Before anyone could think of suitable terms in which to express his emotions, Wade said, with a smile that rather added than detracted from his seriousness:
“Pards, never again does a drop of that stuff go down my throat! I’ve suffered hell, but I’ve come out of the flames, and the one that fetched me through is the little gal3 which lays asleep in the next room.”
He did not attempt to deliver a temperance lecture to his friends, nor did they trifle with him. They questioned him closely as to how he had reached this extraordinary decision, and he gave a vivid and truthful4 account of his experience. It made several of the 67 men thoughtful, but most of them felt dubious5 about his persistence6 in the new path he had laid out for himself.
“You know, boys, whether I’ve got a will of my own,” he quietly replied; “just wait and see how this thing comes out.”
It was noticed that Parson Brush was the most interested inquirer, and, though he had comparatively little to say, he left the Bower7 unusually early. He had begun his system of instruction with Nellie Dawson, and reported that she was making remarkably8 good progress. Had the contrary been the fact, it may be doubted whether it would have been safe for him to proclaim it.
And now the scene changes. It is the close of a radiant summer day in the Sierras. Far down in the cañon-like chasm9 between the mountainous spurs, nestled the little mining settlement, which had been christened but a short time before, New Constantinople. Here and there tiny wounds had been gouged10 into the ribs11 of the mountain walls, and the miners were pecking away with pick and shovel12, deepening the hurts in their quest for the yellow atoms or dark ore which had been the means of bringing every man thousands of miles to the spot.
Far up toward the clouds were the towering, craggy peaks, with many a rent and yawn and table-land and lesser13 elevation14, until, as if to check the climbing ambition 68 of the prodigious15 monster, nature had flung an immense blanket of snow, whose ragged16 and torn edges lapped far down the sides of the crests17. Ages ago the chilling blanket was tucked around the mountain tops, there to remain through the long stretch of centuries to follow.
Down the valley, at the bottom of the winding18 cañon, the air palpitated with the fervor19 of the torrid zone. He who attempted to plod20 forward panted and perspired21, but a little way up the mountain side, the cool breath crept downward from the regions of perpetual ice and snow, through the balsamic pines and cedars22, with a revivifying power that was grateful to all who felt its life-giving embrace.
The sun hovered23 in a sky of unclouded azure24. It shot its arrows into the gullies, ravines and gorges26, but made no impression on the frozen covering far up in cloudland itself. Long pointed27 ravelings on the lower edge of the mantle28 showed where some of the snow had turned to water, which changed again to ice, when the sun dipped below the horizon.
The miners were pigmies as they toiled29 in the sides of the towering mountain walls, where they had toiled for many a day. On the lip of a projecting crag, half a mile above were three other pigmies, who neither toiled nor spun30. Viewed through a glass, it was seen that they wore stained feathers in their black hair 69 dangling31 about their shoulders, with the blankets wrapped round their forms descending32 to their moccasined feet. They were watching in grim silence these proofs of the invasion of their homes by the children of another race, and mayhap were conjuring33 some scheme for driving them back into the great sea across which they had sailed to occupy the new land.
One of the Indians was a chieftain. He had come in violent contact with these hated creatures and he bore on his person the scars of such meeting. All carried bows and arrows, though others of their tribe had learned the use of the deadly firearms, which has played such havoc34 with the American race.
Suddenly the chief uttered an exclamation35. Then drawing an arrow from the quiver over his shoulder, he fitted it to the string of his long bow, and pointing downward toward the group of miners, launched the shaft36. Except for the power of gravity, it would have been a foolhardy effort, but guided by the wisp of feather twisted around the reed, the missile spun far outward over the cañon, and dived through the vast reach of space, as if it were endowed with life and determined37 to seek out and pierce the intruders. The black eyes of the three warriors38 followed the arrow until it was only a flickering39 speck40, far below them; but, before that moment arrived, they saw that it was speeding wide of the mark. When at last, 70 the sharp point struck the flinty rock, and the missile doubled over upon itself and dropped harmlessly to the bottom of the cañon, it was at such a distance from the miners, that they knew nothing of it. They never looked up, nor were they aware of the futile41 anger of the red men, who seeing how useless was everything of that nature, turned about and soon passed from view.
The incident was typical of the futility42 of the red man struggling against his inevitable43 doom44 at the hands of his white brother.
Half way between the bottom of the cañon and the lower fringe of the vast mantle of snow, a waterfall tumbled over the edge of a rock, and with many a twist and eddy45 found its way to the small stream, which rippled46 along the bottom of the gorge25, until its winding course carried it beyond sight. Now and then a rift47 of wind blew aside some of the foam48, like a wisp of snow, and brought the murmur49 more clearly to the ear of the listener, shutting out for the time, the faint hollow roar that was wafted50 from the region of pines and cedars. It was a picture of lonely grandeur51 and desolation, made all the more impressive by the tiny bits of life, showing in the few spots along the mountain wall.
At the rear of the row of cabins, and elevated perhaps fifty feet above, was the comparatively smooth face of a rock, several square rods in extent. At the base was abundant footing for two persons, Parson Brush and Nellie Dawson. The teacher had marked on the dark face of the rock with a species of chalk, all the letters large and small of the alphabet. They were well drawn52, for the parson, like others in the settlement, was a man of education, though his many years of roughing it had greatly rusted53 his book knowledge.
Standing54 to one side of his artistic55 work, like a teacher of the olden time, the parson, with a long, trimmed branch in his hand, pointed at the different letters in turn and patiently waited for his little pupil to pronounce their names.
It never would have done to make the child keep her feet like an ordinary mortal. With great labor56, three of the miners had carried a stone of considerable size to the spot, which served her as a seat, while receiving instruction. It is true that she never sat still for more than three minutes at a time, but that was enough to establish the indispensable necessity of a chair.
“You are doing very well, my dear,” said the parson, encouragingly; “you have received only a few lessons, but have mastered the alphabet. I notice that the ‘d’s’ and ‘b’s’ and ‘h’s’ and ‘q’s’ puzzle you a little now and then, but you have got them straight, and it is now time that we took a lesson in spelling.”
“Oh, I can’t do that, Mr. Brush,” protested the 72 queen, rising from the chair, adjusting her skirts and sitting down again; “I never can spell.”
“What is it to spell?”
“I don’t know; what is it?”
“I can best answer your question by showing you. Have you ever seen a cat?”
“Yes; some folks call it that.”
“Oh, yes; when we came from where we used to live,––I guess it must have been three or four hundred years ago, we brought my pussy along. Her name was Nellie, the same as mine.”
“What became of her?”
“She died,” was the sorrowful reply; “I guess she was homesick.”
“That was too bad. Now will you tell me what letter that is?”
“Why, Mr. Brush, don’t you know?”
“Yes, but I wish to find out whether you know.”
“It is C; anybody knows that.”
“And this one?”
“A.”
“That is right; now this one?”
“T; I hope you will remember, Mr. Brush, because I don’t like to tell you so often.”
The teacher continued to drill her, skipping about and pointing at the letters so rapidly in turn that he 73 was kept bowing and straightening up like a jumping-jack. Then, allowing her to rest, he pronounced the letters in their regular order, giving them the sounds proper to the word itself. Nellie, who was watching closely and listening, suddenly exclaimed with glowing face:
“Why, that’s ‘cat’!”
“Of course; now can you say the letters without looking at them?”
After one or two trials she did it successfully.
“There! you have learned to spell ‘cat.’ You see how easy it is.”
“Does that spell ‘pussy’ too?”
“No,––only ‘cat.’ After a time you will be able to spell big words.”
“Let me try something else, Mr. Brush.”
The next word tackled was ‘dog,’ which was soon mastered. When this was accomplished58, the teacher paused for a moment. He was trying to think of another word of three letters, but oddly enough could not readily do so.
“Ah,” he exclaimed, “here is another. Now give me the name of that letter,”
“D.”
“And that?”
“A.”
“And that?”
“M.”
“Now say them quickly, ‘d-a-m;’ what is the word?”
“Why, it’s ‘dam’; O, Mr. Brush, I heard you say that is a bad word.”
“I didn’t think of that, but there are two kinds of ‘dam’ and this one is not a bad word. It means a bank of earth or stones or wood, that is put up to stop the flow of water.”
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收听单词发音
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1
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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8
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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gouged
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| v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出… | |
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11
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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12
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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13
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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15
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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16
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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18
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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19
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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plod
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| v.沉重缓慢地走，孜孜地工作 | |
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21
perspired
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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23
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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24
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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25
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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26
gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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27
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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28
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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29
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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30
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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31
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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32
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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34
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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35
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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36
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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38
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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39
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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40
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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41
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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42
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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43
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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44
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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45
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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46
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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47
rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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48
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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49
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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50
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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52
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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53
rusted
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| v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
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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55
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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56
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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57
pussy
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| n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪 | |
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58
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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59
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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