All the party had longed for a storm; the young ladies had rhapsodised about billows and breakers and driving spray and heroic encounters with warring elements. Now that the long roll of premonitory surges was crashing in sullenly3 on Black Rock Head and Wrecker’s Point, they seemed to shrink a little from billows unsunlit. Grandeur4 was too much for them. To recline on the rocks under a parasol held by a gentle cavalier, this was gay and dressy and afforded the recumbent and her attendant knight5 indefinite possibilities. But ladies are not lovely in submarine armour6, and muslins limply collapse7 when salt showers come whirling in from shattered waves. The great wild terror of the certain storm made itself felt among the gay party. They were quite willing to hasten their departure and pass the[25] night quietly at Loggerly. They would spend also a quiet next day there and take the train on the second morning for Portland and Boston.
Miss Sullivan preferred to stay for the promised entertainment. She seemed already a little excited out of her usual tranquil8 reserve by the thought that Nature was to act a wild drama for her benefit. Besides, apart from the storm, she was willing to pass one solitary9 day on the rocks and along the beach. She also longed for one last master-view from the mountain above Dempster’s house. She was glad to see all these without the intrusion of gaiety. It may have been a mood; it may have been character. She would visit, for perpetual recollection, the best spots undisturbed; a storm would be clear gain. Mr. Dempster promised to drive her over to Loggerly next evening, rain or shine.
Au revoir! and they were off, some walking, some already mounted into the great farm wagon10. They had a very lively time through the delicate birch woods. Miss Julia Wilkes was quite sure she had seen a deer. Blooming lips were brighter for the strawberries they crushed; rosy11 fingers rosier12 for plucking the same. When they reached the open country and were all seated in the wagon, taking the down-hills at a gallop13, and the up-hills at an impetus14, Julia turned to her mother, that excellent, gossipy person.
“Miss Sullivan has a strange fancy,” said she,[26] “to wander about alone in wild places. Did you notice how almost handsome she was to-day?”
“Yes,” put in the fortis Gyas Cutus; “she looked like a cheerful Banshee, inspired at the thought of a storm.”
“Mary Sullivan was nobly handsome once,” said Mrs. Wilkes, “and will be soon again, I hope, now that she is rich and done with all family troubles.”
“Is she very rich?” asked Cloanthus Fortisque, friend of Gyas. “I’m sorry I’m so much afraid of her. She may be sweet as ice-cream, but she is colder. A feller couldn’t sail in with much chance.”
Miss Julia pouted15 a little at this ingenuous16 remark of Fortisque and devoted17 herself to Gyas Cutus for the rest of the journey.
It was lonely at Dempster’s when the gay party was gone. The house looked singularly small and mean. Mrs. Dempster was baking wondrous18 bread; bread for which all the visitors had gone away bulkier. Miss Miranda Dempster was up to her elbows in strawberries. She was a magnificent lioness of a woman, with a tawny19 mane of redundant20 locks.
The kitchen was close and the hot, heavy atmosphere affected21 Miss Sullivan’s views as to the quality of her hostess’s bread. She walked out upon the little meadow, a bit of tender culture between the forest and the rude and rocky shore. Old Dempster[27] and Daniel, his son, were hurrying their hay into the ox-cart. The oxen seemed to stand unnecessarily knockkneed and feeble in the blasting heat. Yet the sun was obscured and there came puffs22 of breeze from seaward. But these were puffs explosive, sultry, volcanic24, depressing.
As Miss Sullivan approached, Dempster was tossing up an enormous mass of hay to Daniel. A puff23 of wind caught it and one half “diffused to empty air,” making air no longer empty but misty25 with hay-seed, and aromatic26 with mild fragrance27. Dempster shook himself and stood leaning on his pitchfork. He was a grand old yeoman, worthy28 to be the father of heroes. The Island, though not a solitary one, had been to him a Juan Fernandez. He was a contriver29 of all contrivances, a builder of all that may be built. He farmed, he milled, he fished, he navigated30 in shapely vessels31 of his own shaping; his roof-tree was a tree of his own woods, felled and cleft32 by himself. He had split his own shingles33 as easily as other men mend a toothpick; with these he had tented his roof-tree over. Miss Sullivan and he were great friends, and now, as she drew near, he looked at her with kindly34 eyes.
“See, Miss Sullivan,” said he, “them oxen has stopped chewin’ the cud—another sure sign of a storm. The wind is sou’west. It’ll be short, but hot an’ heavy—a kind er horriken.”
“If the storm is severe, what will all these fishing-vessels[28] do?” she asked. “I have counted nearly a hundred this afternoon.”
“Most on ’em will go birds’-nestin’ ’round in the bays an’ coves35 along shore. Some on ’em alluz gits caught, an’ that’s what makes me feel kind er anxious now. You see, my boy Willum has been buyin’ a schooner36 up to New Brunswick, with a pardner of his, and he’s jest as like as not to be takin’ her down to Boston about now.”
“I hope not!” cried Miss Sullivan, shuddering37 involuntarily in the hot chill of another isolated38 blast.
“Wal, worryin’ won’t mend nothin’,” said the father, with stoic39 calmness. “Come, Dan’l, we must hurry up with this ’ere hay,” and the two fell to work again; but the face of the elder man was very grave as he glanced, from time to time, at the grey sky and sullen2 sea.
Miss Sullivan strolled on across the meadow to Black Rock Head. There she had often sat in brilliant days and sent her looks and thoughts a-dreaming beyond the misty edge of the ocean world. To-day a strange, dismal40 heaviness in the air made dreams nightmares. Perpetual calm seemed destined41 to dwell upon the ocean, so unruffled was its surface and unsuggestive of storms to be. Looking down from the Head, Miss Sullivan would scarcely have discerned the great, slow surges, lifting and falling monotonously42. They made themselves felt,[29] however, when they met the opponent crag. A vast chasm43 stood open in its purple rocks, and as the lazy waves fell upon the unyielding shore, they flowed in, filling this cavernous gulf44 almost to the brim with foaming45 masses. Then, as the surge deliberately46 withdrew, these ambitious waters, abandoned and unsupported, plunged47 downward in a wild whirlpooling panic, stream overwhelming stream, all seething48 together furiously, hissing49, roaring, thundering, until again they met the incoming breaker, and again essayed as vainly to rise above control and overcome the enduring land.
Mists, slowly uprising, had given sunset a dull reception, and the great southeastern cloud-bank was growing fast heavier and heavier. Puffs of driving fog began to hide the mountain and lower down upon the Dempster house. Darkness fell, and at last Miss Sullivan was driven in.
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1
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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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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11
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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rosier
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| Rosieresite | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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15
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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18
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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19
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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redundant
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| adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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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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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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contriver
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| 发明者，创制者，筹划者 | |
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30
navigated
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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31
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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cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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shingles
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| n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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coves
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| n.小海湾( cove的名词复数 )；家伙 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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37
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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38
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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39
stoic
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| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
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40
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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41
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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42
monotonously
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| adv.单调地，无变化地 | |
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43
chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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44
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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45
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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46
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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47
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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48
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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49
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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