The next day was devoted5 to preparations for the journey. Rena's slender wardrobe was made ready and packed in a large valise. Towards sunset, Mis' Molly took off her apron6, put on her slat-bonnet,—she was ever the pink of neatness,—picked her way across the street, which was muddy from a rain during the day, traversed the foot-bridge that spanned the ditch in front of the cooper shop, and spoke7 first to the elder of the two men working there.
"Good-evenin', Peter."
"Good-evenin', ma'm," responded the man briefly9, and not relaxing at all the energy with which he was trimming a barrel-stave.
Mis' Molly then accosted10 the younger workman, a dark-brown young man, small in stature11, but with a well-shaped head, an expressive12 forehead, and features indicative of kindness, intelligence, humor, and imagination. "Frank," she asked, "can I git you to do somethin' fer me soon in the mo'nin'?"
"Yas 'm, I reckon so," replied the young man, resting his hatchet13 on the chopping-block. "W'at is it, Mis' Molly?"
"My daughter 's goin' away on the boat, an' I 'lowed you would n' min' totin' her kyarpet-bag down to the w'arf, onless you'd ruther haul it down on yo'r kyart. It ain't very heavy. Of co'se I'll pay you fer yo'r trouble."
"Thank y', ma'm," he replied. He knew that she would not pay him, for the simple reason that he would not accept pay for such a service. "Is she gwine fur?" he asked, with a sorrowful look, which he could not entirely14 disguise.
"As fur as Wilmin'ton an' beyon'. She'll be visitin' her brother John, who lives in—another State, an' wants her to come an' see him."
"Well, 'long 'bout seven o'clock or half pas'. She's goin' on the Old North State, an' it leaves at eight."
Frank stood looking after Mis' Molly as she picked her way across the street, until he was recalled to his duty by a sharp word from his father.
"'Ten' ter yo' wuk, boy, 'ten' ter yo' wuk. You 're wastin' yo' time—wastin' yo' time!"
Yes, he was wasting his time. The beautiful young girl across the street could never be anything to him. But he had saved her life once, and had dreamed that he might render her again some signal service that might win her friendship, and convince her of his humble15 devotion. For Frank was not proud. A smile, which Peter would have regarded as condescending16 to a free man, who, since the war, was as good as anybody else; a kind word, which Peter would have considered offensively patronizing; a piece of Mis' Molly's famous potato pone17 from Rena's hands,—a bone to a dog, Peter called it once;—were ample rewards for the thousand and one small services Frank had rendered the two women who lived in the house behind the cedars18.
Frank went over in the morning a little ahead of the appointed time, and waited on the back piazza20 until his services were required.
"You ain't gwine ter be gone long, is you, Miss Rena?" he inquired, when Rena came out dressed for the journey in her best frock, with broad white collar and cuffs21.
Rena did not know. She had been asking herself the same question. All sorts of vague dreams had floated through her mind during the last few hours, as to what the future might bring forth22. But she detected the anxious note in Frank's voice, and had no wish to give this faithful friend of the family unnecessary pain.
"Oh, no, Frank, I reckon not. I'm supposed to be just going on a short visit. My brother has lost his wife, and wishes me to come and stay with him awhile, and look after his little boy."
"I'm feared you'll lack it better dere, Miss Rena," replied Frank sorrowfully, dropping his mask of unconcern, "an' den4 you won't come back, an' none er yo' frien's won't never see you no mo'."
"You don't think, Frank," asked Rena severely23, "that I would leave my mother and my home and all my friends, and NEVER come back again?"
"Why, no 'ndeed," interposed Mis' Molly wistfully, as she hovered24 around her daughter, giving her hair or her gown a touch here and there; "she'll be so homesick in a month that she'll be willin' to walk home."
"You would n' never hafter do dat, Miss Rena," returned Frank, with a disconsolate25 smile. "Ef you ever wanter come home, an' can't git back no other way, jes' let ME know, an' I'll take my mule26 an' my kyart an' fetch you back, ef it's from de een' er de worl'."
"Thank you, Frank, I believe you would," said the girl kindly27. "You're a true friend, Frank, and I'll not forget you while I'm gone."
The idea of her beautiful daughter riding home from the end of the world with Frank, in a cart, behind a one-eyed mule, struck Mis' Molly as the height of the ridiculous—she was in a state of excitement where tears or laughter would have come with equal ease—and she turned away to hide her merriment. Her daughter was going to live in a fine house, and marry a rich man, and ride in her carriage. Of course a negro would drive the carriage, but that was different from riding with one in a cart.
When it was time to go, Mis' Molly and Rena set out on foot for the river, which was only a short distance away. Frank followed with the valise. There was no gathering28 of friends to see Rena off, as might have been the case under different circumstances. Her departure had some of the characteristics of a secret flight; it was as important that her destination should not be known, as it had been that her brother should conceal29 his presence in the town.
Mis' Molly and Rena remained on the bank until the steamer announced, with a raucous30 whistle, its readiness to depart. Warwick was seen for a moment on the upper deck, from which he greeted them with a smile and a slight nod. He had bidden his mother an affectionate farewell the evening before. Rena gave her hand to Frank.
"Good-by, Frank," she said, with a kind smile; "I hope you and mamma will be good friends while I'm gone."
The whistle blew a second warning blast, and the deck hands prepared to draw in the gang-plank. Rena flew into her mother's arms, and then, breaking away, hurried on board and retired31 to her state-room, from which she did not emerge during the journey. The window-blinds were closed, darkening the room, and the stewardess32 who came to ask if she should bring her some dinner could not see her face distinctly, but perceived enough to make her surmise33 that the young lady had been weeping.
"Po' chile," murmured the sympathetic colored woman, "I reckon some er her folks is dead, er her sweetheart 's gone back on her, er e'se she's had some kin8' er bad luck er 'nuther. W'ite folks has deir troubles jes' ez well ez black folks, an' sometimes feels 'em mo', 'cause dey ain't ez use' ter 'em."
Mis' Molly went back in sadness to the lonely house behind the cedars, henceforth to be peopled for her with only the memory of those she had loved. She had paid with her heart's blood another installment34 on the Shylock's bond exacted by society for her own happiness of the past and her children's prospects35 for the future.
The journey down the sluggish36 river to the seaboard in the flat-bottomed, stern-wheel steamer lasted all day and most of the night. During the first half-day, the boat grounded now and then upon a sand-bank, and the half-naked negro deck-hands toiled37 with ropes and poles to release it. Several times before Rena fell asleep that night, the steamer would tie up at a landing, and by the light of huge pine torches she watched the boat hands send the yellow turpentine barrels down the steep bank in a long string, or pass cord-wood on board from hand to hand. The excited negroes, their white teeth and eyeballs glistening38 in the surrounding darkness to which their faces formed no relief; the white officers in brown linen39, shouting, swearing, and gesticulating; the yellow, flickering40 torchlight over all,—made up a scene of which the weird41 interest would have appealed to a more blase42 traveler than this girl upon her first journey.
During the day, Warwick had taken his meals in the dining-room, with the captain and the other cabin passengers. It was learned that he was a South Carolina lawyer, and not a carpet-bagger. Such credentials43 were unimpeachable44, and the passengers found him a very agreeable traveling companion. Apparently45 sound on the subject of negroes, Yankees, and the righteousness of the lost cause, he yet discussed these themes in a lofty and impersonal46 manner that gave his words greater weight than if he had seemed warped47 by a personal grievance48. His attitude, in fact, piqued49 the curiosity of one or two of the passengers.
"Did your people lose any niggers?" asked one of them.
"My father owned a hundred," he replied grandly.
Their respect for his views was doubled. It is easy to moralize about the misfortunes of others, and to find good in the evil that they suffer;—only a true philosopher could speak thus lightly of his own losses.
When the steamer tied up at the wharf50 at Wilmington, in the early morning, the young lawyer and a veiled lady passenger drove in the same carriage to a hotel. After they had breakfasted in a private room, Warwick explained to his sister the plan he had formed for her future. Henceforth she must be known as Miss Warwick, dropping the old name with the old life. He would place her for a year in a boarding-school at Charleston, after which she would take her place as the mistress of his house. Having imparted this information, he took his sister for a drive through the town. There for the first time Rena saw great ships, which, her brother told her, sailed across the mighty51 ocean to distant lands, whose flags he pointed19 out drooping52 lazily at the mast-heads. The business portion of the town had "an ancient and fishlike smell," and most of the trade seemed to be in cotton and naval53 stores and products of the sea. The wharves54 were piled high with cotton bales, and there were acres of barrels of resin55 and pitch and tar56 and spirits of turpentine. The market, a long, low, wooden structure, in the middle of the principal street, was filled with a mass of people of all shades, from blue-black to Saxon blonde, gabbling and gesticulating over piles of oysters57 and clams58 and freshly caught fish of varied59 hue60. By ten o'clock the sun was beating down so fiercely that the glitter of the white, sandy streets dazzled and pained the eyes unaccustomed to it, and Rena was glad to be driven back to the hotel. The travelers left together on an early afternoon train.
Thus for the time being was severed61 the last tie that bound Rena to her narrow past, and for some time to come the places and the people who had known her once were to know her no more.
Some few weeks later, Mis' Molly called upon old Judge Straight with reference to the taxes on her property.
"Your son came in to see me the other day," he remarked. "He seems to have got along."
"Oh, yes, judge, he's done fine, John has; an' he's took his sister away with him."
"Ah!" exclaimed the judge. Then after a pause he added, "I hope she may do as well."
"Thank you, sir," she said, with a curtsy, as she rose to go. "We've always knowed that you were our friend and wished us well."
The judge looked after her as she walked away. Her bearing had a touch of timidity, a shade of affectation, and yet a certain pathetic dignity.
"It is a pity," he murmured, with a sigh, "that men cannot select their mothers. My young friend John has builded, whether wisely or not, very well; but he has come back into the old life and carried away a part of it, and I fear that this addition will weaken the structure."
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1
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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3
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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4
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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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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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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7
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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8
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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9
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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10
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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11
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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12
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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13
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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14
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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15
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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16
condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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17
pone
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| n.玉米饼 | |
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18
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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19
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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21
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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24
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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27
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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28
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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30
raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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31
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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32
stewardess
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| n.空中小姐，女乘务员 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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34
installment
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| n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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36
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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38
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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39
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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40
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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41
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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42
blase
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| adj.厌烦于享乐的 | |
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43
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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44
unimpeachable
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| adj.无可指责的；adv.无可怀疑地 | |
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45
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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46
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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47
warped
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| adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾， | |
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48
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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49
piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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50
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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51
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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52
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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53
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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54
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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55
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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56
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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57
oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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58
clams
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| n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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60
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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61
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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