Then a padding step, light, lighter1 than the sound of the softest thought. It was passing near; the faint breeze blew the sound to them, around them, behind them. Each man felt as if some creature were stalking him, unseen. Next—it appeared by magic against the blue black of the night—the head of a great wolf, quite black, shaggy, with sharply pointed2 ears. And the eyes stared at them, green eyes with lights that swirled3 as the flame jumped in the throat of the lamp. For a long moment the horror lasted. Then the head, as it had come, disappeared, and the light, light foot fall, faded away.
"I'm going up—to my room—and lock the door—for God's sake—keep—him away!"
And so he stole soundlessly away, and then they heard the creaks which announced his progress up the stairs.
Not Buck Daniels alone. In the deadly silence Kate rose to her feet; and the old man, the invalid—he with the dead body and the living brain, rose from his couch and stood as erect5 as a soldier on parade. The doctor was conscious of repeating to himself, hurriedly, a formula something like this: "The thing which is coming is human; it cannot be more than human; as long as it is human it is nothing to fear; the laws of truth are irrevocably fixed6; the laws of science will not change." Yet in spite of this formula he was deadly cold, as if a wind were blowing through his naked soul. It was not fear. It was something beyond fear, and he would not have been otherwhere for any reward. All his mind remained poised7, expectant, as the astronomer8 waits for the new star which his calculations have predicted to enter the field of his telescope.
He caught the sound of another horse coming, far different even to his unpracticed ear from the beat of hoofs9 which announced the coming of Buck Daniels. The rhythm of their fall was slower, as if the stride of the animal were much longer. He pictured a mighty10 creature with a vast mane blown back against the chest of a giant rider. There was a murmur11 from Kate: "Dan, my dear, my dear!"
Then he heard a padding footfall, hardly louder than the light, light step of the wolf. The knob of the door turned slowly, without a sound; it opened, and a man stepped in. He was not larger than the doctor; a slender fellow, almost dapper in his dress, with hardly a sign of travel about him, except that the brim of his sombrero was folded back from his face as if from continual pressure of wind. These things Randall Byrne noted12 vaguely13; what he was sharply aware of were the eyes of the man. He had the feeling that he had seen them before; he remembered the yellow light that had swirled in the eyes of the wolf at the window.
The newcomer flashed a glance about the room, yet for all its speed it seemed to linger an instant on each face, and when it crossed the stare of Byrne the doctor shrank.
"Where is Buck?" asked the man. "I've come for him!"
As if in answer, the great, shaggy dog slipped through the entrance past his master and glided14 across the room. As he passed, Kate held out a hand to him. She called softly: "Bart!" but she was greeted with a silent baring of fangs15; and she caught her hand back against her breast, with the tears springing in her eyes. On the other side of the room the black dog paused and looked back to his master, while Byrne realised with a shudder16 that the door before which it stood was the door through which Buck Daniels had disappeared. Straight to that door Barry stepped, and Byrne realised, with an eerie17 emotion, that the footfalls made no sound.
Before he reached the door, however, the girl started forward and sprang before him. With her outstretched arms she barred the way. Her skirt brushed almost in the face of the dog, and the beast shrank away not in fear, but crouching18 in readiness to leap. The sharp ears twitched19 back; a murderous snarl20 rolled up from between the wicked teeth. Yet she did not cast a single glance at him; she faced the greater danger.
She was saying: "Whatever Buck did, it wasn't done to hurt you, Dan; it was done for your own sake. And for Dad's sake. You shan't pass here!"
From his position, the doctor could not see the face of Dan Barry, but he guessed at it through the expression of Kate. Such terror and horror were in her eyes as though she were facing a death's head inches away. Then he saw the slender hand of Barry rise and move towards the girl, slowly, tremblingly, as though one fierce impulse urged him to thrust her to one side and as though another held back his arm. The doctor could not watch the girl longer; fear and pity were wringing21 him as he lowered his glance to the floor.
Then he heard her cry: "Have you forgotten me, like Bart? Like Bart, have you forgotten me, Dan?"
His hand fell to his side and he glided back from her; but now Byrne could see that the eyes of Barry were looking past the girl, as though he stared through the solid wood of the door and found his prey22 beyond it. The stranger slipped towards the door by which he had entered, with the great dog slinking at his heels. Kate Cumberland leaned heavily against the wall, her arm thrown across her face, but there was no consciousness of her in the face of Barry. Yet at the very door he paused and straightened; Byrne saw that he was staring towards Joe Cumberland; and the old man reached a bony hand out.
"Oh, lad," he said softly, "I been waitin' for you years an' years, seems like!"
Barry crossed the room as noiselessly, as swiftly, as a flying shadow.
"Sit down!" he commanded, and Byrne caught a faint ring in the voice, like the shiver of metal striking steel.
Joe Cumberland obeyed without a word, and then lay back at full length upon the couch—a palsy had seized on him, and the hand which rested on the shoulder of Dan Barry was shaking. By the couch came the tall dog, and crouched23, staring up in the master's face; then the younger man turned his face towards Byrne and the girl. Those thin-cut nostrils24 expanded, the lips compressed, and Byrne dared not look into the flare25 of the eyes.
"Who done this?" asked Barry, and still the shiver of cold metal rang in his voice. "Who's done this?"
"Steady, lad," said Joe Cumberland faintly. "They ain't no call for fightin'. Steady, Dan, boy. An' don't leave me!"
Byrne caught a signal from Kate and followed her obediently from the room.
"Let them be alone," she said.
"Impossible!" protested the doctor. "Your father is lapsed26 into a most dangerous condition. The physical inertia27 which has held him for so long is now broken and I look for a dangerous mental and nervous collapse28 to accompany it. A sedative29 is now imperative30!"
He laid his hand on the knob of the door to return, but the girl blocked his way.
"Don't go in," she commanded feebly. "I can't explain to you. All I can say is that Dad was the one who found Dan Barry and there's something between them that none of us understand. But I know that he can help Dad. I know Dad is in no danger while Dan is with him."
"A pleasant superstition," nodded the doctor, "but medicine, my dear
Miss Cumberland, does not take account of such things."
"Doctor Byrne," she said, rallying a failing strength for the argument,
"I insist. Don't ask me to explain."
"In that case," he answered coldly, "I cannot assume responsibility for what may happen."
She made a gesture of surrender, weakly.
"Look back in on them now," she said. "If you don't find father quiet, you may go in to him."
Doctor Byrne obeyed, opening the door softly. He saw Joe Cumberland prone31, of course, upon the couch. One hand lay as usual across his breast, but the other was at his side, clasped in the hands of Dan Barry. The old cattleman slept. Yes, there was no doubt that for the first time in many days he slumbered32 soundly. The lean, narrow chest rose and fell with deep, slow breaths; the eyes were closed, and there was no twitching33 of muscles to betray ragged34 nerves or a mind that dreamed fiercely while the body slept. Far over the sleeping man leaned the stranger, as if he were peering closely into the closed eyes of Joe Cumberland. There was a tenseness of watching and waiting in his attitude, like the runner on the mark, or like the burden-bearer lifting a great weight, and Byrne gathered, in some mysterious manner, the impression that Barry sent through his hands and into the body of Cumberland a continual stream of nervous strength—an electric thing. Nonsense, of course. And it was nonsense, also, to think that the huge dog which lay staring up into the face of the master understood all this affair much better than the practiced mind of the physician. Yet the illusion held with Randall Byrne in spite of all his scepticism.
He was certain that he had made not the slightest sound in opening the door, but presently the head of the watcher turned slowly, and Byrne was looking into those same yellow, terrible eyes. At the same instant the sick man moaned faintly. The doctor closed the door as softly as he had opened it and turned a drawn35 face upon Kate Cumberland.
"I don't understand; it isn't possible!" he whispered.
"No one understands," said the girl, and smiled mirthlessly. "Don't try to, Doctor Byrne. Go to bed, and sleep. If you can. Good night."
"But you," said Byrne, following her, "are almost as ill as your father.
Is there nothing I can do for you?"
"You?" she asked, surprised. "No, nothing."
"But there's not the slightest colour in your face. And you are trembling, Miss Cumberland!"
She did not seem to hear him.
"Will he stay?" she asked of herself. "Will he leave before the morning?"
"I shall see that he stays," said the doctor. "I will stay here outside the door and see that he does not leave, if you wish."
Once more she smiled in that baffling manner.
"Could you keep the wind from blowing, Doctor Byrne? If I thought that he could be kept——" she stopped. "He has forgotten us. He has forgotten all of us except Dad. And if Dad cannot keep him, nothing will keep him. It's useless for you to wait here. Good night again, Doctor Byrne."
He watched her up the stairs. By the dim light he saw her hand catching36 at the balustrade as if she were drawing herself up, step by step. When she reached the landing and turned half towards him, he saw that her head was fallen.
"Not a glance, not a thought for me," murmured the doctor. "But if the stranger does leave——" Instead of finishing the muttered sentences, he drew a chair back against the wall and sat down with folded hands to wait.
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收听单词发音
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1
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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9
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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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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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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15
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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16
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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17
eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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20
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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23
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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inertia
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| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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sedative
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| adj.使安静的，使镇静的；n. 镇静剂，能使安静的东西 | |
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30
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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31
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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32
slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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33
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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34
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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35
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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