Oscar was glad to comply at once with the invitation. He had found that riding in a wagon behind a lazy mule4, which had to be urged all the time in order to keep him in motion, was almost as hard work as riding on horseback, and he was tired and sleepy.
Rude as the bed was, after he had got it made up, it looked inviting5, and he lost no time in tumbling into it. But he did not fall asleep at once, as he had expected he would, 194for his mind was too busy with the events of the day.
The ranchman and Big Thompson drew their boxes in front of the stove, smoked their pipes, and, without taking the trouble to ascertain7 whether or not the boy was asleep, discussed him and his affairs with the utmost freedom.
The guide was talkative enough now, and Oscar wondered if he would use his tongue as freely when they were alone in the hills.
“Who is this young fellow, anyhow?” was the ranchman’s first question.
“Oh, he’s one of them thar crazy loons who aint got nothin’ better to do than tramp about the country, an’ ketch all sorts of critters, an’ stuff ’em full of hay or something,” said Big Thompson.
And the tone in which the reply was made led Oscar to believe that the guide had anything but an exalted8 opinion of a boy who could pass his time in that way.
“Then he really is a taxidermist, is he?”
“Which?” exclaimed Big Thompson.
“I mean that he is what he pretends to be?”
195“I reckon. They called him a college-sharp down to the post; an’ the kurn, he took him in the minute he came thar, an’ treated him like he was a little juke, or one of them thar nobby fellers from across the water. If it hadn’t been fur the kurn, ye wouldn’t ’a’ ketched me here with him.”
Oscar might have heard much more of this sort of talk if he had chosen to listen; but, as he was not in the habit of playing eavesdropper9, he turned his face to the wall, drew the blankets over his head, and composed himself to sleep.
Early the next morning he was awakened10 by the banging of the stove-lids, and started up, to find his host busy with his preparations for breakfast.
He wished the boy a hearty11 good-morning, but he did not have anything of importance to say to him until the meal was over, and Oscar, arising from his seat, pulled out his pocket-book.
“How much do I owe you, Mr. Barker?” said he.
“Look here, professor,” replied the ranchman, 196with a smile, “after you have been in this country a little longer, you will know better than to ask a question like that.”
“Very well,” said Oscar, who knew what that meant. “I am greatly obliged to you for your hospitality. Now, I can’t take my outfit12 with me; and I ask you again if I can hire you to take it back to the fort for me?”
“And I tell you again that you can’t,” was the blunt, almost rude, reply.
“Well, will you take it for nothing—just to accommodate me?”
“No, I won’t.”
“Very well,” said Oscar again. “Then I shall have to abandon the most of it right here. Thompson, come out to the wagon and select such things as you think we ought to take with us.”
“Are you going to walk to the foot-hills?” asked the ranchman, with an amused twinkle in his eye that made Oscar angry. “The valley to which Thompson intended to take you is all of a hundred miles from here.”
“I don’t care if it is a thousand. I am going there, if I live,” was the quick and 197decided reply. “If my guide will stick to me—and I know he will, for the colonel said so—I’ll make a success of this expedition, in spite of everything.”
“You’re mighty14 right—I’ll stick to ye!” exclaimed Big Thompson; and, as he spoke15, he advanced and extended a hand so large that Oscar’s sturdy palm—which was promptly16 placed within it—was almost hidden from view. “I never seen sich grit17 in a tenderfoot afore. Perfessor, ye kin6 swar by Big Thompson every time, an’ don’t ye never forgit it!”
“Pilgrim,” said the ranchman, “you said something last night about credentials18. Perhaps you wouldn’t take offence if I should ask you to produce them. We always like to know a little about strangers who pass through this country, claiming to be something grand.”
“I don’t claim to be anything grand. I simply say that I have been sent out here to collect specimens19 of natural history for the Yarmouth University; and, if you don’t believe it, look at that!” exclaimed Oscar indignantly, at the same time handing out a letter signed by the president of the college and the 198secretary of the committee, under whose instructions he was working. “Probably you will say next that I stole your old mule!”
“Well, I have yet something to say,” answered the ranchman, as he opened the letter; “and, when I say it, it will be to the point. You hear me?”
These words were spoken in a very decided13 tone, and Oscar could not make up his mind whether the ranchman was angry or not. Sometimes he was sure he was, and then again he was equally sure he wasn’t.
He was certainly acting20 very strangely, and so was Big Thompson, who, after his outburst of enthusiasm, relapsed into silence again, and now seemed to be utterly21 indifferent to all that was passing before him.
He stood in front of the stove, with his head inclining a little forward, so that it might not come in contact with the rafters; and Oscar could not tell by the expression on his face whether it would be safe to depend on him for help in case of trouble between himself and the ranchman, or not.
“Look here, professor,” said the latter, 199after he had read and returned Oscar’s credentials, “that’s my mule and wagon.”
“Well, I don’t dispute it, do I? Take them and welcome.”
“But look here, professor,” repeated the ranchman; “I’m a student myself—I haven’t brains enough to be a scholar—and I couldn’t think of throwing a straw in the way of those young fellows out there in Yarmouth, who want a museum to assist them in studying natural history; so, Thompson, you just go out and hitch22 up that mule; and, professor, you jump into the wagon and go on, and good-luck attend you.”
Oscar was electrified23. He could hardly believe that he was not dreaming. The only thing real about the whole proceeding24 was the tremendous grip the ranchman gave him as he said this. There was no dream about that.
“Do you mean to tell me that I can have the mule?” exclaimed Oscar, as soon as he could speak.
“Yes,” replied the ranchman, still holding Oscar’s hand in his own. “I see very plainly that you can’t go on without him, and so I 200will lend him to you. When you come back in the spring, you can give him up. If you don’t find me here—and you may not, for life in these parts is so uncertain that a fellow can’t tell to-day where he will be to-morrow—he is yours, to sell or to keep, just as you please.”
Oscar now began to realize that the ranchman, in spite of a certain flippancy25 of manner, was in earnest; and the revulsion of feeling was so great that, for a moment, the dug-out seemed to swim around him.
“Mr. Barker,” he stammered26, trying to squeeze the huge palm, to the strength of which his own would have offered about as much resistance as a piece of pasteboard, “I don’t know how to thank you for your kindness.”
“Then I wouldn’t try,” the ranchman said lightly. “Besides, it is not kindness; it is only justice. You had no means of knowing that the mule was stolen, and it wouldn’t be right for me to take him away from you. If I should claim him now, and thereby27 put the success of your expedition in 201jeopardy, I could never look a white man in the face again.”
Ike Barker spoke seriously now; and, for the first time since his arrival at the dug-out, Oscar began to see what manner of man it was with whom he was dealing28. His backwoods bluntness of manner was entirely29 foreign to him. He had learned to assume it in order to conceal30 feelings and sentiments, the exhibition of which would have been regarded by those with whom he was daily thrown in contact as unmanly in the extreme.
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1
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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2
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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3
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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6
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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7
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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8
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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9
eavesdropper
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| 偷听者 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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11
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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12
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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13
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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14
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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15
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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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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18
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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19
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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20
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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21
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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22
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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23
electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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24
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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25
flippancy
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| n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动 | |
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26
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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28
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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29
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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30
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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