“Don’t go back to your dreary1 old post office. We’re going to have supper in my room — something hot. Come and join us. Hurry up!”
There had been an ice carnival2, and the last party, tailing up the snow-slope to the hotel, called him. The Chinese lanterns smoked and sputtered3 on the wires; the band had long since gone. The cold was bitter and the moon came only momentarily between high, driving clouds. From the shed where the people changed from skates to snow-boots he shouted something to the effect that he was “following”; but no answer came; the moving shadows of those who had called were already merged4 high up against the village darkness. The voices died away. Doors slammed. Hibbert found himself alone on the deserted5 rink.
And it was then, quite suddenly, the impulse came to — stay and skate alone. The thought of the stuffy6 hotel room, and of those noisy people with their obvious jokes and laughter, oppressed him. He felt a longing7 to be alone with the night; to taste her wonder all by himself there beneath the stars, gliding8 over the ice. It was not yet midnight, and he could skate for half an hour. That supper party, if they noticed his absence at all, would merely think he had changed his mind and gone to bed.
It was an impulse, yes, and not an unnatural9 one; yet even at the time it struck him that something more than impulse lay concealed10 behind it. More than invitation, yet certainly less than command, there was a vague queer feeling that he stayed because he had to, almost as though there was something he had forgotten, overlooked, left undone11. Imaginative temperaments12 are often thus; and impulse is ever weakness. For with such ill-considered opening of the doors to hasty action may come an invasion of other forces at the same time — forces merely waiting their opportunity perhaps!
He caught the fugitive13 warning even while he dismissed it as absurd, and the next minute he was whirling over the smooth ice in delightful14 curves and loops beneath the moon. There was no fear of collision. He could take his own speed and space as he willed. The shadows of the towering mountains fell across the rink, and a wind of ice came from the forests, where the snow lay ten feet deep. The hotel lights winked15 and went out. The village slept. The high wire netting could not keep out the wonder of the winter night that grew about him like a presence. He skated on and on, keen exhilarating pleasure in his tingling16 blood, and weariness all forgotten.
And then, midway in the delight of rushing movement, he saw a figure gliding behind the wire netting, watching him. With a start that almost made him lose his balance — for the abruptness17 of the new arrival was so unlooked for — he paused and stared. Although the light was dim he made out that it was the figure of a woman and that she was feeling her way along the netting, trying to get in. Against the white background of the snow-field he watched her rather stealthy efforts as she passed with a silent step over the banked-up snow. She was tall and slim and graceful18; he could see that even in the dark. And then, of course, he understood. It was another adventurous19 skater like himself, stolen down unawares from hotel or chalet, and searching for the opening. At once, making a sign and pointing with one hand, he turned swiftly and skated over to the little entrance on the other side.
But, even before he got there, there was a sound on the ice behind him and, with an exclamation20 of amazement21 he could not suppress, he turned to see her swerving22 up to his side across the width of the rink. She had somehow found another way in.
Hibbert, as a rule, was punctilious23, and in these free-and-easy places, perhaps, especially so. If only for his own protection he did not seek to make advances unless some kind of introduction paved the way. But for these two to skate together in the semi-darkness without speech, often of necessity brushing shoulders almost, was too absurd to think of. Accordingly he raised his cap and spoke24. His actual words he seems unable to recall, nor what the girl said in reply, except that she answered him in accented English with some commonplace about doing figures at midnight on an empty rink. Quite natural it was, and right. She wore grey clothes of some kind, though not the customary long gloves or sweater, for indeed her hands were bare, and presently when he skated with her, he wondered with something like astonishment25 at their dry and icy coldness.
And she was delicious to skate with — supple26, sure, and light, fast as a man yet with the freedom of a child, sinuous27 and steady at the same time. Her flexibility28 made him wonder, and when he asked where she had learned she murmured — he caught the breath against his ear and recalled later that it was singularly cold — that she could hardly tell, for she had been accustomed to the ice ever since she could remember.
But her face he never properly saw. A muffler of white fur buried her neck to the ears, and her cap came over the eyes. He only saw that she was young. Nor could he gather her hotel or chalet, for she pointed29 vaguely30, when he asked her, up the slopes. “Just over there —” she said, quickly taking his hand again. He did not press her; no doubt she wished to hide her escapade. And the touch of her hand thrilled him more than anything he could remember; even through his thick glove he felt the softness of that cold and delicate softness.
The clouds thickened over the mountains. It grew darker. They talked very little, and did not always skate together. Often they separated, curving about in corners by themselves, but always coming together again in the centre of the rink; and when she left him thus Hibbert was conscious of — yes, of missing her. He found a peculiar31 satisfaction, almost a fascination32, in skating by her side. It was quite an adventure — these two strangers with the ice and snow and night!
Midnight had long since sounded from the old church tower before they parted. She gave the sign, and he skated quickly to the shed, meaning to find a seat and help her take her skates off. Yet when he turned — she had already gone. He saw her slim figure gliding away across the snow... and hurrying for the last time round the rink alone he searched in vain for the opening she had twice used in this curious way.
“How very queer!” he thought, referring to the wire netting. “She must have lifted it and wriggled33 under...!”
Wondering how in the world she managed it, what in the world had possessed34 him to be so free with her, and who in the world she was, he went up the steep slope to the post office and so to bed, her promise to come again another night still ringing delightfully35 in his ears. And curious were the thoughts and sensations that accompanied him. Most of all, perhaps, was the half suggestion of some dim memory that he had known this girl before, had met her somewhere, more — that she knew him. For in her voice — a low, soft, windy little voice it was, tender and soothing36 for all its quiet coldness — there lay some faint reminder37 of two others he had known, both long since gone: the voice of the woman he had loved, and — the voice of his mother.
But this time through his dreams there ran no clash of battle. He was conscious, rather, of something cold and clinging that made him think of sifting38 snowflakes climbing slowly with entangling40 touch and thickness round his feet. The snow, coming without noise, each flake39 so light and tiny none can mark the spot whereon it settles, yet the mass of it able to smother41 whole villages, wove through the very texture42 of his mind — cold, bewildering, deadening effort with its clinging network of ten million feathery touches.
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1
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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2
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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3
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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4
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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5
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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6
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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7
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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10
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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temperaments
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| 性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁 | |
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13
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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14
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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15
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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16
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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17
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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18
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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19
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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20
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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21
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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swerving
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的现在分词 ) | |
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23
punctilious
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| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
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24
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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25
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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26
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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28
flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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29
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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30
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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31
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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32
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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33
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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34
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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35
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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36
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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38
sifting
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| n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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39
flake
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| v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片 | |
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40
entangling
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| v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的现在分词 ) | |
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41
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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42
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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