Twenty miles out from Paradise, and fifteen miles short of Sunrise City, Bildad Rose, the stage-driver, stopped his team. A furious snow had been falling all day. Eight inches it measured now, on a level. The remainder of the road was not without peril1 in daylight, creeping along the ribs2 of a bijou range of ragged3 mountains. Now, when both snow and night masked its dangers, further travel was not to be thought of, said Bildad Rose. So he pulled up his four stout4 horses, and delivered to his five passengers oral deductions5 of his wisdom.
Judge Menefee, to whom men granted leadership and the initiatory6 as upon a silver salver, sprang from the coach at once. Four of his fellow-passengers followed, inspired by his example, ready to explore, to objurgate, to resist, to submit, to proceed, according as their prime factor might be inclined to sway them. The fifth passenger, a young woman, remained in the coach.
Bildad had halted upon the shoulder of the first mountain spur. Two rail-fences, ragged-black, hemmed8 the road. Fifty yards above the upper fence, showing a dark blot9 in the white drifts, stood a small house. Upon this house descended--or rather ascended--Judge Menefee and his cohorts with boyish whoops11 born of the snow and stress. They called; they pounded at window and door. At the inhospitable silence they waxed restive12; they assaulted and forced the pregnable barriers, and invaded the premises13.
The watchers from the coach heard stumblings and shoutings from the interior of the ravaged14 house. Before long a light within flickered15, glowed, flamed high and bright and cheerful. Then came running back through the driving flakes16 the exuberant17 explorers. More deeply pitched than the clarion--even orchestral in volume--the voice of Judge Menefee proclaimed the succour that lay in apposition with their state of travail18. The one room of the house was uninhabited, he said, and bare of furniture; but it contained a great fireplace, and they had discovered an ample store of chopped wood in a lean-to at the rear. Housing and warmth against the shivering night were thus assured. For the placation19 of Bildad Rose there was news of a stable, not ruined beyond service, with hay in a loft20, near the house.
"Gentlemen," cried Bildad Rose from his seat, swathed in coats and robes, "tear me down two panels of that fence, so I can drive in. That is old man Redruth's shanty21. I thought we must be nigh it. They took him to the foolish house in August."
Cheerfully the four passengers sprang at the snow-capped rails. The exhorted22 team tugged23 the coach up the slant24 to the door of the edifice25 from which a mid-summer madness had ravished its proprietor26. The driver and two of the passengers began to unhitch. Judge Menefee opened the door of the coach, and removed his hat.
"I have to announce, Miss Garland," said he, "the enforced suspension of our journey. The driver asserts that the risk in travelling the mountain road by night is too great even to consider. It will be necessary to remain in the shelter of this house until morning. I beg that you will feel that there is nothing to fear beyond a temporary inconvenience. I have personally inspected the house, and find that there are means to provide against the rigour of the weather, at least. You shall be made as comfortable as possible. Permit me to assist you to alight."
To the Judge's side came the passenger whose pursuit in life was the placing of the Little Goliath windmill. His name was Dunwoody; but that matters not much. In travelling merely from Paradise to Sunrise City one needs little or no name. Still, one who would seek to divide honours with Judge Madison L. Menefee deserves a cognomenal peg27 upon which Fame may hang a wreath. Thus spake, loudly and buoyantly, the aerial miller28:
"Guess you'll have to climb out of the ark, Mrs. McFarland. This wigwam isn't exactly the Palmer House, but it turns snow, and they won't search your grip for souvenir spoons when you leave. We've got a fire going; and we'll fix you up with dry Tilbys and keep the mice away, anyhow, all right, all right."
One of the two passengers who were struggling in a melee29 of horses, harness, snow, and the sarcastic30 injunctions of Bildad Rose, called loudly from the whirl of his volunteer duties: "Say! some of you fellows get Miss Solomon into the house, will you? Whoa, there! you confounded brute31!"
Again must it be gently urged that in travelling from Paradise to Sunrise City an accurate name is prodigality32. When Judge Menefee-- sanctioned to the act by his grey hair and widespread repute--had introduced himself to the lady passenger, she had, herself, sweetly breathed a name, in response, that the hearing of the male passengers had variously interpreted. In the not unjealous spirit of rivalry33 that eventuated, each clung stubbornly to his own theory. For the lady passenger to have reasseverated or corrected would have seemed didactic if not unduly35 solicitous36 of a specific acquaintance. Therefore the lady passenger permitted herself to be Garlanded and McFarlanded and Solomoned with equal and discreet38 complacency. It is thirty-five miles from Paradise to Sunrise City. Compagnon de voyage is name enough, by the gripsack of the Wandering Jew! for so brief a journey.
Soon the little party of wayfarers39 were happily seated in a cheerful arc before the roaring fire. The robes, cushions, and removable portions of the coach had been brought in and put to service. The lady passenger chose a place near the hearth40 at one end of the arc. There she graced almost a throne that her subjects had prepared. She sat upon cushions and leaned against an empty box and barrel, robe bespread, which formed a defence from the invading draughts41. She extended her feet, delectably42 shod, to the cordial heat. She ungloved her hands, but retained about her neck her long fur boa. The unstable43 flames half revealed, while the warding44 boa half submerged, her face-- a youthful face, altogether feminine, clearly moulded and calm with beauty's unchallenged confidence. Chivalry45 and manhood were here vying46 to please and comfort her. She seemed to accept their devoirs--not piquantly47, as one courted and attended; nor preeningly, as many of her sex unworthily reap their honours; not yet stolidly48, as the ox receives his hay; but concordantly with nature's own plan--as the lily ingests the drop of dew foreordained to its refreshment49.
Outside the wind roared mightily50, the fine snow whizzed through the cracks, the cold besieged51 the backs of the immolated52 six; but the elements did not lack a champion that night. Judge Menefee was attorney for the storm. The weather was his client, and he strove by special pleading to convince his companions in that frigid53 jury-box that they sojourned in a bower54 of roses, beset55 only by benignant zephyrs56. He drew upon a fund of gaiety, wit, and anecdote57, sophistical, but crowned with success. His cheerfulness communicated itself irresistibly58. Each one hastened to contribute his own quota59 toward the general optimism. Even the lady passenger was moved to expression.
"I think it is quite charming," she said, in her slow, crystal tones.
At intervals60 some one of the passengers would rise and humorously explore the room. There was little evidence to be collected of its habitation by old man Redruth.
Bildad Rose was called upon vivaciously61 for the ex-hermit62's history. Now, since the stage-driver's horses were fairly comfortable and his passengers appeared to be so, peace and comity63 returned to him.
"The old didapper," began Bildad, somewhat irreverently, "infested64 this here house about twenty year. He never allowed nobody to come nigh him. He'd duck his head inside and slam the door whenever a team drove along. There was spinning-wheels up in his loft, all right. He used to buy his groceries and tobacco at Sam Tilly's store, on the Little Muddy. Last August he went up there dressed in a red bedquilt, and told Sam he was King Solomon, and that the Queen of Sheba was coming to visit him. He fetched along all the money he had--a little bag full of silver--and dropped it in Sam's well. 'She won't come,' says old man Redruth to Sam, 'if she knows I've got any money.'
"As soon as folks heard he had that sort of a theory about women and money they knowed he was crazy; so they sent down and packed him to the foolish asylum65."
"Was there a romance in his life that drove him to a solitary66 existence?" asked one of the passengers, a young man who had an Agency.
"No," said Bildad, "not that I ever heard spoke67 of. Just ordinary trouble. They say he had had unfortunateness in the way of love derangements with a young lady when he was young; before he contracted red bed-quilts and had his financial conclusions disqualified. I never heard of no romance."
"Ah!" exclaimed Judge Menefee, impressively; "a case of unrequited affection, no doubt."
"No, sir," returned Bildad, "not at all. She never married him. Marmaduke Mulligan, down at Paradise, seen a man once that come from old Redruth's town. He said Redruth was a fine young man, but when you kicked him on the pocket all you could hear jingle69 was a cuff-fastener and a bunch of keys. He was engaged to this young lady--Miss Alice-- something was her name; I've forgot. This man said she was the kind of girl you like to have reach across you in a car to pay the fare. Well, there come to the town a young chap all affluent70 and easy, and fixed71 up with buggies and mining stock and leisure time. Although she was a staked claim, Miss Alice and the new entry seemed to strike a mutual72 kind of a clip. They had calls and coincidences of going to the post office and such things as sometimes make a girl send back the engagement ring and other presents--'a rift10 within the loot,' the poetry man calls it.
"One day folks seen Redruth and Miss Alice standing73 talking at the gate. Then he lifts his hat and walks away, and that was the last anybody in that town seen of him, as far as this man knew."
"What about the young lady?" asked the young man who had an Agency.
"Never heard," answered Bildad. "Right there is where my lode74 of information turns to an old spavined crowbait, and folds its wings, for I've pumped it dry."
"A very sad--" began Judge Menefee, but his remark was curtailed75 by a higher authority.
"What a charming story!" said the lady passenger, in flute-like tones.
A little silence followed, except for the wind and the crackling of the fire.
The men were seated upon the floor, having slightly mitigated77 its inhospitable surface with wraps and stray pieces of boards. The man who was placing Little Goliath windmills arose and walked about to ease his cramped78 muscles.
Suddenly a triumphant79 shout came from him. He hurried back from a dusky corner of the room, bearing aloft something in his hand. It was an apple--a large, red-mottled, firm pippin, pleasing to behold80. In a paper bag on a high shelf in that corner he had found it. It could have been no relic81 of the lovewrecked Redruth, for its glorious soundness repudiated82 the theory that it had lain on that musty shelf since August. No doubt some recent bivouackers, lunching in the deserted83 house, had left it there.
Dunwoody--again his exploits demand for him the honours of nomenclature--flaunted his apple in the faces of his fellow-marooners. "See what I found, Mrs. McFarland!" he cried, vaingloriously. He held the apple high up in the light of the fire, where it glowed a still richer red. The lady passenger smiled calmly--always calmly.
"What a charming apple!" she murmured, clearly.
For a brief space Judge Menefee felt crushed, humiliated84, relegated85. Second place galled86 him. Why had this blatant87, obtrusive88, unpolished man of windmills been selected by Fate instead of himself to discover the sensational89 apple? He could have made of the act a scene, a function, a setting for some impromptu90, fanciful discourse91 or piece of comedy--and have retained the role of cynosure92. Actually, the lady passenger was regarding this ridiculous Dunboddy or Woodbundy with an admiring smile, as if the fellow had performed a feat93! And the windmill man swelled94 and gyrated like a sample of his own goods, puffed95 up with the wind that ever blows from the chorus land toward the domain96 of the star.
While the transported Dunwoody, with his Aladdin's apple, was receiving the fickle97 attentions of all, the resourceful jurist formed a plan to recover his own laurels98.
With his courtliest smile upon his heavy but classic features, Judge Menefee advanced, and took the apple, as if to examine it, from the hand of Dunwoody. In his hand it became Exhibit A.
"A fine apple," he said, approvingly. "Really, my dear Mr. Dudwindy, you have eclipsed all of us as a forager99. But I have an idea. This apple shall become an emblem100, a token, a symbol, a prize bestowed101 by the mind and heart of beauty upon the most deserving."
The audience, except one, applauded. "Good on the stump102, ain't he?" commented the passenger who was nobody in particular to the young man who had an Agency.
The unresponsive one was the windmill man. He saw himself reduced to the ranks. Never would the thought have occurred to him to declare his apple an emblem. He had intended, after it had been divided and eaten, to create diversion by sticking the seeds against his forehead and naming them for young ladies of his acquaintance. One he was going to name Mrs. McFarland. The seed that fell off first would be--but 'twas too late now.
"The apple," continued Judge Menefee, charging his jury, "in modern days occupies, though undeservedly, a lowly place in our esteem103. Indeed, it is so constantly associated with the culinary and the commercial that it is hardly to be classed among the polite fruits. But in ancient times this was not so. Biblical, historical, and mythological104 lore7 abounds105 with evidences that the apple was the aristocrat106 of fruits. We still say 'the apple of the eye' when we wish to describe something superlatively precious. We find in Proverbs the comparison to 'apples of silver.' No other product of tree or vine has been so utilised in figurative speech. Who has not heard of and longed for the 'apples of the Hesperides'? I need not call your attention to the most tremendous and significant instance of the apple's ancient prestige when its consumption by our first parents occasioned the fall of man from his state of goodness and perfection."
"Apples like them," said the windmill man, lingering with the objective article, "are worth $3.50 a barrel in the Chicago market."
"Now, what I have to propose," said Judge Menefee, conceding an indulgent smile to his interrupter, "is this: We must remain here, perforce, until morning. We have wood in plenty to keep us warm. Our next need is to entertain ourselves as best we can, in order that the time shall not pass too slowly. I propose that we place this apple in the hands of Miss Garland. It is no longer a fruit, but, as I said, a prize, in award, representing a great human idea. Miss Garland, herself, shall cease to be an individual--but only temporarily, I am happy to add"--(a low bow, full of the old-time grace). "She shall represent her sex; she shall be the embodiment, the epitome107 of womankind--the heart and brain, I may say, of God's masterpiece of creation. In this guise108 she shall judge and decide the question which follows:
"But a few minutes ago our friend, Mr. Rose, favoured us with an entertaining but fragmentary sketch109 of the romance in the life of the former professor of this habitation. The few facts that we have learned seem to me to open up a fascinating field for conjecture110, for the study of human hearts, for the exercise of the imagination--in short, for story-telling. Let us make use of the opportunity. Let each one of us relate his own version of the story of Redruth, the hermit, and his lady-love, beginning where Mr. Rose's narrative111 ends--at the parting of the lovers at the gate. This much should be assumed and conceded--that the young lady was not necessarily to blame for Redruth's becoming a crazed and world-hating hermit. When we have done, Miss Garland shall render the JUDGEMENT OF WOMAN. As the Spirit of her Sex she shall decide which version of the story best and most truly depicts112 human and love interest, and most faithfully estimates the character and acts of Redruth's betrothed113 according to the feminine view. The apple shall be bestowed upon him who is awarded the decision. If you are all agreed, we shall be pleased to hear the first story from Mr. Dinwiddie."
The last sentence captured the windmill man. He was not one to linger in the dumps.
"That's a first-rate scheme, Judge," he said, heartily115. "Be a regular short-story vaudeville116, won't it? I used to be correspondent for a paper in Springfield, and when there wasn't any news I faked it. Guess I can do my turn all right."
"I think the idea is charming," said the lady passenger, brightly. "It will be almost like a game."
Judge Menefee stepped forward and placed the apple in her hand impressively.
"In olden days," he said, orotundly, "Paris awarded the golden apple to the most beautiful."
"I was at the Exposition," remarked the windmill man, now cheerful again, "but I never heard of it. And I was on the Midway, too, all the time I wasn't at the machinery117 exhibit."
"But now," continued the Judge, "the fruit shall translate to us the mystery and wisdom of the feminine heart. Take the apple, Miss Garland. Hear our modest tales of romance, and then award the prize as you may deem it just."
The lady passenger smiled sweetly. The apple lay in her lap beneath her robes and wraps. She reclined against her protecting bulwark118, brightly and cosily119 at ease. But for the voices and the wind one might have listened hopefully to hear her purr. Someone cast fresh logs upon the fire. Judge Menefee nodded suavely120. "Will you oblige us with the initial story?" he asked.
The windmill man sat as sits a Turk, with his hat well back on his head on account of the draughts.
"Well," he began, without any embarrassment121, "this is about the way I size up the difficulty: Of course Redruth was jostled a good deal by this duck who had money to play ball with who tried to cut him out of his girl. So he goes around, naturally, and asks her if the game is still square. Well, nobody wants a guy cutting in with buggies and gold bonds when he's got an option on a girl. Well, he goes around to see her. Well, maybe he's hot, and talks like the proprietor, and forgets that an engagement ain't always a lead-pipe cinch. Well, I guess that makes Alice warm under the lacy yoke122. Well, she answers back sharp. Well, he--"
"Say!" interrupted the passenger who was nobody in particular, "if you could put up a windmill on every one of them 'wells' you're using, you'd be able to retire from business, wouldn't you?"
The windmill man grinned good-naturedly.
"Oh, I ain't no Guy de Mopassong," he said, cheerfully. "I'm giving it to you in straight American. Well, she says something like this: 'Mr. Gold Bonds is only a friend,' says she; 'but he takes me riding and buys me theatre tickets, and that's what you never do. Ain't I to never have any pleasure in life while I can?' 'Pass this chatfield- chatfield thing along,' says Redruth;--'hand out the mitt37 to the Willie with creases123 in it or you don't put your slippers124 under my wardrobe.'
"Now that kind of train orders don't go with a girl that's got any spirit. I bet that girl loved her honey all the time. Maybe she only wanted, as girls do, to work the good thing for a little fun and caramels before she settled down to patch George's other pair, and be a good wife. But he is glued to the high horse, and won't come down. Well, she hands him back the ring, proper enough; and George goes away and hits the booze. Yep. That's what done it. I bet that girl fired the cornucopia125 with the fancy vest two days after her steady left. George boards a freight and checks his bag of crackers126 for parts unknown. He sticks to Old Booze for a number of years; and then the aniline and aquafortis gets the decision. 'Me for the hermit's hut,' says George, 'and the long whiskers, and the buried can of money that isn't there.'
"But that Alice, in my mind, was on the level. She never married, but took up typewriting as soon as the wrinkles began to show, and kept a cat that came when you said 'weeny--weeny--weeny!' I got too much faith in good women to believe they throw down the fellow they're stuck on every time for the dough127." The windmill man ceased.
"I think," said the lady passenger, slightly moving upon her lowly throne, "that that is a char--"
"Oh, Miss Garland!" interposed Judge Menefee, with uplifted hand, "I beg of you, no comments! It would not be fair to the other contestants128. Mr.--er--will you take the next turn?" The Judge addressed the young man who had the Agency.
"My version of the romance," began the young man, diffidently clasping his hands, "would be this: They did not quarrel when they parted. Mr. Redruth bade her good-by and went out into the world to seek his fortune. He knew his love would remain true to him. He scorned the thought that his rival could make an impression upon a heart so fond and faithful. I would say that Mr. Redruth went out to the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming to seek for gold. One day a crew of pirates landed and captured him while at work, and--"
"Hey! what's that?" sharply called the passenger who was nobody in particular--"a crew of pirates landed in the Rocky Mountains! Will you tell us how they sailed--"
"Landed from a train," said the narrator, quietly and not without some readiness. "They kept him prisoner in a cave for months, and then they took him hundreds of miles away to the forests of Alaska. There a beautiful Indian girl fell in love with him, but he remained true to Alice. After another year of wandering in the woods, he set out with the diamonds--"
"What diamonds?" asked the unimportant passenger, almost with acerbity130.
"The ones the saddlemaker showed him in the Peruvian temple," said the other, somewhat obscurely. "When he reached home, Alice's mother led him, weeping, to a green mound131 under a willow132 tree. 'Her heart was broken when you left,' said her mother. 'And what of my rival--of Chester McIntosh?' asked Mr. Redruth, as he knelt sadly by Alice's grave. 'When he found out,' she answered, 'that her heart was yours, he pined away day by day until, at length, he started a furniture store in Grand Rapids. We heard lately that he was bitten to death by an infuriated moose near South Bend, Ind., where he had gone to try to forget scenes of civilisation133.' With which, Mr. Redruth forsook134 the face of mankind and became a hermit, as we have seen.
"My story," concluded the young man with an Agency, "may lack the literary quality; but what I wanted it to show is that the young lady remained true. She cared nothing for wealth in comparison with true affection. I admire and believe in the fair sex too much to think otherwise."
The narrator ceased, with a sidelong glance at the corner where reclined the lady passenger.
Bildad Rose was next invited by Judge Menefee to contribute his story in the contest for the apple of judgment135. The stage-driver's essay was brief.
"I'm not one of them lobo wolves," he said, "who are always blaming on women the calamities136 of life. My testimony137 in regards to the fiction story you ask for, Judge, will be about as follows: What ailed76 Redruth was pure laziness. If he had up and slugged this Percival De Lacey that tried to give him the outside of the road, and had kept Alice in the grape-vine swing with the blind-bridle on, all would have been well. The woman you want is sure worth taking pains for.
"'Send for me if you want me again,' says Redruth, and hoists138 his Stetson, and walks off. He'd have called it pride, but the nixycomlogical name for it is laziness. No woman don't like to run after a man. 'Let him come back, hisself,' says the girl; and I'll be bound she tells the boy with the pay ore to trot114; and then spends her time watching out the window for the man with the empty pocket-book and the tickly moustache.
"I reckon Redruth waits about nine year expecting her to send him a note by a nigger asking him to forgive her. But she don't. 'This game won't work,' says Redruth; 'then so won't I.' And he goes in the hermit business and raises whiskers. Yes; laziness and whiskers was what done the trick. They travel together. You ever hear of a man with long whiskers and hair striking a bonanza139? No. Look at the Duke of Marlborough and this Standard Oil snoozer. Have they got 'em?
"Now, this Alice didn't never marry, I'll bet a hoss. If Redruth had married somebody else she might have done so, too. But he never turns up. She has these here things they call fond memories, and maybe a lock of hair and a corset steel that he broke, treasured up. Them sort of articles is as good as a husband to some women. I'd say she played out a lone140 hand. I don't blame no woman for old man Redruth's abandonment of barber shops and clean shirts."
Next in order came the passenger who was nobody in particular. Nameless to us, he travels the road from Paradise to Sunrise City.
But him you shall see, if the firelight be not too dim, as he responds to the Judge's call.
A lean form, in rusty-brown clothing, sitting like a frog, his arms wrapped about his legs, his chin resting upon his knees. Smooth, oakum-coloured hair; long nose; mouth like a satyr's, with upturned, tobacco-stained corners. An eye like a fish's; a red necktie with a horseshoe pin. He began with a rasping chuckle141 that gradually formed itself into words.
"Everybody wrong so far. What! a romance without any orange blossoms! Ho, ho! My money on the lad with the butterfly tie and the certified142 checks in his trouserings.
"Take 'em as they parted at the gate? All right. 'You never loved me,' says Redruth, wildly, 'or you wouldn't speak to a man who can buy you the ice-cream.' 'I hate him,' says she. 'I loathe143 his side-bar buggy; I despise the elegant cream bonbons144 he sends me in gilt145 boxes covered with real lace; I feel that I could stab him to the heart when he presents me with a solid medallion locket with turquoises146 and pearls running in a vine around the border. Away with him! 'Tis only you I love.' 'Back to the cosey corner!' says Redruth. 'Was I bound and lettered in East Aurora147? Get platonic148, if you please. No jack-pots for mine. Go and hate your friend some more. For me the Nickerson girl on Avenue B, and gum, and a trolley149 ride.'
"Around that night comes John W. Croesus. 'What! tears?' says he, arranging his pearl pin. 'You have driven my lover away,' says little Alice, sobbing150: 'I hate the sight of you.' 'Marry me, then,' says John W., lighting151 a Henry Clay. 'What!' she cries indignantly, 'marry you! Never,' she says, 'until this blows over, and I can do some shopping, and you see about the licence. There's a telephone next door if you want to call up the county clerk.'"
The narrator paused to give vent34 to his cynical152 chuckle.
"Did they marry?" he continued. "Did the duck swallow the June-bug? And then I take up the case of Old Boy Redruth. There's where you are all wrong again, according to my theory. What turned him into a hermit? One says laziness; one says remorse153; one says booze. I say women did it. How old is the old man now?" asked the speaker, turning to Bildad Rose.
"I should say about sixty-five."
"All right. He conducted his hermit shop here for twenty years. Say he was twenty-five when he took off his hat at the gate. That leaves twenty years for him to account for, or else be docked. Where did he spend that ten and two fives? I'll give you my idea. Up for bigamy. Say there was the fat blonde in Saint Jo, and the panatela brunette at Skillet Ridge154, and the gold tooth down in the Kaw valley. Redruth gets his cases mixed, and they send him up the road. He gets out after they are through with him, and says: 'Any line for me except the crinoline. The hermit trade is not overdone155, and the stenographers never apply to 'em for work. The jolly hermit's life for me. No more long hairs in the comb or dill pickles156 lying around in the cigar tray.' You tell me they pinched old Redruth for the noodle villa157 just because he said he was King Solomon? Figs158! He was Solomon. That's all of mine. I guess it don't call for any apples. Enclosed find stamps. It don't sound much like a prize winner."
Respecting the stricture laid by Judge Menefee against comments upon the stories, all were silent when the passenger who was nobody in particular had concluded. And then the ingenious originator of the contest cleared his throat to begin the ultimate entry for the prize. Though seated with small comfort upon the floor, you might search in vain for any abatement159 of dignity in Judge Menefee. The now diminishing firelight played softly upon his face, as clearly chiselled160 as a Roman emperor's on some old coin, and upon the thick waves of his honourable161 grey hair.
"A woman's heart!" he began, in even but thrilling tones--"who can hope to fathom162 it? The ways and desires of men are various. I think that the hearts of all women beat with the same rhythm, and to the same old tune129 of love. Love, to a woman, means sacrifice. If she be worthy163 of the name, no gold or rank will outweigh164 with her a genuine devotion.
"Gentlemen of the--er--I should say, my friends, the case of Redruth versus165 love and affection has been called. Yet, who is on trial? Not Redruth, for he has been punished. Not those immortal166 passions that clothe our lives with the joy of the angels. Then who? Each man of us here to-night stands at the bar to answer if chivalry or darkness inhabits his bosom167. To judge us sits womankind in the form of one of its fairest flowers. In her hand she holds the prize, intrinsically insignificant168, but worthy of our noblest efforts to win as a guerdon of approval from so worthy a representative of feminine judgment and taste.
"In taking up the imaginary history of Redruth and the fair being to whom he gave his heart, I must, in the beginning, raise my voice against the unworthy insinuation that the selfishness or perfidy169 or love of luxury of any woman drove him to renounce170 the world. I have not found woman to be so unspiritual or venal171. We must seek elsewhere, among man's baser nature and lower motives172 for the cause.
"There was, in all probability, a lover's quarrel as they stood at the gate on that memorable173 day. Tormented174 by jealousy175, young Redruth vanished from his native haunts. But had he just cause to do so? There is no evidence for or against. But there is something higher than evidence; there is the grand, eternal belief in woman's goodness, in her steadfastness176 against temptation, in her loyalty177 even in the face of proffered178 riches.
"I picture to myself the rash lover, wandering, self-tortured, about the world. I picture his gradual descent, and, finally, his complete despair when he realises that he has lost the most precious gift life had to offer him. Then his withdrawal179 from the world of sorrow and the subsequent derangement68 of his faculties180 becomes intelligible181.
"But what do I see on the other hand? A lonely woman fading away as the years roll by; still faithful, still waiting, still watching for a form and listening for a step that will come no more. She is old now. Her hair is white and smoothly182 banded. Each day she sits at the door and gazes longingly183 down the dusty road. In spirit she is waiting there at the gate, just as he left her--his forever, but not here below. Yes; my belief in woman paints that picture in my mind. Parted forever on earth, but waiting! She in anticipation184 of a meeting in Elysium; he in the Slough185 of Despond."
"I thought he was in the bughouse," said the passenger who was nobody in particular.
Judge Menefee stirred, a little impatiently. The men sat, drooping186, in grotesque187 attitudes. The wind had abated188 its violence; coming now in fitful, virulent189 puffs190. The fire had burned to a mass of red coals which shed but a dim light within the room. The lady passenger in her cosey nook looked to be but a formless dark bulk, crowned by a mass of coiled, sleek191 hair and showing but a small space of snowy forehead above her clinging boa.
Judge Menefee got stiffly to his feet.
"And now, Miss Garland," he announced, "we have concluded. It is for you to award the prize to the one of us whose argument--especially, I may say, in regard to his estimate of true womanhood--approaches nearest to your own conception."
No answer came from the lady passenger. Judge Menefee bent192 over solicitously193. The passenger who was nobody in particular laughed low and harshly. The lady was sleeping sweetly. The Judge essayed to take her hand to awaken194 her. In doing so he touched a small, cold, round, irregular something in her lap.
"She has eaten the apple," announced Judge Menefee, in awed195 tones, as he held up the core for them to see.
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1
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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deductions
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| 扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演 | |
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initiatory
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| adj.开始的；创始的；入会的；入社的 | |
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lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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9
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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whoops
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| int.呼喊声 | |
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restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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17
exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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18
travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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placation
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loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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21
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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22
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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25
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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26
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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27
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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28
miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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29
melee
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| n.混战；混战的人群 | |
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30
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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31
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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prodigality
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| n.浪费，挥霍 | |
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rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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34
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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unduly
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| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
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36
solicitous
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| adj.热切的，挂念的 | |
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37
mitt
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| n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手 | |
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38
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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40
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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41
draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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42
delectably
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| 令人愉快的，让人喜爱的 | |
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43
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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44
warding
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| 监护，守护（ward的现在分词形式） | |
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45
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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46
vying
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| adj.竞争的；比赛的 | |
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47
piquantly
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48
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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49
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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50
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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51
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
immolated
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| v.宰杀…作祭品( immolate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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54
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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55
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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56
zephyrs
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| n.和风，微风( zephyr的名词复数 ) | |
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57
anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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58
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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59
quota
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| n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额 | |
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60
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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61
vivaciously
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| adv.快活地；活泼地；愉快地 | |
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62
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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63
comity
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| n.礼让，礼仪；团结，联合 | |
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64
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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65
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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66
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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67
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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68
derangement
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| n.精神错乱 | |
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69
jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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70
affluent
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| adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的 | |
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71
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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72
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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73
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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74
lode
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| n.矿脉 | |
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75
curtailed
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
ailed
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| v.生病( ail的过去式和过去分词 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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77
mitigated
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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78
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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79
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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80
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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81
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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82
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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83
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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84
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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85
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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86
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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87
blatant
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| adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的 | |
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88
obtrusive
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| adj.显眼的；冒失的 | |
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89
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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90
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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91
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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92
cynosure
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| n.焦点 | |
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93
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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94
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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95
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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96
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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97
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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98
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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99
forager
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| n.强征（粮食）者；抢劫者 | |
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100
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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101
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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103
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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104
mythological
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| adj.神话的 | |
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105
abounds
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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106
aristocrat
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| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
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107
epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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108
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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109
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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110
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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111
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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112
depicts
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| 描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述 | |
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113
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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114
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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115
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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116
vaudeville
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| n.歌舞杂耍表演 | |
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117
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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118
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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119
cosily
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| adv.舒适地，惬意地 | |
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120
suavely
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121
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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122
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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123
creases
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
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124
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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125
cornucopia
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| n.象征丰收的羊角 | |
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crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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127
dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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128
contestants
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| n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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129
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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acerbity
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| n.涩，酸，刻薄 | |
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131
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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133
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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134
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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135
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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137
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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138
hoists
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的第三人称单数 ) | |
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139
bonanza
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| n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事 | |
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140
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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141
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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142
certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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143
loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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144
bonbons
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| n.小糖果( bonbon的名词复数 ) | |
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145
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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146
turquoises
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| n.绿松石( turquoise的名词复数 )；青绿色 | |
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aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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trolley
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| n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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151
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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152
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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overdone
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| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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156
pickles
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| n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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chiselled
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| adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 ) | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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outweigh
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| vt.比...更重，...更重要 | |
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versus
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| prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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perfidy
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| n.背信弃义，不忠贞 | |
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renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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venal
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| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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175
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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steadfastness
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| n.坚定，稳当 | |
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177
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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178
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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182
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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183
longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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184
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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185
slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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187
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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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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189
virulent
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| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
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190
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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191
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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192
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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193
solicitously
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| adv.热心地，热切地 | |
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194
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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195
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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