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The Night Horseman by Max Brand, CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR RIDES

CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR RIDES

Hank Dwight disappeared from the doorway and the doctor was called from his pondering by the voice of the girl. There was something about that voice which worried Byrne, for it was low and controlled and musical and it did not fit with the nasal harshness of the cattlemen. When she began to speak it was like the beginning of a song. He turned now and found her sitting a tall bay horse, and she led a red-roan mare beside her. When he went out she tossed her reins over the head of her horse and strapped his valise behind her saddle.

"You won't have any trouble with that mare," she assured him, when the time came for mounting. Yet when he approached gingerly he was received with flattened ears and a snort of anger. "Wait," she cried, "the left side, not the right!" He felt the laughter in her voice, but when he looked he could see no trace of it in her face. He approached from the left side, setting his teeth.

"You observe," he said, "that I take your word at its full value," and placing his foot in the stirrup, he dragged himself gingerly up to the saddle. The mare stood like a rock. Adjusting himself, he wiped a sudden perspiration from his forehead.

"I quite believe," he remarked, "that the animal is of unusual intelligence. All may yet be well!" "I'm sure of it." said the girl gravely. "Now we're off." And the horses broke into a dog trot. Now the gait of the red roan mare was a dream of softness, and her flexible ankles gave a play of whole inches to break the jar of every step, the sure sign of the good saddle-horse; but the horse has never been saddled whose trot is really a smooth pace. The hat of Doctor Byrne began to incline towards his right eye and his spectacles towards his left ear. He felt a peculiar lightness in the stomach and heaviness in the heart.

"The t-t-t-trot," he ventured to his companion, "is a d-d-d-dam—" "Dr. Byrne!" she cried.

"Whoa!" called Doctor Byrne, and drew mightily in upon the reins. The red mare stopped as a ball stops when it meets a stout wall; the doctor sprawled along her neck, clinging with arms and legs. He managed to clamber back into the saddle.

"There are vicious elements in the nature of this brute," he observed to the girl. "I'm very sorry," she murmured. He cast a sidelong glance but found not the trace of a smile.

"The word upon which I—" "Stopped?" she suggested.

"Stopped," he agreed, "was not, as you evidently assumed, an oath. On the contrary, I was merely remarking that the trot is a damaging gait, but through an interrupted—er—articulation—" His eye dared her, but she was utterly grave. He perceived that there was, after all, a certain kinship between this woman of the mountain-desert and the man thereof. Their silences were filled with eloquence.

"We'll try a canter," she suggested, "and I think you'll find that easier." So she gave the word, and her bay sprang into a lope from a standing start. The red mare did likewise, nearly flinging the doctor over the back of the saddle, but by the grace of God he clutched the pommel in time and was saved. The air caught at his face, they swept out of the town and onto a limitless level stretch.

"Sp-p-p-peed," gasped the doctor, "has never been a p-p-passion with me!" He noted that she was not moving in the saddle. The horse was like the bottom of a wave swinging violently back and forth. She was the calm crest, swaying slightly and graciously with a motion as smooth as the flowing of water. And she spoke as evenly as if she were sitting in a rocking chair.

"You'll be used to it in a moment," she assured him. He learned, indeed, that if one pressed the stirrups as the shoulders of the horse swung down and leaned a trifle forward when the shoulders rose again, the motion ceased to be jarring; for she was truly a matchless creature and gaited like one of those fabulous horses of old, sired by the swift western wind. In a little time a certain pride went beating through the veins of the doctor, the air blew more deeply into his lungs, there was a different tang to the wind and a different feel to the sun—a peculiar richness of yellow warmth. And the small head of the horse and the short, sharp, pricking ears tossed continually; and now and then the mare threw her head a bit to one side and glanced back at him with what he felt to be a reassuring air. Life and strength and speed were gripped between his knees—he flashed a glance at the girl.

But she rode with face straightforward and there was that about her which made him turn his eyes suddenly away and look far off. It was a jagged country, for in the brief rainy season there came sudden and terrific downpours which lashed away the soil and scoured the face of the underlying rock, and in a single day might cut a deep arroyo where before had been smooth plain. This was the season of grass, but not the dark, rank green of rich soil and mild air—it was a yellowish green, a colour at once tender and glowing. It spread everywhere across the plains about Elkhead, broken here and there by the projecting boulders which flashed in the sun. So a great battlefield might appear, pockmarked with shell-holes, and all the scars of war freshly cut upon its face. And in truth the mountain desert was like an arena ready to stage a conflict—a titanic arena with space for earth-giants to struggle—and there in the distance were the spectator mountains. High, lean-flanked mountains they were, not clad in forests, but rather bristling with a stubby growth of the few trees which might endure in precarious soil and bitter weather, but now they gathered the dignity of distance about them. The grass of the foothills was a faint green mist about their feet, cloaks of exquisite blue hung around the upper masses, but their heads were naked to the pale skies. And all day long, with deliberate alteration, the garb of the mountains changed. When the sudden morning came they leaped naked upon the eye, and then withdrew, muffling themselves in browns and blues until at nightfall they covered themselves to the eyes in thickly sheeted purple—Tyrian purple—and prepared for sleep with their heads among the stars.

Something of all this came to Doctor Randall Byrne as he rode, for it seemed to him that there was a similarity between these mountains and the girl beside him. She held that keen purity of the upper slopes under the sun, and though she had no artifice or careful wiles to make her strange, there was about her a natural dignity like the mystery of distance. There was a rhythm, too, about that line of peaks against the sky, and the girl had caught it; he watched her sway with the gallop of her horse and felt that though she was so close at hand she was a thousand miles from him. She concealed nothing, and yet he could no more see her naked soul than he could tear the veils of shadow from the mountains. Not that the doctor phrased his emotions in words. He was only conscious of a sense of awe and the necessity of silence.

A strange feeling for the doctor! He came from the region of the mind where that which is not spoken does not exist, and now this girl was carrying him swiftly away from hypotheses, doubts, and polysyllabic speech into the world—of what? The spirit? The doctor did not know. He only felt that he was about to step into the unknown, and it held for him the fascination of the suspended action of a statue. Let it not be thought that he calmly accepted the sheer necessity for silence. He fought against it, but no words came.

It was evening: the rolling hills about them were already dark; only the heads of the mountains took the day; and now they paused at the top of a rise and the girl pointed across the hollow. "There we are," she said. It was a tall clump of trees through which broke the outlines of a two-storied house larger than any the doctor had seen in the mountain-desert; and outside the trees lay long sheds, a great barn, and a wide-spread wilderness of corrals. It struck the doctor with its apparently limitless capacity for housing man and beast. Coming in contrast with the rock-strewn desolation of the plains, this was a great establishment; the doctor had ridden out with a waif of the desert and she had turned into a princess at a stroke. Then, for the first time since they left Elkhead, he remembered with a start that he was to care for a sick man in that house.

"You were to tell me," he said, "something about the sickness of your father—the background behind his condition. But we've both forgotten about it." "I have been thinking how I could describe it, every moment of the ride," she answered. Then, as the gloom fell more thickly around them every moment, she swerved her horse over to the mare, as if it were necessary that she read the face of the doctor while she spoke.

"Six months ago," she said, "my father was robust and active in spite of his age. He was cheerful, busy, and optimistic. But he fell into a decline. It has not been a sudden sapping of his strength. If it were that I should not worry so much; I'd attribute it to disease. But every day something of vitality goes from him. He is fading almost from hour to hour, as slowly as the hour hand of a clock. You can't notice the change, but every twelve hours the hand makes a complete revolution. It's as if his blood were evaporating and nothing we can do will supply him with fresh strength." "Is this attended by irritability?" "He is perfectly calm and seems to have no care for what becomes of him." "Has he lost interest in the things which formerly attracted and occupied him?" "Yes, he minds nothing now. He has no care for the condition of the cattle, or for profit or loss in the sales. He has simply stepped out of every employment." "Ah, a gradual diminution of the faculties of attention." "In a way, yes. But also he is more alive than he has ever been. He seems to hear with uncanny distinctness, for instance." The doctor frowned.

"I was inclined to attribute his decline to the operation of old age," he remarked, "but this is unusual. This—er—inner acuteness is accompanied by no particular interest in any one thing? ". As she did not reply for the moment he was about to accept the silence for acquiescence, but then through the dimness he was arrested by the lustre of her eyes, fixed, apparently, far beyond him.

"One thing," she said at length. "Yes, there is one thing in which he retains an interest." The doctor nodded brightly.

"Good!" he said. "And that—?" The silence fell again, but this time he was more roused and he fixed his eyes keenly upon her through the gloom. She was deeply troubled; one hand gripped the horn of her saddle strongly; her lips had parted; she was like one who endures inescapable pain. He could not tell whether it was the slight breeze which disturbed her blouse or the rapid panting of her breath.

"Of that," she said, "it is hard to speak—it is useless to speak!" "Surely not!" protested the doctor. "The cause, my dear madame, though perhaps apparently remote from the immediate issue, is of the utmost significance in diagnosis." She broke in rapidly: "This is all I can tell you: he is waiting for something which will never come. He has missed something from his life which will never come back into it. Then why should we discuss what it is that he has missed." "To the critical mind," replied the doctor calmly, and he automatically adjusted his glasses closer to his eyes, "nothing is without significance." "It is nearly dark!" she exclaimed hurriedly. "Let us ride on." "First," he suggested, "I must tell you that before I left Elkhead I heard a hint of some remarkable story concerning a man and a horse and a dog. Is there anything—" But it seemed that she did not hear. He heard a sharp, low exclamation which might have been addressed to her horse, and the next instant she was galloping swiftly down the slope. The doctor followed as fast as he could, jouncing in the saddle until he was quite out of breath.

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CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR RIDES CAPITOLO III. IL DOTTORE CAVALCA ROZDZIAŁ III. DOKTOR JEDZIE CAPÍTULO III. O DOUTOR PASSA ГЛАВА III. ДОКТОР ЕДЕТ 第三章。医生骑行

Hank Dwight disappeared from the doorway and the doctor was called from his pondering by the voice of the girl. Hank Dwight desapareceu da porta e o médico foi chamado de sua reflexão pela voz da garota. There was something about that voice which worried Byrne, for it was low and controlled and musical and it did not fit with the nasal harshness of the cattlemen. Havia algo naquela voz que preocupava Byrne, pois era baixa, controlada e musical e não combinava com a aspereza nasal dos pecuaristas. When she began to speak it was like the beginning of a song. He turned now and found her sitting a tall bay horse, and she led a red-roan mare beside her. Ele se virou agora e a encontrou montada em um cavalo baio alto, e ela conduzia uma égua ruiva ao lado dela. When he went out she tossed her reins over the head of her horse and strapped his valise behind her saddle. Quando ele saiu, ela jogou as rédeas sobre a cabeça de seu cavalo e amarrou sua valise atrás de sua sela.

"You won't have any trouble with that mare," she assured him, when the time came for mounting. "Você não terá nenhum problema com essa égua", ela o assegurou, quando chegou a hora de montar. Yet when he approached gingerly he was received with flattened ears and a snort of anger. No entanto, quando ele se aproximou cautelosamente, foi recebido com orelhas achatadas e um bufo de raiva. "Wait," she cried, "the left side, not the right!" "Espere", ela gritou, "o lado esquerdo, não o direito!" He felt the laughter in her voice, but when he looked he could see no trace of it in her face. Ele sentiu o riso em sua voz, mas quando olhou não pôde ver nenhum traço dele em seu rosto. He approached from the left side, setting his teeth. Ele se aproximou do lado esquerdo, cerrando os dentes.

"You observe," he said, "that I take your word at its full value," and placing his foot in the stirrup, he dragged himself gingerly up to the saddle. "Você observa", disse ele, "que eu acredito em sua palavra", e colocando o pé no estribo, ele se arrastou cautelosamente até a sela. The mare stood like a rock. Adjusting himself, he wiped a sudden perspiration from his forehead. Ajustando-se, ele enxugou um suor repentino de sua testa.

"I quite believe," he remarked, "that the animal is of unusual intelligence. “Acredito”, observou ele, “que o animal é de uma inteligência incomum. All may yet be well!" Tudo pode ainda estar bem!" "I'm sure of it." said the girl gravely. disse a menina gravemente. "Now we're off." "Agora estamos fora." And the horses broke into a dog trot. E os cavalos partiram num trote de cão. Now the gait of the red roan mare was a dream of softness, and her flexible ankles gave a play of whole inches to break the jar of every step, the sure sign of the good saddle-horse; but the horse has never been saddled whose trot is really a smooth pace. Agora o andar da égua ruiva era um sonho de suavidade, e seus tornozelos flexíveis davam um jogo de polegadas inteiras para quebrar o jarro de cada passo, o sinal seguro do bom cavalo de sela; mas nunca foi selado o cavalo cujo trote é realmente um passo suave. The hat of Doctor Byrne began to incline towards his right eye and his spectacles towards his left ear. O chapéu do doutor Byrne começou a inclinar-se para o olho direito e os óculos para a orelha esquerda. He felt a peculiar lightness in the stomach and heaviness in the heart. Ele sentiu uma leveza peculiar no estômago e um peso no coração.

"The t-t-t-trot," he ventured to his companion, "is a d-d-d-dam—" "O ttt-trot", ele arriscou para seu companheiro, "é um ddd-dam-" "Dr. Byrne!" she cried. ela chorou.

"Whoa!" called Doctor Byrne, and drew mightily in upon the reins. chamou o doutor Byrne e puxou com força as rédeas. The red mare stopped as a ball stops when it meets a stout wall; the doctor sprawled along her neck, clinging with arms and legs. A égua vermelha parou como uma bola para quando encontra uma parede robusta; o médico esparramou-se ao longo de seu pescoço, agarrando-se com braços e pernas. He managed to clamber back into the saddle. Ele conseguiu subir de volta para a sela.

"There are vicious elements in the nature of this brute," he observed to the girl. "Há elementos viciosos na natureza desse bruto", observou ele para a garota. "I'm very sorry," she murmured. He cast a sidelong glance but found not the trace of a smile. Ele lançou um olhar de soslaio, mas não encontrou o traço de um sorriso.

"The word upon which I—" "A palavra sobre a qual eu..." "Stopped?" "Parado?" she suggested.

"Stopped," he agreed, "was not, as you evidently assumed, an oath. "Parar", ele concordou, "não era, como você evidentemente presumiu, um juramento. On the contrary, I was merely remarking that the trot is a damaging gait, but through an interrupted—er—articulation—" Pelo contrário, eu estava apenas comentando que o trote é uma marcha prejudicial, mas por meio de uma... er... articulação interrompida... His eye dared her, but she was utterly grave. Seu olhar a desafiava, mas ela estava totalmente séria. He perceived that there was, after all, a certain kinship between this woman of the mountain-desert and the man thereof. Ele percebeu que havia, afinal, um certo parentesco entre esta mulher do deserto da montanha e seu homem. Their silences were filled with eloquence. Seus silêncios eram cheios de eloquência.

"We'll try a canter," she suggested, "and I think you'll find that easier." "Vamos tentar um galope", ela sugeriu, "e acho que você achará isso mais fácil." So she gave the word, and her bay sprang into a lope from a standing start. Então ela deu a palavra, e seu baio saltou em um galope de um salto. The red mare did likewise, nearly flinging the doctor over the back of the saddle, but by the grace of God he clutched the pommel in time and was saved. A égua vermelha fez o mesmo, quase jogando o doutor sobre as costas da sela, mas pela graça de Deus ele agarrou o cabo a tempo e foi salvo. The air caught at his face, they swept out of the town and onto a limitless level stretch. O ar pegou em seu rosto, eles varreram para fora da cidade e para um trecho plano sem limites.

"Sp-p-p-peed," gasped the doctor, "has never been a p-p-passion with me!" "Sp-pp-xixi", ofegou o médico, "nunca foi uma pp-paixão comigo!" He noted that she was not moving in the saddle. Ele notou que ela não estava se movendo na sela. The horse was like the bottom of a wave swinging violently back and forth. O cavalo era como o fundo de uma onda balançando violentamente para frente e para trás. She was the calm crest, swaying slightly and graciously with a motion as smooth as the flowing of water. Ela era a crista calma, balançando levemente e graciosamente com um movimento tão suave quanto o fluxo de água. And she spoke as evenly as if she were sitting in a rocking chair. E ela falou tão uniformemente como se estivesse sentada em uma cadeira de balanço.

"You'll be used to it in a moment," she assured him. "Você vai se acostumar com isso em um momento", ela o assegurou. He learned, indeed, that if one pressed the stirrups as the shoulders of the horse swung down and leaned a trifle forward when the shoulders rose again, the motion ceased to be jarring; for she was truly a matchless creature and gaited like one of those fabulous horses of old, sired by the swift western wind. Ele aprendeu, de fato, que se alguém pressionasse os estribos quando as espáduas do cavalo balançassem para baixo e se inclinasse um pouco para a frente quando as espáduas se erguessem novamente, o movimento deixaria de ser chocante; pois ela era realmente uma criatura incomparável e andava como um daqueles cavalos fabulosos de outrora, gerados pelo vento rápido do oeste. In a little time a certain pride went beating through the veins of the doctor, the air blew more deeply into his lungs, there was a different tang to the wind and a different feel to the sun—a peculiar richness of yellow warmth. Em pouco tempo um certo orgulho pulsava nas veias do médico, o ar soprou mais fundo em seus pulmões, havia um sabor diferente no vento e uma sensação diferente no sol — uma riqueza peculiar de calor amarelo. And the small head of the horse and the short, sharp, pricking ears tossed continually; and now and then the mare threw her head a bit to one side and glanced back at him with what he felt to be a reassuring air. E a pequena cabeça do cavalo e as orelhas curtas, afiadas e pontiagudas balançavam continuamente; e de vez em quando a égua jogava a cabeça um pouco para o lado e olhava para ele com o que ele sentia ser um ar tranqüilizador. Life and strength and speed were gripped between his knees—he flashed a glance at the girl. Vida, força e velocidade estavam presas entre seus joelhos – ele lançou um olhar para a garota.

But she rode with face straightforward and there was that about her which made him turn his eyes suddenly away and look far off. Mas ela cavalgava com o rosto sério e havia algo nela que o fez desviar os olhos de repente e olhar para longe. It was a jagged country, for in the brief rainy season there came sudden and terrific downpours which lashed away the soil and scoured the face of the underlying rock, and in a single day might cut a deep arroyo where before had been smooth plain. Era uma região recortada, pois na breve estação chuvosa caíam chuvas repentinas e terríveis que açoitavam o solo e varriam a face da rocha subjacente, e em um único dia poderiam abrir um profundo arroio onde antes havia uma planície lisa. This was the season of grass, but not the dark, rank green of rich soil and mild air—it was a yellowish green, a colour at once tender and glowing. Esta era a estação da grama, mas não do verde escuro e fétido do solo rico e do ar ameno — era um verde amarelado, uma cor ao mesmo tempo tenra e brilhante. It spread everywhere across the plains about Elkhead, broken here and there by the projecting boulders which flashed in the sun. Espalhou-se por toda parte pelas planícies ao redor de Elkhead, quebrada aqui e ali pelos pedregulhos salientes que brilhavam ao sol. So a great battlefield might appear, pockmarked with shell-holes, and all the scars of war freshly cut upon its face. Assim, um grande campo de batalha poderia aparecer, marcado por buracos de bombas, e todas as cicatrizes da guerra recém-cortadas em seu rosto. And in truth the mountain desert was like an arena ready to stage a conflict—a titanic arena with space for earth-giants to struggle—and there in the distance were the spectator mountains. E, na verdade, o deserto da montanha era como uma arena pronta para encenar um conflito – uma arena titânica com espaço para os gigantes da terra lutarem – e lá ao longe estavam as montanhas dos espectadores. High, lean-flanked mountains they were, not clad in forests, but rather bristling with a stubby growth of the few trees which might endure in precarious soil and bitter weather, but now they gathered the dignity of distance about them. Eram montanhas altas e de flancos esguios, não cobertas de florestas, mas eriçadas com um crescimento atarracado das poucas árvores que poderiam resistir em solo precário e clima amargo, mas agora reuniam a dignidade da distância ao seu redor. The grass of the foothills was a faint green mist about their feet, cloaks of exquisite blue hung around the upper masses, but their heads were naked to the pale skies. A grama do sopé era uma tênue névoa verde sobre seus pés, mantos de um azul requintado pendurados em torno das massas superiores, mas suas cabeças estavam nuas para o céu pálido. And all day long, with deliberate alteration, the garb of the mountains changed. E durante todo o dia, com alteração deliberada, a roupagem das montanhas mudou. When the sudden morning came they leaped naked upon the eye, and then withdrew, muffling themselves in browns and blues until at nightfall they covered themselves to the eyes in thickly sheeted purple—Tyrian purple—and prepared for sleep with their heads among the stars. Quando a manhã repentina veio eles saltaram nus sobre os olhos, e então se retiraram, amortecendo-se em marrons e azuis até que ao cair da noite eles se cobriram até os olhos com uma espessa camada de púrpura – púrpura de Tyrian – e se prepararam para dormir com suas cabeças entre as estrelas.

Something of all this came to Doctor Randall Byrne as he rode, for it seemed to him that there was a similarity between these mountains and the girl beside him. Algo de tudo isso ocorreu ao Dr. Randall Byrne enquanto cavalgava, pois lhe parecia haver uma semelhança entre essas montanhas e a garota ao seu lado. She held that keen purity of the upper slopes under the sun, and though she had no artifice or careful wiles to make her strange, there was about her a natural dignity like the mystery of distance. Ela mantinha aquela pureza aguda das encostas superiores sob o sol e, embora não tivesse artifícios ou artifícios cuidadosos para torná-la estranha, havia nela uma dignidade natural como o mistério da distância. There was a rhythm, too, about that line of peaks against the sky, and the girl had caught it; he watched her sway with the gallop of her horse and felt that though she was so close at hand she was a thousand miles from him. Havia um ritmo, também, naquela linha de picos contra o céu, e a garota o havia captado; ele a observou balançar com o galope de seu cavalo e sentiu que, embora estivesse tão perto, estava a mil milhas dele. She concealed nothing, and yet he could no more see her naked soul than he could tear the veils of shadow from the mountains. Ela não escondia nada, e ainda assim ele não podia ver sua alma nua mais do que ele podia rasgar os véus de sombra das montanhas. Not that the doctor phrased his emotions in words. Não que o médico expressasse suas emoções em palavras. He was only conscious of a sense of awe and the necessity of silence. Ele estava apenas consciente de um sentimento de admiração e da necessidade de silêncio.

A strange feeling for the doctor! He came from the region of the mind where that which is not spoken does not exist, and now this girl was carrying him swiftly away from hypotheses, doubts, and polysyllabic speech into the world—of what? Ele veio da região da mente onde o que não é falado não existe, e agora essa garota o carregava rapidamente para longe de hipóteses, dúvidas e falas polissilábicas para o mundo – de quê? The spirit? O espírito? The doctor did not know. He only felt that he was about to step into the unknown, and it held for him the fascination of the suspended action of a statue. Ele apenas sentia que estava prestes a entrar no desconhecido, e isso lhe trazia o fascínio da ação suspensa de uma estátua. Let it not be thought that he calmly accepted the sheer necessity for silence. Que não se pense que ele aceitou calmamente a pura necessidade de silêncio. He fought against it, but no words came.

It was evening: the rolling hills about them were already dark; only the heads of the mountains took the day; and now they paused at the top of a rise and the girl pointed across the hollow. Era noite: as colinas ao redor deles já estavam escuras; apenas as cabeças das montanhas tiraram o dia; e agora eles pararam no topo de uma elevação e a garota apontou para o outro lado do vale. "There we are," she said. "Lá estamos nós", disse ela. It was a tall clump of trees through which broke the outlines of a two-storied house larger than any the doctor had seen in the mountain-desert; and outside the trees lay long sheds, a great barn, and a wide-spread wilderness of corrals. Era uma alta moita de árvores através da qual rompia os contornos de uma casa de dois andares, maior do que qualquer outra que o médico tinha visto no deserto da montanha; e do lado de fora das árvores havia longos galpões, um grande celeiro e um vasto deserto de currais. It struck the doctor with its apparently limitless capacity for housing man and beast. Atingiu o médico com sua capacidade aparentemente ilimitada de abrigar homens e animais. Coming in contrast with the rock-strewn desolation of the plains, this was a great establishment; the doctor had ridden out with a waif of the desert and she had turned into a princess at a stroke. Em contraste com a desolação rochosa das planícies, este era um grande estabelecimento; o médico tinha saído com uma criança abandonada do deserto e ela se transformou em uma princesa de um só golpe. Then, for the first time since they left Elkhead, he remembered with a start that he was to care for a sick man in that house. Então, pela primeira vez desde que deixaram Elkhead, ele se lembrou com um sobressalto de que deveria cuidar de um homem doente naquela casa.

"You were to tell me," he said, "something about the sickness of your father—the background behind his condition. "Você deveria me dizer", disse ele, "algo sobre a doença de seu pai - o pano de fundo por trás de sua condição. But we've both forgotten about it." Mas nós dois esquecemos disso." "I have been thinking how I could describe it, every moment of the ride," she answered. Then, as the gloom fell more thickly around them every moment, she swerved her horse over to the mare, as if it were necessary that she read the face of the doctor while she spoke. Então, como a escuridão caiu mais densa ao redor deles a cada momento, ela desviou seu cavalo para a égua, como se fosse necessário que ela lesse o rosto do médico enquanto falava.

"Six months ago," she said, "my father was robust and active in spite of his age. "Há seis meses", disse ela, "meu pai era robusto e ativo, apesar da idade. He was cheerful, busy, and optimistic. Ele era alegre, ocupado e otimista. But he fell into a decline. Mas ele caiu em declínio. It has not been a sudden sapping of his strength. Não foi um súbito esgotamento de sua força. If it were that I should not worry so much; I'd attribute it to disease. Se fosse isso eu não deveria me preocupar tanto; Eu atribuiria isso à doença. But every day something of vitality goes from him. Mas todos os dias algo de vitalidade sai dele. He is fading almost from hour to hour, as slowly as the hour hand of a clock. Ele está desaparecendo quase de hora em hora, tão lentamente quanto o ponteiro das horas de um relógio. You can't notice the change, but every twelve hours the hand makes a complete revolution. It's as if his blood were evaporating and nothing we can do will supply him with fresh strength." É como se o sangue dele estivesse evaporando e nada que possamos fazer irá fortalecê-lo." "Is this attended by irritability?" "Isso é acompanhado por irritabilidade?" "He is perfectly calm and seems to have no care for what becomes of him." "Ele está perfeitamente calmo e parece não se importar com o que acontece com ele." "Has he lost interest in the things which formerly attracted and occupied him?" "Ele perdeu o interesse pelas coisas que antes o atraíam e o ocupavam?" "Yes, he minds nothing now. "Sim, ele não se importa com nada agora. He has no care for the condition of the cattle, or for profit or loss in the sales. He has simply stepped out of every employment." Ele simplesmente saiu de todos os empregos." "Ah, a gradual diminution of the faculties of attention." "Ah, uma diminuição gradual das faculdades de atenção." "In a way, yes. But also he is more alive than he has ever been. Mas também ele está mais vivo do que nunca. He seems to hear with uncanny distinctness, for instance." Ele parece ouvir com incrível clareza, por exemplo." The doctor frowned. O médico franziu a testa.

"I was inclined to attribute his decline to the operation of old age," he remarked, "but this is unusual. "Eu estava inclinado a atribuir seu declínio à operação da velhice", observou ele, "mas isso é incomum. This—er—inner acuteness is accompanied by no particular interest in any one thing? Essa – er – agudeza interior não é acompanhada por nenhum interesse particular em qualquer coisa? ". As she did not reply for the moment he was about to accept the silence for acquiescence, but then through the dimness he was arrested by the lustre of her eyes, fixed, apparently, far beyond him. Como ela não respondeu no momento, ele estava prestes a aceitar o silêncio por aquiescência, mas então através da penumbra ele foi preso pelo brilho de seus olhos, fixados, aparentemente, muito além dele.

"One thing," she said at length. "Yes, there is one thing in which he retains an interest." The doctor nodded brightly. O médico assentiu alegremente.

"Good!" he said. "And that—?" The silence fell again, but this time he was more roused and he fixed his eyes keenly upon her through the gloom. O silêncio caiu novamente, mas desta vez ele estava mais excitado e fixou os olhos nela através da escuridão. She was deeply troubled; one hand gripped the horn of her saddle strongly; her lips had parted; she was like one who endures inescapable pain. Ela estava profundamente perturbada; uma mão agarrou com força o chifre de sua sela; seus lábios se separaram; ela era como alguém que suporta uma dor inescapável. He could not tell whether it was the slight breeze which disturbed her blouse or the rapid panting of her breath. Ele não sabia dizer se era a leve brisa que perturbava sua blusa ou a respiração ofegante.

"Of that," she said, "it is hard to speak—it is useless to speak!" "Disso", disse ela, "é difícil falar - é inútil falar!" "Surely not!" "Certamente não!" protested the doctor. "The cause, my dear madame, though perhaps apparently remote from the immediate issue, is of the utmost significance in diagnosis." "A causa, minha cara madame, embora aparentemente distante do problema imediato, é da maior importância no diagnóstico." She broke in rapidly: "This is all I can tell you: he is waiting for something which will never come. Ela interrompeu rapidamente: "Isso é tudo o que posso dizer: ele está esperando por algo que nunca virá. He has missed something from his life which will never come back into it. Ele perdeu algo de sua vida que nunca vai voltar para ela. Then why should we discuss what it is that he has missed." Então por que deveríamos discutir o que é que ele perdeu." "To the critical mind," replied the doctor calmly, and he automatically adjusted his glasses closer to his eyes, "nothing is without significance." "Para a mente crítica", respondeu o médico calmamente, e ele automaticamente ajustou os óculos mais perto de seus olhos, "nada é sem significado." "It is nearly dark!" "Está quase escuro!" she exclaimed hurriedly. ela exclamou apressadamente. "Let us ride on." "Vamos cavalgar." "First," he suggested, "I must tell you that before I left Elkhead I heard a hint of some remarkable story concerning a man and a horse and a dog. Is there anything—" Há alguma coisa-" But it seemed that she did not hear. He heard a sharp, low exclamation which might have been addressed to her horse, and the next instant she was galloping swiftly down the slope. Ele ouviu uma exclamação aguda e baixa que poderia ter sido dirigida ao cavalo dela, e no instante seguinte ela estava galopando rapidamente encosta abaixo. The doctor followed as fast as he could, jouncing in the saddle until he was quite out of breath. O médico o seguiu o mais rápido que pôde, saltando na sela até ficar sem fôlego.