第35章

Thehymnwasoldandfamiliarenough，Heavenknows。Ithadbeenquitepopularatfunerals，andsomewhosattherehadhaditsstrangemelancholyborneuponthemintimeoflossandtribulations，butneverhadtheyfeltitsfullpowerbefore。 Accustomedastheyweretoemotionalappealandtorespondtoit，asthesinger’svoicediedawayabovethem，theirverytearsflowedandfellwiththatvoice。Afewsobbedaloud，andthenavoiceaskedtremulously，—— “Whoisit？“ “It’sMr。Hamlin，“saidSethquietly。“I’veheardhimoftenhummin’thingsbefore。“ Therewasanothersilence，andthevoiceofDeaconStubbsbrokeinharshly，—— “It’srankblasphemy。“ “Ifit’srankblasphemytosingthepraiseo’God，notonlybetterthansomefolksinthechoir，butlikeanangelo’light，Iwishyou’ddoalittleo’thatblasphemingonSundays，Mr。Stubbs。“ ThespeakerwasMrs。Stubbs，andasDeaconStubbswasanotoriouslybadsingertheshottold。 “Ifhe’ssincere，whydoeshestandaloof？Whydoeshenotjoinus？“askedtheparson。 “Hehasn’tbeenasked，“saidSethquietly。“IfIain’tmistakenthisyergatheringthiseveningwasspeciallytoseehowtogetridofhim。“ Therewasaquickmurmurofprotestatthis。Theparsonexchangedglanceswiththedeaconandsawthattheywerehopelesslyintheminority。 “Iwillaskhimmyself，“saidMrs。Riverssuddenly。 “Sodo，SisterRivers；sodo，“wastheunmistakableresponse。 Mrs。Riverslefttheroomandreturnedinafewmomentswithahandsomeyoungman，pale，elegant，composed，eventoagraveindifference。Whathiseyesmighthavesaidwasanotherthing；thelonglasheswerescarcelyraised。 “Idon’tmindplayingalittle，“hesaidquietlytoMrs。Rivers，asifcontinuingaconversation，“butyou’llhavetoletmetrustmymemory。“ “Thenyou——er——playtheharmonium？“saidtheparson，withanattemptatformalcourtesy。 “IwasforayearortwotheorganistinthechoirofDr。Todd’schurchatSacramento，“returnedMr。Hamlinquietly。 TheblankamazementonthefacesofDeaconsStubbsandTurnerandtheparsonwasfollowedbywreathedsmilesfromtheotherauditorsandespeciallyfromtheladies。Mr。Hamlinsatdowntotheinstrument，andinanothermomenttookpossessionofitasithadneverbeenheldbefore。Heplayedfrommemoryashehadimplied，butitwasthememoryofamusician。Hebeganwithoneortwofamiliaranthems，inwhichtheyalljoined。AfragmentofamassandaLatinchantfollowed。An“AveMaria“fromanoperawashisfirstseculardeparture，buthisdelightedaudiencedidnotdetectit。Thenhehurriedthemalonginunfamiliarlanguageto“OmioFernando“and“Spiritugentil，“whichtheyfondlyimaginedwerehymns，until，withcrowningaudacity，afterafewpreliminarychordsofthe“Miserere，“helandedthembroken-heartedintheTrovatore’sdonjontowerwith“Nontescordardemi。“ AmidsttheapplauseheheardthepreachersuavelyexplainthatthosePopishmasseswerealwaysintheLatinlanguage，androsefromtheinstrumentsatisfiedwithhisexperiment。Excusinghimselfasaninvalidfromjoiningtheminalightcollationinthediningroom，andbegginghishostess’spermissiontoretire，heneverthelesslingeredafewmomentsbythedoorastheladiesfiledoutoftheroom，followedbythegentlemen，untilDeaconTurner，whowasbringinguptherear，wasabreastofhim。HereMr。Hamlinbecamesuddenlydeeplyinterestedinaframedpencildrawingwhichhungonthewall。Itwasevidentlyaschoolgirl’samateurportrait，donebyMrs。Rivers。DeaconTurnerhaltedquicklybyhissideastheotherspassedout——whichwasexactlywhatMr。Hamlinexpected。 “Doyouknowtheface？“saidthedeaconeagerly。 ThankstothefaithfulMelinda，Mr。Hamlindidknowitperfectly。 ItwasapencilsketchofMrs。Rivers’syouthfullyerringsister。 ButheonlysaidhethoughtherecognizedalikenesstosomeonehehadseeninSacramento。 Thedeacon’seyebrightened。“Perhapsthesameone——perhaps，“headdedinasubmissiveandsignificanttone“a——er——painfulstory。“ “Rather——tohim，“observedHamlinquietly。 “How？——I——er——don’tunderstand，“saidDeaconTurner。 “Well，theportraitlookslikealadyIknewinSacramentowhohadbeeninsometroublewhenshewasasillygirl，buthadgotoveritquietly。Shewas，however，troubledagooddealbysomemeanhoundwhowaseverynowandthenrakingupthestorywherevershewent。 Well，oneofherfriends——Imighthavebeenamongthem，Idon’texactlyrememberjustnow——challengedhim，butalthoughhehadnoconscientiousconvictionsaboutslanderingawoman，hehadsomeaboutbeingshotforit，anddeclined。Theconsequencewashewascowhidedonceinthestreet，andthesecondtimetarredandfeatheredandriddenonarailoutoftown。That，Isuppose，waswhatyoumeantbyyour’painfulstory。’Butisthisthewoman？“ “No，no，“saidthedeaconhurriedly，withawhiteface，“youhavequitemisunderstood。“ “Butwhoseisthisportrait？“persistedJack。 “Ibelievethat——Idon’tknowexactly——butIthinkitisasisterofMrs。Rivers’s，“stammeredthedeacon。 “Then，ofcourse，itisn’tthesamewoman，“saidJackinsimulatedindignation。 “Certainly——ofcoursenot，“returnedthedeacon。 “Phew！“saidJack。“Thatwasamightyclosecall。Luckywewerealone，wasn’tit？“ “Yes，“saidthedeacon，withafeeblesmile。 “Seth，“continuedJack，withathoughtfulair，“lookslikeaquietman，butIshouldn’tliketohavemadethatmistakeabouthissister-in-lawbeforehim。Thesequietmenareapttoshootstraight。Betterkeepthistoourselves。“ DeaconTurnernotonlykepttherevelationtohimselfbutapparentlyhisownsacredpersonalso，ashedidnotcallagainatWindyHillRanchoduringMr。Hamlin’sstay。ButhewasexceedinglypoliteinhisreferencestoJack，andalludedpatronizinglytoa“littlechat“theyhadhadtogether。AndwhentheusualreactiontookplaceinMr。Hamlin’sfavorandJackwasactuallyinducedtoperformontheorganatHightownChurchnextSunday，thedeacon’svoicewasloudestinhispraise。EvenParsonGreenwoodallowedhimselftobenon-committalastothetruthoftherumor，largelycirculated，thatoneofthemostdesperategamblersintheStatehadbeenconvertedthroughhisexhortations。 So，withbreezywalksandgameswiththechildren，occasionalconfidenceswithMelindaandSilas，andtheSabbath“singingofanthems，“Mr。Hamlin’sthreeweeksofconvalescencedrewtoaclose。Hehadlatelyrelaxedhishabitofseclusionsofarastominglewiththecompanygatheredformoresocialpurposesattherancho，andonceortwiceunbentsofarastosatisfytheircuriosityinregardtocertaindetailsofhisprofession。 “Ihavenopersonalknowledgeofgamesofcards，“saidParsonGreenwoodpatronizingly，“andthinkIamrightinsayingthatourbrothersandsistersareequallyinexperienced。Iam——ahem——farfrombelieving，however，thatentireignoranceofevilisthebestpreparationforcombatingit，andIshouldbegladifyou’dexplaintothecompanytheintricaciesofvariousgames。Thereisonethatyoumentioned，witha——er——scripturalname。“ “Faro，“saidHamlin，withanunmovedface。 “Pharaoh，“repeatedtheparsongravely；“andonewhichyoucall’poker，’whichseemstorequiregreatself-control。“ “Icouldn’tmakeyouunderstandpokerwithoutyourplayingit，“ saidJackdecidedly。 “Aslongaswedon’tgamble——thatis，playformoney——Iseenoobjection，“returnedtheparson。 “And，“saidJackmusingly，“youcouldusebeans。“ Itwasagreedfinallythattherewouldbenofallingfromgraceintheirplayingamongthemselves，inaninquiringChristianspirit，underJack’sguidance，hehavingdecidedtoabstainfromcardplayingduringhisconvalescence，andJackpermittedhimselftobepersuadedtoshowthemthefollowingevening。 Itsochanced，however，thatDr。Duchesne，findingtheendofJack’s“cure“approaching，andnothearingfromthatinterestinginvalid，resolvedtovisithimataboutthistime。HavingnochancetoappriseJackofhisintention，oncomingtoHightownatnightheprocuredaconveyanceatthedepottocarryhimtoWindyHillRancho。Thewindblewwithitsusualnocturnalrollickingpersistency，andattheendofhisturbulentdriveitseemedalmostimpossibletomakehimselfheardamongsttheroaringofthepinesandsomeastoundingpreoccupationoftheinmates。Aftervainlyknocking，thedoctorpushedopenthefrontdoorandentered。Herappedattheclosedsittingroomdoor，butreceivingnoreply，pusheditopenuponthemostunexpectedandastoundingscenehehadeverwitnessed。AroundthecentretableseveralrespectablemembersoftheHightownChurch，includingtheparson，weregatheredwithintenseandeagerfacesplayingpoker，andbehindtheparson，withhishandsinhispockets，carelesslyloungedthedoctor’spatient，thepictureofhealthandvigor。Adisusedpackofcardswasscatteredonthefloor，andbeforethegentleandpreciseMrs。 Riverswasheapedapileofbeansthatwouldhavefilledaquartmeasure。 WhenDr。Duchesnehadtactfullyretreatedbeforethehurriedandstammeringapologiesofhishostandhostess，andwasalonewithJackinhisrooms，heturnedtohimwithagravitythatwasmorethanhalfaffectedandsaid，“Howlong，sir，didittakeyoutoeffectthiscorruption？“