About thirty negroes worked on this orchard, each assigned to a definite “furrow,” or allotment of trees, which had to be freshly chipped every week when the run of gum was good. It was Lockwood’s duty to keep these men up to their work, to see that the cups did not overflow5 or become displaced, that things went rapidly and smoothly6, and, above all, to see that no dropped match or cigarette started a fire, for a fire in a turpentine orchard is as disastrous7 a thing as can be imagined.
For three days he rode the woods, growing very saddle sore at first, but gathering8 his ideas and reconstructing his plans, which seemed to have fallen into chaos9. He thought of his astounding10 failure to act on the path by the river, but it did not seem astounding now. He had to realize that assassination11 was a method barred to him; he would never be able to bring himself to do it. He thought of other means.
He might discover himself to Hanna; he had no doubt that the man would instantly accept the challenge to draw and shoot; and the issue would be self-defense. Lockwood was not afraid of the chances; he had practiced endlessly with the little blue automatic, and the weapon had grown as familiar to him as his own fingers.
During those first days he did not leave the turpentine tract12, and he saw nothing of either Hanna or the Power boys. He heard a good deal of them, however. In the evening there was always a group of white men at the commissary store, employees of the camp, and occasional visitors from the neighborhood, and bits of gossip were continually dropped regarding these nouveaux riches of the woods. They were the chief objects of attention of the whole district, but it was an extremely friendly attention.
Nobody grudged13 them their good luck, though they told amused and admiring tales of the wild pace the boys seemed to be setting. The motor car had cost seven thousand dollars; cases of smuggled14 wine and liquor were coming in at two hundred dollars apiece—figures which Lockwood could only regard as wild exaggerations. Tom Power had driven the car to Flomaton, thirty-five miles over sandy roads, in less than an hour.
They talked of Hanna with less freedom, and he seemed less popular. Now and again Louise was mentioned, but it would have been beyond their code of courtesy to discuss her. They said she was “a mighty15 sweet girl,” and let it go at that.
Lockwood heard curious and amusing tales of the swamp country at these gatherings16, of flooded rivers and hurricanes, of bears and alligators18, of extraordinary snake superstitions19, and shootings and outlaw20 negroes and river pirates. There was a continued talk of the river, which, though deposed21 from its old importance, yet loomed22 as the chief physical fact of the district. It rose or fell with amazing rapidity; it flooded the bottom-land cotton; it floated rafts of pine down to Mobile; no one could talk of that part of Alabama without speaking of the river and of the men who used it.
Among these last, Lockwood heard frequent mention of the house boat he had seen moored23 at the shore. It had moved now and lay at the mouth of the great bayou that bordered the turpentine tract, crossing the road and passing directly behind Power’s house. The boat belonged to “Blue Bob’s gang,” Lockwood heard—a crew that seemed to have made a reputation for themselves all along the river. They were river thieves, it appeared, and were said to drive a considerable trade, mainly among the negroes, in “shinney.” This is a powerful beverage24 usually distilled25 from the refuse of cane17 sirup-making, by means of a couple of empty gasoline tins and a few feet of rubber tubing. Craig did not care to have such an establishment camped so close to his business, for shinney and the turpentine negro make an entirely26 uncontrollable combination.
He had threatened several times to “run off” these undesirable27 vagrants28, but the Power boys had spoken in their behalf. Lockwood gathered that in the old days the Power family had not been very much better than the house boat people themselves; and they were generous enough to remember their former associates of poverty.
Lockwood followed the course of this bayou every day on his rounds, and only a couple of days later he heard the muffled29 thud-thud of a motor engine. His first impression was that the house boat was coming up, but the noise came on far too fast for that clumsy craft. He edged his horse behind a titi thicket30, and in a moment saw a motor boat come round a swampy31 curve of the waterway and recognized the figures in it as Hanna and Louise Power.
The girl was at the wheel, and Hanna appeared to be giving her a lesson in navigating32 the boat. She steered33 crookedly34 and uncertainly. Hanna had his face at her shoulder, and seemed to be talking fluently. Lockwood thought that Louise looked uneasy and nervous, as if she were having difficulty with the mechanism35. He tried again to remember where he had seen that face, certainly pretty enough to be recollected36, and just opposite him the engine stopped.
The boat drifted a little, while Hanna tried to start it. Then the propeller37 swished, and the boat got under way again, moving slowly past him for thirty yards, and sheering in toward shore where the bank was low and dry enough to land. Hanna got out and held out his hand. Miss Power shook her head. Lockwood could not hear what was said, but the next moment the engine broke into faster explosions, the boat backed off and came flying down the bayou again, leaving Hanna ashore38.
Hanna shouted something laughingly and expostulatingly after her, but she paid no attention. The boat drove past Lockwood, sending a great wash of waves up the clay bank, and disappeared around the curve.
The laugh died out of Hanna’s face as he looked after the flying boat. He glanced up and down the bayou, and Lockwood chuckled39 maliciously40. He was on the wrong side of the water; he would have to go by the turpentine camp and up to the bridge over the creek in order to get home—a full three-mile walk, and it was a hot day. Hanna looked dubiously42 at the muddy water as if he thought of swimming; once across, and it was not a mile in a bee line to Power’s house. But he thought better of it, and turned into the woods.
Still greatly amused, Lockwood rode on his route which led down the bayou shore. He guessed that Hanna had annoyed the girl by his talk, and had been rightly served. Then as he rode round the curve of the bayou he was astonished to see the boat lying motionless not far ahead and close inshore.
Miss Power was leaning back in her seat, doing nothing—waiting perhaps, Lockwood thought, for Hanna to come after her. But when he came a little nearer he saw that the boat had run a third of its length upon a sand bar projecting into the channel as it curved, and was fast aground.
“Can’t I help you? I see you’re aground,” he said.
“I certainly am,” answered the girl without embarrassment44, and she gave him a quick smile that almost seemed to imply an understanding. “But I don’t know whether you can help me much or not. I can’t start the engine to back her off.”
“Well, I can try, anyhow,” Lockwood responded, dismounting. He hung his reins45 over a gum-tree bough46, and splashed through a little mud and water to the stranded47 boat.
The sound of the girl’s voice deepened the certitude that he had somewhere met her before. She had a soft, slurred48 Gulf-coast accent that you could cut with a knife—not that this surprised him, for he was used to it, and he had a fair share of Southern accent himself. He took a quick, sharp look at her as he got into the boat. She must be about twenty, he thought. Her dark hair was tucked under a red cloth cap, and she was wearing a raw-silk blouse with a wide, red-embroidered collar, showing the fine, somewhat sunburned curves of her neck.
“I ran on this sand bar without seeing it. I was coming down the bayou pretty fast, and I’m not used to this boat,” she explained.
“Yes, I saw you going by,” said Lockwood.
“You could see me? You saw——” she exclaimed, startled; and he fancied she turned the least shade pinker under her tan.
“Going and coming,” Lockwood nodded, manipulating the levers. The engine burst suddenly into intermittent49 explosions. It missed frequently, but the propeller tore up the water, failing, however, to pull the boat off the sand.
“I reckon you can manage to get home with it,” he said. “But I’ll have to get out. You’ll never get clear with so much weight in her.”
He stepped out, and the lightened boat slid slowly back and floated clear, backing out into the bayou, and then the throb50 of the engine ceased.
“Oh, it’s stopped again!” Miss Power exclaimed hopelessly.
From the shore Lockwood directed and advised. Nothing worked. The boat veered51 slowly on the almost imperceptible current, while the girl fumbled52 with the levers.
There was only one thing to do. Lockwood waited till the bow swung nearest land, then splashed out, only a little more than knee-deep, and got carefully into the boat again. He applied53 an expert hand to the machine, produced a few explosions, and then again obstinate54 silence.
“If I could have this thing for an hour I’m sure I could put it in order,” he said, growing irritated. “As it is——”
“You’ve surely had experience enough with motor engines, haven’t you, Mr. Lockwood?” said Louise, smiling at him.
Lockwood absolutely jumped with the shock of it, and turned quickly to look at her.
“You know me? I knew we had met. But I couldn’t——”
“You don’t remember Lyman & Fourget, in New Orleans?”
“Of course. I worked in their salesrooms and repair shop.”
“I was in the office. I recognized you at once when we passed you the other day on the road. But I don’t suppose you noticed me.”
“Of course!” said Lockwood slowly. “Of course, I remember now.”
Really he remembered very hazily55. Miss Power must have been one of those girls, stenographers and bookkeepers, in the glass-inclosed office in one corner of the main floor.
“Of course. I remember you perfectly56 now,” he said, not quite truthfully. “Strange that I didn’t place you at first. How did you remember my name? Of course, you’re Miss Power. I guessed that anyway.”
“Yes, everybody knows me about here.” She looked at him with candid57 curiosity. “I reckon everybody knows you by this time. Strangers are rare, you know. What are you doing up here in the woods?”
“I’m a turpentine man, too—I’m all kinds of a man. The fact is, I wanted to get out of the city for the summer. I’ve been in Mobile and Pensacola. I left New Orleans late last fall.”
“Yes, I left not very long after you did. I was glad to get out of New Orleans, too, and papa wanted me to come home.”
She stopped suddenly, and glanced at him with some keenness. Lockwood, sitting with his hand on the useless wheel, as the boat slowly veered on the drift, thought of what he had heard in casual gossip—how this girl had escaped from the primal58 squalor and discredit59 of the family life “up the river,” and had gone out to mold her own fortunes. Certainly she had not failed in it. She must have been drawing a fair salary at Lyman & Fourget’s; and she had taken on a tone of city smoothness and culture, a very different manner from the rollicking roughness of her brothers.
“But how am I going to get home?” she cried plaintively60. “We’re drifting that way, aren’t we? About an inch an hour.”
“I’ll try again,” and once more he managed to start the engine into a splutter of activity. For a few yards he navigated61 the boat, and then turned.
“If you’ll allow me, I think I’d better drive her home for you. She might last, though more likely she’ll play out again.”
“I wish you would. One of the boys will drive you back in our car. But what about your horse?”
“He’ll do where he is. Everybody knows who that horse belongs to, and I suppose I can be back in half an hour.”
He was really in no hurry to get back, and he almost wished the engine would give trouble again. He wanted to talk with this girl; he was anxious to get on some sort of terms with her; he desired very much to know on what sort of terms she stood with Hanna.
“Not a very cheerful place to come for an excursion,” he said, as they rounded a bend of raw clay banks, and saw a water moccasin slide off into the bayou.
“Mr. Hanna was teaching me to run the boat. It’s easier in this still water than out in the river. I expect,” she added with some hesitation62, “that you saw how I left him ashore.”
“I did.”
“I’d no idea anybody was looking. It was a joke, you know. He thought I was going ashore, too, but I didn’t want to.”
“So you made him walk home,” said Lockwood, at this dubious41 explanation. “Well, it’ll do him no harm. I expect he’s well on the way by this time.”
So were they, it appeared. The bayou made another twist, and there was a tiny pier63, made of three pine logs, and a rough boat shelter of planks64. Lockwood steered in, and they landed.
“We’ll go up to the house and get the car,” said Louise, as Lockwood paused dubiously. “You must meet my father besides. He knows about you, and I think you’ve met my brothers already.”
They went up a path for a couple of hundred yards, through the strip of pines, across a garden of collards and cabbages, and into the great, smooth, sandy expanse of the back yard, which an old negro was just sweeping65 with a huge broom of twigs66. Louise opened a gate in an arch smothered67 in roses, and they passed through into the front yard, equally hard and sandy and swept, and they came to the steps of the wide gallery that ran around two-thirds of the house.
Lockwood was in tense expectation of meeting Hanna, of the critical moment of introduction, of speaking, of possible—though unlikely—recognition. It was with a sensible letting down of the strain that he saw only old Power on the gallery, his feet cocked up on the railing, half somnolent68, holding an unlighted cob pipe in his teeth. On the steps young Jackson Power sat huddled69 up, still wearing his expensive clothing, but coatless and with his sleeves rolled up, looking half dead with boredom70.
He jumped up joyfully71 as the pair came in. Henry Power awakened72 completely, and they gave him so delighted a welcome that it was plain they were overjoyed at anything to break up the monotony of life.
“Mr. Lockwood, sir! You’re Craig’s new woods rider, I believe. I’ve heerd of you. Come up on the gallery an’ have a chair where it’s cooler.”
Mr. Power had adopted none of the extravagant73 habits of his sons. He wore a blue cotton shirt without any collar or vest, strong brown trousers whose leather suspenders were very conspicuous74, and he had no shoes on. His speech was a little shaky with age; he must have been far over seventy, for he had been in the Civil War as a mere75 boy, and he had almost as rich and slurred an Alabama accent as any negro. He had no grammar, and he looked what he was—a barbarian76 from the big swamps, but a trace of old-time courtesy and “family” hung about him yet.
Jackson meanwhile had hurried to bring out a bottle and glasses, and was apparently77 appalled78 when Lockwood declined any refreshment79. He took a drink himself, while Louise, dropping into a rocking-chair, explained Lockwood’s interposition, rather magnifying the assistance he had given.
“You’ll have to drive Mr. Lockwood back to where I found him, Jackson,” she said. “You can pick up Mr. Hanna as you come back.”
“Oh Lordy, sis!” Jackson exclaimed. “You ain’t gone and made Mr. Hanna walk all that ways round to the bridge?”
He laughed, and yet looked uneasy. If Hanna had offered his sister any insult, he would have to be shown the door, or perhaps thrashed, or perhaps shot. But Louise laughed easily.
“He preferred to come that way,” she said, and Jackson looked relieved.
“Sure I’ll drive you back,” he said to Lockwood. “But you ain’t in no such hurry, surely. Say, why can’t you stop and eat supper with us?”
Lockwood pleaded his duty and his horse left in the woods. He was not yet prepared to meet Hanna, to sit at table with him. But he felt a conviction that he would have to face it sooner or later.
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1
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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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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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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overflow
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| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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8
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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grudged
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| 怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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alligators
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| n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 ) | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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22
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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23
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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24
beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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distilled
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| adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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vagrants
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| 流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 )； 无业游民； 乞丐； 无赖 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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navigating
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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33
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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crookedly
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| adv. 弯曲地，不诚实地 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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39
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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41
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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42
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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43
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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44
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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45
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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46
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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47
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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48
slurred
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| 含糊地说出( slur的过去式和过去分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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49
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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50
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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51
veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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52
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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53
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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54
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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55
hazily
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| ad. vaguely, not clear | |
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56
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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57
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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primal
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| adj.原始的；最重要的 | |
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59
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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60
plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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61
navigated
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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63
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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64
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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66
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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somnolent
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| adj.想睡的，催眠的；adv.瞌睡地；昏昏欲睡地；使人瞌睡地 | |
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69
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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70
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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73
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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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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