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CHAPTER VIII
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Murphy had figured that the tide would turn again at about six o’clock in the morning. By five he was up getting breakfast. Scott soon joined him. There was a cold fog hanging over the river and they crowded close around the fire. The temperature was not conducive1 to conversation. It was not till the heat of the fire had thawed2 them out a little that Murphy broke the silence.

“Are you dead sure that there were eight sections in that raft?” he asked. It was the second time that Scott’s observation had proved better than his own and it piqued3 him a little. The power of observation is one of the woodman’s most valuable faculties4.

“I sure am,” Scott replied, “I counted them twice.”

“Do you suppose those fellows are selling those logs to the mill on a separate account?”

“That is what I want to find out if I can. I thought it would be interesting to see how they handle the thing when they come in with the raft.”

Murphy chuckled5. “It will be good sport to stand there and see them sell those logs which they have been to so much trouble to steal for the credit of the company.”

They were in high spirits and sent the bateau skimming down the river at a tremendous rate. It was not yet nine o’clock when they landed at the mill dock. They knew that the raft could not get in before ten or eleven. It was the first southern mill Scott had ever seen, with its great open pile of ever-burning sawdust and slabs6 blazing away as though to invite the destruction of the mill by fire. The upper part of the mill was built like a summer house, with open sides. Instead of the little short logs he had seen in the north the big band saw was ripping up logs forty and even sixty feet long.

The manager saw them and came over for a chat. He knew Murphy and greeted Scott cordially. “Still looking for the timber thieves?” he asked pleasantly.

“Still at it,” Murphy admitted.

“I suppose you get a great many logs in here from all up and down the river?” Scott asked.

“No,” the manager answered, “not now. We used to buy in small lots from many owners, but that was before Qualley started up there. We had quite a supply on hand when he started and he is getting the stuff down to us now just about fast enough to keep us going. We only cut about forty thousand feet a day. I am not sure, but I do not believe that we have bought a log from any one else for almost a year.”

“Are there any other mills on the river?” Scott asked.

“No, this is the only one down this way. There may be some more up the river, but if there are they are a long way up.”

Just then a big doubledeck river steamer with her tall smokestacks and queer-looking stern paddle wheel went by spanking7 her way up against the current.

“Don’t suppose one of those things would tow a raft up the river?” Scott suggested.

“Too slow for them. They are slow enough any way and a raft tow would cost her more than the logs are worth.”

“I don’t see what good it would do any one to steal logs here, then,” Scott said. “What could they do with them when they get them?”

“That’s what Murphy has been trying to find out for a couple of years,” the manager laughed. “He thought for a while that I was buying stolen property here, but he has never been able to prove it on me. Like to look over the mill, Mr. Burton?”

Scott was glad of the opportunity to keep in touch with the manager till the rafts came in, and eagerly accepted the invitation. They followed the manager through the strange mill which looked so much like a summer house to Scott with its open sides and elevated tramways leading out to the lumber8 yard. He watched the long logs come dripping up the jack9 chain on to the log deck, saw the powerful steam nigger toss the great trunks on to the long saw carriage as though they had been so many toothpicks and listened to the shriek10 of the big band saw as it tore through the screaming log. The explosive exhaust of the shotgun feed as the newly sawed plank11 fell away from the cant12 had always sounded to Scott like a shout of triumph. In five minutes that shining ribbon of steel had slashed13 up the growth of three or four centuries. Perhaps La Salle had marched beneath the branches of that very tree.

It was fascinating to watch the perfect working of those powerful machines, and Scott never tired of it, but he was watching to-day with only one eye, the other was on the bend of the river above the mill. They followed the lumber clear through the sorting shed and even out to the piles in the lumber yard; they examined the dry kiln14 and watched the noisy flooring machines in the planing mill, and even then the raft had not arrived. Scott glanced questioningly at Murphy. What could be delaying them so long?

It was almost noon before the nose of the tardy15 raft poked16 around the distant bend in the river. They were sitting in the office talking as usual of the mystery of the stolen logs. Scott was so glad to see the rafts that he felt like shouting, but he wanted to see what the manager would do. Possibly it would be a little embarrassing for him to have visitors from the National Forest at his elbow when the raft came in. But if Scott expected any such thing he was disappointed.

“Here come some of your runaways17 now,” the manager remarked with a smile when he caught sight of the raft. “Let’s go down and see what they’ve got.”

The raft was still quite a distance up the river and well out in the middle of the stream, but they could see the men working steadily18 at the great sweeps edging the clumsy craft over toward the opening in the upper end of the log boom. They made their way out along the double boom to have a look at the logs and to get within speaking distance of the men.

“By George,” Murphy whispered excitedly to Scott, “those are niggers on that raft now.”

Scott paused to get a better look at the men and uttered a suppressed exclamation19. He grasped Murphy’s arm. “Look there,” he whispered, “there are only six sections.”

“I thought you were dreaming last night,” Murphy retorted. “Been hanging around the swamp too much at night.”

“Not on your life,” Scott exclaimed decisively. “I’d bet my last cent that there were eight sections in that raft last night when we passed it.”

Murphy smiled incredulously.

“Sort of late to-day,” the manager called to the darkies on the raft.

“Yas, suh,” one of the darkies answered with the usual grin, “we wuz kinda late ketchin’ de tide dis mahnin’.”

“How much did you bring me this time, George?” the manager asked.

“Ah don’t know, suh, but I’se got some writin’ heah fo’ you from Mistah Qualley.”

The raft had floated down against the boom and the darky addressed as “George” handed over a scale bill. The manager glanced at it and offered it to Scott. “Want to check them up?”

Scott looked at it rather doubtfully. The log sizes in that country were all so different from what he was used to that he knew that he could not even estimate the contents of the logs very accurately20. He thought that the best thing to do was to admit it.

“You know more about this than I do,” he said, passing the paper on to Murphy.

Murphy glanced at the totals and walked slowly over the raft examining the ends of the logs. “Nobody would get rich on the difference any way,” he remarked when he had finished.

“Where did you tie up for the night?” Scott asked.

George seemed to hesitate for a moment. Scott thought that he started to say something and then changed his mind. “About seben miles up de ribber,” he finally answered.

“Do you always tie up at the same place?”

“Can’t always make it, Cap’n,” the darky grinned. “De tide, she say whar to tie up.”

“Have much trouble getting your raft out through the swamp last night?”

The darky rolled his eyes a little suspiciously. “No, boss, she come through mighty21 slick.”

Scott saw now that the darky was lying fluently and knew that there was no chance to get any more truth out of him, if, indeed, they had gotten any at all.

“Well, Mr. Brown,” he said, speaking loud enough for the darkies to hear, “I guess the scale is all right. We thought maybe they were slipping some extras into the rafts, but we seem to have been mistaken. I hope you will pardon me for suspecting you, but it is my business right now to suspect every one.”

“Suspect all you please,” Mr. Brown laughed, “but let’s go down to dinner. I wish I were getting those logs. They do not bring me any too many and I have very few on reserve in the pond.”

They accepted Mr. Brown’s invitation to dinner but started up river immediately afterwards.

“Now we’ll see what became of those two extra sections,” Scott said with determination as they lost sight of the mill.

Murphy did not answer. He had not seen those extra sections himself and he was not altogether convinced that Scott had seen them either. Scott knew how Murphy felt about it and that made him all the more determined22 to find them and prove that he was right.

For a long time they paddled in silence. They kept a sharp lookout23 on both sides and investigated everything which looked like a possible opening in the low-lying banks. They had not found anything when they turned the bend into the stretch of the river where the raft had been tied up for the night.

There was nothing there. “Must have sunk,” Murphy chuckled.

Scott did not deign24 to answer. He was a good deal more puzzled than Murphy because he was sure that he had seen them the night before. He directed the bateau over to the place where the raft had been tied. There was plenty of evidence there to show that the rafts had been tied there many times before, but there were certainly no sections there now. Two sections of raft, each forty feet long, are not easily hidden.

“I wonder if that steamer could have picked them up?” he asked gloomily.

“Not likely to,” Murphy grinned. “Those logs will weigh from six to eight tons apiece.”

Scott was absorbed in his own puzzled thoughts and had lost interest for the time being in his surroundings.

“Hello, there!” Murphy exclaimed excitedly as they passed the place where the rear of the raft had been tied.

Scott was instantly alert. Behind the tangle25 of brush and vines which hung clear down to the surface of the water he could see what looked like an opening in the swampy26 shore line. He immediately turned the bateau toward it and they forced their way under the heavy screen of vegetation.

They both uttered an exclamation of surprise. They were in what appeared to be the mouth of a bayou about thirty feet wide. The sides of it were swampy and a bend about a hundred feet ahead shut in the view. They paddled silently up the creek27 with the feeling of a couple of bloodhounds on a hot scent28.

“Holy St. Christopher!” Murphy exclaimed excitedly as the bow of the bateau poked around the bend.

Scott could hardly wait to see the cause of the excitement, but even when he did see it he did not grasp the full significance of it at once. Instead of the sleepy, vine-covered bayou which they had so nearly passed by unnoticed—a place so wild that Scott’s imagination had once more jumped back to the old explorers pushing their way into unknown channels which no white man had ever seen before—the bayou stretched out before them like a modern canal. All the bordering brush and overhanging vines had been cleared away. A deep-worn tow path followed close along the northern bank. The shores were deeply gouged29 and torn as if by the passage of many rafts of logs. Moreover, many of the signs were very fresh.

Scott gazed at it in wide-eyed amazement30.

“Maybe you were right about that raft having eight sections,” Murphy mumbled31. “Looks as though it might have had eight hundred of them.”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 conducive hppzk     
adj.有益的,有助的
参考例句:
  • This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
  • Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。
2 thawed fbd380b792ac01e07423c2dd9206dd21     
解冻
参考例句:
  • The little girl's smile thawed the angry old man. 小姑娘的微笑使发怒的老头缓和下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He thawed after sitting at a fire for a while. 在火堆旁坐了一会儿,他觉得暖和起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 piqued abe832d656a307cf9abb18f337accd25     
v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 );激起(好奇心)
参考例句:
  • Their curiosity piqued, they stopped writing. 他们的好奇心被挑起,停下了手中的笔。 来自辞典例句
  • This phenomenon piqued Dr Morris' interest. 这一现象激起了莫里斯医生的兴趣。 来自辞典例句
4 faculties 066198190456ba4e2b0a2bda2034dfc5     
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院
参考例句:
  • Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬,但头脑仍然清晰。
  • All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中,你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
6 slabs df40a4b047507aa67c09fd288db230ac     
n.厚板,平板,厚片( slab的名词复数 );厚胶片
参考例句:
  • The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块,大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句
7 spanking OFizF     
adj.强烈的,疾行的;n.打屁股
参考例句:
  • The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。
  • He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。
8 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
9 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
10 shriek fEgya     
v./n.尖叫,叫喊
参考例句:
  • Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
  • People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧,气愤或疼痛而尖叫。
11 plank p2CzA     
n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目
参考例句:
  • The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
  • They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。
12 cant KWAzZ     
n.斜穿,黑话,猛扔
参考例句:
  • The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
  • He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。
13 slashed 8ff3ba5a4258d9c9f9590cbbb804f2db     
v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 );鞭打;割破;削减
参考例句:
  • Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
  • He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 kiln naQzW     
n.(砖、石灰等)窑,炉;v.烧窑
参考例句:
  • That morning we fired our first kiln of charcoal.那天上午,我们烧了我们的第一窑木炭。
  • Bricks are baked in a kiln.砖是在窑里烧成的。
15 tardy zq3wF     
adj.缓慢的,迟缓的
参考例句:
  • It's impolite to make a tardy appearance.晚到是不礼貌的。
  • The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
16 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 runaways cb2e13541d486b9539de7fb01264251f     
(轻而易举的)胜利( runaway的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They failed to find any trace of the runaways. 他们未能找到逃跑者的任何踪迹。
  • Unmanageable complexity can result in massive foul-ups or spectacular budget "runaways. " 这种失控的复杂性会造成大量的故障或惊人的预算“失控”。
18 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
19 exclamation onBxZ     
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词
参考例句:
  • He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
  • The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号,以引起读者的注意。
20 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地,精确地
参考例句:
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
21 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
22 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
23 lookout w0sxT     
n.注意,前途,瞭望台
参考例句:
  • You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
  • It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来,公司的前景可就不妙了。
24 deign 6mLzp     
v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事)
参考例句:
  • He doesn't deign to talk to unimportant people like me. 他不肯屈尊和像我这样不重要的人说话。
  • I would not deign to comment on such behaviour. 这种行为不屑我置评。
25 tangle yIQzn     
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱
参考例句:
  • I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
  • If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你,我就不跟他们争吵。
26 swampy YrRwC     
adj.沼泽的,湿地的
参考例句:
  • Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
  • An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。
27 creek 3orzL     
n.小溪,小河,小湾
参考例句:
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
28 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
29 gouged 5ddc47cf3abd51f5cea38e0badc5ea97     
v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 );乱要价;(在…中)抠出…;挖出…
参考例句:
  • The lion's claws had gouged a wound in the horse's side. 狮爪在马身一侧抓了一道深口。
  • The lovers gouged out their names on the tree. 情人们把他们的名字刻在树上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
30 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
31 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。


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