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CHAPTER XII CRISIS
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 Lockwood returned in depression to the turpentine camp, and spent the rest of that idle Sunday in anxiety and self-reproach. He seemed to have muddled1 things badly. He had blundered into a condition of open war with the Powers. He had given Hanna every opportunity to stack all the cards against him. His usefulness was destroyed. He might as well, he thought, revert2 to his first plan of settling it with Hanna at the pistol’s point. But what, then, of Louise? Gunpowder3 would hardly solve the situation as it stood now.
 
He was sorry that he had proposed that Louise meet him on the bayou. It would be the wildest folly4. He did not think that she would come. But she might come. All the next forenoon he kept as close to the bayou shore as he could. More than once he tore down to the water, imagining that he heard the boat’s engine. They were false alarms, and he felt deeply relieved when afternoon came, and she had not appeared.
 
All the next day he was in a tension of dread5 and expectancy6, and the next one after. But days passed; a week passed, and he ceased to look for the boat. He wondered in vain what she was doing. He began to be afraid that she would not come, and he could not imagine any safe means of getting into touch with her.
 
Twice or thrice he passed the Power automobile7 on the road, but Louise was never in it. He met Hanna once, who gave him an ironically deferential8 bow. He thought of using the telephone at the commissary store, which was connected with the Power house. It was a rural wire that ran to Bay Minette. You could get connections with Mobile—with New York, for that matter, if you waited long enough.
 
Craig had once rung up New Orleans to get a quotation9 on rosin, though it had taken him nearly all day to get through. The telephone was in the Powers’ hall; its use could be heard all over the house; but if he could ever happen to know that Louise was alone there he resolved to try it.
 
Once, indeed, he was lucky enough to espy10 the big car speeding westward11 with Hanna and the three Power men aboard. He hastened back to the camp, but to his disgust the commissary store was full of loungers, turpentine men and farmers, talking, smoking, laughing close beside the telephone. He waited an hour, and then gave it up.
 
But the very next morning, before ten o’clock, he heard the unmistakable thud-thud of a gasoline engine on the water. He was two hundred yards inland, but he dashed at a gallop12 down to the bayou, and saw the motor boat moving slowly up the mud-colored channel, with Louise at the wheel, anxiously scanning the shore.
 
Dismounting, he caught her attention and signaled her where to steer13 inland. The boat came alongside a big, half sunken log. He took her hand and helped her out. He almost yielded to the impulse to draw her close to him, but her face showed that this was no time for sentiment.
 
“I’m glad you’ve come,” he said. “What is it? Has anything happened?”
 
“I didn’t mean to come. I had to. I was afraid—I didn’t know what to do,” she said, breathing fast. “It was the only chance. I knew everybody was going out in the car this morning. I was to go, too, but I made an excuse. It’s that oil well, you know. Papa and the boys are going to buy more of the stock.”
 
“How much more?”
 
“Perhaps twenty or thirty thousand dollars.”
 
Lockwood whistled softly.
 
“But I understood that no more was on the market.”
 
“Yes. But a member of the company has just died—so Mr. Hanna says—and his shares are to be sold. He showed us the letter. They want one hundred and twenty dollars a share now. Mr. Hanna said he could get two hundred dollars, but he wanted to let his friends in first. There are about three hundred shares, and the boys are wild to have them.”
 
“I see,” said Lockwood dryly. “But nothing has been done yet?”
 
“They talked it all over last night. Mr. Hanna didn’t urge it much, but he said it was the chance of a lifetime; he thinks the shares may be worth five hundred dollars in a year or two. I said all I could against it, but it didn’t do any good. The boys don’t think a woman knows anything of business, but they do think a great deal of your opinion, and I wish you’d give them some advice.”
 
“Well, there’s only one thing I could say—that I don’t believe the stock is worth a cent, that I don’t believe there is any oil well at all, and perhaps not even any company. But I couldn’t say that without some definite information to back it up.”
 
“Of course, Hanna would deny everything you said, and I suppose papa and the boys would take his word,” said Louise in distress14. “That man seems to have bewitched them all. Wish he had never come here. He tormented15 me so in New Orleans——”
 
“In New Orleans!” Lockwood exclaimed.
 
She hesitated, clasping and unclasping her hands. Then she looked at him frankly16.
 
“He was a nightmare to me. He persecuted17 me—followed me. That was partly why I left and came here—to get away from him.”
 
“Ah!” said Lockwood, with a long breath between his teeth. “And he followed you here?”
 
“I don’t know. I suppose so. He came up on the boat and stopped a day or two at Ferrell’s. He was supposed to be looking for a chance to buy timberlands. Tom brought him home to dinner, and asked him to stop with us. I was terrified when I saw him. I nearly told papa what I knew of him—but then the boys would probably have shot him, and so I didn’t know what to do, and said nothing.
 
“But Hanna behaved well. The first chance he got, he apologized to me very nicely for all the past; he said he was afraid he had been a nuisance, but that he wouldn’t trouble me any more. And I must say he didn’t—not till——”
 
“That day on the bayou?” asked Lockwood.
 
“Yes. You saw it. I had to put him ashore18. He was trying to be persuasive19. But I’m not a bit afraid of him, in that way. I can take care of myself, and he knows it. But you know what he’s been doing to the boys. He began to teach them to mix new drinks from the first, and he gave Tom a tip on the cotton market that cleared eight hundred dollars, and after that they were willing to let him have the handling of everything we had. Now this oil stock business has come up.”
 
“It’s Hanna’s big coup,” said Lockwood. “He’s decided20 to stop gathering21 chicken-feed and make some real money.”
 
“But what can we do?” cried Louise hopelessly. Lockwood took a sudden resolution.
 
“Listen, Miss Louise!” he said. “I didn’t intend to tell you now, but Hanna is no stranger to me, either; and I didn’t come to Rainbow Landing by chance, any more than he did. Hanna is a high-class swindler, a mere22 confidence man. I ought to know. He got my confidence and robbed me of everything I had in the world.”
 
They had stopped walking and stood facing one another, oblivious23 of everything but the intensity24 of these mutual25 confidences.
 
“It was years ago,” Lockwood went on. “I’ve been after him ever since. I’ve been through horrors in that time, but I didn’t mind them. I had only one idea. I was going to find Hanna and kill him.”
 
“Oh!” Louise murmured, but she did not flinch26. The idea of such a vendetta27 was not unfamiliar28 to Miss Power’s Alabaman experience.
 
“I tracked him to New Orleans—that was when I met you. Then I traced him up the river. I nearly shot him the first day I was here, but I didn’t have my escape ready. Then, I saw you; I heard something of your family, of Hanna’s doings. I guessed something of his game, and I made up my mind to wreck29 it first. And then——”
 
“What then?”
 
“Then—what shall I say?” exclaimed Lockwood. “I got work here. I met you and your people. Something changed in me. I hadn’t valued my life a particle, but lately it’s come to seem that there might perhaps be something in living after all. I’m as determined30 as ever to break Hanna, but I don’t believe now that I’d be willing to ruin all the rest of my life for the sake of killing31 him. In fact, I think I’ve found something stronger in life than hate.”
 
She had been looking at him intently; now she dropped her eyes, coloring. Then she turned slowly and began to walk again.
 
“You mustn’t ruin your life,” she said gently. “It’s worth a great deal. Your coming here has meant a great deal to—to all of us. It has saved us, perhaps, from dreadful things. You have a great deal to live for, I know. As for Hanna—I don’t blame you for wanting to break him or even kill him; but if what you say is true, you should be able to put him in prison, and that ought to satisfy you.”
 
Prison! That word came like an icicle into Lockwood’s hot indiscretions. A terror seized him. He could not be thankful enough that he had not confessed further.
 
“I think, perhaps, we can do that,” he answered her. “But there’s just one thing to do now. I must go to Pascagoula and find out the truth of this oil company.”
 
“Would you really do that? But it’s too much to ask you. Why couldn’t Tom go?”
 
“Tom’s going would give the whole thing away. Besides, I’m afraid it needs some one with more than Tom’s experience of crooked32 business to probe this. No, I’ll go myself. You needn’t be grateful. Remember, this is my quarrel, too.”
 
“But I’m more than grateful,” she exclaimed. “But I don’t think you need go to Pascagoula. The office of the oil company is in Mobile—Maury Building, Royal Street, Room 24. I remember the address.”
 
Lockwood made a note of it.
 
“The real struggle will come when I try to expose Hanna,” he warned her. “He’ll fight. See if you can’t prepare your father’s mind a little; possibly hint at Hanna’s behavior in New Orleans.”
 
“I’ll do all I can—and wait for you to come back!” she promised. Her eyes met his, full of gratitude33 and confidence. In Lockwood’s heart there was a sudden uprush of something vital and sweet, that washed away almost the last of the old black bitterness. He held her hand somewhat tightly as he took his leave, and suppressed a great many words that came into his mouth. For the present they were allies—no more.
 

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1 muddled cb3d0169d47a84e95c0dfa5c4d744221     
adj.混乱的;糊涂的;头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱,弄糟( muddle的过去式);使糊涂;对付,混日子
参考例句:
  • He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
  • I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 revert OBwzV     
v.恢复,复归,回到
参考例句:
  • Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
  • Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈,好吗?
3 gunpowder oerxm     
n.火药
参考例句:
  • Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶,火药传入欧洲。
  • This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。
4 folly QgOzL     
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话
参考例句:
  • Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
  • Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。
5 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
6 expectancy tlMys     
n.期望,预期,(根据概率统计求得)预期数额
参考例句:
  • Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
  • The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。
7 automobile rP1yv     
n.汽车,机动车
参考例句:
  • He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
  • The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。
8 deferential jmwzy     
adj. 敬意的,恭敬的
参考例句:
  • They like five-star hotels and deferential treatment.他们喜欢五星级的宾馆和毕恭毕敬的接待。
  • I am deferential and respectful in the presence of artists.我一向恭敬、尊重艺术家。
9 quotation 7S6xV     
n.引文,引语,语录;报价,牌价,行情
参考例句:
  • He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
  • The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。
10 espy MnHxx     
v.(从远处等)突然看到
参考例句:
  • Where love fails,we espy all faults.一旦失恋,缺点易见。
  • Here,from a window,did Guinevere espy a knight standing in a woodman's cart.吉尼维尔是从这里透过窗户看到了站在樵夫车上的骑士。
11 westward XIvyz     
n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西
参考例句:
  • We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
  • Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。
12 gallop MQdzn     
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展
参考例句:
  • They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
  • The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。
13 steer 5u5w3     
vt.驾驶,为…操舵;引导;vi.驾驶
参考例句:
  • If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车,我就来驾车。
  • It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。
14 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
15 tormented b017cc8a8957c07bc6b20230800888d0     
饱受折磨的
参考例句:
  • The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
  • He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠,深受嫉妒的折磨。
16 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
17 persecuted 2daa49e8c0ac1d04bf9c3650a3d486f3     
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人
参考例句:
  • Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
  • Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。
18 ashore tNQyT     
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。
19 persuasive 0MZxR     
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的
参考例句:
  • His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
  • The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。
20 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
21 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
22 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
23 oblivious Y0Byc     
adj.易忘的,遗忘的,忘却的,健忘的
参考例句:
  • Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后,妈妈变得特别健忘。
  • He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。
24 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。
25 mutual eFOxC     
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
参考例句:
  • We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
  • Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
26 flinch BgIz1     
v.畏缩,退缩
参考例句:
  • She won't flinch from speaking her mind.她不会讳言自己的想法。
  • We will never flinch from difficulties.我们面对困难决不退缩。
27 vendetta IL5zx     
n.世仇,宿怨
参考例句:
  • For years he pursued a vendetta against the Morris family.多年来他一直在寻求向莫里斯家族报世仇。
  • She conducted a personal vendetta against me.她对我有宿仇。
28 unfamiliar uk6w4     
adj.陌生的,不熟悉的
参考例句:
  • I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
  • The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。
29 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
30 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
31 killing kpBziQ     
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。
32 crooked xvazAv     
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的
参考例句:
  • He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指,示意我们到他那儿去。
  • You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。
33 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。


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