词汇：ago

adv. 以前，以往

相关场景

“Well, you’re back,” the clerk said. “That was you a while ago, wasn’t it?” “That was me,” July admitted.>>完整场景

“I’ll send the cook over with some breakfast,” he said. “By the way, you didn’t cross the path of a young sheriff from Arkansas, did you? He’s up this way somewhere, and I’ve been worried about him.” “You must be referring to July Johnson,” Augustus said. “We left him four days ago. He was headed on north.” “Well, he had a funny crew with him. I was just a little uneasy,” Wilbarger said. “I found him a likable man, but inexperienced.” “He’s got more experience now,” Augustus said. “Blue Duck killed his crew.” “Killed all three of them?” Wilbarger asked, startled. “I even offered that young boy a job.” “He should have took it,” Augustus said. “We buried them west of here.” “That Duck must be a hard son of a bitch,” Wilbarger said.He sat on his horse a moment, looking into the night. “I had a feeling young Johnson was inexperienced,” he said, and trotted off.>>完整场景

“Not enough buffalo,” Augustus said. “It wasn’t two years ago that they had that big fight here, and now look at it. It looks like it’s been empty fifty years.” The only signs of life were the rattlesnakes, of which there were plenty, and mice, which explained the snakes. A few owls competed with the snakes for the mice.>>完整场景

That had been at least twelve years ago, and Augustus soon concluded that his tracking skills had rusted to the point of being unusable. The only horse tracks he found for the first three hours belonged to Hat Creek horses. He almost decided to go back and get Deets, though he knew Call would be reluctant to surrender him.>>完整场景

“I don’t know, I ain’t counted the gang yet,” Augustus said. “If I run out I can always throw rocks at them.” With that and a nod he rode off. Call felt a little confused. Though the woman was no responsibility of his, he felt like he should be going too. Here he was, stuck with a bunch of cattle, while Gus was riding off to do the work they ought to have done long ago. It didn’t feel right.>>完整场景

“Pack up, Lorie,” Augustus said. “You best stay near us for a night or two.” “Who is he?” she asked.“One we ought to have hung ten years ago,” Augustus said. “Couldn’t catch him. He’s a Comanchero. He’s got a greasy bunch of murderers and child-stealers. He used to work the Red River country from New Mexico all the way across to Arkansas, hitting settlers. They’d butcher the grownups and take the horses and kids.” “Why couldn’t you catch him?” she asked.>>完整场景

“Lorie, you look downcast,” Augustus said. “Not four or five days ago you felt keen and looked more beautiful than the sky. What’s that scamp done to cause such a change?” “I don’t know, Gus,” Lorena said. “Seems like I change every day.” “Oh, like most people do,” he said, watching her. She had a sad look in her eyes.>>完整场景

“He’ll thank me someday,” Augustus said. “It will make him more appealing to the ladies. He looked too much like a long- tailed rat, as it was. With no better manners than he had, I expect he was in for a lonely life.” “Well, I won’t have this!” the young man said loudly. “I don’t know why you old cowboys think you can just walk in and do what you please. What’s that picture doing on the bar?” “Why, it’s just a picture of us boys, back in the days when they wanted to make us senators,” Augustus said. “Willie kept iton the mirror there so when we happened in we could see how handsome we used to look.” “I’m a notion to call the sheriff and have the two of you arrested,” the young man said. “Shooting in my bar is a crime, and I don’t care what you done twenty years ago. You can get out of here and be quick about it or you’ll end up spending your night in jail.” He got angrier as he spoke.>>完整场景

“Why, this place’ll catch New Orleans if it don’t stop growing,” he said. “If we’d put in a barbershop ten years ago we’d be rich now.” There was a big saloon on the main street that they’d frequented a lot in their rangering days. It was called the Buckhorn, because of the owner’s penchant for using deer horns for coat and hat racks. His name was Willie Montgomery, and he had been a big crony of Augustus’s at one time. Call suspected him of being a card sharp, but if so he was a careful card sharp.>>完整场景

“Why, it’s old Deets,” he said. “We’re all right now, Lorie. Deets will see us through.”“I been looking for a good place to cross the herd,” Deets said. “Captain made me the scout.” “Well, he’s right,” Jake said. “We’d all have been lost twenty years ago if it hadn’t been for you.” “You full of fever,” Deets said. “Let me get that sticker out of your hand.” “I thought I got it all the other day,” Jake said. “I’d as soon have you cut my hand off as dig around in there.” “Oh, no,” Deets said. “You got to keep your hand. Might need you to shoot a bandit if one gets after me.” He went back and rummaged in his saddlebag, bringing out a large needle.>>完整场景

“I would have taken her to San Francisco,” Xavier said. “I would have given her money, bought her clothes.” “In my opinion the woman made a poor bargain,” Augustus said. “I seen her not an hour ago, trying to cook over a dern smoky fire. But then we don’t look at life like women do, Wanz. They don’t always appreciate convenience.” Xavier shrugged. Gus often talked about women, but he had never listened and didn’t intend to start. It wouldn’t bring Lorena back, or make him feel less hopeless. It had seemed a miracle, the day she walked in the door, with nothing but her beauty. From the first he had planned to marry her someday. It didn’t matter that she was a whore. She had intelligence, and he felt sure her intelligence would one day guide her to him. She would see, in time, how much kinder he was than other men; she would recognize that he treated her better, loved her more.>>完整场景

“It’s a wonder you ain’t froze to death years ago, if that’s the best fire you can make,” Augustus said. He began to gather sticks.>>完整场景

But when he raised up on one elbow to look at her in the fresh light, the urge to discourage her went away. It was a weakness, but he could not bear to disappoint women, even if it was ultimately for their own good. At least he couldn’t disappoint them to their faces. Leaving them was his only out, and he knew he wasn’t ready to leave Lorie. Her beauty blew the sleep right out of his brain, and all she was doing was looking out a window, her long golden hair spilling over her shoulders. She wore an old threadbare cotton shift that should have been thrown away long ago. She didn’t own a decent dress, and had nothing to show her beauty to advantage, yet most of the men on the border would ride thirty miles just to sit in a saloon and look at her. She had the quality of not yet having really started her life—her face had a freshness unusual in a woman who had been sporting for a while. The thought struck him that the two of them might do well in San Francisco, if they could just get there. There were men of wealth there, and Lorie’s beauty would soon attract them.>>完整场景

“You boys must have been raised on satin pillows,” he said. “If you’d rangered you’d have got a taste for snake long ago.” He then proceeded to give them a lecture on the culinary properties of rattlesnake—a lecture that Jasper, for one, received rather stiffly. It might be superior to chicken, rabbit and possum, as Gus claimed, but that didn’t mean he wanted to eat it. His visits to the stewpot became a source of irritation to everyone; he would fish around in the pot for several minutes, seeking portions of meat that he could feel confident hadn’t come from a snake. Such delicacy exacerbated the rest of the crew, who were usually so hungry by suppertime that they could ill abide waits.>>完整场景

That had been ten years ago, and he and Gus soon quit rangering. So far as Call was concerned, the death of Kicking Wolf meant the end of the Comanches, and thus the end of their real job. There were other chiefs, true, and the final fights were yet to be fought, but he had never had the vengeful nature of some Rangers and had no interest in spending a decade mopping up renegades and stragglers.>>完整场景

“That’s all right, Call,” Augustus said. “We’ll make it up off the Irishmen. Maybe they got rich uncles—bank directors or railroad magnates or something. They’ll be so happy to see those boys alive again that they’ll likely make us partners.” Call ignored him, trying to think of some way to salvage the trip. Though he had always been a careful planner, life on the frontier had long ago convinced him of the fragility of plans. The truth was, most plans did fail, to one degree or another, for one reason or another. He had survived as a Ranger because he was quick to respond to what he had actually found, not because his planning was infallible.>>完整场景

Newt took the gun and slipped it out of its holster. It smelted faintly of oil—the Captain must have oiled it that day. It was not the first time he had held a pistol, of course. Mr. Gus had given him thorough training in pistol shooting and had even complimented him on his skill. But holding one and actually having one of your own were two different things. He turned the cylinder of the Colt and listened to the small, clear clicks it made. The grip was wood, the barrel cool and blue; the holster had kept a faint smell of saddle soap. He slipped the gun back in its holster, put the gun belt around his waist and felt the gun’s solid weight against his hip. When he walked out into the lots to catch his horse, he felt grown and complete for the first time in his life. The sun was just easing down toward the Western horizon, the bullbats weredipping toward the stone stock tank that Deets and the Captain had built long ago. Deets had already caught Mr. Gus’s horse, a big solid sorrel they called Mud Pie, and was catching his own mount. Newt shook out a loop, and on the first throw caught his own favorite, a dun gelding he called Mouse. He felt he could even rope better with the gun on his hip.>>完整场景

I learned long ago there’s much to be said for dumbness. A dumb horse may step in a hole once in a while, but at least you can turn your back on one without losing a patch of hide.” “I’d rather my horses didn’t step in no holes,” Call said. “You reckon somebody’s really on Jake’s trail?” “Hard to judge,” Augustus said. “Jake was always nervous. He’s seen more Indians that turned out to be sage bushes than any man I know.” “A dead dentist ain’t a sage bush,” Call said.>>完整场景

“Catching a nap,” Augustus said. “I reckon the anxiety wore him out.” “He ain’t changed a bit,” Call said. “Not a dern bit.” Augustus laughed. “You’re one to talk,” he said. “When’s the last time you changed? It must have been before we met, and that was thirty years ago.” “Look at her watch us,” Call said. The mare was watching them—even had her ears pointed at them.>>完整场景

“That Bob Allen’s lucky,” he remarked. “I’ve known horse traders who didn’t last a year.” “Why, hell, you’re a horse trader yourself,” Jake said. “You boys have let yourselves get stuck. You should have gone north long ago. There’s plenty of opportunity left up north.” “That may be, Jake, but all you’ve done with it is kill a dentist,” Augustus said. “At least we ain’t committed no ridiculous crimes.” Jake smiled. “Have you got anything to drink around here?” he asked. “Or do you just sit around all day with your throat parched.” “He gets drunk,” Bolivar said, waking up suddenly.>>完整场景

“Fort Smith, Arkansas,” Jake said. “Not three weeks ago.” “Well, I’ve always considered dentistry a dangerous profession,” Augustus said. “Making a living by yanking people’s teeth out is asking for trouble.” “He wasn’t even pulling my tooth,” Jake said. “I didn’t even know there was a dentist in the town. I got in a little argument in a saloon and a damn mule skinner threw down on me. Somebody’s old buffalo rifle was leaning against the wall right by me and that’s what I went for. Hell, I was sitting on my own pistols—I never wouldn’t have got to it in time. I wasn’t even playin’ cards with the mule skinner.” “What riled him then?” Gus asked.>>完整场景

“Oh, I’ve been seeing the country,” he said. “I was up to Montana two years ago. I guess that’s what made me decide to come back, although I’ve been meaning to get back down this way and see you boys for some years.” Call came back in the room and straddled a chair, figuring he might as well hear it.>>完整场景

I left home 6 months ago to follow on the footsteps of my heroes, a bit of surfing, some climbing, lots of unspoiled terrain.>>完整场景

A long time ago, that was a long time ago ! I forget.>>完整场景

I told you this a long time ago !>>完整场景