He swung himself over the fence, and made directly for Timoleon's stable. The Black Stallion heard some one fumbling1 about the door, and breathed hard through his nostrils2, making a low, fluttering sound, as high-spirited horses do when they are suspicious or angry. It was a fair warning to any and all who might dare to open the door and enter that stable.
"So!" said Aaron; "that is the welcome you give to all who may come to make you comfortable."
[220]
At the sound of that voice, Timoleon snorted cheerfully and whinnied, saying: "Change places with me, Son of Ben Ali, and then see who will warn all comers. Why, the ox has better treatment, and the plow4 mule5 is pampered6. What am I that my food should be thrown at me through the cracks? The man that fed me comes no more."
"He is where your teeth and your temper put him, Grandson of Abdallah. But there is to be a change. This night you go to your new house, where everything is fresh and clean and comfortable. And you are to learn to hold a bit in your mouth and a man on your back, as Abdallah before you did."
"That is nothing, Son of Ben Ali. Then I can gallop7, and smell the fresh air from the fields. What man am I to carry, Son of Ben Ali?"
"Let the White-Haired Master settle that, Grandson of Abdallah. This night, before you go to your new house, you are to have a run with me."
Timoleon snorted with delight. He was ready, and more than ready. He was stiff and sore from standing8 in the stable.
[221]
"But before we start, Grandson of Abdallah, this must be said: No noise before I give the word; none of the loud screaming that men call whickering. You know my hand. You are to have a frolic, and a fine one, but before you begin it, wait for the word. Now, then, we will go."
With his hand on the horse's withers10, Aaron guided Timoleon to the gate. They went through the lot in which the Black Stallion's new stable stood, out at the gate through which Buster John and Sweetest Susan rode years afterward11, and into the lane that led to the public road. But instead of going toward the road, they followed the lane back into the plantation12, until they came to what was called "the double gates." Going through these, they found themselves in the pasture that sloped gradually upward to the hill from which Aaron was in the habit of watching the light in Little Crotchet's window.
The hoofs13 of the Black Stallion hardly made a sound on the soft turf. Guided by Aaron, he ascended14 the hill until they were on a level with and not far from the fence on which Mr. Gossett,[222] his son George, and Jim Simmons had carried on their controversy15 about Addison Abercrombie. Here Aaron brought Timoleon to a halt, while Rambler went forward to see what discovery he could make.
He soon found where the horses of the patrollers were stationed. There were five. Three had evidently been trained to "stand without tying," as the saying is, while one of the patrollers was sitting against a tree, holding the other two. All this Rambler knew, for he went so near that the patroller saw him, and hurled16 a pine burr at him. It was a harmless enough missile, but it had not left Rambler in a good humor. Then it was that Aaron spoke17 to the horse, and gave him the word.
"Grandson of Abdallah, the horses and the man are yonder. Give them a taste of your playfulness. Show them what a frolic is, but cover your teeth with your lips,—no blood to-night. Spare the horses. They have gone hungry for hours, but they must obey the bit. Spare the man, too, but if you can strip him of his coat as he flees, well and good. You will see other men come running. They will be filled with fear.[223] Give them also a taste of your playfulness. Let them see the grandson of Abdallah when he is frolicsome18. But mind! No blood to-night,—no broken bones!"
The situation promised to be so exciting that Timoleon snorted loudly and fiercely, whereupon one of the horses held by the patroller answered with a questioning neigh, which was cut short by a cruel jerk of the bridle19 rein20 by the man who held it. The man was dozing21 under the influence of Mr. Fullalove's low-wines, and the sudden neighing of the horse startled and irritated him.
But in the twinkling of an eye terror took the place of irritation22, for the Black Stallion, pretending to himself that the neigh was a challenge, screamed fiercely in reply and went charging upon the group with open mouth and eyes that glowed in the dark. The horses knew well what that scream meant. Those that were not held by the patroller ran away panic-stricken, snorting, and whickering. The two that were held by the patroller cared nothing for bits now, but broke away from the man, after dragging him several yards (for he had the reins23 wrapped about his wrist) and joined the others.
[224]
They dragged the man right in the Black Stallion's path, and there left him straggling to his hands and knees, with his right arm so severely24 wrenched25 that he could hardly use it. But, fortunately for the patroller, Timoleon's eyes were keen, and he saw the man in time to leap over him, screaming wildly as he did so. The man fell over on his side at that instant. Glancing upward he saw the huge hulk of the horse flying over him, and his reason nearly left him. Was it really a horse, or was it that arch-fiend Beelzebub that he had read about in the books, and whose name he had heard thundered from the pulpit at the camp meeting? "Beelzebub is abroad in the land to-day!" the preacher had cried. Was it indeed true?
The Black Stallion drove the crazed horses before him hither and yonder, but always turning them back to the point where they had been standing. The stampede was presently joined by three or four mules26 that had been turned in the pasture. The patrollers, who had been watching and guarding the approaches to the Abercrombie place, came running to see what the trouble was. George Gossett, being farther away from the pasture than the rest, was the last to reach the scene, but he arrived soon enough to see the Black Stallion seize one of his companions by the coat-tails and literally27 strip him of the garment.
The terror-stricken horses, when they found an opportunity, ran toward the double gates where they had entered the pasture. Aaron, expecting this, had opened the gates, and the five horses, crowding on one another's heels, went through like a whirlwind, having left the mules far behind. Aaron closed the gates again, and went running to where he heard the Black Stallion still plunging28 about. By this time the mules were huddled29 together in a far corner of the field; but Timoleon had paid no attention to them. He could have caught and killed them over and over again. He was now in pursuit of the patrollers. George Gossett, running toward the fence, tripped and fell, and narrowly escaped the Black Stallion's hoofs. He was not far from the fence when he fell, and he rolled and scrambled30 and crawled fast enough to elude31 Timoleon, who turned and ran at him again. In one way and another all the patrollers escaped with[226] their lives, and, once the fence was between them and the snorting demon32, they made haste to visit Mr. Fullalove's stillhouse, and relate to him the story of their marvelous adventure, consoling themselves, meanwhile, with copious33 draughts34 of the warm low-wines.
"I believe the thing had wings," said one of the patrollers, "and if I didn't see smoke coming out of his mouth when he ran at me, I'm mighty35 much mistaken. I never shall believe it wasn't Beelzebub." This was the man who had been set upon so suddenly while watching the horses and dozing.
Some of the others were inclined to agree with this view of the case; but George Gossett was sure it was a horse.
"I was right at him," he said, "when he pulled off Monk's coat, and it was a horse, even to the mane and tail. I was looking at him when he turned and made for me. Then I tripped and fell, and just did get to the fence in time to save my neck."
"You hear that, don't you, Mr. Fullalove?" remarked the man who had been holding the horses. "It pulled Monk's coat off, and then[227] Gossett just had time to get to the fence to save his neck! Why, it's as natchul as pig-tracks. Every hoss you meet tries to pull your coat off, and you have to run for a fence if you want to save your neck. That's Gossett's idee. If that thing was a hoss, I don't want to see no more hosses. I'll tell you that."
"Well," said Mr. Fullalove, "there are times and occasions-more espeshually occasions, as you may say—when a hoss mought take a notion for to cut up some such rippit as that. You take that black hoss of Colonel Abercrombie's—not a fortnight ago he got out of his pen and ketched a nigger and like to 'a' killed him."
"Maybe it's that same hoss in the field yonder," suggested George Gossett.
"No," replied Mr. Fullalove. "That hoss is penned up so he can't git out of his stable—much less the lot—if so be some un ain't took and gone and turned him out and led him to the field. And if that had 'a' been done you could 'a' heard him squealin' every foot of the way."
"If anybody wants to call the Old Boy a hoss," said the man who had been first attacked, "they are more than welcome."
[228]
"Boys," remarked Mr. Fullalove, "if any of you have got the idee that the Old Boy was after you, you'd better stay as fur from this stillhouse as you can, and try to act as if you had souls for to save. What have you done with your hosses?"
"We couldn't tote 'em, and so we had to leave 'em," Gossett answered, making a poor effort to laugh. "What I hate about it is that I took a fool notion and rode pap's horse to-night. He'll be hot as pepper."
"Ain't you going for to make some sorter effort to git your hosses out of the field?" inquired Mr. Fullalove.
"He can have my hoss and welcome," said the man who insisted on the Beelzebub theory.
"I wouldn't go in that field, not for forty horses," another patroller protested.
"I might go there for forty horses," said George Gossett, "but I'll not go back for one, even though it's pap's."
"Well, it's mighty quiet and serene36 up there now," suggested Mr. Fullalove, listening with his hand to his ear.
"He's caught 'em and now he's skinning 'em,"[229] said the man who believed Beelzebub was abroad that night.
The patrollers stayed at the stillhouse until the low-wines gave them courage, and then they went home with George Gossett. They were bold enough to go by the double gates, to see if they had been opened, but the gates were closed tight. They listened a few moments, but not a sound could be heard, save the loud, wailing37 cry of the peafowl that rested on the Abercrombie house. As they went along the road they found and caught four of the horses. The horse that George Gossett had ridden was safe at home.
The young men agreed on one thing, namely: That they would give the Abercrombie place the go-by for some time to come; while the man that thought he had seen Beelzebub said that he was sick of the whole business and would have no more of it, being more firmly convinced than ever that the scenes they had witnessed were supernatural. Even George Gossett declared that he intended to advise "pap" to sell the runaway38, "if he could find anybody fool enough to buy him."
It must not be forgotten that though Gossett[230] and his companions were the only ones that witnessed the terrifying spectacle presented by the Black Stallion as he ran screaming about the pasture, they were not the only ones that heard the uproar39 that accompanied it. The negroes heard it, and every ear was bent40 to listen. Randall had his hand raised over his head and held it there, as he paused to catch the drift and meaning of the fuss. Big Sal was reaching in a corner for her frying-pan. She paused, half bent, her arm reaching out, while she listened. Turin was singing, but the song was suddenly cut short.
Mr. Abercrombie heard it, but his thoughts were far afield, and so he paid little attention to it. The geese, the guinea hens, and the peafowl heard it and joined heartily41 in with a loud and lusty chorus. Mammy Lucy heard it and came noiselessly to the library door and looked in inquiringly.
"What is the noise about, Lucy?" inquired Mr. Abercrombie.
"Dat what I wanter know, Marster. It soun' ter me like dat ar hoss done got loose agin."
Then the White-Haired Master, remembering that he had consented for Little Crotchet's[231] "friend" to remove the Black Stallion to his new quarters, regretted that he had been so heedless. It was all his own fault, he thought, as he rose hastily and went out into the moonlight bare-headed. He called Randall and Turin, and both came running.
"Go out to the pasture there, and see what the trouble is."
"Yasser, yasser!" they cried, and both went rapidly toward the field. They ran until they got out of sight of their master, and then they paused to listen. They started again, but not so swiftly as before.
"I know mighty well dat Marster don't want us ter run up dar where we might git hurted," said Turin.
"Dat he don't!" exclaimed Randall.
Consoled by this view of the case, which was indeed the correct one, they moved slower and slower as they came close to the pasture fence. There they stopped and listened, and while they listened the uproar came to a sudden end—to such a sudden end that Randall remarked under his breath that it was like putting out a candle. For a few brief seconds not a sound fell on the[232] ears of the two negroes. Then they heard a faint noise of some one running through the bushes in the direction of the stillhouse.
"Ef I could git de notion in my head dat Marster don't keer whedder we gits hurted er no," suggested Turin, "I'd mount dis fence an' go in dar an' see who been kilt an' who done got away."
"I speck42 we better not go," remarked Randall, "kaze ef we wuz ter rush in dar an' git mangled43, Marster'd sholy feel mighty bad, an' fer one, I don't want ter be de 'casion er makin' 'im feel bad."
By this time Mr. Abercrombie had become impatient, and concluded to find out the cause of the uproar for himself. Randall and Turin heard him coming, and they could see that he was accompanied by some of the negroes. The two cautiously climbed the fence and went over into the field, moving slowly and holding themselves in readiness for instant flight. A cow bug44, flying blindly, struck Turin on the head. He jumped as if he had heard the report of a gun, and cried out in a tone of alarm:—
"Who flung dat rock? You better watch[233] out. Marster comin', an' he got his hoss pistol 'long wid 'im."
"'Twa'n't nothing but a bug," said Randall.
"It de fust bug what ever raised a knot on my head," Turin declared.
"What was the trouble, Randall?" inquired Mr. Abercrombie from the fence. His cool, decisive voice restored the courage of the negroes at once.
"We des tryin' fer ter fin9' out, suh. Whatsomever de racket wuz, it stop, suh, time we got here—an' it seem like we kin3 hear sump'n er somebody runnin' to'rds de branch over yander," replied Randall heartily.
"Some of the mules were in the pasture to-day. See if they are safe."
"Yasser!" responded Randall, but his tone was not so hearty45. Nevertheless, he and Turin cautiously followed the line of the fence until they found the mules in the corner in which they had taken refuge. And the mules showed they were very glad to see the negroes, following them back to the point where the path crossed the fence.
"De mules all safe an' soun', suh," explained[234] Randall when they came to where the master was. "Dey er safe an' soun', but dey er swyeatin' mightily46, suh."
"What do you suppose the trouble was?" inquired Mr. Abercrombie.
Turin and Randall had not the least idea, but Susy's Sam declared that he heard "dat ar hoss a-squealin'!"
"What horse?" inquired Mr. Abercrombie.
"Dat ar Sir Moleon hoss, suh," replied Susy's Sam.
"That's what Lucy said," remarked Mr. Abercrombie.
"Marster, ef dat ar hoss had er been in dar, me an' Turin wouldn't er stayed in dar long, an' dese yer mules wouldn't er been stan'in' in de fence corner up yander."
But Mr. Abercrombie shook his head. He remembered that he had given Little Crotchet permission to have the horse removed to his new quarters.
"Some of you boys see if he is in his stable," he said.
They all went running, and before Mr. Abercrombie could get there, though he walked fast,[235] he met them all coming back. "He ain't dar, Marster!" they exclaimed in chorus.
"See if he is in his new stable," said Mr. Abercrombie.
Again they all went running, Mr. Abercrombie following more leisurely47, but somewhat disturbed, nevertheless. And again they came running to meet him, crying out, "Yasser! yasser! He in dar, Marster; he sho is. He in dar an' eatin' away same like he been dar dis long time."
"See if the key is in the lock," said Mr. Abercrombie to Randall.
Randall ran back to the stable and presently called out:—
"Dey ain't no key in de lock, Marster."
Mr. Abercrombie paused as if to consider the matter, and during that pause he and Randall and Turin and Susy's Sam heard a voice saying:
"Look on the little Master's mantelpiece!"
The voice sounded faint and far away, but every word was clear and distinct.
"Where did the voice come from?" asked Mr. Abercrombie.
The negroes shook their heads. They didn't know. It might have come from the air above,[236] or the earth beneath, or from any point of the compass.
"Ask where the key is," said Mr. Abercrombie to Turin. His curiosity was aroused.
Turin cried out: "Heyo, dar! Whar you say de key is?" But no reply came, not even so much as a whisper. The negroes looked at one another, and shook their heads.
When Mr. Abercrombie went back to the house he put on his slippers48 and crept to Little Crotchet's room. Shading the candle he carried, the father saw that his son was fast asleep.
And on the mantel was the key of the stable.
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收听单词发音
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1
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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3
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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4
plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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5
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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6
pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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8
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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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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10
withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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11
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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13
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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14
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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16
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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17
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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18
frolicsome
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| adj.嬉戏的，闹着玩的 | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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21
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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22
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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23
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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24
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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25
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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26
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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27
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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28
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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29
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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30
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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31
elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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32
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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33
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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34
draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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35
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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36
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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37
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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38
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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39
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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40
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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41
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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42
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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43
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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44
bug
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| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
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45
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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46
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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47
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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48
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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