CHAPTER XVIII. AFTER THE EXECUTION.

 While Ben rejoiced and lifted silent thanks to God for his narrow escape from a shameful¹ death, he felt no satisfaction in the knowledge that the men who had basely conspired² against them had suffered the like terrible fate. He averted³ his head in horror from the sight, and, innocent as he was of fault, he felt depressed⁴ to think that his words had resulted in bringing this punishment upon them.

 

I have said that he was the hero of the hour. Boys were scarce in California, and the hearts of the miners warmed to him on account of his youth and the memories it called up of their own children far away.

 

A self-appointed committee waited upon him and asked him to stay with them.

 

"We'll all help you along," they said. "We will[Pg 148] make your share equal to that of the luckiest miner among us. You're true grit⁵, and we respect you for it. What do you say?"

 

"What shall I do, Jake?" he asked of Bradley.

 

"It's a fair offer, Ben. Perhaps you'd best stay. I'd stay too, only I want to see Dick Dewey safe in 'Frisco. When he and his gal⁶ are j'ined I'll come back and try my luck here."

 

"I will do the same, Jake. I want to go to San Francisco and see the lady who was so kind to me. I sha'n't feel that I've done all my duty till I have seen her and Mr. Dewey united. Then I shall be ready to come back."

 

"Tell 'em so, Ben."

 

Ben gave this answer to those who had asked him to stay, thanking them gratefully for their kind offer. His answer gave general satisfaction.

 

Ben could hardly realize that these very men had been impatient to hang him only an hour before. He was thankful for this change in their sentiments, though he did not pretend to understand it.

 

Bradley and Dewey, knowing the fickleness⁷ of a mining-community, were a little apprehensive⁸ that[Pg 149] their original suspicions might again be aroused, and that some among them might be led to think they had make a mistake, after all, and hung the wrong men. That would be serious, and perhaps dangerous to them. They reflected that only Ben's speech had turned the tide of sentiment, and the two thieves had been hung on the unsupported word of a boy. Might not this occur to some of the company in some of their cooler moments? They decided⁹ in a secret conference that it would be best for them to get away early the next morning—that is, as early as practicable—before any change had come over the minds of their new friends.

 

Later, however, they were relieved from their momentary¹⁰ apprehension¹¹.

 

Two men who had been out hunting did not return to the camp till an hour after the execution had taken place.

 

"What's happened? they asked.

 

"We've only been hangin' a couple of hoss-thieves," was answered coolly by one of their comrades. "We came near hangin' the wrong men, but we found out our mistake."

 

[Pg 150]The two hunters went to view the bodies of the malefactors, who were still suspended from the extemporized¹² gallows¹³.

 

"I know them men," said one with sudden recognition.

 

"What do you know about them? Did you ever meet them?"

 

"I reckon I did. They camped with me one night, and in the morning they were missing, and all my gold-dust too."

 

"Then it's true what the boy said? they're thieves, and no mistake?"

 

"You've made no mistake this time. You've hung the right men."

 

This fresh testimony¹⁴ was at once communicated to the miners, and received with satisfaction, as one or two had been a little in doubt as to whether the two men were really guilty. No one heard it with more pleasure than Dewey and Bradley, who felt now that they were completely exonerated¹⁵.

1 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

2 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

3 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

6 gal   

n.姑娘，少女

参考例句：

• We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
• What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么？

7 fickleness   

n.易变；无常；浮躁；变化无常

参考例句：

• While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature. 她一方面总是批评人的本性朝三暮四。 来自互联网
• Cor.1:17 This therefore intending, did I then use fickleness? 林后一17我有这样的意思，难道是行事轻浮么？ 来自互联网

8 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

11 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

12 extemporized   

v.即兴创作，即席演奏( extemporize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He completely departed from the text and extemporized in a very energetic fashion. 他完全脱稿，慷慨激昂地进行即席演说。 来自辞典例句
• The president extemporized a speech after the working dinner. 总裁即席发表了一篇工作餐后演说。 来自互联网

13 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

15 exonerated   

v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption. 警方的报告免除了对刘易斯贪污的所有指控。
• An investigation exonerated the school from any blame. 一项调查证明该学校没有任何过失。 来自辞典例句