CHAPTER XVIII.

 Thus the attempt to do Little was more successful than it looks. Its object was to keep Little and Simmons apart, and sure enough those two men never met again in life.

 

But, on the other hand, this new crime imbittered two able men against the union, and put Grotait in immediate¹ peril². Mr. Ransome conferred with Mr. Holdfast and they both visited Simmons, and urged him to make a clean breast before he left the world.

 

Simmons hesitated. He said repeatedly, “Gi' me time! gi' me time!”

 

Grotait heard of these visits, and was greatly alarmed. He set Dan Tucker and another to watch by turns and report.

 

Messrs. Holdfast and Ransome had an ally inside the house. Eliza Watney had come in from another town, and had no Hillsborough prejudices. She was furious at this new outrage³ on Little, who had won her regard, and she hoped her brother-in-law would reveal all he knew. Such a confession⁴, she thought, might remove the stigma⁵ from himself to those better-educated persons, who had made a tool of her poor ignorant relative.

 

Accordingly no sooner did the nurse Little had provided inform her, in a low voice, that there was A CHANGE, than she put on her bonnet⁶, and went in all haste to Mr. Holdfast, and also to the chief constable⁷, as she had promised them to do.

 

But of course she could not go without talking. She met an acquaintance not far from the door, and told her Ned was near his end, and she was going to tell the gentlemen.

 

Dan Tucker stepped up to this woman, and she was as open-mouthed to him as Eliza had been to her. Dan went directly with the news to Grotait.

 

Grotait came all in a hurry, but Holdfast was there before him, and was actually exhorting⁸ Simmons to do a good action in his last moments, and reveal those greater culprits who had employed him, when Grotait, ill at ease, walked in, sat down at the foot of the bed, and fixed⁹ his eye on Simmons.

 

Simmons caught sight of him and stared, but said nothing to him. Yet, when Holdfast had done, Simmons was observed to look at Grotait, though he replied to the other. “If you was a Hillsbro' man, you'd know we tell on dead folk, but not on quick. I told on Ned Simmons, because he was as good as dead; but to tell on Trade, that's different.”

 

“And I think, my poor fellow,” suggested Grotait, smoothly¹⁰, “you might spend your last moments better in telling US what you would wish the Trade to do for your wife, and the child if it lives.”

 

“Well, I think ye might make the old gal¹¹ an allowance till she marries again.”

 

“Oh, Ned! Ned!” cried the poor woman. “I'll have no man after thee.” And a violent burst of grief followed.

 

“Thou'll do like the rest,” said the dying man. “Hold thy bellering, and let me speak, that's got no time to lose. How much will ye allow her, old lad?”

 

“Six shillings a week, Ned.”

 

“And what is to come of young 'un?”

 

“We'll apprentice¹² him.”

 

“To my trade?”

 

“You know better than that, Ned. You are a freeman; but he won't be a freeman's son by our law, thou knowst. But there's plenty of outside trades in Hillsbro'. We'll bind¹³ him to one of those, and keep an eye on him, for thy sake.”

 

“Well, I must take what I can get.”

 

“And little enough too,” said Eliza Watney. “Now do you know that they have set upon Mr. Little and beaten him within an inch of his life? Oh, Ned, you can't approve that, and him our best friend.”

 

“Who says I approve it, thou fool?”

 

“Then tell the gentleman who the villain¹⁴ was; for I believe you know.”

 

“I'll tell 'em summut about it.”

 

Grotait turned pale; but still kept his glittering eye fixed on the sick man.

 

“The job was offered to me; but I wouldn't be in it. I know that much. Says I, 'He has had his squeak¹⁵.'”

 

“Who offered you the job?” asked Mr. Holdfast. And at this moment Ransome came in.

 

“What, another black coat!” said Simmons. “——, if you are not like so many crows over a dead horse.” He then began to wander, and Holdfast's question remained unanswered.

 

This aberration¹⁶ continued so long, and accompanied with such interruptions of the breathing, that both Holdfast and Ransome despaired of ever hearing another rational word from the man's lips.

 

They lingered on, however, and still Grotait sat at the foot of the bed, with his glittering eye fixed on the dying man.

 

Presently Simmons became silent, and reflected.

 

“Who offered me the job to do Little?” said he, in a clear rational voice.

 

“Yes,” said Mr. Holdfast. “And who paid you to blow up the forge?” Simmons made no reply. His fast fleeting¹⁷ powers appeared unable now to hold an idea for above a second or two.

 

Yet, after another short interval¹⁸, he seemed to go back a second time to the subject as intelligibly¹⁹ as ever.

 

“Master Editor!” said he, with a sort of start.

 

“Yes.” And Holdfast stepped close to his bedside.

 

“Can you keep a secret?”

 

Grotait started up.

 

“Yes!” said Holdfast, eagerly.

 

“THEN SO CAN I.”

 

These were the last words of Ned Simmons. He died, false to himself, but true to his fellows, and faithful to a terrible confederacy, which, in England and the nineteenth century, was Venice and the middle ages over again.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

5 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

6 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

7 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

8 exhorting   

v.劝告，劝说( exhort的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Joe Pationi's stocky figure was moving constantly, instructing and exhorting. 乔·佩特罗尼结实的身影不断地来回走动，又发指示，又替他们打气。 来自辞典例句
• He is always exhorting us to work harder for a lower salary. （（讽刺））他总是劝我们为了再低的薪水也得更卖力地工作。 来自辞典例句

9 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

10 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

11 gal   

n.姑娘，少女

参考例句：

• We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
• What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么？

12 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

13 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

14 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

15 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

16 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。

17 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

18 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

19 intelligibly   

adv.可理解地，明了地，清晰地

参考例句：

• The foreigner spoke to us quite intelligibly. 这个外国人对我们讲的话理解很好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Logically or intelligibly ordered or presented; coherent. 有逻辑或理性地排列或表现的；协调的。 来自互联网