Spalding and Martin went out upon the lake after dark, with one of the boats, to hunt by torch light. This is done by placing a lighted torch, or a lamp upon a standard, placed upright in the bow of the boat, and so high that a man seated or lying upon the bottom of the craft, will have his head below it. He must himself be in someway shaded from the light, which must be cast forward so that both the hunter and the boatman will be in the shadow. A very common method is to make a box, a foot or less square, open, or with a pane2 of glass on one side; a stick three or four feet long is run through an auger3 hole in the top and bottom, and wedged fast, which forms a standard; the other end of the stick is run through a hole on the little deck on the forward part of the boat, and placed in a socket4 formed for the purpose in the bottom, and is wedged at the deck, so as to make it steady. The open or glass front of the box is turned forward, and a common japan lamp placed in a socket prepared for it in the box. This of course throws the light forward, while the occupants of the boat are in the shadow. The hunter sits, or more commonly lies at length on a bed of boughs5 in the bottom of the boat, with his rifle so far in front that the light will fall upon the forward sight. An experienced boatman will paddle silently up to within twenty feet of a deer that may be feeding along the shore. The stupid animal will stand, gazing in astonishment6 at the light, until the boat almost touches him.
"That Hank Martin," said Cullen, one of the boatmen, as the hunters disappeared into the darkness, "is a queer boy in his way. You will notice that when he straightens up, and takes the kinks out of him, he stands six feet and over in his stockings, and his arms hang down to his knees. He's the strongest man in these woods, and tolerably active when there's occasion for it. He is a droll7, good-natured, easy tempered chap, and don't get angry at trifles. He is fond of a joke himself, and will stand having a good many sticks poked8 at him without getting riled; but when he does get his back up, it's well enough to stand out of his way, and not step on his shadow. He never struck a man but once in real earnest, and that was over in Keeseville, and on that occasion the people said the town clock had struck one. The fellow he struck went eend over eend, and then went down, and when he went down he laid still—he didn't come to tine.
"But what I was going to tell you is, that Hank and I were down at Plattsburgh last fall, and a big fellow who had taken quite as much red eye as was for his good, undertook to pick a quarrel with Hank and give him a beating. Hank, as I said, being a peaceable man, and much more given to fun than to fighting, kept good-natured, and avoided a scrimmage as long as he could. But his patience and his temper at last caved in, and seizing his opponent by the neck with his left hand, and thrusting him down upon the ground, he began very deliberately9 to cuff10 him with his right, in a way that seemed anything but pleasant to the individual upon whom his cuffs11 were bestowed12. 'Enough! enough!' cried his assailant. 'Let up! enough! enough!' 'Hold your tongue, you scoundrel!' replied Hank, as he kept on pommeling his enemy, 'hold your tongue, I tell you! You ain't a judge of these things! I'll let you know when you've got enough.' When he'd given him what he thought was about right, he lifted him on to his feet, and, holding him up face to face with himself a moment, 'There,' said he, 'look at me well, so that you'll know me when I come this way again; and when you see my trail, you'd better travel some other road.'"
"Speaking of Plattsburgh," said the Doctor, "reminds me of an incident which occurred to a friend and myself, over in the Chataugay woods, between the Chazy and the Upper Chataugay lakes. I was spending a few days at Plattsburgh, and hearing a good deal of the trout13 and deer in and about those lakes, my friend and myself concluded to pay them a flying visit. On the banks of the Chazy and near the outlet14, a half-breed, that is, half French and half Indian, had built him a log cabin, and cleared about an acre of land around it. His live stock consisted of two homely15, lean, and half-starved dogs, and as ragged16 and ill-looking a donkey as could be found in a week's travel. The half-breed was a sort of half fisherman and half hunter, excelling in nothing, unless it be that he was the laziest man this side of the Rocky Mountains. He succeeded, occasionally, in killing17 a deer in the forest, and when he did so, he would lead his donkey to the place of slaughter18, and bring in the carcase on the long-eared animal's back.
"We were passing from the Chazy to Bradley's Lake, and had sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree to take a short breathing spell. It was a warm afternoon, and the air was calm; not a breath stirred the leaves on the old trees around us; the forest sounds were hushed, save the tap of the woodpecker on his hollow tree, or an occasional drumming of a partridge on his log. It was drawing towards one of those calm, still, autumnal evenings of which poets sing, but which are to be met with in all their glory only among the beautiful lakes that lay sleeping in the wild woods, and surrounded by old primeval things. The path wound round a densely19 wooded and sombre hollow, the depths of which the eye could not penetrate20, but from out of which came the song of a stream that went cascading21 down the rocks, and rippling22 among the loose boulders23 that lay in its course. Beyond us, through an opening in the trees, we could see the lake, sparkling and shining in the evening sunbeams, and we were talking about the beauty of the view, and the calmness and repose24 that seemed resting upon all things, when, of a sudden, there came up from that shadowy dell a sound, the most unearthly that ever broke upon the astonished ear of mortal man. I have heard the roar of the lion of the desert, the yell of the hyena25, the trumpeting26 of the elephant, the scream of the panther, the howl of the wolf. It was like none of these; but if you could imagine them all combined, and concentrated into a single sound, and ushered27 together upon the air from a single throat, shaped like the long neck of some gigantic ichthiosaurus of the times of old, you would have some faint idea of the strange sounds that came roaring up from that hollow way. My friend was a man of courage, and, like myself, had been around the world some; had spent a good deal of time, first and last, in the woods, was familiar with most of the legitimate28 forest sounds, and had heard all the ten thousand voices that belong in the wilderness29, but we had never before listened to a noise like that.
"We looked to our rifles and at one another, and it may well be that our hats sat somewhat loosely upon our heads, from an involuntary rising of the hair. 'What, in the name of all that is mysterious,' cried my friend, in amazement30, 'is that?' 'It is more than I know,' I replied, as I placed a fresh cap on my rifle. After a few minutes, the sounds were repeated, and the hills seemed to groan31 with affright as they sent them back in wavy32 and quavering echoes from their rugged33 sides.
"'We must understand this,' said my friend, as he led the way with a cautious and stealthy movement towards the depths of the hollow, whence the sounds came, and there, by the stream, on a little sand-bar, stood old Sangamo's donkey, by the side of a deer. Old Sangamo himself was stretched at full length on the bank, fast asleep. How he could have slept on, with such an infernal roaring as that donkey made in those old woods, six or eight miles outside of a fence, is more than I can comprehend. But he did sleep through it all, and was wakened only by a punch in the ribs34 with the butt35 of my rifle, instigated36 by pity for the poor donkey that was being eaten up by the flies. We helped him to load the carcass of the deer on the back of his donkey, and saw him move off lazily towards home. I have heard a good many strange noises in my day, but never, on any other occasion, have I listened to anything to be at all compared with the noise made by the braying37 of old Sangamo's donkey in the Chataugay woods."
As the Doctor concluded his story, the sharp crack of Spalding's rifle broke the stillness of the night, and went reverberating38 among the hills, and dying away over the lake. It was but a short distance from our camp, in a little bay hidden away around a wooded promontory39 below us. In a few minutes, the light was seen, rounding the point that hid the bay from our view, and, as the boat landed in front of our tents, Spalding and Martin lifted from it a fine two year old deer, shot directly between the eyes.
[Illustration: How he could have slept on, with such an infernal roaring as that donkey made in those old woods, six or eight miles outside of a fence, is more than I can comprehend.—]
"There," said Spalding, "is the biggest, or what was the biggest fool of a deer in these woods. Do you believe that he stood perfectly40 still, gazing in stupid astonishment at our light, until we were within a dozen feet of him, when I dropped him with that ball between the eyes?"
"No," replied Smith, "I really don't believe any such thing."
"It is true, notwithstanding your lack of faith," said Spalding.
"Do you say that as counsel, or as a gentleman?" inquired Smith.
"Look you, Mr. Smith," said Spalding, "you are drawing a distinction not warranted by the authority of the books—as if a lawyer could not tell the truth like a gentleman. I say it as both."
"Very well," remarked Smith, "then I must believe it, of course. But understand, Hank Martin, it will be my turn to-morrow night." And so the matter was settled that the next night hunting was to be done by Smith.
"H——," said the Doctor, as I was stealing quietly out of the tent, in the twilight41 of the next morning, so as not to awaken42 my companions, "where now?"
"I'm going to take some trout for breakfast, with our venison," I replied.
"And where do you propose to take them?" he inquired. "Come with me, and I'll show you. I looked the place out last evening, and if you've done sleeping, we'll have some sport."
"Agreed," said he, and we paddled around the point into a little bay, at the head of which a small, but cold stream entered the lake. The Doctor sat in the bow, and, having adjusted his rod, I steered43 the boat carefully, close along the shore, to within reach of the mouth of the brook44, and directed him to cast across it. The moment his fly touched the water, half a dozen fish rose to it together. It was eagerly seized by one weighing less than a quarter of a pound, which was lifted bodily into the boat. He caught as fast as he could cast his fly. They were the genuine brook trout, none of them exceeding a quarter Of a pound in weight. In half an hour, we had secured as many as we needed for breakfast, and paddled back to take a morning nap while the meal was being prepared.
The sweetest fish that swims is the brook trout, weighing from a quarter of a pound down. Rolled in flour, or meal, and fried brown, they have no equal. The lake and river trout, weighing from two to ten pounds, beautiful as they are, have not that delicacy45 of flavor which belongs to the genuine brook trout. Boiled, when freshly caught, they are by no means to be spoken lightly of. They have few equals, cooked in that way, but as a pan fish, they are not to be compared with the genuine brook trout.
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1
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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auger
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| n.螺丝钻，钻孔机 | |
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socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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6
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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8
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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cascading
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| 流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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trumpeting
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| 大声说出或宣告（trumpet的现在分词形式） | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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29
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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31
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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32
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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35
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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38
reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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39
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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40
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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41
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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43
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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44
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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45
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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