A newly-married pair had boarded this train at San Antonio. The man's face was reddened from many days in the wind and sun, and a direct result of his new black clothes was that his brick-coloured hands were constantly performing in a most conscious fashion. From time to time he looked down respectfully at his attire6. He sat with a hand on each knee, like a man waiting in a barber's shop. The glances he devoted7 to other passengers were furtive8 and shy.
The bride was not pretty, nor was she very young. She wore a dress of blue cashmere, with small reservations of velvet9 here and there, and with steel buttons abounding10. She continually twisted her head to regard her puff-sleeves, very stiff, straight, and high. They embarrassed her. It was quite apparent that she had cooked, and that she expected to cook, dutifully. The blushes caused by the careless scrutiny11 of some passengers as she had entered the car were strange to see upon this plain, under-class countenance12, which was drawn13 in placid14, almost emotionless lines.
They were evidently very happy. "Ever been in a parlour-car before?" he asked, smiling with delight.
"No," she answered; "I never was. It's fine, ain't it?"
"Great. And then, after a while, we'll go forward to the diner, and get a big lay-out. Finest meal in the world. Charge, a dollar."
"Not this trip, anyhow," he answered bravely. "We're going to go the whole thing."
Later, he explained to her about the train. "You see, it's a thousand miles from one end of Texas to the other, and this train runs right across it, and never stops but four times."
He had the pride of an owner. He pointed16 out to her the dazzling fittings of the coach, and, in truth, her eyes opened wider as she contemplated17 the sea-green figured velvet, the shining brass18, silver, and glass, the wood that gleamed as darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil. At one end a bronze figure sturdily held a support for a separated chamber19, and at convenient places on the ceiling were frescoes20 in olive and silver.
To the minds of the pair, their surroundings reflected the glory of their marriage that morning in San Antonio. This was the environment of their new estate, and the man's face, in particular, beamed with an elation21 that made him appear ridiculous to the negro porter. This individual at times surveyed them from afar with an amused and superior grin. On other occasions he bullied22 them with skill in ways that did not make it exactly plain to them that they were being bullied. He subtly used all the manners of the most unconquerable kind of snobbery23. He oppressed them, but of this oppression they had small knowledge, and they speedily forgot that unfrequently a number of travellers covered them with stares of derisive24 enjoyment25. Historically there was supposed to be something infinitely26 humorous in their situation.
"We are due in Yellow Sky at 3.42," he said, looking tenderly into her eyes.
"Oh, are we?" she said, as if she had not been aware of it.
To evince surprise at her husband's statement was part of her wifely amiability27. She took from a pocket a little silver watch, and as she held it before her, and stared at it with a frown of attention, the new husband's face shone.
"I bought it in San Anton' from a friend of mine," he told her gleefully.
"It's seventeen minutes past twelve," she said, looking up at him with a kind of shy and clumsy coquetry.
A passenger, noting this play, grew excessively sardonic28, and winked29 at himself in one of the numerous mirrors.
At last they went to the dining-car. Two rows of negro waiters in dazzling white suits surveyed their entrance with the interest, and also the equanimity30, of men who had been forewarned. The pair fell to the lot of a waiter who happened to feel pleasure in steering31 them through their meal. He viewed them with the manner of a fatherly pilot, his countenance radiant with benevolence32. The patronage33 entwined with the ordinary deference34 was not palpable to them. And yet as they returned to their coach they showed in their faces a sense of escape.
To the left, miles down a long purple slope, was a little ribbon of mist, where moved the keening Rio Grande. The train was approaching it at an angle, and the apex35 was Yellow Sky. Presently it was apparent that as the distance from Yellow Sky grew shorter, the husband became commensurately restless. His brick-red hands were more insistent36 in their prominence37. Occasionally he was even rather absent-minded and far away when the bride leaned forward and addressed him.
As a matter of truth, Jack Potter was beginning to find the shadow of a deed weigh upon him like a leaden slab38. He, the town-marshal of Yellow Sky, a man known, liked, and feared in his corner, a prominent person, had gone to San Antonio to meet a girl he believed he loved, and there, after the usual prayers, had actually induced her to marry him without consulting Yellow Sky for any part of the transaction. He was now bringing his bride before an innocent and unsuspecting community.
Of course, people in Yellow Sky married as it pleased them in accordance with a general custom, but such was Potter's thought of his duty to his friends, or of their idea of his duty, or of an unspoken form which does not control men in these matters, that he felt he was heinous39. He had committed an extraordinary crime. Face to face with this girl in San Antonio, and spurred by his sharp impulse, he had gone headlong over all the social hedges. At San Antonio he was like a man hidden in the dark. A knife to sever40 any friendly duty, any form, was easy to his hand in that remote city. But the hour of Yellow Sky, the hour of daylight, was approaching.
He knew full well that his marriage was an important thing to his town. It could only be exceeded by the burning of the new hotel. His friends would not forgive him. Frequently he had reflected upon the advisability of telling them by telegraph, but a new cowardice41 had been upon him. He feared to do it. And now the train was hurrying him toward a scene of amazement42, glee, reproach. He glanced out of the window at the line of haze43 swinging slowly in toward the train.
Yellow Sky had a kind of brass band which played painfully to the delight of the populace. He laughed without heart as he thought of it. If the citizens could dream of his prospective44 arrival with his bride, they would parade the band at the station, and escort them, amid cheers and laughing congratulations, to his adobe45 home.
He resolved that he would use all the devices of speed and plainscraft in making the journey from the station to his house. Once within that safe citadel46, he could issue some sort of a vocal47 bulletin, and then not go among the citizens until they had time to wear off a little of their enthusiasm.
The bride looked anxiously at him. "What's worrying you, Jack?"
He laughed again. "I'm not worrying, girl. I'm only thinking of Yellow Sky."
She flushed in comprehension.
A sense of mutual48 guilt49 invaded their minds, and developed a finer tenderness. They looked at each other with eyes softly aglow50. But Potter often laughed the same nervous laugh. The flush upon the bride's face seemed quite permanent.
"We're nearly there," he said.
Presently the porter came and announced the proximity52 of Potter's home. He held a brush in his hand, and, with all his airy superiority gone, he brushed Potter's new clothes, as the latter slowly turned this way and that way. Potter fumbled53 out a coin, and gave it to the porter as he had seen others do. It was a heavy and muscle-bound business, as that of a man shoeing his first horse.
The porter took their bag, and, as the train began to slow, they moved forward to the hooded54 platform of the car. Presently the two engines and their long string of coaches rushed into the station of Yellow Sky.
"They have to take water here," said Potter, from a constricted55 throat, and in mournful cadence56 as one announcing death. Before the train stopped his eye had swept the length of the platform, and he was glad and astonished to see there was no one upon it but the station-agent, who, with a slightly hurried and anxious air, was walking toward the water-tanks. When the train had halted, the porter alighted first and placed in position a little temporary step.
As he helped her down, they each laughed on a false note. He took the bag from the negro, and bade his wife cling to his arm. As they slunk rapidly away, his hang-dog glance perceived that they were unloading the two trunks, and also that the station-agent, far ahead, near the baggage-car, had turned, and was running toward him, making gestures. He laughed, and groaned58 as he laughed, when he noted59 the first effect of his marital60 bliss61 upon Yellow Sky. He gripped his wife's arm firmly to his side, and they fled. Behind them the porter stood chuckling62 fatuously63.
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1 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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2 eastward | |
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部 | |
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3 cactus | |
n.仙人掌 | |
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4 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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5 precipice | |
n.悬崖,危急的处境 | |
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6 attire | |
v.穿衣,装扮[同]array;n.衣着;盛装 | |
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7 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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8 furtive | |
adj.鬼鬼崇崇的,偷偷摸摸的 | |
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9 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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10 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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11 scrutiny | |
n.详细检查,仔细观察 | |
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12 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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13 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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14 placid | |
adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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15 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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16 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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17 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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18 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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19 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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20 frescoes | |
n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 );温壁画技法,湿壁画 | |
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21 elation | |
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意 | |
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22 bullied | |
adj.被欺负了v.恐吓,威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 snobbery | |
n. 充绅士气派, 俗不可耐的性格 | |
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24 derisive | |
adj.嘲弄的 | |
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25 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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26 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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27 amiability | |
n.和蔼可亲的,亲切的,友善的 | |
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28 sardonic | |
adj.嘲笑的,冷笑的,讥讽的 | |
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29 winked | |
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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30 equanimity | |
n.沉着,镇定 | |
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31 steering | |
n.操舵装置 | |
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32 benevolence | |
n.慈悲,捐助 | |
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33 patronage | |
n.赞助,支援,援助;光顾,捧场 | |
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34 deference | |
n.尊重,顺从;敬意 | |
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35 apex | |
n.顶点,最高点 | |
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36 insistent | |
adj.迫切的,坚持的 | |
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37 prominence | |
n.突出;显著;杰出;重要 | |
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38 slab | |
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上 | |
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39 heinous | |
adj.可憎的,十恶不赦的 | |
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40 sever | |
v.切开,割开;断绝,中断 | |
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41 cowardice | |
n.胆小,怯懦 | |
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42 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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43 haze | |
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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44 prospective | |
adj.预期的,未来的,前瞻性的 | |
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45 adobe | |
n.泥砖,土坯,美国Adobe公司 | |
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46 citadel | |
n.城堡;堡垒;避难所 | |
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47 vocal | |
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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48 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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49 guilt | |
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责 | |
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50 aglow | |
adj.发亮的;发红的;adv.发亮地 | |
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51 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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52 proximity | |
n.接近,邻近 | |
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53 fumbled | |
(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下 | |
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54 hooded | |
adj.戴头巾的;有罩盖的;颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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55 constricted | |
adj.抑制的,约束的 | |
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56 cadence | |
n.(说话声调的)抑扬顿挫 | |
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57 hoarsely | |
adv.嘶哑地 | |
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58 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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59 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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60 marital | |
adj.婚姻的,夫妻的 | |
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61 bliss | |
n.狂喜,福佑,天赐的福 | |
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62 chuckling | |
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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63 fatuously | |
adv.愚昧地,昏庸地,蠢地 | |
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