"Find yo' shirt all right, Sam?" asked Mrs. Webber, from her chair under the live-oak, where she was comfortably seated with a paper- back volume for company.
"It balances perfeckly, Marthy," answered Sam, with a suspicious pleasantness in his tone. "At first I was about ter be a little reckless and kick 'cause ther buttons was all off, but since I diskiver that the button holes is all busted2 out, why, I wouldn't go so fur as to say the buttons is any loss to speak of."
"Oh, well," said his wife, carelessly, "put on your necktie--that'll keep it together."
Sam Webber's sheep ranch3 was situated4 in the loneliest part of the country between the Nueces and the Frio. The ranch house--a two-room box structure--was on the rise of a gently swelling5 hill in the midst of a wilderness6 of high chaparral. In front of it was a small clearing where stood the sheep pens, shearing7 shed, and wool house. Only a few feet back of it began the thorny8 jungle.
Sam was going to ride over to the Chapman ranch to see about buying some more improved merino rams9. At length he came out, ready for his ride. This being a business trip of some importance, and the Chapman ranch being almost a small town in population and size, Sam had decided10 to "dress up" accordingly. The result was that he had transformed himself from a graceful11, picturesque12 frontiersman into something much less pleasing to the sight. The tight white collar awkwardly constricted13 his muscular, mahogany-colored neck. The buttonless shirt bulged14 in stiff waves beneath his unbuttoned vest. The suit of "ready-made" effectually concealed15 the fine lines of his straight, athletic16 figure. His berry-brown face was set to the melancholy17 dignity befitting a prisoner of state. He gave Randy, his three-year-old son, a pat on the head, and hurried out to where Mexico, his favorite saddle horse, was standing18.
Marthy, leisurely19 rocking in her chair, fixed21 her place in the book with her finger, and turned her head, smiling mischievously22 as she noted23 the havoc24 Sam had wrought25 with his appearance in trying to "fix up."
~Well, ef I must say it, Sam," she drawled, "you look jest like one of them hayseeds in the picture papers, 'stead of a free and independent sheepman of the State o' Texas."
Sam climbed awkwardly into the saddle.
"You're the one ought to be 'shamed to say so," he replied hotly. "'Stead of 'tendin' to a man's clothes you're al'ays setting around a-readin' them billy-by-dam yaller-back novils."
"Oh, shet up and ride along," said Mrs. Webber, with a little jerk at the handles of her chair; "you always fussin' 'bout1 my readin'. I do a-plenty; and I'll read when I wanter. I live in the bresh here like a varmint, never seein' nor hearin' nothin', and what other 'musement kin20 I have? Not in listenin' to you talk, for it's complain, complain, one day after another. Oh, go on, Sam, and leave me in peace."
Sam gave his pony26 a squeeze with his knees and "shoved" down the wagon27 trail that connected his ranch with the old, open Government road. It was eight o'clock, and already beginning to be very warm. He should have started three hours earlier. Chapman ranch was only eighteen miles away, but there was a road for only three miles of the distance. He had ridden over there once with one of the Half-Moon cowpunchers, and he had the direction well-defined in his mind.
Sam turned off the old Government road at the split mesquite, and struck down the arroyo28 of the Quintanilla. Here was a narrow stretch of smiling valley, upholstered with a rich mat of green, curly mesquite grass; and Mexico consumed those few miles quickly with his long, easy lope. Again, upon reaching Wild Duck Waterhole, must he abandon well-defined ways. He turned now to his right up a little hill, pebble-covered, upon which grew only the tenacious29 and thorny prickly pear and chaparral. At the summit of this he paused to take his last general view of the landscape for, from now on, he must wind through brakes and thickets30 of chaparral, pear, and mesquite, for the most part seeing scarcely farther than twenty yards in any direction, choosing his way by the prairie-dweller's instinct, guided only by an occasional glimpse of a far distant hilltop, a peculiarly shaped knot of trees, or the position of the sun.
Sam rode down the sloping hill and plunged32 into the great pear flat that lies between the Quintanilla and the Piedra.
In about two hours he discovered that he was lost. Then came the usual confusion of mind and the hurry to get somewhere. Mexico was anxious to redeem33 the situation, twisting with alacrity34 along the tortuous35 labyrinths36 of the jungle. At the moment his master's sureness of the route had failed his horse had divined the fact. There were no hills now that they could climb to obtain a view of the country. They came upon a few, but so dense37 and interlaced was the brush that scarcely could a rabbit penetrate38 the mass. They were in the great, lonely thicket31 of the Frio bottoms.
It was a mere39 nothing for a cattleman or a sheepman to be lost for a day or a night. The thing often happened. It was merely a matter of missing a meal or two and sleeping comfortably on your saddle blankets on a soft mattress40 of mesquite grass. But in Sam's case it was different. He had never been away from his ranch at night. Marthy was afraid of the country--afraid of Mexicans, of snakes, of panthers, even of sheep. So he had never left her alone.
It must have been about four in the afternoon when Sam's conscience awoke. He was limp and drenched41, rather from anxiety than the heat or fatigue42. Until now he had been hoping to strike the trail that led to the Frio crossing and the Chapman ranch. He must have crossed it at some dim part of it and ridden beyond. If so he was now something like fifty miles from home. If he could strike a ranch-- a camp--any place where he could get a fresh horse and inquire the road, he would ride all night to get back to Marthy and the kid.
So, I have hinted, Sam was seized bv remorse43. There was a big lump in his throat as he thought of the cross words he had spoken to his wife. Surely it was hard enough for her to live in that horrible country witnout having to bear the burden of his abuse. He cursed himself grimly, and felt a sudden flush of shame that over-glowed the summer heat as he remembered the many times he had flouted44 and railed at her because she had a liking45 for reading fiction.
"Ther only so'ce ov amusement ther po' gal's got," said Sam aloud, with a sob46, which unaccustomed sound caused Mexico to shy a bit. A-livin with a sore-headed kiote like me--a low-down skunk47 that ought to be licked to death with a saddle cinch--a-cookin' and a-washin' and a-livin' on mutton and beans and me abusin' her fur takin' a squint48 or two in a little book!"
He thought of Marthy as she had been when he first met her in Dogtown--smart, pretty, and saucy--before the sun had turned the roses in her cheeks brown and the silence of the chaparral had tamed her ambitions.
"Ef I ever speaks another hard word to ther little gal," muttered Sam, "or fails in the love and affection that's coming to her in the deal, I hopes a wildcat'll t'ar me to pieces."
He knew what he would do. He would write to Garcia & Jones, his San Antonio merchants where he bought his supplies and sold his wool, and have them send down a big box of novels and reading matter for Marthy. Things were going to be different. He wondered whether a little piano could be placed in one of the rooms of the ranch house without the family having to move out of doors.
In nowise calculated to allay49 his self-reproach was the thought that Marthy and Randy would have to pass the night alone. In spite of their bickerings, when night came Marthy was wont50 to dismiss her fears of the country, and rest her head upon Sam's strong arm with a sigh of peaceful content and dependence51. And were her fears so groundless? Sam thought of roving, marauding Mexicans, of stealthy cougars52 that sometimes invaded the ranches53, of rattlesnakes, centipedes, and a dozen possible dangers. Marthy would be frantic54 with fear. Randy would cry, and call for dada to come.
Still the interminable succession of stretches of brush, cactus55, and mesquite. Hollow after hollow, slope after slope--all exactly alike --all familiar by constant repetition, and yet all strange and new. If he could only arrive somewhere.
The straight line is Art. Nature moves in circles. A straightforward56 man is more an artificial product than a diplomatist is. Men lost in the snow travel in exact circles until they sink, exhausted57, as their footprints have attested58. Also, travellers in philosophy and other mental processes frequently wind up at their starting-point.
It was when Sam Webber was fullest of contrition59 and good resolves that Mexico, with a heavy sigh, subsided60 from his regular, brisk trot61 into a slow complacent62 walk. They were winding63 up an easy slope covered with brush ten or twelve feet high.
"I say now, Mex," demurred64 Sam, "this here won't do. I know you're plumb65 tired out, but we got ter git along. Oh, Lordy, ain't there no mo' houses in the world!" He gave Mexico a smart kick with his heels.
Mexico gave a protesting grunt66 as if to say: "What's the use of that, now we're so near?" He quickened his gait into a languid trot. Rounding a great clump67 of black chaparral he stopped short. Sam dropped the bridle68 reins69 and sat, looking into the back door of his own house, not ten yards away.
Marthy, serene70 and comfortable, sat in her rocking-chair before the door in the shade of the house, with her feet resting luxuriously71 upon the steps. Randy, who was playing with a pair of spurs on the ground, looked up for a moment at his father and went on spinning the rowels and singing a little song. Marthy turned her head lazily against the back of the chair and considered the arrivals with emotionless eyes. She held a book in her lap with her finger holding the place.
Sam shook himself queerly, like a man coming out of a dream, and slowly dismounted. He moistened his dry lips.
"I see you are still a-settin'," he said, "a-readin' of them billy- by-dam yaller-back novils."
Sam had traveled round the circle and was himself again.
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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shearing
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| n.剪羊毛，剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 )；切断；剪切 | |
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thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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rams
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| n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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constricted
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| adj.抑制的，约束的 | |
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bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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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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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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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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mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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arroyo
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| n.干涸的河床，小河 | |
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tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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41
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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43
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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44
flouted
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| v.藐视，轻视( flout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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skunk
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| n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥 | |
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48
squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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49
allay
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| v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等) | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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51
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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52
cougars
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| n.美洲狮( cougar的名词复数 ) | |
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53
ranches
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| 大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 ) | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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56
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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61
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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62
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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66
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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68
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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