The Turner old fields, not far from the Abercrombie place, and still closer to the Swamp, were famous for their foxes—first for the grays and afterward2 for the reds. There seemed to be some attraction for them in these old fields. The scrub pines, growing thickly together, and not higher than a man's waist, and the brier patches scattered3 about, afforded a fine covert4 for Mr. Fox, gray or red, being shady and cool in summer[238] time, and sheltered from the cold winter winds. And if it was fine for Mr. Fox, it was finer for the birds; for here Mrs. Partridge could lead her brood in safety out of sight of Man, and here the sparrows and smaller birds were safe from the Blue Falcon5, she of the keen eye and swift wing.
And Mr. Fox was as cunning as his nose was sharp. He knew that the bird that made its home in the Turner old fields must roost low; and what could be more convenient for Mr. Fox than that—especially at the dead hours of night when he went creeping around as noiselessly as a shadow, pretending that he wanted to whisper a secret in their ears? Indeed, that was the main reason why Mr. Fox lived in the Turner old fields, or went there at night, for he was no tree climber. And so it came to pass that when those who were fond of fox hunting wanted to indulge in that sport, they rose before dawn and went straight to the Turner old fields.
Now, when George Gossett and his patrolling companions ceased for a time to go frolicking about the country at night, on the plea that they were looking after the safety of the plantations6, they concluded that it would be good for their health and spirits to go fox hunting occasionally. Each had two or three hounds to brag8 on, so that when all the dogs were brought together they made a pack of more than respectable size.
One Sunday, when the fall was fairly advanced, the air being crisp and bracing9 and the mornings frosty, these young men met at a church and arranged to inaugurate the fox hunting season the next morning. They were to go home, get their dogs, and meet at Gossett's, his plantation7 lying nearest to the Turner old fields. This programme was duly carried out. The young men stayed all night with George Gossett, ate breakfast before daybreak, and started for the Turner old fields. As they set out, a question arose whether they should go through the Abercrombie place—the nearest way—or whether they should go around by the road. The darkness of night was still over wood and field, but there was a suggestion of gray in the east. If the hunting party had been composed only of those who had been in the habit of patrolling with George Gossett, prompt choice would have been made of the public road; but young Gossett had invited an acquaintance from another settlement to join them—a gentleman[240] who had reached the years of maturity10, but who was vigorous enough to enjoy a cross-country ride to hounds.
This gentleman had been told of the strange experience of the patrollers in Mr. Abercrombie's pasture lot. Some of the details had been suppressed. For one thing, the young men had not confessed to him how badly they had been frightened. They simply told him enough to arouse his curiosity. When, therefore, the choice of routes lay between the public road and the short cut through the Abercrombie pasture, the gentleman was eager to go by way of the pasture where his young friends had beheld11 the wonderful vision that had already been described. When they displayed some hesitation12 in the matter, he rallied them smartly on their lack of nerve, and in this way shamed them into going the nearest way. George Gossett, who had no lack of mere13 physical courage, consented to lead the way if the others would "keep close behind him." But none of them except the gentleman who was moved by curiosity, and who attributed the mystery of the affair to frequent visits to Mr. Fullalove's still house, had any stomach for the journey through[241] the pasture, for not even George Gossett desired to invite a repetition of the paralyzing scenes through which they had passed on that memorable14 night.
As they came to the double gates, the young man who had insisted that Timoleon was Beelzebub concluded to leave an avenue by which to escape if the necessity arose. So he rode forward, dismounted, and opened the gates. Then he made a great pretense15 of shutting them, but allowed them to remain open instead. This operation left him somewhat behind his companions, as he intended it should, for he had made up his mind to wheel his horse and run for it if he heard any commotion16 ahead of him. In that event the delay he purposely made would leave him nearest the gates.
Seeing that the young man did not come up as quickly as he should have done, George Gossett, in whom the spirit of mischief17 had no long periods of repose18, suggested that they touch up their horses and give their companion a scare. This suggestion was promptly19 acted on. The commotion his companions made caused the young man to pause a moment before putting spur to his horses to rejoin them. This delay placed several[242] hundred yards between him and the party with Gossett. He realized this as he rode after them, but was consoled by the fact that, in the event of any trouble, he had a better opportunity to escape than they did.
But he had hardly gone fifty yards from the double gates before he heard some sort of noise in that direction. He half turned in his saddle and looked behind him. The vague gray of the morning had become so inextricably mixed and mingled20 with the darkness of the night that such light as there was seemed to blur21 the vision rather than aid it. But when the young man turned in his saddle he saw enough to convince him that he was likely to have company in his ride after his companions.
He hesitated a moment before urging his horse into a more rapid gait. He wanted to see what it might be that was now so vaguely22 outlined. He strained his eyes, but could see nothing but a black and shapeless mass, which seemed to be following him. He could see that it was moving rapidly, whatever it was, but the gray light was so dim, and gave such shadowy shape even to objects close at hand, that he found it impossible either to gratify his curiosity or satisfy his fears. So he settled himself firmly in the saddle, clapped spurs to his horse, and rode headlong after his companions. He looked around occasionally, but the black mass was always nearer. The faster his horse went, the faster came the Thing.
Each time he looked back his alarm rose higher, for the Thing was closer whenever he looked. At last his alarm grew to such proportions that he ceased to look back, but addressed himself entirely23 to the work of urging his horse to higher speed. Presently he heard quick, fierce snorts on his right, and his eye caught sight of the Thing. Its course was parallel with his own, and it was not more than twenty yards away.
He saw enough for his alarm to rise to the height of terror. He saw something that had the head and feet of a black horse, but the body was wanting. No! There was a body, and a rider, but the rider wore a long, pale gray robe, and he was headless! If this was the Black Demon24 that the young man had seen in this pasture on a former occasion, he was now more terrible than ever, for he was guided by a headless rider!
The young man would have checked his horse,[244] but the effort was in vain. The horse had eyes. He also had seen the Thing, and had swerved25 away from it, but he was too frightened to pay any attention to bit or rein26. The Black Thing was going faster than the frightened horse, and it soon drew away, the pale gray robe of the rider fluttering about like a fierce signal of warning. The young man's horse was soon under control, and in a few minutes he came up with his companions. He found them huddled27 together like so many sheep, this man?uvre having been instinctively28 made by the horses. The dogs, too, were acting29 queerly.
The men appeared to be somewhat surprised to see their companion come galloping31 up to them. After riding away from the young man who had taken it upon himself to leave the double gates open, the huntsmen had concluded to wait for him when they came to the bars that opened on the public road. But the gallop30 of their horses had subsided32 into a walk when they were still some distance from that point. They were conversing33 about the merits of their favorite dogs when suddenly they heard from behind them the sound of a galloping horse. They saw, as the[245] young man had seen, a dark, moving mass gradually assume the shape of a black horse, with a headless rider wearing a long, pale gray robe. The apparition34 was somewhat farther from them when it passed than it had been from their companion, whom, in a spirit of mischief, they had deserted35; but the Black Thing threatened to come closer, for when it had gone beyond them it changed its course, described a half circle, and vanished from sight on the side of the pasture opposite to that on which it had first appeared.
"What do you think now?" said George Gossett, speaking in a low tone to the gentleman who had been inclined to grow merry when the former experience of the patrollers was mentioned.
"What do I think? Why, I think it's right queer if the chap we left at the double gates isn't trying to get even with us by riding around like a wild Indian and waving his saddle blanket," replied the doubting gentleman.
"Why, man, he's riding a gray horse!" one of the others explained.
This put another face on the matter, and the gentleman made no further remark. In fact, before[246] anything else could be said, the young man in question came galloping up.
"Did you fellows see It?" he inquired. But he had no need to inquire. Their attitude and the uneasy movements of their horses showed unmistakably that they had seen It. "Which way did It go?" was the next question. There was no need to make reply. The direction in which the huntsmen glanced every second showed unmistakably which way It went.
"Let's get out of here," said the young man in the next breath. And there was no need to make even this simple proposition, for by common consent, and as by one impulse, horses and men started for the bars at a rapid trot36. When the bars were taken down they were not left down. Each one was put carefully back in its proper place, for though this was but a slight barrier to interpose between themselves and the terrible Black Thing, yet it was something.
Once in the road they felt more at ease—not because they were safer there, but because it seemed that the night had suddenly trailed its dark mantle37 westward38.
"Did you notice," said the young man who[247] was first to see the apparition, "that the Thing that was riding the Thing had no head?"
"It certainly had that appearance," replied the doubtful gentleman, "but"—
"No 'buts' nor 'ifs' about it," insisted the young man. "It came so close to me that I could 'a' put my hand on it, and I noticed particular that the Thing on the back of the Thing didn't have no sign of head, no more than my big toe has got a head."
The exaggeration of the young man was unblushing. If the Thing had come within ten yards of him he would have fallen from his horse in a fit.
"And what was you doing all that time?" George Gossett inquired. His tone implied a grave doubt.
"Trying to get away from that part of the country," replied the other frankly39. "It was the same hoss that got after us that night," the young man continued. "I knowed it by the blaze in his eyes and the red on the inside of his nose. Why, it looked to me like you could 'a' lit a cigar by holding it close to his eyes."
"I know how skeery you are," said George[248] Gossett disdainfully, "and I don't believe you took time to notice all these things."
"Skeer'd!" exclaimed the other; "why, that ain't no name for it—no name at all. But it was my mind that was skeered and not my eyes. You can't help seeing what's right at you, can you?"
This frankness took the edge off any criticism that George Gossett might have made, seeing which the young man gave loose reins40 to his invention, which was happy enough in this instance to fit the suggestions that fear had made a place for in the minds of his companions.
But it was all the simplest thing in the world. The apparition the fox hunters saw was Aaron and the Black Stallion. The Son of Ben Ali had decided41 that the interval42 between the first faint glimpse of dawn and daylight was the most convenient time to give Timoleon his exercise, and to fit him in some sort for the vigorous work he was expected to do some day on the race track. Aaron had hit upon that particular morning to begin the training of the Black Stallion, and had selected the pasture as the training-ground. It was purely43 a coincidence that he rode in at the[249] double gates behind the fox hunters, but it was such a queer one that Little Crotchet laughed until the tears came into his eyes when he heard about it.
Aaron's version of the incident was so entirely different from that of the fox hunters that those who heard both would be unable to recognize in them an account of the same affair from different points of view. As Aaron saw it and knew it, the incident was as simple as it could be. As he was riding the horse along the lane leading to the double gates (having left Rambler behind at the stable), Timoleon gave a snort and lifted his head higher than usual.
"Son of Ben Ali," he said, "I smell strange men and strange horses. Their scent44 is hot on the air. Some of them are the men that went tumbling about the pasture the night you bade me play with them."
"Not at this hour, Grandson of Abdallah," replied Aaron.
"I am not smelling the hour, Son of Ben Ali, but the men. If we find them, shall I use my teeth?"
"We'll not see the men, Grandson of Abdallah. This is not their hour."
[250]
"But if we find them, Son of Ben Ali?" persisted the Black Stallion.
"Save your teeth for your corn, Grandson of Abdallah," was the response.
As they entered the double gates, which Aaron was surprised to find open, Timoleon gave a series of fierce snorts, which was the same as saying, "What did I tell you, Son of Ben Ali? Look yonder! There is one; the others are galloping farther on."
"I am wrong and you are right, Grandson of Abdallah."
As much for the horse's comfort as his own, Aaron had folded a large blanket he found hanging in the stable, and was using it in place of a saddle. He lifted himself back toward Timoleon's croup, seized the blanket with his left hand, and, holding it by one corner, shook out the folds. He had no intention whatever of frightening any one, his sole idea being to use the blanket to screen himself from observation. He would have turned back, but in the event of pursuit he would be compelled to lead his pursuers into the Abercrombie place, or along the public road, and either course would have been embarrassing. If he was to be pursued at all, he preferred to take the risk of capture in the wide pasture. As a last resort he could slip from Timoleon's back and give the horse the word to use both teeth and heels.
And this was why the fox hunters saw the apparition of a black horse and a headless rider.
"Shall I ride him down, Son of Ben Ali?" snorted the Black Stallion.
"Bear to the right, bear to the right, Grandson of Abdallah," was the reply.
And so the apparition flitted past the young man who had left the double-gates open, and past his companions who were waiting for him near the bars that opened on the big road; flitted past them and disappeared.
Finding that there was no effort made to pursue him, Aaron checked the Black Stallion and listened. He heard the men let down the bars and put them up again, and by that sign he knew they were not patrollers.
Later on in the day, the doubting gentleman, returning from the fox hunt, called by the Abercrombie place and stopped long enough to tell the White-Haired Master of the queer sight he saw in the pasture at dawn.
"The boys were badly scared," he explained to Mr. Abercrombie, "and I tell you it gave me a strange feeling—a feeling that I can best describe by saying that if the earth had opened at my feet and a red flame shot up, it wouldn't have added one whit45 to my amazement46. That's the honest truth."
Mr. Abercrombie could give him no satisfaction, though he might have made a shrewd guess, and Little Crotchet, who could have solved the mystery, had to make an excuse to get out of the way, so that he might have a hearty47 laugh.
And Aaron, when he came to see the Little Master that night, knew for the first time that he had scared the fox hunters nearly out of their wits.
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1
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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5
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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7
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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8
brag
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| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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10
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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11
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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12
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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15
pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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20
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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21
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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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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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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32
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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36
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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37
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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38
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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40
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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41
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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42
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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43
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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44
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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45
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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46
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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47
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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