CHAPTER XVIII. EVENING

 They were all sitting on the lawn in the twilight¹.

 

Norah had dispensed² afternoon tea with laborious³ energy, ably seconded by Dick, who carried cups and cake, and made himself generally useful. Then they had talked until the sun slipped over the edge of the plain. There was so much to talk of in those days.

 

The Hermit⁴ had been allowed to leave his room a fortnight since. He was still weak, but strength was coming every day—strength that follows on happiness. Norah declared he grew better every day and no one contradicted her.

 

He and his wife sat hand in hand. They were rarely seen any other way—perfect content on each placid⁵ face. Dick lay on the grass at their feet and smoked, and threw stems of buffalo⁶ grass at Norah, who returned them honourably⁷. Mr. Linton, also smoking, surveyed the group with satisfaction.

 

They had been talking over plans for the future, plans which Mr. Linton's masterfulness modified very considerably⁸.

 

“Go away?” he said. “Certainly not! I've engaged your son as tutor to my daughter, and I really can't spare him from the poor neglected child! Then, as you, curiously⁹ enough, don't wish to leave your son, the course is quite clear—you must stay here.”

 

“I'm not going to live on you, Davy.”

 

“You needn't. I'm bitterly in need of someone with a head for figures—a thing I never possessed¹⁰. You can help me tremendously. And, good as dear old Brownie is, I know Norah ought to be with a gentlewoman—to learn the things that aren't in school books. It's the best chance you and I have ever had, isn't it, Norah? We aren't going to let it—or you—slip through our hands.”

 

“It's—it's all very well, Davy, old man—”

 

“I know it is. Now, can't you let well alone, Jim? Talk of it again in five years' time—you may have better luck then. I don't say you will—but you may! Hang it all, man, you're not going to thwart¹¹ me when I've just got my family together!”

 

“Well, I won't for a while,” the Hermit said-and immediately received a kiss on the top of his head.

 

“Thank you, Norah,” he said meekly¹².

 

“Don't mention it,” Norah answered politely. “Oh, I'm so glad you're going to stay with us, Mr. Hermit!”

 

Norah had flatly declined to call her friend anything but the name she had given him in the bush. As for the Hermit, he was perfectly¹³ content with anything Norah did and had no idea of objecting.

 

“You heard, didn't you, Norah, that they'd found your friend, the Winfield murderer?” Mr. Linton asked.

 

“Daddy!—no!”

 

“Found his body in an old shaft—not far from Winfield. He had the stolen property on him, so there's no doubt of his guilt¹⁴. So that clears your Hermit, even in your suspicious mind!”

 

“Ah, don't, Daddy,” Norah said, flushing. “I wasn't suspicious. I was a duffer.”

 

“I don't think you were,” the Hermit said decidedly. “A very sensible duffer, anyhow.”

 

Dick laughed.

 

“No use trying to come between those two,” he said.

 

“Not a bit,” said the Hermit with great cheerfulness. He smiled at Norah. “You brought me back to life—twice.”

 

“When I think—but for Norah,” Mrs. Stephenson murmured brokenly, “no one would have known you were dying in that dreadful tent.”

 

“Yes,” said the Hermit, “but I didn't know anything about it. My best memory is of my little friend who brought me good news when I was wishing with all my soul that I'd died in the tent!”

 

“Don't, Jim!” said Mr. Linton.

 

“Well, between one and another there's a fair chance of spoiling my pupil,” laughed Dick, stretching himself. “I'll have to be doubly stern to counteract¹⁵ the evil influences, Norah. You can prepare for awful times. When next Monday comes, Mr. Linton—may it be soon!—you can say good-bye to your pickle¹⁶ of a daughter. She will come out from my mill ground into the most approved type of young lady—accomplishments, prunes¹⁷ and prisms personified!”

 

Mr. Linton laughed.

 

“Will she?” he said, pulling Norah's hair gently. “I wonder! Well, you can do your worst, Dick. Somehow, I fancy that under all the varnish¹⁸ I'll find my little bush maid.”

1 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

2 dispensed   

v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药）

参考例句：

• Not a single one of these conditions can be dispensed with. 这些条件缺一不可。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage. 他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 laborious   

adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅

参考例句：

• They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作。
• Ants and bees are laborious insects.蚂蚁与蜜蜂是勤劳的昆虫。

4 hermit   

n.隐士，修道者；隐居

参考例句：

• He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。
• Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

5 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

6 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

7 honourably   

adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地

参考例句：

• Will the time never come when we may honourably bury the hatchet? 难道我们永远不可能有个体面地休战的时候吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dispute was settled honourably. 争议体面地得到解决。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

9 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

10 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

11 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

12 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

14 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

15 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

16 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

17 prunes   

n.西梅脯，西梅干( prune的名词复数 )v.修剪（树木等）( prune的第三人称单数 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• Dried fruits such as prunes, pears, and peaches, are stewed. 梅干、梨脯、桃脯等干果，都是炖过的。 来自辞典例句
• We had stewed prunes for breakfast. 我们早饭吃炖梅干。 来自辞典例句

18 varnish   

n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰

参考例句：

• He tried to varnish over the facts,but it was useless.他想粉饰事实，但那是徒劳的。
• He applied varnish to the table.他给那张桌子涂上清漆。