-
A
铁腕柔情（
Hearts and
Hands
）
At Denver, a great many passengers
joined the coaches on the eastbound Boston and
Maine
train. In one coach, there sat a
very pretty young woman. She was beautifully and
richly dressed.
Among
the
newcomers
were
two
men.
The
younger
one
was
good-looking
with
a
bold,
honest
face
and
manner.
The
other
was
a
large,
sad-
faced
person,
roughly
dressed.
The
two
were
handcuffed together.
As they passed down the aisle of the
coach, the only empty seat was one facing the
young
woman.
Here
the
linked
pair
seated
themselves.
The
woman
quickly
glanced
at
them
with
disinterest. Then with
a lovely smile, she held out a little gray-gloved
hand. When she spoke, her
voice showed
that she was used to speaking and being heard.
to old friends when you meet
them in the West?
The younger man
pulled himself up sharply at the sound of her
voice. He seemed to struggle
with a
little embarrassment, which he threw off
instantly. Then he held her fingers with his left
hand.
to use it just at
present.
He slightly
raised his right hand, which was bound at the
wrist by the shining bracelet to the
left
one
of
his
partner.
The
happy
look
in
the
woman's
eyes
slowly
changed
to
one
of
puzzled
horror. The glow passed from her
cheeks. Easton,with a little laugh, as if amused,
was about to
speak
again
when
the
other
stopped
him.
The
sad-faced
man
had
been
watching
the
young
woman's face with his
sharp, searching eyes.
to speak a word for me when
we get to the pen, he'll do it. It'll make things
easier for me there.
He's taking me to
Leavenworth Prison. It's seven years for
counterfeiting.
here. A
marshal!
taking wings. You know,
it takes money to keep in
step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this
opening in the West, and...Well, a
marshal isn't quite as high a position as that of
an ambassador,
but...
ambassador,
she
said
warmly,
call
anymore.
He
needn't
ever
have
done
so.
You ought to know that. So now you are
one of these dashing western heroes. And you ride
and
shoot and go into all kinds of
dangers. That's different from the Washington
life. You have been
missed by the old
crowd.
the shiny handcuffs.
to their prisoners to keep
them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his
business.
window. She
began to speak truly and simply, forgetting about
style and manner.
spent the summer in
Denver. She went home a week ago because Father
was ill. I could live and
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be
happy
in
the
West.
I
think
the
air
here
agrees
with
me.
Money
isn't
everything.
But
people
always
misunderstand things and remain stupid.
water. Haven't you been
talking long enough? Take me into the dining car
now, won't you?
The
bound travellers rose to their feet. Easton still
had the same slow smile on his face.
lightly.
the one friend of the
unfortunate.
Good-bye, Miss Fairchild.
Duty calls, you know.
you must go on to
Leavenworth, I suppose......
The two men made their way
down the aisle into the dining car.
The two passengers in a seat nearby
heard most of the conversation. Said one of them,
marshal is a good sort of chap. Some of
these Westerners are all right.
first speaker.
prisoner to his right hand?
B
贫富之间（
the richer,
the poorer
）
Over the years, Lottie had urged Bess
to prepare for her old age. Over the years, Bess
had
lived each day as if there were no
other. Now they were both past sixty, the time for
summing up.
Lottie had a bank account
that had never grown lean. Bess had the clothes on
her back, and the
rest of her worldly
possessions in a battered suitcase.
Lottie
had
hated
being
a
child,
hearing
her
parents'
skimping
and
saving.
Bess
had
never
seemed
to
notice.
All
she
ever
wanted
was
to
go
outside
and
play.
She
learned
to
skate
on
borrowed
skates. She rode a borrowed bicycle. Lottie
couldn't wait to grow up and buy herself the
best of everything.
As soon as
anyone would hire her,
Lottie put
herself to work. She minded babies; she ran
errands for the old.
She never touched a penny of her money
though her child's mouth wanted for ice cream and
candy. But she could not bear to share
with Bess, who never had anything to share with
her. When
the dimes began to add up to
dollars, she lost her taste for sweets.
By the time she was twelve,
she was clerking after school in a small variety
store. Saturdays
she
worked
as
long
as
she
was
wanted.
She
decided
to
keep
her
money
for
clothes.
When
she
entered high school, she
would wear a wardrobe that neither she nor anyone
else would be able to
match.
But her
freshman year found her unable to indulge so
frivolous a whim, particularly when her
admiring instructors advised her to
think seriously of college. No one in her family
had ever gone
to college, and certainly
Bess would never get there. She would show them
all what she could do
if she put her
mind to it. She began to bank her money, and her
bankbook became her most private
and
precious possession.
In
her third year of high school she found a job in a
small but expanding restaurant where she
cashiered from the busy hour until
closing. In her last year of high school the
business increased
so rapidly that
Lottie was faced with the choice of staying in
school or working full time.
She made her choice easily. A job in
hand was worth two in the future.
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