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The Seventh Man by Max Brand, Chapter III. Battle

Chapter III. Battle

On the road he passed Miss Brewster—for the Alder school boasted two teachers!—and under her kindly, rather faded smile he felt a great desire to stop and take her into his confidence; ask her what Betty Neal had been doing all these months. Instead, he touched Grey Molly with the spurs, and she answered like a watch-spring uncurling beneath him. The rush of wind against his face raised his spirits to a singing pitch, and when he flung from the saddle before the school he shouted: "Oh, Betty!" Up the sharply angling steps in a bound, and at the door: "Oh, Betty!" His voice filled the room with a thick, dull echo, and there was Betty behind her desk looking up at him agape; and beside her stood Blondy Hansen, big, good looking, and equally startled. Fear made the glance of Vic Gregg swerve—to where little Tommy Aiken scribbled an arithmetic problem on the blackboard—afterschool work for whispering in class, or some equally heinous crime. The tingling voices of the other children on their way home, floated in to Tommy, and the corners of his mouth drooped.

To regain his poise, Vic tugged at his belt and felt the weight of the holster slipping into a more convenient place, then he sauntered up the aisle, sweeping off his sombrero. Every feeling in his body, every nerve, disappeared in a crystalline hardness, for it seemed to him that the air was surcharged by a secret something between Betty and young Hansen. Betty was out from behind her desk and she ran to meet him and took his hand in both of hers. The rush of her coming took his breath, and at her touch something melted in her.

"Oh, Vic, are you all through?" Gregg stiffened for the benefit of Hansen and Tommy Aiken.

"Pretty near through," he said carelessly. "Thought I'd drop down to Alder for a day or two and get the kinks out. Hello, Blondy. Hey, Tommy!" Tommy Aiken flashed a grin at him, but Tommy was not quite sure that the rules permitted speaking, even under such provocation as the return of Vic Gregg, so he maintained a desperate silence. Blondy had picked up his hat as he returned the greeting.

"I guess I'll be going," he said, and coughed to show that he was perfectly at ease, but it seemed to Vic that it was hard for Blondy to meet his eye when they shook hands. "See you later, Betty." "All right." She smiled at Vic—a flash—and then gathered dignity of both voice and manner. "You may go now, Tommy." She lapsed into complete unconsciousness of manner as Tommy swooped on his desk, included hat and book in one grab, and darted towards the door through which Hansen had just disappeared. Here he paused, tilting, and his smile twinkled at them with understanding. "Good-night, Miss Neal. Hope you have a good time, Vic." His heel clicked twice on the steps outside, and then the patter of his racing feet across the field.

"The little mischief!" said Betty, delightfully flushed. "It beats everything, Vic, how Alder takes things for granted." He should have taken her in his arms and kissed her, now that she had cleared the room, he very well knew, but the obvious thing was always last to come in Gregg's repertoire. "Why not take it for granted? It ain't going to be many days, now." He watched her eyes sparkle, but the pleasure of seeing him drowned the gleam almost at once.

"Are you really almost through? Oh, Vic, you've been away so long, and I—" She checked herself. There was no overflow of sentiment in Betty.

"Maybe I was a fool for laying off work this way," he admitted, "but I sure got terrible lonesome up there." Her glance went over him contentedly, from the hard brown hands to the wrinkle which labor had sunk in the exact center of his forehead. He was all man, to Betty.

"Come on along," he said. He would kiss her by surprise as they reached the door. "Come on along. It's sure enough spring outside. I been eating it up, and—we can do our talking over things at the dance. Let's ride now." "Dance?" "Sure, down to Singer's place." "It's going to be kind of hard to get out of going with Blondy. He asked me." "And you said you'd go?" "What are you flarin' up about?" "Look here, how long have you been traipsin' around with Blondy Hansen?" She clenched one hand beside her in a way he knew, but it pleased him more than it warned him, just as it pleased him to see the ears of Grey Molly go back.

"What's wrong about Blondy Hansen?" "What's right about him?" he countered senselessly.

Her voice went a bit shrill. "Blondy is a gentleman, I'll have you know." "Is he?" "Don't you sneer at me, Victor Gregg. I won't have it!" "You won't, eh?" He felt that he was pushing her to the danger point, but she was perfectly, satisfyingly beautiful in her anger; he taunted her with the pleasure of an artist painting a picture.

"I won't!" she repeated. Something else came to her lips, but she repressed it, and he could see the pressure from within telling.

"Don't get in a huff over nothing," he urged, in real alarm. "Only, it made me kind of mad to see Blondy standing there with that calf-look." "What calf-look? He's a lot better to look at than you'll ever be." A smear of red danced before the vision of Gregg.

"I don't set up for no beauty prize. Tie a pink ribbon in Blondy's hair and take him to a baby show if you want. He's about young enough to enter." If she could have found a ready retort her anger might have passed away in words, but no words came, and she turned pale. It was here that Gregg made his crucial mistake, for he thought the pallor came from fear, fear which his sham jealousy had roused in her, perhaps. He should have maintained a discreet silence, but instead, he poured in the gall of complacency upon a raw wound.

"Blondy's all right," he stated beneficently, "but you just forget about him tonight. You're going to that dance, and you're going with me. If there's any explanations to be made, you leave 'em to me. I'll handle Blondy." "You handle Blondy!" she whispered. Her voice came back; it rang: "You couldn't if he had one hand tied behind him." She measured him for another blow. "I'm going to that dance and I'm going with Mr. Hansen." She knew that he would have died for her, and he knew that she would have died for him; accordingly they abandoned themselves to sullen fury.

"You're out of date, Vic," she ran on. "Men can't drag women around nowadays, and you can't drag me. Not—one—inch." She put a vicious little interval between each of the last three words.

"I'll be calling for you at seven o'clock." "I won't be there." "Then I'll call on Blondy." "You don't dare to. Don't you try to bluff me. I'm not that kind." "Betty, d'you mean that? D'you think that I'm yaller?" "I don't care what you are." "I ask you calm and impersonal, just think that over before you say it." "I've already thought it over." "Then, by God," said Gregg, trembling, "I'll never take one step out of my way to see you again." He turned, so blind with fury that he shouldered the door on his way out and so, into the saddle, with Grey Molly standing like a figure of rock, as if she sensed his mood. He swung her about on her hind legs with a wrench on the curb and a lift of his spurs, but when she leaped into a gallop he brought her back to the walk with a cruel jerk; she began to sidle across the field with her chin drawn almost back to her breast, prancing. That movement of the horse brought him half way around towards the door and he was tempted mightily to look, for he knew that Betty Neal was standing there, begging him with her eyes. But the great, sullen pain conquered; he straightened out the mare for the gate.

Betty was indeed at the door, leaning against it in a sudden weakness, and even in her pain she felt pride in the grace and skill of Vic's horsemanship. The hearts of both of them were breaking, with this rather typical difference: that Gregg felt her to be entirely at fault, and that she as fully accepted every scruple of the blame. He had come down tired out and nervous from work he had done for her sake, she remembered, and if he would only glance back once—he must know that she was praying for it—she would cry out and run down to him; but he went on, on, through the gate.

A flash of her passion returned to her. "I shall go with Blondy—if it kills me." And she flung herself into the nearest seat and wept.

So when he reached the road and looked back at last, the doorway yawned black, empty, and he set his teeth with a groan and spurred down the road for Alder. He drew rein at Captain Lorrimer's and entered with curt nods in exchange for the greetings. "Red-eye," he ordered, and seized bottle and glass as Lorrimer spun them deftly towards him. Captain Lorrimer picked up the bottle and gazed at it mournfully when Vic had poured his drink.

"Son," he murmured, "you've sure raised an awful thirst."

Chapter III. Battle Chapitre III. La bataille III skyrius. Mūšis Глава III. Битва

On the road he passed Miss Brewster—for the Alder school boasted two teachers!—and under her kindly, rather faded smile he felt a great desire to stop and take her into his confidence; ask her what Betty Neal had been doing all these months. Sur la route, il croisa Miss Brewster - car l'école Alder comptait deux professeurs - et sous son sourire bienveillant, un peu fané, il eut envie de s'arrêter et de la mettre dans la confidence, de lui demander ce que Betty Neal avait fait pendant tous ces mois. Instead, he touched Grey Molly with the spurs, and she answered like a watch-spring uncurling beneath him. Au lieu de cela, il toucha Grey Molly avec les éperons, et elle répondit comme un ressort de montre se déroulant sous lui. The rush of wind against his face raised his spirits to a singing pitch, and when he flung from the saddle before the school he shouted: "Oh, Betty!" Le vent qui s'engouffrait dans son visage lui redonna le moral, et lorsqu'il descendit de selle devant l'école, il s'écria : "Oh, Betty ! "Oh, Betty !" Up the sharply angling steps in a bound, and at the door: "Oh, Betty!" Elle monte d'un bond les marches à angle aigu et arrive à la porte : "Oh, Betty !" His voice filled the room with a thick, dull echo, and there was Betty behind her desk looking up at him agape; and beside her stood Blondy Hansen, big, good looking, and equally startled. Sa voix emplit la pièce d'un écho épais et sourd, et Betty, derrière son bureau, le regarde bouche bée ; à côté d'elle se tient Blondy Hansen, grand, beau et tout aussi effrayé. Fear made the glance of Vic Gregg swerve—to where little Tommy Aiken scribbled an arithmetic problem on the blackboard—afterschool work for whispering in class, or some equally heinous crime. La peur fit dévier le regard de Vic Gregg vers l'endroit où le petit Tommy Aiken griffonnait un problème d'arithmétique sur le tableau noir - un travail après l'école pour avoir chuchoté en classe, ou un autre crime tout aussi odieux. The tingling voices of the other children on their way home, floated in to Tommy, and the corners of his mouth drooped. Les voix des autres enfants qui rentrent à la maison parviennent à Tommy, et les coins de sa bouche s'affaissent.

To regain his poise, Vic tugged at his belt and felt the weight of the holster slipping into a more convenient place, then he sauntered up the aisle, sweeping off his sombrero. Pour retrouver son calme, Vic tira sur sa ceinture et sentit le poids de l'étui se glisser dans un endroit plus pratique, puis il remonta l'allée en balayant son sombrero. Every feeling in his body, every nerve, disappeared in a crystalline hardness, for it seemed to him that the air was surcharged by a secret something between Betty and young Hansen. Chaque sensation dans son corps, chaque nerf, disparaissait dans une dureté cristalline, car il lui semblait que l'air était chargé d'une chose secrète entre Betty et le jeune Hansen. Betty was out from behind her desk and she ran to meet him and took his hand in both of hers. Betty est sortie de derrière son bureau, elle court à sa rencontre et prend sa main dans les deux siennes. The rush of her coming took his breath, and at her touch something melted in her. L'élan de sa venue lui coupa le souffle, et à son contact, quelque chose fondit en elle.

"Oh, Vic, are you all through?" "Oh, Vic, tu as fini ?" Gregg stiffened for the benefit of Hansen and Tommy Aiken. Gregg se raidit pour le bénéfice de Hansen et de Tommy Aiken.

"Pretty near through," he said carelessly. "Il s'en est fallu de peu", a-t-il dit négligemment. "Thought I'd drop down to Alder for a day or two and get the kinks out. "J'ai pensé descendre à Alder pour un jour ou deux afin de me familiariser avec la situation. Hello, Blondy. Hey, Tommy!" Tommy Aiken flashed a grin at him, but Tommy was not quite sure that the rules permitted speaking, even under such provocation as the return of Vic Gregg, so he maintained a desperate silence. Tommy Aiken lui adresse un sourire, mais Tommy n'est pas certain que les règles permettent de parler, même sous une provocation telle que le retour de Vic Gregg, et il garde donc un silence désespéré. Blondy had picked up his hat as he returned the greeting. Blondy avait ramassé son chapeau en retournant la salutation.

"I guess I'll be going," he said, and coughed to show that he was perfectly at ease, but it seemed to Vic that it was hard for Blondy to meet his eye when they shook hands. "Je crois que je vais y aller", dit-il en toussant pour montrer qu'il était parfaitement à l'aise, mais il sembla à Vic que Blondy avait du mal à croiser son regard lorsqu'ils se serrèrent la main. "See you later, Betty." "All right." She smiled at Vic—a flash—and then gathered dignity of both voice and manner. Elle a souri à Vic - un éclair - puis a retrouvé la dignité de sa voix et de ses manières. "You may go now, Tommy." She lapsed into complete unconsciousness of manner as Tommy swooped on his desk, included hat and book in one grab, and darted towards the door through which Hansen had just disappeared. Elle tomba dans l'inconscience la plus totale lorsque Tommy s'élança sur son bureau, emportant chapeau et livre d'une seule main, et s'élança vers la porte par laquelle Hansen venait de disparaître. Here he paused, tilting, and his smile twinkled at them with understanding. Il s'arrêta, s'inclina, et son sourire leur parut compréhensif. "Good-night, Miss Neal. Hope you have a good time, Vic." His heel clicked twice on the steps outside, and then the patter of his racing feet across the field.

"The little mischief!" said Betty, delightfully flushed. dit Betty, délicieusement rougissante. "It beats everything, Vic, how Alder takes things for granted." "C'est un comble, Vic, qu'Alder prenne les choses pour acquises." He should have taken her in his arms and kissed her, now that she had cleared the room, he very well knew, but the obvious thing was always last to come in Gregg's repertoire. Il aurait dû la prendre dans ses bras et l'embrasser, maintenant qu'elle avait quitté la pièce, il le savait très bien, mais l'évidence était toujours la dernière à venir dans le répertoire de Gregg. "Why not take it for granted? "Pourquoi ne pas la considérer comme acquise ? It ain't going to be many days, now." Il n'y a plus beaucoup de jours à attendre." He watched her eyes sparkle, but the pleasure of seeing him drowned the gleam almost at once. Il vit ses yeux briller, mais le plaisir de le voir noya cette lueur presque aussitôt.

"Are you really almost through? "Vous avez vraiment presque fini ? Oh, Vic, you've been away so long, and I—" She checked herself. Oh, Vic, tu as été absent si longtemps, et je..." Elle s'est arrêtée. There was no overflow of sentiment in Betty. Il n'y a pas eu de débordement de sentiments chez Betty.

"Maybe I was a fool for laying off work this way," he admitted, "but I sure got terrible lonesome up there." "J'ai peut-être été stupide d'abandonner le travail de cette façon, mais je me suis senti terriblement seul là-haut", admet-il. Her glance went over him contentedly, from the hard brown hands to the wrinkle which labor had sunk in the exact center of his forehead. Son regard le parcourut avec satisfaction, des mains brunes et dures à la ride que le travail avait creusée au centre exact de son front. He was all man, to Betty. Pour Betty, il n'était qu'un homme.

"Come on along," he said. He would kiss her by surprise as they reached the door. Il l'embrasse par surprise alors qu'ils atteignent la porte. "Come on along. It's sure enough spring outside. I been eating it up, and—we can do our talking over things at the dance. Let's ride now." "Dance?" "Sure, down to Singer's place." "It's going to be kind of hard to get out of going with Blondy. "Il va être difficile de se passer de Blondy. He asked me." "And you said you'd go?" "Et tu as dit que tu irais ?" "What are you flarin' up about?" "Qu'est-ce que tu racontes ?" "Look here, how long have you been traipsin' around with Blondy Hansen?" "Ecoutez, depuis combien de temps traînez-vous avec Blondy Hansen ?" She clenched one hand beside her in a way he knew, but it pleased him more than it warned him, just as it pleased him to see the ears of Grey Molly go back. Elle serra une main à côté d'elle d'une manière qu'il connaissait, mais qui lui faisait plus plaisir qu'elle ne l'avertissait, tout comme cela lui faisait plaisir de voir les oreilles de Grey Molly reculer.

"What's wrong about Blondy Hansen?" "What's right about him?" he countered senselessly. a-t-il répliqué de manière insensée.

Her voice went a bit shrill. Sa voix est devenue un peu criarde. "Blondy is a gentleman, I'll have you know." "Blondy est un gentleman, je vous le fais savoir." "Is he?" "Don't you sneer at me, Victor Gregg. "Ne vous moquez pas de moi, Victor Gregg. I won't have it!" Je ne l'accepterai pas !" "You won't, eh?" He felt that he was pushing her to the danger point, but she was perfectly, satisfyingly beautiful in her anger; he taunted her with the pleasure of an artist painting a picture. Il sentait qu'il la poussait à bout, mais elle était d'une beauté parfaite, satisfaisante, dans sa colère ; il la narguait avec le plaisir d'un artiste peignant un tableau.

"I won't!" she repeated. Something else came to her lips, but she repressed it, and he could see the pressure from within telling. Quelque chose d'autre lui vint aux lèvres, mais elle le réprima, et il put voir la pression intérieure s'exprimer.

"Don't get in a huff over nothing," he urged, in real alarm. "Ne vous énervez pas pour rien", dit-il, très inquiet. "Only, it made me kind of mad to see Blondy standing there with that calf-look." "Seulement, ça m'a un peu énervé de voir Blondy se tenir là avec ce regard de veau". "What calf-look? He's a lot better to look at than you'll ever be." Il est bien plus agréable à regarder que tu ne le seras jamais." A smear of red danced before the vision of Gregg. Une tache rouge dansait devant la vision de Gregg.

"I don't set up for no beauty prize. "Je ne cherche pas à obtenir un prix de beauté. Tie a pink ribbon in Blondy's hair and take him to a baby show if you want. Attachez un ruban rose dans les cheveux de Blondy et emmenez-le à un spectacle pour bébés si vous le souhaitez. He's about young enough to enter." If she could have found a ready retort her anger might have passed away in words, but no words came, and she turned pale. Si elle avait pu trouver une réplique toute prête, sa colère aurait pu s'éteindre dans les mots, mais aucun mot ne vint, et elle devint pâle. It was here that Gregg made his crucial mistake, for he thought the pallor came from fear, fear which his sham jealousy had roused in her, perhaps. C'est là que Gregg commit son erreur capitale, car il pensa que la pâleur était due à la peur, la peur que sa jalousie factice avait fait naître en elle, peut-être. He should have maintained a discreet silence, but instead, he poured in the gall of complacency upon a raw wound. Il aurait dû garder un silence discret, mais au lieu de cela, il a versé le fiel de la complaisance sur une plaie à vif.

"Blondy's all right," he stated beneficently, "but you just forget about him tonight. "Blondy va bien", a-t-il déclaré avec bienveillance, "mais oubliez-le ce soir. You're going to that dance, and you're going with me. If there's any explanations to be made, you leave 'em to me. S'il y a des explications à donner, vous me les laissez. I'll handle Blondy." Je m'occupe de Blondy." "You handle Blondy!" she whispered. Her voice came back; it rang: "You couldn't if he had one hand tied behind him." Sa voix est revenue, elle a retenti : "Vous ne pourriez pas s'il avait une main attachée derrière lui". She measured him for another blow. Elle l'a jaugé pour un autre coup. "I'm going to that dance and I'm going with Mr. Hansen." She knew that he would have died for her, and he knew that she would have died for him; accordingly they abandoned themselves to sullen fury. Elle savait qu'il serait mort pour elle, et il savait qu'elle serait morte pour lui ; c'est pourquoi ils s'abandonnèrent à une fureur maussade.

"You're out of date, Vic," she ran on. "Tu es dépassé, Vic", a-t-elle poursuivi. "Men can't drag women around nowadays, and you can't drag me. "Les hommes ne peuvent plus traîner les femmes de nos jours, et vous ne pouvez pas me traîner. Not—one—inch." She put a vicious little interval between each of the last three words.

"I'll be calling for you at seven o'clock." "I won't be there." "Then I'll call on Blondy." "Alors je vais appeler Blondy." "You don't dare to. Don't you try to bluff me. I'm not that kind." "Betty, d'you mean that? D'you think that I'm yaller?" Vous pensez que je suis plus jeune ?" "I don't care what you are." "I ask you calm and impersonal, just think that over before you say it." "Je vous le demande calmement et de manière impersonnelle, réfléchissez-y avant de le dire." "I've already thought it over." "Then, by God," said Gregg, trembling, "I'll never take one step out of my way to see you again." "Alors, par Dieu", dit Gregg, tremblant, "je ne ferai jamais un pas de côté pour vous revoir". He turned, so blind with fury that he shouldered the door on his way out and so, into the saddle, with Grey Molly standing like a figure of rock, as if she sensed his mood. Il se retourna, tellement aveuglé par la fureur qu'il épaula la porte en sortant et se mit en selle, Grey Molly se tenant comme un roc, comme si elle sentait son humeur. He swung her about on her hind legs with a wrench on the curb and a lift of his spurs, but when she leaped into a gallop he brought her back to the walk with a cruel jerk; she began to sidle across the field with her chin drawn almost back to her breast, prancing. Il la fit pivoter sur ses pattes de derrière d'un coup de frein et d'un coup d'éperons, mais lorsqu'elle partit au galop, il la ramena au pas d'un coup sec et cruel ; elle se mit à traverser le champ, le menton presque ramené sur la poitrine, en se pavanant. That movement of the horse brought him half way around towards the door and he was tempted mightily to look, for he knew that Betty Neal was standing there, begging him with her eyes. Ce mouvement du cheval lui fit faire un demi-tour vers la porte et il fut fortement tenté de regarder, car il savait que Betty Neal se tenait là, le suppliant du regard. But the great, sullen pain conquered; he straightened out the mare for the gate. Mais la grande douleur renfrognée l'emporta ; il redressa la jument pour l'amener à la porte.

Betty was indeed at the door, leaning against it in a sudden weakness, and even in her pain she felt pride in the grace and skill of Vic's horsemanship. Betty était en effet à la porte, appuyée contre elle par une faiblesse soudaine, et même dans sa douleur, elle était fière de la grâce et de l'habileté de l'équitation de Vic. The hearts of both of them were breaking, with this rather typical difference: that Gregg felt her to be entirely at fault, and that she as fully accepted every scruple of the blame. Tous deux avaient le cœur brisé, avec cette différence assez typique que Gregg la considérait comme entièrement fautive, et qu'elle acceptait pleinement chaque scrupule de la faute. He had come down tired out and nervous from work he had done for her sake, she remembered, and if he would only glance back once—he must know that she was praying for it—she would cry out and run down to him; but he went on, on, through the gate. Elle se souvenait qu'il était descendu fatigué et nerveux du travail qu'il avait fait pour elle, et si seulement il jetait un coup d'œil en arrière - il devait savoir qu'elle priait pour cela - elle crierait et se précipiterait vers lui ; mais il continuait, continuait, à travers la grille.

A flash of her passion returned to her. "I shall go with Blondy—if it kills me." "J'irai avec Blondy, même si cela me tue." And she flung herself into the nearest seat and wept.

So when he reached the road and looked back at last, the doorway yawned black, empty, and he set his teeth with a groan and spurred down the road for Alder. He drew rein at Captain Lorrimer's and entered with curt nods in exchange for the greetings. "Red-eye," he ordered, and seized bottle and glass as Lorrimer spun them deftly towards him. Captain Lorrimer picked up the bottle and gazed at it mournfully when Vic had poured his drink.

"Son," he murmured, "you've sure raised an awful thirst."