Part of the side of the mountain, consisting of earth, rocks, gravel1, trees, and bushes had loosened in some manner, and was slowly but with irresistible2 force hurtling itself down the slope.
Tinny, quickly recognizing the extent of the slide and calculating its probable direction, cried:
“Get the horses over this way. And grab what stuff you can. Get back of that line of rocks. I think they’ll keep the slide off!”
He pointed4 to a ridge5 of bare rock which extended up and down the mountain side. Like a jetty, or breakwater, it might fend6 off the landslide.
“Ned and I will take the horses!” cried Jerry. “You save what grub you can, Bob!”
This was giving the stout7 lad an occupation[181] nearest to his heart, but there was no joking in their thoughts at this moment.
“I’ll save our camp stuff!” shouted Tinny, making a jump toward some rolls of bedding and tarpaulins9 on which they expected to sleep at night, for they carried no tents.
Action was scarcely less quick than the words, and though there was a little trouble in releasing the horses and getting them to a place of comparative safety, it was accomplished10.
All this while the landslide was advancing nearer and nearer, and with increased force and volume. Back of the first line of rocks, bushes, and dirt was a great mass of earth, immense boulders11, great trees, and a quantity of gravel and smaller stones. This was sweeping12 everything before it, breaking off giants of the forest with trunks three feet in diameter as if they were the long stems of churchwarden pipes.
THE LANDSLIDE WAS ADVANCING NEARER AND NEARER.
For a few seconds the boys and Mallison were so busy rushing their animals and belongings13 to the safe side that they did not notice the curious roar and rumble14 that filled the air.
But when the horses had been tied beyond the line of rocks, which, Tinny thought, would mark the dividing line of the landslide, and when their food and camp stuff had been moved, the travelers had an opportunity to listen to the nerve-racking[182] noise that accompanied the shifting of the face of the mountain.
The rumble and roar made a terrifying sound. It was not like thunder, though it was akin8 to it. Nor was it like the blast of the tempest, though, in a measure, it filled the air with that awful howling.
The breaking of great trees, the crash and rumble of rocks splitting in twain, the concussion15 of those rocks on other boulders or against trees which they cracked wide open, splitting them from roots to crown, the rattle16 of gravel like the hail of shrapnel against steel shields—all this served to fill the air with a terrible tumult17.
All the while the landslide was increasing in speed, volume, and force. It seemed that a great part of the mountain was going to slip down its side into the valley below.
Fortunately, it was a desolate18 region, and not so much as a lone19 miner’s cabin was in the path of the devastating20 force. Cromley’s friends alone were in danger, but as they stood near the horses, which were trembling in terror, they had hopes that the slide might pass them by. The animals were very much frightened, but they seemed to prefer the nearness of their human companions rather than to try to bolt into the wilderness21. So they did not break away.
Now the landslide had reached its maximum,[183] and in one immense, irregularly shaped mass of rocks, trees, and earth was going down the mountain slope.
The vanguard of comparatively small rocks, with a quantity of gravel and bushes, had passed on with merely a rattle. Then, close behind this, came thousands of tons of the very side of the mountain itself, sweeping before it every vestige22 of verdure and leaving in its wake but the bare side of the great hill.
Fortunately for the campers, the landslide did just what Mallison guessed it would do, and as he hoped it would do—it did not extend to the side farther than to the line of great rocks deeply imbedded in the side of the mountain.
“That alone saved us!” whispered Tinny, pointing to the great rocky wall. Tinny’s whisper could be heard, for now that the landslide had passed on down into the valley, there was silence about the camping place.
Yet it was no longer a complete camp, for so close had the great slide come that it had engulfed23 the fire.
This had actually taken place. The coffee had been boiling on one side of the fire, which had been built in a primitive25 grate of stones, and the bacon was frying on the other side. There had[184] been so much to do that no one—not even Bob—had thought of saving the supper.
“Thank goodness we’ve got more grub and another coffee pot—or something that will do for one,” remarked Bob. His companions did not make any joke about his first thought after their escape from danger having to do with eating. They were too thankful over their good fortune to think of anything else for the time being.
In the gathering26 darkness after the dust caused by the landslide had blown away, they looked down into the valley. Part of it was made level and the floor of it was covered with the rocks and other débris, splintered trees and shredded27 bushes.
“Well, it broke our trail,” remarked Tinny, pointing to where the slide had cut squarely across the road they had taken to reach their present whereabouts. “We can’t go back that way—we’ll have to keep on!”
“And we want to keep on,” said Jerry. “We want to get Noddy and his gang and save Bill.”
“That’s right!” chimed in Ned. “Maybe Noddy ran up against one of these things himself.”
“They’re common enough out here,” said Tinny. “But this is the nearest that one ever came to me, and it was altogether too close for comfort.”
[185]
“Do you think it’s likely to happen again?” asked Jerry, as he spoke28 to his horse and patted the animal to soothe29 and quiet it.
“It might, but it isn’t very probable,” was the reassuring30 answer.
“What causes these landslides31?” asked Ned.
“No one knows—at least, I don’t,” Mallison replied. “Very likely a large mass of earth and rocks gets loosened by rain storms, and is held in place by a single key-rock or tree. The pressure back of the rock or tree becomes too great, it breaks or moves, and down comes the thousands of tons of stuff, gathering more material as it travels, like a snowball, until it sweeps everything before it. We’re mighty32 lucky not to have been in its direct path.”
The boys well knew this. But as the old saying has it, “a miss is as good as a mile,” and when the first terror was over they regained33 their usual good spirits.
The fire had been put out—swept away, in fact—but it was an easy matter to kindle34 another, and they had brought with them enough utensils35 to use in place of the departed coffee pot and frying pan. None of their bedding had been lost.
“So we aren’t so badly off after all,” remarked Jerry, as they sat about the cheerful blaze and ate.
[186]
“No, indeed,” agreed Mallison. “But we may have a hard time ahead of us.”
“We’re used to hard times,” chuckled36 Ned. “It can’t be any harder than some things we’ve been through before this.”
“No,” agreed Jerry thoughtfully, “it can’t.”
It did not take long to establish the simple camp. They got out their rolls of bedding, gathered wood enough to make a sudden blaze in the night in case one should be needed, saw that the horses were securely fastened, and then prepared to get some sleep.
Because of the remote danger that another landslide might follow that first one, it was decided37 they would take turns in remaining on guard. Thus an alarm could be given by the wakeful one.
“Though, as a matter of fact, if a landslide should start above us and come down, we could hardly get to either side of it in time in the darkness,” Tinny said. “But don’t worry, boys. I think we’re safe.”
In spite of this, however, the lads could not help worrying some, and when it was the turn of Ned, Jerry or Bob to remain awake for a two-hour stretch, each one strained ears and eyes to detect the first sound of danger.
But the night passed quietly save for a distant rattle now and again of some falling rock that had been loosened by the slide of earth.
[187]
Morning came, with bright sunshine, and the spirits of all revived, especially after some hot coffee and flapjacks, which Bob essayed to make, and with success.
“Well, maybe we’ll catch up with Noddy to-day,” suggested Jerry, as once more they journeyed onward38 and away from the slide.
“If, in the next two days, we don’t get nearer to him than we have been, we’d better go back to camp and decide on a better-equipped posse,” suggested Tinny. “We haven’t all the things we need for a long chase. And this is the longest way to Blue Rock. We could get there by a shorter route, and maybe be on hand when Noddy arrives with Bill.”
“That sounds like a good plan to try,” said Jerry. “We’ll tackle that if we don’t get some fresh clews soon.”
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1
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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landslide
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| n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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fend
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| v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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tarpaulins
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| n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 ) | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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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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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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devastating
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| adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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shredded
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| shred的过去式和过去分词 | |
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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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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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landslides
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| 山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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