and put it away; then he seemed to brighten suddenly, and said briskly:



"Well, Lizzie! Are you satisfied!"

"Yes, Andy; I'm satisfied."



"Quite sure, now?"

"Yes; I'm quite sure, Andy. I'm perfectly satisfied."



"Well, then, Lizzie -- it's settled!"

. . . . .



But to-day -- a couple of months after the proposal described above --

Andy had trouble on his mind, and the trouble was connected



with Lizzie Porter. He was putting up a two-rail fence

along the old log-paddock on the frontage, and working like a man in trouble,



trying to work it off his mind; and evidently not succeeding --

for the last two panels were out of line. He was ramming a post --



Andy rammed honestly, from the bottom of the hole, not the last few shovelfuls

below the surface, as some do. He was ramming the last layer of clay



when a cloud of white dust came along the road, paused,

and drifted or poured off into the scrub, leaving long Dave Bentley,



the horse-breaker, on his last victim.

"'Ello, Andy! Graftin'?"



"I want to speak to you, Dave," said Andy, in a strange voice.

"All -- all right!" said Dave, rather puzzled. He got down,



wondering what was up, and hung his horse to the last post but one.

Dave was Andy's opposite in one respect: he jumped to conclusions,



as women do; but, unlike women, he was mostly wrong. He was

an old chum and mate of Andy's who had always liked, admired, and trusted him.



But now, to his helpless surprise, Andy went on scraping the earth

from the surface with his long-handled shovel, and heaping it conscientiously



round the butt of the post, his face like a block of wood,

and his lips set grimly. Dave broke out first (with bush oaths):



"What's the matter with you? Spit it out! What have I been doin' to you?

What's yer got yer rag out about, anyway?"



Andy faced him suddenly, with hatred for "funny business"

flashing in his eyes.



"What did you say to my sister Mary about Lizzie Porter?"

Dave started; then he whistled long and low. "Spit it all out, Andy!"



he advised.

"You said she was travellin' with a feller!"



"Well, what's the harm in that? Everybody knows that --"

"If any crawler says a word about Lizzie Porter -- look here,



me and you's got to fight, Dave Bentley!" Then, with still greater vehemence,

as though he had a share in the garment: "Take off that coat!"



"Not if I know it!" said Dave, with the sudden quietness that comes

to brave but headstrong and impulsive men at a critical moment:



"Me and you ain't goin' to fight, Andy; and" (with sudden energy)

"if you try it on I'll knock you into jim-rags!"



Then, stepping close to Andy and taking him by the arm:

"Andy, this thing will have to be fixed up. Come here;



I want to talk to you." And he led him some paces aside,

inside the boundary line, which seemed a ludicrously unnecessary precaution,



seeing that there was no one within sight or hearing save Dave's horse.

"Now, look here, Andy; let's have it over. What's the matter



with you and Lizzie Porter?"

"I'M travellin' with her, that's all; and we're going to get married



in two years!"

Dave gave vent to another long, low whistle. He seemed to think



and make up his mind.

"Now, look here, Andy: we're old mates, ain't we?"



"Yes; I know that."

"And do you think I'd tell you a blanky lie, or crawl behind your back?



Do you? Spit it out!"

"N--no, I don't!"



"I've always stuck up for you, Andy, and -- why, I've fought for you

behind your back!"



"I know that, Dave."

"There's my hand on it!"



Andy took his friend's hand mechanically, but gripped it hard.

"Now, Andy, I'll tell you straight: It's Gorstruth about Lizzie Porter!"



They stood as they were for a full minute, hands clasped;

Andy with his jaw dropped and staring in a dazed sort of way at Dave.



He raised his disengaged hand helplessly to his thatch, gulped suspiciously,

and asked in a broken voice:



"How -- how do you know it, Dave?"

"Know it? Andy, I SEEN 'EM MESELF!"



"You did, Dave?" in a tone that suggested sorrow more than anger

at Dave's part in the seeing of them.



"Gorstruth, Andy!"

• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• sympathy [´simpəθi] n.同情，怜悯 (初中英语单词)


• sickness [´siknis] n.生病；呕吐，恶心 (初中英语单词)


• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)


• humour [´hju:mə] n.幽默，诙谐 (初中英语单词)


• conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)


• shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)


• occasional [ə´keiʒənəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (初中英语单词)


• reference [´refərəns] n.参考；参照；出处 (初中英语单词)


• sunset [´sʌnset] n.日落；晚霞 (初中英语单词)


• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)


• lonely [´ləunli] a.孤独的；无人烟的 (初中英语单词)


• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)


• evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)


• honestly [´ɔnistli] ad.诚实地，老实地 (初中英语单词)


• unlike [,ʌn´laik] a.不同的 prep.不象… (初中英语单词)


• mostly [´məustli] ad.主要地；多半；通常 (初中英语单词)


• helpless [´helpləs] a.无助的，无依靠的 (初中英语单词)


• hatred [´heitrid] n.憎恨，敌意 (初中英语单词)


• garment [´gɑ:mənt] n.衣服，外衣 (初中英语单词)


• boundary [´baundəri] n.界线，边界 (初中英语单词)


• whistle [´wisəl] v.吹哨 n.口哨；汽笛 (初中英语单词)


• prejudice [´predʒədis] n.偏见；不利 vt.损害 (高中英语单词)


• selection [si´lekʃən] n.选择；选拔；精选物 (高中英语单词)


• smother [´smʌðə] v.抑制；覆盖 n.浓烟 (高中英语单词)


• bucket [´bʌkit] n.水桶 (高中英语单词)


• shudder [´ʃʌdə] n.&vi.震颤；发抖 (高中英语单词)


• tyranny [´tirəni] n.暴政；专制政治 (高中英语单词)


• treachery [´tretʃəri] n.背叛；背信弃义 (高中英语单词)


• concerning [kən´sə:niŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)


• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)


• severely [si´viəli] ad.剧烈地；严格地 (高中英语单词)


• porter [´pɔ:tə] n.守门人；勤杂工人 (高中英语单词)


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• detect [di´tekt] vt.发觉；侦察 (高中英语单词)


• casual [´kæʒuəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (高中英语单词)


• reckless [´rekləs] a.不注意的；鲁莽的 (高中英语单词)


• hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)


• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)


• brighten [´braitn] v.(使)明亮；(使)愉快 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• shovel [´ʃʌvəl] n.铲子；铁锹 (高中英语单词)


• grimly [´grimli] ad.严厉地；坚强地 (高中英语单词)


• critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• upside [´ʌpsaid] n.上边，上段，上部 (英语四级单词)


• freckled [´frekld] a.有雀斑的，有斑点的 (英语四级单词)


• township [´taunʃip] n.乡；区 (英语四级单词)


• speckle [´spekəl] n.小斑点 vt.点缀 (英语四级单词)


• painfully [´peinfuli] ad.痛苦地；费力地 (英语四级单词)


• drought [draut] n.旱灾；干旱 (英语四级单词)


• automatically [ɔ:tə´mætikli] ad.自动地；无意识地 (英语四级单词)


• thatch [θætʃ] n.茅草屋顶 (英语四级单词)


• whimper [´wimpə] v.&n.啜泣(声) (英语六级单词)


• weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)


• hysterical [hi´sterikəl] a.歇斯底里的，癔病的 (英语六级单词)


• dishonest [dis´ɔnist] a.不诚实的 (英语六级单词)


• cyclone [´saikləun] n.旋风，飓风 (英语六级单词)


• calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)


• likelihood [´laiklihud] n.可能，相似性 (英语六级单词)


• privileged [´privilidʒd] a.有特权的；特许的 (英语六级单词)


• comical [´kɔmikəl] a.好笑的；怪里怪气的 (英语六级单词)


• impulsive [im´pʌlsiv] a.易冲动的 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• mechanically [mi´kænikəli] ad.机械地；无意识地 (英语六级单词)


• helplessly [´helplisli] ad.无能为力地 (英语六级单词)