For the fifth time Sergeant1 Mahon and Helen had firmly expressed their intention of retiring; the hour, they agreed, was unseemly, when now weeks of almost unbroken association stretched ahead of them. Yet for the fifth time they had failed to act on their convictions.
For one thing they were impressed with the selfishness of retiring while still Constable2 Williams sat with never a flicker3 of sleep in his eyes. They owed him a lot for his attentions of the past few days, and there were few opportunities of squaring the account. In the rude chair he had salved from the village wreckage4 the big fellow was content to sit to any hour of the night, merely smoking and listening, face beaming, pleased as a child when he found something to say. For two years he had been locked there in the wilds, with never a woman but Tressa Torrance to whom he could speak without a blush. And, looking into the clear eyes of Mrs. Mahon, he blushed a little now at memories of her predecessors5 in that infamous6 end-of-steel village--blond-haired, flashing eyed, bejewelled, strident voiced hussies who had worn out their welcome in society less base.
For the sixth time Mahon consulted his watch and shook his head self-reprovingly.
"Half-past eleven! Dissipation. And to-morrow we must dive deeper into the records of those two speeders. I don't know that I'm quite fair, Williams, but I imagine Torrance hasn't been taking us completely into his confidence, though he seems thoroughly7 stirred over this. They have me guessing--the most unlikely things, even to some silly club wager8. But there isn't a club within three hundred miles. I'm off to-morrow to Mile 135. Torrance says the ticker is set up there. I want to talk to Saskatoon."
Constable Williams shrugged9 his shoulders. "Those speeders were up to something they're not telling Saskatoon or any one else that we're apt to get any information from."
"That's what I'm going to find out. They couldn't go far without being seen, and they'd have to stick to the railway. There's still a gang clearing up at Mile 63, I think."
"That was where I spent the night, wasn't it?" asked his wife. "There's an engineer there with his whole family and two women besides. It's a long way to be from neighbours."
"One never speaks of neighbours out here, Mrs. Mahon," smiled Constable Williams. "It makes one homesick. It's so long since we had neighbours that we've gone a bit rusty10 on the amenities11 of society. There's so little we can do for the first woman--"
"Williams, you're fishing." Mahon shook his head affectionately at his subordinate. "If you'd heard my wife this morning--"
"If you don't mind, dear," interrupted Helen, "I prefer to give my own thanks."
"But you just said this morning you couldn't--"
"Don't try, please," said Williams, with a grin. He drew a sigh. "I suppose now I ought to forego a selfish pleasure and let you go to bed. If I could only look sleepy! But I feel as if bed were an interruption, a nasty, bad-dispositioned, irritating kill-joy. And you'll be heavy with the chloroform of this rare air. Ah, me! Just when life begins--"
"It won't go down, Williams," teased Mahon. "The air up here has nothing on Medicine Hat. Not even its wildest booster would claim for the Hat the poison of a manufacturing town. Meteorologically it must be as far from civilisation12 as Mile 127. The worst up here is trying to compete with the sun in the matter of sleep. In the summer one would get about three hours; in the winter there wouldn't be time to prepare meals. Winter must be eerie13. Even now I scent14 it--"
He shifted suddenly in his chair. Then with a dash he and Williams were crowding through the open door with drawn15 revolvers.
Mahon knew that speed. Many a time he had ridden thus, the wind whistling past his ears and the horse's mane flicking18 his stinging face. He knew, too, that a master-hand directed the horse he heard.
Without a word the two Policemen separated and dropped into the shadows on either side of the shaft19 of light from the doorway20.
"Go into the other room, Helen." Mahon's order was sharp and low.
On came the racing horse, the pound of its hoofs echoing through the trees like the charge of a troop, filling the vast silence with piercing fancies. Echo and hoof-beats grew louder and louder; there was no other sound. At the edge of the village the horse turned from the clearing along the grade into the main street, and the echo, sharpened now by crowding walls, sent the blood tingling21 through the Sergeant's veins22.
Over the pounding hoofs broke a muttering voice.
In another five seconds the horse would cross the shaft of light. Mahon and Williams raised their guns. The former edged out toward the narrow path. He had no thought of warning the man--he wished to see him dash into that shaft of light, that eyes might come to the aid of ears. Another moment. . . .
With a slithering of hoofs the horse pulled up in mid-flight at the very edge of the beams. A voice, husky with anxiety, shouted:
"Sergeant, Sergeant Mahon! Quick! For God's sake!"
At the first sound Mahon felt the blood rush to his head. His knees shook. His left hand groped to his forehead. Then he wrenched23 himself back to his duty.
"What is it?" His voice was quiet, but he avoided the light.
Slowly and soundlessly he was moving down the other edge of the light, revolver poised24, eyes straining into the darkness beyond. In the dim fringe he made out the figure of a tall man leaning toward him, a pair of Indian braids falling over his shoulders. Mahon's eyes moved on to the horse. He started, and his teeth clicked. Surely there was something familiar. . . . But his brain was tumbling madly--he would not trust it.
"They're attackin'--right away--a hundred rifles--blow up the trestle--kill the girl an' th' others!"
Neither the ride nor the run was making him pant like that.
The Sergeant leaped across the light and struck. With digging heels the Indian swung the pinto on its hind26 legs, at the same time striking at the outstretched hand. But he was too late. Mahon's open palm fell on Whiskers' rump, and in the very midst of rearing about she leaped forward into the light.
Mahon rubbed his eyes. A wild laugh came to his lips. This was no pinto. No ugly blotches28 there--only a dead brown. Whiskers? As ridiculous as his other fancies of late. But it must be Whiskers' twin sister.
The Indian and his horse were gone, racing back at full speed. Mahon ran to the barracks. Once more he was the Mounted Policeman. In the doorway stood Helen.
"Blue--"
"Don't be foolish," he scoffed30. "You saw the broncho. Not a blotch27 on it. For God's sake, don't start my dreams again, Helen."
Williams was already cramming31 his bandolier with cartridges32 and buckling33 it over his shoulder. Helen seized a flashlight and hurried through the back door to the stable. In thirty seconds they followed. They saw her reappear--they heard her startled call:
"Gone!"
Mahon stared past her into the empty stalls.
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1
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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8
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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9
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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amenities
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| n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快 | |
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12
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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13
eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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14
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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17
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18
flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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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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wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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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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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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blotch
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| n.大斑点；红斑点；v.使沾上污渍，弄脏 | |
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blotches
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| n.（皮肤上的）红斑，疹块( blotch的名词复数 )；大滴 [大片]（墨水或颜色的）污渍 | |
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29
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cramming
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| n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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buckling
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| 扣住 | |
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