CHAPTER XXXI

Rose was in the boat alone with her aunt. Neither being in the mood for talk, they ran silently down the broadening stream without a word. The paddles dipped and rose; the evening shadows crept forth¹, as it were, out of the earlier darkness of the woods, and again, as once before, they sped along in the gloom of an overcast² night.

The same soft odors of earth and spruce, the peculiar³ smell of broken water, were as they had been. Once more the hills seemed closing in upon them. The clouded skies overhead appeared to be almost within touch. Then the white flash and roll and strange voices of the rapids went by them like the mysterious uncertainties⁴ of a dream.

All was as it had been three weeks before: all but Rose herself. She was under other skies, in the strong tide of a mightier⁵ current. She locked her hands, and set herself to put it all aside, and to win again the mood of peace and serenity⁶ which these three weeks had so disturbed. It would not come back.

As for Anne, she lay against the piled-up luggage, 402silent and thought-bound. She was in the dreary⁷ company of pain, and smiled sadly as she glanced back over the years in which it had been her foe⁸ or friend, and again, as often before, wondered how long it would last, and she be called upon to bear it with ever-weakening physical power to make the fight less easy.

At the landing, and while they were arranging to go to the station, a man came down the bank and asked for Mr. Lyndsay.

“That is my name. How are you, Carstairs? What is it?”

“This way, sir, a moment. Could you let Michelle come with me for half an hour,—or Tom. The body of a man has come ashore⁹ on Caribou¹⁰ Bar. They have taken it up to my barn. Some of the men say it is Joe Colkett. We think one of your people would know.”

Lyndsay called Michelle, and, leaving proper directions, went away with him.

In the barn, after twenty minutes’ walk, he found a number of men, and the local magistrate¹¹. Two lanterns lit dimly the threshing-floor.

The men stood about silent; the horses in the stalls beyond changed feet, and the noises of the never-quiet river came up through the night.

On the floor lay the body. Lyndsay took the lantern, and bent¹² over it.

“Yes, it is Joe! Poor fellow!”

“He is badly cut up by them rocks,” said Michelle, “and his foot.”

“Was it rocks?” asked Lyndsay. “The skull¹³ seems 403broken. Poor fellow!” Then he took the magistrate aside, and they talked long and earnestly.

“Yes, I got your message. Thursday night one of the wardens¹⁴ hailed a dugout, and got no answer. That was below your camp.”

“I passed it also, farther up—two people. It must have been that woman and Joe. They fired their house,—why, I do not know,—and got off with their plunder¹⁵.”

“We shall catch her. Do you think she killed Joe?”

“Perhaps! As like as not. But, if that woman is alive, you will not catch her.”

“I shall wire to Quebec.”

“And you will let me know?”

“Certainly.”

“Carington’s evidence you can get, of course. I really have none to give myself. The woman you will never get.” And they did not. No dugout was found, and whether she too was lost or escaped to breed further mischief¹⁶, none know.

Lyndsay walked swiftly back, and rejoined his people at the station. When at last they were running at speed between Quebec and Montreal, Anne said:

“Archie, what was it last night? Why did they want you?”

Then he told her, as he had already told his wife, the sad ending of poor, simple Joe.

“It is a miserable¹⁷ business,” she returned. “Really, Archie, the morals which come at the end of life’s fables¹⁸ are pretty useless for those most concerned.”

404On reaching home, Anne found a letter from Carington. He wrote:

That astonishing woman—Dorothy Maybrook—has spent most of her time with me. She calmly told Ellett to go a-fishing. He went. I have been admirably nursed, and, as you may suppose, have not lacked conversation. Who ‘p’ints’ Hiram, in her absence, I do not know.

There has been no news of the Colketts. It is but too probable that she killed the man, and got away in safety. I shall hereafter entertain a profound respect for the intelligence of crime.

It is great fun to hear Ellett and Dorothy. Do write to me—and say pleasant things to all of those dear, good people of yours. Tell Miss Rose I am not too badly crippled to ask for a new place as bowman.
Yours, etc.

1 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 overcast   

adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天

参考例句：

• The overcast and rainy weather found out his arthritis.阴雨天使他的关节炎发作了。
• The sky is overcast with dark clouds.乌云满天。

3 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

4 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

5 mightier   

adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其

参考例句：

• But it ever rises up again, stronger, firmer, mightier. 但是，这种组织总是重新产生，并且一次比一次更强大，更坚固，更有力。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
• Do you believe that the pen is mightier than the sword? 你相信笔杆的威力大于武力吗？

6 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

7 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

8 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

9 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

10 caribou   

n.北美驯鹿

参考例句：

• Afar off he heard the squawking of caribou calves.他听到远处有一群小驯鹿尖叫的声音。
• The Eskimos played soccer on ice and used balls filled with caribou hair and grass.爱斯基摩人在冰上踢球，他们用的是驯鹿的毛发和草填充成的球。

11 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

12 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

13 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

14 wardens   

n.看守人( warden的名词复数 )；管理员；监察员；监察官

参考例句：

• Air raid wardens in tin hats self-importantly stalked the streets. 空袭民防队员戴着钢盔神气活现地走在街上昂首阔步。 来自辞典例句
• The game wardens tranquillized the rhinoceros with a drugged dart. 猎物保护区管理员用麻醉射器让犀牛静了下来。 来自辞典例句

15 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

16 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

17 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

18 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句