He sent a glance of half-conscious disapproval5 around the untidy cabin. He had been dreaming aimlessly of a place he had seen not so long ago; a place where the stove was black and shining, with a fire crackling cheeringly inside and a teakettle with straight, unmarred spout6 and dependable handle singing placidly7 to itself and puffing8 steam with an air of lazy comfort, as if it were smoking a cigarette. The stove had stood in the southwest corner of the room, and the room was warm with the heat of it; and the floor was white and had a strip of rag carpet reaching from the table to a corner of the stove. There was a red cloth with knotted fringe on the table, and a bed in another corner had a red-and-white patchwork9 spread and puffy white pillows. There had been a woman—but Charming Billy shut his eyes, mentally, to the woman, because he was not accustomed to them and he was not at all sure that he wanted to be accustomed; they did not fit in with the life he lived. He felt dimly that, in a way, they were like the heaven his mother had taught him—altogether perfect and altogether unattainable and not to be thought of with any degree of familiarity. So his memory of the woman was indistinct, as of something which did not properly belong to the picture. He clung instead to the memory of the warm stove, and the strip of carpet, and the table with the red cloth, and to the puffy, white pillows on the bed.
The wind mourned again insistently10 at the corner. Billy lifted his head and looked once more around the cabin. The reality was depressing—doubly depressing in contrast to the memory of that other room. A stove stood in the southwest corner, but it was not black and shining; it was rust-red and ash-littered, and the ashes had overflowed11 the hearth12 and spilled to the unswept floor. A dented13 lard-pail without a handle did meagre duty as a teakettle, and balanced upon a corner of the stove was a dirty frying pan. The fire had gone dead and the room was chill with the rising of the wind. The table was filled with empty cans and tin plates and cracked, oven-stained bowls and iron-handled knives and forks, and the bunk14 in the corner was a tumble of gray blankets and unpleasant, red-flowered comforts—corner-wads, Charming Billy was used to calling them—and for pillows there were two square, calico-covered cushions, depressingly ugly in pattern and not over-clean.
Billy sighed again, threaded a needle with coarse, black thread and attacked petulantly15 a long rent in his coat. "Darn this bushwhacking all over God's earth after a horse a man can't stay with, nor even hold by the bridle16 reins," he complained dispiritedly. "I could uh cleaned the blamed shack17 up so it would look like folks was living here—and I woulda, if I didn't have to set all day and toggle up the places in my clothes"—Billy muttered incoherently over a knot in his thread. "I've been plumb18 puzzled, all winter, to know whether it's man or cattle I'm supposed to chappyrone. If it's man, this coat has sure got the marks uh the trade, all right." He drew the needle spitefully through the cloth.
The wind gathered breath and swooped19 down upon the cabin so that Billy felt the jar of it. "I don't see what's got the matter of the weather," he grumbled20. "Yuh just get a chinook that starts water running down the coulées, and then the wind switches and she freezes up solid—and that means tailing-up poor cows and calves21 by the dozen—and for your side-partner yuh get dealt out to yuh a pilgrim that don't know nothing and can't ride a wagon22 seat, hardly, and that's bound to keep a dawg! And the Old Man stands for that kind uh thing and has forbid accidents happening to it—oh, hell!"
This last was inspired by a wriggling23 movement under the bunk. A black dog, of the apologetic drooping24 sort that always has its tail sagging25 and matted with burrs, crawled out and sidled past Billy with a deprecating wag or two when he caught his unfriendly glance, and shambled over to the door that he might sniff26 suspiciously the cold air coming in through the crack beneath.
Billy eyed him malevolently27. "A dog in a line-camp is a plumb disgrace! I don't see why the Old Man stands for it—or the Pilgrim, either; it's a toss-up which is the worst. Yuh smell him coming, do yuh?" he snarled28. "It's about time he was coming—me here eating dried apricots and tapioca steady diet (nobody but a pilgrim would fetch tapioca into a line-camp, and if he does it again you'll sure be missing the only friend yuh got) and him gone four days when he'd oughta been back the second. Get out and welcome him, darn yuh!" He gathered the coat under one arm that he might open the door, and hurried the dog outside with a threatening boot toe. The wind whipped his brown cheeks so that he closed the door hastily and retired29 to the cheerless shelter of the cabin.
"Another blizzard30 coming, if I know the signs. And if the Pilgrim don't show up to-night with the grub and tobacco—But I reckon the dawg smelt31 him coming, all right." He fingered uncertainly a very flabby tobacco sack, grew suddenly reckless and made himself an exceedingly thin cigarette with the remaining crumbs32 of tobacco and what little he could glean33 from the pockets of the coat he was mending. Surely, the Pilgrim would remember his tobacco! Incapable34 as he was, he could scarcely forget that, after the extreme emphasis Charming Billy had laid upon the getting, and the penalties attached to its oversight35.
Outside, the dog was barking spasmodically; but Billy, being a product of the cattle industry pure and simple, knew not the way of dogs. He took it for granted that the Pilgrim was arriving with the grub, though he was too disgusted with his delay to go out and make sure. Dogs always barked at everything impartially—when they were not gnawing36 surreptitiously at bones or snooping in corners for scraps37, or planting themselves deliberately38 upon your clothes. Even when the noise subsided39 to throaty growls40 he failed to recognize the symptoms; he was taking long, rapturous mouthfuls of smoke and gazing dreamily at his coat, for it was his first cigarette since yesterday.
When some one rapped lightly he jumped, although he was not a man who owned unsteady nerves. It was very unusual, that light tapping. When any one wanted to come in he always opened the door without further ceremony. Still, there was no telling what strange freak might impel41 the Pilgrim—he who insisted on keeping a dog in a line-camp!—so Billy recovered himself and called out impatiently: "Aw, come on in! Don't be a plumb fool," and never moved from his place.
The door opened queerly; slowly, and with a timidity not at all in keeping with the blundering assertiveness42 of the Pilgrim. When a young woman showed for a moment against the bleak43 twilight44 and then stepped inside, Charming Billy caught at the table for support, and the coat he was holding dropped to the floor. He did not say a word: he just stared.
The girl closed the door behind her with something of defiance45, that did not in the least impose upon one. "Good evening," she said briskly, though even in his chaotic46 state of mind Billy felt the tremble in her voice. "It's rather late for making calls, but—" She stopped and caught her breath nervously47, as if she found it impossible to go on being brisk and at ease. "I was riding, and my horse slipped and hurt himself so he couldn't walk, and I saw this cabin from up on the hill over there. So I came here, because it was so far home—and I thought—maybe—" She looked with big, appealing brown eyes at Billy, who felt himself a brute48 without in the least knowing why. "I'm Flora49 Bridger; you know, my father has taken up a ranch50 over on Shell Creek51, and—"
"I'm very glad to meet you," said Charming Billy stammeringly52. "Won't you sit down? I—I wish I'd known company was coming." He smiled reassuringly53, and then glanced frowningly around the cabin. Even for a line-camp, he told himself disgustedly, it was "pretty sousy." "You must be cold," he added, seeing her glance toward the stove. "I'll have a fire going right away; I've been pretty busy and just let things slide." He threw the un-smoked half of his cigarette into the ashes and felt not a quiver of regret. He knew who she was, now; she was the daughter he had heard about, and who belonged to the place where the stove was black and shining and the table had a red cloth with knotted fringe. It must have been her mother whom he had seen there—but she had looked very young to be mother of a young lady.
Charming Billy brought himself rigidly54 to consider the duties of a host; swept his arm across a bench to clear it of sundry55 man garments, and asked her again to sit down. When she did so, he saw that her fingers were clasped tightly to hold her from shivering, and he raved56 inwardly at his shiftlessness the while he hurried to light a fire in the stove.
"Too bad your horse fell," he remarked stupidly, gathering57 up the handful of shavings he had whittled58 from a piece of pine board. "I always hate to see a horse get hurt." It was not what he had wanted to say, but he could not seem to put just the right thing into words. What he wanted was to make her feel that there was nothing out of the ordinary in her being there, and that he was helpful and sympathetic without being in the least surprised. In all his life on the range he had never had a young woman walk into a line-camp at dusk—a strange young woman who tried pitifully to be at ease and whose eyes gave the lie to her manner—and he groped confusedly for just the right way in which to meet the situation.
"I know your father," he said, fanning a tiny blaze among the shavings with his hat, which had been on his head until he remembered and removed it in deference59 to her presence. "But I ain't a very good neighbor, I guess; I never seem to have time to be sociable60. It's lucky your horse fell close enough so yuh could walk in to camp; I've had that happen to me more than once, and it ain't never pleasant—but it's worse when there ain't any camp to walk to. I've had that happen, too."
The fire was snapping by then, and manlike he swept the ashes to the floor. The girl watched him, politely disapproving61. "I don't want to be a trouble," she said, with less of constraint62; for Charming Billy, whether he knew it or not, had reassured63 her immensely. "I know men hate to cook, so when I get warm, and the water is hot, I'll cook supper for you," she offered. "And then I won't mind having you help me to get home."
"I guess it won't be any trouble—but I don't mind cooking. You—you better set still and rest," murmured Charming Billy, quite red. Of course, she would want supper—and there were dried apricots, and a very little tapioca! He felt viciously that he could kill the Pilgrim and be glad. The Pilgrim was already two days late with the supplies he had been sent after because he was not to be trusted with the duties pertaining64 to a line-camp—and Billy had not the wide charity that could conjure65 excuses for the delinquent66.
"I'll let you wash the dishes," promised Miss Bridger generously. "But I'll cook the supper—really, I want to, you know. I won't say I'm not hungry, because I am. This Western air does give one such an appetite, doesn't it? And then I walked miles, it seems to me; so that ought to be an excuse, oughtn't it? Now, if you'll show me where the coffee is—"
She had risen and was looking at him expectantly, with a half smile that seemed to invite one to comradeship. Charming Billy looked at her helplessly, and turned a shade less brown.
"It doesn't matter in the least," Miss Bridger assured him hastily. "One can't keep everything in the house all the time, so far from any town. We're often out of things, at home. Last week, only, I upset the vanilla68 bottle, and then we were completely out of vanilla till just yesterday." She smiled again confidingly69, and Billy tried to seem very sympathetic—though of a truth, to be out of vanilla did not at that moment seem to him a serious catastrophe70. "And really, I like tea better, you know. I only said coffee because father told me cowboys drink it a great deal. Tea is so much quicker and easier to make."
Billy dug his nails into his palms. "There—Miss Bridger," he blurted71 desperately72, "I've got to tell yuh—there isn't a thing in the shack except some dried apricots—and maybe a spoonful or two of tapioca. The Pilgrim—" He stopped to search his brain for words applicable to the Pilgrim and still mild enough for the ears of a lady.
"Well, never mind. We can rough it—it will be lots of fun!" the girl laughed so readily as almost to deceive Billy, standing73 there in his misery74. That a woman should come to him for help, and he not even able to give her food, was almost unbearable75. It were well for the Pilgrim that Charming Billy Boyle could not at that moment lay hands upon him.
"It will be fun," she laughed again in his face. "If the—the grubstake is down to a whisper (that's the way you say it, isn't it?) there will be all the more credit coming to the cook when you see all the things she can do with dried apricots and tapioca. May I rummage76?"
"Sure," assented77 Billy, dazedly78 moving aside so that she might reach the corner where three boxes were nailed by their bottoms to the wall, curtained with gayly flowered calico and used for a cupboard. "The Pilgrim," he began for the third time to explain, "went after grub and is taking his time about getting back. He'd oughta been here day before yesterday. We might eat his dawg," he suggested, gathering spirit now that her back was toward him.
Her face appeared at one side of the calico curtain. "I know something better than eating the dog," she announced triumphantly79. "Down there in the willows80 where I crossed the creek—I came down that low, saggy81 place in the hill—I saw a lot of chickens or something—partridges, maybe you call them—roosting in a tree with their feathers all puffed82 out. It's nearly dark, but they're worth trying for, don't you think? That is, if you have a gun," she added, as if she had begun to realize how meagre were his possessions. "If you don't happen to have one, we can do all right with what there is here, you know."
Billy flushed a little, and for answer took down his gun and belt from where they hung upon the wall, buckled83 the belt around his slim middle and picked up his hat. "If they're there yet, I'll get some, sure," he promised. "You just keep the fire going till I come back, and I'll wash the dishes. Here, I'll shut the dawg in the house; he's always plumb crazy with ambition to do just what yuh don't want him to do, and I don't want him following." He smiled upon her again (he was finding that rather easy to do) and closed the door lingeringly behind him. Having never tried to analyze84 his feelings, he did not wonder why he stepped so softly along the frozen path that led to the stable, or why he felt that glow of elation85 which comes to a man only when he has found something precious in his sight.
"I wish I hadn't eat the last uh the flour this morning," he regretted anxiously. "I coulda made some bread; there's a little yeast86 powder left in the can. Darn the Pilgrim!"
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1
desolateness
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| 孤独 | |
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2
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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insistently
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| ad.坚持地 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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13
dented
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| v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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14
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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petulantly
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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17
shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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19
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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21
calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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22
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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23
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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24
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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sagging
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| 下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度 | |
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26
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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27
malevolently
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28
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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29
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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blizzard
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| n.暴风雪 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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32
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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33
glean
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| v.收集(消息、资料、情报等) | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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39
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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40
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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41
impel
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| v.推动；激励，迫使 | |
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42
assertiveness
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| n.过分自信 | |
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43
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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44
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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45
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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46
chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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47
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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48
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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49
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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50
ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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51
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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52
stammeringly
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| adv.stammering（口吃的）的变形 | |
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53
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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54
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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55
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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56
raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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57
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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58
whittled
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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60
sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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61
disapproving
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| adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
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62
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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63
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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64
pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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65
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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66
delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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67
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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68
vanilla
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| n.香子兰，香草 | |
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69
confidingly
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| adv.信任地 | |
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70
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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71
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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73
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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74
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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75
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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76
rummage
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| v./n.翻寻，仔细检查 | |
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77
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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78
dazedly
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| 头昏眼花地，眼花缭乱地，茫然地 | |
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79
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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80
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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81
saggy
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| 松懈的，下垂的 | |
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82
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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83
buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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84
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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85
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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86
yeast
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| n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫 | |
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