"What, that?" he began. "As if that were anything! Why, Miss Rowland—" His emotions swept his power of utterance2 away from him, and he stood, hoe in hand, helpless under the spell of her storm-swept beauty and appealing womanhood. He wanted to aid her more materially. He wanted to offer his services in behalf of her brothers. He would have given his life—in his eyes it was a futile3 thing at best—for her cause; and yet he knew himself to be helpless. A woman's intuition is a marvelous thing, and when it permits itself to fathom4 a man's love it is as sure as the law of gravitation. She understood. Her dawning comprehension beamed faintly in her stricken face. He saw her breast rise tremulously and fall.
"I think I know what you started to say," she faltered5. "And it is very, very sweet of you when you have known us such a short time. Isn't it strange that it should be like this? I know I can trust you—something makes me feel sure of it—and you have impressed my father the same way, and even critical Aunt Zilla."
He leaned on his hoe-handle. He now felt more sure of his utterance. "I want to help you," he cried. "I know how terribly you must feel over this matter. You are too young and gentle and frail6 for this dastardly thing to rest on you. I must do something to beat it off. I—"
"There really is nothing," she half sobbed7. "As much as I love my brothers I'd rather see them dead than on trial for murder. Why, Mr. Brown, the sheriff wants to put them in that dirty jail at Carlin! I saw it once. The cells are iron cages in the center of big rooms walled about with brick. Oh, oh, oh!"
He longed to comfort her, but there was nothing that he could say. The keenest pain of his entire life seemed to be wrenching8 his heart from his body. The still fields, the slanting9 sunlight on the long rows of cotton-plants, the cloud-draped mountains, grimly mocked him in their placid10 inactivity when it seemed to him that the very universe ought to be striving in her behalf.
"Oh, it will be only a question of time," she moaned. "They can't hide in the mountains long, and if Tobe Keith dies—oh, oh! if he dies—"
She had suddenly noticed a horseman dismounting at the gate. He was fat, rather gross-looking, of medium height, and middle-aged11. His hair and eyes were dark, and he had a heavy brown mustache twisted to points, which was after the manner of the mountaineers.
"It is Albert Frazier, the sheriff's brother," Mary explained.
"The sheriff's brother!" Charles started.
"We needn't be afraid of him," Mary said, somewhat confused. "In fact, I think he has come to try to help me. He—he is a—a friend of mine. He has been paying attention to me for almost a year. He sees me. He is coming here. Wait. Don't go to work yet. I want you to meet him."
"Paying attention to you!" Charles's subconsciousness12 spoke13 the words rather than his inert14 lips. It may have been the sheer blight15 in his face and eyes that caused the girl to offer a blushing explanation of her words.
"I don't mean that we are engaged—actually engaged," she said. "It is only a sort of—of understanding. He says he loves me. He has done us a great many favors. You see he has influence in various ways. But I have never really encouraged him to—to—You know what I mean. But he is very persistent16 and very hot-tempered, domineering, too. But, oh, what does that matter—what does anything matter? Right now he may be coming to tell us that—that Tobe Keith is dead."
Charles said nothing, for Frazier was near at hand. His keen brown eyes rested on Charles, half inquiringly, half suspiciously. He carried a riding-whip with which he lashed17 the horse-hairs from his trousers with a quick, irritated stroke.
"Good morning," he said, as he tipped his broad-brimmed felt hat. "Out here giving instructions, eh? I heard you'd hired help."
She made a failure of the smile she tried to force. It was a pale, piteous pretense18. "Mr. Frazier—Mr. Brown," she introduced them.
Frazier did not offer his hand, and so Charles did not remove his own from his hoe-handle. He simply nodded. It would have been hard to do more, for instinctively19 he disliked the man. The feeling must have been returned, for Frazier all but sneered20 contemptuously.
"I heard of Mr. Brown at the hotel in town," he said. "Circus man, eh. You fellows are always dropping in on us mountain folks. Well, well, we need your help now in the fields. Niggers are no good."
"Have you heard about my brothers?" Mary here broke in.
"Yes. That's what I rode out for, Mary. I knew you'd be crazy. You are funny that way—as if you can keep boys like these two down."
"But how is Keith?" Mary reached forward and caught the lapel of his coat entreatingly21. She appeared quite unconscious of what she was doing, and as he answered Frazier took her frail fingers into his burly clasp, and for a moment held them caressingly22, a glint of passion in his eyes. Had she been his wife the sight could not have been more painful to Charles. It did not excite his anger; somehow it only heaped fresh despair upon the depression which had almost unmanned him.
"Oh, Keith? Yes, I knew that would be the first question," Frazier said. "And I made special inquiry23 before I left on that point, for everything depends on it, of course. Well, little girl, nobody can possibly tell yet. Our doctors in town are not expert surgeons, and they can't decide just yet, it seems. The ball is lodged24 in the stomach somewhere, and they seem to be afraid to probe for it. It was a good-sized piece of cold lead and the fellow may kick the bucket any minute. You see—"
"Stop! She is fainting!" Charles cried.
He sprang forward, but Frazier had put his rough arm about her and began to fan the ghastly face which now rested on his breast.
"By God! so she is!" Frazier said. "Get some water, man. Quick! I can hold her, all right!"
"No, no, don't go!" said Mary, as she opened her eyes, drew herself erect25, and stood away from Frazier. "I felt faint, but it is all gone now. Nothing is the matter with me. Go on! Tell me about my brothers."
Frazier glanced at Charles, half smiled, and shrugged26 his shoulders.
"Oh, you know as much about them as I do, I reckon," he said. "They came this way. I know where they are by this time. I know, but my brother doesn't," and Frazier laughed significantly. "You see it is like this, little girl; my brother happens not to be on to these trips of mine out here to see you. I have my reasons, and good ones at that, for not letting him know. There is a part of my father's estate that is to be divided when either me or John marries, and if he thought that I was thinking of such a thing it might upset him a little. At any rate, he is in the dark about us, so when he started out this morning after your brothers I made it my business to throw him clean off the track. I told him that they had gone exactly the opposite way and that I was sure they would take a train for the West at Tifton, and show him a clean pair of heels."
"Then—then he won't look for them here in the mountains?" Mary panted.
"Not for a while, anyway," Frazier returned. "And that is what I came to tell you, little woman. I'm no fool and I am going to do everything in my reach to keep the boys out of John's clutch till we can tell how Keith gets on. John and I have worked together in tracking men down, and he doesn't dream that I am against him in this. Thanks to me, he and his deputies are working on a false scent27 altogether, and I'll keep them at it if I turn the world over. You can depend on me, little girl. I'll keep you posted. The boys will be safe where they are for a while, if you will keep them fed."
"But do you think Keith will live?" Mary demanded, tremulously.
"The Lord only knows," Frazier said. "He is awfully28 low, it seems to me. I reckon there is no use fooling you as to that. You may get bad news any minute. But even if he dies we'll manage somehow to slip the boys away. I know a feller now in the West. I get letters from him. Fifteen years ago he shot a man in—"
"Don't, don't tell me about it!" Mary pleaded, her agonized29 eyes turning to Charles, as if for protection that was not available from any other source.
"No, what is the use of all that?" Charles blurted30 out.
"Don't chip in here!" Frazier thundered. "What do you mean by breaking into my talk? Get back to your work! Are you paid to stand here idle?"
There was nothing he could say, and Charles dropped his head for a moment. Mary was staring at him blankly. So vast was the tragedy hovering31 over her that she quite failed to sense the tension between the two men.
"Come on, let's go to the house," went on Frazier, continuing to scowl32 at Charles even while he was putting his arm about the girl. "I have to see your father about some money he wants to borrow at the bank. He wants me to indorse a note for him."
"You know what to do, Mr. Brown," Mary said. "It will take you several days to finish the cotton. After that we'll decide what next to do."
Charles doffed33 his hat and bowed as she turned away, Frazier's arm still about her waist. He went to the unfinished row of cotton-plants and began to work. His back was turned to the receding34 pair. How different his outlook was from that of the day before! Then a veritable new existence seemed to have opened out before him, an existence that was a divinely bestowed35 transition from sordid36 misery37 to far-reaching happiness. All the ills of life seemed to have taken wing, leaving him free to grow and expand as the plants he was nurturing38; but now there was nothing to face but the grim fact that he was a drudging outcast from conventional civilization. As he toiled39 on his breast ached under a pain that was superphysical. Had he brought it on himself? he wondered. Was all this the inevitable40 punishment for the reckless folly41 of his youth? It might be so, he told himself, and the sacrifice he had made for William and Celeste and Ruth was not sufficient. He had caused his dying mother great mental distress42; he had led young men astray; he had been ostracized43 by his club and college fraternity; he had been sentenced by a judge in a police court; he had disgraced his family. He ceased working and looked toward the house. Mary and Frazier were still in sight. The heavy arm was still about the slender waist. The fellow bore himself with the air of a man confident of the prize he was winning, and yet unconscious of its inestimable value. Charles stood staring till they disappeared in the house, then he resumed his work, but without any part of the interest of the day before. A wonderful thing had happened to him. He had scoffed44 all his life at the idea of a man's supreme45 devotion to any particular woman, and yet within only a few hours he had found himself bound hand and foot, mind and soul, to a young girl he had never seen before. What had brought it about? Ah, she was suffering and he was suffering! It was the kinship of his soul to hers. But what could come of it? he asked, gloomily. Nothing, not even if she were to withhold46 her love from her present suitor, for Charles could never prove himself worthy47 of her. She belonged to a proud old family, and he was virtually a nameless man. For William's sake he had promised to obliterate48 himself, and he must keep his promise. He toiled on. The sun was hot and the perspiration49 oozed50 from him and dampened his clothing. He worked with the despair of a shackled51 convict bent52 on forgetting all that lay beyond his prison walls.
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1
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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2
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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3
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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5
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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6
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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7
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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8
wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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9
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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10
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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11
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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12
subconsciousness
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| 潜意识；下意识 | |
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13
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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14
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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15
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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16
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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17
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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18
pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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20
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
entreatingly
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| 哀求地，乞求地 | |
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caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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23
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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24
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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25
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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26
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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27
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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28
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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29
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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30
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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32
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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33
doffed
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| v.脱去，（尤指）脱帽( doff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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35
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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37
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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38
nurturing
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| 养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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39
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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40
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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41
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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42
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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43
ostracized
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| v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥 | |
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44
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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46
withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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47
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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48
obliterate
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| v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去 | |
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49
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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50
oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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51
shackled
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| 给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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