"That's a rum sort of music to come upon a hundred miles from nowhere," remarked Bob, with a grin, to his chum.
"Let's hope that it comes from a throat that has something of civilisation2 about it," said Alf.
"It doesn't sound quite like a white man. That 'ne-vaire' is more French accent than English—probably a half-breed."[Pg 67]
"What do you think we ought to do?"
"Investigate. We've got no choice. We're lost; that's certain enough. What's more, there seems to be very little chance of finding our own trail back to the camp."
"That's true enough," Alf assented3. "But suppose we come upon a camp of half-breeds, as you suggested? I've heard that they're not the best of friends to white people in out-of-the-way places."
Arnold nodded in agreement.
"I dare say that's true. But, at the same time, most yarns4 of the kind have usually got large bits of ornamental6 stuff stuck round the facts. We'll have to take our chance of falling in with friends or foes7."
"Right-away. If you're ready, I'm ready also," said Alf promptly8. "It will be a strange thing if 'Rule Britannia' leads Britons into a mess instead of out of one."
Having thus determined9 what course to pursue, the two boys began to creep cautiously through the bush towards the locality from whence still proceeded the music that was being repeated with all the diligence of some one who was determined to learn his lesson thoroughly10.[Pg 68]
The night was now quite dark, but presently the chums were able to distinguish the flickering11 of a camp-fire at no great distance before them.
Taking every care not to betray their presence by any careless footstep, they twined a path with all the success that a professional tracker would have admired. Then, penetrating12 a more than usually dense13 portion of the bush, the young explorers found themselves right on the edge of the encampment, and the picture that they then discovered was one that was surely calculated to drive away all melancholy14 thoughts and feelings of fatigue15, for the time being at least.
Seated on the end of a water-keg, in front of a moderate-sized "A" tent, was a man of gigantic size whose black hair stood up from his head as if he were constantly seeing ghosts, and whose equally black beard streamed down his breast like a cataract16 of ink. He was dressed in a blue shirt, corduroy trousers protected with cowboy "shaps," and heavy top-boots. In his hands was an accordion17, at his side sat a collie dog, while in front of him, with his back to the fire—standing18 with his hands behind his back in the attitude of a schoolboy repeating a lesson—was a tousle-headed[Pg 69] half-breed, whom he of the black beard was addressing in encouraging tones—
"Noo then, ma callant, we'll just be having that last line ower again. It's no' bad as an eemitation o' a cat left oot on a winter's night; but it's no' just what I call 'ceevilised'; no' just quite that—yet."
Then the accordion sounded a dismal19 chord suggestive of an attack of asthma20, the half-breed reattacked the "ne-vaire, ne-vaire, ne-vaire" in a manner that made up in energy what it lacked in music, and the collie raised his head to add a long-drawn wail21 to the concert.
"That's a wee bit better," was the player's verdict at the finish. "I'm thinking we'll make a ceevilised creature oot o' you in time, Haggis." Then the speaker turned to the dog. "As for you, Bannock, you're a bit oot o' tune22 at times. But it's no' that bad for a doggie. It's good to be aye trying to do our best——"
"Hear! hear!" shouted Bob, whose interested amusement had quite banished23 his caution.
The effect of the boy's applause was electric. The two men started. The half-breed snatched up a gun that was leaning against a tree near by; one hand of the bearded man deposited the[Pg 70] musical instrument upon the ground as his right picked up a handy rifle; while Bannock, the dog, crouched24 down with bristling25 hair and deep growling26.
"Come oot and show yourself, whoever ye be!" commanded the master, as he raised himself to his great height, with rifle in readiness and eyes staring towards that part of the bush where the chums stood. "Come forward this instant, or I'll bore as many holes in your body as there are farthings in a pound!"
In obedience27 to the gentle invitation, and not in the least nervous, now that they knew who the musicians were, the boys immediately made their appearance.
"There's no need to be afraid——" began Holden reassuringly29, when he was interrupted by a huge guffaw30 of derision.
"Afraid! And what for shall Skipper Mackintosh be afraid? Unless it's mosquitoes, there's no man or beast in Canada that'll turn a hair on his hide." Then, seeing the lads as they approached into the firelight, the man immediately changed his tone of address as he also altered the threatening pose of his rifle. "What! A pair o' laddies?" he exclaimed in astonishment31, and Bob replied[Pg 71]—
"Neither of whom is particularly anxious to be riddled32 with a pound's worth of farthing bullets!"
But the words had barely passed the boy's lips before the rifle had been dropped to the ground and the man had sprung forward excitedly to grab a hand of each boy in his great fists.
"Faix! but this is a fine sight for sore eyes!" he exclaimed, as he vigorously pumped the arms up and down. "I've no' seen a white face (barring a trader's, and that was ower dirty to call it 'white') this twelvemonth past. I'm right glad to see you!"
"And I guess we're jolly glad to see you," returned Alf. "It's a treat, but—speaking for myself, I really want to use my hand again. It'll be jelly in a few more seconds."
"And mine too!" laughed Bob, who could not help wincing33 at the vigorous form of the welcome.
The Scotsman immediately released his severe grasp.
"Sakes! But I'm that glad to see you, laddies, I feel just like squeezing for another hour. I suppose, noo, that I'm no' just dreaming? You're no' by chance just twa o' them muckle moths34 that's come into my dream in a make-believe?"[Pg 72]
"We're human, sure enough," Arnold laughed in reply, and Alf added—
"Terribly human we are, for we've lost our way in the forest, and we're beastly tired as well as hungry."
"Lost—tired—hungry?" repeated Mackintosh. "That has a human sound—terribly human, as you say." Then he turned towards the half-breed, who had been standing an amazed spectator of the scene. "Did you hear that, Haggis?" he demanded. "Did you hear that—'hungry and tired'?"
"Haggis hear," was the quiet reply of the native, to which the Scot retorted angrily—
"You heard? And yet, one meenit after, I see you standing there like a daft gowk instead o' hustling35 for food as fast as your legs can move you? Ma conscience! But you tak' a deal of ceevilising! You dinna ken36 the first meaning o' the word 'hospitality.' Off wi' you!"
There was no need to repeat the order, for the half-breed immediately disappeared within the tent, and the almost simultaneous rattling37 sound of tin-ware was evidence of his haste to supply the want.
Mackintosh then turned to the boys.[Pg 73]
"Noo then, rest yourselves, laddies. Sit doon by the fire, and you'll soon have a bit o' something to grind between your molars. Haggis is slow to understand, but he's quick enough when he kens38 what's wanted."
Not unwillingly39, the chums soon stretched themselves in comfortable positions beside the camp-fire at either side of their eccentric host. Bannock, however, still eyed the strangers with suspicion, so Mackintosh was forced to introduce the dog formally to each boy in turn, at which the intelligent animal extended a paw with all the air of one who is accustomed to polite society.
"He's a fine chap," explained the Scot. "There's no' a single thing that he canna do (according to the leemitations o' Nature) except speak. And even that he manages to do in his ain way. Noo, come here, Bannock, and lie down while oor freends spin us their yarn5. They've no' told us yet who they are, where they come frae, nor where they're going."
"That's a yarn that's quickly told," remarked Bob. The half-breed by this time had returned from the tent with generous supplies of cold deer, damper, and wild berries, after serving which he[Pg 74] placed a pan on the fire in preparation for coffee. "It's a yarn that won't take long in the telling, though, if you'll excuse me, I'll eat while I speak."
"Eat awa'," assented the other, while he lit a corn-cob pipe to satisfy his own immediate28 wants. "There's plenty mair where that came frae, and the coffee will soon be ready!"
Arnold then launched into a brief recital40 of his and his chum's adventures, beginning with the departure of their fathers on the previous morning, and concluding—
"So all this afternoon we've been wandering about trying to find a path back to our camp, so as to start afresh by the river course. But it was no use."
"And we might have been wandering still if it had not been for a strange accident that led us here," added Alf, at which remark Mackintosh questioned—
"And what might that be? The soond o' Haggis's nightingale voice?"
"No—at least, not in the first place. We heard that later. What first started us in this direction was a curious sort of light that we discovered on one of the trees. And while we were examining it we noticed that there were other[Pg 75] lights on other trees in a straight line with one another. Strange, wasn't it?"
"Very," returned the Scotsman dryly. "Very strange."
"It would be a good thing for a naturalist," said Bob. "I noticed that there was a perfect cloud of moths flying about wherever there was a patch of light. A collector of moths and butterflies would reap a harvest. I suppose you've noticed the lights as well as we?"
"H'm—yes—considering that I painted the trees mysel' this afternoon," was the reply. "It's an invention o' my own. I'm what you call a collector of moths and butterflies. An entomologist is a shorter way o' putting it. Well, there's many folks stick to treacle41—I mean, stick to the auld42-fashioned way o' putting dabs43 of treacle and speerit on trees to attract the nocturnal creatures. That's all very fine and good. But you canna carry gallons o' treacle on a tramp like this, when your whole outfit44 must be packed on one pony45. So says I to mysel': 'Moths are attracted by light; I must invent a composeetion o' phosphorus to take the place o' treacle.' And those lights that you found on yon trees are the result."[Pg 76]
"And a splendid idea it is!" exclaimed Alf, who had also done his little share of treacling at school. "Is it a success?"
"Magnificent. I've found more moths than were known to exist in the West. I'm thinking that I'll open the eyes o' the Royal Edinburgh Entomological General Natural History Exchange Society when I get back again after my journeys. But——" The speaker here paused in his enthusiasm, remarking seriously, "I'm thinking there's other matters o' mair importance before us the noo than moths. Your faithers went doon the Athabasca, you said?"
"Yes; in a canoe," said Bob.
Mackintosh shook his head ominously46.
"That's bad. I suppose they'd never been there before—indeed, it was no' possible, or they'd never have made the attempt yesterday."
"Is it—dangerous?" questioned Holden, in an undertone of dread47, for the man's voice conveyed no small impression of the risks the voyagers had run. "We had not thought of danger in the river. We only thought of moose."
Mackintosh grunted48 uneasily.
"The river is more treacherous49 than any moose. There's a terrible narrow bight atween[Pg 77] cliffs where it runs like lightning, and then shoots in a waterfall into the Silver Lake. Man! I've seen great trunks o' pine giants flung through yon opening like wee arrows a hundred feet in the air afore they touched water again."
"Then a canoe——"
"If it reached so far in safety it would shoot likewise."
"You think it possible that the canoe might pass the gully unharmed?" Bob then questioned. It was always his nature to struggle for the brightest view, and the man's answer was somewhat in the same spirit.
"It's no' the way o' Skipper Mackintosh to find trouble until trouble finds him. He's been in a' the back corners o' Europe, Africa, India, China, and America; and, if he learned nothing mair from his travels, he learned this: troubles are easier conquered when you meet them wi' a firm lip at the proper time. But the man that moans before he kens what he's moaning about—well, it's little strength he's got left when the fight really begins."
"Yet if, as you say, the Athabasca is so dangerous——" began Alf, when he was again interrupted with kindly50 roughness.[Pg 78]
"If? Laddie, laddie, are you forgetting that there's a Hand that could guide the frailest51 birch-bark safely through Niagara itsel'? And I doot not that I'm right when I say that it's my opeenion that that same Hand has no' been very far from your faithers in their plight. Does either o' you ken anything o' this by chance?"
As he spoke52 Mackintosh dived his hand into the hip-pocket of his overalls53 and produced a white handkerchief which he spread out upon the ground by the fire. The boys bent54 forward, and immediately Alf exclaimed—
"That's my father's! See! His initials are at the corner. Where did you find it?"
"Not in the Athabasca!" said Mackintosh with quiet triumph. "Haggis and I came upon it this morning a hundred yards from Silver Lake."
"Then that means that they are on shore!" exclaimed Bob with delight at the relief from one anxiety that the evidence of the handkerchief provided.
"Ay. The Athabasca is free from that charge, at any rate. That hanky has no legs to walk by itsel'. It must have been carried. By whom? No' by an Indian, though I ken there's been[Pg 79] Indians in the viceenity. If a redskin had found it, he'd have taken better care o' it. And so it's clear to me that one o' your faithers must have dropped it on dry land, and so—so—— Well, you both o' you can have a sound night's rest."
So convincing were the tones in which the man clothed his words that the spirits of the boys were quickly stirred from gloomy anticipations55 to comparative cheerfulness.
"You've lifted a load from my mind, Mr. Mackintosh," Bob said gratefully, "for of course it is all fairly plain now. As likely as not they passed through that horrible gully, but were too worn out yesterday to start the trudge56 back to camp. It would be a long way, too, seeing how the river winds."
"In that case, most likely they are back at the camp by this time," suggested Alf. "But they would understand our being away, for they would find the note that we pinned to the tent."
"That's right, laddies. Look for the bright side and you'll always find it," the Scotsman remarked. "But I'm thinking that your reasoning is a wee bit oot in one respect—they have no' gone back yet, else Haggis or I would have seen them. This camp is in the direct natural path[Pg 80] from that part o' the Athabasca. My opeenion is that they've fallen in with the Indians—a tribe o' Dacotahs, and peaceable folk they are. It's no' to be expected that the gully could be passed unscathed. So it's likely to me that they're nursing themselves for a day wi' the redskins, after, maybe, sending a brave to your camp to tell you o' it. So to-morrow we'll lose no time in starting for Silver Lake. That's the best plan I can think o'."
"You mean to come with us?" asked Alf.
"What do you take me for—a savage57?" was the reproachful return. "Do you think that Skipper Mackintosh is going to allow twa laddies like you to go wandering aboot the backwoods when he can guide you? And when Skipper fails, is there no' the Haggis and Bannock—a pair o' the finest scouts58 and trackers that ever set foot in bush or prairie? What do you take me for, I'd just like to know?"
"One of the kindest hearts in the world, Mr. Mackintosh," said Bob fervently59.
"Bah! Fiddlesticks and porridge-sticks!" was the rough rejoinder, though a pair of eyes were turned kindly enough upon the youths—eyes that glistened60 in a way that rather suggested[Pg 81] the nearness of water. "All a pack o' nonsense! If a man is no' ready to help his fellow-creatures when they need him—well, I'm thinking that he ought to have a pin stuck through his thorax and mounted in a box among my moths, labelled, 'A horrible freak o' Nature.' And I'd have you know, too, that my name is Mackintosh—Skipper Mackintosh. There's no 'Misters' in the backwoods. 'Skipper' is the name that my auld faither gave me to commemorate61 his discovery o' a new variety of skippers in the entomological world. Mind that, and—and good-night to you, laddies. Good-night, and God bless the pair o' you."
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1
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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7
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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8
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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10
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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11
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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12
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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accordion
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| n.手风琴；adj.可折叠的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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asthma
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| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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23
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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guffaw
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| n.哄笑；突然的大笑 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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32
riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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wincing
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 ) | |
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moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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hustling
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| 催促（hustle的现在分词形式） | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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38
kens
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| vt.知道（ken的第三人称单数形式） | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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41
treacle
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| n.糖蜜 | |
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auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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dabs
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| 少许( dab的名词复数 )； 是…能手； 做某事很在行； 在某方面技术熟练 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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45
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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46
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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47
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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48
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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49
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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50
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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51
frailest
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| 脆弱的( frail的最高级 )； 易损的； 易碎的 | |
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52
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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53
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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54
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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55
anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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56
trudge
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| v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行 | |
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57
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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58
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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59
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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60
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
commemorate
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| vt.纪念，庆祝 | |
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