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The Faith of Men-Part19_JACK LONDON(1876-1916)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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arms in his sleep. For Neil Bonner was only a man. When she first



came into the store, he looked at her long, as a thirsty man may

look at a flowing well. And she, with the heritage bequeathed her



by Spike O'Brien, imagined daringly and smiled up into his eyes,

not as the swart-skinned peoples should smile at the royal races,



but as a woman smiles at a man. The thing was inevitable; only, he

did not see it, and fought against her as fiercely and passionately



as he was drawn towards her. And she? She was Jees Uck, by

upbringing wholly and utterly a Toyaat Indian woman.



She came often to the post to trade. And often she sat by the big

wood stove and chatted in broken English with Neil Bonner. And he



came to look for her coming; and on the days she did not come he

was worried and restless. Sometimes he stopped to think, and then



she was met coldly, with a resolve that perplexed and piqued her,

and which, she was convinced, was not sincere. But more often he



did not dare to think, and then all went well and there were smiles

and laughter. And Amos Pentley, gasping like a stranded catfish,



his hollow cough a-reek with the grave, looked upon it all and

grinned. He, who loved life, could not live, and it rankled his



soul that others should be able to live. Wherefore he hated

Bonner, who was so very much alive and into whose eyes sprang joy



at the sight of Jees Uck. As for Amos, the very thought of the

girl was sufficient to send his blood pounding up into a



hemorrhage.

Jees Uck, whose mind was simple, who thought elementally and was



unused to weighing life in its subtler quantities, read Amos

Pentley like a book. She warned Bonner, openly and bluntly, in few



words; but the complexities of higher existence confused the

situation to him, and he laughed at her evidentanxiety. To him,



Amos was a poor, miserable devil, tottering desperately into the

grave. And Bonner, who had suffered much, found it easy to forgive



greatly.

But one morning, during a bitter snap, he got up from the



breakfast-table and went into the store. Jees Uck was already

there, rosy from the trail, to buy a sack of flour. A few minutes



later, he was out in the snow lashing the flour on her sled. As he

bent over he noticed a stiffness in his neck and felt a premonition



of impendingphysicalmisfortune. And as he put the last half-

hitch into the lashing and attempted to straighten up, a quick



spasm seized him and he sank into the snow. Tense and quivering,

head jerked back, limbs extended, back arched and mouth twisted and



distorted, he appeared as though being racked limb from limb.

Without cry or sound, Jees Uck was in the snow beside him; but he



clutched both her wrists spasmodically, and as long as the

convulsion endured she was helpless. In a few moments the spasm



relaxed and he was left weak and fainting, his forehead beaded with

sweat, and his lips flecked with foam.



"Quick!" he muttered, in a strange, hoarse voice. "Quick!

Inside!"



He started to crawl on hands and knees, but she raised him up, and,

supported by her young arm, he made faster progress. As he entered



the store the spasm seized him again, and his body writhed

irresistibly away from her and rolled and curled on the floor.



Amos Pentley came and looked on with curious eyes.

"Oh, Amos!" she cried in an agony of apprehension and helplessness,



"him die, you think?" But Amos shrugged his shoulders and

continued to look on.



Bonner's body went slack, the tense muscles easing down and an

expression of relief coming into his face. "Quick!" he gritted



between his teeth, his mouth twisting with the on-coming of the

next spasm and with his effort to control it. "Quick, Jees Uck!



The medicine! Never mind! Drag me!"

She knew where the medicine-chest stood, at the rear of the room



beyond the stove, and thither, by the legs, she dragged the

struggling man. As the spasm passed he began, very faint and very



sick, to overhaul the chest. He had seen dogs die exhibiting

symptoms similar to his own, and he knew what should be done. He



held up a vial of chloral hydrate, but his fingers were too weak

and nerveless to draw the cork. This Jees Uck did for him, while






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