What subtle influence wrought1 the miracle, for it could not have been the strength of Leola’s slender hands?
But there stood the satanic black animal, its fury abated2, its flight arrested, its huge form trembling, shuddering3, while the foamy4 sweat dropped in streams to the ground. As for the driver, he had been hurled5 violently backward into the road by the impetus6 of the sudden stop, and now lay there without sound or motion, like a dead man.
Leola, waiting only a moment to pat the black horse gently on his heaving neck, slipped from her saddle and ran to the young man, leaving, oh, wonder of wonders! the excited creature standing7 stock still, and rubbing noses with Rex quite as if they had been old friends.
Her heart sank like lead to see him lying there so still, with a little stream of blood trickling9 from his temple, where it had struck against a jagged rock.
“Oh, if I only had some water,” she sighed, and just then the trickle10 of a little spring by the side of the road caught her ears. She ran and filled her riding cap with the clear fluid, and dashed it in his face.
Oh, joy! he gasped11 once or twice, and opened on her anxious face a pair of the bonniest dark blue eyes she had ever met—eyes that seemed to go exactly with the glossy12 curls of thick brown hair.
When his gaze met hers he smiled, faintly, and sighed:
“I—I—where am I? Oh, I remember now. I was in an accident; my horse ran away, and I was thrown out of the runabout. Was I killed? Is this heaven, and are you an angel?”
“An angel? No, indeed,” she cried; “and this is not heaven, either, only a rough, rocky road, where you fell when you pitched out of your trap. Oh! are you hurt very bad? Does your poor head pain you very much?”
Their faces were very close together, for she had pillowed his head on her tender arm, and he could feel the quick throbs14 of her excited heart as she waited for his answer.
“I—I—do not feel very bad,” he began, then suddenly lapsed15 into unconsciousness again, and this time it seemed to her that he was surely gone forever.
Tears started in her eyes and fell in a burning shower upon his pallid16, handsome face, mingling17 with the crimson18 rain that ran down his cheek.
Again he revived, and, looking up, met that tender, tearful glance of Leola’s lovely eyes, that made the blood leap through his veins19 with rapture20.
He said faintly:
“Do not say you are not an angel, for I shall always think of you as one, sweet girl! Ah, I remember all, now! My runaway21 horse was going straight over the declivity22 when you spurred yours between and caught his neck in your arms. It was a magnificent thing to do, but a perilous23 one, too, to risk your life for an utter stranger!”
Leola smiled brightly, and answered:
“It certainly looked like taking a terrible risk, and would scarcely have succeeded so well but for one fact quite unknown to you.”
“You see, I recognized in your satanic steed a favorite of mine—a spirited creature that I loved dearly when it belonged to my guardian25, who sold it to the livery stable in town only a week ago. Black Hawk26, as we called him, was an elder brother to my pony27 Rex, and they were fond of each other; so, you see, it was really our acquaintance with Black Hawk that made him so easy to subdue28. Just turn your head now, sir, and you will see the pair biting at each other in the most affectionate manner.”
“It is wonderful,” he murmured; “but, all the same, I owe you my life, for you ran a terrible risk trusting to Black Hawk’s possible obedience29 to you. What if, in his fury of fear and rage—for he had taken desperate fright at a well-digging machine in a field—he had proved unmanageable? You and I must have gone down to death together, all in one tragic30 moment.”
“It is true, but let us not think of it, since the danger is past,” said Leola, making light of it, and adding:
“What troubles me now is how to get assistance for you. I don’t like to leave you alone, but—Ah! I hear wheels. Some one is coming!”
Sure enough, an old top buggy, drawn31 by an old gray mare32, came clattering33 around the curve of the road, and in it sat the one person most welcome of any one in the world just now—the village doctor.
“Oh, Doctor Barnes, how glad I am to see you! You see, there’s been an accident,” Leola cried, eagerly, as he drew rein34 and began to jump nimbly out.
“Yes, my dear girl; I saw the accident from up on the hill, just as I was coming out from a patient’s house, and I got to you as fast as old Dolly would travel. Really, it was a splendid deed of daring!” cried the middle-aged35 doctor, patting her bright head in a fatherly way as he stooped over the young man.
“Ah, a stranger!” he continued. “Well, how much is he hurt? Cut on the temple, eh? Needs some stitches. Any bones broken, do you think? Wait till I stanch36 and bind37 the wound, and then we will see.”
This accomplished38, he tendered the use[Pg 7] of his arm, and the young fellow got upon his feet without much difficulty.
“Ah, you’re all right—unless there’s some internal hurt. Come, I will put you into my buggy. Your arm on the other side. Leola and I must take you to the nearest house, which happens to be the Widow Gray’s cottage, below here. There I can sew up your wound and leave you in safe hands till we can find out if there’s any internal injuries. All right. Put your head back against the lap-robe. You will come with us, Leola; I may need your help.”
Stranger as the young man was, they could not have taken him to a better place, for Widow Gray was the dearest old woman in the neighborhood. She lived quite alone in a tidy cottage back among a grove39 of maples41, or a “sugar camp,” as the country people called it; for here in the early spring was always produced that toothsome dainty, maple40 sugar, so dear to the hearts of school children. The widow had a neat spare room that she often let to a summer boarder, and to this white-hung chamber42 she quickly led Doctor Barnes with his patient, her round face beaming with good-nature as she promised to do all she could for the unfortunate young stranger.
“He will need your best nursing, I fear,” exclaimed Doctor Barnes; for, on getting his patient down upon the bed, he immediately fainted again, and the swoon was so deep that it was difficult to revive him.
“Oh, he is dead!” sobbed43 Leola; and the thought carried with it such agony that it changed and darkened the whole world to her young heart, so dear had the handsome stranger grown already.
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1
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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2
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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3
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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4
foamy
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| adj.全是泡沫的，泡沫的，起泡沫的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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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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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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10
trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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11
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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12
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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13
rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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14
throbs
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| 体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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15
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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16
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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17
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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18
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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19
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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20
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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21
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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22
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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23
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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24
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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25
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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26
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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27
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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28
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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30
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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31
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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32
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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33
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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34
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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35
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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36
stanch
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| v.止住（血等）；adj.坚固的；坚定的 | |
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37
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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38
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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39
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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40
maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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41
maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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42
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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43
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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