第 41 节
作者:旅游巴士      更新:2021-02-18 23:25      字数:9322
  〃She is come to her senses;〃 he said。 〃Up in the state cabin are bright lights; and wine and laughter。 There are gentlewomen aboard; and I have been singing to the lute; to them … and to her。 She is saved from the peril into which you plunged her; she knows that the King's Court of High Commission; to say nothing of the hangman; will soon snap the fetters which she now shudders to think of; that the King and one besides will condone her past short madness。  Her cheeks are roses; her eyes are stars。 But now; when I pressed her hand between the verses of my song; she smiled and sighed and blushed。 She is again the dutiful ward of the King; the Lady Jocelyn Leigh … she hath asked to be so called〃 …
  〃You lie;〃 I said。 〃She is my true and noble wife。 She may sit in the state cabin; in the air and warmth and light; she may even laugh with her lips; but her heart is here with me in the hold。〃
  As I spoke; I knew; and knew not how I knew; that the thing which I had said was true。 With that knowledge came a happiness so deep and strong that it swept aside like straw the torment of those cords; and the deeper hurt that I lay at his feet。 I suppose my face altered; and mirrored that blessed glow about my heart; for into his own came a white fury; changing its beauty into something inhuman and terrifying。 He looked a devil baffled。 For a minute he stood there rigid; with hands clenched。 〃Embrace her heart; if thou canst;〃 he said; in a voice so low that it came like a whisper from the realm he might have left。 〃I shall press my face against her bosom。〃
  Another minute of a silence that I disdained to break; then he turned and went up the ladder。 The seamen and the master followed。 The hatch was clapped to and fastened; and we were left to the darkness and the heavy air; and to a grim endurance of what could not be cured。
  During those hours of thirst and torment I came indeed to know the man who sat beside me。 His hands were so fastened that he could not loosen the cords; and there was no water for him to give me; but he could and did bestow a higher alms; … the tenderness of a brother; the manly sympathy of a soldier; the balm  of the priest of God。 I lay in silence; and he spoke not often; but when he did so; there was that in the tone of his voice … Another cycle of pain; and I awoke from a half swoon; in which there was water to drink and no anguish; to hear him praying beside me。 He ceased to speak; and in the darkness I heard him draw his breath hard and his great muscles crack。 Suddenly there came a sharp sound of breaking iron; and a low 〃Thank Thee; Lord!〃 Another moment; and I felt his hands busy at the knotted cords。 〃I will have them off thee in a twinkling; Ralph;〃 he said; 〃thanks to Him who taught my hands to war; and my arms to break in two a bow of steel。〃 As he spoke; the cords loosened beneath his fingers。
  I raised my head and laid it on his knee; and he put his great arm; with the broken chain dangling from it; around me; and; like a mother with a babe; crooned me to sleep with the twenty…third psalm。
  CHAPTER XXVI  IN WHICH I AM BROUGHT TO TRIAL
  MY lord came not again into the hold; and the untied cords and the broken chain were not replaced。 Morning and evening we were brought a niggard allowance of bread and water; but the man who carried it bore no light; and may not even have observed their absence。 We saw no one in authority。 Hour by hour my wounds healed and my strength returned。 If it was a dark and noisome prison; if there were hunger and thirst and inaction to be endured; if we knew not how near to us might be a death of ignominy; yet the minister and I found the jewel in the head of the toad; for in that time of pain and heaviness we became as David and Jonathan。
  At last some one came beside the brute who brought us food。 A quiet gentleman; with whitening hair and bright dark eyes; stood before us。 He had ordered the two men with him to leave open the hatch; and he held in his hand a sponge soaked with vinegar。 〃Which of you is … or rather was … Captain Ralph Percy?〃 he asked; in a grave but pleasant voice。
  〃I am Captain Percy;〃 I answered。
  He looked at me with attention。 〃I have heard of you before;〃 he said。 〃I read the letter you wrote to Sir Edwyn Sandys; and thought it an excellently conceived and manly epistle。 What magic transformed a gentleman and a soldier into a pirate?〃
  As he waited for me to speak; I gave him for answer; 〃Necessity。〃
  〃A sad metamorphosis;〃 he said。 〃I had rather read of nymphs changed into laurel and gushing springs。 I am come to take you; sir; before the officers of the Company aboard this ship; when; if you have aught to say for yourself; you may say it。 I need not tell you; who saw so clearly some time ago the danger in which you then stood; that your plight is now a thousandfold worse。〃
  〃I am perfectly aware of it;〃 I said。 〃Am I to go in fetters?〃
  〃No;〃 he replied; with a smile。 〃I have no instructions on the subject; but I will take it upon myself to free you from them; … even for the sake of that excellently writ letter。〃
  〃Is not this gentleman to go too?〃 I asked。
  He shook his head。 〃I have no orders to that effect。〃
  While the men who were with him removed the irons from my wrists and ankles he stood in silence; regarding me with a scrutiny so close that it would have been offensive had I been in a position to take offense。 When they had finished I turned and held Jeremy's hand in mine for an instant; then followed the new…comer to the ladder and out of the hold; the two men coming after us; and resolving themselves above into a guard。 As we traversed the main deck we came upon Diccon; busy with two or three others about the ports。 He saw me; and; dropping the bar that he held; started forward; to be plucked back by an angry arm。 The men who guarded me pushed in between us; and there was no word spoken by either。 I walked on; the gentleman at my side; and presently  came to an open port; and saw; with an intake of my breath; the sunshine; a dark blue heaven flecked with white; and a quiet ocean。 My companion glanced at me keenly。
  〃Doubtless it seems fair enough; after that Cimmerian darkness below;〃 he remarked。 〃Would you like to rest here a moment?〃
  〃Yes;〃 I said; and; leaning against the side of the port; looked out at the beauty of the light。
  〃We are off Hatteras;〃 he informed me; 〃but we have not met with the stormy seas that vex poor mariners hereabouts。 Those sails you see on our quarter belong to our consort。 We were separated by the hurricane that nigh sunk us; and finally drove us; helpless as we were; toward the Florida coast and across your path。 For us that was a fortunate reef upon which you dashed。 The gods must have made your helmsman blind; for he ran you into a destruction that gaped not for you。 Why did every wretch that we hung next morning curse you before he died?〃
  〃If I told you; you would not believe me;〃 I replied。
  I was dizzy with the bliss of the air and the light; and it seemed a small thing that he would not believe me。 The wind sounded in my ears like a harp; and the sea beckoned。 A white bird flashed down into the crystal hollow between two waves; hung there a second; then rose; a silver radiance against the blue。 Suddenly I saw a river; dark and ridged beneath thunderclouds; a boat; and in it; her head pillowed upon her arm; a woman; who pretended that she slept。 With a shock my senses steadied; and I became myself again。 The sea was but the sea; the wind the wind; in the hold below me lay my friend; somewhere  in that ship was my wife; and awaiting me in the state cabin were men who perhaps had the will; as they had the right and the might; to hang me at the yardarm that same hour。
  〃I have had my fill of rest;〃 I said。 〃Whom am I to stand before?〃
  〃The newly appointed officers of the Company; bound in this ship for Virginia;〃 he answered。 〃The ship carries Sir Francis Wyatt; the new Governor; Master Davison; the Secretary; young Clayborne; the surveyor general; the knight marshal; the physician general; and the Treasurer; with other gentlemen; and with fair ladies; their wives and sisters。 I am George Sandys; the Treasurer。〃
  The blood rushed to my face; for it hurt me that the brother of Sir Edwyn Sandys should believe that the firing of those guns had been my act。 His was the trained observation of the traveler and writer; and he probably read the color aright。 〃I pity you; if I can no longer esteem you;〃 he said; after a pause。 〃I know no sorrier sight than a brave man's shield reversed。〃
  I bit my lip and kept back the angry word。 The next minute saw us at the door of the state cabin。 It opened; and my companion entered; and I after him; with my two guards at my back。 Around a large table were gathered a number of gentlemen; some seated; some standing。 There were but two among them whom I had seen before; … the physician who had dressed my wound and my Lord Carnal。 The latter was seated in a great chair; beside a gentleman with a pleasant active face and light brown curling hair; … the new Governor; as I guessed。 The Treasurer; nodding to the two men to fall back to the window;  glided to a seat upon my lord's other hand; and I went and stood before the Governor of Vir