It happened on this day that Nan Keith had refused an invitation to ride with Ben Sansome, but had agreed as a compromise to give him a cup of tea late in the afternoon. Nan's mood was latterly becoming more and more restless. It was an unconscious reflection of the times, unconscious because she had no real conception of what was going on. In obedience1 to Keith's positively2 expressed request she had kept away from the downtown districts, leaving the necessary marketing3 to Wing Sam. For the moment, as has been explained, her points of touch with society were limited. It happened that before the trouble began the Keiths had been subscribers to the Bulletin and the Herald4, and these two journals continued to be delivered. Neither of them gave her much idea of what was really going on. For a moment her imagination was touched by the blank space of white paper the Bulletin left where King's editorials had usually been printed, but Thomas King's subsequent violence had repelled6 her. The Herald, after rashly treating the "affray" as a street brawl7, lost hundreds of subscribers and most of its advertising8. It shrunk to a sheet a quarter of its usual size. Naturally, its editor, John Nugent, was the more solidly and bitterly aligned9 with the Law and Order party. The true importance of the revolt, either as an ethical10 movement or merely as regards its physical size, did not get to Nan at all. She knew the time was one of turmoils11 and excitements. She believed the city in danger of mobs. Her attitude might be described as a mixture of fastidious disapproval12 and a sympathetic restlessness.
About the middle of the afternoon Mrs. Sherwood came up the front walk and rang the bell. Nan, sitting behind lace curtains, was impressed by her air of controlled excitement. Mrs. Sherwood hurried. She hurried gracefully13, to be sure, and with a reminiscence of her usual feline14 indolence; but she hurried, nevertheless. Therefore, Nan herself answered the bell, instead of awaiting the deliberate Wing Sam.
"My dear," cried Mrs. Sherwood, "get your mantle15, and come with me. There's something going to happen-something big!"
She refused to answer Nan's questions.
"You'll see," was all the reply she vouchsafed16. "Hurry!"
They crossed by the new graded streets where the sand hills had been, and soon found themselves on the low elevations17 above the county jail. Mrs. Sherwood led the way to the porch of a onestory wooden house that appeared to be unoccupied.
"This is fine!" she said with satisfaction.
The jail was just below them, and they looked directly across the open square in front of it and the convergence of two streets. The jail was buzzing like a hive: men were coming and going busily, running away as though on errands, or darting18 in through the open door. Armed men were taking their places on the flat roof.
In contrast to this one little spot of excited activity, the rest of the scene was almost superlatively peaceful. People were drifting in from all the side streets, but they were sauntering slowly, as though without particular interest; they might have been going to or coming from church. A warm, basking19, Sunday feel was in the sunshine. There was not the faintest breeze. Distant sounds carried clearly, as the barking of a dog-- it might have been Gringo shut up at home--or the crowing of a distant cock. From the square below arose the murmur20 of a multitude talking. The groups of people increased in frequency, in numbers. Black forms began to appear on roof tops all about; white faces at windows. It would have been impossible to say when the scattered21 groups became a crowd; when the side of the square filled; when the converging22 streets became black with closely packed people; when the windows and doors and balconies, the copings and railings, the slopes of the hills were all occupied, but so it was. Before she fairly realized that many were gathering23, Nan looked down on twenty thousand people. They took their positions quietly, and waited. There was no shouting, no demonstration24, so little talking that the low murmur never rendered inaudible the barking of the dog or the crowing of the distant cock. The doors of the jail had closed. Men ceased going in and out. The armed forces on the roof were increased.
Nan had left off asking questions of Mrs. Sherwood, who answered none. The feeling of tense expectation filled her also. What was forward? Was this a mob? Why were these people gathered? Somehow they gave her the impression that they, too, like Mrs. Sherwood and herself, were waiting to see.
After a long time she saw the closely packed crowd down the vista26 of one of the converging streets move in the agitation27 of some disturbance28. A moment later the sun caught files of bayonets. At the same instant the same thing happened at the end of the other converging street. The armed columns came steadily29 forward, the people giving way. Their men were dressed in sober citizens' clothes. The shining steel of the bayonets furnished the only touch of uniform. Quietly and steadily they came forward, the snake of steel undulating and twisting like a living thing. The two columns reached the convergence of the street together. As they entered the square before the jail, a third and fourth column debouched from side streets, and others deployed30 into view on the hills behind. The timing31 was perfect. One minute the prospect32 was empty of all but spectators, the next it was filled with grim and silent armed men.
Near the two women and among chance spectators on the piazza33 of the deserted34 house a well-known character of the times leaned against one of the pillars. This was Colonel Gift. Our chronicler, who has an eye for the telling phrase, describes him as "a tall, lank5, empty-bowelled, tobacco- spurting35 Southerner, with eyes like burning black balls, who could talk a company of listeners into an insane asylum36 quicker than any man in California, and whose blasphemy37 could not be equalled, either in quantity or quality, by the most profane38 of any age or nation." In this crisis Colonel Gift's sympathies may be guessed. He watched the scene below him with a sardonic39 eye. As the armed columns wheeled into place and stood at attention, he turned to a man standing40 near.
"I tell you, stranger," said he, "when you see those damned psalm-singing Yankees turn out of their churches, shoulder their guns, and march away of a Sunday, you may know that hell is going to crack shortly!"
Mrs. Sherwood turned an amused eye in his direction. The colonel, for the first time becoming aware of her presence, swept off his black slouch hat and apologized profusely41 for the "damn."
The armed men stood rigid42, four deep all around the square. Behind them the masses of the people watched. Even the murmur died. Again everybody waited.
Now, at a command, the ranks fell apart and from the side street marched the sixty men chosen by Olney dragging a field gun at the end of a rope. Their preliminary task of watching the jail for a possible escape finished, they had been again gathered. With beautiful military precision they wheeled and came to rest facing the frowning walls of the jail, the cannon43 pointed44 at the door.
Nan gasped45 sharply, and seized Mrs. Sherwood's arm with both hands. She had recognized Keith standing by the right wheel of the cannon. He was looking straight ahead, and the expression on his face was one she had never seen there before. Suddenly something swelled46 up within her breast and choked her. The tears rushed to her eyes.
Quite deliberately47, each motion in plain sight, the cannon was loaded with powder and ball. A man lit a slow match, blew it painstakingly48 to a glow, then took his position at the breech. The slight innumerable sounds of these activities died. The bustle49 of men moving imperceptibly fell. Not even the coughing and sneezing usual to a gathering of people paying attention was heard, for the intense interest inhibited50 these nervous symptoms. Probably never have twenty thousand people, gathered in one place, made their presence so little evident. A deep, solemn stillness brooded over them. The spring sun lay warm and grateful on men's shoulders; the doves and birds, the distant dogs and roosters, cooed and twittered, barked and crowed.
Nothing happened for full ten minutes. The picked men stood rigid by the gun in the middle of the square; the slow match burned sleepily, a tiny thread of smoke rising in the still air; the sunlight gleamed from the ranks of bayonets; the vast multitude held its breath, the walls of the jail remained blank and inscrutable.
Then a man on horseback was seen pushing his way through the crowd. He rode directly up to the jail door, on which he rapped thrice with the handle of his riding whip. Against the silence these taps, but gently delivered, sounded sharp and staccato. After a moment the wicket opened. The rider, without dismounting, handed through it a note; then, with a superb display of the old-fashioned horsemanship, backed his horse half the length of the square where he, too, came to rest.
"Who is he?" whispered Nan. Why she whispered she could not have told.
"Charles Doane," answered Mrs. Sherwood, in the same voice.
Another commotion51 down the street. Again the ranks parted and closed again, this time to admit three carriages driven rapidly. As they came to a stop the muskets52 all around the square leaped to the "present." So disconcerting was this sudden slap and rattle53 of arms after the tenseness of the last half hour, that men dodged54 back as though from a blow. With admirable precision, Olney's men, obeying a series of commands, moved forward from the gun to form a hollow square around the carriages. Only the man with the burning slow match was left standing by the breech.
From the carriages then descended55 Coleman, Truett, Talbot Ward25, Smiley, and two other men whom neither Nan nor Mrs. Sherwood recognized. Amid the dead silence they walked directly to the jail door, Olney's Sixty breaking the square and deploying56 close at their heels. A low colloquy57 through the wicket now took place. At length the door swung slowly open. The committee entered. The door swung shut after them. Again the people waited, but now once more arose the murmur of low-toned conversation.
收听单词发音 |
1
obedience
|
|
| n.服从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
marketing
|
|
| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
herald
|
|
| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
lank
|
|
| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
repelled
|
|
| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
brawl
|
|
| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
advertising
|
|
| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
aligned
|
|
| adj.对齐的，均衡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
ethical
|
|
| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
turmoils
|
|
| n.混乱( turmoil的名词复数 )；焦虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
disapproval
|
|
| n.反对，不赞成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
gracefully
|
|
| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
feline
|
|
| adj.猫科的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
mantle
|
|
| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
vouchsafed
|
|
| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
elevations
|
|
| （水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
darting
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
basking
|
|
| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
converging
|
|
| adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
demonstration
|
|
| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
ward
|
|
| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
vista
|
|
| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
deployed
|
|
| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
timing
|
|
| n.时间安排，时间选择 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
piazza
|
|
| n.广场；走廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
spurting
|
|
| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的现在分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺； 溅射 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
asylum
|
|
| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
blasphemy
|
|
| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
profane
|
|
| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
sardonic
|
|
| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
profusely
|
|
| ad.abundantly | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rigid
|
|
| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
cannon
|
|
| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
swelled
|
|
| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
painstakingly
|
|
| adv. 费力地 苦心地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
bustle
|
|
| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
inhibited
|
|
| a.拘谨的，拘束的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
commotion
|
|
| n.骚动，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
muskets
|
|
| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
dodged
|
|
| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
deploying
|
|
| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
colloquy
|
|
| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |