But his religious work took always first place in his mind. There never was, one might suppose, a man more clearly “called to the work” than Titus E. Laurie. He cared little for theology. He had never had any doubts of anything; if he had had them, they would not have troubled him. His temper was purely5 practical, and the ideal which filled his soul was the redemption of the world from its state of sin and death by the forces of the gospel as systematized by John Wesley. He was tolerant of other Protestant churches, but not of Roman Catholicism. He had preached when he was fifteen; at eighteen he was a “local preacher,” and at twenty he was in full charge of a church of his own in South Rock, New York.
He was shifted about on that “circuit” according to the will of the Conference till the opening of the war, when he went to the front as an army nurse. In three months, however, he came back, vaguely6 in disgrace. It appeared that he had been unable to resist the entreaties7 of his patients, and had supplied them surreptitiously with tabooed chewing tobacco and liquor. But this was an error of kindness and inexperience; it was easily condoned8 by his supporters, and he resumed his more regular pastoral work. In 1866 he was much in demand as a revivalist.
Mr. Laurie had charge of the funds of his church as well as of its souls. It was hard for a non-producer to live in the period of high prices succeeding the war. Just what he did with the money in his custody9 was never definitely ascertained10; probably he could not have said himself; but he was unable to restore it when the time came. He did not face his parishioners; he left in the night for Mexico, leaving behind a letter of agonized11 remorse12 and promises of amendment13.
In Mexico he worked for two years in the mines and on a coffee plantation14, and sent home the whole amount of his embezzlement15 in monthly instalments. At the same time he undertook to conduct Methodist prayer-meetings among the mine labourers, who were chiefly Indians and half-castes. This brought him into collision with his employer, the local priest, and his prospective16 converts. He was threatened, stoned, ducked, and menaced with murder, but he persisted and actually succeeded in establishing a tiny Methodist community, which survived for six months after he left it.
Laurie was forgiven by his church, and returned to the North, but not to resume pastoral work. He became a bookkeeper in New York; but the evangelist’s instinct was too strong for him, and he took to mission work on the lower East Side. After a year of this, he succeeded in getting himself sent to the Sandwich Islands as a missionary17, from which post he returned in five years, in disgrace once more. There were rumours18 of a shady transaction in smuggled19 opium20, in which he had been involved, though not to his own pecuniary21 benefit.
He remained in America this time for three or four years, and married a lady much older than himself. These domestic arrangements were broken up, however, by his leaving once more for the South Seas, having been able to secure another appointment for the mission field. He never saw his wife again. She died a year later in giving birth to a daughter, who was taken in charge by an aunt living in the West.
Since that time his labours had extended over much of Polynesia, with digressions into Africa and China. He had sailed the first missionary schooner22, the Olive Branch, among the Islands, and he had preached on the beach to brown warriors23 armed to the teeth, who had never before seen a white man. But the Reverend Titus E. Laurie escaped with his life. He thrived on danger, from the Fiji spears to the typhoons that came near to swamping his wretchedly found vessel24 on every voyage.
And yet he did not escape scathless. It was rumoured25 that the fascinations26 of certain of his female converts in Tahiti had proved too much for him; a scandal was averted27 by his leaving the station. He was accused of pearling in forbidden waters; and in the end he had to resign his command of the Olive Branch, as it was conclusively28 proved that the missionary schooner had run opium in her hold with the connivance29 of her chief. The Rev1. Titus E. Laurie, in fact, was granite30 against hostility31 when in the regular line of his work. He was made of the stuff of martyrs32, but responsibilities found him weak, and he could no more make head against a sudden strong temptation than he could deliberately33 plan a crime.
Elliott gleaned34 these details of Mr. Laurie’s career by scraps35 in the course of the next three weeks, but just how the missionary had come to change his name and settle in Victoria was a mystery to him. At any rate, Laurie, or Eaton, as he persisted in calling himself, had secured a position as accountant in the godown of one of the largest English importing firms, and seemed to propose to spend the remainder of his life in that station. He had now been there for over two months, and Elliott presently discovered that he was already in the habit of visiting the mission settlement at Kowloon and taking part in the meetings held there. The missionaries36 on duty found him a valuable assistant, and, as Elliott discovered, had made proposals to him to join them; but these Eaton had refused.
Accustomed to the tropics, the heat did not affect him much, but Elliott at once insisted that a house must be rented upon the Peak for Miss Margaret. Coming directly from the sparkling air of the American plains, the girl could never have lived in the hot steam of the lower town. Laurie demurred37 a little on the score of expense,—not that he grudged38 the money, but because he did not have it. Elliott said nothing, but began to look about, and was lucky enough to obtain the lease of a cottage upon the mountain-top at a nominal39 figure, considering the locality. It had been taken by a retired40 naval41 officer who was unexpectedly obliged to return to England and was glad to dispose of the lease, so that Elliott bound himself to pay only eighty dollars a month for the remainder of the summer.
He had the lease transferred to Laurie’s new name. “If you say a word to your daughter about this,” he warned him when he handed over the document, “I’ll tell her about your sporting life in Macao.”
The missionary smiled uneasily, and then looked grave. “I can never begin to thank you, much less repay you. I am not much good now,—nothing but a weak old man, but my prayers—”
“Oh, cut it out!” said Elliott, impatiently.
Laurie flushed.
“I beg your pardon; I didn’t mean that, of course. Only, you know, your daughter and I are old friends, and you mustn’t talk of gratitude42 for any little thing I do.”
“But there is one thing I wish,” replied the old man, after an embarrassed moment. “I insist that you share the cottage with us.”
“Certainly I will,” he said, “and glad to have the chance.”
Margaret was delighted at the appearance of the cottage, a tiny bungalow44, deep-verandahed, standing46 amid a grove47 of China pines that rustled48 perpetually with a cooling murmur49. The highway leading to it was more like a conservatory50 than a street.
“You dear old papa!” she exclaimed, sitting down rapturously upon the steps, after having rushed through the building from front to rear, startling the dignified51 and spotless Chinese cook which they had inherited from the former tenants52.
“How good you are to get all this for me! It must have cost such a lot, too. Mr. Elliott says that houses up here cost two hundred dollars a month. You didn’t pay all that, did you? Now we must be very economical, and we’ll all work. I’m going to discharge that Chinaman.”
“You can’t work. You’d scandalize the Peak,” said Elliott.
“I don’t care anything for the Peak. I’m going to fire that Chinee first of all. I’m afraid of him, he looks so mysteriously solemn, as if he knew all sorts of Oriental poisons, and I never can learn pidgin-English. No, I’m going to cook, and I’ll make you doughnuts and fried chicken and mashed53 potatoes and real American coffee and all the good old United States things that you haven’t tasted for so long.”
“But you can’t do anything like that. No white woman works in this country,” Elliott expostulated.
“But I shall,” she retorted, firmly.
And she did,—or, rather, she tried hard to do it. But it turned out to be difficult, and often impossible, to procure54 the ingredients for the preparation of the promised American dishes, and she was by increasing degrees forced back upon the fare of the country, which she did not quite know how to deal with. It did not matter,—not even when it came to living chiefly upon canned goods, which usually were American enough to satisfy the most ardent55 patriot56. The three had come to regard the affair in the light of a prolonged picnic, and they agreed that it was too hot to eat doughnuts and fried chicken, anyway.
Laurie still went down the mountain to the sweltering lower city every morning and did not return till sunset. Elliott and Margaret usually spent the day together, for he had temporarily abandoned the search for the mate. An unconquerable horror of the town had filled him, and he silenced an uneasy conscience by telling himself that he would learn nothing new if he did go there.
Sometimes he helped Margaret to wash the breakfast things, and then he sat lazily in a long chair on the wide veranda45, smoking an excellent Manila cheroot and reading the China Daily Mail. He could hear Margaret softly moving about inside the house; she dropped casual remarks to him through the open window, and usually she ended by coming out and sitting with him, reading or sewing with an industry that even the climate could not tame. Below them the steamy rain-clouds drifted and wavered over the city; Hongkong Roads ran like a zigzag57 strip of gray steel out to the ocean, but it was cool, if damp, upon the Peak, and the two had reached such a degree of intimacy58 that sometimes for an hour they did not say a word.
To Elliott this period bore an inexpressible charm. For many years his associates had been almost altogether men, the rough and strong men of action of the West; and the graceful59 domesticity that a womanly woman instinctively60 gathers about her was new to him, or so old that it was almost forgotten. They were alone together, for the ex-missionary scarcely counted, and they knew no one else on the Island. It was almost as if the Island had been a desert one, and they wrecked61 upon it. They were isolated62 in the midst of this great, torrid, bustling63 half-Chinese colony, and in that most improbable spot he found a little corner of perfume with such quiet and peace as he had scarcely imagined. He did not quite understand its charm, and he was not much given to analyzing64 his sensations. It was enough for him that he was happy as he had never been before in his life, and he thanked the treasure trail for leading him to this, and tried to forget that the trail was not yet ended.
But he was astonished to find that Margaret made no reference to her father’s change of name, and seemed to accept it with as little surprise as if she supposed an alias65 to be a regular Anglo-Chinese custom. Elliott was afraid to speak of the matter, but his amazement66 grew till he could no longer restrain his curiosity, and he asked her one morning, pointblank.
“Miss Margaret, do you know why your father has changed his name?”
“Yes, I know,” she replied, looking slightly troubled. “I can’t tell you the reason, though. But it was for nothing disgraceful,—though I don’t need to tell you that. He had to do it; I can’t say any more.”
“I beg your pardon—I merely wondered—of course I knew there was some good reason. It was none of my business, anyway,” Elliott blundered, privately67 wondering what fiction Laurie had dished up for his daughter’s consumption.
“There is the best of reasons. My father is one of the noblest men in the world. You don’t know him yet, but he knows you. He is very keen, and he has been studying you; he told me so.”
“Oh!” said Elliott.
“Yes. And he has the very highest opinion of you, I may tell you, if your modesty68 will stand it. He says you have helped him a great deal. Have you?”
“Not so far as I know.”
“Well, he thinks you have, which comes to the same thing. Some day he may be able to do something for you—something really great.”
“He has done it already in bringing you out here,” said Elliott, and was sorry directly he had said it.
“I don’t like speeches like that,” said Miss Margaret. “Now, you’ve never told me why you are here yourself.”
“Didn’t I tell you that I came on business?”
“Yes, but what sort of business? Another hunt for easy fortunes, I suppose, such as you promised to give up. How much do you stand to win this time?”
“What would you say if I said millions?”
“I’d say that you didn’t appear to be looking for them very hard.”
Elliott squirmed in the long chair and moaned plaintively69.
“I haven’t seen you looking for them at all, in fact. Since we moved to the Peak, you’ve done nothing but sit in that long chair.”
“Yes, hang it, you’re right,” Elliott exclaimed, sitting up. “It’s true. I’ve been wasting my time for two weeks, spending my partners’ money and not doing the work I’m paid to do.”
“You must do it, then. Tell me, what is it?”
“No, I can’t tell it, not even to you. It’s not my own secret. I’ve got three partners in it, and my particular task is to hunt down a man whom I never set eyes on. I’ve chased him a matter of ten thousand miles, and he’s supposed to be somewhere in this city,” looking down at the wet smoke that hung over the bustling port.
Somewhere under that haze70 was the clue to the drowned million, and he felt the shame of his idleness. He had been philandering71 away his time, and at this juncture72 when every day was priceless. He turned back to the girl.
“Thank you for waking me up. Your advice always comes at the psychological moment,” he said. “My holiday’s over. To-morrow I start work again.”
He went down to the city that afternoon, in fact, but the old perplexity returned upon him when he tried to think how and where he was to begin his search. He went the rounds of the steamer offices and scrutinized73 the outgoing passenger-lists for the past three weeks. There was no name that he recognized. He tried the consulates74 again without any result. He could think of no new move, and he was irritated at his own lack of resource.
Yet the Hongkong Club was the centre of all the foreign life of the colony; it was visited daily by almost every white man on the island, and if Burke, or Baker75, were in the city, he would be certain to gravitate there sooner or later. So Elliott took to spending days in that institution, eagerly scrutinizing76 every big-boned elderly man of seafaring appearance who entered. But, as he often reflected, he might rub elbows with his man daily and not know it; and he regretted more than ever that he had not obtained a full description of the mate.
After a week of this sedentary sort of man-hunting, he became imbued77 with a deep sense of the futility78 of the thing. It was only by the merest chance that he could hope to learn anything. It was chance that had assisted the affair up to the present; the whole scheme was one gigantic gamble, discovered, financed, and operated by sheer good luck, and the run seemed exhausted79. Anyhow, he thought fatalistically, good fortune was as likely to strike him on the Peak as in the city, and he took to spending his days on the veranda once more. He cabled again to Henninger:
“Track totally lost. What shall do?”
Still, he did not totally abandon the search, but rather he made it a pretext80 for little exploring expeditions round the city and suburbs with Margaret, accompanied by her father when he could get away from business. They prowled about Kowloon, and they all visited Macao together, where Laurie exhibited the blandest82 oblivion of his recent lapse83, and lectured his companions most edifyingly upon the curse of gambling84, the degeneracy of the Portuguese85 race, and the corruption86 of the Church of Rome.
They visited the shipyards opposite Hongkong, saw the naval headquarters and the missionary station, and, a week later, all three of them crossed to Formosa on Saturday and returned on Sunday, merely for the refreshing87 effect of the open sea breezes.
The heavy Chinese smell came off the coast as they returned into Hongkong Roads late on Sunday night. Elliott sickened at the thought of resuming the search that had become hateful to him, in a city that, but for one thing, had become intolerable.
Margaret was leaning over the bows with him, watching the prow81 rise and fall in splashes of orange and gold phosphorescence. The missionary was dozing88 in a chair somewhere astern. A score of coolies were gambling and talking loudly between decks.
“This is all so wonderful to me!” said Margaret, suddenly. “Only a month or two ago I was in Nebraska, but it seems years. I had never seen anything; I had no idea what a great and wonderful place the world was. I think of it all, and I sometimes wonder if I am the same girl. But do you know what it makes me think most?
“It makes me feel,” she went on, as Elliott did not reply, “how great and noble my father must be to have given his life to help this great, swarming89 heathen world. I never knew there were so many heathens; I thought they were mostly Methodists and Episcopalians. Don’t you think he really is the best man in the world?”
“I never saw a man so full of high ideals,” Elliott answered.
He had answered at random90, scarcely listening to what she said. But the sound of her voice through the darkness had brought illumination to him, and he realized why he had shrunk from returning to the gold-hunt. He had found a higher ideal himself, and as he thought of his years and years of ineffectual, topsyturvy scrambling91 after a fortune which he would not have known how to keep if he had found, they seemed to him inexpressibly futile92 and childish. He had missed what was most worth while in life—but it was not too late. He hoped, and doubted, and his heart beat suddenly with an almost painful thrilling.
Her white muslin sleeve almost touched his shoulder, but her face was turned from him, looking wide-eyed toward the dark China coast. He knew that she was meditating93 upon the virtues94 of her evangelistic father. He did not speak, but she turned her head quickly and looked at him, with a puzzled, almost frightened glance.
“What’s the matter?” he said, almost in a whisper.
“I don’t know,” Margaret murmured, and her eyes dropped. For a moment she stood silent; she seemed to palpitate; then she roused herself with a little shrug95.
“I am nervous to-night. For a moment I had a shudder—I felt as if something had happened, or was happening—I don’t know what. Come, let’s go back and find father. We’re nearly in.” She thrust her arm under his with a return to her usual frank confidence.
“I’m so glad you’re here, too,” she said, impulsively96.
This was not what Elliott wanted, not what he had seen revealed suddenly between the blaze of the stars and the flame of the sea. But he would not tell her so—not yet. Not for anything would he shatter their open comradeship.
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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aggregated
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| a.聚合的，合计的 | |
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remittances
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| n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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condoned
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| v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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amendment
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| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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embezzlement
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| n.盗用，贪污 | |
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prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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rumoured
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| adj.谣传的；传说的；风 | |
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fascinations
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| n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 )；有魅力的东西；迷恋；陶醉 | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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conclusively
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| adv.令人信服地，确凿地 | |
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connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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gleaned
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| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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grudged
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| 怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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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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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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mashed
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| a.捣烂的 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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analyzing
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| v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析 | |
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65
alias
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| n.化名；别名；adv.又名 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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philandering
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| v.调戏，玩弄女性( philander的现在分词 ) | |
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72
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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consulates
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| n.领事馆( consulate的名词复数 ) | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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futility
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| n.无用 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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82
blandest
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| adj.（食物）淡而无味的( bland的最高级 )；平和的；温和的；无动于衷的 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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85
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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89
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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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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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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