In the meadows lies the lamb,
How I wonder if they're ever
Half as frightened as I am?"
C.F. Alexander.
The night-school was drawing to a close. The attendance had been good, and the room looked cheerful. In one corner the Rector was teaching a group of grown-up men, who (better late than never) [196] were zealously1 learning to read; in another the schoolmaster was flourishing his stick before a map as he concluded his lesson in geography. By the fire sat Master Arthur, the Rector's son, surrounded by his class, and in front of him stood Beauty Bill. Master Arthur was very popular with the people, especially with his pupils. The boys were anxious to get into his class, and loath2 to leave it. They admired his great height, his merry laugh, the variety of walking-sticks he brought with him, and his very funny way of explaining pictures. He was not a very methodical teacher, and was rather apt to give unexpected lessons on subjects in which he happened just then to be interested himself; but he had a clear simple way of explaining anything, which impressed it on the memory, and he took a great deal of pains in his own way. Bill was especially devoted3 to him. He often wished that Master Arthur could get very rich, and take him for his man-servant; he thought he should like to brush his clothes and take care of his sticks. He had a great interest in the growth of his moustache and whiskers. For some time past Master Arthur had had a trick of pulling at his upper lip whilst he was teaching; which occasionally provoked a whisper of "Moostarch, guvernor!" between two unruly members of his class; but never till to-night had Bill seen anything in that line which[197] answered his expectations. Now, however, as he stood before the young gentleman, the fire-light fell on such a distinct growth of hair, that Bill's interest became absorbed to the exclusion4 of all but the most perfunctory attention to the lesson on hand. Would Master Arthur grow a beard? Would his moustache be short like the pictures of Prince Albert, or long and pointed5 like that of some other great man whose portrait he had seen in the papers? He was calculating on the probable effect of either style, when the order was given to put away books, and then the thought which had been for a time diverted came back again—his walk home.
Poor Bill! his fears returned with double force from having been for awhile forgotten. He dawdled6 over the books, he hunted in wrong places for his cap and comforter, he lingered till the last boy had clattered8 through the doorway9, and left him with a group of elders who closed the proceedings10 and locked up the school. But after this further delay was impossible. The whole party moved out into the moonlight, and the Rector and his son, the schoolmaster and the teachers, commenced, a sedate11 parish gossip, whilst Bill trotted12 behind, wondering whether any possible or impossible business would take one of them his way. But when the turning point was reached, the Rector destroyed all his hopes.
[198]
"None of us go your way, I think," said he, as lightly as if there were no grievance13 in the case; "however, it's not far. Good-night, my boy!"
And so with a volley of good-nights, the cheerful voices passed on up the village. Bill stood till they had quite died away, and then when all was silent, he turned into the lane.
The cold night-wind crept into his ears, and made uncomfortable noises among the trees, and blew clouds over the face of the moon. He almost wished that there were no moon. The shifting shadows under his feet, and the sudden patches of light on unexpected objects, startled him, and he thought he should have felt less frightened if it had been quite dark. Once he ran for a bit, then he resolved to be brave, then to be reasonable; he repeated scraps14 of lessons, hymns15, and last Sunday's Collect, to divert and compose his mind; and as this plan seemed to answer, he determined16 to go through the Catechism, both question and answer, which he hoped might carry him to the end of his unpleasant journey. He had just asked himself a question with considerable dignity, and was about to reply, when a sudden gleam of moonlight lit up a round object in the ditch. Bill's heart seemed to grow cold, and he thought his senses would have forsaken17 him. Could [199]this be the head of ——? No! on nearer inspection18 it proved to be only a turnip19; and when one came to think of it, that would have been rather a conspicuous20 place for the murdered man's skull21 to have been lost in for so many years.
My hero must not be ridiculed22 too much for his fears. The terrors that visit childhood are not the less real and overpowering from being unreasonable23; and to excite them is wanton cruelty. Moreover, he was but a little lad, and had been up and down Yew-lane both in daylight and dark without any fears, till Bully24 Tom's tormenting25 suggestions had alarmed him. Even now, as he reached the avenue of yews26 from which the lane took its name, and passed into their gloomy shade, he tried to be brave. He tried to think of the good GOD Who takes care of His children, and to Whom the darkness and the light are both alike. He thought of all he had been taught about angels, and wondered if one were near him now, and wished that he could see him, as Abraham and other good people had seen angels. In short, the poor lad did his best to apply what he had been taught to the present emergency, and very likely had he not done so he would have been worse; but as it was, he was not a little frightened, as we shall see.
Yew-lane—cool and dark when the hottest sunshine lay beyond it—a loitering place for lovers—the [200]dearly-loved play-place of generations of children on sultry summer days—looked very grim and vault-like, with narrow streaks27 of moonlight peeping in at rare intervals28 to make the darkness to be felt! Moreover, it was really damp and cold, which is not favourable29 to courage. At a certain point Yew-lane skirted a corner of the churchyard, and was itself crossed by another road, thus forming a "four-want-way," where suicides were buried in times past. This road was the old high-road, where the mail coach ran, and along which, on such a night as this, a hundred years ago, a horseman rode his last ride. As he passed the church on his fatal journey did anything warn him how soon his headless body would be buried beneath its shadow? Bill wondered. He wondered if he were old or young—what sort of a horse he rode—whose cruel hands dragged him into the shadow of the yews and slew30 him, and where his head was hidden, and why. Did the church look just the same, and the moon shine just as brightly, that night a century ago? Bully Tom was right. The weathercock and moon sit still, whatever happens. The boy watched the gleaming high road as it lay beyond the dark aisle31 of trees, till he fancied he could hear the footfalls of the solitary32 horse—and yet, no! The sound was not upon the hard road, but nearer; it was not the clatter7 of hoofs33, but something—and a [201]rustle—and then Bill's blood seemed to freeze in his veins34, as he saw a white figure, wrapped in what seemed to be a shroud35, glide36 out of the shadow of the yews and move slowly down the lane. When it reached the road it paused, raised a long arm warningly towards him for a moment, and then vanished in the direction of the churchyard.
What would have been the consequence of the intense fright the poor lad experienced is more than anyone can say, if at that moment the church clock had not begun to strike nine. The familiar sound, close in his ears, roused him from the first shock, and before it had ceased he contrived37 to make a desperate rally of his courage, flew over the road, and crossed the two fields that now lay between him and home without looking behind him.
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1
zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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2
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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3
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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4
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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5
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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6
dawdled
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| v.混（时间）( dawdle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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8
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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9
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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10
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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11
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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12
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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13
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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14
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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15
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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16
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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17
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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18
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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19
turnip
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| n.萝卜，芜菁 | |
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20
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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21
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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22
ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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24
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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25
tormenting
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| 使痛苦的，使苦恼的 | |
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26
yews
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| n.紫杉( yew的名词复数 ) | |
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27
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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28
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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29
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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30
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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31
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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32
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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33
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
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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35
shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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36
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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37
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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