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tales of trail and town-第26部分

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was deficient; if she could not translate his coarse speech; it was

because it was the language of a larger world from which she had

been excluded。  To this world belonged the beautiful limbs she

gazed on;a very different world from that which had produced the

rheumatic deformities and useless mayhem of her husband; or the

provincially foppish garments of the deputy。  Sitting in the

hayloft together; where she had mounted for greater security; they

forgot themselves in his monologue of cheap vaporing; broken only

by her assenting smiles and her half…checked sighs。  The sharp

spices of the heated pine…shingles over their heads and the

fragrance of the clover…scented hay filled the close air around

them。  The sun was falling with the wind; but they heeded it not;

until the usual fateful premonition struck the woman; and saying 〃I

must go now;〃 she only half…unconsciously precipitated the end。

For; as she rose; he caught first her hand and then her waist; and

attempted to raise the face that was suddenly bending down as if

seeking to hide itself in the hay。  It was a brief struggle; ending

in a submission as sudden; and their lips met in a kiss; so eager

that it might have been impending for days instead of minutes。



〃Oh; Sue! where are ye?〃



It was her husband's voice; out of a darkness that they only then

realized。  The man threw her aside with a roughness that

momentarily shocked her above any sense of surprise or shame: SHE

would have confronted her husband in his arms;glorified and

translated;had he but kept her there。  Yet she answered; with a

quiet; level voice that astonished her lover; 〃Here!  I'm just

coming down!〃 and walked coolly to the ladder。  Looking over; and

seeing her husband with the deputy standing in the barnyard; she

quickly returned; put her finger to her lips; made a gesture for

her companion to conceal himself in the hay again; and was turning

away; when; perhaps shamed by her superior calmness; he grasped her

hand tightly and whispered; 〃Come again tonight; dear; do!〃  She

hesitated; raised her hand suddenly to her lips; and then quickly

disengaging it; slipped down the ladder。



〃Ye haven't done much work yet as I kin see;〃 said Ira wearily。

〃Whitey and Red Tip 'the cows' are hangin' over the corral; just

waitin'。〃



〃The yellow hen we reckoned was lost is sittin' in the hayloft; and

mustn't be disturbed;〃 said Mrs。 Beasley; with decision; 〃and ye'll

have to take the hay from the stack to…night。  And;〃 with an arch

glance at the deputy; 〃as I don't see that you two have done much

either; you're just in time to help fodder down。〃



Setting the three men to work with the same bright audacity; the

task was soon completedparticularly as the deputy found no

opportunity for exclusive dalliance with Mrs。 Beasley。  She shut

the barn door herself; and led the way to the house; learning

incidentally that the deputy had abandoned the chase; was to occupy

a 〃shake…down〃 on the kitchen…floor that night with the constable;

and depart at daybreak。  The gloom of her husband's face had

settled into a look of heavy resignation and alternate glances of

watchfulness; which only seemed to inspire her with renewed

vivacity。  But the cooking of supper withdrew her disturbing

presence for a time from the room; and gave him some relief。  When

the meal was ready he sought further surcease from trouble in

copious draughts of whiskey; which she produced from a new bottle;

and even pressed upon the deputy in mischievous contrition for her

previous inhospitality。



〃Now I know that it wasn't whiskey only ye came for; I'll show you

that Sue Beasley is no slouch of a barkeeper either;〃 she said。



Then; rolling her sleeves above her pretty arms; she mixed a

cocktail in such delightful imitation of the fashionable

barkeeper's dexterity that her guests were convulsed with

admiration。  Even Ira was struck with this revelation of a

youthfulness that five years of household care had checked; but

never yet subdued。  He had forgotten that he had married a child。

Only once; when she glanced at the cheap clock on the mantel; had

he noticed another change; more remarkable still from its very

inconsistency with her burst of youthful spirits。  It was another

face that he saw;older and matured with an intensity of

abstraction that struck a chill to his heart。  It was not HIS Sue

that was standing there; but another Sue; wrought; as it seemed to

his morbid extravagance; by some one else's hand。



Yet there was another interval of relief when his wife; declaring

she was tired; and even jocosely confessing to some effect of the

liquor she had pretended to taste; went early to bed。  The deputy;

not finding the gloomy company of the husband to his taste;

presently ensconced himself on the floor; before the kitchen fire;

in the blankets that she had provided。  The constable followed his

example。  In a few moments the house was silent and sleeping; save

for Ira sitting alone; with his head sunk on his chest and his

hands gripping the arms of his chair before the dying embers of his

hearth。



He was trying; with the alternate quickness and inaction of an

inexperienced intellect and an imagination morbidly awakened; to

grasp the situation before him。  The common sense that had hitherto

governed his life told him that the deputy would go to…morrow; and

that there was nothing in his wife's conduct to show that her

coquetry and aberration would not pass as easily。  But it recurred

to him that she had never shown this coquetry or aberration to HIM

during their own brief courtship;that she had never looked or

acted like this before。  If this was love; she had never known it;

if it was only 〃women's ways;〃 as he had heard men say; and so

dangerously attractive; why had she not shown it to him?  He

remembered that matter…of…fact wedding; the bride without timidity;

without blushes; without expectation beyond the transference of her

home to his。  Would it have been different with another man?with

the deputy; who had called this color and animation to her face?

What did it all mean?  Were all married people like this?  There

were the Westons; their neighbors;was Mrs。 Weston like Sue?  But

he remembered that Mrs。 Weston had run away with Mr。 Weston from

her father's house。  It was what they called 〃a love match。〃  Would

Sue have run away with him?  Would she now run away with?



The candle was guttering as he rose with a fierce starthis first

impulse of angerfrom the table。  He took another gulp of whiskey。

It tasted like water; its fire was quenched in the greater heat of

his blood。  He would go to bed。  Here a new and indefinable

timidity took possession of him; he remembered the strange look in

his wife's face。  It seemed suddenly as if the influence of the

sleeping stranger in the next room had not only isolated her from

him; but would make his presence in her bedroom an intrusion on

their hidden secrets。  He had to pass the open door of the kitchen。

The head of the unconscious deputy was close to Ira's heavy boot。

He had only to lift his heel to crush that ruddy; good…looking;

complacent face。  He hurried past him; up the creaking stairs。  His

wife lay still on one side of the bed; apparently asleep; her face

half…hidden in her loosened; fluffy hair。  It was well; for in the

vague shyness and restraint that was beginning to take possession

of him he felt he could not have spoken to her; or; if he had; it

would have been only to voice the horrible; unformulated things

that seemed to choke him。  He crept softly to the opposite side of

the bed; and began to undress。  As he pulled off his boots and

stockings; his eye fell upon his bare; malformed feet。  This caused

him to look at his maimed hand; to rise; drag himself across the

floor to the mirror; and gaze upon his lacerated ear。  She; this

prettily formed woman lying there; must have seen it often; she

must have known all these years that he was not like other men;

not like the deputy; with his tight riding…boots; his soft hand;

and the diamond that sparkled vulgarly on his fat little finger。  A

cold sweat broke over him。  He drew on his stockings again; lifted

the outer counterpane; and; half undressed; crept under it;

wrapping its corner around his maimed hand; as if to hide it from

the light。  Yet he felt that he saw things dimly; there was a

moisture on his cheeks and eyelids he could not account for; it

must be the whiskey 〃coming out。〃



His wife lay very still; she scarcely seemed to breathe。  What if

she should never breathe again; but die as the old Sue he knew; the

lanky girl he had married; unchanged and uncontaminated?  It would

be better than this。  Yet at the same moment the picture was before

him of her pretty simulation of the barkeeper; of her white bared

arms and laughing eyes; all so new; so fresh to him!  He tried to

listen to the slow ticking of the clock; the occa
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