登陆注册
5224300000024

第24章 X(3)

"Of course," Ivory continued, "the people of the village all think and speak of mother's illness as religious insanity, but to me it seems nothing of the sort. I was only a child when father first fell ill with Jacob Cochrane, but I was twelve when father went away from home on his 'mission,' and if there was any one suffering from delusions in our family it was he, not mother. She had altogether given up going to the Cochrane meetings, and I w ell remember the scene when my father told her of the revelation he had received about going through the state and into New Hampshire in order to convert others and extend the movement. She had no sympathy with his self-imposed mission, you may be sure, though now she goes back in her memory to the earlier days of her married life, when she tried hard, poor soul, to tread the same path that father was treading, so as to be by his side at every turn of the road.

"I am sure" (here Ivory's tone was somewhat dry and satirical)

"that father's road had many turns, Waitstill! He was a schoolmaster in Saco, you know, when I was born but he soon turned from teaching to preaching, and here my mother followed with entire sympathy, for she was intensely, devoutly religious.

I said there was little change in her, but there is one new symptom. She has ceased to refer to her conversion to Cochranism as a blessed experience. Her memory of those first days seems to have faded, As to her sister's death and all the circumstances of her bringing Rodman home, her mind is a blank. Her expectation of father's return, on the other hand, is much more intense than ever."

"She must have loved your father dearly, Ivory, and to lose him in this terrible way is much worse than death. Uncle Bart says he had a great gift of language!"

"Yes, and it was that, in my mind, that led him astray. I fear that the Spirit of God was never so strong in father as the desire to influence people by his oratory. That was what drew him to preaching in the first place, and when he found in ,Jacob Cochrane a man who could move an audience to frenzy, lift them out of the body, and do with their spirits as he willed, he acknowledged him as master. Whether his gospel was a pure and undefiled religion I doubt, but he certainly was a master of mesmeric control. My mother was beguiled, entranced, even bewitched at first, I doubt not, for she translated all that Cochrane said into her own speech, and regarded him as the prophet of a new era. But Cochrane's last 'revelations' differed from the first, and were of the earth, earthy. My mother's pure soul must have revolted, but she was not strong enough to drag father from his allegiance. Mother was of better family than father, but they were both well educated and had the best schooling to be had in their day. So far as I can judge, mother always had more 'balance' than father, and much better judgment,--yet look at her now!"

"Then you think it was your father's disappearance that really caused her mind to waver? " asked Waitstill.

同类推荐
  • 王魏公集

    王魏公集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宣汉篇

    宣汉篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 翦勝野聞

    翦勝野聞

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 日本国考略

    日本国考略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Pierrette

    Pierrette

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 终极刺杀

    终极刺杀

    在兰希大陆上,有个国家暗中组织的暗杀队伍,他们专门暗杀对他们帝国不利的人。但是他们面对的都是很厉害的对手,每个都是强敌。不过不怕,因为他们有四圣器在手,龙吟剑,虎啸枪,凤鸣刀,龟嘶扇。他们有着全大陆最强的组合,怕什么,就算他是最强的恶灵法师,也照样不是他们的对手。虽然不想到处杀人,但是为了大陆的安全,国家的安宁,没有办法了,对那些危害国家的人,只能是杀!
  • 八卦悟炼爱

    八卦悟炼爱

    他们,为了保护心中重要之人。他们,为了心中的大义。而最后的他们,却还在寻找心之所向。可如何选择,才能逃过注定。怎样的结局,才能算是完美。最终之时,才发现一切都是一场骗局。这,是他们的故事。
  • 非类

    非类

    牧雨门札记:乌托邦之所以美好,正在于它的不能;因为不能,人类就发明了故事……这岛本来无名,很小,与西岛有一水之隔,产权属于西岛农校。因为无名而又被围在大片的芦荻之中,农校的人就为它竖了一块牌子,取了一个似乎典雅的名字,写着“蒹葭岛”三字。可惜得很,因为乡音,竟被叫成了尴尬岛。把布布布送上尴尬岛是我的主意。尴尬岛上只有农校的一个老农和几间平房,只有日出而作、日入而息,今天,这大约是这个世界上最适合布布布生活的地方了。但我却没有想到,尴尬岛说变就变——度假村造到了水中央:芦苇被大片伐去,游艇开了进来,灯红酒绿,男人女人抱在一起……
  • 新股民炒股一定要会算计

    新股民炒股一定要会算计

    新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计新股民炒股一定要会算计
  • 菊谱

    菊谱

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鸟事(短篇小说)

    鸟事(短篇小说)

    这鸟事,其实不复杂,但说来就话长了。正月好时光。那楠街进行一年一度的“画眉搏击大奖赛。所谓画眉搏击,实是俗称中的斗画眉。十万山中的那楠街,斗画眉是有传统的。明朝万历年间留下的街谱有载:山中那楠,地广人稀,草多林密,多寒少温,旱涝无期;唯有百鸟,常年欢语,每度年至,必有鸟趣,方圆百里,妇幼汉苍,皆来观聚……这个“鸟趣”,说的就是斗画眉,可见其历史之悠久。“文革”年岁,有一“四清”工作组进驻那楠过“革命化春节”,视斗画眉为“四旧”之围,而明令禁止,“鸟趣”便断了多年历史。
  • 中论

    中论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 野蛮王妃很牛叉

    野蛮王妃很牛叉

    我牛叉,因为我暴力!我丑,因为我乐意!怎滴?不乐意?不行咱上校场上比比?··她就是这样的狂傲,“女人!做本王的妃吧!”君无敌说;夏儿本王爱上你了,君无恨却不能说出口“这一切是谁做的?!”她爆吼!“你本为凤,却贪恋麒麟,你们不会在一起的!”这是一个咒语“你大可以试试!能不能!”,冥界门口,她长跪不起,为了与麒麟再次相会,她愿意舍去万年的修为,摒弃异世凤丹,只为那一世情缘,佛曰:值得吗?·我在佛前虔诚相求几千年,只换来了檫肩而过,而现在我在佛前苦苦求了几万年,只为与你相会·一段凄美的爱,一场斩不断的丝,佛曰:我该怎么办?唉!~
  • 红线咒

    红线咒

    她:亡国公主,爱与恨,情与仇,不管折磨着她,深深的宫闱挡不住她的寂寥之心,她爱的人背叛了她,爱她的人,却是她最恨的仇人。生为仇恨生,难道她终究是躲不过命运的捉弄?他:他与她是青梅竹马,国难当头,他却为了保住自己的家族而选择背叛她,再次相见,她已是他人的妃,君郎成陌路,昔日红线相扣,今日断线斩情。他:第一次见面,惊鸿一瞥,便铭记于心,强取豪夺,却始终入不了她的心,他是她最恨的仇人,怎知,他要的,不过是她一人而已。茫茫乱世,身份高贵,却犹如一株浮草,也许,谁都不知道,明朝是何年。
  • 幻想塑造的异世界生活

    幻想塑造的异世界生活

    贯穿主线的是与魔族的战斗,就是勇者去打魔王,然后打更高等级的魔神。(故意这样写介绍的,其实还能看啦。)前期是情况好点的盾勇画风,中后期稍稍带点萌王的感觉,能力是幻想塑造。