Howard Archie is standing at the window of his private room in the offices of the San Felipe Mining Company, on the sixth floor of the Raton Building, looking off at the mountain glories of his State while he gives dictation to his secretary. He is ten years older than when we saw him last, and emphatically ten years more prosperous. A decade of coming into things has not so much aged8 him as it has fortified9, smoothed, and assured him. His sandy hair and imperial conceal10 whatever gray they harbor. He has not grown heavier, but more flexible, and his massive shoulders carry fifty years and the control of his great mining interests more lightly than they carried forty years and a country practice. In short, he is one of the friends to whom we feel grateful for having got on in the world, for helping11 to keep up the general temperature and our own confidence in life. He is an acquaintance that one would hurry to overtake and greet among a hundred. In his warm handshake and generous smile there is the stimulating12 cordiality of good fellows come into good fortune and eager to pass it on; something that makes one think better of the lottery13 of life and resolve to try again.
When Archie had finished his morning mail, he turned away from the window and faced his secretary. “Did anything come up yesterday afternoon while I was away, T. B.?”
Thomas Burk turned over the leaf of his calendar. “Governor Alden sent down to say that he wanted to see you before he sends his letter to the Board of Pardons. Asked if you could go over to the State House this morning.”
The young man grinned.
“Anything else?” his chief continued.
T. B. swung round in his chair with a look of interest on his shrewd, clean-shaven face. “Old Jasper Flight was in, Dr. Archie. I never expected to see him alive again. Seems he’s tucked away for the winter with a sister who’s a housekeeper15 at the Oxford16. He’s all crippled up with rheumatism17, but as fierce after it as ever. Wants to know if you or the company won’t grub-stake him again. Says he’s sure of it this time; had located something when the snow shut down on him in December. He wants to crawl out at the first break in the weather, with that same old burro with the split ear. He got somebody to winter the beast for him. He’s superstitious18 about that burro, too; thinks it’s divinely guided. You ought to hear the line of talk he put up here yesterday; said when he rode in his carriage, that burro was a-going to ride along with him.”
Archie laughed. “Did he leave you his address?”
“Well, send him a line and tell him to come in again. I like to hear him. Of all the crazy prospectors20 I’ve ever known, he’s the most interesting, because he’s really crazy. It’s a religious conviction with him, and with most of ’em it’s a gambling21 fever or pure vagrancy22. But Jasper Flight believes that the Almighty23 keeps the secret of the silver deposits in these hills, and gives it away to the deserving. He’s a downright noble figure. Of course I’ll stake him! As long as he can crawl out in the spring. He and that burro are a sight together. The beast is nearly as white as Jasper; must be twenty years old.”
“If you stake him this time, you won’t have to again,” said T. B. knowingly. “He’ll croak24 up there, mark my word. Says he never ties the burro at night now, for fear he might be called sudden, and the beast would starve. I guess that animal could eat a lariat25 rope, all right, and enjoy it.”
“I guess if we knew the things those two have eaten, and haven’t eaten, in their time, T. B., it would make us vegetarians26.” The doctor sat down and looked thoughtful. “That’s the way for the old man to go. It would be pretty hard luck if he had to die in a hospital. I wish he could turn up something before he cashes in. But his kind seldom do; they’re bewitched. Still, there was Stratton. I’ve been meeting Jasper Flight, and his side meat and tin pans, up in the mountains for years, and I’d miss him. I always halfway27 believe the fairy tales he spins me. Old Jasper Flight,” Archie murmured, as if he liked the name or the picture it called up.
A clerk came in from the outer office and handed Archie a card. He sprang up and exclaimed, “Mr. Ottenburg? Bring him in.”
Fred Ottenburg entered, clad in a long, fur-lined coat, holding a checked-cloth hat in his hand, his cheeks and eyes bright with the outdoor cold. The two men met before Archie’s desk and their handclasp was longer than friendship prompts except in regions where the blood warms and quickens to meet the dry cold. Under the general keyingup of the altitude, manners take on a heartiness28, a vivacity29, that is one expression of the half-unconscious excitement which Colorado people miss when they drop into lower strata30 of air. The heart, we are told, wears out early in that high atmosphere, but while it pumps it sends out no sluggish31 stream. Our two friends stood gripping each other by the hand and smiling.
“When did you get in, Fred? And what have you come for?” Archie gave him a quizzical glance.
“I’ve come to find out what you think you’re doing out here,” the younger man declared emphatically. “I want to get next, I do. When can you see me?”
“Anything on to-night? Then suppose you dine with me. Where can I pick you up at five-thirty?”
“Bixby’s office, general freight agent of the Burlington.” Ottenburg began to button his overcoat and drew on his gloves. “I’ve got to have one shot at you before I go, Archie. Didn’t I tell you Pinky Alden was a cheap squirt?”
Alden’s backer laughed and shook his head. “Oh, he’s worse than that, Fred. It isn’t polite to mention what he is, outside of the Arabian Nights. I guessed you’d come to rub it into me.”
Ottenburg paused, his hand on the doorknob, his high color challenging the doctor’s calm. “I’m disgusted with you, Archie, for training with such a pup. A man of your experience!”
“Well, he’s been an experience,” Archie muttered. “I’m not coy about admitting it, am I?”
Ottenburg flung open the door. “Small credit to you. Even the women are out for capital and corruption32, I hear. Your Governor’s done more for the United Breweries33 in six months than I’ve been able to do in six years. He’s the lily-livered sort we’re looking for. Good-morning.”
That afternoon at five o’clock Dr. Archie emerged from the State House after his talk with Governor Alden, and crossed the terrace under a saffron sky. The snow, beaten hard, was blue in the dusk; a day of blinding sunlight had not even started a thaw34. The lights of the city twinkled pale below him in the quivering violet air, and the dome35 of the State House behind him was still red with the light from the west. Before he got into his car, the doctor paused to look about him at the scene of which he never tired. Archie lived in his own house on Colfax Avenue, where he had roomy grounds and a rose garden and a conservatory36. His housekeeping was done by three Japanese boys, devoted37 and resourceful, who were able to manage Archie’s dinner parties, to see that he kept his engagements, and to make visitors who stayed at the house so comfortable that they were always loath38 to go away.
Archie had never known what comfort was until he became a widower39, though with characteristic delicacy40, or dishonesty, he insisted upon accrediting41 his peace of mind to the San Felipe, to Time, to anything but his release from Mrs. Archie.
Mrs. Archie died just before her husband left Moonstone and came to Denver to live, six years ago. The poor woman’s fight against dust was her undoing42 at last. One summer day when she was rubbing the parlor43 upholstery with gasoline,—the doctor had often forbidden her to use it on any account, so that was one of the pleasures she seized upon in his absence,—an explosion occurred. Nobody ever knew exactly how it happened, for Mrs. Archie was dead when the neighbors rushed in to save her from the burning house. She must have inhaled44 the burning gas and died instantly.
Moonstone severity relented toward her somewhat after her death. But even while her old cronies at Mrs. Smiley’s millinery store said that it was a terrible thing, they added that nothing but a powerful explosive could have killed Mrs. Archie, and that it was only right the doctor should have a chance.
Archie’s past was literally45 destroyed when his wife died. The house burned to the ground, and all those material reminders46 which have such power over people disappeared in an hour. His mining interests now took him to Denver so often that it seemed better to make his headquarters there. He gave up his practice and left Moonstone for good. Six months afterward47, while Dr. Archie was living at the Brown Palace Hotel, the San Felipe mine began to give up that silver hoard48 which old Captain Harris had always accused it of concealing49, and San Felipe headed the list of mining quotations50 in every daily paper, East and West. In a few years Dr. Archie was a very rich man. His mine was such an important item in the mineral output of the State, and Archie had a hand in so many of the new industries of Colorado and New Mexico, that his political influence was considerable. He had thrown it all, two years ago, to the new reform party, and had brought about the election of a governor of whose conduct he was now heartily51 ashamed. His friends believed that Archie himself had ambitious political plans.
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1
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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shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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5
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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6
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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7
gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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8
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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12
stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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13
lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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14
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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15
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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18
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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prospectors
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| n.勘探者，探矿者( prospector的名词复数 ) | |
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21
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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22
vagrancy
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| （说话的，思想的）游移不定； 漂泊； 流浪； 离题 | |
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23
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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24
croak
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| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
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25
lariat
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| n.系绳，套索；v.用套索套捕 | |
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26
vegetarians
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| n.吃素的人( vegetarian的名词复数 )；素食者；素食主义者；食草动物 | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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28
heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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30
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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31
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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32
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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33
breweries
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| 酿造厂，啤酒厂( brewery的名词复数 ) | |
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34
thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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36
conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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38
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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39
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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40
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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41
accrediting
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| v.相信( accredit的现在分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于 | |
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42
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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43
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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44
inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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46
reminders
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| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
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47
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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48
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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49
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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50
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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51
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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