She had spent only two days in Ely, the little town planted beside Broken Bow Creek5, in the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains. At first she had thought that the village, with its scattered6 box-like houses and dusty, shadeless street, was disappointingly unlike the West of the pictures-books and the movies. The antics of her new horse, however, were disturbingly like what she had witnessed in Wild West shows.
“’Name’s Buck7,” volunteered the man who was struggling with the saddle, and added, though in a tone that seemed to indicate the explanation as quite unnecessary, “It’s on account of his color, you know.”
“Oh!” returned Beatrice, a little blankly. For the life of her, she could think of nothing else to say. She had yet to learn that all Western ponies8 of that golden buckskin shade of coat bear the same name. At the moment she was tempted9 to believe that the title had something to do with the way in which the horse was humping his back like a gigantic cat and jumping up and down on his nimble white forefeet.
“Your father went out on the range and chose the horse himself when he was out here getting your house ready,” Dan went on. “He couldn’t have found another pony10 in the valley that could go like this one.”
“Did he—did he try him?” Beatrice wished to know.
Her feelings in the matter were oddly mixed, for she dreaded11 the moment when she must actually mount to the big, unfamiliar12 saddle, and yet she was all on fire to try the horse’s speed.
“No, he didn’t try him,” was the answer. “He just said he wanted a safe horse for his daughter, liked the looks of this one—and well he might,—and took my word for it that the horse would suit and would go like greased lightning, besides. There, now, the saddle’s firm. You mustn’t think anything of the way he acts when you pull up the cinch; they all do that!”
For all her misgivings13, Beatrice was no coward. She stepped forward, discovered in one violent second that a Western pony sets off the moment he feels the rider’s weight on the stirrup, then flung herself, somehow, into the saddle and was away.
“I did not do that very well,” she was thinking. “Another time—oh, oh!”
For her very thought was interrupted by the sudden rush of wordless delight as the horse beneath her stretched himself to that long easy lope that is like nothing else in the world. The fresh mountain wind, sweeping14 down from the clean, high peaks above, sang in her ears; the stony15 road swung past below; the motion was as easy as a rocking-chair but seemed as swift as thought itself. Motoring she had always loved, but she confessed with sudden disloyalty that it was bumpy16 business compared to the measured swaying of this living creature between her knees. Buck’s personal prejudices seemed, indeed, to be directed solely17 against the cinching of the saddle. That process once over he was as eager and happy as she to clatter18 across the bridge, pass the last of the ugly little houses and the high-fronted store buildings, and turn his white-blazed face toward the mounting trail that led out of the valley.
Beatrice drew rein19 when they had breasted the first rise, and paused a moment to look back. The houses strewn haphazard20 across the slope below her made more of a town than she had thought. There was the packing-box railroad station where she and her sister, Nancy, and their Aunt Anna had arrived so recently; there was the house where they were living, a little larger than the others, but square, hideous21, and unshaded like the rest.
“We mustn’t care for architecture,” Nancy had said when they first surveyed their dwelling22 rather ruefully, “when the Rocky Mountains begin in our back yard.”
There was also the winding23 stream with its abrupt24 bend that warranted the title of Broken Bow Creek, a mere25 trickle26 of water just now, in that wide, dry valley down which the thin line of the railroad stretched away, with the straight parallel of the rails seeming to bend and quiver in the hot clearness of the sunshine. South of the town was a portion of Ely that she had not seen before, a group of warehouses27, some office buildings, and a huddle28 of workmen’s bunk-houses. She could see the cobweb lines of temporary railroad, a steam-shovel moving on a flat-car, and innumerable men toiling29 like black ants along the sides of the raw cut that had been made in the red soil of the valley.
“That must be the irrigation ditch that Dan O’Leary was telling us about,” she reflected. “How hot it looks down there! I did not dream they had so many men. And how clear the air is! Oh, surely, surely, Aunt Anna will get well here as fast as we hope!”
The wind lifted Buck’s yellow mane and her own brown hair, while the horse pawed the stony ground impatiently. She let him go on, for she was in truth as eager as he. This was the first day that she had found time to go far from their own house, and she had now a most fascinating goal before her. What girl of sixteen would not feel excited over the prospect30 of exploring a tract31 of mountainside woods of which she was sole owner?
Beatrice had never quite understood how her father had come to purchase that stretch of land above Ely; she had not, indeed, thought to ask. She had come into his study one Sunday morning when he was going over his papers and had surprised him with the announcement that she was sixteen that day. Having no other present ready, he had brought out some dusty title-deeds and had made them over to her.
“It will never be of the least use to you, my dear,” he said, “so do not consider it much of a present. Twenty-three acres with timber, cabin, and a waterfall, so the description reads, but you must not think they are worth anything. I have never seen the place myself.”
She had believed that it was on account of this talk about Ely that they thought of the town again when the doctors had prescribed for Aunt Anna “a change of climate—some dry, bracing32 place in the West.” She was their only aunt, Mr. Deems’s younger sister, and she had cared for his household ever since the death of the two girls’ mother years ago. She was a slim, frail33 person of indomitable spirit, and had begun to look as though she were far more spirit than body ever since the influenza34 epidemic35 had swept through the family. Beatrice had always thought that going to Ely was her own suggestion, though she could not deny that it was Aunt Anna who had carried the plan through in the face of some rather unaccountable opposition36 from her father. Mr. Deems had finally given in, and had made a flying trip to Ely to be sure that the air and climate were what they wanted, to choose a house, engage a Chinese cook, and make all preparations for a summer’s stay for his sister and the two girls.
“I did not have time to visit your estate on the hill, Beatrice,” he said on his return. “You will have to explore it yourself. Dan O’Leary has charge of it and said he rented it to some engineers who were surveying the mountain, but it is unoccupied now. The place may prove to be a good picnic ground but I fear it has no other possibilities.”
He might say what he chose, Beatrice was thinking, but he could not destroy her eagerness to see the place. The trail ran crookedly37 upward before her, disappeared in some dense38 pine woods, then slanted39 across the spur of the mountain and vanished again. Higher above rose the bare, rocky slopes of the tall peak that dominated the whole valley, Gray Cloud Mountain, on one of whose lower, rugged40 shoulders lay her land and her cabin. After climbing for a quarter of a mile, she was obliged to hesitate at a fork in the way, uncertain which of the steep paths she was to take.
A little cottage clung to the bare hillside by the road—a shabby place with no paint and a patched roof. The door was swinging open as she passed and a man just going in, a short-set, foreign-looking person, who scowled41 at her over his shoulder when she asked the way.
“That one,” he said briefly42, pointing to the right-hand fork and speaking with a heavy foreign accent. “Up toward John Herrick’s house, only not so far.”
He went in and shut the door abruptly43. Beatrice could hear his voice inside calling roughly, “Christina, Christina!”
He had a roll of large papers in his hand, posters that he had evidently been putting up along the way, for she had observed them on trees and fence-posts nearer town. They seemed to announce a meeting of some sort, with English words at the top and odd foreign printing at the bottom in more than one language. She had felt a hot flash of indignant anger at the man’s surly tone, but in a moment she had forgotten him completely, as she and Buck went scrambling44 up the steep and difficult road.
She came at last to a tiny bridge. Broken Bow Creek, which was little more than a series of pools in the parched45 stream-bed in the valley, was here a singing rivulet46, flowing below the rude crossing amid a group of silvery aspen-trees. At the left of the trail she could see a gate, a set of bars hung between two rough posts. It was with a beating heart that she dismounted to take them down for Buck to pass. Once inside she would be on her own ground.
The agility47 of a mountain-bred pony was so new to her that she was much astonished, after she had removed two of the bars, to have Buck step over the remaining three as neatly48 as a dog would have done. She slipped into the saddle again, making a greater success than at the first attempt, and followed the nearly invisible path. The huge straight pine-trees stood in uneven49 ranks all about her, their branches interweaving overhead, the ground covered with their red-brown needles that muffled50 the sound of the horse’s hoofs51. Up they went, with the splash of falling water sounding louder and ever louder. Here at last was the place she sought, a square, sturdy cabin of gray logs chinked with white plaster, with a solid field stone chimney and a sloping roof drifted over with pine-needles. She slid from the saddle and stood upon the rugged doorstep. Here was her house, her very own!
It was a larger dwelling than she had expected and very solidly and substantially built. She found that wooden bars had been nailed across the doors and windows, and she had, moreover, forgotten to obtain the keys from Dan O’Leary, so that she could not go in. She could, however, peep through the easement windows and see the low-ceilinged rooms, the rough stairs, and the wide fireplace. The big trees nodded overhead, the roar of the waterfall came from beyond the house, the creek, rushing and tumbling, slid away down the mountainside. Somebody had planted pansies on both sides of the step, pansies that crowded and jostled each other as they only can in the cool air of the high mountains, spreading sheets of gleaming color over the barren soil. With a quivering sigh, Beatrice sat down upon the step.
“Mine!” she said aloud, just to see how it would sound. “Mine!”
It would take a long time to explore the place thoroughly52.
“I must be able to tell Nancy about every bit of it,” she told herself.
Yet first she sat very quietly, for a little, on the rough stone step. She had hurried up the hill, eager to see the new place; she had been hurrying for the last two days, getting the house in the village settled; she had hurried before the journey: when indeed had she not been hurrying? It was very pleasant to sit so still and let the silent minutes march by to the tune53 of rustling54 pine branches and the murmuring waterfall. As she sat looking down into the valley, time seemed very big and calm and empty, instead of bustling55 and full.
She rose at last to go on with her explorations. Behind the cabin was the tumbling cascade56 that identified the place, a plunge57 of foaming58 waters over a high ledge59 with a still black pool below, shot with gleams of sunshine and full of darting60 trout61. Beyond the stream, almost hidden from sight by the high slope of the ravine, was the roof of another house, a larger one than hers, with a whole group of chimneys sending forth62 a curl of smoke to indicate that here were neighbors. Looking up the course of the brook63 she could see where the dense shadows of the pine grove64 ended and the waters ran in brighter sunshine on the higher slope.
“I should like to see what it is like up there,” she thought, “but I must be quick; it is getting late.”
She went scrambling up the rocky slope, feeling a little breathless, but forgetting entirely65 that in such a high altitude haste is far from wise. In a moment her lungs seemed entirely empty and her heart began to pound against her side, but she pressed on, determined66 to reach a certain high rock before she turned back. It was a rash desire, for presently she was obliged to lie down upon the rough grass to gasp67 and rest and gather herself together for another effort. She got up to struggle forward again, for she was not used to abandoning a fixed68 purpose, but after a few yards she was forced to lie down once more, panting and completely exhausted69.
“I don’t believe I understand the Rocky Mountains,” she reflected as she lay, limp and flat, looking across the barren valley, the sparsely70 wooded slopes, to the rising peaks opposite. She had been accustomed to mountains like the Adirondacks, round and covered thick with forest almost to the summit, friendly heights that invited one to climb them. It was a far cry from them to the precipitate71 slopes of Gray Cloud Mountain.
When she had recovered a little she gave up her project and slid humbly72 down the steep way she had come. Buck, with his bridle over the post at the cabin door, whinnied an anxious welcome as she came back to him. He had been searching for tufts of grass between the stones, and had also nipped at the pansies, but had found them not to his liking73. His impatience74, as well as the creeping shadows in the valley below, reminded her that evening was near despite the clear sunshine higher up the mountainside. Reluctantly she mounted and, with many a glance backward at her house, rode down the trail.
Through an opening in the trees Beatrice caught a glimpse, as she descended75, of the house beyond the stream. She could even see a man ride up to the door and a girl come running out to greet him. Then a drop in the trail hid both house and people abruptly from her view.
The warm sun seemed to be left completely behind as she and Buck pressed onward76 with all possible haste. Something new caught her curious attention in a moment, however, and made her stop again. To the right of the pathway, in a little clearing among the pines, she had spied the glow of a tiny fire.
“Who is burning brush on my land?” she questioned inwardly, with a throb77 of pride at the thought of her proprietorship78.
Guiding her horse among the trees, she rode a little nearer to investigate. The blaze was kindled79 skilfully80 between two stones, evidently by the hands of some one who knew the dangers of careless camp-fires in a pine grove. Bending over the crackling flame was a woman, with a yellow handkerchief covering her hair and a green shawl slanting81 about her hips82 above a shabby skirt. A big basket stood beside her, showing that she had been gathering83 berries in the wood, while an appetizing smell rising from the fire told of a supper of bacon and fresh trout. The smoke was in her eyes and she was, moreover, intent on balancing the frying-pan between the stones, so that she did not see Beatrice. For this the girl was thankful, since, after a glance at the other’s broad, brown face, she concluded that one ill-mannered foreigner was all she wished to encounter that day and that she would push her investigations84 no further. She turned her pony to make for the path again, but a rolling stone, dislodged by Buck’s foot, attracted the woman’s attention. Beatrice looked back to see that the stranger had abandoned her cooking and was standing85 erect86, staring intently after them.
“At least she cannot follow,” thought the girl with some relief; then observed, with a sinking of the heart, that the woman had turned abruptly and was hurrying down the hill through the underbrush. It was plain that she intended to reach the road first and intercept87 the horse and rider at the bridge.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
bridle
|
|
| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
grooming
|
|
| n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
plunging
|
|
| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
hind
|
|
| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
creek
|
|
| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
buck
|
|
| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
ponies
|
|
| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
pony
|
|
| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
unfamiliar
|
|
| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
misgivings
|
|
| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
stony
|
|
| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
bumpy
|
|
| adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
solely
|
|
| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
clatter
|
|
| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
rein
|
|
| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
haphazard
|
|
| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
trickle
|
|
| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
warehouses
|
|
| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
huddle
|
|
| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
toiling
|
|
| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
tract
|
|
| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
bracing
|
|
| adj.令人振奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
frail
|
|
| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
influenza
|
|
| n.流行性感冒，流感 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
epidemic
|
|
| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
opposition
|
|
| n.反对，敌对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
crookedly
|
|
| adv. 弯曲地，不诚实地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
slanted
|
|
| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
rugged
|
|
| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
scowled
|
|
| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
scrambling
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
parched
|
|
| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
rivulet
|
|
| n.小溪，小河 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
agility
|
|
| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
uneven
|
|
| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
hoofs
|
|
| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
rustling
|
|
| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
bustling
|
|
| adj.喧闹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
cascade
|
|
| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
plunge
|
|
| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
foaming
|
|
| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
darting
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
trout
|
|
| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
brook
|
|
| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
gasp
|
|
| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
sparsely
|
|
| adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
precipitate
|
|
| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
humbly
|
|
| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
liking
|
|
| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
onward
|
|
| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
throb
|
|
| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
proprietorship
|
|
| n.所有（权）；所有权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
kindled
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
skilfully
|
|
| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
slanting
|
|
| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
hips
|
|
| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
investigations
|
|
| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
erect
|
|
| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
intercept
|
|
| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |