介绍:
The woman stood at the window , listening .She had been standing there for a few minutes .She was alone in the log house, looking at the desolate prairie and the first snow of winter.
Not until she had heard that sound was she really frightened .Her husband had often left her alone like this , for days at a time. Only now, when she was at last sure that she was going to bear a child, things seemed different .Why hadn’t she told her husband the news before he rode away ?
He had been too distraught. If he had known she was with child, he would not have left her.But he was troubled enough, as it was .She could recall him as he had stood near this very window , hands onher shoulders, and told her about the money .He was tax collector of that frontier county;he hadbrought home a large bag of mon ey and had stowedit in a biscuit tin which he d buried under a plank in the kitchen floor.
“Why ?”
Well , bad news !Their own little store of savings in a distant village was threatened by a failing bank. He must hurry there and try to save their money if he could.He wouldn t dare travel that far with the county s money on his person, so he d buried it here.After their own savings were taken care of , he would go to the town where the state bank was and deposit the people&`&s cash there .
“Promise me that while I m away you will not leave this house,” he had said,“or let anybody come in, on any pretext .”
“I promise,” she answered.
Now he had been gone for several hours; night was coming on, snow and darkness were falling on the lonely house and she hadheard a noise.It was not the wind;she knew the sound the windmade as if trying doors and windows with a furtive hand.No , what she heard was a knocking, low and urgent .By pressing her cheek against the extreme corner of the windowpane she could make out a man’s figure leaning against the front door.He had been knocking for a while.
Hastily she drew back from the window , went to the mantel, andtook down her husband s pistol.He hadtaken his other pistol with him , and bitter luck , had carried off the powder flask . So the remaining pistol was useless.With the empty weapon in her hand, she hastened to the locked door.
“Who is there ?” she called.
“I am a wounded soldier .I ve missed my way and I can t drag myself any further. For God&`&s sake let me in.”
“My husband made me promise not to let anybody in while he is away ,” she told him guilelessly .
“Then I shall die on your doorstep.”
After a time, he pleaded:“Open the door and look at me .You ll see that I can do you no harm .”
“ My husband will never forgive me,” she sobbed, but she let him in.He seemed at the last point of exhaustion —a tall , shambling fellow with flakes of snow on his pale, harsh face and bandaged arm.
She put him in her husband&`&s chair by the fire ,She set before him the supper she had prepared for herself .When he had eaten, she made up a bed of rugs and blankets for him in a back room .He lay down and seemed to fall instantly asleep.
But was he really asleep?Had she been trapped? Was he merely waiting for her to go to sleep?
In torment she walked the floor of her room , expecting anything.The night became very still, except for the soft crackling of the log fire .And then ...a very low sound, small, purposeful , aware of itself .It dressed his wound and wrapped it in fresh bandages .Where did it come from ?The man in the next room ?
Taking up the lamp, she crept down the narrow passage and stood listening .Surely , his breathing was too loud; he was pretending .She opened the door ,went in, and bent over the sleeping man.He seemed really asleep.
She left the room , and at once she heard the noise again.This time she knew what it was: someone was trying to pick the lock of the front door .
From the toolbox she got out her husband&`&s great clasp knife , then crept back to the man s bedside . She shook him by the shoulder and he opened his eyes with a groan .
“Listen!” she whispered.“ Someone has been trying to break into the house .You must help me!”
“Who has been breaking in?A thief ?” he asked dazedly :“There s nothing here to take.”
“ Yes , there is —there s a lot of money hidden under the kitchen floor. And then she could have bitten off her tongue for having told him .
“ Take my pistol ,” he said.“I can shoot only with my right hand, and that s useless .Give me your knife.”
For an instant she hesitated. Then, as she heard again the sound at the latch, she swiftly made the exchange, putting the knife into his uninjured hand.
“ You ll have to take care of the first one that comes in,” he said.“ Stand near the door and the minute it opens , fire .Here are six bullets.Keep on firing till he goes down and stays down. I&`&ll be waiting behind you with the knife to meet the second one. As soon as we re in position, blow out the lamp.”
All was dark. The sound of picking ended, and there came a sound of wrenching. The bar was giving .Then the door opened and a man slipped in. For an instant she saw his figure clearly against the snow , and she fired.He fell , but immediately scrambled to his feet , and she shot again.He fell and dragged himself to his knees , and she shot him once more . Then he sank slowly with his face against the wall and moved no more .
The soldier leaned forward, with an oath.“So there was only one !” he cried.“ Good shot , missus !”
He pulled the body over on its back and they saw that the face was covered with a mask.The woman drew near as the soldier pulled the mask from the dead man&`&s face.
“Do you know him ?” he asked.
“He s a stranger to me !” she replied.And with eyes steadfast with courage, she continued to look down on the face of the man who had come back to rob himself —her husband.
Notes on the passage (注释）
But he was troubled enough, as it was. (line 8) 不过他已经够烦恼的了
as it is = already
powder flask (line 28) 火药筒
