39
Yet, much as they tried, neither of the boys could suggest a reason for the interest in the death of the dead robber which seemed to have so suddenly risen. They discussed the subject at much length, sitting alone in the moonlight that evening, on the heavy shafts4 of their wagon5, beside the barn, when they had seen to it that their horse was fed and their dog had a comfortable place for the night on a blanket beneath the cart, insuring the perfect safety of the vehicle and its contents.
The lads had not seen Tall Todd after supper, but as they were going into the house to go to bed, he met them near the door and urged them most seriously to give up their plan to go on into the wilderness6 alone.
40
Todd was a good natured, kindly7 man and undoubtedly8 meant well by his friends, but by habit he spoke1 in an extravagant9 manner, and the young men believed that many of the alarming statements he made were exaggerated—either by himself, quite unintentionally, owing to his manner of speaking, or by those from whom he had heard them. They thought most seriously, however, of the report given by the quiet, elderly man, Eli Hopp, concerning the mysterious murders which had taken place along the extreme frontier, and prudence10 bade them investigate before venturing into the almost trackless forest alone. They probably would have remained in Pittsburg several days or more for this purpose, but for a remark made by the proprietor11 of the public house at which they remained over night, next morning.
“Tall Todd says you chaps have decided12 to stay here awhile and maybe wait for some party goin’ down river, to go along with.”
The words fired Kingdom’s pride. He was usually a cool, thoughtful lad; and though he showed no resentment13 or injured self-esteem in his tones, now, he answered instantly:
“No, he must be mistaken. We not only did not say that, but we are leaving to-day to go on to the cabin we built on the Cuyahoga river.”
41
“We have corn and other crops to harvest, if there is anything left of them. We had quite a farm, you know, when we left there last spring,” put in John Jerome jocularly.
The landlord’s face grew serious and he began telling of the Indian disturbances14 all along the border; but Kingdom adroitly15 turned the conversation in such a way that he was able without seeming over-curious, to inquire about the well dressed stranger who had sat at table with them the night before and had been so disturbed by mention of the name of Ichabod Nesbit.
“By vum, partner, you’ve stumped16 me,” the man replied. “That fellow came along here on horseback day before yesterday, engaged his keep, carried his saddle bags to a little room I let him have, as though they was both full of gold—he watched them that close—and this morning he paid his reckoning, got on his horse and away he went, saddle bags and all. Tall Todd couldn’t get anything out of him, so I knew ’twan’t any use my tryin’, though he did tell me what he didn’t tell Todd, and that was, that his name was Theodore Hatch and that he was a surveyor. But bless you! I don’t believe that. I think he’s a British spy, that’s what I think!”
42
“Pretty dangerous for him to be around here, if he is,” said young Jerome, bristling17 up as though he would personally assault the gentleman the next time they met.
“The woods are full of British from Detroit,” the landlord went on. “Talk about the war being over, what are the pestiferous Red-coats always setting the Indians against our settlers so, for? We will have to set about licking them out of their boots again, the way they are behaving! But what most of all makes me think this Mr. Theodore Hatch is a Britisher is that he rode off down the river right toward bad Injun country alone. He wouldn’t dare do it, if he wasn’t a Britisher and friendly with the Redskins. And what did he have in them saddle bags, do you suppose? He had gold for the Mingoes and the Delawares and the Wyandots and every red mother’s son of the savages18, he had. Now that’s what I think!”
43
The two boys did not mention the stranger’s agitation19 of the night before, but they could not understand how a British spy could have any interest in Ichabod Nesbit, and as they talked the subject over by themselves, they concluded that on that point the landlord was probably mistaken.
It was true, nevertheless, that then and for many years afterward20 there were agents of the British government going among the Indians, rousing them to deeds of violence against the American settlers. British soldiers helped in the defeat of General St. Clair by the Indians that very fall of 1791,—only a month later than that day when Kingdom and Jerome, some time after their talk with the landlord, said goodbye to him and to Tall Todd and others they knew, and set forth21 again upon their journey on into the western wilds.
44
Todd was still loud in his declarations that it was nothing less than murder to permit the boys to continue into the wilderness, but their determination overbalanced all his objections and, though cautioning them repeatedly, other men really admired their pluck, as they watched the two friends drive slowly away.
“We will reach the Cuyahoga river within two weeks if we have good luck, Ree,” said John. “That will give us all the time we need to get our corn harvested, if there is any of it left, and to get our little house all in good shape for winter before cold weather comes.”
“I think we will be able to gather some nuts, there are plenty of hickory-nuts and butternuts, too, along the river and back among the hills.”
So with the most hopeful conversation the boys passed the time. Had they fully22 realized the dangers which would surround them they could not have been so care-free. They knew that they must keep their wits about them and their eyes open wide, and this they did; but they were far from expecting the adventures which were in store for them.
45
The roads east of Pittsburg had been scarcely worthy23 of the name, but west of that frontier settlement there were practically none. Neb—short for Nebuchadnezzar—the big black horse the lads drove, had all he could do in many instances to pull the well loaded cart up the little hills which were encountered, and through the swampy24 places which must now and then be crossed. The trail followed was the same as that taken by the boys upon their previous journey West, the preceding fall, and the work done at that time in opening a roadway where it was impossible otherwise for the cart to pass, stood them in good stead now. But at best their progress was slow, and Colonel Boquet, whose famous Indian expedition many years earlier, traveled in part the same course as that these two sons of Connecticut were now taking, moved as fast as they did, though he made but from seven to ten miles a day.
46
For several miles, soon after leaving Pittsburg, the trail the boys followed kept them close to the Ohio river. There they discovered the tracks of a horse which had preceded them. Rightly they guessed that the hoof25 prints were those of the steed of the mysterious stranger who had called himself Theodore Hatch.
“I wish we could overtake him,” said John, speaking of the tracks they saw.
“It is strange that he should be going into this country alone and with practically no baggage,” said Kingdom. “I can’t make out what he’s up to, unless it be true that he is a British agent. Of course it might be that he is a missionary26 going to the Moravian villages, but he did not look much like one.”
“I should say not. He looked like a soldier, I thought—an army officer dressed up as a Quaker.”
47
The prospect27 that the boys might fall in with the mysterious stranger seemed to increase daily. Though he undoubtedly traveled faster than they, it was apparent that he was pursuing the same general course as themselves and much the same trail. They saw places where he had encamped for the night, and often during the day the tracks of his horse. Still there was nothing to indicate the man’s identity.
It was late in the afternoon of the sixth day after leaving Pittsburg. The young travelers had found level land and comparatively easy traveling that day, and having gone a long distance, were casting about for a camping place.
“I’ll forge ahead and see if there is running water in the little valley yonder,” said John. “If there is, we need go no further.”
Hastening forward, he came to the edge of the hill sloping down to the shallow gully of which he had spoken. He heard the trickle28 and splash of a stream of water, and in another moment would have turned to go back, but his quick eye caught the outlines of a horse’s flank among some low bushes near the brook29, and he paused.
Carefully he watched but the animal did not stir. Ree was not more than a hundred yards away, and hurrying to him, John told of the discovery.
48
“It must be our Britisher,” said Kingdom, thoughtfully, “so few of the Indians have horses. But we will soon find out. Come on.”
Leaving their cart where it was, for Neb could be trusted not to run away, the boys walked with as great a show of unconcern as possible down into the valley. They took pains to speak to each other in tones moderately loud, as though they were looking only for a place to camp, hoping to attract the stranger’s attention. But their approach seemed entirely30 unnoticed. They could see only the flanks and back of the horse which was standing31 among the low bushes, and were somewhat surprised to notice that the animal was saddled. So perfectly32 still did the creature stand, too, they were puzzled more and more.
Suddenly the horse raised its head, looked backward with great, sorrowful eyes for a moment, then with a low, pitiful whinny turned and trotted33 toward the boys.
“Something’s wrong here,” said Kingdom, beneath his breath. “My goodness, I hope—”
49
The sentence was cut short by John speaking to the dapple gray that had now come close up to them, plainly doing its best to talk.
“Show us what it is—what’s the matter, old fellow?” said Jerome, patting the horse’s forehead.
Kingdom did not wait for an answer to his companion’s question, but stepped quickly forward among the underbrush. He pushed his way through to a small, clear space beside the stream, and as he reached it a little cry of surprise and dismay escaped him. Then swift as a deer he leaped to the center of the open space, and in another instant was kneeling beside the body of—Theodore Hatch, the Quaker.
The man lay face upward upon the leafy ground, the pallor of death upon his cheeks, the scalp cut from his head. Beside his body the ground was ploughed deep by the hoofs34 of the horse, showing clearly how the faithful beast had watched and waited for a word from the master who could not speak. A few feet distant were the dead ashes of a tiny fire, and a small coffee dipper burned black still setting among them, its contents long since evaporated.
50
“Oh, Ree!”
John Jerome could say no more as, followed by their faithful dog and the stranger’s horse, he hastened through the brush to his friend’s side and at a glance saw what was there.
“He’s alive—sure as the world, the body is still almost warm!” cried Ree in an undertone, and seizing the blackened dipper, filled it at the brook and bathed the stranger’s death-like face.
“See if there is brandy or anything in his saddle bags, John,” he next commanded. “Oh, if we can save him!”
Instead of taking the chance of finding nothing to the purpose among the stranger’s baggage, John dashed away across the valley and up the hill to their cart. He knew there were restoratives in a small medicine chest they carried beneath the seat of that vehicle, and in a minute or two he had selected what he wanted and returned. He found that Ree had loosened the stranger’s collar and placed his own coat beneath his head.
51
“Where is the wound, Ree?” he asked in a whisper.
“I haven’t looked,” Kingdom answered, drawing open the stranger’s mouth and putting between his lips a tiny quantity of the stimulant35 Jerome had brought. “Help rub his hands.”
As both boys pressed and chafed36 the stricken man’s fingers, palms and wrists, they felt a feeble warmth in them—so feeble, indeed, that they feared their task was hopeless. But they worked on and on, again administering a portion of the stimulant. At the end of twenty minutes they could see that freer circulation of blood had been established and were hopeful.
A very little later the stranger’s eyelids37 fluttered and opened. His horse, which had watched, with almost human intelligence, everything that had been done, gave a soft, low whinny of gladness.
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1
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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2
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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4
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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6
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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7
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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8
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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9
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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11
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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14
disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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15
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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16
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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17
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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18
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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19
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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20
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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22
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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23
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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24
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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25
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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26
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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27
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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28
trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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29
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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30
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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31
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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32
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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33
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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34
hoofs
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| 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 ) | |
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35
stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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36
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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37
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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