Bob followed this streaming multitude to the large structure that had earlier been pointed1 out to him as the boarding house. It was a commodious2 affair with a narrow verandah to which led steps picked out by the sharp caulks3 of the rivermen's boots. A round stove held the place of honour in the first room. Benches flanked the walls. At one end was a table-sink, and tin wash-basins, and roller towels. The men were splashing and blowing in the plunge-in-all-over fashion of their class. They emerged slicked down and fresh, their hair plastered wet to their foreheads. After a moment a fat and motherly woman made an announcement from a rear room. All trooped out.
The dining room was precisely4 like those Bob remembered from recollections of the river camps of his childhood. There were the same long tables covered with red oilcloth, the same pine benches worn smooth and shiny, the same thick crockery, and the same huge receptacles steaming with hearty--and well-cooked--food. Nowhere does the man who labours with his hands fare better than in the average lumber5 camp. Forest operations have a largeness in conception and execution that leads away from the habit of the mean, small and foolish economics. At one side, and near the windows, stood a smaller table. The covering of this was turkey-red cloth with white pattern; it boasted a white-metal "caster"; and possessed6 real chairs. Here Bob took his seat, in company with Fox, Collins, Mason, Tally7 and the half-dozen active young fellows he had seen handling the scaling rules near the ships.
At the men's tables the meal was consumed in a silence which Bob learned later came nearer being obligatory8 than a matter of choice. Conversation was discouraged by the good-natured fat woman, Mrs. Hallowell. Talk delayed; and when one had dishes to wash----
The "boss's table" was more leisurely9. Bob was introduced to the sealers. They proved to be, with one exception, young fellows of twenty-one or two, keen-eyed, brown-faced, alert and active. They impressed Bob as belonging to the clerk class, with something added by the outdoor, varied10 life. Indeed, later he discovered them to be sons of carpenters, mechanics and other higher-class, intelligent workingmen; boys who had gone through high school, and perhaps a little way into the business college; ambitious youngsters, each with a different idea in the back of his head. They had in common an air of capability11, of complete adequacy for the task in life they had selected. The sixth sealer was much older and of the riverman type. He had evidently come up from the ranks.
There was no general conversation. Talk confined itself strictly12 to shop. Bob, his imagination already stirred by the incidents of his stroll, listened eagerly. Fox was getting in touch with the whole situation.
"The main drive is down," Tally told him, "but the Cedar13 Branch hasn't got to the river yet. What in blazes did you want to buy that little strip this late in the day for?"
"Had to take it--on a deal," said Fox briefly14. "Why? Is it hard driving? I've never been up there. Welton saw to all that."
"It's hell. The pine's way up at the headwaters. You have to drive her the whole length of the stream, through a mixed hardwood and farm country. Lots of partridges and mossbacks, but no improvements. Not a dam the whole length of her. Case of hit the freshet water or get hung."
"Well, we've done that kind of a job before."
"Yes, _before_!" Tally retorted. "If I had a half-crew of good, old-fashioned white-water birlers, I'd rest easy. But we don't have no crews like we used to. The old bully15 boys have all moved out west--or died."
"Getting old--like us," bantered16 Fox. "Why haven't you died off too, Jim?"
"I'm never going to die," stated the old man, "I'm going to live to turn into a grindstone and wear out. But it's a fact. There's plenty left can ride a log all right, but they're a tough lot. It's too close here to Marion."
"That _is_ too bad," condoled17 Fox, "especially as I remember so well what a soft-spoken, lamb-like little tin angel you used to be, Jim."
Fox, who had quite dropped his old office self, winked19 at Bob. The latter felt encouraged to say:
"I had a course in college on archaeology20. Don't remember much about it, but one thing. When they managed to decipher the oldest known piece of hieroglyphics21 on an Assyrian brick, what do you suppose it turned out to be?"
"Give it up, Brudder Bones," said Tally, dryly, "what was it?"
Bob flushed at the old riverman's tone, but went on.
"It was a letter from a man to his son away at school. In it he lamented22 the good old times when he was young, and gave it as his opinion that the world was going to the dogs."
Tally grinned slowly; and the others burst into a shout of laughter.
"All right, bub," said the riverman good-humouredly. "But that doesn't get me a new foreman." He turned to Fox. "Smith broke his leg; and I can't find a man to take charge. I can't go. The main drive's got to be sorted."
"There ought to be plenty of good men," said Fox.
"There are, but they're at work."
"Dicky Darrell is over at Marion," spoke18 up one of the scalers.
"Roaring Dick," said Tally sarcastically23, "--but there's no denying he's a good man in the woods. But if he's at Marion, he's drunk; and if he's drunk, you can't do nothing with him."
"I heard it three days ago," said the scaler.
Tally ruminated24. "Well," he concluded, "maybe he's about over with his bust25. I'll run over this afternoon and see what I can do with him. If Tom Welton would only tear himself apart from California, we'd get on all right."
A scraping back of benches and a tramp of feet announced the nearly simultaneous finishing of feeding at the men's tables. At the boss's table everyone seized an unabashed toothpick. Collins addressed Bob.
"Mr. Fox and I have so much to go over this afternoon," said he, "that I don't believe I'll have time to show you. Just look around a little."
On the porch outside Bob paused. After a moment he became aware of a figure at his elbow. He turned to see old Jim Tally bent26 over to light his pipe behind the mahogany of his curved hand.
"Want to take in Marion, bub?" he enquired27.
"Sure!" cried Bob heartily28, surprised at this mark of favour.
"Come on then," said the old riverman, "the lightning express is gettin' anxious for us."
收听单词发音 |
1
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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commodious
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| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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caulks
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| vt.堵（船的）缝（caulk的第三人称单数形式） | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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8
obligatory
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| adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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capability
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| n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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bantered
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| v.开玩笑，说笑，逗乐( banter的过去式和过去分词 )；（善意地）取笑，逗弄 | |
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condoled
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| v.表示同情，吊唁( condole的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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archaeology
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| n.考古学 | |
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hieroglyphics
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| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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ruminated
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| v.沉思( ruminate的过去式和过去分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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25
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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27
enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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