“Hold on a minute, kurnel.”
Astonished, both Boone and Kenton halted.
As the two turned to Lark, they noticed that his face was deadly pale—even whiter and more corpse-like than when he was stretched senseless upon the sward. His lips were moving convulsively.
“What’s the matter, Abe?” asked Boone, in alarm.
“I don’t know,” said Lark, in guttural tones, and speaking with evident difficulty.
Boone and Kenton exchanged glances of astonishment4.
“Don’t you feel well?” Boone asked.
“No. I—I am deathly sick,” and, as the words came from his lips, Lark sunk heavily to the earth.
Alarmed, his two companions knelt by his side.
“Jerusalem! You’re tuck bad,” said Boone, bending over the fallen man.
“And hain’t you been hurt at all?” asked Kenton, who could not understand this strange sickness.
“No,” murmured Lark, speaking with great difficulty.
“Have you ever had one of these spells before?” said Boone, fully6 as much puzzled as his brother scout7 to account for Lark’s strange illness.
“Yes,” replied Lark, feebly.
“Oh, you have?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what shall we do for you?” Boone felt a little relieved in his mind by Lark’s words.
“Why?” cried Boone, in astonishment at the strange request.
“Yes,” replied Lark.
“Jerusalem! That’s odd treatment for a sick man,” said Boone.
“It is the only way to treat my sickness,” replied Lark, in a husky voice.
“You ar’n’t in earnest?”
“Yes.”
Boone could hardly believe his hearing.
“Tie you to a tree?”
“A stout one?”
[34]
“Yes, one that I can not pull up.”
“Pull up!” exclaimed both Boone and Kenton, in a breath.
“Yes,” replied Lark, his breath coming thick and hard, like the breath of a hunted animal.
“Pull up a tree! Why, you ain’t got strength enough now to pull up a blackberry bush,” said Boone.
“That is true,” murmured Lark, hoarsely11; “but in a few minutes I shall have the strength of a giant.”
Again Boone and Kenton looked at each other in wonder.
“Do not waste time in trying to guess it,” gasped13 Lark, hoarsely, “but, if you are friends of mine, do as I wish before it is too late.”
“Too late!”
“Yes, a few minutes more and it will be too late. I have had these attacks before, but never until this one did I guess what the result of the attack would be. But, now, Heaven has permitted me to have a knowledge of the truth.” Lark spoke with great difficulty, and white froth began to gather at the corners of his mouth.
“What on yearth is the matter with you?” exclaimed Boone.
“Can’t you guess? Don’t you see it in my face?” Lark gasped, in torture. “I am going mad.”
“Yes mad,” moaned Lark, in agony. “I can feel the madness creeping over me; tie me to a tree, else I may injure you or myself.”
“I’ll do it!” cried Boone, impulsively16. “Come, Kenton, give me a hand!”
Then the two carried the helpless man to the foot of a stout oak that grew by the side of the clearing.
With thongs17 cut from Lark’s hunting-shirt they bound him securely to the tree. They placed him in an upright position against the trunk of the oak.
“There, can we do any thing else for you?” asked Boone, after the tying had been completed.
“No, except to remain near at hand and watch me. The attack will not last long,” Lark replied. It was with great difficulty that he spoke at all.
The scouts withdrew a short distance, and sitting down in the bushes, watched their friend that they had bound so securely.
The moonbeams came down full on the head of the bound man—upon the massive head that drooped19 so listlessly upon the shoulder.
For fully ten minutes Boone and Kenton watched, and Lark gave no sign of life.
Face and figure seemed alike a part of the tree.
“I say, kurnel,” said Kenton, in a cautious whisper, “what do you think of it?”
“Well, I don’t know,” replied Boone, slowly; “it’s a most wonderful affair. That a critter should be able to tell aforehand that he was going to have a mad spell and want himself tied up. Why, I never heerd of any thing like it.”
“He ain’t moved yet,” said Kenton, still watching Lark, intently.
“P’haps he ain’t going mad after all?” suggested Boone.
“Or, it may be that he ain’t quite right in his mind now, and the idea of his going mad is only one of the strange fancies that sick people have sometimes?” queried20 Kenton.
“That’s sound sense,” rejoined Boone, thoughtfully.
Then a slight movement of Lark’s head put a stop to the conversation of the two scouts, and eagerly they watched the man bound so tightly to the tree-trunk.
Lark raised his head slowly. By the light of the moonbeams the two watchers could plainly see that it was deathly pale. But they also noted21 a change in the face. The eyes, which before had been lusterless and half-closed, were now opened wide, and, seemingly, strained to their fullest extent. They glared like eyes of fire—shone more like the eyes of a wild beast than the orbs22 of a human.
“Look at his eyes!” said Boone, in a cautious whisper.
Carefully and searchingly Lark glared around him as if to discover whether he was watched or not.
Then he essayed to move from the tree, but the bonds that bound his hands and feet to the tree-trunk restrained him.
“His memory’s clean gone,” said Boone, in Kenton’s ear.
“I do believe he is mad now,” observed Kenton, in a tone of conviction.
“Yes, but look at him.”
Lark was carefully surveying the bonds that bound him to the tree.
A moment or two his eyes glared upon the leathern fetters, and then, with a desperate effort, he essayed to break them.
The veins26 on his forehead knotted and swelled27 as he tugged28 with almost superhuman strength, but the effort was useless. He could not free himself.
“Jerusalem! ain’t that strength thar!” muttered Boone, as he watched the tension of the thongs.
“They’re going to hold him, though,” replied Kenton, eagerly watching the strange scene.
Again Lark glared around him, and again he tried to burst the bonds that bound him.
The thongs cut into the flesh of the wrists, but he seemed not to heed29 the pain. Every muscle in his huge frame was brought into play.
“Talk about a giant—did you see that thong go?” exclaimed Boone, in a guarded tone to Kenton.
“He snapped it like a pipe-stem.”
No look of triumph appeared upon Lark’s face as he felt that his hands were free—only the look of fierce, settled determination.
Again he glanced around the little opening as if in search of watchers; then he proceeded to untie31 the lashings that bound his feet to the tree.
In a few minutes the thongs dropped to the ground, and Lark was at liberty.
He stepped from the side of the oak and drew himself up proudly to the moonbeams, as if rejoicing that he was free. All traces of his former feebleness had disappeared.
The two scouts watched his movements with anxiety.
“He’s looking for a we’pon,” said Boone, in a whisper.
“Yes, it looks like it,” replied Kenton.
Then from his girdle Lark drew a keen-edged scalping-knife. He tried the edge of the blade and the point, carefully, upon his finger; then, with a grim smile of satisfaction, he replaced the knife in his girdle.
Slowly, with cautious steps, Lark stole across the glade, but on the borders of the wood he halted—paused for a moment, irresolute33, and then his strength seemed to fail him. A deep groan34 of anguish came from his lips.
He tottered35 for a moment, as though striving by the mere36 force of his will to keep his feet; then, with another groan, deeper and more agonizing37 than the first, he fell heavily to the ground.
Again he lay in a swoon, senseless, as before; the swollen40 veins marked the white forehead, and the waxy41 drops of perspiration42 formed a strange contrast.
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收听单词发音
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1
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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2
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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3
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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4
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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6
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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7
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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8
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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9
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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12
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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13
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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14
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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15
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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16
impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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17
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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thong
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| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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19
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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21
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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22
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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23
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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24
fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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27
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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28
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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30
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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31
untie
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| vt.解开，松开；解放 | |
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32
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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33
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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34
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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35
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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36
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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37
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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38
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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39
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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40
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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41
waxy
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| adj.苍白的；光滑的 | |
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42
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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