The Virginian

第28章

“That’saboutit,“saidtheJudge。“Icangetonwithmostpeople。Butelephantsdepressme。“

SowenamedtheDoctor“Jumbo,“andIdepartedtomyquarters。

Atthebunkhouse,thecommentsweresimilarbutmorehighlysalted。Themenweregoingtobed。Inspiteoftheiroutwarddecorumattheservice,theyhadnotlikedtobetoldthattheywere“altogetherbecomefilthy。“Itwaseasytocallnames;theycoulddothatthemselves。Andtheyappealedtome,severalspeakingatonce,likeaconcertedpieceattheopera:“Say,doyoubelievebabiesgotohell?“——“Ah,ofcoursehedon’t。“——“Thereain’tnohereafter,anyway。“——“Ain’tthere?“——“Whotoldyu’?“——“Samemanastoldthepreacherwewereallasiftedsetofsons-of-guns。“——“Well,I’mgoingtostayaMormon。“——“Well,I’mgoingtoquitfleeingfromtemptation。“——“that’sso!Bettergetitintheneckafteragoodtimethanapoorone。“Andsoforth。Theirwitwasnotextreme,yetIshouldlikeDr。MacBridetohaveheardit。Onefellowputhisnaturalsoulprettywellintowords,“IfIhappenedtolearnwhattheyhadpredestinatedmetodo,I’ddotheotherthing,justtoshow’em!“

AndTrampas?AndtheVirginian?Theywereoutofit。TheVirginianhadgonestraighttohisnewabode。Trampaslayinhisbed,notasleep,andsullenasever。

“Heain’tgotreligionthistrip,“saidScipiotome。

“Didhisnewforemangetit?“Iasked。

“Huh!Itwouldspoilhim。Youkeeparoundthat’sall。Keeparound。“

Scipiowasnottobeprobed;andIwent,stillbaffled,tomyrepose。

NolightburnedinthecabinasIapproacheditsdoor。

TheVirginian’sroomwasquietanddark;andthatDr。MacBrideslumberedwasplainlyaudibletome,evenbeforeIentered。Gofishingwithhim!Ithought,asIundressed。AndIselfishlydecidedthattheJudgemighthavethisprivilegeentirelytohimself。Sleepcametomefairlysoon,inspiteoftheDoctor。I

waswakenedfromitbymybed’sbeingjolted——notapleasantthingthatnight。Imusthavestarted。AnditwasthequietvoiceoftheVirginianthattoldmehewassorrytohaveaccidentallydisturbedme。Thisdisturbedmeagooddealmore。Buthisstepsdidnotgotothebunkhouse,asmysensationalmindhadsuggested。Hewasnotwearingmuch,andinthedimnessheseemedtallerthancommon。InextmadeoutthathewasbendingoverDr。

MacBride。Thedivineatlastsprangupright。

“Iamarmed,“hesaid。“Takecare。Whoareyou?“

“Youcanlaydownyourgun,seh。Ifeellikemyspiritwasgoingtobearwitness。IfeellikeImightgetanenlightening。“

Hewasusingsomeofthemissionary’sownlanguage。ThebafflingIhadbeentreatedtobyScipiomeltedtonothinginthis。Didlivingmenpetrify,Ishouldhavechangedtomineralbetweenthesheets。TheDoctorgotoutofbed,lightedhislamp,andfoundabook;andthetworetiredintotheVirginian’sroom,whereI

couldheartheexhortationsasIlayamazed。IntimetheDoctorreturned,blewouthislamp,andsettledhimself。Ihadbeenverymuchawake,butwasnearlygonetosleepagain,whenthedoorcreakedandtheVirginianstoodbytheDoctor’sside。

“Areyouawake,seh?“

“What?What’sthat?Whatisit?“

“Excuseme,seh。Theenemyiswinningonme。I’mfeelinglessinwardoppositiontosin。“

Thelampwaslighted,andIlistenedtosomefurtherexhortations。Theymusthavetakenhalfanhour。WhentheDoctorwasinbedagain,IthoughtthatIheardhimsigh。Thisupsetmycomposureinthedark;butIlayfacedownwardinthepillow,andtheDoctorwassoonagainsnoring。Ienviedhimforawhilehisfacultyofeasysleep。ButImusthavedroppedoffmyself;foritwasthelampinmyeyesthatnowwakedmeashecamebackforthethirdtimefromtheVirginian’sroom。Beforeblowingthelightouthelookedathiswatch,andthereuponIinquiredthehourofhim。

“Three,“saidhe。

Icouldnotsleepanymorenow,andIlaywatchingthed

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