CHAPTER XI.

 "John," said the old mother, from the profound mufflings of the pillow and quilts.

 

"What?" said the old man. He was tugging¹ at his right boot, and his tone was very irascible.

 

"I think William's changed a good deal."

 

"Well, what if he has?" replied the father, in another burst of ill-temper. He was then tugging at his left boot.

 

"Yes, I'm afraid he's changed a good deal," said the muffled² voice from the bed. "He's got a good many fine friends, now, John—folks what put on a good many airs; and he don't care for his home like he did."

 

"Oh, well, I don't guess he's changed very much," said the old man cheerfully. He was now free of both boots.

 

She raised herself on an elbow and looked out with a troubled face. "John, I think he likes that girl."

 

"What girl?" said he.

 

"What girl? Why, that awful handsome girl you see around—of course."

 

"Do you think he likes 'er?"

 

"I'm afraid so—I'm afraid so," murmured the mother mournfully.

 

"Oh, well," said the old man, without alarm, or grief, or pleasure in his tone.

 

He turned the lamp's wick very low and carried the lamp to the head of the stairs, where he perched it on the step. When he returned he said, "She's mighty³ good-look-in'!"

 

"Well, that ain't everything," she snapped. "How do we know she ain't proud, and selfish, and—everything?"

 

"How do you know she is?" returned the old man.

 

"And she may just be leading him on."

 

"Do him good, then," said he, with impregnable serenity⁴. "Next time he'll know better."

 

"Well, I'm worried about it," she said, as she sank back on the pillow again. "I think William's changed a good deal. He don't seem to care about—us—like he did."

 

"Oh, go to sleep!" said the father drowsily⁵.

 

She was silent for a time, and then she said, "John?"

 

"What?"

 

"Do you think I better speak to him about that girl?"

 

"No."

 

She grew silent again, but at last she demanded, "Why not?"

 

"'Cause it's none of your business. Go to sleep, will you?" And presently he did, but the old mother lay blinking wild-eyed into the darkness.

 

In the morning Hawker did not appear at the early breakfast, eaten when the blue glow of dawn shed its ghostly lights upon the valley. The old mother placed various dishes on the back part of the stove. At ten o'clock he came downstairs. His mother was sweeping⁶ busily in the parlour at the time, but she saw him and ran to the back part of the stove. She slid the various dishes on to the table. "Did you oversleep?" she asked.

 

"Yes. I don't feel very well this morning," he said. He pulled his chair close to the table and sat there staring.

 

She renewed her sweeping in the parlour. When she returned he sat still staring undeviatingly at nothing.

 

"Why don't you eat your breakfast?" she said anxiously.

 

"I tell you, mother, I don't feel very well this morning," he answered quite sharply.

 

"Well," she said meekly⁷, "drink some coffee and you'll feel better."

 

Afterward⁸ he took his painting machinery⁹ and left the house. His younger sister was at the well. She looked at him with a little smile and a little sneer¹⁰. "Going up to the inn this morning?" she said.

 

"I don't see how that concerns you, Mary?" he rejoined, with dignity.

 

"Oh, my!" she said airily.

 

"But since you are so interested, I don't mind telling you that I'm not going up to the inn this morning."

 

His sister fixed¹¹ him with her eye. "She ain't mad at you, is she, Will?"

 

"I don't know what you mean, Mary." He glared hatefully at her and strode away.

 

Stanley saw him going through the fields and leaped a fence jubilantly in pursuit. In a wood the light sifted¹² through the foliage¹³ and burned with a peculiar¹⁴ reddish lustre¹⁵ on the masses of dead leaves. He frowned at it for a while from different points. Presently he erected¹⁶ his easel and began to paint. After a a time he threw down his brush and swore. Stanley, who had been solemnly staring at the scene as if he too was sketching¹⁷ it, looked up in surprise.

 

In wandering aimlessly through the fields and the forest Hawker once found himself near the road to Hemlock¹⁸ Inn. He shied away from it quickly as if it were a great snake.

 

While most of the family were at supper, Mary, the younger sister, came charging breathlessly into the kitchen. "Ma—sister," she cried, "I know why—why Will didn't go to the inn to-day. There's another fellow come. Another fellow."

 

"Who? Where? What do you mean?" exclaimed her mother and her sister.

 

"Why, another fellow up at the inn," she shouted, triumphant¹⁹ in her information. "Another fellow come up on the stage this morning. And she went out driving with him this afternoon."

 

"Well," exclaimed her mother and her sister.

 

"Yep. And he's an awful good-looking fellow, too. And she—oh, my—she looked as if she thought the world and all of him."

 

"Well," exclaimed her mother and her sister again.

 

"Sho!" said the old man. "You wimen leave William alone and quit your gabbling."

 

The three women made a combined assault upon him. "Well, we ain't a-hurting him, are we, pa? You needn't be so snifty. I guess we ain't a-hurting him much."

 

"Well," said the old man. And to this argument he added, "Sho!"

 

They kept him out of the subsequent consultations²⁰.

1 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

2 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

5 drowsily   

adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地

参考例句：

• She turned drowsily on her side, a slow creeping blackness enveloping her mind. 她半睡半醒地翻了个身，一片缓缓蠕动的黑暗渐渐将她的心包围起来。 来自飘（部分）
• I felt asleep drowsily before I knew it. 不知过了多久，我曚扙地睡着了。 来自互联网

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

10 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 sifted   

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

14 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

15 lustre   

n.光亮，光泽；荣誉

参考例句：

• The sun was shining with uncommon lustre.太阳放射出异常的光彩。
• A good name keeps its lustre in the dark.一个好的名誉在黑暗中也保持它的光辉。

16 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

17 sketching   

n.草图

参考例句：

• They are sketching out proposals for a new road. 他们正在草拟修建新路的计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. “飞舞驰骋的想象描绘出一幅幅玫瑰色欢乐的场景。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

18 hemlock   

n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉

参考例句：

• He was condemned to drink a cup of hemlock.判处他喝一杯毒汁。
• Here is a beech by the side of a hemlock,with three pines at hand.这儿有株山毛榉和一株铁杉长在一起，旁边还有三株松树。

19 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

20 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》