As luck would have it, the only piece that was not his was the Moor4's most characteristic feature, the knob of firs that made it a landmark5 for miles round. While they still stood men could still talk of and point at Boarzell, but when he had cut them down, grubbed up the gorse at their roots, ploughed over their place—then Boarzell would be lost, swallowed up in Odiam; it would be at most only a name, perhaps not even that. Sometimes Reuben shook his fist at the fir clump and muttered, "I'll have you yet, you see if I d?an't, surelye."
Meantime he devoted6 his attention to the land he had just acquired. The Grandturzel inclosure was put under cultivation7 like the rest of Boarzell, and a stiff, tough, stony8 ground it proved, reviving all Reuben's love of a fight. He was glad to have once more, as he put it, a piece of land he could get his teeth into. Realf could not help a half resentful admiration9 when he saw his father-in-law's ploughs tearing through the flints, tumbling into long chocolate furrows10 what he had always looked upon as an irreclaimable wilderness11.
He accepted his position with a fairly good grace—to complain would have made things worse for Tilly and the children. He was inclined privately12 to scoff13 at some of Reuben's ideas on farming, but even as he did so he realised the irony14 of it. He might have done otherwise, yes, but he was kicked out of his farm, the servant of the man whose methods he thought ridiculous.
Reuben on his side thought Realf a fool. He despised him for failing to lift Grandturzel out of adversity, as he had lifted Odiam. He would not have kept him on[Pg 425] as bailiff if he had thought there would have otherwise been any chance of his accepting Odiam's terms. He disliked seeing him about the place, and did not find—as the neighbourhood pictured he must—any satisfaction in watching his once triumphant15 rival humbly16 performing the duties of a servant on the farm that used to be his own. Reuben's hatreds17 were not personal, they were merely a question of roods and acres, and when that side of them was appeased18, nothing remained. They were, like almost everything else of his, a question of agriculture, and having now settled Realf agriculturally he had no grudge19 against him personally.
About this time old Beatup died. He was Odiam's first hand, and had seen the farm rise from sixty acres and a patch on Boarzell to two hundred acres and nearly the whole Moor. Reuben was sorry to lose him, for he was an old-fashioned servant—which meant that he gave much in the way of work and asked little in the way of wages or rest. The young men impudently20 demanded twenty shillings a week, wanted afternoons in the town, and complained if he worked them overtime21—there had never been such a thing as overtime till board schools were started.
However, of late Beatup had been of very little use. He was some years younger than Reuben, but he looked quite ten years older, and his figure was almost exactly like an S. The earth had used him hardly, steaming his bones into strange shapes and swellings, parching22 his skin to something dark and crackled like burnt paper, filling him with stiffness and pains. Reuben had straightened his shoulders, which had drooped23 a little after David's death, and once more carried his old age proudly, as the crown of a hale and strenuous24 life.
He looked forward to William coming back and settling down at Odiam. It would be good to have companionship again. The end of the war was in sight—only a guerilla campaign was being waged among[Pg 426] the kopjes, Kruger had fled from Pretoria, and everyone talked of Peace.
At last Peace became an accomplished25 fact. Reuben could not help a few disloyal regrets that his corn-growing had been in vain, but he consoled himself with the thought that now he would have William back in a few weeks. He expected a letter from him, and grew irritable26 when none came. Billy had not been so good about writing since David's death, but his father thought that he at least might have written to announce his return. As things were, he did not know when to expect him. He supposed he was bound to get his discharge, and he would have heard if anything had happened to him. Why did not William hurry home to share Odiam's greatness with his old father?
At last the letter came. Reuben took it into the oast-barn to read it. His hands trembled as he tore the envelope, and there was a dimness in his eyes, so that he could scarcely make out the big printing hand. But it was not the dimness of his eyes which was responsible for the impossible thing he saw; at first he thought it must be, and rubbed them—yet the unthinkable was still there. William was not coming back at all.
"This place suits me, and I think I could do well for myself out here. I feel I should get on better if I was my own master.... She was good and sensible-like, and looked as if she could manage things. So I married her.... We're starting up on a little farm near Jo'burg ... I can't see it matters her being Dutch ... fifty acres of pasture ... ten head of cattle ... niggers to work ..."
... The words danced and swam before Reuben, with black heaving spaces between that grew wider and wider, till at last they swallowed him up.
For the first time in his life he had fainted.
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1
covetously
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| adv.妄想地，贪心地 | |
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2
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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3
wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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4
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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5
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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6
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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7
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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8
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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9
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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10
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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12
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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13
scoff
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| n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽 | |
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14
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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15
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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16
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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17
hatreds
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| n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事 | |
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18
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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19
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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20
impudently
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21
overtime
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| adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地 | |
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22
parching
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| adj.烘烤似的，焦干似的v.（使）焦干， （使）干透( parch的现在分词 )；使（某人）极口渴 | |
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23
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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25
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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26
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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