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第21节

the turmoil-第21节

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him meet the shock; neither definite religion nor  〃philosophy〃 definite or

indefinite。  He could only beat his forehead and  beg; over and over; to be

killed with an ax; while his wife was helpless  except to entreat him not to

〃take on;〃 herself adding a continuous  lamentation。  Edith; weeping; made

truce with Sibyl and saw to it that  the mourning garments were beyond

criticism。  Roscoe was dazed; and he  shirked; justifying himself curiously be

saying he 〃never had any  experience in such matters。〃  So it was Bibbs; the

shy outsider; who  became; during this dreadful little time; the master of the

house; for as  strange a thing as that; sometimes; may be the result of a

death。  He met  the relatives from out of town at the station; he set the time

for the  funeral and the time for meals; he selected the flowers and he

selected  Jim's coffin; he did all the grim things and all the other things。

Jim  had belonged to an order of Knights; who lengthened the rites with a

picturesque ceremony of their own; and at first Bibbs wished to avoid  this;

but upon reflection he offered no objectionhe divined that the  Knights and

their service would be not precisely a consolation; but a  satisfaction to his

father。  So the Knights led the procession; with  their band playing a dirge

part of the long way to the cemetery; and then  turned back; after forming in

two lines; plumed hats sympathetically in  hand; to let the hearse and the

carriages pass between。



〃Mighty fine…lookin' men;〃 said Sheridan; brokenly。  〃They allall  liked

him。  He was〃  His breath caught in a sob and choked him。  〃He  wasa Grand

Supreme Herald。〃



Bibbs had divined aright。



〃Dust to dust;〃 said the minister; under the gaunt trees; and at that

Sheridan shook convulsively from head to foot。  All of the black group

shivered; execpt Bibbs; when it came to 〃Dust to dust。〃  Bibbs stood  passive;

for he was the only one of them who had known that thought as a  familiar

neighbor; he had been close upon dust himself for a long; long  time; and even

now he could prophesy no protracted separation between  himself and dust。  The

machine…shop had brought him very close; and if he  had to go back it would

probably bring him closer still; so closeas  Dr。 Gurney predictedthat no

one would be able to tell the difference  between dust and himself。  And

Sheridan; if Bibbs read him truly; would  be all the more determined to 〃make

a man〃 of him; now that there was a  man less in the family。  To Bibbs's

knowledge; no one and nothing had  ever prevented his father from carrying

through his plans; once he had  determined upon them; and Sheridan was

incapable of believing that any  plan of his would not work out according to

his calculations。  His nature  unfitted him to accept failure。  He had the

gift of terrible persistence;  and with unflecked confidence that his way was

the only way he would hold  to that way of 〃making a man〃 of Bibbs; who

understood very well; in his  passive and impersonal fashion; that it was a

way which might make; not a  man; but dust of him。  But he had no shudder for

the thought。



He had no shudder for that thought or for any other thought。  The truth  about

Bibbs was in the poem which Edith had adopted: he had so thoroughly  formed

the over…sensitive habit of hiding his feelings that no doubt he  had

forgottenby this timewhere he had put some of them;  especially those

which concerned himself。  But he had not hidden his  feelings about his father

where they could not be found。  He was strange  to his father; but his father

was not strange to him。  He knew that  Sheridan's plans were conceived in the

stubborn belief that they would  bring about a good thing for Bibbs himself;

and whatever the result was  to be; the son had no bitterness。  Far otherwise;

for as he looked at the  big; woeful figure; shaking and tortured; an almost

unbearable pity laid  hands upon Bibbs's throat。  Roscoe stood blinking; his

lip quivering;  Edith wept audibly; Mrs。 Sheridan leaned in half collapse

against her  husband; but Bibbs knew that his father was the one who cared。



It was over。  Men in overalls stepped forward with their shovels; and  Bibbs

nodded quickly to Roscoe; making a slight gesture toward the line  of waiting

carriages。  Roscoe understoodBibbs would stay and see the  grave filled; the

rest were to go。  The groups began to move away over  the turf; wheels creaked

on the graveled drive; and one by one the  carriages filled and departed; the

horses setting off at a walk。  Bibbs  gazed steadfastly at the workmen; he

knew that his father kept looking  back as he went toward the carriage; and

that was a thing he did not want  to see。  But after a little while there were

no sounds of wheels or hoofs  on the gravel; and Bibbs; glancing up; saw that

every one had gone。  A  coupe had been left for him; the driver dozing

patiently。



The workmen placed the flowers and wreaths upon the mound and about it;  and

Bibbs altered the position of one or two of these; then stood looking

thoughtfully at the grotesque brilliancy of that festal…seeming hillock

beneath the darkening November sky。  〃It's too bad!〃 he half whispered;  his

lips forming the wordsand his meaning was that it was too bad  that the

strong brother had been the one to go。  For this was his last  thought before

he walked to the coupe and saw Mary Vertrees standing; all  alone; on the

other side of the drive。



She had just emerged from a grove of leafless trees that grew on a slope

where the tombs were many; and behind her rose a multitude of the  barbaric

and classic shapes we so strangely strew about our graveyards:  urn…crowned

columns and stone…draped obelisks; shop…carved angels and  shop…carved

children poising on pillars and shafts; all liftingin  unthought

pathostheir blind stoniness toward the sky。  Against such a  background;

Bibbs was not incongruous; with his figure; in black; so long  and slender;

and his face so long and thin and white; nor was the  undertaker's coupe out

of keeping; with the shabby driver dozing on the  box and the shaggy horses

standing patiently in attitudes without hope  and without regret。  But for

Mary Vertrees; here was a grotesque setting  she was a vivid; living

creature of a beautiful world。  And a  graveyard is not the place for people

to look charming。



She also looked startled and confused; but not more startled and confused

than Bibbs。  In 〃Edith's〃 poem he had declared his intention of hiding  his

heart 〃among the stars〃; and in his boyhood one day he had  successfully

hidden his body in the coal…pile。  He had been no comrade of  other boys or of

girls; and his acquaintances of a recent period were  only a few

fellow…invalids and the nurses at the Hood Sanitarium。  All  his life Bibbs

had kept himself to himselfhe was but a shy onlooker  in the world。

Nevertheless; the startled gaze he bent upon the  unexpected lady before him

had causes other than his shyness and her  unexpectedness。  For Mary Vertrees

had been a shining figure in the  little world of late given to the view of

this humble and elusive  outsider; and spectators sometimes find their hearts

beating faster than  those of the actors in the spectacle。  Thus with Bibbs

now。  He started  and stared; he lifted his hat with incredible awkwardness;

his fingers  fumbling at his forehead before they found the brim。



〃Mr。 Sheridan;〃 said Mary; 〃I'm afraid you'll have to take me home with  you。

I〃  She stopped; not lacking a momentary awkwardness of her own。



〃Whywhyyes;〃 Bibbs stammered。  〃I'llI'll be deWon't you  get in?〃



In that manner and in that place they exchanged their first words。  Then  Mary

withour more ado got into the coupe; and Bibbs followed; closing the  door。



〃You're very kind;〃 she said; somewhat breathlessly。  〃I should have had  to

walk; and it's beginning to get dark。  It's three miles; I think。〃



〃Yes;〃 said Bibbs。  〃Itit is beginning to get dark。  II noticed  that。〃



〃I ought to tell youI〃 Mary began; confusedly。  She bit her lip;  sat

silent a moment; then spoke with composure。  〃It must seem odd; my〃



〃No; no!〃 Bibbs protested; earnestly。  〃Not in thein the least。〃



〃It does; though;〃 said Mary。  〃I had not intended to come to the  cemetery;

Mr。 Sheridan; but one of the men in charge at the house came  and whispered to

me that 'the family wished me to'I think your sister  sent him。  So I came。

But when we reached here Ioh; I felt that  perhaps I〃



Bibbs nodded gravely。  〃Yes; yes;〃 he murmured。



〃I got out on the opposite side of the carriage;〃 she continued。  〃I mean

opposite fromfrom where all of you were。  And I wandered off over in  the

other direction; and I didn't realize how little timeit takes。   From where

I was I couldn't see the carriages leavingat least I  didn't notice them。

So when I got back; just now; you were the only one  here。  I didn't know the

other people in the c

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