Colonel Kenton and Harry2 avoided Louisville, which was now in the hands of Northern sympathizers, and, travelling partly by rail and partly by stage, reached Frankfort early in May to attend the special session of the Legislature called by Governor Magoffin. Although the skirmishing had taken place already along the edge of highland3 and lowland, the state still sought to maintain its position of neutrality. There was war within its borders, and yet no war. In feeling, it was Southern, and yet its judgment4 was with the union. Thousands of ardent5 young men had drifted southward to join the armies forming there, and thousands of others, equally ardent, had turned northward7 to join forces that would oppose those below. Harry, young as he was, recognized that his own state would be more fiercely divided than any other by the great strife8.
But Federal and Confederate alike preserved the semblance9 of peace as they gathered at Frankfort for the political struggle over the state. Colonel Kenton and his son took the train at a point about forty miles from the capital, and they found it crowded with public men going from Louisville to Frankfort. It was the oldest railroad west of the Alleghanies, and among the first ever built. The coaches swung around curves, and dust and particles flew in at the windows, but the speed was a relief after the crawling of the stage and Harry stretched himself luxuriously10 on the plush seat.
A tall man in civilian11 attire12, holding himself very stiffly, despite the swinging and swaying of the train, rose from his seat, and came forward to greet Colonel Kenton.
"George," he said, his voice quivering slightly, "you and I have fought together in many battles in Mexico and the West, but it is likely now that we shall fight other battles on this own soil of ours against each other. But, George, let us be friends always, and let us pledge it here and now."
The words might have seemed a little dramatic elsewhere, but not so under the circumstances of time and place. Colonel Kenton's quick response came from the depths of a generous soul.
"John," he said as their two hands met in the grip of brothers of the camp and field, "you and I may be on opposing sides, but we can never be enemies. John, this is my son, Harry. Harry, this is Major John Warren of Mason County and the regular army of the United States; he does not think as we do, but even at West Point he was a stubborn idiot. He and I were continually arguing, and he would never admit that he was always wrong. I never knew him to be right in anything except mathematics, and then he was never wrong."
Major Warren smiled and sat down by his old comrade.
"You've a fine boy there, George," he said, "and I suppose he probably takes his opinions from his father, which is a great mistake. I think if I were to talk to him I could show him his, or rather your, error."
"Not by your system of mathematical reasoning, John. Your method is well enough for the building of a fortress13 or calculating the range of a gun. But it won't do for the actions of men. You allow nothing for feeling, sentiment, association, propinquity, heredity, climate and, and—"
"Perhaps I should. I understand how we happen to differ. But I can't explain it well. Well, maybe it will all blow over. The worries of today are often the jokes of tomorrow."
Major Warren shook his head.
"It may blow over," he said, "but it will be a mighty15 wind; it will blow a long time, and many things for which you and I care, George, will be blown away by it. When that great and terrible wind stops blowing, our country will be changed forever."
"Don't be so downcast, John, you are not dead yet," said Colonel Kenton, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "You've often seen big clouds go by without either wind or rain."
"How about that attack upon your house and you and your friends? The clouds had something in them then."
Harry had listened closely and he knew that his father was only giving voice to his hopes, not to his beliefs. But as they ceased to talk of the great question, his attention wandered to the country through which they were passing. Spring was now deep and green in Kentucky. They were running through a land of deep, rich soil, with an outcrop of white limestone18 showing here and there above the heavy green grass. A peaceful country and prosperous. It seemed impossible that it should be torn by war, by war between those who lived upon it.
Then the train left the grass lands, cut through a narrow but rough range of hills, entered a gorge19 and stopped in Frankfort, the little capital, beside the deep and blue Kentucky.
Frankfort had only a few thousand inhabitants, but Harry found here much of the feeling that he had seen in Nashville and Charleston, with an important difference. There it was all Southern, or nearly so, but here North struggled with South on terms that certainly were not worse than equal.
Although the place was crowded, he and his father were lucky enough to secure a room at the chief hotel, which was also the only one of any importance. The hotel itself swarmed20 with the opposing factions21. Senator Culver and Judge Kendrick had a room together across the hall from theirs, and next to them four red hot sympathizers with the union slept on cots in one apartment. Further down the hall Harvey Whitridge, a state senator, huge of stature22, much whiskered, and the proud possessor of a voice that could be heard nearly a mile, occupied a room with Samuel Fowler, a tall, thin, quiet member of the Lower House. The two were staunch unionists.
Everybody knew everybody else in this dissevered gathering23. Nearly everybody was kin17 by blood to everybody else. In a state affected24 little by immigration families were more or less related. If there was to be a war it would be, so far as they were concerned, a war of cousins against cousins.
Colonel Kenton and Harry had scarcely bathed their faces and set their clothing to rights, when there was a sharp knock at the door and the Colonel admitted Raymond Bertrand, the South Carolinian, dark of complexion25, volatile26 and wonderfully neat in apparel. He seemed at once to Harry to be a messenger from that Charleston which he had liked, and in the life of which he had had a share. Bertrand shook hands with both with great enthusiasm, but his eyes sparkled when he spoke27 to Harry.
"And you were there when they fired on Sumter!" he exclaimed. "And you had a part in it! What a glorious day! What a glorious deed! And I had to be here in your cold state, trying to make these descendants of stubborn Scotch28 and English see the right, and follow gladly in the path of our beautiful star, South Carolina!"
"Not well," he replied, "not as well as I had hoped. There is still something in the name of the union that stirs the hearts of the Kentuckians. They hesitate. I have worked, I have talked, I have used all the arguments of our illustrious President, Mr. Davis, and of the other great men who have charge of Southern fortunes, and they still hesitate. Their blood is not hot enough. They do not have the vision. They lack the fire and splendor31 of the South Carolinians!"
Harry felt a little heat, but Colonel Kenton was not disturbed at all by the criticism.
"Perhaps you are right, Bertrand," he said thoughtfully. "We Kentuckians have the reputation of being very quick on the trigger, but we are conservative in big things. This is going to be a great war, a mighty great war, and I suppose our people feel like taking a good long look, and then another, equally as long, before they leap."
Bertrand, hot-blooded and impatient, bit his lip.
"It will not do! It will not do!" he exclaimed. "We must have this state. Virginia has gone out! Kentucky is her daughter! Then why does not she do the same?"
"You must give us time, Bertrand," said Colonel Kenton, still speaking slowly and thoughtfully. "We are not starting upon any summer holiday, and I can understand how the people here feel. I'm going with my people and I'm going to fire on the old flag, under which I've fought so often, but you needn't think it comes so easy. This thing of choosing between the sections is the hardest task that was ever set for a man."
Harry had never heard his father speak with more solemnity. Bertrand was silent, overawed by the older man, but to the boy the words were extremely impressive. His youthful temperament33 was sensitive to atmosphere. In Charleston he shared the fire, zeal34 and enthusiasm of an impressionable people. They saw only one side and, for a while, he saw only one side, too. Here in Frankfort the atmosphere was changed. They saw two sides and he saw two sides with them.
"But you need have no fear about us, Bertrand," continued Colonel Kenton. "My heart is with the South, and so is my boy's. I thought that Kentucky would go out of the union without a fight, but since there is to be a struggle we'll go through with it, and win it. Don't be afraid, the state will be with you yet."
They talked a little longer and then Bertrand left. Harry politely held the door open for him, and, as he went down the hall, he saw him pass Whitridge and Fowler. Contrary to the custom which still preserved the amenities35 they did not speak. Bertrand gave them a look of defiance36. It seemed to Harry that he wanted to speak, but he pressed his lips firmly together, and, looking straight ahead of him, walked to the stairway, down which he disappeared. As Harry still stood in the open doorway37, Whitridge and Fowler approached.
"Can we come in?" Whitridge asked.
"Yes, Harvey," said Colonel Kenton over the boy's shoulder. "Both of you are welcome here at any time."
The two men entered and Harry gave them chairs. Whitridge's creaked beneath him with his mighty weight.
"George," said the Senator pointedly38 but without animosity, "you and I have known each other a good many years, and we are eighth or tenth cousins, which counts for something in this state. Now, you have come here to Frankfort to pull Kentucky out of the union, and I've come to pull so hard against you that you can't. You know it and I know it. All's square and above board, but why do you bring here that South Carolina Frenchman to meddle39 in the affairs of the good old state of Kentucky? Is it any business of his or of the other people down there? Can't we decide it ourselves? We're a big family here in Kentucky, and we oughtn't to bring strangers into the family council, even if we do have a disagreement. Besides, he represents the Knights40 of the Golden Circle, and what they are planning is plumb41 foolishness. Even if you are bound to go out and split up the union, I'd think you wouldn't have anything to do with the wholesale42 grabbing of Spanish-speaking territories to the southward."
"There's a lot in what you say, Harvey," replied Colonel Kenton, speaking with the utmost good humor, "but I didn't bring Bertrand here; he came of his own accord. Besides, while I'm strong for the South, I think this Knights of the Golden Circle business is bad, just as you do."
"I'm glad you've got that much sense left, George," said Whitridge. "You army men never do know much about politics. It's easy to pull the wool over your eyes."
"Have you and Fowler come here for that purpose?" asked the colonel, smiling.
It was the preliminary to a long argument carried on without temper. Harry listened attentively43, but as soon as it was over and Whitridge and Fowler had gone, he tumbled into his bed and went to sleep.
He rose early the next morning, before his father in fact, as he was eager to see more of Frankfort, ate a solid breakfast almost alone, and went into the streets, where the first person he met was his own cousin and schoolmate, Dick Mason. The two boys started, looked first at each other with hostile glances, which changed the next instant to looks of pleasure and welcome, and then shook hands with power and heartiness44. They could not be enemies. They were boys together again.
"Why, Dick," exclaimed Harry, "I thought you had gone east to save the union."
"So I have," replied Dick Mason, "but not as far east as you thought. We've got a big camp down in Garrard County, where the forces of the Kentuckians who favor the union are gathering. General Nelson commands us. I suppose you've heard that you rebels are gathering on the other side of Frankfort in Owen County under Humphrey Marshall?"
"Yes, Yank, I've heard it," replied Harry. "Now, what are you doing in Frankfort? What business have you got here?"
"Since you ask me a plain question I'll give you a plain answer," replied Dick. "I'm here to scotch you rebels. You don't think you can run away with a state like this, do you?"
"I don't know yet," replied Harry, "but we're going to try. Say, Dick, let's not talk about such things any more for a while. I want to see this town and we can take a look at it together."
"The plan suits me," said Dick promptly45. "Come on. I've been here two days and I guess I can be guide."
"We'll take in the Capitol first," said Harry.
Dick led the way and Harry approached with awe32 and some curiosity the old building which was famous to him. Erected46 far back, when the state was in its infancy47, it still served well its purpose. He and Dick walked together upon the lawns among the trees, but, as soon as the doors were open, they went inside and entered with respect the room in which the great men of their state, the Clays, the Marshalls, the Breckinridges, the Crittendens, the Hardins, and so many others had begun their careers. They were great men not to Kentucky alone, but to the nation as well, and the hearts of the two boys throbbed48 with pride. They sat down in two of the desks where the members were to meet the next day and fight over the question whether Kentucky was Northern or Southern.
It was very early. Besides themselves there was nobody about but the caretaker. They were sitting in the House and the room was still warmed in winter by great stoves, but they were not needed now, as the windows were open and the fresh breeze of a grass-scented May morning blew in and tumbled the hair of the two youths of the same blood who sat side by side, close friends of their school days again, but who would soon be facing each other across red fields.
The wind which blew so pleasantly on Harry's forehead reminded him of that other wind which had blown so often upon his face at Charleston. But it was not heavy and languorous49 here. It did not have the lazy perfumes of the breezes that floated up from the warm shores of the Gulf50. It was sharp and penetrating51. It whipped the blood like the touch of frost. It stirred to action. His cousin's emotions were evidently much like his own.
"Harry," said Dick, "I never thought that Kentucky would be fighting against Kentucky, that Pendleton would be fighting against Pendleton."
Harry was about to reply when his attention was attracted by a heavy footstep. A third person had entered the chamber52 of the House, and he stood for a while in the aisle53, looking curiously54 about him. Harry saw the man before the stranger saw him and with an instinctive55 shudder56 he recognized Bill Skelly. There he stood, huge, black, hairy, and lowering, two heavy pistols shown openly in his belt.
The boys were sitting low in the desks and it was a little while before Skelly noticed them. His attitude was that of triumph, that of one who expects great spoils, like that of a buccaneer who finds his profit in troubled times, preying57 upon friend and foe58 alike. Presently he caught sight of the two boys. But his gaze fastened on Harry, and a savage59 glint appeared in his eyes. Then he strode down the wide aisle and stood near them. But he looked at Harry alone.
"You are Colonel Kenton's son?" he said.
"I am," replied Harry, meeting his fierce stare boldly, "the same whom you tried to murder on the way to Winton, the same who helped to hold our house against you and your gang of assassins."
Skelly's dark face grew darker as the black blood leaped to his very eyes. But he choked down his passion. The mountaineer was not lacking in cunning.
"Your father and his friends killed some of my men," he said. "I ain't here now to argy with you about the rights an' wrongs of it, but I want to tell you that all the people of the mountains are up for the union. With them from the lowlands that are the same way, we'll chase you rebels, Jeff Davis and all, clean into the Gulf of Mexico."
Harry deliberately60 turned his head away, and stared out of a window at the green of lawns and trees. Skelly filled him with abhorrence61. He felt as if he were in the presence of a creeping panther, and he would have nothing more to say to him. Skelly looked at him for a few minutes longer, drew himself together in the manner of a savage wild beast about to spring, but relaxed the next moment, laughed softly, and strode out of the chamber.
"That's one of your men," said Harry. "I hope you're proud of him."
"All the mountain people are for us," replied Dick judicially62, "and we can't help it if some of the rascals63 are on our side. You're likely to have men just as bad on yours. I heard about the attack he made upon Uncle George's house, but it was war, I suppose, and this which we have here in Frankfort is only an armed truce64. You can't do anything."
"I suppose not. Do you know how long he has been here?"
"He arrived at Camp Dick Robinson only two or three days ago, and I suppose he has taken the first chance to come in and have a look at the capital."
"With the idea of looting it later on."
Dick laughed.
"Don't be bitter, Harry," he said. "It's going to be a fair fight."
"Well, I hope so, here in this little town as well as on the greater field of the country. Are you staying long in Frankfort, Dick?"
"Only today. I'm going back tomorrow to Camp Dick Robinson."
"Well, don't you make friends with that fellow Skelly, even if he is on the same side you are."
"I won't, Harry, have no fear of that."
The two went together to the hotel, and found Colonel Kenton at breakfast. He welcomed his nephew with great affection, and made him sit by him until he had finished his breakfast. While he was drinking his coffee Harry told him of Skelly's presence. The Colonel frowned, but merely uttered three words about him.
"We'll watch him," he said.
Then the three went out and saw the little town grow into life and seethe65 with the heat of the spirit. Although actual skirmishing had taken place already in the state there was no violence here, except of speech. All the members of the House and Senate were gathered, and so far as Harry could observe the Southerners were in the majority. Others thought so, too. Bertrand was sanguine66. His eyes burned with the fire of enthusiasm, lighting67 up his olive face.
"We'll win. We'll surely win!" he said. "This state which we need so much will be out of the union inside of two weeks."
But Senator Culver was more guarded in his opinion, or at least in the expression of it.
"It's going to be a mighty hot fight," he said.
Harry and Dick together watched the convening68 of the Legislature, having chosen seats in the upper lobby of the House. Harry looked for Skelly, but not seeing him he inferred that the mountaineer's leave of absence was short and that he had gone back to camp.
Dick himself left the next morning for Camp Dick Robinson, and Harry shook his hand over and over again as he departed. The feeling between the cousins was strong and it had been renewed by their meeting under such circumstances.
"I may go east," said Dick, as he mounted his horse. "The big things are going to happen there first."
Harry watched him as he rode away and he wondered when they would meet again. Like Colonel Leonidas Talbot he felt now that this was going to be a great war, wide in its sweep.
Harry returned to his hotel, very thoughtful. The second parting with his cousin, who had been his playmate all his life, was painful, and he realized that while he was wondering when and where they would meet again it might never occur at all. He found his father and his friends holding a close conference in his room at the hotel. Senator Culver, Mr. Bracken, Gardner, the editor, and others yet higher in the councils of the Confederacy, were there. Bertrand sat in a corner, saying little, but watching everything with ardent, burning eyes.
Letters had come from the chief Southern leaders. There was one from Jefferson Davis, himself, another from the astute69 Benjamin, another from Toombs, bold and brusque as befitted his temperament, and yet more from Stephens and Slidell and Yancey and others. Colonel Kenton read them one by one to the twenty men who were crowded into the room. They were appealing, insistent70, urgent. Their tone might vary, but the tenor71 was the same. They must take Kentucky out of the union and take her out at once. In the West the line of attack upon the South would lead through Kentucky. But if the state threw in her fortunes with the South, the advance of Lincoln's troops would be blocked. The force of example would be immense, and a hundred thousand valiant72 Kentuckians could easily turn the scale in favor of the Confederacy.
Harry listened to them a long time, but growing tired at last, went out again into the fresh air. Young though he was, he realized that it was one thing for the Southern leaders to ask, but it was another thing for the Kentuckians to deliver. He saw all about him the signs of a powerful opposition73, and he saw, too, that these forces, scattered74 at first, were consolidating75 fast, presenting a formidable front.
The struggle began and it was waged for days in the picturesque76 old Capitol. There was no violence, but feeling deepened. Men put restraint upon their words, but their hearts behind them were full of bitterness, bitterness on one side because the Northern sympathizers were so stubborn, and bitterness on the other, because the Southern sympathizers showed the same stubbornness. Friends of a lifetime used but cold words to each other and saw widening between then, a gulf which none could cross. Supporters of either cause poured into the little capital. Tremendous pressure was brought to bear upon House and Senate. Members were compelled to strive with every kind of emotion or appeal, love of the union, cool judgment in the midst of alarms, state patriotism77, kinship, and all the conflicting ties which pull at those who stand upon the border line on the eve of a great civil war. And yet they could come to no decision. Day after day they fought back and forth78 over points of order and resolutions and the result was always the same. North and South were locked fast within the two rooms of one little Capitol.
They were rimmed79 around meanwhile by a fiery80 horizon that steadily81 came closer and closer. The guns reducing Sumter had been a sufficient signal. North and South were sharply arrayed against each other. The Southern volunteers, full of ardor82 and fire, continued to pour to their standards. The North, larger and heavier, moved more slowly, but it moved. The whole land swayed under an intense agitation83. The news of skirmishes along the border came, magnified and colored in the telling. Men's minds were inflamed84 more every day.
When Harry had been in Frankfort about a week he received a letter from St. Clair, written from Richmond, urging him, if he could, to get an assignment to the East, and to come to that city, which was to be the permanent capital of the South.
"We are here," he said, "looking the enemy in the face. Langdon and I are in the same company and I see Colonel Talbot and Major St. Hilaire every day. We are going to the front soon, and before the summer is out there will be a big battle followed by our taking of Washington."
"But you must come, Harry, to Richmond and join us before we march. This is a fine town and all the celebrities85 are crowding in. You never saw such confidence and enthusiasm. Virginia was slow in joining us, but, since she has joined, she is with us heart and soul. Troops are pouring in all the time. Cannon86 and wagons87 loaded with ammunition88 and supplies are hurrying to the front. The Yankees are not threatening Richmond; we are threatening Washington. Be sure and get yourself transferred to the East, Harry, where the great things are going to happen. Friends are waiting for you here. Colonel Talbot and Major St. Hilaire have a lot of power and they will use it for you."
Harry was walking on the hills that look down on the Capitol, when he read the letter and its warm words made his pulses leap with pleasure. He felt now the pull of opposing magnets. He wanted to remain in Frankfort with his father and see the issue, and he also wanted to join those South Carolina comrades of his in the East, where the battle fronts now lowered so ominously89.
He thought long over the letter, and, at last sat down by the monument to the Kentucky volunteers who fell at the battle of Buena Vista90. The pull of the East was gradually growing the stronger. He did not see what he could do at Frankfort, and he wanted to be off there on the Virginia fields where the bayonets would soon meet.
The curious feeling that war could not come here in his own land persisted in Harry. It was late in the afternoon with the lower tip of the sun just hid behind the far hills and the landscape that he looked upon was soft and beautiful. The green of spring was deep and tender. Everything rough or ugly was smoothed away by the first mellow91 touch of the advancing twilight92. The hills were clothed in the same robe of green that lay over the valleys, and through the center of the circle flowed the deep Kentucky, serene93 and blue.
While Harry's thoughts at that moment were on war, he really had no feeling against anybody. It was all general and impersonal94. There is something pure and noble about a boy who comes out of a good home, something lofty to which the man later looks back with pride, not because the boy was wise or powerful, but because his heart was good.
The twilight slowly darkened over green fields and blue river. But the noble stone, with its sculptured lines, by the side of which Harry sat, seemed to grow whiter, despite the veil of dusk that was drooping95 softly over it. The houses in the town below began to sink out of sight and lights appeared in their place.
Night came and found the boy still at his place. He could see only the tint96 of the blue river now, and the far hills were lost in the darkness. The chill of evening was coming on, and rising, he shook himself a little. Then he followed a path down the steep hill and along the edge of the river. But he paused, standing97 by the side of a great oak that grew at the Water's margin98, and looked up the Kentucky.
Harry could see from the point where he stood no sign of human life. He heard only the murmur99 of deep waters as they flowed slowly and peacefully by. The spirit of his great ancestor, the famous Henry Ware100, who had been the sword of the border, was strong upon him. The Kentucky was to him the most romantic of all rivers, clustered thick with the facts and legends of the great days, when the first of the pioneers came and built homes along its banks. It flowed out of mountains still mysterious, and, for a few moments, Harry's thoughts floated from the strife of the present to a time far back when the slightest noise in the canebrake might mean to the hunter the coming of his quarry101.
A faint musical sound, not more than the sigh of a stray breeze, came from a point far up the stream. He listened and the sound pleased him. The lone1, weird102 note was in full accord with the night and his mood, and presently he knew it. It was some mountaineer on a raft singing a plaintive103 song of his own distant hills. Huge rafts launched on the headwaters of the stream in the mountains in the eastern part of the state came in great numbers down the river, but oftenest at this time of the year. Some stopped at Frankfort, and others went into the Ohio for the cities down that stream.
Harry waited, while the song grew a little in volume, and, penned now between high banks, gave back soft echoes. But the raft came very slowly, only as fast as the current of the river. He thought he would see a light as the men usually cooked and slept in a rude little hut built in the center of the raft. But all was yet in darkness.
The singer, however rude and unlettered a mountaineer he may have been, had a voice and ear, and Harry still listened with the keenest pleasure to the melodious104 note that came floating down the river. The spell was upon him. His imagination became so vivid that it was not a mountaineer singing. He had gone back into another century. It was one of the great borderers, perhaps Boone himself, who was paddling his canoe upon the stream, the name of which was danger. And Kenton, and Logan and Harrod and the others were abroad in the woods.
He was engrossed105 so deeply that he did not hear a heavy step behind him, nor did he see a huge bewhiskered figure in the path, holding a clubbed rifle. Yet he turned. It was perhaps the instinct inherited from his great ancestor, who was said to have had a sixth sense. Whatever it may have been, he faced suddenly about, and saw Bill Skelly aiming at him a blow with the clubbed rifle, which would at once crush his skull106 and send his body into the deep stream.
The same inherited instinct made him leap within the swing of the rifle and clutch at the mountaineer's throat. The heavy butt107 swished through the air, and the very force of the blow jerked the weapon from Skelly's hands. The next instant he was struggling for his life. Harry was a powerful youth, much stronger than many men, and, at that instant, the spirit and strength of his great ancestor were pouring into his veins108. The treacherous109 attempt upon his life filled him with rage. He was, in very truth, the forest runner of the earlier century, and he strove with all his great might to slay110 his enemy.
Skelly, six feet two inches tall and two hundred pounds of muscle and sinew, struck the boy fiercely on the side of the head, but the terrible grasp was still at his throat. He was the larger and the stronger, but the sudden leap upon him gave his younger and smaller antagonist111 an advantage. He had a pistol in his belt, but with that throttling112 grip upon his throat he forgot it. The hunter had suddenly become the hunted. Filled with rage and venom113 he had expected an easy triumph, and, instead, he was now fighting for his life.
Skelly struck again and again at the boy, but Harry, with instinctive wisdom, pressed his head close to the man's chin, and Skelly's blows at such short range lacked force behind them. All the while Harry's youthful but powerful arms were pouring strength into the hands that grasped the man's throat. The mountaineer choked and gasped114, and, changing his aim from the head, struck Harry again and again in the chest. Then he remembered to draw his pistol, but Harry, raising his knee, struck him violently on the wrist. The pistol dropped to the ground, and Skelly, in the fierce struggle, was unable to regain115 it.
Neither had uttered a cry. There was not a single shout for help. Skelly would not want to call attention, and Harry recalled afterward116 that in the tremendous tension of the moment the thought of it never occurred to him. He continued to press savagely117 upon Skelly's throat, while the mountaineer rained blows upon his chest, blows that would have killed him had Skelly been able to get full purchase for his arms. He heard the heavy gasping118 breath of the man, and he saw the dark, hideous119 face close to his own. It was so hairy that it was like the face of some huge anthropoid120, with the lips wrinkled back from strong and cruel white teeth.
It seemed to Harry in very truth that he was fighting a great wild beast. His own breath came in short gasps121, and at every expansion of the lungs a fierce pain shot through his whole body. A bloody122 foam123 rose to his lips. The savage pounding upon his chest was telling. He still retained his grasp upon Skelly's throat, where his fingers were sunk into the flesh, but it was only the grimmest kind of resolution that enabled him to hold on.
Harry saw the fierce light in Skelly's eye turn to joy. The man foresaw his triumph, and he began to curse low, but fast and with savage unction. Harry felt himself weakening, and he made another mighty effort to retain his hold, but the fingers still slipped, and, as Skelly struck him harder than ever in the chest, they flew loose entirely124.
He knew that if Skelly had room for the full play of his arm that he would be knocked senseless at the next blow, and to ward6 it off he seized the man by his huge chest, tripping at the same time with all his might. The two fell, rolled over in their struggling, and then Harry felt himself dropping from a height. The next moment the deep waters of the Kentucky closed over the two, still locked fast in a deadly combat, and the waves circled away in diminishing height from the spot where they had sunk.
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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10
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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13
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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14
synonyms
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| 同义词( synonym的名词复数 ) | |
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15
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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17
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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18
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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19
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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20
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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21
factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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22
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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23
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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24
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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25
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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26
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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27
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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28
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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29
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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30
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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31
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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32
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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33
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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34
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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35
amenities
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| n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快 | |
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36
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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37
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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38
pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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39
meddle
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| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
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40
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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41
plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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42
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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43
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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44
heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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45
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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46
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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47
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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48
throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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49
languorous
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| adj.怠惰的，没精打采的 | |
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50
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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51
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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52
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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53
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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54
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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55
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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56
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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57
preying
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| v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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58
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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59
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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60
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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61
abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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62
judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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63
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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64
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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65
seethe
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| vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动 | |
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66
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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67
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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68
convening
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| 召开( convene的现在分词 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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69
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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70
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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71
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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72
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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73
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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74
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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75
consolidating
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| v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并 | |
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76
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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77
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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78
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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79
rimmed
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| adj.有边缘的，有框的v.沿…边缘滚动；给…镶边 | |
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80
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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81
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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82
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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83
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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84
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
celebrities
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| n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉 | |
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86
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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87
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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88
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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89
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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90
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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91
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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92
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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93
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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94
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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95
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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96
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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97
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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98
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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99
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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100
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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101
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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102
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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103
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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104
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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105
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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106
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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107
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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108
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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109
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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110
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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111
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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112
throttling
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| v.扼杀( throttle的现在分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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113
venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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114
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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115
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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116
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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117
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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118
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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119
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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120
anthropoid
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| adj.像人类的，类人猿的；n.类人猿；像猿的人 | |
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121
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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122
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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123
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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124
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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