It was the high road to the village of Garsworth, wide, deeply rutted, and somewhat grass-grown, with a tall hedge of yellow-blossomed gorse on the one side, and on the other a ragged2, broken fence, over which leaned a man absorbed in meditation4, his eyes fixed5 upon the setting sun.
The fence, rotten and moss-tufted, ran along the edge of a little hill, the slope of which had been lately reaped, and was now covered with bristly yellow stubble, variegated6 by bare-looking patches of brownish earth.
At the bottom of the hill flowed the narrow river Gar, with its sluggish7 waters rolling lazily along between the low mud banks, bordered by rows of pollard willows8 and lush rank grasses which hid the burrows9 of the water-rats. Beyond, towards the distant hills, stretched the damp, melancholy10 fen3-lands, with their long lines of slimy ditches, still pools of black water, and scattered11 clumps12 of stunted13 trees. Still further away appeared a scanty14 fringe of forest, above which could be seen the square, grey tower of a church, and over all glared an angry red sky barred with thin lines of heavy clouds, looming15 intensely black against the accentuating16 crimson17 light behind.
An evil-looking scene it was, for over the brooding loneliness and desolation of the fen-lands flared18 the fierce scarlet19 of the sunset, turning the slender line of the river and the sombre pools of water to the tint20 of blood, as though they had been smitten21 with the Egyptian plague.
A chill wind, heavy with the unwholesome miasma22 of the fens23 was blowing over the moist earth, and across the plain floated a vaporous white mist, making the stunted trees look weird24 and spectral25 behind its shadowy veil.
The man, leaning over the fence, took a cigarette out of his mouth and shivered slightly.
"Ugh!" he muttered, with an uneasy shudder26, "it's like the Valley of the Shadow of Death." Then, replacing the cigarette, he continued contemplating27 the uncanny-looking landscape to which the term was singularly applicable.
It was a curious face upon which shone the red sunlight, being long and narrow, with lantern jaws28 and a thin, hawk29-like nose. Thread-like black eyebrows30 in a straight line above piercing dark eyes and a scanty black moustache twisted jauntily31 at the ends over tightly-closed lips. Curly hair, the colour of ebony, worn longer than usual, and touched at the temples with grey, appeared from under his soft wideawake, around which was twisted a blue handkerchief with white spots. A livid, cadaverous-looking face, with the haggard expression of one who had lived a fast life; nevertheless it appeared full of animation32 and nervous energy.
He was tall, being much above the average height, with sloping shoulders and a slender, well-knit figure, clad in a rough suit of grey homespun, which he wore with a certain natural grace. His feet were well-shaped and neatly33 shod in tan-coloured boots, and his hands, long and slender, were those of an artist.
Not strictly34 handsome, perhaps, but with a certain insolent35 dash of recklessness about him which suited his Spanish-looking face, and stamped him at once as a Bohemian. A man who cared for no one so long as his personal desires were gratified, a man who would stop at nothing to gratify those desires, in short, a man who had lived forty-five years in the world without making a single friend; which fact speaks for itself. A thorough scamp, ever on the edge of an abyss, yet by some miracle never losing his balance, Basil Beaumont had fascinated many men and women, but they always found his friendship too expensive to maintain; therefore the result was ever the same, they retired36, sooner or later, on some pretext37 or another, leaving him solitary38 and alone.
Mr. Beaumont was smoking a cigarette--he was always smoking cigarettes--morn, noon, and night those deadly little rolls of paper were between his thin lips, and though doctors warned him of the danger to his nerves, he laughed at their croakings.
"Nerves, my dear sir," he said lightly; "men in my position can't afford to have nerves; they are a luxury for the rich and foolish. Why should I have nerves? I don't drink; I don't run away with other men's wives; I don't fret39 over the unavoidable--bah! smoking is my one redeeming40 vice41."
He had a number of other vices42, however, as many young men found to their cost. True, he himself did not drink, but he led others to do so, nor did he covet43 his neighbour's wife, yet he was by no means averse44 to playing the part of Sir Pandarus of Troy, provided it was to his own interest to do so. Moreover, he gambled.
It was in this terrible passion--rarely, if ever conquered--that he found his greatest delight. The green cloth-covered table, the painted hieroglyphics45 of the cards, the hopes, the fears, the gains, the losses, were all to him but a representation of his daily life on a small scale. He gambled with men as he gambled with cards, meeting varied46 fortunes in both, and risking his luck as recklessly in the game of Life as in the game of baccarat. He was a scamp, a scoundrel, a blackleg of the deepest dye, bankrupt in pocket and in illusions; yet he always kept within the limits of the law, and, moreover, sinned in an eminently47 gentlemanly manner, which robbed the sordid48, feverish49 life he was leading of its most repulsive50 features.
Why this artificial man, who lived only in the glare of the gas-lamps, and, owl-like, shunned51 the searching light of the day, had come to such an out-of-the-way village as Garsworth was a puzzle, but nevertheless a puzzle easy of solution. His object was two-fold. In the first place, he had left London to escape the demands of persistent52 creditors53, and in the second, being a native of the dull little hamlet, he had returned to visit the scenes of his youth not seen by him for three-and-twenty years.
It was not a sentimental54 longing--no, Mr. Beaumont and sentiment had long since parted company; but Garsworth was a dead and alive place where no one would think of looking for him, so he could stay there in safety until he saw a chance of arranging his pecuniary55 affairs and leaving the Arcadia he detested56 for the London he loved.
An artist by profession, though he had not touched a brush for years, he found it necessary to resume his old employment as a reason for his sojourn57 in Garsworth, for the honest rustics58 were somewhat suspicious of Basil Beaumont, his character having been none of the best when he left his native place to seek his fortune. So he lived quietly at the principal inn of the village, dawdled59 about the fields, sketched60 picturesque61 landscapes in a desultory62 manner, and in the meantime corresponded with a dear brother hawk in Town as to his chances of return to the metropolis63.
His cigarette burnt down rapidly as he leaned over the fence thinking of his future, so throwing away the stump64, he took out his tobacco-pouch and a little book of rice paper, in order to manufacture another, talking to himself meanwhile as is the fashion of solitary men.
"Two weeks," he said musingly65, while he deftly66 rolled the tobacco in his slender fingers, "two weeks in this blessed place--well, there's one good thing, the rest will do me good, and I'll go back to Town as steady as a rock; the medicine is disagreeable, but the result will be excellent. What bad luck I've had lately--everything seems against me. I'll have to make a big effort to get some cash, or I'll end my days in a workhouse--ugh!" shivering again, "not that--God, how I dread poverty! Never mind," he went on gaily67, shrugging his shoulders, "there are plenty of fools in this world, and as everything was created for a special purpose, I presume le bon Dieu made fools to feather clever men's nests."
He laughed softly at this cynicism, then, lighting68 the cigarette, placed it in his mouth and resumed his soliloquy.
"Forty-five and still living on my wits. Ah, Basil, my friend, you've been an awful fool, and yet, if I had to live my life over again, I don't know that I would act differently. Circumstances have been too strong for me. With a certain income I might have been an honest man, but Fate--pish!--why do I blame that unhappy deity69 whom men always make a scapegoat70 for their own shortcomings? It's myself, and none other, I should curse. Well, well, rich or poor, honest man or scoundrel, I'll go with all the rest of my species through the valley of the shadow."
He raised his eyes once more to the melancholy scene before him, when suddenly his quick ear caught the sound of footsteps coming briskly along the road, and he smiled to himself as the invisible pedestrian began to whistle "Garryowen."
"Plenty of spirits," he muttered, flicking71 the ash off his cigarette, "or perhaps not enough, seeing he has to cheer himself with Irish melodies."
The footsteps came nearer, and shortly afterwards a man paused in the centre of the road as he saw the still figure leaning indolently against the fence. A fair-haired ruddy-faced man, of medium height, arrayed in a walking suit, with a knapsack on his shoulder, and a heavy stick in his hand.
"Hullo!" he cried, tapping his stick on the ground, "how far is it to the village?"
Basil Beaumont started slightly when he heard the voice, then an evil smile crossed his face as he turned lazily round to answer the question.
"About one mile, Nestley," he replied distinctly.
As he spoke72 the pedestrian gave a cry, and with a muttered oath sprang forward to where the other stood.
"Beaumont!" he whispered, recoiling73 at the sight of that mocking, Mephistophelean countenance74 smiling at his emotion.
"At your service," said Beaumont, carelessly putting his hands in his pockets. "And what are you doing in this part of the country, Doctor Duncan Nestley?"
Nestley did not answer, but stared fixedly75 at the artist as if he were turned into stone, but the other met his gaze steadily76 and seemed rather amused at the scrutiny77.
"You take a long time to recognise an old friend," he observed at length, blowing a thin wreath of smoke.
"Friend," echoed Nestley, with a deep sigh, recovering himself. "Yes, you were my friend, Basil Beaumont."
"Why 'were'?" asked the artist coolly.
"Because it was you who so nearly ruined my life," replied Nestley in a deep voice.
Beaumont smiled in a saturnine78 manner.
"I," he said in a gibing79 tone. "My good fellow you do me too much honour. I would never dare to ruin so celebrated80 an individual as Duncan Nestley, F.R.C.S., and deuce knows what other letters of the alphabet."
The pedestrian turned on him fiercely, and, stepping forward, confronted him with clenched81 fists. The artist never blenched82, but eyed his angry antagonist83 steadily. So Nestley, with all the wrath84 dying out of his face, fell back into his former position with a dreary85 laugh.
"You have the one virtue86 of a scoundrel, I see," he said bitterly. "Courage."
"Man of one virtue and ten thousand crimes," quoted Beaumont, easily. "Faith, it's something to have even one virtue in this degenerate87 age. Where are you going?" he added, as Nestley turned away.
"Going?" echoed the doctor, fiercely. "Anywhere, so long as it is away from you."
Beaumont raised his eyebrows in affected88 surprise, then, shrugging his shoulders, took out his watch.
"It is now between five and six o'clock," he said, putting it back again, "and it will be dark by the time we reach Garsworth, which is the nearest village. I am staying there, but if you choose to go back again in order to avoid the moral leper, I daresay you'll reach Shunton by twelve o'clock."
"I'm not going with you," reiterated89 Nestley, resolutely90, as the artist stepped into the road.
"'Nobody axed you, sir,' she said," retorted Beaumont, with a sneer91, sauntering on. "Good-bye; a pleasant journey."
Nestley looked at the sky, out of which the red light was rapidly dying. A few stars glimmered92 in the pale flush of colour, and the chill breeze was growing colder while the mists lay over the fen lands like a thick white veil. He was cold and hungry, so the prospect93 of getting something to eat and a night's rest instead of trudging94 back wearily to Shunton, decided95 him. He shook himself impatiently, made a few steps forward, then paused irresolutely96.
"Bah! Why should I mind?" he said angrily to himself. "Beaumont can do me no harm now. After five years I hardly see how his influence can affect me. I'll chance it, anyhow."
Away in the distance he could see the tall form of the artist strolling easily along, so, having paused a moment to light his pipe, he strode rapidly after him. Even as he did so there flashed across his mind, with the rapidity of lightning, the phrase, "Lead us not into temptation," and a shiver, not caused by the chill wind, passed over his body, but he dismissed the warning with an uneasy laugh and walked on quickly in the track of his evil genius.
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1
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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fen
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| n.沼泽，沼池 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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7
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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8
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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burrows
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| n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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11
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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16
accentuating
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| v.重读( accentuate的现在分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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17
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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18
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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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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21
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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miasma
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| n.毒气；不良气氛 | |
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fens
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| n.（尤指英格兰东部的）沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 ) | |
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24
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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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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27
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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40
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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41
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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42
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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43
covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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44
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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45
hieroglyphics
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| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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46
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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47
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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48
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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49
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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50
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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51
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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53
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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54
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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55
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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56
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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58
rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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59
dawdled
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| v.混（时间）( dawdle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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61
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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62
desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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63
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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64
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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65
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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66
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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69
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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70
scapegoat
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| n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊 | |
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71
flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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72
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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73
recoiling
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| v.畏缩( recoil的现在分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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74
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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75
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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76
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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77
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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saturnine
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| adj.忧郁的，沉默寡言的，阴沉的，感染铅毒的 | |
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79
gibing
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| adj.讥刺的，嘲弄的v.嘲笑，嘲弄( gibe的现在分词 ) | |
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80
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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81
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
blenched
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| v.（因惊吓而）退缩，惊悸( blench的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变白，（使）变苍白 | |
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83
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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84
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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85
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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87
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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88
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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89
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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91
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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92
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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94
trudging
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的现在分词形式） | |
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95
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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96
irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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