MY DEAREST GEORGE,—I am going away for about a week, to visit the bedside of an old friend, who is very ill, and may not live. Do not be alarmed about me, for I shall very likely be back by the time you are.
Yours lovingly,
ROWENA WARWICK.
The judge was unable to connect this letter with the transaction which formed the subject of his examination. Age had dimmed his perceptions somewhat, and it was not until he had finished the letter, and read it over again, and noted7 the signature at the bottom a second time, that he perceived that the writing was in a woman's hand, that the ink was comparatively fresh, and that the letter was dated only a couple of days before. While he still held the sheet in his hand, it dawned upon him slowly that he held also one of the links in a chain of possible tragedy which he himself, he became uncomfortably aware, had had a hand in forging.
"It is the Walden woman's daughter, as sure as fate! Her name is Rena. Her brother goes by the name of Warwick. She has come to visit her sick mother. My young client, Green's relation, is her lover—is engaged to marry her—is in town, and is likely to meet her!"
The judge was so absorbed in the situation thus suggested that he laid the papers down and pondered for a moment the curious problem involved. He was quite aware that two races had not dwelt together, side by side, for nearly three hundred years, without mingling8 their blood in greater or less degree; he was old enough, and had seen curious things enough, to know that in this mingling the current had not always flowed in one direction. Certain old decisions with which he was familiar; old scandals that had crept along obscure channels; old facts that had come to the knowledge of an old practitioner9, who held in the hollow of his hand the honor of more than one family, made him know that there was dark blood among the white people—not a great deal, and that very much diluted10, and, so long as it was sedulously11 concealed12 or vigorously denied, or lost in the mists of tradition, or ascribed to a foreign or an aboriginal13 strain, having no perceptible effect upon the racial type.
Such people were, for the most part, merely on the ragged14 edge of the white world, seldom rising above the level of overseers, or slave-catchers, or sheriff's officers, who could usually be relied upon to resent the drop of black blood that tainted15 them, and with the zeal16 of the proselyte to visit their hatred17 of it upon the unfortunate blacks that fell into their hands. One curse of negro slavery was, and one part of its baleful heritage is, that it poisoned the fountains of human sympathy. Under a system where men might sell their own children without social reprobation18 or loss of prestige, it was not surprising that some of them should hate their distant cousins. There were not in Patesville half a dozen persons capable of thinking Judge Straight's thoughts upon the question before him, and perhaps not another who would have adopted the course he now pursued toward this anomalous20 family in the house behind the cedars21.
"Well, here we are again, as the clown in the circus remarks," murmured the judge. "Ten years ago, in a moment of sentimental22 weakness and of quixotic loyalty23 to the memory of an old friend,—who, by the way, had not cared enough for his own children to take them away from the South, as he might have done, or to provide for them handsomely, as he perhaps meant to do,—I violated the traditions of my class and stepped from the beaten path to help the misbegotten son of my old friend out of the slough24 of despond, in which he had learned, in some strange way, that he was floundering. Ten years later, the ghost of my good deed returns to haunt me, and makes me doubt whether I have wrought25 more evil than good. I wonder," he mused26, "if he will find her out?"
The judge was a man of imagination; he had read many books and had personally outlived some prejudices. He let his mind run on the various phases of the situation.
"If he found her out, would he by any possibility marry her?"
"It is not likely," he answered himself. "If he made the discovery here, the facts would probably leak out in the town. It is something that a man might do in secret, but only a hero or a fool would do openly."
The judge sighed as he contemplated27 another possibility. He had lived for seventy years under the old regime. The young man was a gentleman—so had been the girl's father. Conditions were changed, but human nature was the same. Would the young man's love turn to disgust and repulsion, or would it merely sink from the level of worship to that of desire? Would the girl, denied marriage, accept anything less? Her mother had,—but conditions were changed. Yes, conditions were changed, so far as the girl was concerned; there was a possible future for her under the new order of things; but white people had not changed their opinion of the negroes, except for the worse. The general belief was that they were just as inferior as before, and had, moreover, been spoiled by a disgusting assumption of equality, driven into their thick skulls28 by Yankee malignity29 bent30 upon humiliating a proud though vanquished31 foe32.
If the judge had had sons and daughters of his own, he might not have done what he now proceeded to do. But the old man's attitude toward society was chiefly that of an observer, and the narrow stream of sentiment left in his heart chose to flow toward the weaker party in this unequal conflict,—a young woman fighting for love and opportunity against the ranked forces of society, against immemorial tradition, against pride of family and of race.
"It may be the unwisest thing I ever did," he said to himself, turning to his desk and taking up a quill33 pen, "and may result in more harm than good; but I was always from childhood in sympathy with the under dog. There is certainly as much reason in my helping34 the girl as the boy, for being a woman, she is less able to help herself."
He dipped his pen into the ink and wrote the following lines:—
MADAM,—If you value your daughter's happiness, keep her at home for the next day or two.
This note he dried by sprinkling it with sand from a box near at hand, signed with his own name, and, with a fine courtesy, addressed to "Mrs. Molly Walden." Having first carefully sealed it in an envelope, he stepped to the open door, and spied, playing marbles on the street near by, a group of negro boys, one of whom the judge called by name.
"Here, Billy," he said, handing the boy the note, "take this to Mis' Molly Walden. Do you know where she lives—down on Front Street, in the house behind the cedars?"
"Yas, suh, I knows de place."
"Make haste, now. When you come back and tell me what she says, I'll give you ten cents. On second thoughts, I shall be gone to lunch, so here's your money," he added, handing the lad the bit of soiled paper by which the United States government acknowledged its indebtedness to the bearer in the sum of ten cents.
Just here, however, the judge made his mistake. Very few mortals can spare the spring of hope, the motive35 force of expectation. The boy kept the note in his hand, winked36 at his companions, who had gathered as near as their awe4 of the judge would permit, and started down the street. As soon as the judge had disappeared, Billy beckoned37 to his friends, who speedily overtook him. When the party turned the corner of Front Street and were safely out of sight of Judge Straight's office, the capitalist entered the grocery store and invested his unearned increment38 in gingerbread. When the ensuing saturnalia was over, Billy finished the game of marbles which the judge had interrupted, and then set out to execute his commission. He had nearly reached his objective point when he met upon the street a young white lady, whom he did not know, and for whom, the path being narrow at that point, he stepped out into the gutter39. He reached the house behind the cedars, went round to the back door, and handed the envelope to Mis' Molly, who was seated on the rear piazza40, propped41 up by pillows in a comfortable rocking-chair.
"Laws-a-massy!" she exclaimed weakly, "what is it?"
"It's a lettuh, ma'm," answered the boy, whose expanding nostrils42 had caught a pleasant odor from the kitchen, and who was therefore in no hurry to go away.
"Who's it fur?" she asked.
"It's fuh you, ma'm," replied the lad.
"An' who's it from?" she inquired, turning the envelope over and over, and examining it with the impotent curiosity of one who cannot read.
"F'm ole Jedge Straight, ma'm. He tole me ter fetch it ter you. Is you got a roasted 'tater you could gimme, ma'm?"
"Shorely, chile. I'll have Aunt Zilphy fetch you a piece of 'tater pone43, if you'll hol' on a minute."
She called to Aunt Zilphy, who soon came hobbling out of the kitchen with a large square of the delicacy,—a flat cake made of mashed44 sweet potatoes, mixed with beaten eggs, sweetened and flavored to suit the taste, and baked in a Dutch oven upon the open hearth45.
The boy took the gratuity46, thanked her, and turned to go. Mis' Molly was still scanning the superscription of the letter. "I wonder," she murmured, "what old Judge Straight can be writin' to me about. Oh, boy!"
"Yas 'm," answered the messenger, looking back.
"Can you read writin'?"
"No 'm."
"All right. Never mind."
She laid the letter carefully on the chimney-piece of the kitchen. "I reckon it's somethin' mo' 'bout6 the taxes," she thought, "or maybe somebody wants to buy one er my lots. Rena'll be back terreckly, an' she kin19 read it an' find out. I'm glad my child'en have be'n to school. They never could have got where they are now if they hadn't."
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1
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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2
overdue
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| adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的 | |
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outlawed
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| 宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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4
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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5
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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6
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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7
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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8
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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9
practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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10
diluted
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| 无力的，冲淡的 | |
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11
sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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12
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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13
aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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14
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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15
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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16
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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17
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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18
reprobation
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| n.斥责 | |
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19
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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20
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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21
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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22
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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23
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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24
slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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25
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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26
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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27
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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28
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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29
malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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30
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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31
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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32
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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33
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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34
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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35
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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36
winked
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| 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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37
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
increment
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| n.增值，增价；提薪，增加工资 | |
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39
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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40
piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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41
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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43
pone
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| n.玉米饼 | |
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44
mashed
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| a.捣烂的 | |
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45
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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46
gratuity
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| n.赏钱，小费 | |
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