CHAPTER IX PASCAGOULA OIL

 Tom glanced doubtfully at Jackson and at his sister. Neither Hanna nor old Henry was present.

 

“I reckon you can tell Mr. Lockwood about it,” said Louise. “It’s all among friends.”

 

“Shorely. Well, then—did you ever hear of Pascagoula Oil?”

 

Lockwood shook his head, foolishly imagining some brand of motor lubricant.

 

“It’s an oil mine—an oil well—down on the coast, somewhere round Pascagoula way. They’re keepin’ it dark; only a few folks in it; but they’ll be pumpin’ millions of gallons of oil directly. They’re pumpin’ some now. Hanna knew all about it from the start, an’ he got us in on the ground floor.”

 

“I see,” said Lockwood, with heavy foreboding. Louise was watching his face anxiously.

 

“Do you know much about the well?”

 

“Shorely we do. We know all about it.” He went into the next room and brought back a bundle of papers. “Look yere. Photografts of it, from their first drillin’ up to now. Here’s the story of the whole thing, tellin’ how much oil there is, an’ everything. Take this stuff away with you an’ read it, if you wanter.”

 

Lockwood glanced over the badly printed prospectus¹, and the pictures, which might have been pictures of an oil derrick anywhere.

 

“So Mr. Hanna got you in on the ground floor, did he?” he said slowly. “Have you got much stock in it?”

 

“Well, that’s the worst of it. We couldn’t git enough. Only fifty shares, five thousand dollars. Hanna’s got a wad of it, near three thousand shares, I reckon. Oh, it’s all right—don’t have no suspicion about that, sir. Why, it’s payin’ dividends² right now. Yes, sir! Five per cent every quarter—twenty per cent a year. We’ve got back already near a thousand of what we put in.

 

“And that ain’t all! We could git double for our shares what we paid for ’em. I know we could. I’ve had letters askin’ me to sell, offerin’ all sorts of prices. I sold once. Yes, sir, just to see that it was genuine I sold one of my hundred-dollar shares, an’ got two hundred dollars for it. What do you think about that? Some investment, eh?”

 

“Yes, it does sound good,” said Lockwood. “But, Tom, if I were you I’d go down there and see the oil wells myself, before I put any more money into the thing.”

 

“I did speak to Hanna about going down,” said Tom. “He didn’t seem to want to go much. Say,” he added, with an inspiration. “Supposin’ you an’ me go, eh? We’ll stop in Mobile, an’ have a hell of a time. It won’t cost you a cent. You know all about Mobile, I reckon?”

 

“I know it a little.”

 

“You know, I never was in Mobile but once, an’ then I was with Hanna, an’ we didn’t have no fun. I reckon you an’ me, we’d have a better time by ourselves.”

 

He poked³ Lockwood in the ribs⁴. Lockwood glanced at Louise, who was smiling faintly.

 

“Sure we’ll go, Tom!” he said. “Just as soon as work slacks up a little at the camp. By the way, you’d better not say anything to Hanna about it.”

 

“You bet!” returned Tom, winking⁵. “Likely I hadn’t oughter told you nothin’ about this yere oil mine. He said I wasn’t to let it out. But it’ll be all right. Most likely he’d have told you himself later.”

 

“Just between friends,” suggested Lockwood gravely, and Tom innocently assented⁶.

 

Lockwood carried a memory of Louise’s anxious smile as he rode away. He thought that he had got at the heart of Hanna’s scheme at last. A fake oil well—the crudest of swindles, but good enough to impose upon these unsophisticated children of the big swamps. Easy also to expose!

 

The position looked plain; the only problem was as to how he should attack it. Hanna’s standing⁷ in that house was far more solid than his own; the boys liked him, but they would believe Hanna first. Louise indeed might trust him; passionately⁸ he wished it might be so. But he could not interfere⁹ in this game until he knew the cards in his own hands. He felt confident of the fraud that was being practiced, but he would have to have the proof. He would have to go to Pascagoula, either with Tom Power or alone.

 

Then would come the exposure, the explosion, possibly the killing¹⁰. The Power boys themselves would be quick enough to resent being victimized, and from stories he had heard they had drawn¹¹ pistols before. But the exposure would almost certainly involve his own exposure. Louise would learn that he had been in prison.

 

He shrank hotly from that revelation. He thought it over all the next day, while he sweated about the smoking still, and the day after while he rode the woods. He hung back from visiting the Powers; he hesitated to act.

 

He saw the house boat as usual that afternoon, still moored¹² where he had first found it, where he had since seen it almost every day. To-day, he heard a sound of voices in strong altercation¹³ on the house boat, and guessed that the thieves had fallen out. He approached the bayou, his horse treading softly on the pine needles and mold, pulled up just beyond the line of willows¹⁴, and listened.

 

Nobody was in sight ashore¹⁵ or aboard the boat, but a sound of quarreling came out violently through the open, glassless windows of the cabin. He could scarcely distinguish a word, but he almost immediately recognized one of the voices as that of Jackson Power.

 

He was startled and shocked. At least two other voices joined, but they were so intermingled that he could make out nothing. Then Jackson burst out clearly:

 

“I won’t do it. I ain’t had——”

 

“You cayn’t prove nothin’!” interrupted another.

 

“Then let him do it, ef he——”

 

The voices dropped again to confused wrangling¹⁶. Once more they rose to angry exclamations¹⁷ and profanities. So fierce it grew that he expected to see a knot of fighting figures roll out of the cabin door, or to hear a crash of shooting. But again the altercation subsided¹⁸, and comparative quiet ensued.

 

Still Lockwood sat his horse silently behind the willows, puzzled, but resolved to hear the last of it. But there was nothing more to hear. The rest of the conversation was inaudible; and in the course of fifteen minutes young Power came out of the cabin, jumped ashore, and made off up the bayou toward his home. He looked angry and greatly upset.

 

Lockwood was just about to ride away, when another man came out from behind a titi thicket¹⁹ near the mooring²⁰, where he might have been ambushed²¹ all the time, and quietly went aboard the boat. It was Hanna.

 

Again Lockwood listened. A mutter of low voices came from the house boat, but no words were distinguishable. Lockwood rode on after a few minutes of vain eavesdropping²², but as he turned away he noted²³ an object that gave him a sharper thrill than anything.

 

Whether it had merely escaped his notice before, he knew not; but hanging outside the stern wall of the cabin was a hunter’s horn of curved cow horn—the same sort of horn as Jackson had blown in reply on the night of the poker²⁴ game. Lockwood began to see possible depths of intricacy in the situation which he had not suspected.

 

The sight of the horn on the house boat impressed Lockwood powerfully. It was not an extraordinary article to find there, indeed; but he remembered the blowing and response on the night of the card party. It seemed to him now remarkably²⁵ as if these had been preconcerted signals. Young Jackson’s presence on the house boat, the quarrel that Lockwood had overheard, the boy’s evidently intimate relation with the river gang made the shadowy possibility seem almost probable.

 

The Power boys were no doubt old acquaintances of Blue Bob; they had even interfered²⁶ when Charley Craig had wished to “run him off.” They had no social prejudices, and Jackson would probably not be above drinking shinney or gambling²⁷ on board the house boat. Probably the quarrel had related to a hand of cards, and the horn-blowing might have been a summons or appointment for a rendezvous²⁸.

 

So Lockwood half reassured²⁹ himself, and then he remembered that Hanna had been listening, too. Hanna had taken an interest in the altercation, and had afterwards gone aboard to talk with river pirates. It was the second time that Lockwood had caught him going to them, and what he could have to say to them was a mystery.

 

It was nearly a week before he again saw any members of the Power family. He rode over once just before dusk and found nobody at home. A few days later, finding some spare time on his hands early in the forenoon, he repeated his call. He found old Henry Power sitting in his customary attitude of relaxation³⁰ on the front gallery. He had discarded shoes and socks in the heat, and his bare brown feet were cocked up on the railing. His cob pipe was in his mouth, and an empty tumbler stood on a stool beside him. No one else was in sight.

 

Lockwood’s hyper-sensitive nerves made him instantly sense a shade of difference in the old squatter’s greeting. He hesitated; then dismounted and tied his horse.

 

“Won’t you come up?” Henry drawled, without rising. “Right hot, ain’t it?”

 

The words were not quite inhospitable, but Henry’s face did not beam with its usual cordiality. Lockwood sat down on the top step of the gallery and fanned himself with his hat. It was hot, indeed.

 

“Won’t you have a shot o’ cawn licker?” Power suggested, with a rather forced manner.

 

“No, I can’t drink in hot weather,” Lockwood declined. “Are the boys at home?”

 

“Naw. They’ve done gone out in the cyar,” responded Henry, gazing straight out through the walnut³¹ avenue.

 

“They have a good time with that car,” said Lockwood, assured now of a chilliness³² in his reception.

 

“Seems like that thar gas buggy is all they ever think about,” replied the old man, unbending slightly. “Hawses is plenty good enough fer me. I wouldn’t trade a good hawse fer the best engine-wagon the Yankees ever made. No, suh! Louise feels that way, too. She’s gone out ridin’ now—gone to visit Em’ly Smith.”

 

Lockwood seized this information with avidity. He knew where the Smiths lived, a couple of miles beyond the Atha store. He might contrive³³ to meet her on her way back.

 

He was afraid to ask when she would return, and he was afraid of seeming to hurry away. He rolled a cigarette, keeping an eye on the road, and talking of casual matters. One of the chippers had been found dead in the woods, and Craig had insisted that Blue Bob leave the bayou. He passed these items of gossip along, but Henry did not seem greatly interested. He wriggled³⁴ his toes and smoked his pipe, saying little. He was plainly uncomfortable, under some compulsion that restrained his normal geniality³⁵. It was a much too serious matter for Lockwood to feel entertained. Something had cooled old Power; there was a hostile influence at work. Had the boys reported to Hanna his comments on Pascagoula Oil?

 

“Won’t you stay an’ eat dinner with us?” said Henry perfunctorily, when Lockwood presently got up.

 

“Afraid I can’t. I just dropped in a minute—on my way to the post office.”

 

Henry did not ask him to come again, but merely nodded a brief farewell as Lockwood saluted³⁶ him from the saddle and rode off.

1 prospectus   

n.计划书；说明书；慕股书

参考例句：

• An order form was included with the prospectus.订单附在说明书上。
• The prospectus is the most important instrument of legal document.招股说明书是上市公司信息披露制度最重要法律文件。

2 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

3 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ribs   

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

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

5 winking   

n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到，简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

9 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。

13 altercation   

n.争吵，争论

参考例句：

• Throughout the entire altercation,not one sensible word was uttered.争了半天，没有一句话是切合实际的。
• The boys had an altercation over the umpire's decision.男孩子们对裁判的判决颇有争议。

14 willows   

n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木

参考例句：

• The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

16 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

17 exclamations   

n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词

参考例句：

• The visitors broke into exclamations of wonder when they saw the magnificent Great Wall. 看到雄伟的长城，游客们惊叹不已。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After the will has been read out, angry exclamations aroused. 遗嘱宣读完之后，激起一片愤怒的喊声。 来自辞典例句

18 subsided   

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

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

20 mooring   

n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词)

参考例句：

• However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚，她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮，一会为这个想法难受，一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

21 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

23 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

24 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

25 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

26 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

28 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

29 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

31 walnut   

n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色

参考例句：

• Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
• The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸，材质分胡桃木和红木两种。

32 chilliness   

n.寒冷，寒意，严寒

参考例句：

• Without the piercing chilliness of the snowfall,where comes the fragrant whiff of the plum blossoms. 没有一朝寒彻骨，哪来梅花扑鼻香。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She thought what a kind heart was hidden under her visitor's seeming chilliness. 她心里想，这位客人外表这样冷冰冰，可藏有一颗多和善的心。 来自辞典例句

33 contrive   

vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出

参考例句：

• Can you contrive to be here a little earlier?你能不能早一点来？
• How could you contrive to make such a mess of things?你怎么把事情弄得一团糟呢？

34 wriggled   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• He wriggled uncomfortably on the chair. 他坐在椅子上不舒服地扭动着身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A snake wriggled across the road. 一条蛇蜿蜒爬过道路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

35 geniality   

n.和蔼，诚恳；愉快

参考例句：

• They said he is a pitiless,cold-blooded fellow,with no geniality in him.他们说他是个毫无怜悯心、一点也不和蔼的冷血动物。
• Not a shade was there of anything save geniality and kindness.他的眼神里只显出愉快与和气，看不出一丝邪意。

36 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》