章节正文
until suddenly he espied Miss Longstreth. Then his face
changed, and he removed his sombrero. Duane went closer.
"Floyd, did you come with the teams?" asked Longstreth,
sharply.
"Not me. I rode a horse, good and hard," was the reply.
"Humph! I'll have a word to say to you later." Then Longstreth
turned to his daughter. "Ray, here's the cousin I've told you
about. You used to play with him ten years ago--Floyd Lawson.
Floyd, my daughter--and my niece, Ruth Herbert."
Duane always scrutinized every one he met, and now with a
dangerous game to play, with a consciousness of Longstreth's
unusual and significantpersonality, he bent a keen and
searching glance upon this Floyd Lawson.
He was under thirty, yet gray at his temples--dark,
smooth-shaven, with lines left by wildness, dissipation,
shadows under dark eyes, a mouth strong and bitter, and a
square chin--a reckless, careless, handsome, sinister face
strangely losing the hardness when he smiled. The grace of a
gentleman clung round him, seemed like an echo in his mellow
voice. Duane doubted not that he, like many a young man, had
drifted out to the frontier, where rough and wild life had
wrought sternly but had not quite effaced the mark of good
family.
Colonel Longstreth apparently did not share the pleasure of his
daughter and his niece in the advent of this cousin. Something
hinged on this meeting. Duane grew intensely curious, but, as
the stage appeared ready for the journey, he had no further
opportunity to gratify it.
CHAPTER XVI
Duane followed the stage through the town, out into the open,
on to a wide, hard-packed road showing years of travel. It
headed northwest. To the left rose a range of low, bleak
mountains he had noted yesterday, and to the right sloped the
mesquite-patched sweep of ridge and flat. The driver pushed his
team to a fast trot, which gait surely covered ground rapidly.
The stage made three stops in the forenoon, one at a place
where the horses could be watered, the second at a chuck-wagon
belonging to cowboys who were riding after stock, and the third
at a small cluster of adobe and stone houses constituting a
hamlet the driver called Longstreth, named after the Colonel.
From that point on to Fairdale there were only a few ranches,
each one controlling great acreage.
Early in the afternoon from a ridge-top Duane sighted Fairdale,
a green patch in the mass of gray. For the barrens of Texas it
was indeed a fair sight. But he was more concerned with its
remoteness from civilization than its beauty. At that time, in
the early seventies, when the vast western third of Texas was a
wilderness, the pioneer had done wonders to settle there and
establish places like Fairdale.
It needed only a glance for Duane to pick out Colonel
Longstreth's ranch. The house was situated on the only
elevation around Fairdale, and it was not high, nor more than a
few minutes' walk from the edge of the town. It was a low,
flat-roofed structure made of red adobe bricks, and covered
what appeared to be fully an acre of ground. All was green
about it, except where the fenced corrals and numerous barns or
sheds showed gray and red.
Duane soon reached the shady outskirts of Fairdale, and entered
the town with mingled feelings of curiosity, eagerness, and
expectation. The street he rode down was a main one, and on
both sides of the street was a solid row of saloons, resorts,
hotels. Saddled horses stood hitched all along the sidewalk in
two long lines, with a buckboard and team here and there
breaking the continuity. This block was busy and noisy.
From all outside appearances Fairdale was no different from
other frontier towns, and Duane's expectations were scarcely
realized. As the afternoon was waning he halted at a little
inn. A boy took charge of his horse. Duane questioned the lad
about Fairdale and gradually drew to the subject most in mind.
"Colonel Longstreth has a big outfit, eh?"
"Reckon he has," replied the lad. "Doan know how many cowboys.
They're always comin' and goin'. I ain't acquainted with half
of them."
"Much movement of stock these days?"
"Stock's always movin'," he replied, with a queer look.
"Rustlers?"
But he did not follow up that look with the affirmative Duane
expected.
"Lively place, I hear--Fairdale is?"
"Ain't so lively as Sanderson, but it's bigger."
"Yes, I heard it was. Fellow down there was talking about two
cowboys who were arrested."
"Sure. I heered all about that. Joe Bean an' Brick Higgins--
they belong heah, but they ain't heah much. Longstreth's boys."
Duane did not want to appear over-inquisitive, so he turned the
talk into other channels.
After getting supper Duane strolled up and down the main
street. When darkness set in he went into a hotel, bought
cigars, sat around, and watched. Then he passed out and went
into the next place. This was of rough crude exterior, but the
inside was comparatively pretentious and ablaze with lights. It
was full of men coming and going--a dusty-booted crowd that
smelled of horses and smoke. Duane sat down for a while, with
wide eyes and open ears. Then he hunted up the bar, where most
of the guests had been or were going. He found a great square
room lighted by six huge lamps, a bar at one side, and all the
floor-space taken up by tables and chairs. This was the only
gambling place of any size in southern Texas in which he had
noted the absence of Mexicans. There was some card-playing
going on at this moment. Duane stayed in there for a while, and
knew that strangers were too common in Fairdale to be
conspicuous. Then he returned to the inn where he had engaged a
room.
Duane sat down on the steps of the dingy little restaurant. Two
men were conversing inside, and they had not noticed Duane.
"Laramie, what's the stranger's name?" asked one.
"He didn't say," replied the other.
"Sure was a strappin' big man. Struck me a little odd, he did.
No cattleman, him. How'd you size him?"
"Well, like one of them cool, easy, quiet Texans who's been
lookin' for a man for years--to kill him when he found him."
"Right you are, Laramie; and, between you an' me, I hope he's
lookin' for Long--"
"'S--sh!" interrupted Laramie. "You must be half drunk, to go
talkie' that way."
Thereafter they conversed in too low a tone for Duane to hear,
and presently Laramie's visitor left. Duane went inside, and,
making himself agreeable, began to ask casual questions about
Fairdale. Laramie was not communicative.
Duane went to his room in a thoughtful frame of mind. Had
Laramie's visitor meant he hoped some one had come to kill
Longstreth? Duane inferred just that from the interrupted
remark. There was something wrong about the Mayor of Fairdale.
Duane felt it. And he felt also, if there was a crooked and
dangerous man, it was this Floyd Lawson. The innkeeper Laramie
would be worth cultivating. And last in Duane's thoughts that
night was Miss Longstreth. He could not help thinking of
her--how strangely the meeting with her had affected him. It
made him remember that long-past time when girls had been a
part of his life. What a sad and dark and endless void lay
between that past and the present! He had no right even to
dream of a beautiful woman like Ray Longstreth. That
conviction, however, did not dispel her; indeed, it seemed
perversely to make her grow more fascinating. Duane grew
conscious of a strange, unaccountable hunger, a something that
was like a pang in his breast.
Next day he lounged about the inn. He did not make any
overtures to the taciturn proprietor. Duane had no need of
hurry now. He contented himself with watching and listening.
And at the close of that day he decided Fairdale was what
MacNelly had claimed it to be, and that he was on the track of
an unusualadventure. The following day he spent in much the
same way, though on one occasion he told Laramie he was looking
for a man. The innkeeper grew a little less furtive and
reticent after that. He would answer casual queries, and it did
not take Duane long to learn that Laramie had seen better
days--that he was now broken, bitter, and hard. Some one had
wronged him.
Several days passed. Duane did not succeed in getting any
closer to Laramie, but he found the idlers on the corners and
in front of the stores unsuspicious and willing to talk. It did
not take him long to find out that Fairdale stood parallel with
Huntsville for gambling, drinking, and fighting. The street was
always lined with dusty, saddled horses, the town full of
strangers. Money appeared more abundant than in any place Duane
had ever visited; and it was spent with the abandon that spoke
forcibly of easy and crooked acquirement. Duane decided that
Sanderson, Bradford, and Ord were but notorious outposts to
this Fairdale, which was a secret center of rustlers and
outlaws. And what struck Duane strangest of all was the fact
that Longstreth was mayor here and held court daily. Duane knew
intuitively, before a chance remark gave him proof, that this
court was a sham, a farce. And he wondered if it were not a
blind. This wonder of his was equivalent to suspicion of
Colonel Longstreth, and Duane reproached himself. Then he
realized that the reproach was because of the daughter. Inquiry
had brought him the fact that Ray Longstreth had just come to
live with her father. Longstreth had originally been a planter
in Louisiana, where his family had remained after his advent in
the West. He was a rich rancher; he owned half of Fairdale; he
was a cattle-buyer on a large scale. Floyd Lawson was his
lieutenant and associate in deals.
On the afternoon of the fifth day of Duane's stay in Fairdale
he returned to the inn from his usual stroll, and upon entering
was amazed to have a rough-looking young fellow rush by him out
of the door. Inside Laramie was lying on the floor, with a
bloody bruise on his face. He did not appear to be dangerously
hurt.
"Bo Snecker! He hit me and went after the cash-drawer," said
Laramie, laboring to his feet.
"Are you hurt much?" queried Duane.
"I guess not. But Bo needn't to have soaked me. I've been
robbed before without that."
"Well, I'll take a look after Bo," replied Duane.
He went out and glanced down the street toward the center of
the town. He did not see any one he could take for the
innkeeper's assailant. Then he looked up the street, and he saw
the young fellow about a block away, hurrying along and gazing
back.
Duane yelled for him to stop and started to go after him.
Snecker broke into a run. Then Duane set out to overhaul him.
There were two motives in Duane's action--one of anger, and the
other a desire to make a friend of this man Laramie, whom Duane
believed could tell him much.
Duane was light on his feet, and he had a giant stride. He
gained rapidly upon Snecker, who, turning this way and that,
could not get out of sight. Then he took to the open country
and ran straight for the green hill where Longstreth's house
stood. Duane had almost caught Snecker when he reached the
shrubbery and trees and there eluded him. But Duane kept him in
sight, in the shade, on the paths, and up the road into the
changed, and he removed his sombrero. Duane went closer.
"Floyd, did you come with the teams?" asked Longstreth,
sharply.
"Not me. I rode a horse, good and hard," was the reply.
"Humph! I'll have a word to say to you later." Then Longstreth
turned to his daughter. "Ray, here's the cousin I've told you
about. You used to play with him ten years ago--Floyd Lawson.
Floyd, my daughter--and my niece, Ruth Herbert."
Duane always scrutinized every one he met, and now with a
dangerous game to play, with a consciousness of Longstreth's
unusual and significantpersonality, he bent a keen and
searching glance upon this Floyd Lawson.
He was under thirty, yet gray at his temples--dark,
smooth-shaven, with lines left by wildness, dissipation,
shadows under dark eyes, a mouth strong and bitter, and a
square chin--a reckless, careless, handsome, sinister face
strangely losing the hardness when he smiled. The grace of a
gentleman clung round him, seemed like an echo in his mellow
voice. Duane doubted not that he, like many a young man, had
drifted out to the frontier, where rough and wild life had
wrought sternly but had not quite effaced the mark of good
family.
Colonel Longstreth apparently did not share the pleasure of his
daughter and his niece in the advent of this cousin. Something
hinged on this meeting. Duane grew intensely curious, but, as
the stage appeared ready for the journey, he had no further
opportunity to gratify it.
CHAPTER XVI
Duane followed the stage through the town, out into the open,
on to a wide, hard-packed road showing years of travel. It
headed northwest. To the left rose a range of low, bleak
mountains he had noted yesterday, and to the right sloped the
mesquite-patched sweep of ridge and flat. The driver pushed his
team to a fast trot, which gait surely covered ground rapidly.
The stage made three stops in the forenoon, one at a place
where the horses could be watered, the second at a chuck-wagon
belonging to cowboys who were riding after stock, and the third
at a small cluster of adobe and stone houses constituting a
hamlet the driver called Longstreth, named after the Colonel.
From that point on to Fairdale there were only a few ranches,
each one controlling great acreage.
Early in the afternoon from a ridge-top Duane sighted Fairdale,
a green patch in the mass of gray. For the barrens of Texas it
was indeed a fair sight. But he was more concerned with its
remoteness from civilization than its beauty. At that time, in
the early seventies, when the vast western third of Texas was a
wilderness, the pioneer had done wonders to settle there and
establish places like Fairdale.
It needed only a glance for Duane to pick out Colonel
Longstreth's ranch. The house was situated on the only
elevation around Fairdale, and it was not high, nor more than a
few minutes' walk from the edge of the town. It was a low,
flat-roofed structure made of red adobe bricks, and covered
what appeared to be fully an acre of ground. All was green
about it, except where the fenced corrals and numerous barns or
sheds showed gray and red.
Duane soon reached the shady outskirts of Fairdale, and entered
the town with mingled feelings of curiosity, eagerness, and
expectation. The street he rode down was a main one, and on
both sides of the street was a solid row of saloons, resorts,
hotels. Saddled horses stood hitched all along the sidewalk in
two long lines, with a buckboard and team here and there
breaking the continuity. This block was busy and noisy.
From all outside appearances Fairdale was no different from
other frontier towns, and Duane's expectations were scarcely
realized. As the afternoon was waning he halted at a little
inn. A boy took charge of his horse. Duane questioned the lad
about Fairdale and gradually drew to the subject most in mind.
"Colonel Longstreth has a big outfit, eh?"
"Reckon he has," replied the lad. "Doan know how many cowboys.
They're always comin' and goin'. I ain't acquainted with half
of them."
"Much movement of stock these days?"
"Stock's always movin'," he replied, with a queer look.
"Rustlers?"
But he did not follow up that look with the affirmative Duane
expected.
"Lively place, I hear--Fairdale is?"
"Ain't so lively as Sanderson, but it's bigger."
"Yes, I heard it was. Fellow down there was talking about two
cowboys who were arrested."
"Sure. I heered all about that. Joe Bean an' Brick Higgins--
they belong heah, but they ain't heah much. Longstreth's boys."
Duane did not want to appear over-inquisitive, so he turned the
talk into other channels.
After getting supper Duane strolled up and down the main
street. When darkness set in he went into a hotel, bought
cigars, sat around, and watched. Then he passed out and went
into the next place. This was of rough crude exterior, but the
inside was comparatively pretentious and ablaze with lights. It
was full of men coming and going--a dusty-booted crowd that
smelled of horses and smoke. Duane sat down for a while, with
wide eyes and open ears. Then he hunted up the bar, where most
of the guests had been or were going. He found a great square
room lighted by six huge lamps, a bar at one side, and all the
floor-space taken up by tables and chairs. This was the only
gambling place of any size in southern Texas in which he had
noted the absence of Mexicans. There was some card-playing
going on at this moment. Duane stayed in there for a while, and
knew that strangers were too common in Fairdale to be
conspicuous. Then he returned to the inn where he had engaged a
room.
Duane sat down on the steps of the dingy little restaurant. Two
men were conversing inside, and they had not noticed Duane.
"Laramie, what's the stranger's name?" asked one.
"He didn't say," replied the other.
"Sure was a strappin' big man. Struck me a little odd, he did.
No cattleman, him. How'd you size him?"
"Well, like one of them cool, easy, quiet Texans who's been
lookin' for a man for years--to kill him when he found him."
"Right you are, Laramie; and, between you an' me, I hope he's
lookin' for Long--"
"'S--sh!" interrupted Laramie. "You must be half drunk, to go
talkie' that way."
Thereafter they conversed in too low a tone for Duane to hear,
and presently Laramie's visitor left. Duane went inside, and,
making himself agreeable, began to ask casual questions about
Fairdale. Laramie was not communicative.
Duane went to his room in a thoughtful frame of mind. Had
Laramie's visitor meant he hoped some one had come to kill
Longstreth? Duane inferred just that from the interrupted
remark. There was something wrong about the Mayor of Fairdale.
Duane felt it. And he felt also, if there was a crooked and
dangerous man, it was this Floyd Lawson. The innkeeper Laramie
would be worth cultivating. And last in Duane's thoughts that
night was Miss Longstreth. He could not help thinking of
her--how strangely the meeting with her had affected him. It
made him remember that long-past time when girls had been a
part of his life. What a sad and dark and endless void lay
between that past and the present! He had no right even to
dream of a beautiful woman like Ray Longstreth. That
conviction, however, did not dispel her; indeed, it seemed
perversely to make her grow more fascinating. Duane grew
conscious of a strange, unaccountable hunger, a something that
was like a pang in his breast.
Next day he lounged about the inn. He did not make any
overtures to the taciturn proprietor. Duane had no need of
hurry now. He contented himself with watching and listening.
And at the close of that day he decided Fairdale was what
MacNelly had claimed it to be, and that he was on the track of
an unusualadventure. The following day he spent in much the
same way, though on one occasion he told Laramie he was looking
for a man. The innkeeper grew a little less furtive and
reticent after that. He would answer casual queries, and it did
not take Duane long to learn that Laramie had seen better
days--that he was now broken, bitter, and hard. Some one had
wronged him.
Several days passed. Duane did not succeed in getting any
closer to Laramie, but he found the idlers on the corners and
in front of the stores unsuspicious and willing to talk. It did
not take him long to find out that Fairdale stood parallel with
Huntsville for gambling, drinking, and fighting. The street was
always lined with dusty, saddled horses, the town full of
strangers. Money appeared more abundant than in any place Duane
had ever visited; and it was spent with the abandon that spoke
forcibly of easy and crooked acquirement. Duane decided that
Sanderson, Bradford, and Ord were but notorious outposts to
this Fairdale, which was a secret center of rustlers and
outlaws. And what struck Duane strangest of all was the fact
that Longstreth was mayor here and held court daily. Duane knew
intuitively, before a chance remark gave him proof, that this
court was a sham, a farce. And he wondered if it were not a
blind. This wonder of his was equivalent to suspicion of
Colonel Longstreth, and Duane reproached himself. Then he
realized that the reproach was because of the daughter. Inquiry
had brought him the fact that Ray Longstreth had just come to
live with her father. Longstreth had originally been a planter
in Louisiana, where his family had remained after his advent in
the West. He was a rich rancher; he owned half of Fairdale; he
was a cattle-buyer on a large scale. Floyd Lawson was his
lieutenant and associate in deals.
On the afternoon of the fifth day of Duane's stay in Fairdale
he returned to the inn from his usual stroll, and upon entering
was amazed to have a rough-looking young fellow rush by him out
of the door. Inside Laramie was lying on the floor, with a
bloody bruise on his face. He did not appear to be dangerously
hurt.
"Bo Snecker! He hit me and went after the cash-drawer," said
Laramie, laboring to his feet.
"Are you hurt much?" queried Duane.
"I guess not. But Bo needn't to have soaked me. I've been
robbed before without that."
"Well, I'll take a look after Bo," replied Duane.
He went out and glanced down the street toward the center of
the town. He did not see any one he could take for the
innkeeper's assailant. Then he looked up the street, and he saw
the young fellow about a block away, hurrying along and gazing
back.
Duane yelled for him to stop and started to go after him.
Snecker broke into a run. Then Duane set out to overhaul him.
There were two motives in Duane's action--one of anger, and the
other a desire to make a friend of this man Laramie, whom Duane
believed could tell him much.
Duane was light on his feet, and he had a giant stride. He
gained rapidly upon Snecker, who, turning this way and that,
could not get out of sight. Then he took to the open country
and ran straight for the green hill where Longstreth's house
stood. Duane had almost caught Snecker when he reached the
shrubbery and trees and there eluded him. But Duane kept him in
sight, in the shade, on the paths, and up the road into the
- personality [,pə:sə´næliti]
n.人；个性；人品；人物 (初中英语单词) - careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)
- frontier [´frʌntiə] n.国境；边疆；边界 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- cluster [´klʌstə] n.一串 v.群集；丛生 (初中英语单词)
- civilization [,sivilai´zeiʃən] n.文明，文化 (初中英语单词)
- western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
- pioneer [,paiə´niə] n.拓荒者 v.开辟；倡导 (初中英语单词)
- situated [´sitʃueitid] a.位于；处于....境地 (初中英语单词)
- structure [´strʌktʃə] n.结构，构造；组织 (初中英语单词)
- curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- lively [´laivli] a.活泼的；热烈的 (初中英语单词)
- comparatively [kəm´pærətivli] ad.比较地；比较上 (初中英语单词)
- absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)
- restaurant [´restərɔnt] n.饭店，菜馆 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- visitor [´vizitə] n.访问者；来宾；参观者 (初中英语单词)
- agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)
- strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)
- fascinating [´fæsineitiŋ] a.迷人，使神魂颠倒的 (初中英语单词)
- hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)
- unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)
- willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- parallel [´pærəlel] a.平行的 n.平行线 (初中英语单词)
- abundant [ə´bʌndənt] a.丰富的；充分的 (初中英语单词)
- abandon [ə´bændən] vt.抛弃，放弃，离弃 (初中英语单词)
- suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
- associate [ə´səuʃieit] v.联合a.同伴的n.伙伴 (初中英语单词)
- consciousness [´kɔnʃəsnis] n.意识；觉悟；知觉 (高中英语单词)
- significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
- reckless [´rekləs] a.不注意的；鲁莽的 (高中英语单词)
- sternly [´stə:nli] ad.严厉地；坚定地 (高中英语单词)
- apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
- gratify [´grætifai] vt.使高兴；满足 (高中英语单词)
- northwest [,nɔ:θ´west] n.&ad.西北(部) (高中英语单词)
- concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)
- eagerness [´i:gənis] n.渴望；热忱 (高中英语单词)
- sidewalk [´saidwɔ:k] n.人行道 (高中英语单词)
- outfit [´aut,fit] n.装备 vt.供给；装备 (高中英语单词)
- casual [´kæʒuəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (高中英语单词)
- thoughtful [´θɔ:tfəl] a.深思的；体贴的 (高中英语单词)
- crooked [´krukid] a.弯曲的；畸形的 (高中英语单词)
- proprietor [prə´praiətə] n.所有人；业主；经营者 (高中英语单词)
- contented [kən´tentid] a.满足的；心满意足的 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- equivalent [i´kwivələnt] a.相等的 n.同等物 (高中英语单词)
- reproach [ri´prəutʃ] vt.&n.责备；指责；耻辱 (高中英语单词)
- originally [ə´ridʒənəli] ad.本来；独创地 (高中英语单词)
- stroll [strəul] n.&v.漫步；散步；游荡 (高中英语单词)
- bruise [bru:z] n.伤痕 v.打(碰)伤 (高中英语单词)
- stride [straid] n.进展 v.跨过；骑 (高中英语单词)
- sinister [´sinistə] a.阴险的；不吉的 (英语四级单词)
- hardness [´hɑ:dnis] n.坚硬；严厉；难度 (英语四级单词)
- advent [´ædvent] n.来临；降临 (英语四级单词)
- intensely [in´tensli] ad.激烈地；热切地 (英语四级单词)
- forenoon [´fɔ:nu:n] n.午前，上午 (英语四级单词)
- exterior [ik´stiəriə] n.&a.外表(的) (英语四级单词)
- notorious [nəu´tɔ:riəs] a.臭名昭著的 (英语四级单词)
- louisiana [lu(:),izi´ænə] n.路易斯安那州 (英语四级单词)
- assailant [ə´seilənt] n.攻击者 (英语四级单词)
- outskirts [´autskə:ts] n.外边；郊区 (英语六级单词)
- affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)
- dispel [di´spel] vt.驱逐；驱散(乌云) (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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