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CHAPTER 37. A FACE.
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Dark was falling as on my return I came within sound of the mill race. I thought I could make out a little group of people leaning over the stone balustrade of the bridge as I approached. Such I found to be the case, and among them Dr. Crackenthorpe standing1 up gaunt in his long brown coat.
 
I was turning in at the yard, when this individual hailed me, and by doing so brought all the faces round in my direction. I walked up to him.
 
“Well?” I said.
 
“These good folk are curious. It’s no affair of mine, but half a minute ago there came a yell out of the old cabin yonder fit to wake the dead.”
 
“Well?” I said, again, with a mighty2 assumption of coolness I hardly felt.
 
“Oh, don’t suppose I care. It only seemed to me that some day, perhaps, you’ll have the place stoned about your ears, if you don’t let a little more light in.”
 
A murmur3 went up from the half-dozen rustics4 and brainless idlers.
 
“We don’t warnt no drownding ghosteses in Winton,” said a voice.
 
I went straight up to them.
 
“Don’t you?” I said. “Then you’d best keep out of reach of them that can make you that and something worse. I suppose some of you have cried out with the lumbago before now?”
 
“That warn’t no lumbago cry, master.”
 
“Wasn’t it, now? Have you ever had it?”
 
“No—I harsn’t.”
 
“I’ll give you a good imitation”—and I made a rush at the fellow who spoke5. The crowd scattered6, and the man, suddenly backing, toppled over with a crack that brought a yell out of him.
 
“See there!” I cried. “You scream before you are touched even. A pretty fool you, to gauge7 the meaning of any noise but your own gobbling over a slice of bread and bacon.”
 
This was to the humor of the others, who cackled hoarsely8 with laughter.
 
“If you want to ask questions,” I said, turning upon them, “put them to this doctor here, who sits every day in a room with a row of murderers’ heads looking down upon him.”
 
With that I walked off in a heat, and was going toward the house, when Dr. Crackenthorpe came after me with a stride and a furious menace.
 
“You’ll turn the tables, will you?” he said, in a suffocating10 voice. “Some day, my friend—some day!”
 
I didn’t answer him or even look his way, but strode into the mill and banged the door in his face.
 
As I entered our sitting-room11, I found Jason standing motionless in the shadow a few feet from my father’s chair.
 
The old man welcomed me with an agonized12 cry of rapture13, and endeavored to struggle to his feet, but dropped back again as if exhausted14. I went and stood over him, and he clung to one of my hands, as a drowning man might.
 
“Who cried out just now?” I asked, fiercely, of Jason.
 
He gulped15 and cleared his throat, but could only point nervelessly at the cowering16 figure before him.
 
“Father! What is the matter?”
 
“You wouldn’t come, Renalt—you wouldn’t come! I prayed for you to come.”
 
“What has he been doing?”
 
“It was all the old horror over again. Send him away! Don’t let him come near me!”
 
I was falling distracted. I turned to Jason once more.
 
“Come! Out with it!” I said. “What have you been doing?”
 
He strove to smile. His face was ghastly—pinched and lined.
 
“Nothing,” he said at last, with a choking cluck in his throat. “I have done nothing.”
 
“Don’t believe him,” moaned my father. “He wanted all; he wanted to sink me to ruin.”
 
“I wanted to ruin nobody!” cried my brother, finding his voice in a wail17 of despair. “I’m desperate, that’s all—desperate to escape—and he offers me little more than he’d give to a beggar.”
 
“I tell him I’m not far from one myself! He won’t believe it. He threatened me, Renalt. He brought the hideous18 time back again.”
 
A light broke upon me, as from a furnace door snapped open.
 
“Dad,” I said, gently, “will you go to your room and leave the rest to me?”
 
I helped him to his feet—across the room. His eyes watched the other all the time. It was pitiful to see his terror of him.
 
Jason stood where he had planted himself, waiting my return with hanging head and fingers laced in front of him.
 
I led the old man to the foot of the stairs. Then I returned to the room and stood before my brother.
 
“I understand it all now,” I said, in a straight, quiet voice. “The ‘some one else’ you suspected, or pretended to, was our father!”
 
No answer.
 
“While I was in London you traded upon this pretended knowledge to force money out of the old man.”
 
No answer.
 
“Your silence will do. What can I say but that it was like you? To traffic upon a helpless man’s miserable19 apprehensions20 for your own sordid21 ends—and that man your father! To do this while holding a like threat over another’s head—your brother’s—still for your own pitiful ends. And all the time who knows but you may be the murderer?”
 
“I am not the murderer. You persist, and—and it’s too cruel.”
 
“Cruel! To you? Who killed Modred?”
 
“I believe it was dad.”
 
“I believe upon my soul it’s a lie!”
 
“He thinks it himself, anyhow.”
 
“Is it any good saying to you that a man of his habits, as he was then, might be driven to believe anything of himself?”
 
“Why did he have the braces22 in his pocket, then?”
 
“He had carried the boy up-stairs—you know that. He had been bathing and his things were scattered.”
 
“It isn’t all. Modred had discovered his secret.”
 
In spite of myself I started.
 
“What secret?” I said.
 
“Where the coins were hidden.”
 
“What coins?”
 
For the first time he looked at me with a faint leer of cunning.
 
“I won’t condescend23 to prevaricate24 for any purpose,” I said. “I do know about the treasure, because he told me himself, but I swear I know to this day nothing about its hiding-place.”
 
He looked at me curiously25.
 
“Well,” he said, “Modred had found it out, anyway.”
 
“How do you know?”
 
“Didn’t he offer to give Zyp something in exchange for a kiss that night we watched them out of the window?”
 
“Go on.”
 
“It was gold. I saw it. He must have found his way to the store and stolen it. Mayn’t it be, now, that dad discovered he had been robbed, and took the surest way to prevent it happening again?”
 
“No—a thousand times!” I spoke stanchly, but my heart felt sick within me.
 
He was silent.
 
“So,” I said, in a high-strung voice, “this was your manner of business during my absence; that the way to the means that helped you up to London? A miserable discovery for you—for I gather from your words you, too, found out about the hiding-place. You had better have left it alone—a million times you had better.”
 
Still he was silent.
 
“Did Zyp know, too?”
 
“No—not from my telling. I can’t answer for what she may have found out for herself. She sees in the dark.”
 
“How much did you have, from first to last? But I suppose you helped yourself whenever you needed it?”
 
“I didn’t—I swear I didn’t! I never put finger on the stuff till dad handed it over to me. What right had he to keep us without a penny all those years, when riches were there for the taking?”
 
“He could do what he liked with his own, I conclude. At any rate, the end justified26 the means. A pretty use you made of your vile27 extortion—a bloody28 vengeance29 is the price you pay for it!”
 
At that he gave a sudden cry.
 
“I’m lost—I know it! Help me to escape. Renny, help me to escape.”
 
“Do you think you deserve that of me, Jason?”
 
He dropped upon his knees, an abject30, wailing31 figure.
 
“I don’t—I don’t! But you’re generous—Renalt, I always thought you good and generous, when I laughed at you most. Save me from that terror! He strikes at me in the dark—I never know where his hideous face will show next. He follows me—haunts me—tries to poison me, to torture me to death! Oh, Renny, help me!”
 
“Answer me truly first. For how long were you robbing the old man?”
 
“I may have had small sums of him for a year—nothing much. When Zyp and I made up our minds to go, I bid for a larger, and he gave it me.”
 
“He didn’t know you were married?”
 
“He wouldn’t hear of it—it’s the truth. He meant her for you, I think, and the worst threats I could use never shook him from his refusal to countenance32 us.”
 
“Brave old man!”
 
“Renny—help me!”
 
“For Zyp’s sake,” I said, sternly—“yes. Were it not for her appeal, I tell you plainly you might perish for me.”
 
He looked so base kneeling there in his craven degradation33 that I could not forbear the stroke.
 
“My father provides the means,” I said. “I went to London to-day to realize it. Here it is, and make the most of it.”
 
He took it from me with trembling hands.
 
“Ten pounds,” he said, blankly. “No more?”
 
“Isn’t it enough?”
 
“Enough to get away with, not enough to find a living on across the water.”
 
“It’s all you’ll get—that’s final. Remember now that I stand here by my father. Always remember that when your fingers itch34 for hush35 money—and remember who it was that was once my friend.”
 
He rose and crept to the door with bowed head. Some old vein36 of tenderer feeling gushed37 warm in me.
 
“Jason,” I cried, “I forgive you for all you have done to me.”
 
He turned and came back to me, seized me by the wrist—and his eyes were moist with tears.
 
“For pity’s sake come a little way with me, Renny. You don’t know what I suffer.”
 
“A little way on your road, do you mean?”
 
“Yes. I daren’t go by train. He might be there. I must walk; and I dread—Renny, supposing I should meet him on the way?”
 
“Why, that’s nonsense. Haven’t you just come alone?”
 
“I was driven by the thought of what I was seeking, then. It was bad enough. But, now I’ve got it, all nerve seems shaken out of me. I’m afraid of the dark.”
 
Was this the stuff that villains38 are made of? Almost I could find it in me to soothe39 and comfort the poor, terrified creature.
 
“Very well,” I said. “I will walk part of the way with you.”
 
His wan9 cheek flushed with gratitude40. I got my hat and stick, and ran up to my father to tell him whither I was off.
 
As I came downstairs again Jason was disappearing into the loft41, where the stones were, that stood opposite the sitting-room. The wheel underneath42 was booming as usual and the great disks revolved43 softly with a rubbing noise. I saw him go to the dim window, that stood out as if hung up in the black atmosphere of the room, a square of latticed gray. It was evidently his intention to reconnoiter before starting, for the window looked upon the bridge and the now lonely tail of the High street.
 
Suddenly a sort of stifled44 rushing noise issued from his lips, and he stole back on tiptoe to the passage without the room. There, in the weak lamplight, he fell against the wall, and his face was the color of straw paper and his lips were ashen45.
 
“He’s there,” he said, in a dreadful whisper. “He’s standing on the bridge waiting for me.”
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
2 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
3 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言
参考例句:
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
4 rustics f1e7511b114ac3f40d8971c142b51a43     
n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 );粗野的;不雅的;用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的
参考例句:
  • These rustics are utilized for the rough work of devoton. 那样的乡村气质可以替宗教做些粗重的工作。 来自互联网
5 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
6 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
7 gauge 2gMxz     
v.精确计量;估计;n.标准度量;计量器
参考例句:
  • Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗?
  • It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。
8 hoarsely hoarsely     
adv.嘶哑地
参考例句:
  • "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
  • Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
9 wan np5yT     
(wide area network)广域网
参考例句:
  • The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。
10 suffocating suffocating     
a.使人窒息的
参考例句:
  • After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后,她感到自己毫无自由。
  • That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了,我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。
11 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
12 agonized Oz5zc6     
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
参考例句:
  • All the time they agonized and prayed. 他们一直在忍受痛苦并且祈祷。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She agonized herself with the thought of her loss. 她念念不忘自己的损失,深深陷入痛苦之中。 来自辞典例句
13 rapture 9STzG     
n.狂喜;全神贯注;着迷;v.使狂喜
参考例句:
  • His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。
  • In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地,被他父亲打断了。
14 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
15 gulped 4873fe497201edc23bc8dcb50aa6eb2c     
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住
参考例句:
  • He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
  • She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下,似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 cowering 48e9ec459e33cd232bc581fbd6a3f22d     
v.畏缩,抖缩( cower的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He turned his baleful glare on the cowering suspect. 他恶毒地盯着那个蜷缩成一团的嫌疑犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He stood over the cowering Herb with fists of fury. 他紧握着两个拳头怒气冲天地站在惊魂未定的赫伯面前。 来自辞典例句
17 wail XMhzs     
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸
参考例句:
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
  • One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。
18 hideous 65KyC     
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的
参考例句:
  • The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
  • They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗,是丑陋的畜牲。
19 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
20 apprehensions 86177204327b157a6d884cdb536098d8     
疑惧
参考例句:
  • He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
  • But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而,随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。
21 sordid PrLy9     
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的
参考例句:
  • He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
  • They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。
22 braces ca4b7fc327bd02465aeaf6e4ce63bfcd     
n.吊带,背带;托架( brace的名词复数 );箍子;括弧;(儿童)牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来
参考例句:
  • The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃,因为支架全松了。
  • You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带,就用不着吊带了。
23 condescend np7zo     
v.俯就,屈尊;堕落,丢丑
参考例句:
  • Would you condescend to accompany me?你肯屈尊陪我吗?
  • He did not condescend to answer.He turned his back on me.他不愿屈尊回答我的问题。他不理睬我。
24 prevaricate E1NzG     
v.支吾其词;说谎;n.推诿的人;撒谎的人
参考例句:
  • Tell us exactly what happened and do not prevaricate.有什麽就原原本本地告诉我们吧,别躲躲闪闪的。
  • Didn't prevaricate but answered forthrightly and honestly.毫不欺骗而是坦言相告。
25 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
26 justified 7pSzrk     
a.正当的,有理的
参考例句:
  • She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
  • The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
27 vile YLWz0     
adj.卑鄙的,可耻的,邪恶的;坏透的
参考例句:
  • Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢?
  • Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。
28 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染
参考例句:
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
29 vengeance wL6zs     
n.报复,报仇,复仇
参考例句:
  • He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
  • For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。
30 abject joVyh     
adj.极可怜的,卑屈的
参考例句:
  • This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
  • He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气,为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。
31 wailing 25fbaeeefc437dc6816eab4c6298b423     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱
参考例句:
  • A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
32 countenance iztxc     
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同
参考例句:
  • At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
  • I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地,仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。
33 degradation QxKxL     
n.降级;低落;退化;陵削;降解;衰变
参考例句:
  • There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
  • Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。
34 itch 9aczc     
n.痒,渴望,疥癣;vi.发痒,渴望
参考例句:
  • Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
  • He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。
35 hush ecMzv     
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静
参考例句:
  • A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
  • Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去!
36 vein fi9w0     
n.血管,静脉;叶脉,纹理;情绪;vt.使成脉络
参考例句:
  • The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
  • The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。
37 gushed de5babf66f69bac96b526188524783de     
v.喷,涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 );滔滔不绝地说话
参考例句:
  • Oil gushed from the well. 石油从井口喷了出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Clear water gushed into the irrigational channel. 清澈的水涌进了灌溉渠道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
38 villains ffdac080b5dbc5c53d28520b93dbf399     
n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 );罪犯;(小说、戏剧等中的)反面人物;淘气鬼
参考例句:
  • The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
39 soothe qwKwF     
v.安慰;使平静;使减轻;缓和;奉承
参考例句:
  • I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
  • This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。
40 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
41 loft VkhyQ     
n.阁楼,顶楼
参考例句:
  • We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
  • By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下,他们就可以多出两间卧室。
42 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
43 revolved b63ebb9b9e407e169395c5fc58399fe6     
v.(使)旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 );细想
参考例句:
  • The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
  • The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
44 stifled 20d6c5b702a525920b7425fe94ea26a5     
(使)窒息, (使)窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 ); 镇压,遏制; 堵
参考例句:
  • The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
  • The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。
45 ashen JNsyS     
adj.灰的
参考例句:
  • His face was ashen and wet with sweat.他面如土色,汗如雨下。
  • Her ashen face showed how much the news had shocked her.她灰白的脸显示出那消息使她多么震惊。


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