第28章

Theywerealonenow，andtheybothsatexpectantly。“You’peartothink，Mother，thatI’maginyergoin’。““Waal，itwouldkinderseemasify’hadn’thustledyerselfanyt’helpmegitoff。“

Hewassmartingunderthesenseofbeingwronged。“Waal，I’mjestaswillin’youshouldgoasIamformyself；butifIain’tgotnomoney，Idon’tseehowI’mgoin’tosend-“

“Idon’twantyetosend；nobodyastyeto，EthanRipley。IguessifI

hadwhatI’veearntsincewecameonthisfarm，I’dhaveenoughtogotoJerichowith。“

“You’vegotasmuchoutofitasIhave。Youtalkaboutyourgom’

back。Ain’tIbeenwantin’togobackmyself？Andain’tIkep’still’causeIseeitwa’n’tnouse？IguessI’veworkedjestaslongandashardasyou，an’instormsan’mudan’heat，efitcomest’that。“

Thewomanwasstaggered，butshewouldn’tgiveup；shemustgetmonemorethrust。

“Waal，ifyou’d’amanagedaswellasIhave，you’dhavesomemoneytogowith。“Andsherose，andwenttomixherbread，andsetit“raisin’。“Hesatbythefiretwanginghisfiddlesoftly。Hewasplainlythrownintogloomyretrospectlon，somethingquiteunusualforhim。Buthisfingerspickingoutthebarsofafamiliartunesethimtosmiling，and，whippinghisbowacrossthestrings，heforgotallabouthiswife’sresolutionsandhisownhardships。Troublealwaysslidoffhisbacklike“punkinsoffahaystack“anyway。

Theoldmanstillsatfiddlingsoftlyafterhiswifedisappearedinthehotandstuffylittlebedroomoffthekitchen。Hisshaggyheadbentloweroverhisviolin。Heheardhershoesdrop-one，two。

Prettysoonshecalled：

“Come，putupthatsqueakin’oldfiddleandgotobed。Seemsasifyouortahavesenseenoughnottosettherekeepin’everybodyinthehouseawake。“

“Youhushup，“retortedhe。“I’llcomewhenIgitready，nottill。I’llbegladwhenyou’regone-“

“Yes，Iwarrantthat。“

Withwhicharniablegoodnlghttheywentofftosleep，oratleastshedid，whilehelayawake，ponderingon“whereunderthesunshewasgoin’t’raisethatmoney。“

Thenextdayshewasupbrightandearly，workingawayonherownaffairs，ignoringRipleytotally，thefixedlookofresolutlonstillonherlittleoldwrinkledface。ShekilledahenanddressedandbakeditShefriedupapanofdoughnutsandmadeacake。Shewasengagedonthedoughnutswhenaneighborcamein，oneofthosewomenwhotakeitasapersonalaffrontwhenanyoneintheneighborhooddoesanythingwithoutaskingtheiradvice。Shewasfat，andcouldtalkamanblindinthreeminutesbythewatch。

“What’sthisIhear，Mis’Ripley？“

“Idunknow。Iexpectyouhearaboutalltheyisgoin’oninthisneighborhood，“repliedMrs。Ripleywithcrushingbluntness；butthegossipdidnotflinch。

“Well，SettTurnertoldmethatherhusbandtoldherthatRipleytoldhimthatyouwasgoin’backEastonavisit。“

“Waal，whatofit？“

“Well，airyeh？“

“TheLordwillin’an’theweatherpermitin’，Iexpecttobe。“

“Goodland，Iwanttoknow!Well，well!Ineverwassoastonishedinmylife。Isaid，saysI，’Itcan’tbe。’’Well，’ses’e，’tha’swhatshetoldme，’ses’e。’But，’sesI，’sheisthelastwomanintheworldtogogallivantin’offEast，’sesI。An’seshe，’Butitcomesfromgoodauthority，’seshe。’Well，then，itmustbeso，’sesI。But，landsakes!

dotellmeallaboutit。Howcomeyoutomakeupy’rmind？Ailtheseyearsyou’vebeenkinda-talkin’itover，an’nowy’ractshellygoin’-Waal，Inever!’Is’poseRipleyfurnishesthemoney，’sesItohim。’Well，no，’ses’e。’Ripleysayshe’llbeblowedifheseeswherethemoney’scomin’from，’ses’e；andsesI，’Butmaybeshe’sjestjokin’，’sesI。’Notmuch，’hesays。S’’e：’Ripleybelievesshe’sgoin’

fastenough。He’sjestasanxioustofindoutaswebe-’“

HereMrs。Doudneypausedforbreath；shehadwalkedsofastandhadrestedsolittlethatherinterminableflowof“sesI’s“and“seshe’s“ceasednecessarily。She

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节