There was high revel in the lodge room at the Union House that night, not only over the killing of the manager and engineer of the Crow Hill mine, which would bring this organization into line with the other blackmailed and terror-stricken companies of the district, but also over a distant triumph which had been wrought by the hands of the lodge itself.

その夜、ユニオン・ハウスの支部室では盛大な酒宴が催された / クロー・ヒル鉱山の経営者と技術者の殺害だけではなく / これは、この会社を列に加えたが / この地方でゆすられ、恐怖におののかされた他の会社の / はるか離れた勝利の喜びでもあった / 支部自身の手によって達成された

It would appear that when the County Delegate had sent over five good men to strike a blow in Vermissa, he had demanded that in return three Vermissa men should be secretly selected and sent across to kill William Hales of Stake Royal, one of the best known and most popular mine owners in the Gilmerton district, a man who was believed not to have an enemy in the world; for he was in all ways a model employer. He had insisted, however, upon efficiency in the work, and had, therefore, paid off certain drunken and idle employees who were members of the all-powerful society. Coffin notices hung outside his door had not weakened his resolution, and so in a free, civilized country he found himself condemned to death.

どうやら、こういう事情らしかった / 地区代表がバーミッサを襲撃するために5人の有能な男達を派遣した時 / 彼はお返しに要求した / バーミッサの男達をひそかに選び出し / ステイク・ロイヤルのウィリアム・ヘイルズを殺すために送ってよこすように / 最もよく知られ、評判の高い鉱山主の一人の / ギルマートン地方で / 彼は世界に一人の敵もいないものと思われていた / 彼はあらゆる方面で理想的な雇用主だったからだ◆しかし彼は固執した / 仕事の効率性に / そのため / ある酒飲みと怠け者の労働者を解雇した / 彼らはこの全能なる組織の一員だったのだ◆扉の外に命を狙う通告が下げられても / 彼の決意は揺るがなかった / このようにして、自由な文明国で / 彼は自分に死刑が宣告されたことを知った

The execution had now been duly carried out. Ted Baldwin, who sprawled now in the seat of honour beside the Bodymaster, had been chief of the party. His flushed face and glazed, bloodshot eyes told of sleeplessness and drink. He and his two comrades had spent the night before among the mountains. They were unkempt and weather-stained. But no heroes, returning from a forlorn hope, could have had a warmer welcome from their comrades.

死刑は今や正式に執行された◆テッド・ボールドウィン / 彼は支部長の横の上座でふんぞりかえっていた / 部隊の長となっていた◆彼の赤ら顔とどんよりと血走った目は / 睡眠不足と酒に酔っていることを物語っていた◆彼と二人の同志は / 彼は前の夜、山岳地方で夜明かしをしていた◆彼らの服装は乱れて雨にうたれていた◆しかしどんな英雄も / 決死的行動から戻ってきた / 同僚からのこれ以上暖かい歓迎を受けられなかっただろう

The story was told and retold amid cries of delight and shouts of laughter. They had waited for their man as he drove home at nightfall, taking their station at the top of a steep hill, where his horse must be at a walk. He was so furred to keep out the cold that he could not lay his hand on his pistol. They had pulled him out and shot him again and again. He had screamed for mercy. The screams were repeated for the amusement of the lodge.

この話は繰り返し語られた / 喜びの叫びと大笑いを交えて◆彼らは標的を待っていた / 夜更けに家に帰るところを / 急な丘の頂上に陣取って / そこは馬が並足になっているに違いない◆彼は寒さをしのぐために着込んでいたので / 拳銃に手をかける事が出来なかった◆彼らは彼を引きずり出して何度も何度も撃った◆彼は命乞いの叫びをあげていた◆その叫び声は支部での楽しみとして繰り返された

“Let’s hear again how he squealed,” they cried.

「彼の叫び声をもう一度聞こうぜ」 / 彼らは叫んだ

None of them knew the man; but there is eternal drama in a killing, and they had shown the Scowrers of Gilmerton that the Vermissa men were to be relied upon.

その男を知っている者はいなかった / しかし殺害には無限のドラマがある / そして彼らはギルマートンのスカウラーズに示した / バーミッサの男達は頼りがいがあると

There had been one contretemps; for a man and his wife had driven up while they were still emptying their revolvers into the silent body. It had been suggested that they should shoot them both; but they were harmless folk who were not connected with the mines, so they were sternly bidden to drive on and keep silent, lest a worse thing befall them. And so the blood-mottled figure had been left as a warning to all such hard-hearted employers, and the three noble avengers had hurried off into the mountains where unbroken nature comes down to the very edge of the furnaces and the slag heaps. Here they were, safe and sound, their work well done, and the plaudits of their companions in their ears.

ひとつ、まずい事態が起きていた / 一人の男が妻と一緒に馬車で通りかかった / 彼らがまだ動かなくなった死体に拳銃を打ち込んでいる時◆この夫婦も撃ち殺そうという提案があった / しかし彼らは無害な住民で炭鉱とは何の関係もなかった / したがって彼らは馬車を止めずに黙っているように強く命じられた / そうしないと悪い事になるからと◆そしてこの血まみれの人影は / このような非情な雇用主全員に対して警告を残した / そして三人の気高い復讐者達は / 山岳地帯に急いで逃げた / 手付かずの自然が降りてきている場所 / 粉炭とボタ山の縁のところまで◆彼らはここにいた / 傷一つなく / 使命を見事に果たし / 同僚の拍手を聞きながら