The freshness of it all stirred her blood like wine, and the brightness that flooded the prairie had crept into her eyes, for those who bear the iron winter of that lonely land realize the wonder of the reawakening, which in a little space of days dresses the waste, that has lain for long months white and silent as the dead, in living green. It also has its subtle significance that the grimmest toiler7 feels, and the essence of it is hope eternal and triumphant9 life. The girl felt the thrill of it, and gave thanks by an answering brightness, as the murmuring grasses and peeping flowerets did, but there was behind her instinctive10 gladness a vague wonder and expectancy11. She had read widely, and seen the life of the cities with understanding eyes, and now she was to be provided with the edifying13 spectacle of the gambler and outcast turned farmer.
Had she been asked a few months earlier whether the man who had, as Courthorne had done, cast away his honor and wallowed in the mire14, could come forth15 again and purge16 himself from the stain, her answer would have been coldly skeptical17, but now with the old familiar miracle and what it symbolized18 before her eyes, the thing looked less improbable. Why this should give her pleasure she did not know, or would not admit that she did, but the fact remained that it was so.
Trotting19 down the slope of the next rise, they came upon him, as he stood by a great breaker plow20 with very little sign of dissolute living upon him. In front of him, the quarter-mile furrow21 led on beyond the tall sighting poles on the crest22 of the next rise, and four splendid horses, of a kind not very usual on the prairie, were stamping the steaming clods at his side. Bronzed by frost and sun, with his brick-red neck and arch of chest revealed by the coarse blue shirt that, belted at the waist, enhanced his slenderness, the repentant23 prodigal24 was at least a passable specimen25 of the animal man, but it was the strength and patience in his face that struck the girl, as he turned towards her, bareheaded, with a little smile in his eyes. She also noticed the difference he presented with his ingrained hands and the stain of the soil upon him, to her uncle, who sat his horse, immaculate as usual, with gloved hand on the bridle26, for the Englishmen at Silverdale usually hired other men to do their coarser work for them.
"So you are commencing in earnest in face of my opinion?" said Barrington. "Of course, I wish you success, but that consummation appears distinctly doubtful."
Winston laughed as he pointed27 to a great machine which, hauled by four horses, rolled towards them, scattering28 the black clods in its wake. "I'm doing what I can to achieve it, sir," he said. "In fact, I'm staking somewhat heavily. That team with the gang plows29 and cultivators cost me more dollars than I care to remember."
"No doubt," said Barrington dryly. "Still, we have always considered oxen good enough for breaking prairie at Silverdale."
Winston nodded. "I used to do so, sir, when I could get nothing better, but after driving oxen for eight years one finds out their disadvantages."
Barrington's face grew a trifle stern. "There are times when you tax our patience, Lance," he said. "Still, there is nothing to be gained by questioning your assertion. What I fail to see, is where your reward for all this will come from, because I am still convinced that the soil will, so to speak, give you back eighty cents for every dollar you put into it. I would, however, like to look at those implements30. I have never seen better ones."
He dismounted and helped his companion down, for Winston made no answer. The farmer was never sure what actuated him, but, save in an occasional fit of irony31, he had not attempted by any reference to make his past fall into line with Courthorne's since he had first been accepted as the latter at Silverdale. He had taken the dead man's inheritance for a while, but he would stoop no further, and to speak the truth, which he saw was not credited, brought him a grim amusement and also flung a sop32 to his pride. Presently, however, Miss Barrington turned to him, and there was a kindly33 gleam in her eyes as she glanced at the splendid horses and widening strip of plowing34.
"You have the hope of youth, Lance, to make this venture when all looks black--and it pleases me," she said. "Sometimes I fancy that men had braver hearts than they have now, when I was young."
Winston flushed a trifle, and stretching out an arm swept his hand round the horizon. "All that looked dead a very little while ago, and now you can see the creeping greenness in the sod," he said. "The lean years cannot last forever, and, even if one is beaten again, there is a consolation35 in knowing that one has made a struggle. Now, I am quite aware that you are fancying a speech of this kind does not come well from me."
Maud Barrington had seen his gesture, and something in the thought that impelled36 it, as well as the almost statuesque pose of his thinly-clad figure, appealed to her. Courthorne as farmer, with the damp of clean effort on his forehead and the stain of the good soil that would faithfully repay it on his garments, had very little in common with the profligate37 and gambler. Vaguely38 she wondered whether he was not working out his own redemption by every wheat furrow torn from the virgin39 prairie, and then again the doubt crept in. Could this man have ever found pleasure in the mire?
"You will plow your holding, Lance?" asked the elder lady, who had not answered his last speech yet, but meant to later.
"Yes," said the man. "All I can. It's a big venture, and, if it fails, will cripple me, but I seem to feel, apart from any reason I can discern, that wheat is going up again, and I must go through with this plowing. Of course, it does not sound very sensible."
Miss Barrington looked at him gravely, for there was a curious and steadily40-tightening bond between the two. "It depends upon what you mean by sense. Can we reason out all we feel, and is there nothing, intangible but real, behind the impulses which may be sent to us?"
"Well," said Winston, with a little smile, "that is a trifle too deep for me, and it's difficult to think of anything but the work I have to do. But you were the first at Silverdale to hold out a hand to me--and I have a feeling that your good wishes would go a long way now. Is it altogether fantastic to believe that the good-will of my first friend would help to bring me prosperity?"
The white-haired lady's eyes grew momentarily soft, and, with a gravity that did not seem out of place, she moved forward and laid her hand on a big horse's neck, and smiled when the dumb beast responded to her gentle touch.
"It is a good work," she said. "Lance, there is more than dollars, or the bread that somebody is needing, behind what you are doing, and because I loved your mother I know how her approval would have followed you. And now sow in hope, and God speed your plow!"
She turned away almost abruptly41, and Winston stood still with one hand closed tightly and a little deeper tint42 in the bronze of his face, sensible at once of an unchanged resolution and a horrible degradation43. Then he saw that the Colonel had helped Miss Barrington into the saddle and her niece was speaking.
"I have something to ask Mr. Courthorne and will overtake you," she said.
The others rode on, and the girl turned to Winston. "I made you a promise and did my best to keep it, but I find it harder than I fancied it would be," she said. "I want you to release me."
"I should like to hear your reasons," said Winston.
The girl made a faint gesture of impatience44. "Of course, if you insist."
"I do," said Winston quietly.
"Then I promised you to have my holding sown this year, and I am still willing to do so, but though my uncle makes no protest, I know he feels my opposition45 very keenly, and it hurts me horribly. Unspoken reproaches are the worst to bear, you know, and now Dane and some of the others are following your lead, it is painful to feel that I am taking part with them against the man who has always been kind to me."
"And you would prefer to be loyal to Colonel Barrington, even if it costs you a good deal?"
"Of course!" said Maud Barrington. "Can you ask me?"
Winston saw the sparkle in her eyes and the half-contemptuous pride in the poise47 of the shapely head. Loyalty48, it was evident, was not a figure of speech with her, but he felt that he had seen enough and turned his face aside.
"I knew it would be difficult when I asked," he said. "Still, I cannot give you back that promise. We are going to see a great change this year, and I have set my heart on making all I can for you."
"But why should you?" asked Maud Barrington, somewhat astonished that she did not feel more angry.
"Well," said Winston gravely, "I may tell you by and by, and in the meanwhile you can set it down to vanity. This may be my last venture at Silverdale, and I want to make it a big success."
The girl glanced at him sharply, and it was because the news caused her an unreasonable49 concern that there was a trace of irony in her voice.
"Your last venture! Have we been unkind to you, or does it imply that, as you once insinuated50, an exemplary life becomes monotonous51?"
Winston laughed. "No. I should like to stay here--a very long while," he said, and the girl saw he spoke46 the truth, as she watched him glance wistfully at the splendid teams, great plows, and rich black soil. "In fact, strange as it may appear, it will be virtue52, given the rein53 for once, that drives me out when I go away."
"But where are you going to?"
Winston glanced vaguely across the prairie, and the girl was puzzled by the look in his eyes. "Back to my own station," he said softly, as though to himself, and then turned with a little shrug54 of his shoulders. "In the meanwhile there is a good deal to do, and once more I am sorry I cannot release you."
"Then, there is an end of it. You cannot expect me to beg you to, so we will discuss the practical difficulty. I cannot under the circumstances borrow my uncle's teams, and I am told I have not sufficient men or horses to put a large crop in."
"Of course!" said Winston quietly. "Well, I have now the best teams and machines on this part of the prairies, and I am bringing Ontario men in--I will do the plowing--and, if it will make it easier for you, you can pay me for the services."
There was a little flush on the girl's face. "It is all distasteful, but as you will not give me back my word, I will keep it to the letter. Still, it almost makes me reluctant to ask you a further favor."
"This one is promised before you ask it," said Winston quietly.
It cost Maud Barrington some trouble to make her wishes clear, and Winston's smile was not wholly one of pleasure as he listened. One of the young English lads, who was, it appeared, a distant connection of the girl's, had been losing large sums of money at a gaming table, and seeking other equally undesirable55 relaxations56 at the railroad settlement. For the sake of his mother in England, Miss Barrington desired him brought to his senses, but was afraid to appeal to the Colonel, whose measures were occasionally more Draconic57 than wise.
"I will do what I can," said Winston. "Still, I am not sure that a lad of the kind is worth your worrying over, and I am a trifle curious as to what induced you to entrust58 the mission to me?"
The girl felt embarrassed, but she saw that an answer was expected. "Since you ask, it occurred to me that you could do it better than anybody else," she said.
"Please don't misunderstand me, but I fancy it is the other man who is leading him away."
Winston smiled somewhat grimly. "Your meaning is quite plain, and I am already looking forward to the encounter with my fellow-gambler. You believe that I will prove a match for him."
Maud Barrington, to her annoyance59, felt the blood creep to her forehead, but she looked at the man steadily, noticing the quiet forcefulness beneath his somewhat caustic60 amusement.
"Yes," she said, simply; "and I shall be grateful."
In another few minutes she was galloping61 across the prairie, and when she rejoined her aunt and Barrington, endeavored to draw out the latter's opinion respecting Courthorne's venture by a few discreet62 questions.
"Heaven knows where he was taught it, but there is no doubt that the man is an excellent farmer," he said. "It is a pity that he is also to all intents and purposes mad."
Miss Barrington glanced at her niece, and both of them smiled, for the Colonel usually took for granted the insanity63 of any one who questioned his opinions.
In the meanwhile Winston sat swaying on the driving-seat, mechanically guiding the horses, and noticing how the prairie sod rolled away in black waves beneath the great plow. He heard the crackle of fibers64 beneath the triple shares, and the swish of greasy65 loam along the moldboard's side, but his thoughts were far away, and when he raised his head, he looked into the dim future beyond the long furrow that cut the skyline on the rise.
It was shadowy and uncertain, but one thing was clear to him, and that was that he could not stay at Silverdale. At first, he had almost hoped he might do this, for the good land and the means of efficiently66 working it had been a great temptation. That was before he reckoned on Maud Barrington's attractions, but of late he had seen what these were leading him to, and all that was good in him recoiled67 from an attempt to win her. Once he had dared to wonder whether it could be done, for his grim life had left him self-centered and bitter, but that mood had passed, and it was with disgust he looked back upon it. Now he knew that the sooner he left Silverdale the less difficult it would be to forget her, but he was still determined68 to vindicate69 himself by the work he did, and make her affairs secure. Then, with or without a confession70, he would slip back into the obscurity he came from.
While he worked the soft wind rioted about him, and the harbingers of summer passed north in battalions71 overhead--crane, brant-goose, and mallard, in crescents, skeins, and wedges, after the fashion of their kind. Little long-tailed gophers whisked across the whitened sod, and when the great plow rolled through the shadows of a bluff72, jack73 rabbits, pied white and gray, scurried74 amidst the rustling75 leaves. Even the birches were fragrant76 in that vivifying air, and seemed to rejoice as all animate77 creatures did, but the man's face grew more somber78 as the day of toil8 wore on. Still, he did his work with the grim, unwavering diligence that had already carried him, dismayed but unyielding, through years of drought and harvest hail, and the stars shone down on the prairies when at last he loosed his second team.
Then, standing12 in the door of his lonely homestead, he glanced at the great shadowy granaries and barns, and clenched79 his hand as he saw what he could do if the things that had been forced upon him were rightfully his. He knew his own mettle80, and that he could hold them if he would, but the pale, cold face of a woman rose up in judgment81 against him, and he also knew that because of the love of her, that was casting its toils82 about him, he must give them up.
Far back on the prairie a lonely coyote howled, and a faint wind, that was now like snow-cooled wine, brought the sighing of limitless grasses out of the silence. There was no cloud in the crystalline ether, and something in the vastness and stillness that spoke of infinity83, brought a curious sense of peace to him. Impostor though he was, he would leave Silverdale better than he found it, and afterwards it would be of no great moment what became of him. Countless84 generations of toiling85 men had borne their petty sorrows before him, and gone back to the dust they sprang from, but still, in due succession, harvest followed seed-time, and the world whirled on. Then, remembering that, in the meanwhile, he had much to do which would commence with the sun on the morrow, he went back into the house and shook the fancies from him.
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1
loam
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| n.沃土 | |
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effulgent
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| adj.光辉的；灿烂的 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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toiler
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| 辛劳者，勤劳者 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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purge
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| n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁 | |
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skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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symbolized
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| v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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furrow
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| n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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repentant
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| adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
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prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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plows
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| n.犁( plow的名词复数 )；犁型铲雪机v.耕( plow的第三人称单数 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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sop
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| n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿 | |
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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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plowing
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| v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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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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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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relaxations
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| n.消遣( relaxation的名词复数 )；松懈；松弛；放松 | |
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draconic
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| adj.龙的，似龙的； 非常严厉的，非常严酷的 | |
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entrust
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| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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fibers
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| 光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质 | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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toils
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| 网 | |
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infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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