Chapter 28 Chapter 8 A new force stirs up disputes

Wildeff was taken aback.Wayne looked at Wildeff coldly, without saying a word, and calmly sat down where Christine was sitting just now, reached into his pocket, took out a safrin, and put it on the slate. Have you been watching us from behind the bushes?asked Wildef. The red clay dealer nodded.Put your bets down, he said, or you just don't have the guts to go any further, do you? It turns out that gambling, a pastime which is easy to play when your pockets are full, is not so easy to leave when your pockets are still full; At other times he would have cautiously refused this request, but at this moment, the excitement of his recent success made him completely lose his self-control.He put a guinea on the slate, next to the red-clay-monger's shavelin.My money is a guinea, he said.

A guinea that doesn't belong to you, Wayne said sarcastically. That's mine, replied Wildeff haughtily.That's my wife's, and what's hers is mine. Great; let's get started.He shook the dice box and rolled eights, ten and nines, for a total of twenty-seven on all three rolls. This emboldened Wildeff.He picked up the dice box, and three times he rolled forty-five. The red-clayman put down another safrin, next to the one that Wildeff had put down, his own first safrin.This time Wilderf threw a fifty-one, but no pair.Seriously, the claymonger rolled a one-on-one and pocketed his bet.

It's your turn again, Wildoff said contemptuously.Double down on it.He put down Thomasy's two guineas, and the red clayman put down his two pounds.Wayne won again.New bets were placed on the slate again, and the two gamblers continued their bets as before. Wildoff was a nervous, excitable man, and the game began to excite him.He was so excited and furious that he kept twisting in the seat he was sitting on, and his heartbeat could almost be heard.Wayne sat, pursed his lips indifferently, blinked his eyes nonchalantly, and barely noticed that he was breathing.He'd be an Arab or a robot, and if it weren't for his arms shaking the dice box, he'd look like a red sandstone statue.

Gambling wins and losses fluctuate, one person is lucky for a while, and the other is lucky for a while, but no one shows a special advantage.It went on like this for about twenty minutes.The candlelight of the lantern had now attracted moor flies, moths, and various other nocturnal insects, which circled the lantern, flung themselves at the flames, or struck the faces of the two gamblers. But neither of the two paid much attention to these bugs. Their eyes were only focused on this small stone slab. In their eyes, this stone slab was an arena, just like a big battlefield where fate is at stake. .At this time, the gambling situation has undergone a change, and the red clay dealers continue to win.There were at least sixty guineas, fifty of Thomasy's, and ten of Clem's had fallen into his hands.Wildoff became very impulsive, dazed, and terribly irritable.

The coat was won back, Wayne said sarcastically.Another toss and the money ran over again. The hat was won back, Wayne went on. oh oh!Wildeve said. Won the watch back, won the money back, went out rich, and as the bets kept falling into Wayne's hands, he said sentence after sentence. Five more!exclaimed Wildoff, slamming the money down.Don't toss three times anymore. Each toss determines the winner. The red robot sitting opposite was silent, nodded, and put the money down as he did.Wilderf rattled the dice box and rolled a pair of sixes and a five.He clapped his hands: this time I won, wow!

It was two people playing, and you were the only one who threw it, said the red clay dealer, calmly dropping the dice box.The eyes of the two people were fixed on the stone slab, their gazes were so focused, like light piercing through the mist, it really made people think that they could see the light in their eyes. Wayne opened the box, revealing three six points. Wildeve was furious.Just as the red-clay-monger seized the stakes, Wilderf snatched up the dice, and the box, and hurled them into the darkness, uttering a horrific stream of curses.Then he got up and started trudging around like a madman.

So that's it for now?Wayne asked. no no!cried Wildeve, I mean one more chance.I must try it! But, my dear, what have you done with the dice? I threw them and that thing was too irritating for a while.What a fool I am!Come on help me find them we have to find them. Wildoff snatched up the lantern, and began to search anxiously among the ferns and brambles. You can't find it there, said Wayne, who followed behind, why did you do such a crazy thing?The box is here.The dice cannot fall very far. Wildef eagerly shone the light on the place where Wayne had found the box, and rummaged frantically from side to side in the heather.After a few minutes, a dice was found.They searched for a while, but could not find the other two dice.

That's all right, said Wildoff, we'll bet on one. Agreed, Wayne said. They sat down again and began to play again, a guinea at a time, and the game went on with great intensity.But tonight there is no doubt that Fortune always favors the red-clay dealers.He kept winning until at last he had fourteen guineas.Seventy-nine of the one hundred guineas were his, and Wildoff had only twenty-one left.The two opponents looked very strange at the moment.Except for the movements of their hands, the eyes of the two of them became a vivid reflection of the ups and downs of the game.In every eye there is a little candle flame, and in the alternating moods of hope and desperation, this candle is likely to be extinguished at any time, even the red clay dealer, although from him There is no sign of facial muscles at all.Wildoff gambled with a kind of desperate desperation.

what is that?He cried out suddenly, and he heard a rustle, and they stood up together. A few paces beyond the circle of the lantern they were surrounded by vague shadows, about four or five feet high.They watched intently for a while, only to realize that the things surrounding them turned out to be wilderness ponies, their heads were directed at the two gamblers, watching them intently. Oh boo!With a cry from Wilderf, forty or fifty horses turned and galloped away.The gamble continued. Another ten minutes passed.A large skeletal moth flew over from outside the misty night, flew around the lantern twice, then hit the candle inside the lamp, and extinguished the candle flame.Wildoff had just finished rolling the dice, but hadn't opened the box to see what he had rolled;

Damn it!he cried.What should I do now?Maybe I rolled a six. Do you have a match? No.Wayne said. Christine had no idea where he was.Christine! He called out, but there was no answer, only the low whine of the heron that roosted in the valley below.The two looked around blankly, but neither stood up.After their eyes got used to the darkness, they saw faint green spots of fireflies among the grass and fern leaves.These dots of light dotted the hillside like a mass of low stars. Ah fireflies, Wildoff said.Wait a moment.We can bet on it. Wayne sat still, his companion went from side to side and then there, catching thirteen fireflies all the time. It took him four or five minutes to catch them with all his strength and put them on a piece of fur that he specially plucked. rehmannia leaves.Seeing his opponent come back with these fireflies in his hands, the red clay dealer let out a low chuckle.So, are you determined to continue playing?he asked coldly.

I always do!replied Wildeve angrily.He shook the fireflies off the leaves, and with a trembling hand he formed a circle around the stone slab, leaving a space in between for the dice box, on which thirteen small lanterns cast a faint phosphorescence.Gambling begins again.Coincidentally, at this time of year, the light from the fireflies is at its brightest, and their light is more than enough to illuminate the small stone slab, because on such a night, the light of one or two fireflies can make a letter clear. What these two men were doing seemed too incongruous with their surroundings.They sat on soft succulents in the hollow, surrounded by solitude, except for the clink of guineas, the click of dice, and the exclamation of desperate gamblers. As soon as the light came in, Wildoff opened the box, and a dead silence showed that he was still the loser. I'm not playing anymore, you've messed with the dice.he cried. Why are they your dice?said the red clay dealer. Let's change the game: the lowest pip wins and maybe I can get rid of bad luck.You don't refuse, do you? Come on.Wayne said. Oh, there they are again, damn it!cried Wildeve, looking up.The moor ponies came back silently, looking up as before, and fixed their timid eyes on the scene, as if strange that at such an inopportune hour people were here by candlelight. What can be done off the beaten track. How those brutes hate staring at me like that!He said, throwing a stone, which scattered them, and the game continued as before. Wildoff had only ten guineas left, and five guineas each laid down.Wildoff rolled a three; Wayne rolled a two and took the five guineas in one stroke.The other grabbed the dice, and in a burst of rage, bit the dice fiercely with his teeth, as if he wanted to crush it.Never let it go These are my last five guineas!he cried, throwing them on the stones.Grab that firefly and they're going to crawl out.Why don't you burn brighter, you little fools?String them together with a thorn. He pierced the fireflies with a twig and turned them over so that the bright spots on their tails were facing up. Bright enough, throw it again!Wayne said. Wildef placed the dice in the shining circle and looked eagerly.He throws a little.great!I said luck would turn, and it turned.Wayne didn't say anything, just shook his hand gently. He also rolled a little. oh!Wildford said, Damn it! The dice slapped again on the slate.Another point.With a gloomy face, Wayne rolled the dice, only to see that the dice split in half, with the split side facing up. I threw nothing at all.He said. I deserve it. I cracked the dice with my teeth.Here take your money.Not a penny is the best. I don't want that. Take it, I say you won the money!Wildeve stuffed the bet this time into the arms of the clay dealer.Wayne collected the money, stood up, pulled away and left the depression, Wilderf sat blankly. When he came back to his senses, he also stood up, picked up the extinguished lamp and walked towards the road.When he reached the road, he stood there motionless.The whole wasteland was shrouded in silence except in one direction, and that direction was Misty Hill.He could hear a buggy from there, and presently saw two buggy lights coming down the hill.Wildoff waited, sideways behind a bush. The carriage approached and passed in front of him.It was a rented carriage, and there were two people sitting behind the coachman, and he was very familiar with these two people.It was Eustacia and Yeobright, the latter having his arm round her waist.At the bottom of the valley they made a sharp turn and headed eastward for their temporary home, the small house that Clem had rented and furnished, five miles to the east. At the sight of his lost love, Wildeff forgot his lost money, and every event that reminded him of their hopeless parting made her worthless in his eyes. Progressive growth.He could feel that the sorrow that had faded filled his heart again, and he turned back and walked towards the small inn. Just as Wildef stepped onto the road, and a hundred yards beyond the road, Wayne also came on the road, and he heard the same rumble of the carriage, and he, too, waited. Here comes the carriage.He looked disappointed when he saw who was in the car.He thought for a minute or two, while the carriage drove past, and he crossed the road, cutting through gorse and moor, to the turn at which the toll-posts turned up the hill.Now he came to the carriage again, which was slowly climbing up the hill.Wayne stepped forward, taking his human form. The light fell on him, and Eustacia stared at him, Clem's arm reluctantly withdrawn from her waist.He said, What is the matter, Digory?You are traveling alone. Yes please excuse me, I stopped you, Wayne said.But I'm waiting for Mrs. Wildford, I have Mrs. Yeobright's things to pass on to her.Can you tell me if she came home from the party? not yet.But she'll be gone soon.You might run into her around the corner. Wayne bowed goodbye and walked back to the previous position, where the path from Misty Heights joined the main road.He stood there motionless and waited for almost half an hour, only to see two more lights coming down from the mountain.It was the old captain's old-fashioned carriage, and I couldn't tell what kind of carriage it was. Thomasy was sitting alone in the carriage, and Charlie was driving it. As the carriage turned the corner slowly, the red clay dealer stepped forward.Sorry to stop you, Mrs. Wildoff, he said, but I have Mrs. Yeobright's things to hand over to you myself.He handed over a packet containing the hundred guineas he had just won, wrapped carelessly in a piece of paper. Tomasi recovered from her surprise and took the paper package.That's all, ma'am good night, he said, and disappeared before her eyes. Now, eager to turn things around, Wayne handed her not only the fifty guineas due to Thomasy, but also the fifty guineas that should have gone to her cousin Clem. Ni gave it to her.He was mistaken because he had heard Wildoff say at the beginning of the game, when he indignantly denied that the money was not his.In the middle of the game, the red clay dealer has no idea that he is continuing to gamble with another person's money.This constituted a mistake which subsequently caused not only the trouble of losing the money, but great misfortune. As the night wore on, Wayne moved deeper into the moor until he came to a gully where he parked his cart, which was no more than two hundred yards from where they gambled.He got into his mobile home, turned on the lights, and stood there reflecting on the events of the previous few hours before closing the car door for sleep.Although it was only about two o'clock when he stood there, in this midsummer hour the dawn was breaking out on the northeast horizon and the clouds were clearing.Wayne felt very tired all over. He closed the car door and fell asleep immediately.