第24章

"Takeoffyourboots，Mr。Paine，"heurged。"Theoldlady’llfetchyouapairofmyslippersandsomesocksinaminute。She’llmakeyourwifecomf’table，too。She’sagreathandatmakin’folkscomf’table。Itellhershe’dmakeacakeoficefeeltohomeonahotstove。Shebeats——"

The"oldlady"herselfinterruptedhim，enteringwithabottleinonehandandalampintheother。

"Joshua！"shesaid，warningly。

"Well，whatisit，Betsy？"

"Becarefulhowyoutalk。"

"Talk！"withawinkatme。"Iwan’tgoin’tosaynothin’。"

"Yes，youwas。Mrs。Paine，youmustn’tmindhim。Heusedtogomateonafishin’schoonerand，fromallIcanlearn，theyuseprettystronglanguageaboardtheseboats。"

"Pickitupsameasapollparrot，"cutinherhusband。"Comesnaturalwhenyou’rehandlin’wettrawllineinFebruary。Can’tseemtogetnocomfortoutofanythingmilder。"

"He’sarealgood—heartedman，Joshuais，andaprofession’churchmember，buthedoesswearmore’nheoughtto。But，asItelltheminister，hedon’tmeannothin’byit。"

"Notadamnthing！"saidMr。Atwood，reassuringly。Thebottle，itappeared，containedJamaicaginger，aliberaldoseofwhichMrs。

Atwoodinsisteduponourtakingasaprecautionagainstcatchingcold。

"There’snothin’better，"shesaid。

"Youbetthereain’t！"thisfromthelightkeeper。"Abodycan’tgetwithinfortyfathomsofacoldwithaswallowofthatamidships。

It’shotterthan——"

"Joshua！"

"TheFourthofJuly，"concludedherhusband，triumphantly。

"Andnow，Mrs。Paine，"wentontheladyofthehouse，"yourroom’sallready。I’velaidoutsomedrythingsforyouonthebedandsomeofJoshua’s，too。Youandyourhusband——"

Ithoughtithightimetoexplain。

"Theladyisnotmywife，"Isaid，quickly。

"Sheain’t！Why，IthoughtJoshuasaid——"

"He——er——madeamistake。SheisMissColton，asummerresidentandneighborofmineinDenboro。"

"Sho！youdon’tsay！That’sjustlikeyou，Joshua！"

"Justlikeme！Well，how’dIknow？Ibegyourpardon，Miss，I’msure。Shan’tbegyourhus——ImeanMr。Paine’spardon；heoughttothankmeforthecompliment。Haw！haw！"

MissColtonherselfmadethenextremark。

"Ifmyroomisready，Mrs。Atwood，"shesaid，，withoutevenaglanceinmydirection，"IthinkIwillgotoit。IAMratherwet。"

"Wet！Landsakes，yes！Iguessyoube！Comerightin，Joshua，takethemclothesofyoursintoourroomandletMr。Paineput’emon。"

Herhusbandobeyedorders。AfterIwasaloneintheroomtowhichheconductedmeandenjoyingtheluxuryofdrysocks，Iheardhimjustifyinghismistakeinstentoriantones。

"Icouldn’thelpit，Betsy，"Iheardhimsay。"Itookitforgrantedtheywasmarried。WhenIhovealongsidethatmotorboattheywasa—settin’closeuptogetherinthesternsheetsandso，ofcourse，Ithought——"

"Youhadn’tanybusinessto。Youmadethatpooryoungladyblushsomethin’dreadful。Mostlikelythey’rejustkeepin’company——orengaged，orsomethin’。Yououghttobemorecareful。"

Iwonderediftheyoungladyherselfheardallthis。Ididn’tseehowshecouldhelpit。

Kinder—heartedpeoplethanthesetwoneverlived，Idobelieve。Itwasafterthreeinthemorning，bothhadbeenupallnight，wewereabsolutestrangerstothem，andyet，withoutawordofcomplaint，theygavetheremainderofthehoursbeforedaylighttomakinguscomfortable。WhenIdressedasmuchofmyselfasasuitofMr。

Atwood’s——hisSundaybest，Ipresume——wouldcover，and，withapairofcarpetslippersaboutthesizeandshapeoftoyferryboatsonmyfeet，emergedfromthebedroom，Ifoundthetablesetinthekitchen，theteapotsteamingandMrs。Atwoodcooking"spiderbread"

onthestove。WhenMissColton，lookingsurprisinglypresentable——

consideringthatshe，too，waswearingborrowedapparelfoursizestoolargeforher——madeherappearance，wesatdowntoasimplemealwhich，Ithink，wasthemostappetizingIevertasted。

TheAtwoodswereburstingwithcuriosityconcerningourgettingadriftinthemotorboat。Idescribedtheadventurebriefly。WhenItoldofLute’sforgetfulnessinthematterofgasolenethelightkeeperthumpedthetable。

"There，bygodfreys！"heexclaimed。"Icouldseeitcomin’！Thatfeller’sforalltheworldlikeacookIhadonceaboardtheEzryH。Jones。Thatcookwasthebiggestnumskullthateverdrawedthebreathoflife。Alwaysforgettin’somethin’，hewas，andalwaysatthemostinconvenienttime。Once，ifyou’llbelieveit，Ihadaskipperofanothervesselcomeaboardand，wishin’tobesortofhospitable，asyoumightsay，Iofferedhimaglassofrum。"

"Joshua！"

"Oh，it’sallright，Betsy。Thiswasyearsago。I’masgoodateetotalernowasyoube，andIneverwaswhatyou’dcallasoak。

ButI’veSEENfellers——Why，Iknewoneoncethatusedtogotobedinthedark。Hewassofullofalcoholhedidn’tdasttolightamatchfearhe’dcatcha—fire。Fact！Hewaseighty—oddthen，andhelivedtobenighahundred。Preserved，youunderstand，sameasoneofthemspecimensinamuseum。He’dkeptforever，Ical’late，ifhehadn’tfelloffthedock。Thewaterfixedhim；hewasn’tusedtoit。Hewasthewust——"

"Nevermindhim。Sticktothecook。"

"Yes，yes。Well，Isentthatcookfortherumandwhenhefetchedit，Ithoughtitsmeltfunny。AndwhenITASTEDit——godfreys！

’Twasbayrum；yes，sir，bayrum！sameastheyputonyourhair。

Yousee，he’dforgottobuyanyrumwhenwewasinourlastportand，havin’thebayrumalonghefetchedthat。’TwasSOMEkindofrumandthatwasenoughforhim。IWASmad，butthatvisitin’

skipper，hedidn’tcare。Drankitdownandsmackedhislips。’I’maStateofMaineman，’hesays，’andthat’saprohibitionstate。

Thistasteslikehome，’hesays。’Ifyoudon’tmindI’llhelpmyselftoanother。’’Idon’tmind，’saysI，’butI’msorryIain’tgotanyhair—ile。IfIhadyoumighthaveabarber—shoptoddy。’

Yes，sir！Ho—ho！that’swhatIsaid。Buthedidn’tmind。Hewas——"

Andsoon。Theyarnswerenotelegant，but，ashetoldthem，theywerefunny。MabelColtonlaughedasheartilyastherestofus。

Sheappearedtobeinfinespirits。ShetalkedwiththeAtwoods，answeredtheirquestions，andatethehot"spiderbread"andbutterasifshehadnevertastedanythingasgood。Butwithmeshewouldnottalk。WheneverIaddressedaremarktoher，sheturneditwithalaughandhernextspeechwasprettycertaintobeaddressedtothelightkeeperorhiswife。Asforouradventureinthelaunch，thatshetreatedasajoke。

"Wan’tyouawfulscaredwhenthatsquallstrucksosudden？"

inquiredMrs。Atwood。

"Dreadfully。"

"Humph！"thisfromJoshua；"Ical’lateMr。Painewassomescarttoo。Whatdidyoudo，Mr。Paine？"

"Iriggedthatcanvasontheoarassoonaspossible，"Ianswered。

"Um—hm。Thatwasgoodjudgment。"

"Tellme，Mr。Atwood，"askedtheyoungladyinnocently，"areallseafaringmenverydictatorialundersuchcircumstances？"

"Very——which？"

"Imeandotheyorderpeopleaboutandmakethemdoallsortsofthings，whethertheywishtoornot？"

"Sartin。Godfreys！IneveraskednobodywhattheywishedaboardtheEzryH。Jones。"

"Anddotheytellthemto’sitdownandkeepstill’？"

"Gen’rallytheytell’emtogetupandkeepmovin’。Iftheydon’ttheystart’emprettylively——witharope’send。"

"Isee。Evenwhentheyare——ladies？"

"Ladies？Godfreys！weneverhadbutonewomanaboardtheEzry。

Hadtheskipper’swifeonev’yage，butnobodyeverorderedheraroundanytospeakof。Shewassixfeettallandweighedtwohundred。Allhandswasscarttodeathofher。"

"Supposeshehadbeenorderedto’sitdownandkeepstill’；whatdoyouthinkwouldhavehappened？"

"Don’tknow。If’twasoneofthehandsIguesslikelyshe’dhavehovehimoverboard。If’twastheskipperIshouldn’twonderifshe’dhaveknockedhimdown——aftershegotoverthesurpriseofhisdarin’todosuch，athing。ShehadHIMtrained，Itellye！"

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节