impassiveness：n。無動於衷，無感情
recumbent：adj。躺下的
beget of：由……導致或引起
pariah：n。為社會所摒棄者
equanimity：n。平靜，鎮靜
notorious：adj。臭名昭著的
guileless：adj。不狡詐的，厚道的
giggle：n。咯咯笑
run away with：私奔
comely：adj。標誌的，好看的
damsel：n。[雅]姑娘，少女13Mr。Oakhurst seldom troubled himself with sentiment，still less with proprietybut he had a vague idea that the situation was not fortunate。He retained，however，his presence of mind sufficiently to kick Uncle Billy，who was about to say something，and Uncle Billy was sober enough to recognize in Mr。Oakhurst’s kick a superior power that would not bear trifling。He then endeavored to dissuade Tom Simson from delaying further，but in vain。He even pointed out the fact that there was no provision，nor means of making a camp。But，unluckily，the Innocent met this objection by assuring the party that he was provided with an extra mule loaded with provisions and by the discovery of a rude attempt at a log house near the trail。“Piney can stay with Mrs。Oakhurst，”said the Innocent，pointing to the Duchess，“and I can shift for myself。”
14 Nothing but Mr。Oakhurst’s admonishing foot saved Uncle Billy from bursting into a roar of laughter。As it was，he felt compelled to retire up the canyon until he could recover his gravity。There he confided the joke to the tall pine trees，with many slaps of his leg，contortions of his face，and the usual profanity。But when he returned to the party，he found them seated by a fire—for the air had grown strangely chill and the sky overcast—in apparently amicable conversation。Piney was actually talking in an impulsive，girlish fashion to the Duchess，who was listening with an interest and animation she had not shown for many days。The Innocent was holding forth，apparently with equal effect，to Mr。Oakhurst and Mother Shipton，who was actually relaxing into amiability。“Is this yer adamned picnic？”said Uncle Billy with inward scorn as he surveyed the sylvan group，the glancing firelight，and the tethered animals in the foreground。Suddenly an idea mingled with the alcoholic fumes that disturbed his brain。It was apparently of a jocular nature，for he felt impelled to slap his legagain and cram his fist into his mouth。
評注：湯姆和萍妮的到來，給了這群流亡者很大的快樂。一方麵，單純的湯姆顯然沒有意識到他們是因為“道德敗壞”才被驅逐的；另一方麵，湯姆又因為Oakhurst的緣故而過分信賴他們，甚至將自己的底細（包括糧食）和盤托出。比萊大叔似乎在醞釀某個陰謀，這也為後文埋下了伏筆。
15 As the shadows crept slowly up the mountain，a slight breeze rocked the topsof the pine trees，and moaned through their long and gloomy aisles。The ruined cabin，patched and covered with pine boughs，was set apart for the ladies。As the lovers parted，they unaffectedly exchanged a kiss，so honest and sincere that it might have been heard above the swaying pines。The frail Duchess and the malevolent Mother Shipton were probably too stunned to remark upon this last evidence of simplicity，and so turned without a word to the hut。The fire was replenished，the men lay down before the door，and in a few minutes were asleep。
propriety：n。合乎禮節
retain one’s presence of mind：某人保持頭腦冷靜
sober：adj。清醒的
admonishing：adj。警告的
compel：v。強迫，迫使
confide sth。to：向……透露
contortion：n。扭曲，變型
profanity：n。褻瀆的語言
amicable：adj。友善的，平和的
animation：n。活潑，有生氣
amiability n。親切，友善
jocular：adj。詼諧的
unaffectedly：adv。自然地，真摯地
replenish：v。補充，添加16Mr。Oakhurst was a light sleeper。Toward morning he awoke benumbed and cold。As he stirred the dying fire，the wind，which was now blowing strongly，broughtto his cheek that which caused the blood to leave it—snow！
17 He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers，for there was no time to lose。But turning to where Uncle Billy had been lying，he found him gone。A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips。He ran to the spot where the mules had been tetheredthey were no longer there。The trackswere already rapidly disappearing in the snow。
18 The momentary excitement brought Mr。Oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm。He did not waken the sleepers。The Innocent slumbered peacefully，with asmile on his good-humored，freckled facethe virgin Piney slept beside her frailer sisters as sweetly as though attended by celestial guardiansand Mr。Oakhurst，drawing his blanket over his shoulders，stroked his mustaches and waited for the dawn。It came slowly in a whirling mist of snowflakes that dazzled and confused the eye。What could be seen of the landscape appeared magically changed。He looked over the valley，and summed up the present and future in two words—“snowed in！”
19 A careful inventory of the provisions，which，fortunately for the party，hadbeen stored within the hut and so escaped the felonious fingersof Uncle Billy，disclosed the fact that with care and prudence they might last ten days longer。“That is，”said Mr。Oakhurst，sotto voce to the Innocent，“if you’re willing to board us。If you ain’t—and perhaps you’d better not—you can wait till Uncle Billy gets back with provisions。”For some occult reason，Mr。Oakhurst could not bring himself to disclose Uncle Billy’s rascality，and so offered the hypothesisthat he had wandered from the camp and had accidentally stampeded the animals。He dropped a warning to the Duchess and Mother Shipton，who of course knew the facts of their associate’s defection。“They’ll find out the truth about us allwhen they find out anything，”he added，significantly，“and there’s no good frightening them now。”
slumber：v。睡眠，睡覺
celestial guardians：
天使，保護神
inventory：n。存貨
felonious：adj。惡毒的
prudence：n。謹慎
sotto voce：adv。低聲地
occult：adj。神秘的
rascality：n。無賴行為，惡行
hypothesis：n。假說20Tom Simson not only put all his worldly store at the disposal of Mr。Oakhurst，but seemed to enjoy the prospect of their enforced seclusion。“We’ll have a good camp for a week，and then the snow’ll melt，and we’ll all go back together。”The cheerful gaiety of the young man，and Mr。Oakhurst’s calm，infected the others。The Innocent with the aid of pine boughs extemporized a thatch for the roofless cabin，and the Duchess directed Piney in the rearrangement of the interior with a taste and tact that opened the blue eyes of that provincial maiden to their fullest extent。“I reckon now you’re used to fine things at Poker Flat，”saidPiney。The Duchess turned away sharply to conceal something that reddened her cheeks through its professional tint，and Mother Shipton requested Piney not to“chatter”。But when Mr。Oakhurst returned from a weary search for the trail，he heard the sound of happy laughter echoed from the rocks。He stopped in some alarm，and his thoughts first naturally reverted to the whisky，whichhe had prudently cached。“And yet it don’t somehow sound like whisky，”said the gambler。It wasnot until he caught sight of the blazing fire through the still-blinding stormand the group around it that he settled to the conviction that it was“square fun”。
21 Whether Mr。Oakhurst had cached his cards with the whisky as something debarred the free access of the community，I cannot say。It was certain that，in Mother Shipton’s words，he“didn’t say cards once”during that evening。Haply the time was beguiled by an accordion，produced somewhat ostentatiously by Tom Simson from his pack。Notwithstanding some difficulties attending the manipulation of this instrument，Piney Woods managed to pluck several reluctant melodies from itskeys，to an accompaniment by the Innocent on a pair of bone castanets。But the crowning festivity of the evening was reached in a rude camp-meeting hymn，whichthe lovers，joining hands，sang with great earnestness and vociferation。I fearthat a certain defiant tone and Covenanter’s swing to its chorus，rather than any devotional quality，caused it speedily to infect the others，who at last joined in the refrain：
“I’m proud to live in the service of the Lord，
And I’m bound to die in His army。”
評注：這群“壞人”和“好人”在如此特殊的場合下相聚在一起，“壞人”竟然都似乎抹去了道德的汙點（除了那個比萊大叔之外），成了為上帝唱讚美詩的虔誠信徒。哈特那篇《咆哮營的孤兒》也有類似的特點，即在特定的外部環境下，粗俗也會轉化為聖潔。
at the disposal of：由……處理
seclusion：n。隔離
gaiety：n。歡樂的精神
extemporize：v。臨時製作
thatch：n。茅草屋頂
revert to：想到
cache：vt。隱藏
conviction：n。可信性
haply：adv。或許
beguile by：以……消磨時間
accordion：n。手風琴
ostentatiously：adv。炫耀地，賣弄地
notwithstanding：prep。盡管，雖然
castanets：n。響板
vociferation：n。大聲叫嚷
defiant：adj。藐視的，目中無人的22The pines rocked，the storm eddied and whirled above the miserable group，and the flames of their altar leaped heavenward as if in token of the vow。
23 At midnight the storm abated，the rolling clouds parted，and the stars glittered keenly above the sleeping camp。Mr。Oakhurst，whose professional habits hadenabled him to live on the smallest possible amount of sleep，in dividing the watch with Tom Simson somehow managed to take upon himself the greater part of that duty。He excused himself to the Innocent by saying that he had“often been aweek without sleep”，“Doing what？”asked Tom。“Poker！”replied Oakhurst，sententiously“when a man gets a streak of luck—nigger luck—he don’t get tired。Theluck gives in first。Luck，”continued the gambler，reflectively，“is a mightyqueer thing。All you know about it for certain is that it’s bound to change。Andit’s finding out when it’s going to change that makes you。We’ve had a streakof bad luck since we left Poker Flat—you come along，and slap you get into it，too。If you can hold your cards right along you’re all right。For，”added the gambler，with cheerful irrelevance，