coming up: vocabulary quiz tomorrow. (copy below, if you lost yours)
In class: working on "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" extended graphic organizer. Once again, this will be due next Monday at the start of class.
Another copy below.
The Outcasts of Poker
Flat by BretHart Name_____________________________________
Before reading the
short story, please read the information below.
Realists believed
that humanity's freedom of choice was limited by the power of outside forces. Realism
has specific social, political, and artistic characteristics that set it apart
from other genres. Below are the salient* points about
realism. *most noticeable or important
Plot and Character
1. Character is more
important than action and plot; complex ethical* choices are
often the subject. *relating to moral principles
- Characters
appear in the real complexity of temperament and motive; they are in an
explicable relation to nature, to each other, to their social class, to their
own past.
- Humans
control their destinies; characters act on their environment rather than
simply reacting to it.
- Reality
renders reality closely and in comprehensive detail. Selective
presentation of reality with an emphasis on verisimilitude*, even
at the expense of a well-made
plot.
*the appearance of
being true or real.
- Events
will usually be plausible*. Realistic
novels avoid the sensational and dramatic elements. *seeming reasonable or probable.
- Class
is important; the novel has traditionally served the interests and
aspirations of an insurgent middle class. *rising in
active revolt.
7. Realism is viewed as a
realization of democracy.
- The
morality of Realism is reasonable or probable - intrinsic*(1), integral*(2), relativistic*(3).
Relations between people and society are
explored.
* (1) belonging naturally; essential. (2) necessary to make a
whole complete; essential or fundamental (3) conceptions
of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons
or groups holding them.
- Realists
were pragmatic*, relativistic, democratic and
experimental. The purpose of writing is to instruct and to
entertain.
*dealing with things sensibly and realistically
As Mr. John
Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker Flat on the morning
of the twenty-third of November, 1850, he was conscious of a change in its
moral atmosphere since the preceding night. Two or three men, conversing earnestly
together, ceased as he approached, and exchanged significant glances. There
was a Sabbath lull in the air which, in a settlement unused to Sabbath
influences, looked ominous.
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ominous- giving the impression that something bad
or unpleasant
is going to
happen; threatening; inauspicious.
1.What words tell
the reader this is a community
where people do not
regularly go to church?
2. What literary
technique is best embodied
With the word
“ominous?”
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Mr. Oakhurst's calm,
handsome face betrayed small concern in these indications. Whether he was
conscious of any predisposing cause was another question. "I reckon
they're after somebody," he reflected; "likely it's me." He
returned to his pocket the handkerchief with which he had been whipping away
the red dust of Poker Flat from his neat boots, and quietly discharged his
mind of any further conjecture.
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conjecture -opinion or conclusion formed on the
basis of incomplete
information
1. 3. What words indicate that Mr. Oakhurst is a
conscientious about how he presents himself?
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In point of fact,
Poker Flat was "after somebody." It had lately suffered the loss of
several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen. It
was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, quite as
lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it. A secret
committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons. This was
done permanently in regard of two men who were then hanging from the boughs
of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in the banishment of certain
other objectionable characters. I regret to say that some of these were
ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety
was professional, and it was only in such easily established standards
of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit in judgment.
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spasm-a sudden involuntary muscular contraction
impropriety- improper language, behavior, or character.
4. The author uses the technique of innuendo
(insinuation or suggestion), rather than
saying directly
the women’s occupation. What is their
occupation?
How is the town going to handle the
situation?
(Use specific text)
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Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this category. A
few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible example, and a sure
method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from
them. "It's agin justice," said Jim Wheeler, "to let this yer
young man from Roaring Camp--an entire stranger--carry away our money."
But a crude sentiment of equity residing in the breasts of
those who had been fortunate enough to win from Mr. Oakhurst overruled this
narrower local prejudice.
Mr. Oakhurst received his sentence with philosophic calmness, none the less
coolly that he was aware of the hesitation of his judges. He was too much of
a gambler not to accept Fate. With him life was at best an uncertain game, and
he recognized the usual percentage in favor of the dealer.
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equity- fairness
5. Look at the list
of salient points about
realism above.
Write out one quality that
is applicable to
this paragraph.
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A
body of armed men accompanied the deported wickedness of Poker Flat to the
outskirts of the settlement. Besides Mr. Oakhurst, who was known to be a
coolly desperate man, and for whose intimidation the armed
escort was intended, the expatriated party consisted of a
young woman familiarly known as the "Duchess"; another, who had won
the title of "Mother Shipton"; and "Uncle Billy," a
suspected sluice-robber and confirmed drunkard. The cavalcade provoked
no comments from the spectators, nor was any word uttered by the escort. Only,
when the gulch which marked the uttermost limit of Poker Flat was reached,
the leader spoke briefly and to the point. The exiles were forbidden to
return at the peril of their lives.
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·
intimidation-the act of brow beating, scaring
·
expatriated-banished, exiled
·
cavalcade- parade
6. List the exiles.
1.
2.
3.
4.
7. What will happen to the exiles if
they return to
Poker Flat?
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As the escort disappeared, their pent-up feelings found vent in a few
hysterical tears from the Duchess, some bad language from Mother Shipton, and
a Parthian volley of expletives from Uncle Billy. The
philosophic Oakhurst alone remained silent. He listened calmly to Mother
Shipton's desire to cut somebody's heart out, to the repeated statements of
the Duchess that she would die in the road, and to the alarming oaths that
seemed to be bumped out of Uncle Billy as he rode forward. With the easy good
humor characteristic of his class, he insisted upon exchanging his own riding
horse, "Five Spot," for the sorry mule which the Duchess rode. But
even this act did not draw the party into any closer sympathy. The young
woman readjusted her somewhat draggled plumes with a feeble, faded coquetry;
Mother Shipton eyed the possessor of "Five Spot" with malevolence,
and Uncle Billy included the whole party in one sweeping anathema.
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expletives- swearing
malevolence-hatefulness
plumes- feathers
anathema-curse
8. Class is an important aspect of realism.
To what class
do these characters belong? Give
three textual
examples to support your statement. (They
need not be
complete sentences.)
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The road to Sandy Bar--a camp that, not having as yet experienced the
regenerating influences of Poker Flat, consequently seemed to offer some
invitation to the emigrants--lay over a steep mountain range. It was distant
a day's severe travel. In that advanced season, the party soon passed out of
the moist, temperate regions of the foothills into the dry, cold, bracing air
of the Sierras. The trail was narrow and difficult. At noon the Duchess,
rolling out of her saddle upon the ground, declared her intention of going no
farther, and the party halted.
The spot was singularly wild and impressive. A wooded amphitheater,
surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs of naked
granite, sloped gently toward the crest of another precipice that
overlooked the valley. It was, undoubtedly, the most suitable spot for a
camp, had camping been advisable. But Mr. Oakhurst knew that scarcely half
the journey to Sandy Bar was accomplished, and the party were not equipped or
provisioned for delay. This fact he pointed out to his companions curtly,
with a philosophic commentary on the folly of "throwing up their hand
before the game was played out." But they were furnished with liquor,
which in this emergency stood them in place of food, fuel, rest, and
prescience. In spite of his remonstrances, it was not long before they were
more or less under its influence. Uncle Billy passed rapidly from a bellicose
state into one of stupor, the Duchess became maudlin, and Mother
Shipton snored. Mr. Oakhurst alone remained erect, leaning against a rock,
calmly surveying them.
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precipitous-very steep
precipice-steep rock face or cliff
remonstrance- a forcefully reproachful protest.
maudlin- self-pityingly or tearfully
sentimental
9.To where was the group heading after
leaving Poker Flat and why? (use text)
10. 10. Paraphrase Mr. Oakhurst’s “philosophic
commentary on the folly of ‘throwing up
their hand
before the game was played out’”.
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Mr. Oakhurst did not drink. It interfered with a profession which required
coolness, impassiveness, and presence of mind, and, in his own language, he
"couldn't afford it." As he gazed at his recumbent fellow
exiles, the loneliness begotten of his pariah trade, his
habits of life, his very vices, for the first time seriously oppressed him.
He bestirred himself in dusting his black clothes, washing his hands and
face, and other acts characteristic of his studiously neat habits, and for a
moment forgot his annoyance. The thought of deserting his weaker and more
pitiable companions never perhaps occurred to him. Yet he could not help
feeling the want of that excitement which, singularly enough, was most
conducive to that calm equanimity for which he was notorious. He looked at
the gloomy walls that rose a thousand feet sheer above the circling pines
around him; at the sky, ominously clouded; at the valley below, already
deepening into shadow. And, doing so, suddenly he heard his own name called.
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recumbent- lying down
pariah- outcast
11. 11. Another aspect of realism is exploring ethical
choices.
What ethical consideration goes through Mr.
Oakhurst’s
mind as he “looked at the gloomy walls
that rose
a thousand feet above the circling pines
around him”?
(use text)
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A
horseman slowly ascended the trail. In the fresh, open face of the newcomer
Mr. Oakhurst recognized Tom Simson, otherwise known as the
"Innocent" of Sandy Bar. He had met him some months before over a
"little game," and had, with perfect equanimity, won
the entire fortune--amounting to some forty dollars--of that guileless youth.
After the game was finished, Mr. Oakhurst drew the youthful speculator behind
the door and thus addressed him: "Tommy, you're a good little man, but
you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again." He then handed
him his money back, pushed him gently from the room, and so made a devoted
slave of Tom Simson.
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equanimity-fairness
guileless-innocent
12. 12. Another important aspect of realism is the
idea of democracy. Consider this when
answering
the following.
Why does Mr. Oakhurst hand back
Tommy’s money?
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There was a remembrance of this in his boyish and enthusiastic greeting of
Mr. Oakhurst. He had started, he said, to go to Poker Flat to seek his
fortune. "Alone?" No, not exactly alone; in fact (a giggle), he had
run away with Piney Woods. Didn't Mr. Oakhurst remember Piney? She that used
to wait on the table at the Temperance House? They had been
engaged a long time, but old Jake Woods had objected, and so they had run
away, and were going to Poker Flat to be married, and here they were. And
they were tired out, and how lucky it was they had found a place to camp and
company. All this the Innocent delivered rapidly, while Piney, a stout,
comely damsel of fifteen, emerged from behind the pine tree, where she had
been blushing unseen, and rode to the side of her lover.
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temperance- abstinence from alcoholic drink.
13. 13. Name the two new characters that are
introduced.
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Mr. Oakhurst seldom troubled himself with sentiment, still less with propriety;
but 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."
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propriety- the state conforming to
conventionally
accepted standards
of behavior or morals.
14. 14. What did the Innocent bring along and
what had he
discovered? (use text)
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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 a damned 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 leg again and cram his fist into his mouth.
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to admonish-to reprimand
gravity- seriousness
profanity- swearing
amiability-friendliness
sylvan-woodland
jocular- humorous
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As the shadows crept slowly up the mountain, a slight breeze rocked the tops
of 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.
Mr. 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, brought to his cheek
that which caused the blood to leave it--snow!
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 tethered; they were no longer
there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in the snow.
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 a smile on
his good-humored, freckled face; the virgin Piney slept beside her frailer
sisters as sweetly as though attended by celestial guardians;
and 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!"
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celestial- heavenly
15. 15. What has Uncle Billy
done?
16. 16. How has the landscape changed?
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A careful inventory of the provisions, which, fortunately for the party, had
been stored within the hut and so escaped the felonious fingers
of 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
hypothesis that 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 all when they find out anything," he added,
significantly, "and there's no good frightening them now."
Tom 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,"
said Piney. 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, which he had prudently cached. "And
yet it don't somehow sound like whisky," said the gambler. It was not
until he caught sight of the blazing fire through the still-blinding storm
and the group around it that he settled to the conviction that it was
"square fun."
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felonious- criminal
sotto voce- low voice
rascality- trickery
to extemporize-to put together without much preparation
17. 17. For how many days does the party have
provisions?
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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 its
keys, 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, which the lovers, joining hands, sang with great earnestness and
vociferation. I fear that 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."
The 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.
At midnight the
storm abated, the rolling clouds parted, and the stars glittered
keenly above the sleeping camp. Mr. Oakhurst, whose professional habits had
enabled 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 a week 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. The
luck gives in first. Luck," continued the gambler, reflectively,
"is a mighty queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's
bound to change. And it's finding out when it's going to change that makes
you. We've had a streak of 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,
"'I'm proud to
live in the service of the Lord,
And I'm bound to die
in His army.'"
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To beguile-to charm or enchant
sententiously- with feeling
18. 18. How did the snowed-in party pass the
Ti
time?
19. 19. What is Mr. Oakhurst’s attitude toward luck?
(use text)
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The 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.
At midnight the
storm abated, the rolling clouds parted, and the stars glittered
keenly above the sleeping camp. Mr. Oakhurst, whose professional habits had
enabled 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 a week without sleep." "Doing what?" asked
Tom. "Poker!" replied Oakhurst, sententiously; "when a man
gets a streak of luck, he don't get tired. The luck gives in first.
Luck," continued the gambler, reflectively, "is a mighty queer
thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's bound to
change. And it's finding out when it's going to change that makes you. We've
had a streak of 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,
"'I'm proud to
live in the service of the Lord,
And I'm bound to die
in His army.'"
The third day came,
and the sun, looking through the white-curtained valley, saw the outcasts
divide their slowly decreasing store of provisions for the morning meal. It
was one of the peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays diffused
a kindly warmth over the wintry landscape, as if in regretful commiseration
of the past. But it revealed drift on drift of snow piled high around the
hut—a hopeless, uncharted, trackless sea of white lying below the rocky
shores to which the castaways still clung. Through the marvelously clear air
the smoke of the pastoral village of Poker Flat rose miles away. Mother
Shipton saw it, and from a remote pinnacle of her rocky fastness hurled in
that direction a final malediction. It was her last vituperative attempt,
and perhaps for that reason was invested with a certain degree of sublimity.
It did her good, she privately informed the Duchess. "Just you go out
there and cuss, and see." She then set herself to the task of amusing
"the child," as she and the Duchess were pleased to call Piney.
Piney was no chicken, but it was a soothing and original theory of the pair
thus to account for the fact that she didn't swear and wasn't improper.
When night crept up
again through the gorges, the reedy notes of the accordion rose and fell in
fitful spasms and long-drawn gasps by the flickering campfire. But music
failed to fill entirely the aching void left by insufficient food, and a new
diversion was proposed by Piney—storytelling. Neither Mr. Oakhurst nor his
female companions caring to relate their personal experiences, this plan
would have failed too but for the Innocent. Some months before he had chanced
upon a stray copy of Mr. Pope's ingenious translation of the ILIAD. He now
proposed to narrate the principal incidents of that poem—having thoroughly
mastered the argument and fairly forgotten the words—in the current vernacular of
Sandy Bar. And so for the rest of that night the Homeric demigods again
walked the earth. Trojan bully and wily Greek wrestled in the winds, and the
great pines in the canyon seemed to bow to the wrath of the
son of Peleus. Mr. Oakhurst listened with quiet satisfaction. Most especially
was he interested in the fate of "Ash-heels," as the Innocent
persisted in denominating the "swift-footed Achilles."
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to abate- to stop
vernacular- common language
malediction- curse
vituperative-bitter and abusive
wrath- anger
20. 20. What is the relationship developing
among the
women? (Incorporate text)
21.How does Oakhurst
telling the story of
the Illiad in the
vernacular indicate that
the story is an
example of realism?
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So with small food
and much of Homer and the accordion, a week passed over the heads of the
outcasts. The sun again forsook them, and again from leaden skies the
snowflakes were sifted over the land. Day by day closer around them drew the
snowy circle, until at last they looked from their prison over drifted walls
of dazzling white that towered twenty feet above their heads. It became more
and more difficult to replenish their fires, even from the fallen trees
beside them, now half-hidden in the drifts. And yet no one complained. The
lovers turned from the dreary prospect and looked into each other's eyes, and
were happy. Mr. Oakhurst settled himself coolly to the losing game before
him. The Duchess, more cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney.
Only Mother Shipton—once the strongest of the party—seemed to sicken and
fade. At midnight on the tenth day she called Oakhurst to her side. "I'm
going," she said, in a voice of querulous weakness, "but don't say
anything about it. Don't waken the kids. Take the bundle from under my head
and open it." Mr. Oakhurst did so. It contained Mother Shipton's rations
for the last week, untouched. "Give 'em to the child," she said,
pointing to the sleeping Piney. "You've starved yourself," said the
gambler. "That's what they call it," said the woman, querulously,
as she lay down again and, turning her face to the wall, passed quietly away.
The accordion and
the bones were put aside that day, and Homer was forgotten. When the body of
Mother Shipton had been committed to the snow, Mr. Oakhurst took the Innocent
aside, and showed him a pair of snowshoes, which he had fashioned from the
old pack saddle. "There's one chance in a hundred to save her yet,"
he said, pointing to Piney; "but it's there," he added, pointing
toward Poker Flat. "If you can reach there in two days she's safe."
"And you?" asked Tom Simson. "I'll stay here," was
the curt reply.
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querulous-shaking
22. 22.
What is happening to
Mother Shipton? (use text)
querulously – shaking
curt- short and to the point
23. 22.
How do her actions
in terms of
rations relate to
Realism? (look at the list)
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The lovers parted
with a long embrace. "You are not going, too?" said the Duchess as
she saw Mr. Oakhurst apparently waiting to accompany him. "As far as the
canyon," he replied. He turned suddenly, and kissed the Duchess, leaving
her pallid face aflame and her trembling limbs rigid with amazement.
Night came, but not
Mr. Oakhurst. It brought the storm again and the whirling snow. Then the
Duchess, feeding the fire, found that someone had quietly piled beside the
hut enough fuel to last a few days longer. The tears rose to her eyes, but
she hid them from Piney.
The women slept but
little. In the morning, looking into each other's faces, they read their
fate. Neither spoke; but Piney, accepting the position of the stronger, drew
near and placed her arm around the Duchess's waist. They kept this attitude
for the rest of the day. That night the storm reached its greatest fury,
and, rending asunder the protecting pines, invaded the very
hut.
Toward morning they
found themselves unable to feed the fire, which gradually died away. As the
embers slowly blackened, the Duchess crept closer to Piney, and broke the
silence of many hours: "Piney, can you pray?" "No, dear,"
said Piney, simply. The Duchess, without knowing exactly why, felt relieved,
and, putting her head upon Piney's shoulder, spoke no more. And so reclining,
the younger and purer pillowing the head of her soiled sister upon her virgin
breast, they fell asleep.
The wind lulled as
if it feared to waken them. Feathery drifts of snow, shaken from the long
pine boughs, flew like white-winged birds, and settled about them as they
slept. The moon through the rifted clouds looked down upon what had been the
camp. But all human stain, all trace of earthly travail, was hidden beneath
the spotless mantle mercifully flung from above.
They slept all that
day and the next, nor did they waken when voices and footsteps broke the
silence of the camp. And when pitying fingers brushed the snow from
their wan faces, you could scarcely have told from the equal
peace that dwelt upon them which was she that had sinned. Even the law of
Poker Flat recognized this, and turned away, leaving them still
locked in each other's arms.
But at the head of
the gulch, on one of the largest pine trees, they found the deuce of clubs
pinned to the bark with a bowie knife. It bore the following, written in
pencil, in a firm hand:
BENEATH THIS TREE
LIES THE BODY
OF
JOHN OAKHURST,
WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK
ON THE 23D OF NOVEMBER, 1850,
AND
HANDED IN HIS CHECKS
ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850.
And pulseless and
cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his heart, though still
calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at once the strongest and
yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat.
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to render asunder- to tear apart
wan- pale
24. 23.
Why did Mr. Oakhurst turn “suddenly
and kiss the Duchess”?
25. 24.
What happened to Mr. Oakhurst? (use text)
26.25. In
what way is Oakhurst a realist character?
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Vocabulary- for "The Outcasts" quiz on Thursday, February 1
1 1. promiscuous- (adj) a person having many transient relationships
2. garret- (noun)attic room
3. slovenliness-(adj) marked by negligence
4. cupidity- (noun) greed
5. maxim-(noun) saying
6. to augur- to portend or foretell
7. rumpus- noisy disturbance or commotion
8. perambulate- to walk
9. hegira - a flight to escape danger
10. turpitude- moral depravity
