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The Seventh Man by Max Brand, Chapter II. Grey Molly

Chapter II. Grey Molly

If her soul had been capable of enthusiasm, Marne could have made the trip on schedule time, but she was a burro good for nothing except to carry a pack well nigh half her own weight, live on forage that might have starved a goat, and smell water fifteen miles in time of drought. Speed was not in her vocabulary, and accordingly it was late afternoon rather than morning when Gregg, pointing his course between the ears of Marne, steered her through Murphy's Pass and came out over Alder. There they paused by mutual consent, and the burro flicked one long ear forward to listen to the rushing of the Doane River. It filled the valley with continual murmur, and just below them, where the brown, white-flecked current twisted around an elbow bend, lay Alder tossed down without plan, here a boulder and there a house. They seemed marvelously flimsy structures, and one felt surprise that the weight the winter snow had not crushed them, or that the Doane River had not sent a strong current licking over bank and tossed the whole village crashing down the ravine. One building was very much like other, but Gregg's familiar eye pierced through the roofs and into Widow Sullivan's staggering shack, into Hezekiah Whittleby's hushed sitting-room, down to the moist, dark floor of the Captain's saloon into that amazing junkshop, the General Merchandise store; but first and last he looked to the little flag which gleamed and snapped above the schoolhouse, and it spelled "my country" to Vic. Marne consented to break into a neat-footed jog-trot going down the last slope, and so she went up the single winding street of Alder, grunting at every step, with Gregg's whistle behind her. In town, he lived with his friend, Dug Pym, who kept their attic room reserved for his occupancy, so he headed straight for that place. What human face would he see first?

It was Mrs. Sweeney's little boy, Jack, who raced into the street whooping, and Vic caught him under the armpits and swung him dizzily into the air. "By God," muttered Vic, as he strode on, "that's a good kid, that Jack." And he straightway forgot all about that knife which Jackie had purloined from him the summer before. "Me and Betty," he thought, "we'll have kids, like Jack; tougher'n leather." Old Garrigan saw him next and cackled from his truck garden in the backyard, but Vic went on with a wave of his arm, and on past Gertie Vincent's inviting shout (Gertie had been his particular girl before Betty Neal came to town), and on with the determination of a soldier even past the veranda of Captain Lorrimier's saloon, though Lorrimer himself bellowed a greeting and "Chick" Stewart crooked a significant thumb over his shoulder towards the open door. He only paused at the blacksmith shop and looked in at Dug, who was struggling to make the print of a hot shoe on a hind foot of Simpson's sorrel Glencoe. "Hey, Dug!" Pym raised a grimy, sweating forehead.

"You, boy; easy, damn you! Hello, Vic!" and he propped that restless hind foot on his inner thigh and extended a hand.

"Go an workin', Dug, because I can't stop; I just want a rope to catch Grey Molly." "You red devil—take that rope over there, Vic. You won't have no work catchin' Molly. Which she's plumb tame. Stand still, damn you. I never seen a Glencoe with any sense!—Where you goin', Vic? Up to the school?" And his sweaty grin followed Vic as the latter went out with the coil of rope over his shoulder. When Gregg reached the house, Nelly Pym hugged him, which is the privilege of fat and forty, and then she sat at the foot of the stairs and shouted up gossip while he shaved with frantic haste and jumped into his best clothes. He answered her with monosyllables and only half his mind.

"Finish up your work, Vic?" "Nope." "You sure worked yourself all thin. I hope somebody appreciates it." She chuckled. "Ain't been sick, have you?" "Say, who d'you think's in town? Sheriff Glass!" This information sank in on him while he tugged at a boot at least a size and half too small.

"Pete Glass!" he echoed. Then: "Who's he after?" "I dunno. Vic, he don't look like such a bad one." "He's plenty bad enough," Gregg assured her. "Ah-h-h!" His foot ground into place, torturing his toes.

'"Well," considered Mrs. Pym, in a philosophic rumble, "I s'pose them quiet gents is the dangerous ones, mostly; but looking at Glass you wouldn't think he'd ever killed all those men. Know about the dance?" "Nope." "Down to Singer's place. Betty goin' with you?" He jerked open the door and barked down at her: "Who else would she be goin' with?" "Don't start pullin' leather before the horse bucks," said Mrs. Pym. "I don't know who else she'd be goin' with. You sure look fine in that red shirt, Vic!" He grinned, half mollified, half shame-faced, and ducked back into the room, but a moment later he clumped stiffly down the stairs, frowning. He wondered if he could dance in those boots.

"Feel kind of strange in these clothes. How do I look, Nelly?" And he turned in review at the foot of the stairs.

"Slick as a whistle, I'll tell a man." She raised her voice to a shout as he disappeared through the outer door. "Kiss her once for me, Vic." In the center of the little pasture he stood shaking out the noose, and the three horses raced in a sweeping gallop around the fence, looking for a place of escape, with Grey Molly in the lead. Nothing up the Doane River, or even down the Asper, for that matter, could head Molly when she was full of running, and the eyes of Gregg gleamed as he watched her. She was not a picture horse, for her color was rather a dirty white than a dapple, and besides, there were some who accused her of "tucked up belly." But she had the legs for speed in spite of the sloping croup, and plenty of chest at the girth, and a small, bony head that rejoiced the heart of a horseman. He swung the noose, and while the others darted ahead, stupidly straight into the range of danger, Grey Molly whirled like a doubling coyote and leaped away.

"Good girl!" cried Vic, in involuntary approbation. He ran a few steps. The noose slid up and out, opened in a shaky loop, and swooped down. Too late the gray saw the flying danger, for even as she swerved the riata fell over her head, and she came to a snorting halt with all fours planted, skidding through the grass. The first thing a range horse learns is never to pull against a rope.

A few minutes later she was getting the "pitch" out of her system, as any self-respecting cattle horse must do after a session of pasture and no work. She bucked with enthusiasm and intelligence, as she did all things. Sun-fishing, sun-fishing is the most deadly form of bucking, for it consists of a series of leaps apparently aimed at the sun, and the horse comes down with a sickening jar on stiff front legs. Educated "pitchers" land on only one foot, so that the shock is accompanied by a terrible sidewise, downward wrench that breaks the hearts of the best riders in the world. Grey Molly was educated, and Mrs. Pym stood in the doorway with a broad grin of appreciation on her red face, she knew riding when she saw it. Then, out of the full frenzy, the mare lapsed into high-headed, quivering attention, and Gregg cursed her softly, with deep affection. He understood her from her fetlocks to her teeth. She bucked like a fiend of revolt one instant and cantered like an angel of grace the next; in fact she was more or less of an equine counterpart of her rider.

But now he heard shrill voices passing down the street and he knew that school was out and that he must hurry if he wanted to ride home with Betty, so he waved to Mrs. Pym and cantered away. For over two days he had been rushing towards this meeting; all winter he had hungered for it, but now that the moment loomed before him he weakened; he usually did when he came close to the girl. Not that her beauty overwhelmed him, for though she had a portion of energetic good-health and freckled prettiness, he had chosen her as an Indian chooses flint for his steel; one could strike fire from Betty Neal. When he was far away he loved her without doubt or question and his trust ran towards her like a river setting towards the ocean because he knew that her heart was as big and as true as the heart of Grey Molly herself. Only her ways were fickle, and when she came near, she filled him with uneasiness, suspicion.


Chapter II. Grey Molly Chapitre II. Molly la grise II skyrius. Pilkoji Molly Глава II. Серая Молли

If her soul had been capable of enthusiasm, Marne could have made the trip on schedule time, but she was a burro good for nothing except to carry a pack well nigh half her own weight, live on forage that might have starved a goat, and smell water fifteen miles in time of drought. Si son âme avait été capable d'enthousiasme, Marne aurait pu faire le voyage à l'heure prévue, mais elle n'était qu'un burro bon à rien, si ce n'est à porter un sac pesant près de la moitié de son poids, à vivre d'un fourrage qui aurait pu affamer une chèvre, et à sentir l'eau sur quinze milles en temps de sécheresse. Speed was not in her vocabulary, and accordingly it was late afternoon rather than morning when Gregg, pointing his course between the ears of Marne, steered her through Murphy's Pass and came out over Alder. La vitesse ne fait pas partie de son vocabulaire et c'est donc en fin d'après-midi plutôt qu'en matinée que Gregg, pointant son cap entre les oreilles de la Marne, lui fait franchir le Murphy's Pass et déboucher sur l'Alder. There they paused by mutual consent, and the burro flicked one long ear forward to listen to the rushing of the Doane River. Ils firent une pause d'un commun accord, et le burro tendit une longue oreille vers l'avant pour écouter le bruissement de la rivière Doane. It filled the valley with continual murmur, and just below them, where the brown, white-flecked current twisted around an elbow bend, lay Alder tossed down without plan, here a boulder and there a house. Il remplissait la vallée d'un murmure continu, et juste en dessous d'eux, là où le courant brun et tacheté de blanc s'enroulait autour d'un coude, s'étendait l'Aulne, jeté sans plan, ici un rocher, là une maison. They seemed marvelously flimsy structures, and one felt surprise that the weight the winter snow had not crushed them, or that the Doane River had not sent a strong current licking over bank and tossed the whole village crashing down the ravine. Les structures semblaient merveilleusement fragiles, et l'on s'étonnait que le poids de la neige hivernale ne les ait pas écrasées, ou que la rivière Doane n'ait pas envoyé un courant puissant lécher les berges et précipité tout le village dans le ravin. One building was very much like other, but Gregg's familiar eye pierced through the roofs and into Widow Sullivan's staggering shack, into Hezekiah Whittleby's hushed sitting-room, down to the moist, dark floor of the Captain's saloon into that amazing junkshop, the General Merchandise store; but first and last he looked to the little flag which gleamed and snapped above the schoolhouse, and it spelled "my country" to Vic. Les bâtiments se ressemblaient beaucoup, mais l'œil familier de Gregg perçait les toits et pénétrait dans la cabane chancelante de la veuve Sullivan, dans le salon feutré de Hezekiah Whittleby, jusqu'au sol humide et sombre du saloon du capitaine, jusqu'à cet étonnant magasin de bric-à-brac, le General Merchandise Store ; mais avant tout, il regardait le petit drapeau qui brillait et claquait au-dessus de l'école, et pour Vic, il signifiait "mon pays". Marne consented to break into a neat-footed jog-trot going down the last slope, and so she went up the single winding street of Alder, grunting at every step, with Gregg's whistle behind her. Marne consentit à se lancer dans un jog-trot soigné en descendant la dernière pente, et c'est ainsi qu'elle remonta l'unique rue sinueuse de l'Aulne, grognant à chaque pas, avec le sifflet de Gregg derrière elle. In town, he lived with his friend, Dug Pym, who kept their attic room reserved for his occupancy, so he headed straight for that place. En ville, il vit avec son ami Dug Pym, qui lui réserve sa chambre mansardée, et c'est donc là qu'il se rend. What human face would he see first? Quel visage humain verrait-il en premier ?

It was Mrs. Sweeney's little boy, Jack, who raced into the street whooping, and Vic caught him under the armpits and swung him dizzily into the air. C'est le petit garçon de Mme Sweeney, Jack, qui a couru dans la rue en poussant des cris, et Vic l'a attrapé sous les aisselles et l'a balancé en l'air de façon vertigineuse. "By God," muttered Vic, as he strode on, "that's a good kid, that Jack." And he straightway forgot all about that knife which Jackie had purloined from him the summer before. Et il oublia aussitôt le couteau que Jackie lui avait dérobé l'été précédent. "Me and Betty," he thought, "we'll have kids, like Jack; tougher'n leather." "Moi et Betty, pensa-t-il, nous aurons des enfants, comme Jack, plus résistants que le cuir. Old Garrigan saw him next and cackled from his truck garden in the backyard, but Vic went on with a wave of his arm, and on past Gertie Vincent's inviting shout (Gertie had been his particular girl before Betty Neal came to town), and on with the determination of a soldier even past the veranda of Captain Lorrimier's saloon, though Lorrimer himself bellowed a greeting and "Chick" Stewart crooked a significant thumb over his shoulder towards the open door. Le vieux Garrigan l'aperçut ensuite et ricana depuis le jardin de son camion dans l'arrière-cour, mais Vic continua d'un geste du bras, passa devant le cri invitant de Gertie Vincent (Gertie avait été sa petite amie avant que Betty Neal n'arrive en ville), et continua avec la détermination d'un soldat jusqu'à la véranda du saloon du Capitaine Lorrimier, bien que Lorrimer lui-même beugla un salut et que "Chick" Stewart pointa un pouce significatif par-dessus son épaule en direction de la porte ouverte. He only paused at the blacksmith shop and looked in at Dug, who was struggling to make the print of a hot shoe on a hind foot of Simpson's sorrel Glencoe. Il ne s'arrêta qu'à l'atelier du forgeron et regarda Dug, qui s'efforçait de faire l'empreinte d'une chaussure chaude sur un pied arrière de Glencoe, le cheval sorrel de Simpson. "Hey, Dug!" Pym raised a grimy, sweating forehead. Pym lève un front crasseux et en sueur.

"You, boy; easy, damn you! Hello, Vic!" and he propped that restless hind foot on his inner thigh and extended a hand. Il appuya son pied arrière agité sur sa cuisse intérieure et lui tendit la main.

"Go an workin', Dug, because I can't stop; I just want a rope to catch Grey Molly." "Continue à travailler, Dug, parce que je ne peux pas m'arrêter ; je veux juste une corde pour attraper Grey Molly." "You red devil—take that rope over there, Vic. You won't have no work catchin' Molly. Tu n'auras pas de travail pour attraper Molly. Which she's plumb tame. Qu'elle est tout à fait apprivoisée. Stand still, damn you. I never seen a Glencoe with any sense!—Where you goin', Vic? Je n'ai jamais vu un Glencoe avec un peu de bon sens ! Où vas-tu, Vic ? Up to the school?" And his sweaty grin followed Vic as the latter went out with the coil of rope over his shoulder. Et son sourire moite suivit Vic lorsque ce dernier sortit avec la bobine de corde sur l'épaule. When Gregg reached the house, Nelly Pym hugged him, which is the privilege of fat and forty, and then she sat at the foot of the stairs and shouted up gossip while he shaved with frantic haste and jumped into his best clothes. Lorsque Gregg arriva à la maison, Nelly Pym le serra dans ses bras, ce qui est le privilège des gros et des quadragénaires, puis elle s'assit au pied de l'escalier et cria des ragots pendant qu'il se rasait avec une hâte frénétique et sautait dans ses plus beaux vêtements. He answered her with monosyllables and only half his mind. Il lui a répondu par des monosyllabes et en ne pensant qu'à moitié.

"Finish up your work, Vic?" "Nope." "You sure worked yourself all thin. "Tu t'es bien démenée. I hope somebody appreciates it." She chuckled. "Ain't been sick, have you?" "Say, who d'you think's in town? "Dites, qui pensez-vous qu'il y ait en ville ? Sheriff Glass!" This information sank in on him while he tugged at a boot at least a size and half too small. Cette information lui est parvenue alors qu'il tirait sur une botte trop petite d'au moins une pointure et demie.

"Pete Glass!" he echoed. Then: "Who's he after?" "I dunno. "Je ne sais pas. Vic, he don't look like such a bad one." Vic, il n'a pas l'air si mauvais que ça." "He's plenty bad enough," Gregg assured her. "Il est déjà bien assez mauvais", lui a assuré Gregg. "Ah-h-h!" His foot ground into place, torturing his toes.

'"Well," considered Mrs. Pym, in a philosophic rumble, "I s'pose them quiet gents is the dangerous ones, mostly; but looking at Glass you wouldn't think he'd ever killed all those men. Je suppose que ce sont surtout les hommes tranquilles qui sont dangereux, mais en regardant Glass, on ne croirait pas qu'il a déjà tué tous ces hommes. Know about the dance?" Vous connaissez la danse ?" "Nope." "Down to Singer's place. "Chez Singer. Betty goin' with you?" Betty vient avec vous ?" He jerked open the door and barked down at her: "Who else would she be goin' with?" Il ouvrit la porte d'un coup sec et aboya vers elle : "Avec qui d'autre irait-elle ?" "Don't start pullin' leather before the horse bucks," said Mrs. Pym. "Ne commencez pas à tirer sur le cuir avant que le cheval ne s'élance", a dit Mme Pym. "I don't know who else she'd be goin' with. You sure look fine in that red shirt, Vic!" He grinned, half mollified, half shame-faced, and ducked back into the room, but a moment later he clumped stiffly down the stairs, frowning. Il sourit, à moitié satisfait, à moitié honteux, et retourna dans la pièce, mais un instant plus tard, il descendit l'escalier, raide, en fronçant les sourcils. He wondered if he could dance in those boots.

"Feel kind of strange in these clothes. "Je me sens un peu bizarre dans ces vêtements. How do I look, Nelly?" And he turned in review at the foot of the stairs.

"Slick as a whistle, I'll tell a man." "Aussi fin qu'un sifflet, je le dirais à un homme." She raised her voice to a shout as he disappeared through the outer door. Elle éleva la voix jusqu'à crier lorsqu'il disparut par la porte extérieure. "Kiss her once for me, Vic." In the center of the little pasture he stood shaking out the noose, and the three horses raced in a sweeping gallop around the fence, looking for a place of escape, with Grey Molly in the lead. Au centre du petit pâturage, il se tenait debout, secouant le nœud coulant, et les trois chevaux s'élançaient au galop autour de la clôture, cherchant un endroit où s'échapper, Grey Molly en tête. Nothing up the Doane River, or even down the Asper, for that matter, could head Molly when she was full of running, and the eyes of Gregg gleamed as he watched her. Rien sur la Doane, ni même sur l'Asper, ne pouvait arrêter Molly lorsqu'elle était en pleine course, et les yeux de Gregg brillaient lorsqu'il la regardait. She was not a picture horse, for her color was rather a dirty white than a dapple, and besides, there were some who accused her of "tucked up belly." Ce n'était pas un cheval d'image, car sa couleur était plutôt blanc sale que pommelé, et d'ailleurs, certains l'accusaient d'avoir "le ventre rentré". But she had the legs for speed in spite of the sloping croup, and plenty of chest at the girth, and a small, bony head that rejoiced the heart of a horseman. Mais elle avait les jambes pour la vitesse malgré la croupe inclinée, et beaucoup de poitrine à la sangle, et une petite tête osseuse qui réjouissait le cœur d'un cavalier. He swung the noose, and while the others darted ahead, stupidly straight into the range of danger, Grey Molly whirled like a doubling coyote and leaped away. Il fit pivoter le nœud coulant et, tandis que les autres s'élançaient vers l'avant, se dirigeant stupidement vers le danger, Grey Molly tournoya comme un coyote redoublant et s'éloigna d'un bond.

"Good girl!" cried Vic, in involuntary approbation. He ran a few steps. The noose slid up and out, opened in a shaky loop, and swooped down. Le nœud coulant a glissé vers le haut et vers l'extérieur, s'est ouvert en une boucle tremblante et est retombé en piqué. Too late the gray saw the flying danger, for even as she swerved the riata fell over her head, and she came to a snorting halt with all fours planted, skidding through the grass. La grise s'aperçut trop tard du danger, car alors qu'elle faisait un écart, le riata lui tomba sur la tête, et elle s'arrêta en grognant, les quatre pattes plantées, dérapant dans l'herbe. The first thing a range horse learns is never to pull against a rope. La première chose qu'un cheval d'élevage apprend, c'est à ne jamais tirer sur une corde.

A few minutes later she was getting the "pitch" out of her system, as any self-respecting cattle horse must do after a session of pasture and no work. Quelques minutes plus tard, elle se débarrassait du "pitch", comme tout cheval de trait qui se respecte doit le faire après une session de pâturage et de non-travail. She bucked with enthusiasm and intelligence, as she did all things. Elle a rué dans les brancards avec enthousiasme et intelligence, comme elle le faisait pour tout. Sun-fishing, sun-fishing is the most deadly form of bucking, for it consists of a series of leaps apparently aimed at the sun, and the horse comes down with a sickening jar on stiff front legs. La pêche au soleil, la pêche au soleil est la forme la plus mortelle de la ruade, car elle consiste en une série de sauts apparemment dirigés vers le soleil, et le cheval retombe avec une secousse écœurante sur les pattes avant raides. Educated "pitchers" land on only one foot, so that the shock is accompanied by a terrible sidewise, downward wrench that breaks the hearts of the best riders in the world. Les "lanceurs" éduqués atterrissent sur un seul pied, de sorte que le choc s'accompagne d'un terrible arrachement latéral et vers le bas qui brise le cœur des meilleurs cavaliers du monde. Grey Molly was educated, and Mrs. Pym stood in the doorway with a broad grin of appreciation on her red face, she knew riding when she saw it. Grey Molly était éduquée, et Mme Pym se tenait dans l'embrasure de la porte avec un large sourire d'appréciation sur son visage rouge, elle savait ce qu'était une circonscription quand elle en voyait une. Then, out of the full frenzy, the mare lapsed into high-headed, quivering attention, and Gregg cursed her softly, with deep affection. Puis, en pleine frénésie, la jument retomba dans une attention frémissante et Gregg la maudit doucement, avec une profonde affection. He understood her from her fetlocks to her teeth. Il l'a comprise de ses boucles d'oreilles à ses dents. She bucked like a fiend of revolt one instant and cantered like an angel of grace the next; in fact she was more or less of an equine counterpart of her rider. Elle se cabrait comme un démon de la révolte un instant et galopait comme un ange de la grâce l'instant d'après ; en fait, elle était plus ou moins le pendant équin de son cavalier.

But now he heard shrill voices passing down the street and he knew that school was out and that he must hurry if he wanted to ride home with Betty, so he waved to Mrs. Pym and cantered away. For over two days he had been rushing towards this meeting; all winter he had hungered for it, but now that the moment loomed before him he weakened; he usually did when he came close to the girl. Depuis plus de deux jours, il se précipitait vers cette rencontre ; tout l'hiver, il en avait eu faim, mais maintenant que le moment se profilait devant lui, il faiblissait, comme il le faisait habituellement lorsqu'il s'approchait de la jeune fille. Not that her beauty overwhelmed him, for though she had a portion of energetic good-health and freckled prettiness, he had chosen her as an Indian chooses flint for his steel; one could strike fire from Betty Neal. Ce n'est pas que sa beauté l'ait subjugué, car bien qu'elle ait une part de bonne santé énergique et de jolies taches de rousseur, il l'avait choisie comme un Indien choisit le silex pour son acier ; on pouvait faire jaillir le feu de Betty Neal. When he was far away he loved her without doubt or question and his trust ran towards her like a river setting towards the ocean because he knew that her heart was as big and as true as the heart of Grey Molly herself. Quand il était loin, il l'aimait sans doute ni question et sa confiance coulait vers elle comme une rivière vers l'océan parce qu'il savait que son cœur était aussi grand et aussi vrai que le cœur de Grey Molly elle-même. Only her ways were fickle, and when she came near, she filled him with uneasiness, suspicion. Seulement, ses manières étaient inconstantes, et lorsqu'elle s'approchait, elle le mettait mal à l'aise, le rendait méfiant.