ahead of the mail-sacks, inquiring after her brother, and all that crowd

around staring. Why, we can't let her do that; she can't do that. If you



don't feel so interfering, I'm good for this job myself." And Mr. McLean

took the lead and marched jingling in to supper.



The seat he had coveted was vacant. On either side the girl were empty

chairs, two or three; for with that clean, shy respect of the frontier



that divines and evades a good woman, the dusty company had sat itself at

a distance, and Mr. McLean's best seat was open to him. Yet he had veered



away to the other side of the table, and his usually roving eye attempted

no gallantry. He ate sedately, and it was not until after long weeks and



many happenings that Miss Buckner told Lin she had known he was looking

at her through the whole of this meal. The straw-hatted proprietor came



and went, bearing beefsteak hammered flat to make it tender. The girl

seemed the one happy person among us; for supper was going forward with



the invariable alkalietiquette, all faces brooding and feeding amid a

disheartening silence as of guilt or bereavement that springs from I have



never been quite sure what--perhaps reversion to the native animal

absorbed in his meat, perhaps a little from every guest's uneasiness lest



he drink his coffee wrong or stumble in the accepted uses of the fork.

Indeed, a diffident, uncleansed youth nearest Miss Buckner presently



wiped his mouth upon the cloth; and Mr. McLean, knowing better than that,

eyed him for this conduct in the presence of a lady. The lively strength



of the butter must, I think, have reached all in the room; at any rate,

the table-cloth lad, troubled by Mr. McLean's eye, now relieved the



general silence by observing, chattily:

"Say, friends, that butter ain't in no trance."



"If it's too rich for you," croaked the enraged proprietor, "use

axle-dope."



The company continued gravely feeding, while I struggled to preserve the

decorum of sadness, and Miss Buckner's face was also unsteady. But



sternness mantled in the countenance of Mr. McLean, until the harmless

boy, embarrassed to pieces, offered the untasted smelling-dish to Lin, to



me, helped himself, and finally thrust the plate at the girl, saying, in

his Texas idiom,



"Have butter."

He spoke in the shell voice of adolescence, and on "butter" cracked an



octave up into the treble. Miss Buckner was speechless, and could only

shake her head at the plate.



Mr. McLean, however, thought she was offended. "She wouldn't choose for

none," he said to the youth, with appalling calm. "Thank yu' most to



death."

"I guess," fluted poor Texas, in a dove falsetto, "it would go slicker



rubbed outside than swallered."

At this Miss Buckner broke from the table and fled out of the house.



"You don't seem to know anything," observed Mr. McLean. "What toy-shop

did you escape from?"



"Wind him up! Wind him up!" said the proprietor, sticking his head in

from the kitchen.



"Ah, what's the matter with this outfit?" screamed the boy, furiously.

"Can't yu' leave a man eat? Can't yu' leave him be? You make me sick!"



And he flounced out with his young boots.

All the while the company fed on unmoved. Presently one remarked,



"Who's hiring him?"

"The C. Y. outfit," said another.



"Half-circle L.," a third corrected.

"I seen one like him onced," said the first, taking his hat from beneath



his chair. "Up in the Black Hills he was. Eighteen seventy-nine. Gosh!"

And he wandered out upon his business. One by one the others also



silently dispersed.

Upon going out, Lin and I found the boy pacing up and down, eagerly in



talk with Miss Buckner. She had made friends with him, and he was now

smoothed down and deeply absorbed, being led by her to tell her about



himself. But on Lin's approach his face clouded, and he made off for the

corrals, displaying a sullen back, while I was presenting Mr. McLean to



the lady.

Overtaken by his cow-puncher shyness, Lin was greeting her with ungainly



ceremony, when she began at once, "You'll excuse me, but I just had to

have my laugh."



"That's all right, m'm," said he; "don't mention it."

"For that boy, you know--"



"I'll fix him, m'm. He'll not insult yu' no more. I'll speak to him."

"Now, please don't! Why--why--you were every bit as bad!" Miss Buckner



pealed out, joyously. "It was the two of you. Oh dear!"

Mr. McLean looked crestfallen. "I had no--I didn't go to--"



"Why, there was no harm! To see him mean so well and you mean so well,

and--I know I ought to behave better!"

• whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)


• invest [in´vest] v.投资；授予 (初中英语单词)


• wilderness [´wildənis] n.荒地，荒野 (初中英语单词)


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


• fasten [´fɑ:sən] v.扎牢；闩住；钉牢 (初中英语单词)


• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)


• useless [´ju:sləs] a.无用的，无价值的 (初中英语单词)


• politics [´pɔlitiks] n.政治(学)；政治活动 (初中英语单词)


• lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)


• columbia [kə´lʌmbiə] n.哥伦比亚 (初中英语单词)


• affection [ə´fekʃən] n.友爱；慈爱 (初中英语单词)


• virginia [və´dʒinjə] n.佛吉尼亚(州) (初中英语单词)


• abruptly [ə´brʌptli] ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词)


• forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)


• shortly [´ʃɔ:tli] ad.立刻，马上；不久 (初中英语单词)


• hooked [hukt] a.钩状的；上瘾的 (初中英语单词)


• lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)


• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)


• vacant [´veikənt] a.空虚的，无表情的 (初中英语单词)


• stumble [´stʌmbəl] v.摔倒；失足；弄错 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• lively [´laivli] a.活泼的；热烈的 (初中英语单词)


• gravely [´greivli] ad.庄重地，严肃地 (初中英语单词)


• preserve [pri´zə:v] v.保藏 n.保藏物 (初中英语单词)


• countenance [´kauntinəns] n.面部表情；脸色；面容 (初中英语单词)


• thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)


• eagerly [´i:gəli] ad.渴望地，急切地 (初中英语单词)


• insult [in´sʌlt, ´insʌlt] n.&vt.侮辱；损害 (初中英语单词)


• behave [bi´heiv] v.举止；表现；举止端正 (初中英语单词)


• headlong [´hedlɔŋ] ad.&a.轻率地(的) (高中英语单词)


• forlorn [fə´lɔ:n] a.被遗弃的；绝望的 (高中英语单词)


• eldest [´eldist] a.最年长的 (高中英语单词)


• studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)


• salmon [´sæmən] n.鲑，大马哈鱼 (高中英语单词)


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


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


• proprietor [prə´praiətə] n.所有人；业主；经营者 (高中英语单词)


• decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)


• convict [kən´vikt, ´kɔnvikt] vt.证明…有罪 n.罪犯 (高中英语单词)


• buffalo [´bʌfələu] n.水牛；野牛 (高中英语单词)


• post-office [´pəust-´ɔfis] a.邮政的 (高中英语单词)


• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)


• sadness [´sædnis] n.悲哀；悲痛；凄惨 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)


• marshal [´mɑ:ʃəl] n.(陆军)元帅 (英语四级单词)


• overalls [´əuvərɔ:lz] n.工装裤；工作裤 (英语四级单词)


• chicago [ʃi´kɑ:gəu] n.芝加哥 (英语四级单词)


• devoted [di´vəutid] a.献身…的，忠实的 (英语四级单词)


• dearly [´diəli] ad.深深地(爱等)；昂贵 (英语四级单词)


• scrape [skreip] v.&n.刮，削，擦；搔 (英语四级单词)


• uneasiness [ʌn´i:zinis] n.不安，担忧；不自在 (英语四级单词)


• speechless [´spi:tʃləs] a.说不出话的 (英语四级单词)


• appalling [ə´pɔ:liŋ] a.令人震惊的 (英语四级单词)


• blameless [´bleimlis] a.无可责难的 (英语六级单词)


• accidentally [,æksi´dentəli] ad.偶然地 (英语六级单词)


• doubly [´dʌbli] ad.加倍地，双重地 (英语六级单词)


• hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)


• uneasily [ʌn´i:zili] ad.不安地；局促地 (英语六级单词)


• plaintive [´pleintiv] a.表示哀怨(悲痛) (英语六级单词)


• alkali [´ælkəlai] n.(化学)碱 (英语六级单词)


• etiquette [´etiket] n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 (英语六级单词)


• cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)


• treble [´trebəl] a.&n.三倍(重)的 (英语六级单词)


• unmoved [ʌn´mu:vd] a.无动于衷的；坚定的 (英语六级单词)


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


• joyously [´dʒɔiəsli] ad.快乐地，高兴地 (英语六级单词)