CHAPTER XII—THE LAST ADVENTURE

 And so, like Archibald Archer¹, that murderous old brute² of the wooded hills passes out of the story. A gun crew in Santois turned their handle until they got the muzzle³ of their gun just exactly where they wanted it and that was straight for the big wooded V between the hills. And having fixed⁴ everything just right, they let fly—once, twice, three times—and once again for good measure. And the old giant of the mountains was never heard from again. But when those hills where Tom Slade hurried in the night finally came within the iron lines of Marshal Foch, they found the poor old monster knocked clear off his pedestal, where Tom Slade of the Flying Corps⁵ had leaned to rest that night when his scouting⁶ lore⁸ did not forsake⁹ him.

But gun crews and fliers notwithstanding, I like to think that the hand which put that steel brute out of business was the small white hand of an eager, generous little French girl who lived away at the foot of those hills in the enemy country. And I am sure that Archibald Archer would grin with unspeakable delight if he could but know that this good end was accomplished¹⁰ by a “souveneerrr.”

I am now close upon the end of my reminiscences of Tom Slade with the Flying Corps and it remains¹¹ only to tell you what little is really known about his tragic¹² end.

On his way back from the enemy country that night he was blown out of his course and drifted over La Chapelle which is about midway between Epemay and the now famous Chateau-Thierry. If he had been able to fly low enough to follow the road through Suippes to Chalons all would have been well, for the approximate time of his return was known, and no shots were to be fired. Indeed, so far west as La Chapelle they knew of his being abroad on secret business, and should not have fired. But a smart Aleck anti-aircraft crew, hearing the whir of a Hun machine, must take a pop at it and Slade fell with a fractured head among the tangled¹³ ruins of his machine. And that was the end of the Hun plane.

Our newspaper said that Slade was “suffering from a slight wound received near La Chapelle.” Nothing about this blundering business which all but lost him his life. In point of fact he suffered from very grave mental disturbances¹⁴ as a result of his fall and I believe that he had not regained¹⁵ in full measure his mental faculties¹⁶ at the time of his final exploit But in this I may be mistaken. In any event, he was morose¹⁷ and despondent¹⁸ while in the hospital, often mumbling¹⁹ threats to kill someone. You will be glad to know that Jeanne visited him there, which seemed to please him, and I think that if he had lived they might, perhaps, have seen more of each other. One of the nurses told me that he asked Jeanne if “that man came back” and when she said that he did, Slade compressed his lips and said nothing. That matter is a mystery to me. He made few friends in the hospital, because of his natural taciturnity, and also because of his mental depression.

He was well on toward recovery, however, when the bomb was dropped which killed two of the nurses. There seems to be no authority for his vowing²⁰ vengeance²¹ against the hostile fliers, but he is remembered to have said that he “knew it was that man’s work.”

He was discharged from the hospital as cured, and after some difficulty succeeded in being reinstated in the Flying Corps, with a combat plane, which was now his one desire. “I got a special reason,” Captain Whitloss says he told him. Those are the last words which I have heard of as coming from Tom Slade.

Of the circumstances attending his last adventure you are already aware, and save for a bit of lurid²² coloring, the newspaper account seems to be about correct. He rose in pursuit of the Hun plane from Jonchery, west of Rheims, but there seems to be no reason to suppose that he knew who, in particular, he was pursuing.

Both planes passed out of sight above the clouds and shortly thereafter the enemy plane was seen to fall. It fell in La Toi, as the news article stated, just within the allied²³ lines. Its occupant, a German named Otto Brenner, was in the wreckage²⁴, quite dead. The fuel tank of his plane had been shot through.

About ten minutes afterward²⁵ Slade’s empty machine came fluttering down, turned turtle and plunged²⁶ headlong to earth. It did not fall upon a “rocky hillside” as the paper stated, but in a field within the allied lines. The body of Tom Slade was seen to fall separately but there can be no truth in the declaration which one heard in Rheims (especially among children) that it descended²⁷ ten minutes after the plane fell. Such a thing would be manifestly impossible.

It is true that a German airman, flying over the American lines, dropped the cap said to have been worn by Slade. In it were his identification disk, corresponding to the number against his name in the army files, and the gold cross which he won while a scout⁷. The Germans found his body half way up a rocky slope and buried it in Pevy which now is in the hands of Americans. I visited the grave which had a little white wooden cross above it on which his name is carved in rough letters, very German. I understand his name was sent to them across No Man’s Land under a white flag after his identity has been ascertained²⁸ from his disk number. So maybe Fritzie has a soft spot, after all.

For your sake I laid a little wreath upon the grave and wrote on a piece of bark (which I think you told me is the Scouts’ writing material) that it was from the troop in Bridgeboro.

 

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

3 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

7 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

8 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

9 forsake   

vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃

参考例句：

• She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her.她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
• You must forsake your bad habits.你必须革除你的坏习惯。

10 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

13 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

14 disturbances   

n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍

参考例句：

• The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. 政府成立了一个委员会来调查监狱骚乱事件。
• Extra police were called in to quell the disturbances. 已调集了增援警力来平定骚乱。

15 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

16 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 morose   

adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的

参考例句：

• He was silent and morose.他沉默寡言、郁郁寡欢。
• The publicity didn't make him morose or unhappy?公开以后，没有让他郁闷或者不开心吗？

18 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

19 mumbling   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
• He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时，他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着，他在一块冰上滑倒，跌断了左腿。

20 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

21 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

22 lurid   

adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的

参考例句：

• The paper gave all the lurid details of the murder.这份报纸对这起凶杀案耸人听闻的细节描写得淋漓尽致。
• The lurid sunset puts a red light on their faces.血红一般的夕阳映红了他们的脸。

23 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

24 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

25 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

26 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

27 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

28 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》