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第15章 the white ilence（第2页）

AtlasttheKidlaidtheitiablethingthatwasonceamaninthesnow。Butworsethanhiscomrade&aos;sainwasthedumbanguishinthewoman&aos;sface，theblendedlookofhoeful，hoelessquery。Littlewassaid;thoseoftheNorthlandareearlytaughtthefutilityofwordsandtheinestimablevalueofdeeds。Withthetemeratureatsixty-fivebelowzero，amancannotliemanyminutesinthesnowandlive。Sothesledlashingswerecut，andthesufferer，rolledinfurs，laidonacouchofboughs。Beforehimroaredafire，builtoftheverywoodwhichwroughtthemisha。Behindandartiallyoverhimwasstretchedtherimitivefly-aieceofcanvas，whichcaughttheradiatingheatandthrewitbackanddownuonhimatrickwhichmenmayknowwhostudyhysicsatthefount。

Andmenwhohavesharedtheirbedwithdeathknowwhenthecallissounded。Masonwasterriblycrushed。Themostcursoryexaminationrevealedit。

Hisrightarm，leg，andbackwerebroken;hislimbswerearalyzedfromthehis;andthelikelihoodofinternalinjurieswaslarge。Anoccasionalmoanwashisonlysignoflife。

Nohoe;nothingtobedone。Theitilessnightcretslowlyby-Ruth&aos;sortion，thedesairingstoicismofherrace，andMalemuteKidaddingnewlinestohisfaceofbronze。

Infact，Masonsufferedleastofall，forhesenthistimeineasternTennessee，intheGreatSmokyMountains，livingoverthescenesofhischildhood。Andmostatheticwasthemelodyofhislong-forgottenSouthernvernacular，asheravedofswimmingholesandcoonhuntsandwatermelonraids。ItwasasGreektoRuth，buttheKidunderstoodandfelt-feltasonlyonecanfeelwhohasbeenshutoutforyearsfromallthatcivilizationmeans。

Morningbroughtconsciousnesstothestrickenman，andMalemuteKidbentclosertocatchhiswhisers。

‘YourememberwhenweforegatheredontheTanana，fouryearscomenexticerun?Ididn&aos;tcaresomuchforherthen。Itwasmorelikeshewasretty，andtherewasasmackofexcitementaboutit，Ithink。ButI&aos;veknow，I&aos;vecometothinkaheaofher。She&aos;sbeenagoodwifetome，alwaysatmyshoulderintheinch。Andwhenitcomestotrading，youknowthereisn&aos;therequal。D&aos;yerecollectthetimesheshottheMoosehornRaidstoullyouandmeoffthatrock，thebulletswhiingthewaterlikehailstones?-andthetimeofthefamineatNuklukyeto?-whensheracedtheiceruntobringthenews?’

Yes，she&aos;sbeenagoodwifetome，better&aos;nthatotherone。Didn&aos;tknowI&aos;dbeenthere?

Nevertoldyou，eh?Well，Itrieditonce，downintheStates。That&aos;swhyI&aos;mhere。Beenraisedtogether，too。Icameawaytogiveherachancefordivorce。Shegotit。

‘Butthat&aos;sgotnothingtodowithRuth。IhadthoughtofcleaninguandullingfortheOutsidenextyear-herandI-butit&aos;stoolate。Don&aos;tsendherbacktohereole，Kid。It&aos;sbeastlyhardforawomantogoback。Thinkofit!-nearlyfouryearsonourbaconandbeansandflouranddriedfruit，andthentogobacktoherfishandcaribou。It&aos;snotgoodforhertohavetriedourways，tocometoknowthey&aos;rebetter&aos;nhereole&aos;s，andthenreturntothem。Takecareofher，Kidwhydon&aos;tyou-butno，youalwaysfoughtshyofthem-andyounevertoldmewhyyoucametothiscountry。Bekindtoher，andsendherbacktotheStatesassoonasyoucan。Butfixitsoshecancomeback-liabletogethomesick，youknow。’

‘Andtheyoungster-it&aos;sdrawnuscloser，Kid。Ionlyhoeitisaboy。Thinkofit!-fleshofmyflesh，Kid。Hemustn&aos;tstointhiscountry。Andifit&aos;sagirl，why，shecan&aos;t。Sellmyfurs;they&aos;llfetchatleastfivethousand，andI&aos;vegotasmuchmorewiththecomany。Andhandlemyinterestswithyours。Ithinkthatbenchclaimwillshowu。Seethathegetsagoodschooling;andKid，aboveall，don&aos;tlethimcomeback。Thiscountrywasnotmadeforwhitemen。’

‘I&aos;magoneman，Kid。Threeorfoursleesatthebest。You&aos;vegottogoon。Youmustgoon!Remember，it&aos;smywife，it&aos;smyboy-OGod!Ihoeit&aos;saboy!Youcan&aos;tstaybyme-andIchargeyou，adyingman，toullon。’

‘Givemethreedays，&aos;leadedMalemuteKid。&aos;Youmaychangeforthebetter;somethingmayturnu。’

‘No。’

‘Justthreedays。’

‘Youmustullon。’

‘Twodays。’

‘It&aos;smywifeandmyboy，Kid。Youwouldnotaskit。’

‘Oneday。’

‘No，no!Icharge-’

‘Onlyoneday。Wecanshaveitthroughonthegrub，andImightknockoveramoose。’

‘No-allright;oneday，butnotaminutemore。And，Kid，don&aos;t-don&aos;tleavemetofaceitalone。Justashot，oneullonthetrigger。Youunderstand。Thinkofit!Thinkofit!Fleshofmyflesh，andI&aos;llneverlivetoseehim!’

‘SendRuthhere。Iwanttosaygood-byandtellherthatshemustthinkoftheboyandnotwaittillI&aos;mdead。ShemightrefusetogowithyouifIdidn&aos;t。Goodby，oldman;good-by。’

‘Kid!Isay-a-sinkaholeabovetheu，nexttotheslide。Iannedoutfortycentsonmyshovelthere。’

‘And，Kid!&aos;Hestooedlowertocatchthelastfaintwords，thedyingman&aos;ssurrenderofhisride。&aos;I&aos;msorry-for-youknow-Carmen。&aos;Leavingthegirlcryingsoftlyoverherman，MalemuteKidsliedintohisarkaandsnowshoes，tuckedhisrifleunderhisarm，andcretawayintotheforest。HewasnotyrointhesternsorrowsoftheNorthland，butneverhadhefacedsostiffaroblemasthis。Intheabstract，itwasalain，mathematicalroositionthreeossiblelivesasagainstonedoomedone。Butnowhehesitated。Forfiveyears，shouldertoshoulder，ontheriversandtrails，inthecamsandmines，facingdeathbyfieldandfloodandfamine，hadtheyknittedthebondsoftheircomradeshi。SoclosewasthetiethathehadoftenbeenconsciousofavaguejealousyofRuth，fromthefirsttimeshehadcomebetween。Andnowitmustbeseveredbyhisownhand。’

Thoughherayedforamoose，justonemoose，allgameseemedtohavedesertedtheland，andnightfallfoundtheexhaustedmancrawlingintocam，lighthanded，heavyhearted。AnuroarfromthedogsandshrillcriesfromRuthhastenedhim。

Burstingintothecam，hesawthegirlinthemidstofthesnarlingack，layingaboutherwithanax。Thedogshadbrokentheironruleoftheirmastersandwererushingthegrub。

Hejoinedtheissuewithhisriflereversed，andthehoarygameofnaturalselectionwaslayedoutwithalltheruthlessnessofitsrimevalenvironment。Rifleandaxwentuanddown，hitormissedwithmonotonousregularity;lithebodiesflashed，withwildeyesanddriingfangs;andmanandbeastfoughtforsuremacytothebitterestconclusion。Thenthebeatenbrutescrettotheedgeofthefirelight，lickingtheirwounds，voicingtheirmiserytothestars。

Thewholestockofdriedsalmonhadbeendevoured，anderhasfiveoundsofflourremainedtotidethemovertwohundredmilesofwilderness。Ruthreturnedtoherhusband，whileMalemuteKidcututhewarmbodyofoneofthedogs，theskullofwhichhadbeencrushedbytheax。Everyortionwascarefullyutaway，savethehideandoffal，whichwerecasttohisfellowsofthemomentbefore。

Morningbroughtfreshtrouble。Theanimalswereturningoneachother。Carmen，whostillclungtoherslenderthreadoflife，wasdownedbytheack。Thelashfellamongthemunheeded。Theycringedandcriedundertheblows，butrefusedtoscattertillthelastwretchedbithaddisaeared-bones，hide，hair，everything。

MalemuteKidwentabouthiswork，listeningtoMason，whowasbackinTennessee，deliveringtangleddiscoursesandwildexhortationstohisbrethrenofotherdays。

Takingadvantageofneighboringines，heworkedraidly，andRuthwatchedhimmakeacachesimilartothosesometimesusedbyhunterstoreservetheirmeatfromthewolverinesanddogs。

Oneaftertheother，hebentthetosoftwosmallinestowardeachotherandnearlytotheground，makingthemfastwiththongsofmoosehide。Thenhebeatthedogsintosubmissionandharnessedthemtotwoofthesleds，loadingthesamewitheverythingbutthefurswhichenveloedMason。Thesehewraedandlashedtightlyabouthim，fasteningeitherendoftherobestothebentines。Asinglestrokeofhishuntingknifewouldreleasethemandsendthebodyhighintheair。

Ruthhadreceivedherhusband&aos;slastwishesandmadenostruggle。Poorgirl，shehadlearnedthelessonofobediencewell。Fromachild，shehadbowed，andseenallwomenbow，tothelordsofcreation，anditdidnotseeminthenatureofthingsforwomantoresist。TheKidermittedheroneoutburstofgrief，asshekissedherhusband-herowneolehadnosuchcustom-thenledhertotheforemostsledandheledherintohersnowshoes。Blindly，instinctively，shetookthegeeoleandwhi，and&aos;mushed&aos;thedogsoutonthetrail。ThenhereturnedtoMason，whohadfallenintoacoma，andlongaftershewasoutofsightcrouchedbythefire，waiting，hoing，rayingforhiscomradetodie。

ItisnotleasanttobealonewithainfulthoughtsintheWhiteSilence。Thesilenceofgloomismerciful，shroudingoneaswithrotectionandbreathingathousandintangiblesymathies;butthebrightWhiteSilence，clearandcold，understeelyskies，isitiless。

Anhourassed-twohours-butthemanwouldnotdie。Athighnoonthesun，withoutraisingitsrimabovethesouthernhorizon，threwasuggestionoffireathwarttheheavens，thenquicklydrewitback。MalemuteKidrousedanddraggedhimselftohiscomrade&aos;sside。Hecastoneglanceabouthim。TheWhiteSilenceseemedtosneer，andagreatfearcameuonhim。Therewasasharreort;Masonswungintohisaerialseulcher，andMalemuteKidlashedthedogsintoawildgalloashefledacrossthesnow。

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