The hill on which he had stood had been given over to scrub pines. The hill itself sloped away to the Turner old fields. But still he was puzzled, and still he scratched his head, for he knew that the Swamp was a good four miles away—nearly five—and it seemed to him that he and Aaron[57] had been only a few minutes in making the journey. So he scratched his head and wondered to himself whether Aaron was really a "conjur' man."
It was perhaps very lucky for Chunky Riley that he stopped when he did. If he had kept on he would have run into the arms of three men who were going along the plantation2 path that led from Gossett's negro quarters to the Abercrombie Place. The delay that Chunky Riley made prevented him from meeting them, but it did not prevent him from hearing the murmur3 of their voices as he struck into the path. They were too far off for Chunky Riley to know whether they were white or black, but just as he turned into the path to go to Gossett's the scent4 of a cigar floated to his nostrils5. He paused and scratched his head again. He knew by the scent of the cigar that the voices he heard belonged to white men: but who were they? If they were the "patterollers" they'd catch Aaron beyond all question; it would be impossible for him to escape.
So thought Chunky Riley, and so thinking, he turned and followed the path towards the Abercrombie Place. He moved rapidly but cautiously.[58] The scent of the cigar grew stronger, the sound of men's voices fell more distinctly on his ear. Chunky Riley left the path and skirted through the low pines until he came to the fence that inclosed the spring lot. He knew that if he was heard, the men would think he was a calf6, or, mayhap, a mule7; for the hill on which Aaron had left him was now a part of a great pasture, in which the calves8 and dry cattle and (between seasons) the mules9 were allowed to roam at will.
Coming to the fence, Chunky Riley would have crossed it, but the voices were louder now, and he caught a glimpse of the red sparks of lighted cigars. Creeping closer and closer, but ever ready to drop on the ground and run away on all-fours, Chunky Riley was soon able to hear what the men were saying. He knew the voices of his master and young master, Mr. Gossett—Old Grizzle, as he was called—and George, and he rightly judged that the strange voice mingling10 with theirs belonged to Mr. Jim Simmons, who, with a trained pack of hounds,—"nigger dogs" they were called,—held himself at the service of owners of runaway11 negroes.
Mr. Simmons's average fee was $15—that is[59] to say when he was "called in time." But in special cases his charge was $30. When Chunky Riley arrived within earshot of the group, Mr. Gossett was just concluding a protest that he had made against the charge of $30, which he had reluctantly agreed to pay for the capture of Aaron.
"You stayed at my house to-day, you'll stay there to-night, and maybe you'll come back to dinner to-morrow. There's the feeding of you and your dogs. You don't take any account of that at all."
Mr. Gossett's voice was sharp and emphatic12. His stinginess was notorious in that region, and gave rise to the saying that Gossett loved a dollar better than he did his wife. But he was no more ashamed of his stinginess than he was of the shabbiness of his hat.
"But, Colonel," remonstrated13 Mr. Jim Simmons, "didn't you send for me? Didn't you say, 'Glad to see you, Simmons; walk right in and make yourself at home'? You did, fer a fact." He spoke14 with a drawl that irritated the snappy and emphatic Mr. Gossett.
"Why, certainly, Simmons; certainly I did. I[60] mentioned the matter to show you that your charges are out of all reason in this case. All you have to do is to come here with your dogs in the morning, skirt around the place, pick up his trail, and there you are."
"But, Colonel!" insisted Mr. Jim Simmons with his careless, irritating drawl, "ain't it a plum' fact that this nigger's been in the woods a month or sech a matter? Ain't it a plum' fact that you've tracked him and trailed him with your own dogs?—and good dogs they are, and I'll tell anybody so. Now what do you pay me fer? Fer catching15 the nigger? No, sirree! The nigger's as good as caught now—when it comes to that. You pay me fer knowing how to catch him—that's what you pay me fer. You send fer the doctor. He comes and fumbles17 around a little, and you have to pay the bill whether he kills or cures. You don't pay him fer killing18 or curing; you pay him fer knowing how to fumble16 around. It's some different with me. If I don't catch your nigger, you button up your pocket. If I do catch him you pay me $30 down, not fer catching him, but fer knowing how to fumble around and catch him."
[61]
The logic19 of this argument, which was altogether lost on Chunky Riley, silenced Mr. Gossett, but did not convince him. There was a long pause, as if all three of the men were wrestling with peculiar20 thoughts. Finally Mr. Gossett spoke:—
"It ain't so much the nigger I'm after, but I want to show Abercrombie that I can't be outdone. He's laughing in his sleeve because I can't keep the nigger at home, and I'll be blamed"—here his voice sank to a confidential22 tone—"I'll be blamed if I don't believe that, between him and that son of his, they are harboring the nigger. Yes, sir, harboring is the word."
Mr. Jim Simmons threw down his lighted cigar with such energy as to cause the sparks to fly in all directions. A cigar was an unfamiliar23 luxury to Mr. Simmons, and he had had enough of it.
"Addison Abercrombie harboring a nigger!" exclaimed Mr. Simmons. "Why, Colonel, if every man, woman, and child in the United States was to tell me that I wouldn't believe it. Addison Abercrombie! Why, Colonel, though you're his next-door neighbor, as you may say, you don't[62] know him half as well as I do. You ought to get acquainted with that man."
"Humph! I know him well enough, I reckon," responded Mr. Gossett. "I went to school with him. Folks get to know one another at school. He was always stuck up, trying to hold his head higher than anybody else because his daddy had money and a big plantation. I made my prop'ty myself; I earned every dollar; and I know how it came."
"But, Colonel!" Mr. Jim Simmons insisted, "Addison Abercrombie would hold his head high if he never seen a dollar, and he'd have the right to do it. Him harbor niggers? Shucks, Colonel! You might as well tell me that the moon ain't nothing but a tater pudding."
"What do you see in the man?" Mr. Gossett asked with some irritation24 in the tones of his voice.
There was a pause, as though Mr. Simmons was engaged in getting his thoughts together. Finally he said:—
"Well, Colonel, I don't reckon I can make it plain to you, because when I come to talk about it I can't grab the identical idee that would fit[63] what I've got in my mind. But I'll tell you what's the honest truth, in my opinion—and I'm not by myself, by a long shot—Addison Abercrombie is as fine a man as ever trod shoe leather. That's what."
"Yes, sirree!" persisted Mr. Simmons, warming up a little. "It makes no difference where you see him, nor when you see him, nor how you see him, you can up and say: 'The Lord has made many men of many minds, and many men of many kinds, but not sence Adam has he made a better man than Addison Abercrombie.' That's the way I look at it, Colonel. I may be wrong, but if I am I'll never find it out in this world."
Plainly, Mr. Gossett was not prepared to hear such a tribute as this paid to Addison Abercrombie, and he winced26 under it. He hemmed27 and hawed, as the saying is, and changed his position on the fence. He was thoroughly28 disgusted. Now there was no disagreement between Mr. Gossett and Mr. Abercrombie,—no quarrel, that is to say,—but Gossett knew that Abercrombie regarded him with a feeling akin1 to contempt. He treasured in his mind a remark that Abercrombie[64] had made about him the day he bought Aaron from the negro speculator. He never forgot nor forgave it, for it was an insinuation that Mr. Gossett, in spite of his money and his thrifty29 ways, was not much of a gentleman.
On this particular subject Mr. Gossett was somewhat sensitive, as men are who have doubts in their own minds as to their standing30. Mr. Gossett had an idea that money and "prop'ty," as he called it, made a gentleman; but it was a very vague idea, and queer doubts sometimes pestered31 him. It was these doubts that made him "touchy32" on this subject.
"What has this great man ever done for you, Simmons?" Mr. Gossett asked, with a contemptuous snort.
"Not anything, Colonel, on the top of the green globe. I went to him once to borrow some money, and he wanted to lend it to me without taking my note and without charging me any interest. I says to him, says I, 'You'll have to excuse me.'"
"But, Colonel, he didn't go about it that way.[65] Don't you reckon you could tell when anybody was trying to insult you? That was the time I come to you."
"I charged you interest, didn't I, Simmons?"
"You did, Colonel, fer a fact."
"I'm this kind of a man, Simmons," remarked Mr. Gossett, with a touch of sincere pride and gratification in his voice. "When I do business with a man I do business. When I do him a favor it must be outside of business. It's mixing the two things up that keeps so many people poor."
"What two things, Colonel?" gravely inquired Simmons.
"Why the doing of business and—er—the doing of favors."
"Oh, I see," said Mr. Simmons, as if a great light had been turned on the matter. Then he laughed and continued: "Yes, Colonel, I borrowed the money from you and just about that time the fever taken me down, and if it hadn't 'a' been fer Addison Abercrombie the note I give you would have swallowed my house and land."
"Is that so?" inquired Mr. Gossett.
"Ask my wife," replied Mr. Simmons. "One[66] day while I was out of my head with the fever, Addison Abercrombie, he rid by and saw my wife setting on the front steps, jest a-boohooing,—you know how wimmen will do, Colonel; if they ain't a-jawing they're a-cryin'. So Addison Abercrombie, he ups and asks her what's the matter, and Jennie, she tells him. He got right off his hoss and come in, and set by my bed the better part of the morning. And all that time there I was a-running on about notes and a-firing off my troubles in the air. So the upshot of the business was that Addison Abercrombie left the money there to pay the note and left word for me to pay him back when I got good and ready; and Jennie hadn't hardly dried her eyes before here come a nigger on horseback with a basket on his arm, and in the basket was four bottles of wine. Wine! Why, Colonel, it was worse'n wine. Jennie says that if arry one of the bottles had 'a' had a load of buckshot in it, the roof would 'a' been blow'd off when the stopper flew out. And, Colonel! if ever you feel like taking a right smart of exercise, jest pass my house some day and stick your head over the palings and tell Jennie that Addison Abercrombie's got a streak34 of meanness in him."
[67]
"Have you ever paid Abercrombie?" Mr. Gossett inquired. His voice was harsh and businesslike.
"I was laying off to catch this nigger of yours and pay him some on account," replied Mr. Simmons.
"Why, it has been three years since you paid me," suggested Mr. Gossett.
"Two years or sech a matter," remarked Mr. Simmons complacently35.
"Then that's the reason you think Abercrombie ain't harboring my nigger?" inquired Mr. Gossett scornfully.
"But, Colonel," drawled Mr. Simmons, "what under the sun ever got the idee in your head that Addison Abercrombie is harboring your nigger?"
"It's as simple as a-b ab," Mr. Gossett replied with energy. "He tried to buy the nigger off the block and couldn't, and now he thinks I'll sell if the nigger'll stay in the woods long enough. That's the reason he's harboring the nigger. And more than that: don't I know from my own niggers that the yaller rapscallion comes here every chance he gets? He comes,[68] but he don't go in the nigger quarters. Now, where does he go?"
"Yes, where?" said Mr. Gossett's son George, who up to that moment had taken no part in the conversation. "Three times this month I've dealt out an extra rasher of bacon to two of our hands, and they tell the same tale."
"It looks quare," Mr. Simmons admitted, "but as sure as you're born Addison Abercrombie ain't the man to harbor a runaway nigger. If he's ever had a nigger in the woods, it's more'n I know, and when that's the case you may set it down fer a fact that he don't believe in runaway niggers." This was a lame21 argument, but it was the best that Mr. Simmons could muster37 at the moment.
"No," remarked Mr. Gossett sarcastically38, "his niggers don't take to the woods because they do as they blamed please at home. It sets my teeth on edge to see the way things are run on this plantation. Why, I could take the stuff that's flung away here and get rich on it in five years. It's a scandal."
[69]
Chunky Riley heard this conversation by snatches, but he caught the drift of it. What he remembered of it was that some of his fellow servants were ready to tell all they knew for an extra "rasher" of meat, and that the hunt for Aaron would begin the next morning,—and it was now getting along toward dawn. He wanted to warn Aaron again. He wanted especially to tell Aaron that three men were sitting on the fence waiting for him. But this was impossible. The hour was approaching when Chunky Riley must be in his cabin on the Gossett plantation ready to go to work with the rest of the hands. He had slept soundly the first half of the night, and he would be as fresh in the field when the sun rose as those who had slept the night through. As he turned away from the fence a dog in the path leading from the spring to the stile suddenly began to bay. The men tried to drive him away, and one of them threw a stick at him, but the dog refused to be intimidated40. He bayed them more fiercely, but finally retreated toward the spring, stopping occasionally to bark at the men on the fence.
"If I'm not mistaken," remarked Mr. Gossett,[70] "that's my dog Rambler. I know his voice, and he's been missing ever since that nigger went to the woods. I wonder if he's taken up over here? George, I wish you'd make it convenient to come over here as soon as you can, and find out whether Rambler is here. Now, there's a dog, Simmons, that's away ahead of anything you've got in the shape of a nigger dog,—nose as cold as ice, and as much sense as the common run of folks."
"He ain't doing you much good," responded Mr. Simmons.
"That's a fact," said Mr. Gossett. "Till I heard that dog barking I thought Rambler had been killed by that nigger."
Chunky Riley struck into the plantation path leading to Gossett's, at the point where the three men had tied their horses. They had ridden as far as they thought prudent41, considering the errand they were on, and then they dismounted and made their horses fast to the overhanging limbs of a clump42 of oaks, which, for some reason or other, had been left standing in the field. One of the horses whinnied when Chunky Riley came near, and the negro paused. Aaron would[71] have known that the horse said, "Please take me home, and be quick about it; I'm hungry;" but Chunky Riley could only guess. And as he guessed a thought struck him—a thought that made him scratch his head and chuckle43. He turned in his tracks, went back along the path a little way, and listened. Then he returned, and the horse whinnied again. The creature was growing impatient.
Once more Chunky Riley indulged in a hearty44 laugh, slapping himself softly on the leg. Then he went to the horses one by one, pulled down the swinging limbs to which their bridle45 reins46 were fastened, and untied47 them. This done, he proceeded to make himself "mighty48 skace," as he expressed it. He started toward home at a rapid trot49, without pausing to listen. But even without listening, he could hear the horses coming after him, Mr. Simmons's horse with the others.
The faster he trotted50 the faster the horses trotted; and when Chunky Riley began to run the horses broke into a gallop51, and came clattering52 along the path after him, their stirrups flying wildly about and making a clamor that Chunky[72] Riley had not bargained for. The faster he ran the faster the horses galloped53, until at last it seemed to him that the creatures were trying to run him down. This idea took possession of his mind, and at once his fears magnified the situation. He imagined the horses were right at his heels. He could feel the hot breath of one of them on the back of his neck.
Fortunately for Chunky Riley there was a fence at the point where the path developed into a lane. Over this he climbed and fell exhausted54, fully36 expecting the horses to climb over or break through and trample55 him under their feet. But his expectations were not realized; the horses galloped along the lane, and presently he could hear them clattering along the big road toward Gossett's.
Chunky Riley was exhausted as well as terror-stricken. The perspiration56 rolled from his face, and he could hear his heart beat. He lay in the soft grass in the fence corner until he had recovered somewhat from his exertions58 and his fright. Finally he rose, looked back along the way he had come, then toward the big road, and shook his head.
"Is anybody ever see de beat er dat?" he exclaimed.
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收听单词发音
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1
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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9
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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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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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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fumble
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| vi.笨拙地用手摸、弄、接等，摸索 | |
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fumbles
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| 摸索，笨拙的处理( fumble的名词复数 ) | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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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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pestered
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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touchy
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| adj.易怒的；棘手的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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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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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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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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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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42
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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43
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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44
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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45
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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46
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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untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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48
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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49
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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51
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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52
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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53
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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54
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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trample
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| vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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57
ration
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| n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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