登陆注册
5243600000030

第30章 CHAPTER 1(1)

THE MAN

It was the fourth of February in the year 1875. It had been a severe winter, and the snow lay deep in the gorges of the Gilmerton Mountains. The steam ploughs had, however, kept the railroad open, and the evening train which connects the long line of coal-mining and iron-working settlements was slowly groaning its way up the steep gradients which lead from Stagville on the plain to Vermissa, the central township which lies at the head of Vermissa Valley. From this point the track sweeps downward to Bartons Crossing, Helmdale, and the purely agricultural county of Merton. It was a single track railroad; but at every siding- and they were numerous- long lines of trucks piled with coal and iron ore told of the hidden wealth which had brought a rude population and a bustling life to this most desolate corner of the United States of America.

For desolate it was! Little could the first pioneer who had traversed it have ever imagined that the fairest prairies and the most lush water pastures were valueless compared to this gloomy land of black crag and tangled forest. Above the dark and often scarcely penetrable woods upon their flanks, the high, bare crowns of the mountains, white snow, and jagged rock towered upon each flank, leaving a long, winding, tortuous valley in the centre. Up this the little train was slowly crawling.

The oil lamps had just been lit in the leading passenger car, a long, bare carriage in which some twenty or thirty people were seated.

The greater number of these were workmen returning from their day's toil in the lower part of the valley. At least a dozen, by their grimed faces and the safety lanterns which they carried, proclaimed themselves miners. These sat smoking in a group and conversed in low voices, glancing occasionally at two men on the opposite side of the car, whose uniforms and badges showed them to be policemen.

Several women of the labouring class and one or two travellers who might have been small local storekeepers made up the rest of the company, with the exception of one young man in a corner by himself.

It is with this man that we are concerned. Take a good look at him; for he is worth it.

He is a fresh-complexioned, middle-sized young man, not far, one would guess, from his thirtieth year. He has large, shrewd, humorous gray eyes which twinkle inquiringly from time to time as he looks round through his spectacles at the people about him. It is easy to see that he is of a sociable and possibly simple disposition, anxious to be friendly to all men. Anyone could pick him at once as gregarious in his habits and communicative in his nature, with a quick wit and a ready smile. And yet the man who studied him more closely might discern a certain firmness of jaw and grim tightness about the lips which would warn him that there were depths beyond, and that this pleasant, brown-haired young Irishman might conceivably leave his mark for good or evil upon any society to which he was introduced.

Having made one or two tentative remarks to the nearest miner, and receiving only short, gruff replies, the traveller resigned himself to uncongenial silence, staring moodily out of the window at the fading landscape.

It was not a cheering prospect. Through the growing gloom there pulsed the red glow of the furnaces on the sides of the hills. Great heaps of slag and dumps of cinders loomed up on each side, with the high shafts of the collieries towering above them. Huddled groups of mean, wooden houses, the windows of which were beginning to outline themselves in light, were scattered here and there along the line, and the frequent halting places were crowded with their swarthy inhabitants.

The iron and coal valleys of the Vermissa district were no resorts for the leisured or the cultured. Everywhere there were stern signs of the crudest battle of life, the rude work to be done, and the rude, strong workers who did it.

The young traveller gazed out into this dismal country with a face of mingled repulsion and interest, which showed that the scene was new to him. At intervals he drew from his pocket a bulky letter to which he referred, and on the margins of which he scribbled some notes. Once from the back of his waist he produced something which one would hardly have expected to find in the possession of so mild-mannered a man. It was a navy revolver of the largest size. As he turned it slantwise to the light, the glint upon the rims of the copper shells within the drum showed that it was fully loaded. He quickly restored it to his secret pocket, but not before it had been observed by a working man who had seated himself upon the adjoining bench.

"Hullo, mate!" said he. "You seem heeled and ready."

The young man smiled with an air of embarrassment.

"Yes," said he, "we need them sometimes in the place I come from."

"And where may that be?"

"I'm last from Chicago."

A stranger in these parts?"

"Yes."

"You may find you need it here," said the workman.

"Ah! is that so?" The young man seemed interested.

"Have you heard nothing of doings hereabouts?"

"Nothing out of the way."

"Why, I thought the country was full of it. You'll hear quick enough. What made you come here?"

"I heard there was always work for a willing man."

"Are you a member of the union?"

"Sure."

"Then you'll get your job, I guess. Have you any friends?"

"Not yet; but I have the means of making them."

"How's that, then?"

"I am one of the Eminent Order of Freemen. There's no town without a lodge, and where there is a lodge I'll find my friends."

The remark had a singular effect upon his companion. He glanced round suspiciously at the others in the car. The miners were still whispering among themselves. The two police officers were dozing. He came across, seated himself close to the young traveller, and held out his hand.

"Put it there," he said.

A hand-grip passed between the two.

"I see you speak the truth," said the workman. "But it's well to make certain." He raised his right hand to his right eyebrow. The traveller at once raised his left hand to his left eyebrow.

同类推荐
  • 佛说鬼问目连经

    佛说鬼问目连经

    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。
  • 创镌华严游心法界记

    创镌华严游心法界记

    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。
  • 佛说马有三相经

    佛说马有三相经

    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。
  • 石经考异

    石经考异

    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。
  • 太上灵宝中元地官消愆灭罪忏

    太上灵宝中元地官消愆灭罪忏

    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
  • 我的保定,你的诺丁汉

    我的保定,你的诺丁汉

    故乡与作家,游离胶着,剪不断,理还乱。然而,离开故乡,反观故乡,回归故乡,似乎又是文学创作所必取之径。黑马此书,以故乡为主题,收入其所作乡愁随笔及其所译劳伦斯有关其故乡诺丁汉的散文多篇;回忆保定老城里成长的人情世故,译介英伦小镇诺丁汉中的爱恨离愁,于宁静恬淡中寄寓深沉情思,在理智与感情之间寻觅自己的心灵故乡。在文化消费异军突起的当下,同质化现象日趋严重,相信唯有不忘初心,铭记自己方寸间最为瑰丽的风景,方能走得更远。
  • 魂译天道

    魂译天道

    主角念尘是兰斯大陆上毫无斗气和魔法的废材少年,饱受贵族少年科维拉欺负,这天科维拉又开始欺负念尘,被念尘青梅竹马的诗雅儿警告,科维拉对诗雅儿这个帝奇特学院特等生忍无可忍,和手下人一起围攻诗雅儿,诗雅儿展示出白色圣光,准备迎战,被爷爷威尔.霍戈及时制止,诗雅儿不服,霍戈答应买根法杖给她,科维拉不敢得罪这个连父亲都畏惧的人,只好作罢。霍戈三人去镇上买法杖,镇上极为繁花,全因圣龙森林的缘故,因其飞出的圣兽双翼飞龙曾帮助飞龙骑士蒙休斯战胜兰斯大陆各方强者。霍戈带着念尘和诗雅儿拐进住在偏僻巷中的老朋友穆拉家,穆拉答应替诗雅儿打造法杖,并送给她空间戒指,念尘心痒,问自己是否也有礼物,炼金师告诉他要收他为徒。
  • 《中国治水史诗》评传

    《中国治水史诗》评传

    2010年由杨钦欢总策划,何建明、程贤章主编的《〈中国治水史诗〉评传》由作家出版社出版,评传汇集了李存葆、何建明、蒋子龙、徐坤、张炜、叶延滨等近百位知名作家的治水作品。中国治水专家对百名作家参与治水史的创作给予高度评价,认为《中国治水史诗(套装上下册)》弥补了中国水利史上的一个空白,具有很高的史料价值和纪实价值。
  • 穿越农家调皮小妞

    穿越农家调皮小妞

    车祸,穿越。一家五口,一亩三分田,生活困苦。娘亲强悍,父亲憨厚,哥哥聪明,姐姐能干,她古灵精怪,她淡定自若;自立自强,发家致富;带着全家过上幸福生活,她找到对自己最好的人生伴侣,结婚生子人生所想的已经美梦成真。
  • 首席的溺爱

    首席的溺爱

    (喜欢甜蜜暖文的姑凉们,一定要去戳栗子的新坑《噬心尖宠,蜜侯娇妻》哦,看书名就知道是宠文啦,收藏收藏哦,么么哒!)【他对她噬骨宠爱,但这宠爱的背后却暗藏阴谋…】他是LYS广告公司的老板凌彦深…她是他公司很有创意天赋的策划人顾萧…就在他们的恋情发展到谈婚论嫁之际,他却突然消失了,杳无音信…在她四处打听他的消息时,意外收到了一个匿名信封,看完里面的东西后,她冲动之下嫁给了自己不爱的男人,婚后的生活让她痛苦不已…一场车祸让她从2022年回到了2012年,她发誓这次一定要好好为自己活一次,然后向他问个明白,当年为何要背叛,离开她!不料却意外让她知道了当年那匿名信背后隐藏的秘密!“顾萧,没有我的允许,不许打掉这个孩子!”凌彦深着病chuang上脸色苍白的她,命令道。“孩子在我肚子里,生不生下来由我说了算!”她不堪示弱的反驳道。“哦?如果孩子没了,我会再让你怀上,直到你为我生下一个健康的宝宝为止!”“凌彦深,你这个大混蛋!”她和他和他,会展开一段怎样的纠葛?
  • 离固执远一点,离幸福近一点

    离固执远一点,离幸福近一点

    在成长中,妥协是等待与忍耐,是一种以退为进的策略;在爱情中,妥协是理解与牺牲,是此处无声胜有声的温暖;在交往中,妥协是宽容与谦逊,是相逢一笑泯恩仇的洒脱;在对抗中,妥协是和谐与从容,是一种无招胜有招的境界。
  • 最强大武道系统

    最强大武道系统

    武道称雄,谁与争锋?偶获武侠召唤系统,无尽武侠人物,陪伴主角征服万千强敌。
  • 金银错

    金银错

    她是受尽荣宠的大邺长公主慕容婉婉,他是权倾一方的南苑王宇文良时,十年前紫禁城里无意间的相救,换来他十年后的非卿不娶。当她得知自己嫁给他竟是他的精心谋划,对他失望之余渐渐筑起了心墙。他一步步攻城略地,将她心中的戒备瓦解。当她将自己的真心一点一点交付给他,他的野心却渐渐浮出水面。他借着朝廷的征调令挥兵北上,直取京师,婉婉为大邺苦心斡旋,与他明争暗斗,却一招不慎,误中反间计,全然不觉自己沦为他图谋天下的一枚棋子。山河破碎,身世浮沉,万劫不复的慕容婉婉又当何去何从?
  • 重生之决战白莲花

    重生之决战白莲花

    有一种你无法理解的神奇生物:她有一双如雾如梦的眼睛,如屎一般的浪漫情怀。小强一样打不死的精神,杂草一样令人忧伤的命格,周围只要是雄性生物都会爱上她,没爱上她的一定是恶毒的男配女配,总能在“无意”间将她对立面的人弄的生不如死,凄惨无比。不幸的是,苏瑾就没爱上她。幸运的是,苏瑾决定主动出击。
  • 海贼之吞天噬地

    海贼之吞天噬地

    神天·永恒无夜,在海圆历520年,九十九岁时离死亡还剩不到半年的时候,得到了神天梦寐以求的恶魔果实。而得到了自己一生都想要的力量的时候神天的野心也暴露了出来,推翻强大的D之国,组织世界政府成为传说。千年后。 无数的强者们望着世界政府所在地,玛丽乔亚。 一个个浑身冒着恐怖的气息强者纷纷联手杀上玛丽乔亚。 他们有自信自己不会败,因为他们是穿越者。 但他们却不知世界政府同样有穿越者,并且不少。 当穿越者与穿越者的对决结果会如何呢?QQ群:609386253