These rumours were to be seen spread out in the newspapers, and were to be heard wherever people gathered together. Nan was familiar with them, and, while both she and Gabriel were possibly too young to harbour all the anxieties entertained by their elders, they nevertheless took a very keen interest in the situation; and it was not less keen because it had curiosity for its basis.
Gabriel had no sooner digested the purport9 of the conversation to which he had listened than he made up his mind to unravel10, if he could, the mystery of the union League, and to discover what part the new-comer, the companion of the Rev8. Jeremiah Tomlin, proposed to play. It was characteristic of the lad that he should act promptly11. When he left Nan so unceremoniously, he ran to the Clopton Place to report what he had heard to Mr. Sanders, but he found that worthy12 citizen in no condition to give him aid, or even advice. Meriwether Clopton chanced to be in consultation13 with some gentleman from Atlanta, and could not be seen, while Francis Bethune was said to be in town somewhere.
It was then that Gabriel made up his mind that he would act alone. He knew the old school-house in which the league was to be organised, as well as he knew his own home. It had formerly14 been called the Shady Dale Male Academy, and its reputation, before the war, had gone far and wide. Gabriel had spent many a happy hour there, and some that were memorably15 unpleasant, especially during the term that a school-master by the name of McManus wielded16 the rod. Among the things that Gabriel remembered was the fact that the space under the stairway—the building had two stories—was boarded up so as to form a large closet, where the pupils deposited their extra coats and wraps, as well as their lunches. The closet had also been used as a reformatory for refractory17 pupils, and this was one reason why Gabriel remembered it so well; he had spent numerous uncomfortable hours there at a time when darkness and isolation18 had real terrors for him.
The building had been abandoned by the whites during the war, and was for a time used as a hospital. At the close of the war it was turned over to the negroes, who established there a flourishing school, which was presided over by a native Southerner, an old gentleman whom the war had stripped of this world's goods.
Gabriel thought it best to begin operations before the sun went down. He made a detour19 wide enough to place the school-house between him and Shady Dale, so that if by any chance his movements should attract attention he would have the appearance of approaching the building quite by accident. Under the circumstances, it was perhaps fortunate that he took this precaution, for when he drew near the school-house, the Rev. Jeremiah Tomlin was standing20 in the back door flourishing a broom.
"Hello, Jeremiah!" said Gabriel by way of salutation. "What's up now?"
"Good-evenin', Mister Gabe," responded the Rev. Jeremiah. "Dey been havin' some plasterin' done in my chu'ch, suh, an' we 'lowd we'd hol' pra'r-meetin' here ter-night. An' I'll tell you why, suh: You know mighty21 well how we coloured folks does—we ain't got nothin' fer ter hide, an' we couldn't hide it ef we did had sump'n. Well, suh, dem mongst us what got any erligion is bleeze ter show it; when de sperret move um, dey bleeze ter let one an'er know it; an' in dat way, suh, dey do a heap er movin' 'bout3. Dey rastles wid Satan, ez you may say, when dey gits in a weavin' way; an' I wuz fear'd, suh, dat dey mought shake de damp plasterin' down."
"But you have no pulpit here," suggested Gabriel, who associated a pulpit with all religious gatherings22.
"So much de better, suh," replied the Rev. Jeremiah. "Ef you wuz ter come ter my chu'ch, you'd allers see me come down when I gits warmed up. Dey ain't no pulpit big nuff for me long about dat time. No, suh; I'm bleeze ter have elbow-room, an' I'm mighty glad dey ain't no pulpit in here. But whar you been, Mr. Gabe?" inquired the Rev. Jeremiah, craftily23 changing the subject.
"Just walking about in the woods and fields," answered Gabriel.
"'Twant no use fer ter ax you, suh; you been doin' dat sence you wuz big nuff ter clime a fence. Ef you wan't wid Miss Nan, you wuz by yo'se'f. I uv seed you many a day, suh, when you didn't see me. You wuz wid Miss Nan dis ve'y day." The Rev. Jeremiah dropped his head to one side, and smiled a knowing smile. "Oh, you needn't be shame un it, suh," the negro went on as the colour slowly mounted to Gabriel's face. "I uv said it befo' an' I'll say it ag'in, an' I don't keer who hears me—Miss Nan is boun' ter make de finest 'oman in de lan'. An' dat ain't all, suh: when I hear folks hintin' dat she's gwine ter make a match wid Mr. Frank Bethune, sez I, 'Des keep yo' eye on Mr. Gabe'; dat zackly what I sez."
"Oh, the dickens and Tom Walker!" exclaimed Gabriel impatiently; "who's been talking of the affairs of Miss Dorrington in that way?"
"Why, purty nigh eve'ybody, suh," remarked the Rev. Jeremiah, smacking26 his lips. "What white folks say in de parlour, you kin24 allers hear in de kitchen."
After firing this homely27 truth at Gabriel, the Rev. Jeremiah went to work with his broom and made a great pretence28 of sweeping29 and moving the benches about. The lad followed him in, and looked about him with interest. It was the first time he had revisited the old school-house since he was a boy of ten, and he was pleased to find that there had been few changes. The desk at which he had sat was intact. His initials, rudely carved, stared him in the face, and there, too, was the hole he had cut in the seat. He remembered that this was a dungeon30 in which he had imprisoned31 many a fly. These mute evidences of his idleness seemed to be as solid as the hills. Between those times and the present, the wild and furious perspective of war lay spread out, and Gabriel could imagine that the idler who had hacked32 the desk belonged to another generation altogether.
He went to the blackboard, found a piece of chalk, and wrote in a large, bold hand: "Rev. Jeremiah Tomlin will lecture here to-night, beginning at early candle-light."
The Rev. Jeremiah, witnessing the performance, had his curiosity aroused: "What is de word you uv writ33, suh?" he inquired, and when Gabriel had read it off, the negro exclaimed, "Well, suh! You put all dat down, an' it didn't take you no time; no, suh, not no time. But I might uv speckted it, bekase I hear lots er talk about how smart you is on all sides—dey all sesso."
"Does Tasma Tid belong to your church?" Gabriel inquired with a most innocent air.
"Do which, suh?" exclaimed Rev. Jeremiah, pausing with his broom suspended in the air. When Gabriel repeated his inquiry34, the Rev. Jeremiah drew a deep breath, his nostrils35 dilated36, and he seemed to grow several inches taller. "No, suh, she do not; no, suh, she do not belong ter my chu'ch. You kin look at her, suh, an' see de mark er de Ol' Boy on her. She got de hoodoo eye, suh; an' de blue gums dat go long wid it, an' ef she wuz ter jine my chu'ch, she'd be de only member."
It was very clear to Gabriel that nothing was to be gained by remaining, so he bade the Rev. Jeremiah good-bye, and went toward Shady Dale. When he was well out of sight, the negro approached the blackboard, and, with the most patient curiosity, examined the inscription37 or announcement that Gabriel had written. With his forefinger38, he traced over the lines, as if in that way he might absorb the knowledge that was behind the writing. Then, stepping back a few paces, he viewed the writing critically. Finally he shook his head doubtfully, exclaiming aloud: "Dat's whar dey'll git us—yes, suh, dat's whar dey sho' will git us."
After which, he carefully closed the doors of the school-house and followed the path leading to Shady Dale—the path that Gabriel had taken. The Rev. Jeremiah mumbled39 as he walked along, giving oral utterance40 to his thoughts, but in a tone too low to reveal their import. He had taken a step which it was now too late to retrace41. He was not a vicious negro. In common with the great majority of his race—in common, perhaps with the men of all races—he was eaten up by a desire to become prominent, to make himself conspicuous42. Generations of civilisation43 (as it is called) have gone far to tone down this desire in the whites, and they manage to control it to some extent, though now and then we see it crop out in individuals. But there had been no toning down of the Rev. Jeremiah's egotism; on the contrary, it had been fed by the flattery of his congregation until it was gross and rank.
It was natural, therefore, under all the circumstances, that the Rev. Jeremiah should become the willing tool of the politicians and adventurers who had accepted the implied invitation of the radical leaders of the Republican Party to assist in the spoliation of the South. The Rev. Jeremiah, once he had been patted on the back, and addressed as Mr. Tomlin by a white man, and that man a representative of the Government, was quite ready to believe anything he was told by his new friends, and quite as ready to aid them in carrying out any scheme that their hatred44 of the South and their natural rapacity45 could suggest or invent.
Therefore, let it not be supposed that the Rev. Jeremiah, as he went along the path, mumbling46 out his thoughts, was expressing any doubt of the wisdom or expediency47 of the part he was expected to play in arraying the negroes against the whites. No; he was simply putting together as many sonorous48 phrases as he could remember, and storing them away in view of the contingency49 that he would be called on to address those of his race who might be present at the organisation50 of the union League. He had been very busy since his conference with the agent of the Freedman's Bureau, and, in one way and another, had managed to convey information of the proposed meeting to quite a number of the negroes; and in performing this service he was careful that a majority of those notified should be members of his church—negroes with whom his influence was all-powerful. But he had also invited Uncle Plato, Clopton's carriage-driver, Wiley Millirons, and Walthall's Jake, three of the worthiest51 and most sensible negroes to be found anywhere.
While the Rev. Jeremiah, full of his own importance, and swelling52 with childish vanity, was making his way toward Neighbour Tomlin's, on whose lot he had a house, rent free, there were other plotters at work. In addition to Gabriel Tolliver, Nan Dorrington was a plotter to be reckoned with, especially when she had as her copartner Tasma Tid, who was as cunning as some wild thing.
When the day was far spent, or, as Mrs. Absalom would say, "along to'rds the shank of the evenin'," Nan and Tasma Tid went wandering out of town in the direction of the school-house. The excuse Nan had given at home was that she wanted to see Tasma Tid's hiding-place. As they passed Tomlin's, they saw the Rev. Jeremiah splitting wood for his wife, who was the cook. At sight of Jeremiah, Tasma Tid began to laugh, and she laughed so long and so loud that the parson paused in his labours and looked at her. He took off his hat and bowed to Nan, whereupon Tasma Tid raised her hand above her head, and indulged in a series of wild gesticulations, which, to the Rev. Jeremiah, were very mysterious and puzzling. He shook his head dubiously53, and mopped his face with a large red handkerchief.
"What are you trying to do to Jeremiah?" inquired Nan, as they went along.
The two were in no hurry. They sauntered along leisurely55, and, although the sun had not set, by the time they had entered the woods in which the school-house stood, the deep shadows of the trees gave the effect of twilight56 to the scene. Tasma Tid led Nan to the old building, and told her to wait a moment. The African crawled under the house, and then suddenly reappeared at the back door, near which Nan stood waiting. Tasma Tid had crawled under the house, and lifted a loose plank57 in the floor of the closet, making her entrance in that way. The front door was locked and the key was safe in the pocket of the Rev. Jeremiah, but the back door was fastened on the inside, and Tasma Tid had no trouble in getting it open.
It is fair to say that Nan hesitated before entering. Some instinct or presentiment58 held her a moment. She was not afraid; her sense of fear had never developed itself; it was one of the attributes of human nature that was foreign to her experience; and this was why some of her actions, when she was younger, and likewise when she was older, were inexplicable59 to the rest of her sex, and made her the object of criticism which seemed to have good ground to go upon. Nan hesitated with her foot on the step, but it was not her way to draw back, and she went in. Tasma Tid refastened the door very carefully, and then turned and led the way toward the closet. The room was not wholly dark; one or two of the shutters60 had fallen off, and in this way a little light filtered in. Nan followed Tasma Tid to the closet, the door of which was open.
"Dis-a we house," said Tasma Tid; "dis-a de place wey we live at."
"Why did you come here?" Nan asked.
"We had no nurrer place; all-a we frien' gone; da's why."
What further comment Nan may have made cannot even be guessed, for at that moment there was a noise at one of the windows; some one was trying to raise the sash. Nan and Tasma Tid held their breath while they listened, and then, when they were sure that some one was preparing to enter the building, the African closed the closet door noiselessly, and pulled Nan after her to the narrowest and most uncomfortable part of the musty and dusty place—the space next the stairway, where it was so low that they were compelled to sit flat on the floor.
The intruder, whoever he might be, crawled cautiously through the window—they could hear the buttons of his coat strike against the sill—and leaped lightly to the floor. He lowered the window again, and then, after tiptoeing about among the benches, came straight to the closet. As Tasma Tid had not taken time to fasten it on the inside, the door was easily opened. Dark as it was, Nan and the African could see that the intruder was a man, but, beyond this, they could distinguish nothing. Nan and her companion would have breathed freer if recognition had been possible, for the new-comer was Gabriel, who had determined61 to take this method of discovering the aim and object of the union League.
Once in the closet, Gabriel took pains to make the inside fastenings secure. It was one of the whims62 of Mr. McManus, the school-master, who had so often caused Gabriel's head and the blackboard to meet, that the fastenings of this closet should be upon the inside. It tickled63 his humour to feel that a refractory boy should be his own jailer, able, and yet not daring, to release himself until the master should rap sharply on the door.
Gabriel was less familiar with these fastenings than he had formerly been, and he fumbled64 about in the dark for some moments before he could adjust them to his satisfaction. He made no effort to explore the closet, taking for granted that it could have no other occupant. This was fortunate for Nan, for if he had moved about to any extent, he would inevitably65 have stumbled over the African and her young mistress, who were crouched66 and huddled67 as far under the stairway as they could get.
Gabriel stood still a moment, as if listening, and then he sat flat on the floor, and stretched out his legs with a sigh of relief. After that there was a long period of silence, during which Nan had a fine opportunity to be very sorry that she had ever ventured out on such a fool's errand. "If I get out of this scrape," she thought over and over again, "I'll never be a tomboy; I'll never be a harum-scarum girl any more." She had no physical fear, but she realised that she was placed in a very awkward position.
She was devoured68 with curiosity to know whether the intruder really was Gabriel. She hoped it was, and the hope caused her to blush in the dark. She knew she was blushing; she felt her ears burn—for what would Gabriel think if he knew that she was crouching69 on the floor, not more than an arm's length from him? Why, naturally, he would have no respect for her. How could he? she asked herself.
As for Gabriel, he was sublimely70 unconscious of the fact that he was not alone. Once or twice he fancied he heard some one breathing, but he was a lad who was very close to nature, and he knew how many strange and varied71 sounds rise mysteriously out of the most profound silence; and so, instead of becoming suspicious, he became drowsy72. He made himself as comfortable as he could, and leaned against the wall, pitting his patience against the loneliness of the place and the slow passage of time.
Being a healthy lad, Gabriel would have gone to sleep then and there, but for a mysterious splutter and explosion, so to speak, which went off right at his elbow, as he supposed. He was in that neutral territory between sleeping and waking and he was unable to recognise the sound that had startled him; and it would have remained a mystery but for the fact that a sneeze is usually accompanied by its twin. Nan had for some time felt an inclination73 to sneeze, and the more she tried to resist it the greater the inclination grew, until finally, it culminated74 in the spluttering explosion that had aroused Gabriel. This was followed by a sneeze which he had no difficulty in recognising.
The fact that some unknown person was a joint75 occupant of the closet upset him so little that he was surprised at himself. He remained perfectly76 quiet for awhile, endeavouring to map out a course of action, little knowing that Nan Dorrington was chewing her nails with anger a few feet from where he sat.
In another moment Nan's impulsiveness78 would have betrayed her, but Tasma Tid came to her rescue.
"Huccum you in we house? Whaffer you come dey? How you call you' name?"
"Oh, shucks! Is that you, Tiddy Me Tas?"—this was the way Gabriel sometimes twisted her name. "I thought you were the booger-man. You'd better run along home to your Miss Nan. She says she wants to see you. What are you hiding out here for anyway?"
"We no hide, Misser Gable. 'Tis-a we house, dis. Honey Nan no want we; she no want nobody. She talkin' by dat Misser Frank what live-a down dey at Clopton. Dee got cake, dee got wine, dee got all de bittle dee want."
Tasma Tid told this whopper in spite of the fact that Nan was giving her warning nudges and pinches.
"Yes, I reckon they are having a good time," said Gabriel gloomily. "Miss Nan gave me an invitation, but I couldn't go." It was something new in Nan's experience to hear Gabriel call her Miss Nan, and she rather relished the sensation it gave her. She was now ready to believe that she was really and truly a young lady.
"Whaffer you ain't gone down dey?" inquired Tasma Tid. "Ef you kin come dis-a way, you kin go down dey."
"I was obliged to come here," responded Gabriel.
"Shoo! dem fib roll out lak dey been had grease on top um," exclaimed Tasma Tid derisively79. "Who been ax you fer come by dis way? 'Tis-a we house, dis. You better go, Misser Gable; go by dat place wey Honey Nan live, an' look in de blin' wey you see dat Misser Frank, and dat Misser Paul Tomlin, an' watch um how dee kin make love. Maybe you kin fin25' out how fer make love you'se'f."
Gabriel laughed uneasily. "No, Tiddy Me Tas—no love-making for me. I'm either too old or too young, I forget which."
They ceased talking, for they heard footsteps outside, and the sound of voices. Presently some one opened the door, and it seemed from the noise that was made, the shuffling80 of feet, and the repressed tones of conversation, that a considerable number of negroes had responded to the Rev. Jeremiah's invitation.
The first-comers evidently lit a candle, for a phantom-like shadow of light trickled81 through a small crack in the closet door, and a faint, but unmistakable, odour of a sulphur match readied Gabriel's nostrils. There were whispered consultations82, and a good deal of muffled83 and subdued84 conversation, but every word that was distinctly enunciated85 was clearly heard in the sound-box of a closet. But suddenly all conversation ceased, and complete silence took possession of those present.
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1
auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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6
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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7
organise
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| vt.组织，安排，筹办 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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memorably
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| 难忘的 | |
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wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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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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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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craftily
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| 狡猾地，狡诈地 | |
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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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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hacked
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| 生气 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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rapacity
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| n.贪婪，贪心，劫掠的欲望 | |
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mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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50
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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worthiest
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| 应得某事物( worthy的最高级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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56
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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60
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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62
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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66
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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sublimely
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| 高尚地，卓越地 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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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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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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impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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derisively
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| adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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81
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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82
consultations
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| n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找 | |
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83
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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84
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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enunciated
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| v.（清晰地）发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 )；确切地说明 | |
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