "The facts I shall be able to adduce will cut down damages. But the costs will be very heavy."
"Yes," agreed Thorpe.
"And," then pursued Northrop with a dry smile, "they practically own Sherman. You may be in for contempt of court at their instigation. As I understand it, they are trying rather to injure you than to get anything out of it themselves."
"That's it," nodded Thorpe.
"In other words, it's a case for compromise."
"Just what I wanted to get at," said Thorpe with satisfaction. "Now answer me a question. Suppose a man injures Government or State land by trespass29. The land is afterwards bought by another party. Has the latter any claim for damage against the trespasser30? Understand me, the purchaser bought AFTER the trespass was committed."
"Certainly," answered Northrop without hesitation31.
"Provided suit is brought within six years of the time the trespass was committed."
"Good! Now see here. These M. & D. people stole about a section of Government pine up on that river, and I don't believe they've ever bought in the land it stood on. In fact I don't believe they suspect that anyone knows they've been stealing. How would it do, if I were to buy that section at the Land Office, and threaten to sue them for the value of the pine that originally stood on it?"
The lawyer's eyes glimmered32 behind the lenses of his pince-nez; but, with the caution of the professional man he made no other sign of satisfaction.
"It would do very well indeed," he replied, "but you'd have to prove they did the cutting, and you'll have to pay experts to estimate the probable amount of the timber. Have you the description of the section?"
"No," responded Thorpe, "but I can get it; and I can pick up witnesses from the woodsmen as to the cutting."
"The more the better. It is rather easy to discredit33 the testimony34 of one or two. How much, on a broad guess, would you estimate the timber to come to?"
"There ought to be about eight or ten million," guessed Thorpe after an instant's silence, "worth in the stump35 anywhere from sixteen to twenty thousand dollars. It would cost me only eight hundred to buy it."
"Do so, by all means. Get your documents and evidence all in shape, and let me have them. I'll see that the suit is discontinued then. Will you sue them?"
"No, I think not," replied Thorpe. "I'll just hold it back as a sort of club to keep them in line."
The next day, he took the train north. He had something definite and urgent to do, and, as always with practical affairs demanding attention and resource, he threw himself whole-souled into the accomplishment36 of it. By the time he had bought the sixteen forties constituting the section, searched out a dozen witnesses to the theft, and spent a week with the Marquette expert in looking over the ground, he had fallen into the swing of work again. His experience still ached; but dully.
Only now he possessed37 no interests outside of those in the new country; no affections save the half-protecting, good-natured comradeship with Wallace, the mutual38 self-reliant respect that subsisted39 between Tim Shearer40 and himself, and the dumb, unreasoning dog-liking he shared with Injin Charley. His eye became clearer and steadier; his methods more simple and direct. The taciturnity of his mood redoubled in thickness. He was less charitable to failure on the part of subordinates. And the new firm on the Ossawinamakee prospered41.
收听单词发音 |
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rupture
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| n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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perversion
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| n.曲解；堕落；反常 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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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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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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numbed
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| v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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underlay
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| v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的过去式 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起n.衬垫物 | |
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combative
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| adj.好战的；好斗的 | |
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expend
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| vt.花费，消费，消耗 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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trespass
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| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
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trespasser
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| n.侵犯者；违反者 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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subsisted
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shearer
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| n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机 | |
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prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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