“Good thing we didn’t try to bring your new auto2 here, Tinny,” remarked Jerry, as the horses scrambled3 over some perilous4 footing. “You’d have two broken axles, I’m thinking.”
“Very likely. Even an ore wagon5 wouldn’t be safe here. A horse or a mule6 is all that can be used. Noddy must have known what was ahead of him when he swapped7 his wagon for horses.”
“I don’t think he knows much of anything, except how to be mean,” stated Ned. “Dolt Haven8, who has been out in this region before, may have put him wise as to what to do.”
This was very likely the case, but it did not alter the fact that Noddy and his crowd were[189] well in advance of their pursuers and seemed to be keeping a safe distance ahead of them.
“Well, if we don’t catch him before, we surely will when we head in for Blue Rock,” declared Bob. “What I can’t understand, though, is how he can make Bill tell where the treasure chest went over if Bill doesn’t want to. Noddy won’t torture him, will he?”
“Oh, I don’t believe Noddy would go that far,” Jerry said. “He and Jack9 probably think they can influence Bill with money, now that they have him in their power. And while Bill is a good scout10, he hasn’t very much will power. He may give in and blurt11 out as much of the secret as he knows.”
“I think you fellows are worrying unnecessarily,” said Tinny. “That treasure chest yarn12 is only a fairy story, as I’ve told you before. The thing may have happened, but, even if the chest is found, it will prove to be empty. That stage driver was in cahoots with the robbers. I know Bill has faith in his old friend, but that doesn’t mean much.”
The Motor Boys were not putting too much faith in the story told by the old miner, and they shared with Mallison the desire to rescue Cromley. But, deep down in their hearts, the lads could not help hoping against hope that there was something in that treasure-chest rumor13.
[190]
They were now in a very wild and desolate14 region where mining was about the only occupation that could be carried on with any degree of success. Occasionally they came upon parties of rough men who were thus trying to wrest15 a living from the earth. And from these men they learned that Noddy Nixon and his crowd, with Cromley as a captive, had passed that same way about twelve hours ahead of them.
Questioned as to why they did not attempt to help the prisoner, the miners merely shrugged16 their shoulders and muttered that it was none of their business; they didn’t know what the old fellow might have done.
“We’re cutting down their lead, at least,” announced Ned, hearing this news one noon. “We may catch up to them before night.”
“Yes,” agreed Jerry.
“But what I can’t understand,” said Bob, “is how they can take Bill along the trail, bound as they must have him, and not have a lot of questions asked. They can’t all be as callous17 as those fellows back there. Why doesn’t somebody get suspicious and ask why they are carrying a prisoner with them? If they did this and the authorities were notified, Bill would have been free long ago.”
“Noddy has very likely made up some sort of story to explain matters,” suggested Tinny. “He[191] could pass himself and his companions off as officers in charge of a prisoner. And if they kept Bill gagged, as they might do, putting a stick in his mouth as they did to Professor Snodgrass, he couldn’t contradict them. They would only have to keep the gag in while they were passing through a settlement, or meeting people. Then, too, they may have Bill so frightened that, even without a gag, he daren’t shout an alarm to get himself rescued.”
They found out later that Noddy had tried both of these plans with success, and so it was that though Cromley was observed to be bound and gagged while on his horse, what Noddy and Jack said made this state of affairs seem plausible18.
They camped that night near a small but swift-running stream, and before darkness settled they had taken from it some fish which made a welcome addition to their food, for they had been obliged to live, in the main, on canned stuff.
The next morning saw them on the way again, and they had their first bit of good luck about ten o’clock. They passed through a small mining settlement, and there they learned that a party answering to the description of Noddy’s crowd had passed through about four hours previously19.
“One of their horses has gone lame20,” said Tinny, who had been making the inquiries21. “They have to accommodate the pace of the swiftest to[192] the slowest-going animal. They don’t seem to have the money to buy more horses. They’re almost at the end of their rope, boys!”
“Let’s push on fast and see if we can’t catch ’em before night!” cried Ned.
But to this Mallison objected.
“We’ve got to think of our own horses,” he said. “They’ve been pretty hard-pushed of late, and if we want them to stand up under the strain we’ve got to be easy with them. If they go lame it’s all off as far as the chase goes. Just a little patience, and we’ll have those rascals22!”
“Besides, it’s near noon and we want to eat,” added Bob.
Accordingly, a halt was called at noon and the campfire made. They had bought some supplies in the little settlement where they had got the latest news of those of whom they were in pursuit, and by a stroke of good luck they had secured a chicken, which Bob fried most appetizingly.
“Best thing you ever did, Chunky!” called out Mallison, as he leaned back for a little rest after the meal.
“Glad you liked it,” was the modest rejoinder.
They were all taking a much-needed rest after their dinner, and the horses were cropping some grass when a noise in the bushes back of Ned, who was leaning against a rock, startled them all.
Almost as soon as the rustling23 made itself[193] plain to the ears of the travelers there was a snorting among the horses, and they appeared to be much frightened.
“Maybe this is Noddy’s crowd!” exclaimed Bob.
“Our horses wouldn’t be afraid of other animals of the same kind,” Tinny said. “I’m inclined to believe——”
But he never expressed his belief, for a moment later there was a loud “Wuff!” and an immense grizzly24 bear lumbered25 out of the bushes and started down the side of the hill along which the trail ran.
“Wow! Look at him! The king of the bears!” shouted Bob, making a grab for his rifle that was near him.
Before the others could reach their weapons or before Bob could bring his to a sight, the bear, with another “Wuff,” turned and made his way back along his own trail faster than he had come down. He was an exceedingly frightened bruin, it seemed.
The horses snorted and tried to bolt, but Mallison and Jerry were at their heads instantly, quieting them, for they knew what it meant to be without mounts in that region.
“Say, that bear actually ran away from us!” cried Ned, for the shaggy, clumsy creature was out of sight in a few seconds.
[194]
“That’s what he did,” declared Tinny. “He didn’t know we were here. He must have blundered down on us. The wind was blowing from him to us, and the horses probably smelled him before he burst out of the bushes. He didn’t scent26 us or he never would have come as close, for a grizzly has an acute nose.”
“Would he have attacked us, do you think?” asked Bob.
“Not in a hundred years, if he could get away,” replied Tinny. “Of course now and then grizzly or black bears will show fight if cornered, or if they have cubs27, but generally they see you first and make for the tall timber. That’s where this one is headed.”
Indeed, the grizzly was now out of sight, though his odor must have lingered in the air, for the horses were uneasy for some time afterward28.
“Gosh! If I’d been a second quicker I could have popped him over and we’d have had bear steaks,” lamented29 Chunky.
“Not much danger of you laying him out with one shot,” said Tinny. “And if you had wounded him we might have had a nasty fight on our hands. It’s as well he was frightened away as he was. And as for bear steaks—well, the less said about them the better.”
“Aren’t they good eating?” asked the fat lad.
[195]
“Not to my notion,” was the reply. “They’re too rank. Indians may relish30 them, but I don’t. A bear isn’t a very dainty feeder. He’s too fond of carrion31, and that doesn’t make for tasty flesh. I’m just as glad Mr. Grizzly went.”
But it was many months before Bob ceased lamenting32 the fine chance he had missed of bringing to earth a great grizzly bear—for the bear was an immense one.
“Well, that little excitement will digest our meal,” remarked Ned, when they had returned after going a little way up the mountain in a fruitless attempt to catch another sight of bruin.
“Then let’s go!” suggested Jerry, and again they were on the trail after the kidnapers of Bill Cromley.
It was approaching evening and they had gone on steadily33. They had passed through no more settlements, nor had they met other travelers or miners of whom they might inquire concerning Noddy’s crowd. But inasmuch as there had been no branch trail, it was assumed that those of whom they were in pursuit were not far ahead of them.
And this belief was made very plain a half hour later when, as they went down a slope, they saw four horsemen ascending34 the mountain on the other side of the valley.
[196]
“Look! There they are!” cried Jerry, pointing.
“I believe you’re right!” exclaimed Tinny. “Wait until I take a look through the glasses.”
He had his binoculars35 with him. Heretofore they had been used in fruitless gazing at the trail ahead for a possible sight of those in the lead. But no sooner had the miner put them to his eyes and focused them, than he cried out:
“That’s Nixon’s gang all right, and Bill is there, sitting on his horse! They see us, too!” he added quickly. “They’re going to make a dash for it!”
Even as he spoke36 the Motor Boys could see, with their unaided eyes, that there was some movement taking place in the ranks of the four horsemen. They could be seen urging their steeds up the steep trail.
Suddenly one of the riders was observed to detach himself from the others. He wheeled his animal about and came dashing down the trail in the direction of the following party.
“It’s Bill! He’s escaping!” yelled Ned.
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1
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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2
auto
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| n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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3
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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4
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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5
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
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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7
swapped
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| 交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来） | |
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8
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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9
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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10
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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11
blurt
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| vt.突然说出，脱口说出 | |
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12
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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13
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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14
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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15
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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16
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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17
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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18
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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19
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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21
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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22
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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23
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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24
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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25
lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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27
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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28
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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29
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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30
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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31
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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32
lamenting
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| adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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33
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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34
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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35
binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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36
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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