“This is the last year of her,” Dick announced. “She’s indomitable. I’ve worked two years on her without the slightest improvement. She knows me, knows my ways, knows I am her master, knows when she has to give in, but is never satisfied. She nourishes the perennial8 hope that some time she’ll catch me napping, and for fear she’ll miss that time she never lets any time go by.”
“And some time she may catch you,” Paula said.
“That’s why I’m giving her up. It isn’t exactly a strain on me, but soon or late she’s bound to get me if there’s anything in the law of probability. It may be a million-to-one shot, but heaven alone knows where in the series of the million that fatal one is going to pop up.”
“You’re a wonder, Red Cloud,” Paula smiled.
“Why?”
“You think in statistics and percentages, averages and exceptions. I wonder, when we first met, what particular formula you measured me up by.”
“I’ll be darned if I did,” he laughed back. “There was where all signs failed. I didn’t have a statistic9 that applied10 to you. I merely acknowledged to myself that here was the most wonderful female woman ever born with two good legs, and I knew that I wanted her more than I had ever wanted anything. I just had to have her—”
“And got her,” Paula completed for him. “But since, Red Cloud, since. Surely you’ve accumulated enough statistics on me.”
“A few, quite a few,” he admitted. “But I hope never to get the last one—”
He broke off at sound of the unmistakable nicker of Mountain Lad. The stallion appeared, the cowboy on his back, and Dick gazed for a moment at the perfect action of the beast’s great swinging trot11.
“We’ve got to get out of this,” he warned, as Mountain Lad, at sight of them, broke into a gallop12.
Together they pricked13 their mares, whirled them about, and fled, while from behind they heard the soothing15 “Whoas” of the rider, the thuds of the heavy hoofs16 on the roadway, and a wild imperative17 neigh. The Outlaw answered, and the Fawn was but a moment behind her. From the commotion18 they knew Mountain Lad was getting tempestuous19.
Leaning to the curve, they swept into a cross-road and in fifty paces pulled up, where they waited till the danger was past.
“He’s never really injured anybody yet,” Paula said, as they started back.
“Except when he casually20 stepped on Cowley’s toes. You remember he was laid up in bed for a month,” Dick reminded her, straightening out the Outlaw from a sidle and with a flicker21 of glance catching22 the strange look with which Paula was regarding him.
There was question in it, he could see, and love in it, and fear—yes, almost fear, or at least apprehension23 that bordered on dismay; but, most of all, a seeking, a searching, a questioning. Not entirely24 ungermane to her mood, was his thought, had been that remark of his thinking in statistics.
But he made that he had not seen, whipping out his pad, and, with an interested glance at a culvert they were passing, making a note.
“They missed it,” he said. “It should have been repaired a month ago.”
“What has become of all those Nevada mustangs?” Paula inquired.
This was a flyer Dick had taken, when a bad season for Nevada pasture had caused mustangs to sell for a song with the alternative of starving to death. He had shipped a trainload down and ranged them in his wilder mountain pastures to the west.
“It’s time to break them,” he answered. “And I’m thinking of a real old-fashioned rodeo next week. What do you say? Have a barbecue and all the rest, and invite the country side?”
“And then you won’t be there,” Paula objected.
“I’ll take a day off. Is it a go?”
They reined25 to one side of the road, as she agreed, to pass three farm tractors, all with their trailage of ganged discs and harrows.
“Moving them across to the Rolling Meadows,” he explained. “They pay over horses on the right ground.”
Rising from the home valley, passing through cultivated fields and wooded knolls26, they took a road busy with many wagons27 hauling road-dressing from the rock-crusher they could hear growling28 and crunching30 higher up.
“Needs more exercise than I’ve been giving her,” Dick remarked, jerking the Outlaw’s bared teeth away from dangerous proximity31 to the Fawn’s flank.
“And it’s disgraceful the way I’ve neglected Duddy and Fuddy,” Paula said. “I’ve kept their feed down like a miser32, but they’re a lively handful just the same.”
Dick heard her idly, but within forty-eight hours he was to remember with hurt what she had said.
They continued on till the crunch29 of the rock-crusher died away, penetrated33 a belt of woodland, crossed a tiny divide where the afternoon sunshine was wine-colored by the manzanita and rose-colored by madronos, and dipped down through a young planting of eucalyptus34 to the Little Meadow. But before they reached it, they dismounted and tied their horses. Dick took the .22 automatic rifle from his saddle-holster, and with Paula advanced softly to a clump35 of redwoods on the edge of the meadow. They disposed themselves in the shade and gazed out across the meadow to the steep slope of hill that came down to it a hundred and fifty yards away.
“There they are—three—four of them,” Paula whispered, as her keen eyes picked the squirrels out amongst the young grain.
These were the wary36 ones, the sports in the direction of infinite caution who had shunned37 the poisoned grain and steel traps of Dick’s vermin catchers. They were the survivors38, each of a score of their fellows not so cautious, themselves fit to repopulate the hillside.
Dick filled the chamber39 and magazine with tiny cartridges40, examined the silencer, and, lying at full length, leaning on his elbow, sighted across the meadow. There was no sound of explosion when he fired, only the click of the mechanism42 as the bullet was sped, the empty cartridge41 ejected, a fresh cartridge flipped43 into the chamber, and the trigger re-cocked. A big, dun-colored squirrel leaped in the air, fell over, and disappeared in the grain. Dick waited, his eye along the rifle and directed toward several holes around which the dry earth showed widely as evidence of the grain which had been destroyed. When the wounded squirrel appeared, scrambling44 across the exposed ground to safety, the rifle clicked again and he rolled over on his side and lay still.
At the first click, every squirrel but the stricken one, had made into its burrow45. Remained nothing to do but wait for their curiosity to master caution. This was the interval46 Dick had looked forward to. As he lay and scanned the hillside for curious heads to appear, he wondered if Paula would have something to say to him. In trouble she was, but would she keep this trouble to herself? It had never been her way. Always, soon or late, she brought her troubles to him. But, then, he reflected, she had never had a trouble of this nature before. It was just the one thing that she would be least prone47 to discuss with him. On the other hand, he reasoned, there was her everlasting48 frankness. He had marveled at it, and joyed in it, all their years together. Was it to fail her now?
So he lay and pondered. She did not speak. She was not restless. He could hear no movement. When he glanced to the side at her he saw her lying on her back, eyes closed, arms outstretched, as if tired.
A small head, the color of the dry soil of its home, peeped from a hole. Dick waited long minutes, until, assured that no danger lurked49, the owner of the head stood full up on its hind14 legs to seek the cause of the previous click that had startled it. Again the rifle clicked.
“Yea, and a fat one,” Dick answered. “I stopped a line of generations right there.”
An hour passed. The afternoon sun beat down but was not uncomfortable in the shade. A gentle breeze fanned the young grain into lazy wavelets at times, and stirred the redwood boughs51 above them. Dick added a third squirrel to the score. Paula’s book lay beside her, but she had not offered to read.
“Anything the matter?” he finally nerved himself to ask.
“No; headache—a beastly little neuralgic hurt across the eyes, that’s all.”
“Too much embroidery,” he teased.
“Not guilty,” was her reply.
All was natural enough in all seeming; but Dick, as he permitted an unusually big squirrel to leave its burrow and crawl a score of feet across the bare earth toward the grain, thought to himself: No, there will be no talk between us this day. Nor will we nestle and kiss lying here in the grass.
His victim was now at the edge of the grain. He pulled trigger. The creature fell over, lay still a moment, then ran in quick awkward fashion toward its hole. Click, click, click, went the mechanism. Puffs52 of dust leaped from the earth close about the fleeing squirrel, showing the closeness of the misses. Dick fired as rapidly as he could twitch53 his forefinger54 on the trigger, so that it was as if he played a stream of lead from a hose.
“My! What a fusillade.—Get him?”
“Yea, grandfather of all squirrels, a mighty56 graineater and destroyer of sustenance57 for young calves58. But nine long smokeless cartridges on one squirrel doesn’t pay. I’ll have to do better.”
The sun dropped lower. The breeze died out. Dick managed another squirrel and sadly watched the hillside for more. He had arranged the time and made his bid for confidence. The situation was as grave as he had feared. Graver it might be, for all he knew, for his world was crumbling59 about him. Old landmarks60 were shifting their places. He was bewildered, shaken. Had it been any other woman than Paula! He had been so sure. There had been their dozen years to vindicate61 his surety....
“Five o’clock, sun he get low,” he announced, rising to his feet and preparing to help her up.
“It did me so much good—just resting,” she said, as they started for the horses. “My eyes feel much better. It’s just as well I didn’t try to read to you.”
“And don’t be piggy,” Dick warned, as lightly as if nothing were amiss with him. “Don’t dare steal the tiniest peek62 into Le Gallienne. You’ve got to share him with me later on. Hold up your hand.—Now, honest to God, Paul.”
“Honest to God,” she obeyed.
“And may jackasses dance on your grandmother’s grave—”
“And may jackasses dance on my grandmother’s grave,” she solemnly repeated.
The third morning of Graham’s absence, Dick saw to it that he was occupied with his dairy manager when Paula made her eleven o’clock pilgrimage, peeped in upon him, and called her “Good morning, merry gentleman,” from the door. The Masons, arriving in several machines with their boisterous63 crowd of young people, saved Paula for lunch and the afternoon; and, on her urging, Dick noted64, she made the evening safe by holding them over for bridge and dancing.
But the fourth morning, the day of Graham’s expected return, Dick was alone in his workroom at eleven. Bending over his desk, signing letters, he heard Paula tiptoe into the room. He did not look up, but while he continued writing his signature he listened with all his soul to the faint, silken swish of her kimono. He knew when she was bending over him, and all but held his breath. But when she had softly kissed his hair and called her “Good morning, merry gentleman,” she evaded65 the hungry sweep of his arm and laughed her way out. What affected66 him as strongly as the disappointment was the happiness he had seen in her face. She, who so poorly masked her moods, was bright-eyed and eager as a child. And it was on this afternoon that Graham was expected, Dick could not escape making the connection.
He did not care to ascertain67 if she had replenished68 the lilacs in the tower room, and, at lunch, which was shared with three farm college students from Davis, he found himself forced to extemporize69 a busy afternoon for himself when Paula tentatively suggested that she would drive Graham up from Eldorado.
“Drive?” Dick asked.
“Duddy and Fuddy,” she explained. “They’re all on edge, and I just feel like exercising them and myself. Of course, if you’ll share the exercise, we’ll drive anywhere you say, and let him come up in the machine.”
Dick strove not to think there was anxiety in her manner while she waited for him to accept or decline her invitation.
“Poor Duddy and Fuddy would be in the happy hunting grounds if they had to cover my ground this afternoon,” he laughed, at the same time mapping his program. “Between now and dinner I’ve got to do a hundred and twenty miles. I’m taking the racer, and it’s going to be some dust and bump and only an occasional low place. I haven’t the heart to ask you along. You go on and take it out of Duddy and Fuddy.”
Paula sighed, but so poor an actress was she that in the sigh, intended for him as a customary reluctant yielding of his company, he could not fail to detect the relief at his decision.
“Whither away?” she asked brightly, and again he noticed the color in her face, the happiness, and the brilliance70 of her eyes.
“Oh, I’m shooting away down the river to the dredging work—Carlson insists I must advise him—and then up in to Sacramento, running over the Teal Slough71 land on the way, to see Wing Fo Wong.”
“And in heaven’s name who is this Wing Fo Wong?” she laughingly queried, “that you must trot and see him?”
“A very important personage, my dear. Worth all of two millions—made in potatoes and asparagus down in the Delta72 country. I’m leasing three hundred acres of the Teal Slough land to him.” Dick addressed himself to the farm students. “That land lies just out of Sacramento on the west side of the river. It’s a good example of the land famine that is surely coming. It was tule swamp when I bought it, and I was well laughed at by the old-timers. I even had to buy out a dozen hunting preserves. It averaged me eighteen dollars an acre, and not so many years ago either.
“You know the tule swamps. Worthless, save for ducks and low-water pasturage. It cost over three hundred an acre to dredge and drain and to pay my quota73 of the river reclamation74 work. And on what basis of value do you think I am making a ten years’ lease to old Wing Fo Wong? Two thousand an acre. I couldn’t net more than that if I truck-farmed it myself. Those Chinese are wizards with vegetables, and gluttons75 for work. No eight hours for them. It’s eighteen hours. The last coolie is a partner with a microscopic76 share. That’s the way Wing Fo Wong gets around the eight hour law.”
Twice warned and once arrested, was Dick through the long afternoon. He drove alone, and though he drove with speed he drove with safety. Accidents, for which he personally might be responsible, were things he did not tolerate. And they never occurred. That same sureness and definiteness of adjustment with which, without fumbling77 or approximating, he picked up a pencil or reached for a door-knob, was his in the more complicated adjustments, with which, as instance, he drove a high-powered machine at high speed over busy country roads.
But drive as he would, transact78 business as he would, at high pressure with Carlson and Wing Fo Wong, continually, in the middle ground of his consciousness, persisted the thought that Paula had gone out of her way and done the most unusual in driving Graham the long eight miles from Eldorado to the ranch79.
“Phew!” he started to mutter a thought aloud, then suspended utterance80 and thought as he jumped the racer from forty-five to seventy miles an hour, swept past to the left of a horse and buggy going in the same direction, and slanted81 back to the right side of the road with margin82 to spare but seemingly under the nose of a run-about coming from the opposite direction. He reduced his speed to fifty and took up his thought:
“Phew! Imagine little Paul’s thoughts if I dared that drive with some charming girl!”
He laughed at the fancy as he pictured it, for, most early in their marriage, he had gauged83 Paula’s capacity for quiet jealousy84. Never had she made a scene, or dropped a direct remark, or raised a question; but from the first, quietly but unmistakably, she had conveyed the impression of hurt that was hers if he at all unduly85 attended upon any woman.
He grinned with remembrance of Mrs. Dehameny, the pretty little brunette widow—Paula’s friend, not his—who had visited in the long ago in the Big House. Paula had announced that she was not riding that afternoon and, at lunch, had heard him and Mrs. Dehameny arrange to ride into the redwood canyons86 beyond the grove87 of the philosophers. And who but Paula, not long after their start, should overtake them and make the party three! He had smiled to himself at the time, and felt immensely tickled88 with Paula, for neither Mrs. Dehameny nor the ride with her had meant anything to him.
So it was, from the beginning, that he had restricted his attentions to other women. Ever since he had been far more circumspect89 than Paula. He had even encouraged her, given her a free hand always, had been proud that his wife did attract fine fellows, had been glad that she was glad to be amused or entertained by them. And with reason, he mused90. He had been so safe, so sure of her—more so, he acknowledged, than had she any right to be of him. And the dozen years had vindicated91 his attitude, so that he was as sure of her as he was of the diurnal92 rotation93 of the earth. And now, was the form his fancy took, the rotation of the earth was a shaky proposition and old Oom Paul’s flat world might be worth considering.
He lifted the gauntlet from his left wrist to snatch a glimpse at his watch, In five minutes Graham would be getting off the train at Eldorado. Dick, himself homeward bound west from Sacramento, was eating up the miles. In a quarter of an hour the train that he identified as having brought Graham, went by. Not until he was well past Eldorado did he overtake Duddy and Fuddy and the trap. Graham sat beside Paula, who was driving. Dick slowed down as he passed, waved a hello to Graham, and, as he jumped into speed again, called cheerily:
“Sorry I’ve got to give you my dust. I’ll beat you a game of billiards94 before dinner, Evan, if you ever get in.”
该作者的其它作品
《The Sea-Wolf海狼》
《The People of the Abyss 深渊居民》
《The Iron Heel 铁蹄》
该作者的其它作品
《The Sea-Wolf海狼》
《The People of the Abyss 深渊居民》
《The Iron Heel 铁蹄》
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收听单词发音
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1
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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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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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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pranced
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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statistic
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| n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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12
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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13
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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28
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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30
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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eucalyptus
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| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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39
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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40
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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41
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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42
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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43
flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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44
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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45
burrow
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| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
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46
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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47
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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48
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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49
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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50
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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51
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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52
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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twitch
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| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
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54
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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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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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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61
vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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62
peek
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| vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥 | |
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boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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68
replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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extemporize
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| v.即席演说，即兴演奏，当场作成 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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71
slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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72
delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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73
quota
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| n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额 | |
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reclamation
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| n.开垦；改造；（废料等的）回收 | |
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75
gluttons
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| 贪食者( glutton的名词复数 )； 贪图者； 酷爱…的人； 狼獾 | |
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microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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77
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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transact
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| v.处理；做交易；谈判 | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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81
slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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82
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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83
gauged
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| adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分 | |
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84
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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unduly
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| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
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canyons
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| n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 ) | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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88
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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circumspect
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| adj.慎重的，谨慎的 | |
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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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vindicated
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| v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护 | |
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diurnal
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| adj.白天的，每日的 | |
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93
rotation
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| n.旋转；循环，轮流 | |
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94
billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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