【英文文学】The Rustlers of Pecos County.docx

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1、【英文文学】The Rustlers of Pecos CountyChapter 1 VAUGHN STEELE AND RUSS SITTELLIn the morning, after breakfasting early, I took a turn up and down the main street of Sanderson, made observations and got information likely to serve me at some future day, and then I returned to the hotel ready for what mig

2、ht happen.The stage-coach was there and already full of passengers. This stage did not go to Linrock, but I had found that another one left for that point three days a week.Several cowboy broncos stood hitched to a railing and a little farther down were two buckboards, with horses that took my eye.

3、These probably were the teams Colonel Sampson had spoken of to George Wright.As I strolled up, both men came out of the hotel. Wright saw me, and making an almost imperceptible sign to Sampson, he walked toward me.Youre the cowboy Russ? he asked.I nodded and looked him over. By day he made as striki

4、ng a figure as I had noted by night, but the light was not generous to his dark face.Heres your pay, he said, handing me some bills. Miss Sampson wont need you out at the ranch any more.What do you mean? This is the first Ive heard about that.Sorry, kid. Thats it, he said abruptly. She just gave me

5、the moneytold me to pay you off. You neednt bother to speak with her about it.He might as well have said, just as politely, that my seeing her, even to say good-by, was undesirable.As my luck would have it, the girls appeared at the moment, and I went directly up to them, to be greeted in a manner I

6、 was glad George Wright could not help but see.In Miss Sampsons smile and Good morning, Russ, there was not the slightest discoverable sign that I was not to serve her indefinitely.It was as I had expectedshe knew nothing of Wrights discharging me in her name.Miss Sampson, I said, in dismay, what ha

7、ve I done? Why did you let me go?She looked astonished.Russ, I dont understand you.Why did you discharge me? I went on, trying to look heart-broken. I havent had a chance yet. I wanted so much to work for youMiss Sally, what have I done? Why did she discharge me?I did not, declared Miss Sampson, her

8、 dark eyes lighting.But look hereheres my pay, I went on, exhibiting the money. Mr. Wright just came to mesaid you sent this moneythat you wouldnt need me out at the ranch.It was Miss Sally then who uttered a little exclamation. Miss Sampson seemed scarcely to have believed what she had heard.My cou

9、sin Mr. Wright said that?I nodded vehemently.At this juncture Wright strode before me, practically thrusting me aside.Come girls, lets walk a little before we start, he said gaily. Ill show you Sanderson.Wait, please, Miss Sampson replied, looking directly at him. Cousin George, I think theres a mis

10、takeperhaps a misunderstanding. Heres the cowboy Ive engagedMr. Russ. He declares you gave him moneytold him I discharged him.Yes, cousin, I did, he replied, his voice rising a little. There was a tinge of red in his cheek. Weyou dont need him out at the ranch. Weve any numbers of boys. I just told

11、him thatlet him down easydidnt want to bother you.Certain it was that George Wright had made a poor reckoning. First she showed utter amaze, then distinct disappointment, and then she lifted her head with a kind of haughty grace. She would have addressed him then, had not Colonel Sampson come up.Pap

12、a, did you instruct Cousin George to discharge Russ? she asked.I sure didnt, declared the colonel, with a laugh. George took that upon his own hands.Indeed! Id like my cousin to understand that Im my own mistress. Ive been accustomed to attending to my own affairs and shall continue doing so. Russ,

13、Im sorry youve been treated this way. Please, in future, take your orders from me.Then Im to go to Linrock with you? I asked.Assuredly. Ride with Sally and me to-day, please.She turned away with Sally, and they walked toward the first buckboard.Colonel Sampson found a grim enjoyment in Wrights disco

14、mfiture.Dianes like her mother was, George, he said. Youve made a bad start with her.Here Wright showed manifestation of the Sampson temper, and I took him to be a dangerous man, with unbridled passions.Russ, heres my own talk to you, he said, hard and dark, leaning toward me. Dont go to Linrock.Say

15、, Mr. Wright, I blustered for all the world like a young and frightened cowboy, If you threaten me Ill have you put in jail!Both men seemed to have received a slight shock. Wright hardly knew what to make of my boyish speech. Are you going to Linrock? he asked thickly.I eyed him with an entirely dif

16、ferent glance from my other fearful one.I should smile, was my reply, as caustic as the most reckless cowboys, and I saw him shake.Colonel Sampson laid a restraining hand upon Wright. Then they both regarded me with undisguised interest. I sauntered away.George, your temperll do for you some day, I

17、heard the colonel say. Youll get in bad with the wrong man some time. Hello, here are Joe and Brick!Mention of these fellows engaged my attention once more.I saw two cowboys, one evidently getting his name from his brick-red hair. They were the roistering type, hard drinkers, devil-may-care fellows,

18、 packing guns and wearing bold frontsa kind that the Rangers always called four-flushes.However, as the Rangers standard of nerve was high, there was room left for cowboys like these to be dangerous to ordinary men.The little one was Joe, and directly Wright spoke to him he turned to look at me, and

19、 his thin mouth slanted down as he looked. Brick eyed me, too, and I saw that he was heavy, not a hard-riding cowboy.Here right at the start were three enemies for meWright and his cowboys. But it did not matter; under any circumstances there would have been friction between such men and me.I believ

20、ed there might have been friction right then had not Miss Sampson called for me.Get our baggage, Russ, she said.I hurried to comply, and when I had fetched it out Wright and the cowboys had mounted their horses, Colonel Sampson was in the one buckboard with two men I had not before observed, and the

21、 girls were in the other.The driver of this one was a tall, lanky, tow-headed youth, growing like a Texas weed. We had not any too much room in the buckboard, but that fact was not going to spoil the ride for me.We followed the leaders through the main street, out into the open, on to a wide, hard-p

22、acked road, showing years of travel. It headed northwest.To our left rose the range of low, bleak mountains I had noted yesterday, and to our right sloped the mesquite-patched sweep of ridge and flat.The driver pushed his team to a fast trot, which gait surely covered ground rapidly. We were close b

23、ehind Colonel Sampson, who, from his vehement gestures, must have been engaged in very earnest colloquy with his companions.The girls behind me, now that they were nearing the end of the journey, manifested less interest in the ride, and were speculating upon Linrock, and what it would be like. Occa

24、sionally I asked the driver a question, and sometimes the girls did likewise; but, to my disappointment, the ride seemed not to be the same as that of yesterday.Every half mile or so we passed a ranch house, and as we traveled on these ranches grew further apart, until, twelve or fifteen miles out o

25、f Sanderson, they were so widely separated that each appeared alone on the wild range.We came to a stream that ran north and I was surprised to see a goodly volume of water. It evidently flowed down from the mountain far to the west.Tufts of grass were well scattered over the sandy ground, but it wa

26、s high and thick, and considering the immense area in sight, there was grazing for a million head of stock.We made three stops in the forenoon, one at a likely place to water the horses, the second at a chuckwagon belonging to cowboys who were riding after stock, and the third at a small cluster of

27、adobe and stone houses, constituting a hamlet the driver called Sampson, named after the Colonel. From that point on to Linrock there were only a few ranches, each one controlling great acreage.Early in the afternoon from a ridgetop we sighted Linrock, a green path in the mass of gray. For the barre

28、ns of Texas it was indeed a fair sight.But I was more concerned with its remoteness from civilization than its beauty. At that time in the early seventies, when the vast western third of Texas was a wilderness, the pioneer had done wonders to settle there and establish places like Linrock.As we roll

29、ed swiftly along, the whole sweeping range was dotted with cattle, and farther on, within a few miles of town, there were droves of horses that brought enthusiastic praise from Miss Sampson and her cousin.Plenty of room here for the long rides, I said, waving a hand at the gray-green expanse. Your h

30、orses wont suffer on this range.She was delighted, and her cousin for once seemed speechless.Thats the ranch, said the driver, pointing with his whip.It needed only a glance for me to see that Colonel Sampsons ranch was on a scale fitting the country.The house was situated on the only elevation arou

31、nd Linrock, and it was not high, nor more than a few minutes walk from the edge of town.It was a low, flat-roofed structure, made of red adobe bricks and covered what appeared to be fully an acre of ground. All was green about it except where the fenced corrals and numerous barns or sheds showed gra

32、y and red.Wright and the cowboys disappeared ahead of us in the cottonwood trees. Colonel Sampson got out of the buckboard and waited for us. His face wore the best expression I had seen upon it yet. There was warmth and love, and something that approached sorrow or regret.His daughter was agitated,

33、 too. I got out and offered my seat, which Colonel Sampson took.It was scarcely a time for me to be required, or even noticed at all, and I took advantage of it and turned toward the town.Ten minutes of leisurely walking brought me to the shady outskirts of Linrock and I entered the town with mingle

34、d feelings of curiosity, eagerness, and expectation.The street I walked down was not a main one. There were small, red houses among oaks and cottonwoods.I went clear through to the other side, probably more than half a mile. I crossed a number of intersecting streets, met children, nice-looking wome

35、n, and more than one dusty-booted man.Half-way back this street I turned at right angles and walked up several blocks till I came to a tree-bordered plaza. On the far side opened a broad street which for all its horses and people had a sleepy look.I walked on, alert, trying to take in everything, wo

36、ndering if I would meet Steele, wondering how I would know him if we did meet. But I believed I could have picked that Ranger out of a thousand strangers, though I had never seen him.Presently the residences gave place to buildings fronting right upon the stone sidewalk. I passed a grain store, a ha

37、rdware store, a grocery store, then several unoccupied buildings and a vacant corner.The next block, aside from the rough fronts of the crude structures, would have done credit to a small town even in eastern Texas. Here was evidence of business consistent with any prosperous community of two thousa

38、nd inhabitants.The next block, on both sides of the street, was a solid row of saloons, resorts, hotels. Saddled horses stood hitched all along the sidewalk in two long lines, with a buckboard and team here and there breaking the continuity. This block was busy and noisy.From all outside appearances

39、, Linrock was no different from other frontier towns, and my expectations were scarcely realized.As the afternoon was waning I retraced my steps and returned to the ranch. The driver boy, whom I had heard called Dick, was looking for me, evidently at Miss Sampsons order, and he led me up to the hous

40、e.It was even bigger than I had conceived from a distance, and so old that the adobe bricks were worn smooth by rain and wind. I had a glimpse in at several doors as we passed by.There was comfort here that spoke eloquently of many a freighters trip from Del Rio. For the sake of the young ladies, I

41、was glad to see things little short of luxurious for that part of the country.At the far end of the house Dick conducted me to a little room, very satisfactory indeed to me. I asked about bunk-houses for the cowboys, and he said they were full to overflowing.Colonel Sampson has a big outfit, eh?Reck

42、on he has, replied Dick. Don know how many cowboys. Theyre always comin an goin. I aint acquainted with half of them.Much movement of stock these days?Stocks always movin, he replied with a queer look.Rustlers?But he did not follow up that look with the affirmative I expected.Lively place, I hearLin

43、rock is?Aint so lively as Sanderson, but its bigger.Yes, I heard it was. Fellow down there was talking about two cowboys who were arrested.Sure. I heerd all about thet. Joe Bean an Brick Higginsthey belong heah, but they aint heah much.I did not want Dick to think me overinquisitive, so I turned the

44、 talk into other channels. It appeared that Miss Sampson had not left any instructions for me, so I was glad to go with Dick to supper, which we had in the kitchen.Dick informed me that the cowboys prepared their own meals down at the bunks; and as I had been given a room at the ranch-house he suppo

45、sed I would get my meals there, too.After supper I walked all over the grounds, had a look at the horses in the corrals, and came to the conclusion that it would be strange if Miss Sampson did not love her new home, and if her cousin did not enjoy her sojourn there. From a distance I saw the girls a

46、pproaching with Wright, and not wishing to meet them I sheered off.When the sun had set I went down to the town with the intention of finding Steele.This task, considering I dared not make inquiries and must approach him secretly, might turn out to be anything but easy.While it was still light, I st

47、rolled up and down the main street. When darkness set in I went into a hotel, bought cigars, sat around and watched, without any clue.Then I went into the next place. This was of a rough crude exterior, but the inside was comparatively pretentious, and ablaze with lights.It was full of men, coming a

48、nd goinga dusty-booted crowd that smelled of horses and smoke.I sat down for a while, with wide eyes and open ears. Then I hunted up a saloon, where most of the guests had been or were going. I found a great square room lighted by six huge lamps, a bar at one side, and all the floor space taken up by