章节正文
He held them close, trying to convey what he felt--that he
would protect her. She leaned against him, and they looked out
of the window. Duane felt calm and sure of himself. His most
pronounced feeling besides that for the frightened girl was a
curiosity as to how Mrs. Bland would rise to the occasion. He
saw the riders dismount down the lane and wearily come forward.
A boy led away the horses. Euchre, the old fox, was talking
loud and with remarkable ease, considering what he claimed was
his natural cowardice.
"--that was way back in the sixties, about the time of the
war," he was saying. "Rustlin' cattle wasn't nuthin' then to
what it is now. An' times is rougher these days. This
gun-throwin' has come to be a disease. Men have an itch for the
draw same as they used to have fer poker. The only real gambler
outside of greasers we ever had here was Bill, an' I presume
Bill is burnin' now."
The approaching outlaws, hearing voices, halted a rod or so
from the porch. Then Mrs. Bland uttered an exclamation,
ostensibly meant to express surprise, and hurried out to meet
them. She greeted her husband warmly and gave welcome to the
other man. Duane could not see well enough in the shadow to
recognize Bland's companion, but he believed it was Alloway.
"Dog-tired we are and starved," said Bland, heavily. "Who's
here with you?"
"That's Euchre on the porch. Duane is inside at the window with
Jen," replied Mrs. Bland.
"Duane!" he exclaimed. Then he whispered low--something Duane
could not catch.
"Why, I asked him to come," said the chief's wife. She spoke
easily and naturally and made no change in tone. "Jen has been
ailing. She gets thinner and whiter every day. Duane came here
one day with Euchre, saw Jen, and went loony over her pretty
face, same as all you men. So I let him come."
Bland cursed low and deep under his breath. The other man made
a violent action of some kind and apparently was quieted by a
restraining hand.
"Kate, you let Duane make love to Jennie?" queried Bland,
incredulously.
"Yes, I did," replied the wife, stubbornly. "Why not? Jen's in
love with him. If he takes her away and marries her she can be
a decent woman."
Bland kept silent a moment, then his laugh pealed out loud and
harsh.
"Chess, did you get that? Well, by God! what do you think of my
wife?"
"She's lyin' or she's crazy," replied Alloway, and his voice
carried an unpleasant ring.
Mrs. Bland promptly and indignantly told her husband's
lieutenant to keep his mouth shut.
"Ho, ho, ho!" rolled out Bland's laugh.
Then he led the way to the porch, his spurs clinking, the
weapons he was carrying rattling, and he flopped down on a
bench.
"How are you, boss?" asked Euchre.
"Hello, old man. I'm well, but all in."
Alloway slowly walked on to the porch and leaned against the
rail. He answered Euchre's greeting with a nod. Then he stood
there a dark, silent figure.
Mrs. Bland's full voice in eager questioning had a tendency to
ease the situation. Bland replied briefly to her, reporting a
remarkably successful trip.
Duane thought it time to show himself. He had a feeling that
Bland and Alloway would let him go for the moment. They were
plainly non-plussed, and Alloway seemed sullen, brooding.
"Jennie," whispered Duane, "that was clever of Mrs. Bland.
We'll keep up the deception. Any day now be ready!"
She pressed close to him, and a barelyaudible "Hurry!" came
breathing into his ear.
"Good night, Jennie," he said, aloud. "Hope you feel better
to-morrow."
Then he stepped out into the moonlight and spoke. Bland
returned the greeting, and, though he was not amiable, he did
not show resentment.
"Met Jasper as I rode in," said Bland, presently. "He told me
you made Bill Black mad, and there's liable to be a fight. What
did you go off the handle about?"
Duane explained the incident. "I'm sorry I happened to be
there," he went on. "It wasn't my business."
"Scurvy trick that 'd been," muttered Bland. "You did right.
All the same, Duane, I want you to stop quarreling with my men.
If you were one of us--that'd be different. I can't keep my men
from fighting. But I'm not called on to let an outsider hang
around my camp and plug my rustlers."
"I guess I'll have to be hitting the trail for somewhere," said
Duane.
"Why not join my band? You've got a bad start already, Duane,
and if I know this border you'll never be a respectable citizen
again. You're a born killer. I know every bad man on this
frontier. More than one of them have told me that something
exploded in their brain, and when sense came back there lay
another dead man. It's not so with me. I've done a little
shooting, too, but I never wanted to kill another man just to
rid myself of the last one. My dead men don't sit on my chest
at night. That's the gun-fighter's trouble. He's crazy. He has
to kill a new man--he's driven to it to forget the last one."
"But I'm no gun-fighter," protested Duane. "Circumstances made
me--"
"No doubt," interrupted Bland, with a laugh. "Circumstances
made me a rustler. You don't know yourself. You're young;
you've got a temper; your father was one of the most dangerous
men Texas ever had. I don't see any other career for you.
Instead of going it alone--a lone wolf, as the Texans say--why
not make friends with other outlaws? You'll live longer."
Euchre squirmed in his seat.
"Boss, I've been givin' the boy egzactly thet same line of
talk. Thet's why I took him in to bunk with me. If he makes
pards among us there won't be any more trouble. An' he'd be a
grand feller fer the gang. I've seen Wild Bill Hickok throw a
gun, an' Billy the Kid, an' Hardin, an' Chess here--all the
fastest men on the border. An' with apologies to present
company, I'm here to say Duane has them all skinned. His draw
is different. You can't see how he does it."
Euchre's admiring praise served to create an effective little
silence. Alloway shifted uneasily on his feet, his spurs
jangling faintly, and did not lift his head. Bland seemed
thoughtful.
"That's about the only qualification I have to make me eligible
for your band," said Duane, easily.
"It's good enough," replied Bland, shortly. "Will you consider
the idea?"
"I'll think it over. Good night."
He left the group, followed by Euchre. When they reached the
end of the lane, and before they had exchanged a word, Bland
called Euchre back. Duane proceeded slowly along the moonlit
road to the cabin and sat down under the cottonwoods to wait
for Euchre. The night was intense and quiet, a low hum of
insects giving the effect of a congestion of life. The beauty
of the soaring moon, the ebony canons of shadow under the
mountain, the melancholy serenity of the perfect night, made
Duane shudder in the realization of how far aloof he now was
from enjoyment of these things. Never again so long as he lived
could he be natural. His mind was clouded. His eye and ear
henceforth must register impressions of nature, but the joy of
them had fled.
Still, as he sat there with a foreboding of more and darker
work ahead of him there was yet a strange sweetness left to
him, and it lay in thought of Jennie. The pressure of her cold
little hands lingered in his. He did not think of her as a
woman, and he did not analyze his feelings. He just had vague,
dreamy thoughts and imaginations that were interspersed in the
constant and stern revolving of plans to save her.
A shuffling step roused him. Euchre's dark figure came crossing
the moonlit grass under the cottonwoods. The moment the outlaw
reached him Duane saw that he was laboring under great
excitement. It scarcely affected Duane. He seemed to be
acquiring patience, calmness, strength.
"Bland kept you pretty long," he said.
"Wait till I git my breath," replied Euchre. He sat silent a
little while, fanning himself with a sombrero, though the night
was cool, and then he went into the cabin to return presently
with a lighted pipe.
"Fine night," he said; and his tone further acquainted Duane
with Euchre's quaint humor. "Fine night for love-affairs, by
gum!"
"I'd noticed that," rejoined Duane, dryly.
"Wal, I'm a son of a gun if I didn't stand an' watch Bland
choke his wife till her tongue stuck out an' she got black in
the face."
"No!" ejaculated Duane.
"Hope to die if I didn't. Buck, listen to this here yarn. When
I got back to the porch I seen Bland was wakin' up. He'd been
too fagged out to figger much. Alloway an' Kate had gone in the
house, where they lit up the lamps. I heard Kate's high voice,
but Alloway never chirped. He's not the talkin' kind, an' he's
damn dangerous when he's thet way. Bland asked me some
questions right from the shoulder. I was ready for them, an' I
swore the moon was green cheese. He was satisfied. Bland always
trusted me, an' liked me, too, I reckon. I hated to lie black
thet way. But he's a hard man with bad intentions toward
Jennie, an' I'd double-cross him any day.
"Then we went into the house. Jennie had gone to her little
room, an' Bland called her to come out. She said she was
undressin'. An' he ordered her to put her clothes back on.
Then, Buck, his next move was some surprisin'. He deliberately
thronged a gun on Kate. Yes sir, he pointed his big blue Colt
right at her, an' he says:
"'I've a mind to blow out your brains.'
"'Go ahead,' says Kate, cool as could be.
"'You lied to me,' he roars.
"Kate laughed in his face. Bland slammed the gun down an' made
a grab fer her. She fought him, but wasn't a match fer him, an'
he got her by the throat. He choked her till I thought she was
strangled. Alloway made him stop. She flopped down on the bed
an' gasped fer a while. When she come to them hardshelled
cusses went after her, trying to make her give herself away. I
think Bland was jealous. He suspected she'd got thick with you
an' was foolin' him. I reckon thet's a sore feelin' fer a man
to have--to guess pretty nice, but not to BE sure. Bland gave
it up after a while. An' then he cussed an' raved at her. One
sayin' of his is worth pinnin' in your sombrero: 'It ain't
nuthin' to kill a man. I don't need much fer thet. But I want
to KNOW, you hussy!'
"Then he went in an' dragged poor Jen out. She'd had time to
dress. He was so mad he hurt her sore leg. You know Jen got
thet injury fightin' off one of them devils in the dark. An'
when I seen Bland twist her--hurt her--I had a queer hot
feelin' deep down in me, an' fer the only time in my life I
wished I was a gun-fighter.
"Wal, Jen amazed me. She was whiter'n a sheet, an' her eyes
were big and stary, but she had nerve. Fust time I ever seen
her show any.
would protect her. She leaned against him, and they looked out
of the window. Duane felt calm and sure of himself. His most
pronounced feeling besides that for the frightened girl was a
curiosity as to how Mrs. Bland would rise to the occasion. He
saw the riders dismount down the lane and wearily come forward.
A boy led away the horses. Euchre, the old fox, was talking
loud and with remarkable ease, considering what he claimed was
his natural cowardice.
"--that was way back in the sixties, about the time of the
war," he was saying. "Rustlin' cattle wasn't nuthin' then to
what it is now. An' times is rougher these days. This
gun-throwin' has come to be a disease. Men have an itch for the
draw same as they used to have fer poker. The only real gambler
outside of greasers we ever had here was Bill, an' I presume
Bill is burnin' now."
The approaching outlaws, hearing voices, halted a rod or so
from the porch. Then Mrs. Bland uttered an exclamation,
ostensibly meant to express surprise, and hurried out to meet
them. She greeted her husband warmly and gave welcome to the
other man. Duane could not see well enough in the shadow to
recognize Bland's companion, but he believed it was Alloway.
"Dog-tired we are and starved," said Bland, heavily. "Who's
here with you?"
"That's Euchre on the porch. Duane is inside at the window with
Jen," replied Mrs. Bland.
"Duane!" he exclaimed. Then he whispered low--something Duane
could not catch.
"Why, I asked him to come," said the chief's wife. She spoke
easily and naturally and made no change in tone. "Jen has been
ailing. She gets thinner and whiter every day. Duane came here
one day with Euchre, saw Jen, and went loony over her pretty
face, same as all you men. So I let him come."
Bland cursed low and deep under his breath. The other man made
a violent action of some kind and apparently was quieted by a
restraining hand.
"Kate, you let Duane make love to Jennie?" queried Bland,
incredulously.
"Yes, I did," replied the wife, stubbornly. "Why not? Jen's in
love with him. If he takes her away and marries her she can be
a decent woman."
Bland kept silent a moment, then his laugh pealed out loud and
harsh.
"Chess, did you get that? Well, by God! what do you think of my
wife?"
"She's lyin' or she's crazy," replied Alloway, and his voice
carried an unpleasant ring.
Mrs. Bland promptly and indignantly told her husband's
lieutenant to keep his mouth shut.
"Ho, ho, ho!" rolled out Bland's laugh.
Then he led the way to the porch, his spurs clinking, the
weapons he was carrying rattling, and he flopped down on a
bench.
"How are you, boss?" asked Euchre.
"Hello, old man. I'm well, but all in."
Alloway slowly walked on to the porch and leaned against the
rail. He answered Euchre's greeting with a nod. Then he stood
there a dark, silent figure.
Mrs. Bland's full voice in eager questioning had a tendency to
ease the situation. Bland replied briefly to her, reporting a
remarkably successful trip.
Duane thought it time to show himself. He had a feeling that
Bland and Alloway would let him go for the moment. They were
plainly non-plussed, and Alloway seemed sullen, brooding.
"Jennie," whispered Duane, "that was clever of Mrs. Bland.
We'll keep up the deception. Any day now be ready!"
She pressed close to him, and a barelyaudible "Hurry!" came
breathing into his ear.
"Good night, Jennie," he said, aloud. "Hope you feel better
to-morrow."
Then he stepped out into the moonlight and spoke. Bland
returned the greeting, and, though he was not amiable, he did
not show resentment.
"Met Jasper as I rode in," said Bland, presently. "He told me
you made Bill Black mad, and there's liable to be a fight. What
did you go off the handle about?"
Duane explained the incident. "I'm sorry I happened to be
there," he went on. "It wasn't my business."
"Scurvy trick that 'd been," muttered Bland. "You did right.
All the same, Duane, I want you to stop quarreling with my men.
If you were one of us--that'd be different. I can't keep my men
from fighting. But I'm not called on to let an outsider hang
around my camp and plug my rustlers."
"I guess I'll have to be hitting the trail for somewhere," said
Duane.
"Why not join my band? You've got a bad start already, Duane,
and if I know this border you'll never be a respectable citizen
again. You're a born killer. I know every bad man on this
frontier. More than one of them have told me that something
exploded in their brain, and when sense came back there lay
another dead man. It's not so with me. I've done a little
shooting, too, but I never wanted to kill another man just to
rid myself of the last one. My dead men don't sit on my chest
at night. That's the gun-fighter's trouble. He's crazy. He has
to kill a new man--he's driven to it to forget the last one."
"But I'm no gun-fighter," protested Duane. "Circumstances made
me--"
"No doubt," interrupted Bland, with a laugh. "Circumstances
made me a rustler. You don't know yourself. You're young;
you've got a temper; your father was one of the most dangerous
men Texas ever had. I don't see any other career for you.
Instead of going it alone--a lone wolf, as the Texans say--why
not make friends with other outlaws? You'll live longer."
Euchre squirmed in his seat.
"Boss, I've been givin' the boy egzactly thet same line of
talk. Thet's why I took him in to bunk with me. If he makes
pards among us there won't be any more trouble. An' he'd be a
grand feller fer the gang. I've seen Wild Bill Hickok throw a
gun, an' Billy the Kid, an' Hardin, an' Chess here--all the
fastest men on the border. An' with apologies to present
company, I'm here to say Duane has them all skinned. His draw
is different. You can't see how he does it."
Euchre's admiring praise served to create an effective little
silence. Alloway shifted uneasily on his feet, his spurs
jangling faintly, and did not lift his head. Bland seemed
thoughtful.
"That's about the only qualification I have to make me eligible
for your band," said Duane, easily.
"It's good enough," replied Bland, shortly. "Will you consider
the idea?"
"I'll think it over. Good night."
He left the group, followed by Euchre. When they reached the
end of the lane, and before they had exchanged a word, Bland
called Euchre back. Duane proceeded slowly along the moonlit
road to the cabin and sat down under the cottonwoods to wait
for Euchre. The night was intense and quiet, a low hum of
insects giving the effect of a congestion of life. The beauty
of the soaring moon, the ebony canons of shadow under the
mountain, the melancholy serenity of the perfect night, made
Duane shudder in the realization of how far aloof he now was
from enjoyment of these things. Never again so long as he lived
could he be natural. His mind was clouded. His eye and ear
henceforth must register impressions of nature, but the joy of
them had fled.
Still, as he sat there with a foreboding of more and darker
work ahead of him there was yet a strange sweetness left to
him, and it lay in thought of Jennie. The pressure of her cold
little hands lingered in his. He did not think of her as a
woman, and he did not analyze his feelings. He just had vague,
dreamy thoughts and imaginations that were interspersed in the
constant and stern revolving of plans to save her.
A shuffling step roused him. Euchre's dark figure came crossing
the moonlit grass under the cottonwoods. The moment the outlaw
reached him Duane saw that he was laboring under great
excitement. It scarcely affected Duane. He seemed to be
acquiring patience, calmness, strength.
"Bland kept you pretty long," he said.
"Wait till I git my breath," replied Euchre. He sat silent a
little while, fanning himself with a sombrero, though the night
was cool, and then he went into the cabin to return presently
with a lighted pipe.
"Fine night," he said; and his tone further acquainted Duane
with Euchre's quaint humor. "Fine night for love-affairs, by
gum!"
"I'd noticed that," rejoined Duane, dryly.
"Wal, I'm a son of a gun if I didn't stand an' watch Bland
choke his wife till her tongue stuck out an' she got black in
the face."
"No!" ejaculated Duane.
"Hope to die if I didn't. Buck, listen to this here yarn. When
I got back to the porch I seen Bland was wakin' up. He'd been
too fagged out to figger much. Alloway an' Kate had gone in the
house, where they lit up the lamps. I heard Kate's high voice,
but Alloway never chirped. He's not the talkin' kind, an' he's
damn dangerous when he's thet way. Bland asked me some
questions right from the shoulder. I was ready for them, an' I
swore the moon was green cheese. He was satisfied. Bland always
trusted me, an' liked me, too, I reckon. I hated to lie black
thet way. But he's a hard man with bad intentions toward
Jennie, an' I'd double-cross him any day.
"Then we went into the house. Jennie had gone to her little
room, an' Bland called her to come out. She said she was
undressin'. An' he ordered her to put her clothes back on.
Then, Buck, his next move was some surprisin'. He deliberately
thronged a gun on Kate. Yes sir, he pointed his big blue Colt
right at her, an' he says:
"'I've a mind to blow out your brains.'
"'Go ahead,' says Kate, cool as could be.
"'You lied to me,' he roars.
"Kate laughed in his face. Bland slammed the gun down an' made
a grab fer her. She fought him, but wasn't a match fer him, an'
he got her by the throat. He choked her till I thought she was
strangled. Alloway made him stop. She flopped down on the bed
an' gasped fer a while. When she come to them hardshelled
cusses went after her, trying to make her give herself away. I
think Bland was jealous. He suspected she'd got thick with you
an' was foolin' him. I reckon thet's a sore feelin' fer a man
to have--to guess pretty nice, but not to BE sure. Bland gave
it up after a while. An' then he cussed an' raved at her. One
sayin' of his is worth pinnin' in your sombrero: 'It ain't
nuthin' to kill a man. I don't need much fer thet. But I want
to KNOW, you hussy!'
"Then he went in an' dragged poor Jen out. She'd had time to
dress. He was so mad he hurt her sore leg. You know Jen got
thet injury fightin' off one of them devils in the dark. An'
when I seen Bland twist her--hurt her--I had a queer hot
feelin' deep down in me, an' fer the only time in my life I
wished I was a gun-fighter.
"Wal, Jen amazed me. She was whiter'n a sheet, an' her eyes
were big and stary, but she had nerve. Fust time I ever seen
her show any.
- convey [kən´vei]
vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词) - remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)
- welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
- violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- promptly [´prɔmptli] ad.敏捷地；即时地 (初中英语单词)
- tendency [´tendənsi] n.趋势；倾向 (初中英语单词)
- briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中英语单词)
- barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中英语单词)
- moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)
- career [kə´riə] n.经历；生涯；职业 (初中英语单词)
- effective [i´fektiv] a.有效的；有力的 (初中英语单词)
- shortly [´ʃɔ:tli] ad.立刻，马上；不久 (初中英语单词)
- realization [,riəlai´zeiʃən] n.实现；认识 (初中英语单词)
- register [´redʒistə] n.&v.登记簿 (初中英语单词)
- pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
- patience [´peiʃəns] n.忍耐(力)；耐心；坚韧 (初中英语单词)
- cheese [tʃi:z] n.干酪，乳酪 (初中英语单词)
- reckon [´rekən] v.计算；认为；估计 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)
- jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)
- injury [´indʒəri] n.伤害；毁坏；侮辱 (初中英语单词)
- dismount [dis´maunt] v.(使)下马(车) (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
- hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)
- apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
- decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)
- unpleasant [ʌn´plezənt] a.不愉快的；不合意的 (高中英语单词)
- sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)
- liable [´laiəbəl] a.易于...的；有责任的 (高中英语单词)
- respectable [ri´spektəbəl] a.可敬的；有身价的 (高中英语单词)
- faintly [´feintli] ad.微弱地，软弱无力的 (高中英语单词)
- intense [in´tens] a.强烈的；紧张的 (高中英语单词)
- melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)
- shudder [´ʃʌdə] n.&vi.震颤；发抖 (高中英语单词)
- enjoyment [in´dʒɔimənt] n.享受；愉快；乐趣 (高中英语单词)
- sweetness [´swi:tnis] n.甜蜜；芳香；亲切 (高中英语单词)
- quaint [kweint] a.离奇的；奇妙的 (高中英语单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- wearily [´wiərili] ad.疲倦地；厌烦地 (英语四级单词)
- considering [kən´sidəriŋ] prep.就...而论 (英语四级单词)
- audible [´ɔ:dibəl] a.听得见的 (英语四级单词)
- amiable [´eimiəbəl] a.亲切的，温和的 (英语四级单词)
- qualification [,kwɔlifi´keiʃən] n.资格；合格证明 (英语四级单词)
- stubbornly [´stʌbənli] ad.顽固地，倔强地 (英语六级单词)
- indignantly [in´dignəntli] ad.愤慨地，义愤地 (英语六级单词)
- deception [di´sepʃən] n.欺骗，诈骗；骗术 (英语六级单词)
- uneasily [ʌn´i:zili] ad.不安地；局促地 (英语六级单词)
- moonlit [´mu:n,lit] a.月光普照的 (英语六级单词)
- affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)
- calmness [´kɑ:mnis] n.平静；安静 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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