The foreman passed gloved fingers over his eyes, held them there a moment, took them away and gazed in amazement4; since he had been foreman of the Double-Crank—and the years were many—Charming Billy Boyle had been one of its "top-hands," and he had never before caught him in the throes of "digging out."
"Fundamental furies!" swore he, in the unorthodox way he had. "Looks like the Pilgrim was right—there's a lady took charge here."
Charming Billy turned red with embarrassment5, and then quite pale with rage. "The Pilgrim lied!" he denied sweepingly6.
The foreman picked his way over the wet floor, in deference7 to its comparative cleanliness stepping long so that he might leave as few disfiguring tracks as possible, and unbuttoned his fur coat before the heat of the stove.
"Well, maybe he did," he assented8 generously, gleaning9 a box from the pile on the bunk10 and sitting down, "but it sure looks like corroborative11 evidence, in here. How about it, Bill?"
"How about what?" countered Billy, his teeth close together.
"The girl, and the dawg, and the fight—but more especially the girl. The Pilgrim—"
"Damn the Pilgrim! I wisht I'd a-killed the lying —— The girl's a lady, and he ain't fit to speak her name. She come here last night because her hoss fell and got crippled, and there wasn't a hoss I'd trust at night with her, it was storming so hard, and slippery—and at daylight I put her on the gentlest one we had, and took her home. That's all there is to it. There's nothing to gabble about, and if the Pilgrim goes around shooting off his face—" Billy clicked his teeth ominously12.
"Well, that ain't just the way he told it," commented the foreman, stooping to expectorate into the hearth13 and stopping to regard surprisedly its unwonted emptiness. "He said—"
"I don't give a damn what he said," snapped Billy. "He lied, the low-down cur."
"Uh-huh—he said something about you shooting that dawg of his. I saw the carcass out there in the snow." The foreman spoke14 with careful neutrality.
"I did. I wisht now I'd laid the two of 'em out together. The dawg tried to feed offa my leg. I shot the blame thing." Charming Billy sat down upon the edge of the table—sliding the dishpan out of his way—and folded his arms, and pushed his hat farther back from his forehead. His whole attitude spoke impenitent15 scorn.
"I also licked the Pilgrim and hazed16 him away from camp and told him particular not to come back," he informed the other defiantly17. He did not add, "What are you going to do about it?" but his tone carried unmistakably that sentiment.
"And the Pilgrim happens to be a stepbrother uh the widow the Old Man is at present running after, and aiming to marry. I was sent over here to put the can onto you, Billy. I hate like thunder to do it, but—" The foreman waved a hand to signify his utter helplessness.
"The Old Man says for you to stay till he can put another man down here in your place, though. He'll send Jim Bleeker soon as he comes back from town—which ain't apt to be for two or three days unless they're short on booze."
Billy caught his breath, hesitated, and reached for his smoking material. It was not till he had licked his cigarette into shape and was feeling in his pocket for a match that he spoke. "I've drawed wages from the Double-Crank for quite a spell, and I always aimed to act white with the outfit19. It's more than they're doing by me, but—I'll stay till Jim comes." He smoked moodily20, and stared at his boots. "Yuh ain't going back tonight, are yuh?"
The foreman said he must, and came back to the subject. "Yuh don't want to think I'm firing yuh, Billy. If it was my say-so, I'd tell the Pilgrim to go to hell. But he went straight to headquarters with his tale uh woe21, and the Old Man is kinda uncertain these days, on account uh not being right sure uh the widow. He feels just about obliged to keep the Pilgrim smoothed down; he ain't worth his grub, if you ask me."
"Oh, I ain't thinking nothing at all about it," Billy lied proudly. "If the Old Man feels like canning me, that there's his funeral. I reckon maybe he likes the Pilgrim's breed better for a change. And I wouldn't be none surprised if I could get a job with some other outfit, all right. I ain't aiming to starve—nor yet ride grub-line."
"When you analyze22 the thing right down to fundamentals," observed the foreman, whom men called "Jawbreaker" for obvious reasons, "it's a cussed shame. You're one of the oldest men with the outfit, and the Pilgrim is the youngest—and the most inadequate23. The Old Man oughta waited till he heard both sides uh the case, and I told him so. But he couldn't forget how the widow might feel if he canned her stepbrother—and what's a man, more or less, in a case uh that kind?"
"Now look here, Jawbreaker," Billy protested cheerfully, "don't yuh go oozing24 comfort and sympathy on my account. I don't know but what I'm tickled25 to death. As yuh say, I've worked for this outfit a blame long while—and it's maybe kinda hard on other outfits26; they oughta have a chance to use me for a spell. There's no reason why the Double-Crank should be a hog27 and keep a good man forever."
The foreman studied keenly the face of Charming Billy, saw there an immobility that somehow belied28 his cheerful view of the case, and abruptly29 changed the subject.
"You've got things swept and garnished30, all right," he remarked, looking at the nearly clean floor with the tiny pools of dirty water still standing31 in the worn places. "When did the fit take yuh? Did it come on with fever-n'-chills, like most other breaking-outs? Or, did the girl—"
"Aw, the darned dawg mussed up the floor, dying in here," Billy apologized weakly. "I was plumb32 obliged to clean up after him." He glanced somewhat shamefacedly at the floor. After all, it did not look quite like the one where Miss Bridger lived; in his heart Billy believed that was because he had no strip of carpet to spread before the table. He permitted his glance to take in the bunk, nakedly showing the hay it held for a softening33 influence and piled high with many things—the things that would not go beneath.
"Your soogans are gathering34 frost to beat the band, Bill," the foreman informed him, following his glance to the bunk. "Your inexperience is something appalling35, for a man that has fried his own bacon and swabbed out his own frying-pan as many times as you have. Better go bring 'em in. It was thinking about snowing again when I come."
Billy grinned a little and went after his bedding, brought it and threw it with a fine disregard for order upon the accumulation of boxes and benches in the bunk. "I'll go feed the hosses, and then I'll cook yuh some supper," he told the foreman still humped comfortably before the stove with his fur coat thrown open to the heat and his spurred boots hoisted36 upon the hearth. "Better make up your mind to stay till morning; it's getting mighty37 chilly38, outside."
The foreman, at the critical stage of cigarette lighting39, grunted40 unintelligibly41. Billy was just laying hand to the door-knob when the foreman looked toward him in the manner of one about to speak. Billy stood and waited inquiringly.
"Say, Bill," drawled Jawbreaker, "yuh never told me her name, yet."
The brows of Charming Billy pinched involuntarily together. "I thought the Pilgrim had wised yuh up to all the details," he said coldly.
"The Pilgrim didn't know; he says yuh never introduced him. And seeing it's serious enough to start yuh on the godly trail uh cleanliness, I'm naturally taking a friendly interest in her, and—"
"Aw—go to hell!" snapped Charming Billy, and went out and slammed the door behind him so that the cabin shook.
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1
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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sardine
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| n.[C]沙丁鱼 | |
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3
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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sweepingly
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| adv.扫荡地 | |
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7
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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8
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
gleaning
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| n.拾落穗，拾遗，落穗v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的现在分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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10
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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11
corroborative
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| adj.确证（性）的，确凿的 | |
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ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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14
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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15
impenitent
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| adj.不悔悟的，顽固的 | |
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16
hazed
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| v.（使）笼罩在薄雾中( haze的过去式和过去分词 )；戏弄，欺凌（新生等，有时作为加入美国大学生联谊会的条件） | |
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17
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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21
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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22
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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23
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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24
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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25
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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26
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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27
hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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28
belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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29
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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30
garnished
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| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
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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32
plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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33
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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34
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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35
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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36
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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38
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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39
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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40
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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41
unintelligibly
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| 难以理解地 | |
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