Day widened into its first perfection as we moved down the highroad toward a near fork whose right was to lead Harry7 and his solemn cortége southward, while the left should be our eastward8 course. Camille and I rode horseback, side by side, with no one near enough to smile at my sentimental9 laudations of the morning's splendors10, or at her for repaying my eloquence11 with looks so full of tender worship, personal acceptance and self-bestowal, that to tell of them here would make as poor a show as to lift a sea-flower out of the sea; they call for piccolo notes and I am no musician.
The familiar little leather-curtained wagon was just ahead of us, bearing the other three Harpers, the old negro driver and--to complete its overloading--his daughter, Charlotte's dark maid. Beside the wheels ambled12 and babbled13 Harry Helm. At the bridge he fell back to us and found us talking of Charlotte. Camille was telling me how well Charlotte knew the region south of us, and how her plan was to dine at mid-day with such a friend and to pass the night with such another; but the moment Harry came up she began to upbraid14 him in her mellowest15 flute-notes for not telling us that he had got his wound in saving--
"Now, you ladies--" cried the teased aide-de-camp, "I--I didn't save Gholson's life! I didn't try to save it! I only tried to split a Yankee's head and didn't even do that! Dick Smith, if you tell anybody else that I saved--Well, who did, then? Good Lordy! if I'd known that to save a man's life would make all this fuss I wouldn't 'a' done it! Why, Quinn and I had to sit and listen to Ned Ferry a solid half-hour last night, telling us the decent things he'd known Gholson to do, and the allowances we'd ought to make for a man with Gholson's sort of a conscience! And then, to cap--to clap--to clap the ki'--to cap--the climax16--consound that word, I never did know what it meant--to clap the climax, Ned sends for Gholson and gets Quinn to speak to him civilly--aw, haw, haw!--Quinn showing all the time how he hated the job, like a cat when you make him jump over a stick! And then he led us on, with just a word here and there, until we all agreed as smooth as glass, that all Quinn had said was my fault, and all I had done was Gholson's fault, and all Gholson had said or done or left undone17 was our fault, and the rest was partly Ned's fault, but mostly accident."
Camille declared she did not and would not believe there had been any fault with any one, anywhere, and especially with Mr. Gholson, and I liked Lieutenant18 Helm less than ever, noticing anew the unaccountable freedom with which Camille seemed to think herself entitled to rebuke19 him. "Oh, I'm in your power," he cried to her, "and I'll call him a spotless giraffe if you want me to! that's what he is; I've always thought so!" The spring-wagon was taking the left fork and he cantered ahead to begin his good-byes there and save her for the last. When he made his adieu to her he said, "Won't you let Mr. Smith halt here with me a few moments? I want to speak of one or two matters that--"
She resigned me almost with scorn; which privately20 amused me, and, I felt sure, hoodwinked the aide-de-camp.
"Say, Dick!" he began, as she moved away, "look here, I'm going to tell you something; Ned Ferry's in love with Charlotte Oliver!"
"You don't mean it!"
"Yes, I do, mean it! Smith, Ned's a grand fellow. I'm glad I came here yesterday."
"Yes, you've secured a furlough."
"Oh, this thing, yes; don't you wish you had it! No, I'm glad I came, for what I've learned. I'm glad for what Ned Ferry has taught me a man can do, and keep from doing, when he's got the upper hold of himself. And I'm glad for what she--you know who--by George! any man would know who ever saw her, for she draws every man who comes within her range, as naturally as a rose draws a bee. I'm glad for what she has taught me a woman can be, and can keep from being, so long as she knows there's one real man to live up to! just up to, mind you, I don't even say to live for."
I stared with surprise. Was this the trivial Harry talking? Fact is, the pair we were talking about had by some psychical21 magic rarified the atmosphere for all of us until half our notes were above our normal pitch.
"Do you mean she loves him; what sign of such a thing did she show yesterday or last evening?"
"Not a sign of a sign! And yet I'll swear it! Do you know where she's gone?"
"To-day? I think I do."
"Where?"
"Well, Lieutenant, if I were she, I should go straight into the Yankee lines behind Port Hudson. She's got Jewett's messages and his sword, and the Yank's won't know her as a Confederate any better than they ever did; for it's only these men whom we've captured who have found out she's Charlotte Oliver, or that she had any knowing part in General Austin's ruse22."
"If Oliver doesn't tell," said Harry, lifting his bad hand in pain.
"He will not dare! If she can only get her word in first and tell them, herself, that he's Charlotte Oliver's husband and has just led the finest company of Federal scouts23 in the two States to destruction--"
"Hi! that ought to cook his dough24!--with her face--and her voice!"
"Yes," I responded, "--and his breath."
"And why do you think she wants to do this?" asked Harry.
"She doesn't want to do it; but she feels she must, knowing that every blow he strikes from now on is struck on her account. I believe she's gone to warn the Yankees that his whole animus25 is personal revenge and that he will sacrifice anything or anybody, any principle or pledge or cause, at any moment, to wreak26 that private vengeance27, in whole or in part."
"Dick Smith, yes! But don't you see, besides, what she does want? Why, she wants to keep Oliver and Ferry apart until somebody else for whom she doesn't care as she cares for Ned, say you, or I, or--or--"
"Gholson?"
"Gholson, no! she can't trust Gholson, Gholson's conscience is too vindictive28; that's why she's keeping him with her as long as she can. No, but until some of us, I say, can give Oliver a thousand times better than he ought ever to get--except for her sake--"
"Yes, you mean a soldier's clean death; and what you want of me is for me to say that I, for one, will lose no honest chance to give it to him, isn't it?"
"What I want of you, Smith, is to tell you that I shall lose no such chance."
"Well, neither shall I."
"Bully29 for you, Dick; bully boy with the glass eye! You see, you're one of only half a dozen or so that know Oliver when they see him; so Ned will soon be sending you after him. Ned's got a conscience, too, you know, as squirmy as Gholson's. Oh, Lord! yes, you don't often see it, but it's as big and hard as a conscript's ague-cake." The Lieutenant gathered his rein30; "Smith, I want Ned and her to get one another; that's me!"
I was tempted31 to say it was me, too, but I forbore and only said it was I.
"All the same," said Harry, "I'm sorry for the little girl!"
"Little girl?"
"Oh, come, now, you know!" He leaned to me and whispered, "Miss Cécile!"
"Lieutenant," I replied, with a flush, realizing what I owed to the family as a prospective32 member of it, "you're mistaking a little patriotic33 ardor--"
"Pat who--oh? I tell you, my covey,--and of course, you understand, I wouldn't breathe it any further--"
"I'd rather you would not."
"Phew-ew! I don't know why in the devil you'd rather I would not, but--Smith,--she's so dead-gone in love with Ned Ferry, that if she doesn't get him--I George! it'll e'en a'most kill her!"
I guffawed34 in derision. "And she didn't even have to tell you so! She can't even hide its deadly intensity35 from the casual bystander! haw! haw! haw! And it's all the outcome of a three-days acquaintance! It beats Doctor Swiftgrow's Mustache Invigor'--aw, haw! haw!" "Oh, you think so? Pity you couldn't get a few barrels of it--aw, haw! haw!" said Harry, and my laughter left off where his began. But, some way hurting his hand, he, too, stopped short. I drew my horse back.
"Is that all you've noticed?" I smilingly inquired. "Isn't anybody else mortally in love with anybody else? You can't make me believe that's all you know!"
"Well, then, I sha'n't try. I do know one thing more; heard it yesterday. Like to hear it?"
"Like! Why, I'm just that dead-gone with curiosity that if I don't hear it it'll e'en a'most kill me--aw, haw! haw! haw!"
"Well, I'm tired saving people's lives, but we won't count this one; you say you want to hear it--I can't give you all of it but it begins:
"'Turn away thine eyes, maiden36 passing fair! O maiden passing fair, turn away thine eyes!'--
"Haw! haw! haw! Good-bye, Smith,--aw, haw! haw! haw!--and it's all the outcome of a three-days acquaintance!--haw! haw! haw!--Oh, say!--Smith!"--I was leaving him--"that's right, go back and begin over!--'Return! return!'--aw, haw! haw! haw!"
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收听单词发音
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1
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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2
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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3
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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4
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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6
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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7
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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8
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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9
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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11
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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12
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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13
babbled
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| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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14
upbraid
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| v.斥责，责骂，责备 | |
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15
mellowest
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| 成熟的( mellow的最高级 )； （水果）熟透的； （颜色或声音）柔和的； 高兴的 | |
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16
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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17
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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18
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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19
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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21
psychical
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| adj.有关特异功能现象的；有关特异功能官能的；灵魂的；心灵的 | |
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22
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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23
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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24
dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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animus
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| n.恶意；意图 | |
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wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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27
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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28
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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29
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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30
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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31
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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32
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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33
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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34
guffawed
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| v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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36
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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