Hark to the clamour in that miry road,
Bounded and narrowed by yon vessel's load;
The lumbering2 wealth she empties round the place,
Package and parcel, hogshead, chest, and case;
While the loud seamen3 and the angry hind4,
Mingling5 in business, bellow6 to the wind.
CRABBE.
Mary staggered into the house. Mrs Jones placed her tenderly in a chair; and there stood bewildered by her side.
"Oh, father! father!" muttered she, "what have you done!-What must I do? must the innocent die?--or he--whom I fear--I fear--oh! what am I saying?" said she, looking round affrighted, and, seemingly reassured8 by Mrs Jones's countenance9, "I am so helpless, so weak,--but a poor girl after all. How can what is right? Father! you have always been so kind to me,--and you to be--never mind--never mind, all will come right in the grave."
"Save us, and bless us!" exclaimed Mrs Jones, "if I don't think she's gone out of her wits!"
"No, I am not!" said Mary, catching10 at the words, and with a strong effort controlling the mind she felt to be wandering, while the red blood flushed to scarlet11 the heretofore white cheek,--I'm not out of my senses; there is so much to be done--so much--and no one but me to do it, you know,-though I can't rightly tell what it is," looking up with bewilderment into Mrs Jones's face. "I must not go mad whatever comes--at least not yet. No!" (bracing herself up) "something may yet be done, and I must do it. Sailed! did you say? The John Cropper? Sailed?"
"Aye! she went out of dock last night, to be ready for the morning's tide."
"I thought she was not to sail till to-morrow," murmured Mary.
"So did Will (he's lodged12 here long, so we all call him 'Will')" replied Mrs Jones. The mate had told him so, I believe, and he never knew different till he got to Liverpool on Friday morning; but as soon as he heard, he gave up going to the Isle13 o' Man, and just ran over to Rhyl with the mate, one John Harris, as has friends a bit beyond Abergele; you may have heard him speak on him, for they are great chums, though I've my own opinion of Harris."
"And he's sailed?" repeated Mary, trying by repetition to realise the fact to herself.
"Aye, he went on board last night to be ready for the morning's tide, as I said afore, and my boy went to see the ship go down the river, and came back all agog14 with the sight. Here Charley, Charley!" She called out loudly for her son; but Charley was one of those boys who are never "far to seek," as the Lancashire people say, when anything is going on; a mysterious conversation, an unusual event, a fire, or a riot, anything in short; such boys are the little omnipresent people of this world.
Charley had, in fact, been spectator and auditor15 all this time; though for a little while he had been engaged in "dollying" and a few other mischievous16 feats17 in the washing line, which had prevented his attention from being fully18 given to his mother's conversation with the strange girl who had entered.
"Oh, Charley! there you are! Did you not see the John Cropper sail down the river this morning? Tell the young woman about it, for I think she hardly credits me."
"I saw her tugged19 down the river by a steam-boat, which comes to same thing," replied he.
"Oh! if I had but come last night!" moaned Mary. "But I never thought of it. I never thought but what he knew right when he said he would be back from the Isle of Man on Monday morning, and not afore--and now some one must die for my negligence20!"
"Die!" exclaimed the lad. "How?"
"Oh! Will would have proved an alibi,--but he's gone,--and what am I to do?"
"Don't give it up yet," cried the energetic boy, interested at once in the case; "let's have a try for him. We are but where we were, if we fail."
Mary roused herself. The sympathetic "we" gave her heart and hope. "But what can be done? You say he's sailed; what can be done?" But she spoke21 louder, and in a more life-like tone.
"No! I did not say he'd sailed; mother said that, and women know nought22 about such matters. You see" (proud of his office of instructor23, and insensibly influenced, as all about her were, by Mary's sweet, earnest, lovely countenance), "there's sand-banks at the mouth of the river, and ships can't get over them but at high water; especially ships of heavy burden, like the John Cropper. Now she was tugged down the river at low water, or pretty near, and will have to lie some time before the water will be high enough to float her over the banks. So hold up your head,--you've a chance yet, though, maybe, but a poor one.
"But what must I do?" asked Mary, to whom all this explanation had been a vague mystery.
"Do!" said the boy, impatiently, "why, have not I told you? Only women (begging your pardon) are so stupid at understanding about any thing belonging to the sea;--you must get a boat, and make all haste, and sail after him,--after the John Cropper. You may overtake her, or you may not. It's just a chance; but she's heavily laden25, and that's in. your favour. She'll draw many feet of water."
Mary had humbly26 and eagerly (oh, how eagerly!) listened to this young Sir Oracle's speech; but try as she would, she could only understand that she must make haste, and sail-somewhere.
"I beg your pardon" (and her little acknowledgment of inferiority in this speech pleased the lad, and made him her still more zealous27 friend). "I beg your pardon," said she, "but I don't know where to get a boat. Are there boatstands?"
"You're not long in Liverpool, I guess. Boat-stands! No; go down to the pier29,--any pier will do, and hire a boat,--you'll be at no loss when once you are there. Only make haste."
"Oh, you need not tell me that, if I but knew how," said Mary, trembling with eagerness. "But you say right,--I never was here before, and I don't know my way to the place you speak on; only tell me, and I'll not lose a minute."
"Mother!" said the wilful30 lad, "I'm going to show her the way to the pier; I'll be back in an hour,--or so," he added in a lower tone.
And before the gentle Mrs Jones could collect her scattered31 wits sufficiently32 to understand half of the hastily formed plan, her son was scudding33 down the street, closely followed by Mary's half-running steps.
Presently he slackened his pace sufficiently to enable him to enter into conversation with Mary, for once escaped from the reach of his mother's recalling voice, he thought he might venture to indulge his curiosity.
"Ahem!--What's your name? It's so awkward to be calling you young woman.'"
"My name is Mary,--Mary Barton," answered she, anxious to propitiate34 one who seemed so willing to exert himself in her behalf, or else she grudged35 every word which caused the slightest relaxation36 in her speed, although her chest seemed tightened37, and her head throbbing38, from the rate at which they were walking.
"And you want Will Wilson to prove an alibi--is that it?"
"Yes--oh , yes--can we not cross now?"
"No, wait a minute; it's the teagle hoisting39 above your bead41 I'm afraid of;--and who is it that's to be tried?"
"Jem; oh, lad! can't we get past?"
They rushed under the great ales quivering in the air above their heads and pressed onwards for a few minutes, till Master Charley saw fit to walk a little slower, and ask a few more questions.
"Mary, is Jem your brother, or your sweetheart, that you're so set upon saving him?"
"No--no," replied she, but with something of hesitation42, that made the shrewd boy yet more anxious to clear up the mystery.
"Perhaps he's your cousin, then? Many a girl has a cousin who has not a sweetheart."
"No, he's neither kith nor kin7 to me. What's the matter? What are you stopping for?" said she, with nervous terror, as Charley turned back a few steps, and peered up a side street.
"Oh, nothing to flurry you so, Mary. I heard you say to mother you had never been in Liverpool before, and if you'll only look up this street you may see the back windows of our Exchange. Such a building as yon is! with 'natomy hiding under a blanket, and Lord Admiral Nelson, and a few more people in the middle of the court I No I come here, as Mary, in her eagerness, was looking at any window that caught her eye first, to satisfy the boy. "Here then, now, you can see it. You can say, now, you've seen Liverpool Exchange."
"Yes, to be sure--it's a beautiful window, I'm sure. But are we near the boats? I'll stop as I come back, you know; only I think we'd better get on now.
"Oh! if the wind's in your favour you'll be down the river in no time, and catch Will, I'll be bound; and if it's not, why, you know the minute it took you to look at the Exchange will be neither here nor there.
Another rush onwards, till one of the long crossings near the Docks caused a stoppage, and gave Mary time for breathing, and Charley leisure to ask another question.
"You've never said where you come from?"
"Manchester," replied she.
"Eh, then! you've a power of things to see. Liverpool beats Manchester hollow, they say. A nasty, smoky hole, bean't it? Are you bound to live there?"
"Oh, yes! it's my home."
"Well, I don't think I could abide43 a home in the middle of smoke. Look there! now you see the river! That's something now you'd give a good deal for in Manchester. Look!"
And Mary did look, and saw down an opening made in the forest of masts belonging to the vessels44 in dock, the glorious river, along which white-sailed ships were gliding45 with the ensigns of all nations, not "braving the battle," but telling of the distant lands, spicy46 or frozen, that sent to that mighty47 mart for their comforts or their luxuries; she saw small boats passing to and fro on that glittering highway, but she also saw such puffs48 and clouds of smoke from the countless49 steamers that she wondered at Charley's intolerance of the smoke of Manchester. Across the swing-bridge, along the pier,--and they stood breathless by a magnificent dock, where hundreds of ships lay motionless during the process of loading and unloading. The cries of the sailors, the variety of languages used by the passers-by, and the entire novelty of the sight compared with anything which Mary had ever seen, made her feel most helpless and forlorn; and she clung to her young guide as to one who alone by his superior knowledge could interpret between her and the new race of men by whom she was surrounded,--for a new race sailors might reasonably be considered, to a girl who had hitherto seen none but inland dwellers50, and those for the greater part factory people.
In that new world of sight and sound, she still bore one prevailing51 thought, and though her eye glanced over the ships and the wide-spreading river, her mind was full of the thought of reaching Will.
"Why are we here?" asked she, of Charley. "There are no little boats about, and I thought I was to go in a little boat; those ships are not meant for short distances, are they?"
"To be sure not," replied he, rather contemptuously. But the John Cropper lay in this dock, and I know many of the sailors; and if I could see one I knew, I'd ask him to run up the mast, and see if he could catch a sight of her in the offing. If she's weighed her anchor, no use for your going, you know."
Mary assented52 quietly to this speech, as if she were as careless as Charley seemed now to be about her overtaking Will; but in truth her heart was sinking within her, and she no longer felt the energy which had hitherto upheld her. Her bodily strength was giving way, and she stood cold and shivering, although the noon-day sun beat down with considerable power on the shadeless spot where she was standing24.
"Here's Tom Bourne!" said Charley, and altering his manner from the patronising key in which he had spoken to Mary, he addressed a weather-beaten old sailor who came rolling along the pathway where they stood, his hands in his pockets, and his quid in his mouth, with very much the air of one who had nothing to do but look about him, and spit right and left; addressing this old tar53, Charley made known to him his wish in slang, which to Mary was almost inaudible, and quite unintelligible54, and which I am too much of a land-lubber to repeat correctly.
Mary watched looks and actions with a renovated55 keenness of perception.
She saw the old man listen attentively56 to Charley; she saw him eye her over from head to foot, and wind up his inspection57 with a little nod of approbation58 (for her very shabbiness and poverty of dress were creditable signs to the experienced old sailor), and then she watched him leisurely59 swing himself on to a ship in the basin, and, borrowing a glass, run up the mast with the speed of a monkey.
"He'll fall!" said she, in affright; clutching at Charley's arm, and judging the sailor, from his storm-marked face and unsteady walk on land, to be much older than he really was.
"Not he!" said Charley. "He's at the mast-head now. See! he's looking through his glass, and using his arms as steady as if he were on dry land. Why, I've been up the mast, many and many a time; only don't tell mother. She thinks I'm to be a shoemaker, but I've made up my mind to be a sailor; only there's no good arguing with a woman. You'll not tell her, Mary?"
"Oh, see!" exclaimed she (his secret was very safe with her, for, in fact, she had not heard it); see! he's coming down; he's down. Speak to him, Charley.
But, unable to wait another instant, she called out herself,
"Can you see the John Cropper? Is she there yet?"
"Aye, aye," he answered, and coming quickly up to them, he hurried them away to seek for a boat, saying the bar was already covered, and in an hour the ship would hoist40 her sails, and be off. "You've the win right against you, and must use oars60. No time to lose."
They ran to some steps leading down to the water. They beckoned61 to some watermen, who, suspecting the real state of the case, appeared in no hurry for a fare, but leisurely brought their boat along the stairs, as if it were a matter of indifference62 to them whether they were engaged or not, while they conversed63 together in few words, and in an under tone, respecting the charge they should make.
"Oh, pray make haste," called Mary. "I want you to take me to the John Cropper. Where is she, Charley? Tell them--I don't rightly know the words,--only make haste!"
"In the offing she is, sure enough, miss," answered one of the men, shoving Charley on one side, regarding him as too young to be a principal in the bargain.
"I don't think we can go, Dick," said he, with a wink64 to his companion; "there's the gentleman over at New Brighton as wants us."
"But, mayhap, the young woman will pay us handsome for giving her a last look at her sweetheart," interposed the other.
"Oh, how much do you want? Only make haste--I've enough to pay you, but every moment is precious," said Mary.
"Aye, that it is. Less than an hour won't take us to the mouth of the river, and she'll be off by two o'clock!"
Poor Mary's ideas of "plenty of money," however, were different to those entertained by the boatmen only fourteen or fifteen shillings remained out of the sovereign Margaret had lent her, and the boatmen imagining "plenty" to mean no less than several pounds, insisted upon receiving a sovereign (an exorbitant65 fare by-the-way, although reduced from their first demand of thirty shillings).
While Charley, with a boy's impatience66 of delay, and disregard to money, kept urging,
"Give it 'em, Mary; they'll none of them take you for less. It's your only chance. There's St Nicholas ringing one!"
"I've only got fourteen and ninepence," cried she, in despair, after counting over her money; "but I'll give you my shawl, and you can sell it for four or five shillings,--oh! won't that much do?" asked she, in such a tone of voice, that they must indeed have had hard hearts who could refuse such agonized67 entreaty68.
They took her on board.
And in less than five minutes she was rocking and tossing in a boat for the first time in her life, alone with two rough, hard-looking men.
收听单词发音 |
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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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2
lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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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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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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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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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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19
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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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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22
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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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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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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30
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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31
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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scudding
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| n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 ) | |
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propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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grudged
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| 怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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hoisting
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| 起重，提升 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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renovated
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| 翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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57
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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64
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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65
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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66
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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67
agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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68
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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