A few days later Mary left on horseback immediately after breakfast. From Rowland, Charles learned that she was going to see certain persons who owned near-by farms, with the hope of borrowing money for the removal of the wounded man to Atlanta and for his treatment there by the famous surgeon, Doctor Elliot.
Charles was at work, hoeing corn, when from the thicket1 bordering the field Kenneth and Martin stealthily emerged and joined him, having crept around from the barn.
"It is all right," Kenneth said, with an assuring smile. "Nobody is in sight on the road for a mile either way. We can dodge3 back any minute at the slightest sound. It's hell, Brown, to stay there like a pig being fattened4 for the killing5. This is monotonous6, I tell you. I can't stand it very long. That man must get to Atlanta. Mary is off this morning to borrow cash for it. Our credit is gone. Nobody will indorse for the old man but Albert Frazier, and I think his name is none too good here lately."
"He will get the money for sister, see if he doesn't," Martin spoke7 up, plaintively8. "She is trying to keep him from it, though; that's why she went off this morning. She doesn't care for him—she doesn't—she doesn't! She knows what he is. She couldn't love a man like that. I hate him. He claims to be helping9 us, and he is, I reckon, but he has an object in view, and I'd die rather than have him gain it."
"No, I don't want her to marry him, either." Kenneth's voice had a touch of genuine manliness10 in it which Charles noticed for the first time. Moreover, his face was very grave. He shrugged11 his shoulders and flushed slightly as he went on. "I've been watching you, Brown. Having nothing else to do all day long, I've watched you at your work and seen you come and go from the field to the house and back. I envy you. To tell you the God's truth, I'm sick and tired of the way I've been living. They say I am responsible for Martin being in this mess, too. I reckon I am, and I know I am the cause of sister's worry and the disgrace of all this on the family. They say an honest confession12 is good for the soul, and I say to you that if this damned thing passes over I'm going to take a different course. I see the pleasure you get out of working, and I am going to work. The other thing is not what it is cracked up to be."
Kenneth's voice had grown husky, and he cleared his throat and coughed; the light of shame still shone in his eyes.
"He means it," Martin said, throwing his arm about his brother and leaning on him affectionately. "Last night when he found me awake he came over to my corner and sat down and talked. He said he'd got so he couldn't sleep sound, either. It was wonderful the way he talked, Mr. Brown. I didn't know Ken2 was like that. He talked about mother and about sister's brave fight against so many odds—and, may I tell him, Ken? You know what I mean."
"I don't care what you say," Kenneth answered. He was seated on the ground, his eyes resting on the gray roof of the house which could be seen above the trees, outlined against the blue sky and drifting white clouds. "I'm not ashamed of anything I said."
"Why, he said," Martin went on, "that he admired you more than any man he had ever run across. He said what you told him about how you used to drink and gamble—when you could have kept it to yourself—and how you had quit it all and put it behind you because it was the sensible thing to do—Ken said that was the strongest argument he had ever heard, and that he liked you because you seemed to want him to do the same thing."
"I did appreciate that talk, Brown," Kenneth admitted. "You put it to me in a different light from any one else. You spoke like a man that had burnt himself at a fire, and was warning others to stay away from it. I don't care where you come from or what you were when you landed here, you are a gentleman. You have made me feel ashamed of myself, and I am man enough to say so. I've been bluffing13 in this thing. I have felt it as much as Martin, but wouldn't let on. I've not been asleep all the time when he thought I was. God only knows how I've lain awake and what I've been through in my mind."
Suddenly Kenneth rose; his face was full and dark with suppressed emotion, and he stalked away toward the barn.
"He is not like he used to be," Martin remarked, softly, his eyes on his brother. "All this has had a big effect on him. It is strange, but I often try to comfort him now. He is worried about Albert Frazier."
"About him?" Charles exclaimed, under his breath.
"Yes. He doesn't like to feel that we are in his power so completely. He is afraid sister will marry him, and she will, Mr. Brown, if she fails to get that money elsewhere. I don't think she really wants to marry him. She pretends to like him, but that is all put on to fool me and Ken. He is working for us. Every day he tells the sheriff something to throw him off our track. He actually forged a letter that he showed to his brother which he claimed was from a friend in Texas saying that me and Ken had been seen at Forth14 Worth, on our way West. When sister told Ken that it made him mad. A week ago he would have chuckled15 over it, but now he hates it because it sort o' binds16 sister to Frazier. A man that will fool his own brother like that is not the right sort for a sweet girl like my sister to live with all her life. Father wouldn't care much, but Ken and I would. We have been running with a tough crowd, but we know that we've got good blood in our veins17."
Presently Martin left, went to keep his brother company, and Charles resumed his plodding18 work in the young corn. He gave himself up to gloomy meditation19. What a strange thing his life had been! How queer it was that nothing prior to his arrival there in the mountains now claimed his interest. William, Celeste, Ruth, old Boston friends, college chums, business associates—all had retired20 from his consciousness, almost as if they had never existed. The fortunes of this particular family wholly absorbed him. He could have embraced Martin while the boy was talking, because of his resemblance in voice and features to Mary. He respected Kenneth for his fresh resolutions, and pitied him as he had once pitied himself. His hoe tinkled21 like a bell, at times, on the small round stones buried in the mellow22 soil. The mountain breeze fanned his hot brow. Accidentally he cut down a young plant of corn, and all but shuddered23 as he wondered if it, too, could feel, think, and suffer. He saw a busy cluster of red ants, and left them undisturbed. They were sinking a shaft24, he knew not how deep, in the earth. One by one they brought to the surface tiny bits of clay or sand, rolled them down a little embankment, and hurried away for other burdens. That they thought, planned, and calculated he could not doubt. He himself was a monster too great in size for their comprehension. Had he stepped upon them their universe would have gone out of existence. He wondered if they loved one another, if their social system would have permitted one of their number to go into voluntary exile and in that exile to find a joy never before comprehended.
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1
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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2
ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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3
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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4
fattened
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| v.喂肥( fatten的过去式和过去分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
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5
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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7
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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8
plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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9
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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10
manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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11
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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12
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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13
bluffing
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| n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式 | |
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14
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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17
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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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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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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21
tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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22
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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23
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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