下载辰思小说免费APP
“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