The wind became a blast, jerking the brim of his sombrero up and whistling in his hair. He was letting the shame, the grief, the thousand regrets of that parting with Aunt Elizabeth be blown out of his soul. His mind was a whirl; the thoughts became blurs8. As a matter of fact, Terry was being reborn.
He had lived a life perfectly9 sheltered. The care of Elizabeth Cornish had surrounded him as the Blue Mountains and Sleep Mountain surrounded Bear Valley and fenced off the full power of the storm winds. The reality of life had never reached him. Now, all in a day, the burden was placed on his back, and he felt the spur driven home to the quick. No wonder that he winced10, that his heart contracted.
But now that he was awakening11, everything was new. Uncle Vance, whom he had always secretly despised, now seemed a fine character, gentle, cultured, thoughtful of others. Aunt Elizabeth Cornish he had accepted as a sort of natural fact, as though there were a blood tie between them. Now he was suddenly aware of twenty-four years of patient love. The sorrow of it, that only the loss of that love should have brought him realization12 of it. Vague thoughts and aspirations13 formed in his mind. He yearned14 toward some large and heroic deed which should re-establish himself in her respect. He wished to find her in need, in great trouble, free her from some crushing burden with one perilous15 effort, lay his homage16 at her feet.
All of which meant that Terry Hollis was a boy—a bewildered, heart- stricken boy. Not that he would have undone17 what he had done. It seemed to him inevitable18 that he should resent the story of the sheriff and shoot him down or be shot down himself. All that he regretted was that he had remained mute before Aunt Elizabeth, unable to explain to her a thing which he felt so keenly. And for the first time he realized the flinty basis of her nature. The same thing that enabled her to give half a lifetime to the cherishing of a theory, also enabled her to cast all the result of that labor19 out of her life. It stung him again to the quick every time he thought of it. There was something wrong. He felt that a hundred hands of affection gave him hold on her. And yet all those grips were brushed away.
The torment20 was setting him on fire. And the fire was burning away the smug complacency which had come to him during his long life in the valley.
When El Sangre pulled out of his racing21 gallop22 and struck out up a slope at his natural gait, the ground-devouring pace, Terry Hollis was panting and twisting in the saddle as though the labor of the gallop had been his. They climbed and climbed, and still his mind was involved in a haze23 of thought. It cleared when he found that there were no longer high mountains before him. He drew El Sangre to a halt with a word. The great stallion turned his head as he paused and looked back to his master with a confiding24 eye as though waiting willingly for directions. And all at once the heart of Terence went out to the blood-bay as it had never gone before to any creature, dumb or human. For El Sangre had known such pain as he himself was learning at this moment. El Sangre was giving him true trust, true love, and asking him for no return.
The stallion, following his own will, had branched off from the Bear Creek trail and climbed through the lower range of the Blue Peaks. They were standing26 now on a mountain-top. The red of the sunset filled the west and brought the sky close to them with the lower drifts of stained clouds. Eastward27 the winding28 length of Bear Creek was turning pink and purple. The Cornish ranch25 had never seemed so beautiful to Terry as it was at this moment. It was a kingdom, and he was leaving, the disinherited heir.
He turned west to the blare of the sunset. Blue Mountains tumbled away in lessening29 ranges—beyond was Craterville, and he must go there today. That was the world to him just then. And something new passed through Terry. The world was below him; it lay at his feet with its hopes and its battles. And he was strong for the test. He had been living in a dream. Now he would live in fact. And it was glorious to live!
And when his arms fell, his right hand lodged30 instinctively31 on the butt32 of his revolver. It was a prophetic gesture, but there, again, was something that Terry Hollis did not understand.
He called to El Sangre softly. The stallion responded with the faintest of whinnies to the vibrant33 power in the voice of the master; and at that smooth, effortless pace, he glided34 down the hillside, weaving dexterously35 among the jagged outcroppings of rock. A period had been placed after Terry's old life. And this was how he rode into the new.
The long and ever-changing mountain twilight36 began as he wound through the lower ranges. And when the full dark came, he broke from the last sweep of foothills and El Sangre roused to a gallop over the level toward Craterville.
He had been in the town before, of course. But he felt this evening that he had really never seen it before. On other days what existed outside of Bear Valley did not very much matter. That was the hub around which the rest of the world revolved37, so far as Terry was concerned. It was very different now. Craterville, in fact, was a huddle38 of broken-down houses among a great scattering39 of boulders40 with the big mountains plunging41 up on every side to the dull blue of the night sky.
But Craterville was also something more. It was a place where several hundred human beings lived, any one of whom might be the decisive influence in the life of Terry. Young men and old men were in that town, cunning and strength; old crones and lovely girls were there. Whom would he meet? What should he see? A sudden kindness toward others poured through Terry Hollis. After all, every man might be a treasure to him. A queer choking came in his throat when he thought of all that he had missed by his contemptuous aloofness42.
One thing gave him check. This was primarily the sheriff's town, and by this time they knew all about the shooting. But what of that? He had fought fairly, almost too fairly.
He passed the first shapeless shack43. The hoofs44 of El Sangre bit into the dust, choking and red in daylight, and acrid45 of scent46 by the night. All was very quiet except for a stir of voices in the distance here and there, always kept hushed as though the speaker felt and acknowledged the influence of the profound night in the mountains. Someone came down the street carrying a lantern. It turned his steps into vast spokes47 of shadows that rushed back and forth48 across the houses with the swing of the light. The lantern light gleamed on the stained flank of El Sangre.
"Halloo, Jake, that you?"
The man with the lantern raised it, but its light merely served to blind him. Terry passed on without a word and heard the other mutter behind him: "Some damn stranger!"
Perhaps strangers were not welcome in Craterville. At least, it seemed so when he reached the hotel after putting up his horse in the shed behind the old building. Half a dozen dark forms sat on the veranda49 talking in the subdued50 voices which he had noted51 before. Terry stepped through the lighted doorway52. There was no one inside.
"Want something?" called a voice from the porch. The widow Rickson came in to him.
"A room, please," said Terry.
A thousand things seemed to be in that last word, which she brought out with a shrill54 ring of her voice. Terry noted that the talking on the porch was cut off as though a hand had been clapped over the mouth of every man.
He recalled that the widow had been long a friend of the sheriff and he was suddenly embarrassed.
"If you have a spare room, Mrs. Rickson. Otherwise, I'll find—"
Her manner had changed. It became as strangely ingratiating as it had been horrified55, suspicious, before.
"Sure I got a room. Best in the house, if you want it. And—you'll be hungry, Mr.—Hollis?"
He wondered why she insisted so savagely56 on that newfound name? He admitted that he was very hungry from his ride, and she led him back to the kitchen and gave him cold ham and coffee and vast slices of bread and butter.
She did not talk much while he ate, and he noted that she asked no questions. Afterwards she led him through the silence of the place up to the second story and gave him a room at the corner of the building. He thanked her. She paused at the door with her hand on the knob, and her eyes fixed57 him through and through with a glittering, hostile stare. A wisp of gray hair had fallen across her cheek, and there it was plastered to the skin with sweat, for the evening was, warm.
"No trouble," she muttered at length. "None at all. Make yourself to home, Mr.—Hollis!"
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1
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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2
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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wresting
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| 动词wrest的现在进行式 | |
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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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6
withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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7
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
blurs
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| n.模糊( blur的名词复数 )；模糊之物；（移动的）模糊形状；模糊的记忆v.（使）变模糊( blur的第三人称单数 )；（使）难以区分 | |
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9
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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12
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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13
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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14
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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16
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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19
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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20
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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21
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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22
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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23
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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24
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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25
ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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26
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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27
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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28
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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29
lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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30
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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32
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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33
vibrant
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| adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的 | |
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34
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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36
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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37
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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38
huddle
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| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 | |
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39
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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40
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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41
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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42
aloofness
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| 超然态度 | |
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43
shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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44
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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45
acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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46
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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47
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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48
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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49
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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50
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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52
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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53
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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54
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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55
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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56
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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57
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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