Once or twice he thought of going back and resuming his quest with Harry7 in the morning, but he had gone so far that it seemed his easiest course, however difficult and involved, to press forward. Moreover, he was fast falling into the odd conceit8 of viewing the surrounding country, which he had nonchalantly called a haystack, in the light of a great adversary9 which had thrown down a challenge to him, and he must perforce take up the challenge, else be a coward and a “quitter.” So far he had held his own, and what a glory it would be to march into camp having vanquished10 these silent, baffling hosts of wood and hill and darkness. “Hello, Charlie,” he would say to the Beavers’ corporal, “hurry up there and get me a bite to eat, will you?” His whole ambition was now to walk carelessly into their midst and squat11 down by the camp-fire with some cordial, offhand12 remark.
From this train of thought, he was presently aroused by a sudden vigorous strategic move on the part of his imagined foe13. His staff, which he had been bringing to the ground before him like a walking-stick with each step, suddenly sank, touching14 nothing. He had the presence of mind to drop it and throw both arms quickly behind him, which inclined his body slightly backward and enabled him to retreat a step or two.
Shaking from head to foot, he fumbled15 in the little flap pocket in his hat crown and lit a match. It flared16 a second, then went out. But in the sudden glare he saw that he was standing17 on the brink18 of a yawning chasm19. Still trembling from his narrow escape, he struck another light and saw that one of his footprints was within eighteen inches of the precipice20 and that the other had actually rested on the very edge, displacing some of the earth, which had crumbled21 and fallen in. Gordon had had his first lesson in the tactics which the wilderness22 can use.
He lay flat with his head over the edge and looked down. Nothing but darkness. So again he must use his faithful ally, the fire. Kindling23 a fire was his great stunt24. He would gather up a few dry, brittle25 twigs26 or cones28, scrape out a little punk, arrange them daintily, make a dome29 over them with his hands, and presently show you a very ambitious little blaze, as a magician will take a mysterious rabbit from a hat. “Do the fire trick, Kid,” the boys of the troop would say to him. So now he foraged30 about, accumulated the necessary materials, and presently had a very respectable flame. But the glare about seemed only to make the depths of the precipice darker. It had shown him, however, that the soil displaced by his perilous31 step was not the only soil that had been disturbed. Scarce two feet farther along the edge of the bank quite a sizable piece of earth had caved in. But he could see nothing below. He cut a straight stick about the size of an ordinary cane32. This he whittled33 with his jack-knife, cutting in from the end of the stick to a depth of about eight inches, until the curly shavings formed a sort of brush. Between these wooden bristles34 he wedged as much tree gum as he could find on the adjacent trees, and lighting35 his torch, went cautiously along the edge of the bank.
This soon began to slope gradually until at a distance of about fifty feet he was able to let himself down into the bed of the chasm. It was filled with rocks and fallen trees and dank undergrowth, and yielded the unwholesome odor of rotting wood.
Gordon picked his way through the gully, holding his flaring36 torch here and there until he was nearly under the spot where he had all but fallen. Here were three logs, two of them lying flat upon the swampy37 ground, the other leaning against the side of the precipice. He walked along one of these to avoid the wet as much as possible and suddenly came upon a hat, of the same general pattern as his own, lying in the mud. He was just about to pick it up when he saw a few feet farther on a ghastly object. A boy, his face smeared38 with blood and his leg in a very unnatural39 position, lay stark40 before him.
The sight, as it showed in the glare of Gordon’s torch, quite unnerved him, and he stood for a moment on the other log staring at the figure lying prone41 and motionless in the mud. He could not bring himself to go nearer. Presently, more to relieve his own nervous tension than for any other purpose, he called. But the figure neither stirred nor answered. There was something about its position that frightened Gordon, and he could not bring himself to go close enough to look at the boy’s eyes. Then suddenly the words of General Sir Baden-Powell, which he had read, came jumping into his head,—plain words, plainly stated, and for that reason stamped in the boy’s memory:
A scout42 is sometimes timid about handling an insensible man or a dead body, or of seeing blood. Well, he will never be much use till he gets over such nonsense. The poor insensible fellow can’t hurt him.
At this recollection the young scout conquered his hesitation43, stamped over through the mud to where the boy lay, and did the sensible thing, as a scout should. He circled his hand lightly about the poor, limp wrist and pressed slightly with his two middle fingers. As usual, with a novice44, he had the wrong spot, so he moved his fingers ever so little and, sure enough, after a moment’s concentration, he became aware of the little, steady throbbing45 which told him that at least the boy was alive.
He thrust his now waning46 torch into the mud and thought. He knew that if either of the boy’s limbs were broken he should not be moved unless absolutely necessary and then only with such handling as he was not in a position to give. He knew that if anything were the matter with the boy’s spine47, any save the most careful and skillful moving might prove instantly fatal. But he also knew that no injured person should be left lying there in the mud.
Undoubtedly48, the responsibility which had suddenly been thrust upon him, the need of careful judgment49, were out of proportion to Gordon’s experience and years, and being of a light-headed, sanguine50, and buoyant temperament51, the “First Aid” training and ambulance badge had not been especially a part of his ambition. His scoutish triumphs, until now, had all been more or less amusing and humorous, but here was a grave duty resting on his young shoulders. And he met it, as a scout usually does, willingly.
First he crowded all the odds52 and ends of wood and rock that he could find under the edge of the precipice, where the ground was higher and drier. Then, tugging53 with all his might and main, he managed to get the three logs over to this pile and rested their ends against it, so that they lay parallel with each other at a slight incline. Then he pressed down into the ground four sticks, one at the head and one at the foot of each outer log, thus effectually preventing their spreading. The lower end, or foot, of this inclined rack rested in the mud just above the prostrate54 boy’s head. Across this lower end and under the logs, he laid a stout55 stick whose ends rested just beside the stakes he had driven in the ground. Now he hurried along the gully and up the bank to the spot where he had left his bag. This he took and also such green boughs56 as he could procure57 hastily in the dark, and collected some more gum. When he returned it was necessary for him to re-whittle his torch and re-fill it with this substance.
Arranging the boughs upon the rack and making as smooth a bed as he could in his great hurry, he spread his blanket over all. Then he kindled58 a fire up under the precipice where the ground was dry. All of his fuel had to be brought from above, and he carted down several loads in his bag, having emptied it of its contents. After he had succeeded, by much skillful persuasion59, in inducing the little blaze to brace60 up and try to amount to something in the world, he drove two sticks into the ground, one on either side of the fire, and from one to the other of these he strung a piece of snare61 wire. On the other side of the gully, water was trickling62 down a rock, but how to entice63 it into his pail was a question. He noticed on the ground, near the unconscious boy, a little pamphlet. Without any very clear idea of its possible utility he picked it up. On the cover were printed the words:
What It Is What It Is Not
He knew the pamphlet well. Tearing the cover page off, he took his pail and going over to the miniature waterfall he held the page, slanting65 ways, tight against the rock with the other edge leading into his pail. In a few moments the pail was half filled with fairly clean water. This he hung from the snare wire above the flame.
By the exercise of all his strength and with the greatest care, he succeeded in pulling the prostrate form up the inclined rack, cutting and pulling off the boy’s outer clothing as fast as it reached the foot of the rack so that the blanket might be kept dry. It was a delicate and difficult task, but he did it. When the limp, unconscious figure was on the rack, Gordon lifted one side of the foot by means of the cross bar underneath66, laying the edge of this cross bar on a rock which he had placed for the purpose. He did the same with the other side. Thus he had succeeded in placing his charge on a couch well above the mud, dry and comparatively comfortable. He took off his own khaki coat and laid it over the boy. When his water had heated, he washed the boy’s face carefully with his handkerchief.
As the mud and blood disappeared, a white face with closed eyes was revealed. Gordon started, then stared intently. It was the very boy who had passed through the aisle67 in the railroad train and given Harry Arnold the full salute68. There was an ugly wound on one side of his forehead. This, however, had ceased to bleed, and Gordon bathed it carefully and bandaged it with his handkerchief.
Here his resource failed him. He knew of nothing more that he could do for the poor fellow’s comfort. It was quite too dark for smoke signals, and the woods were too dense69 for an effectual message by fire. It occurred to him to open the little scout bulletin, thinking that possibly something might be written in it, some name, or troop or patrol name, which might suggest some course better than merely waiting. He held it close to the fire and ran it over. It was Bulletin No. 5, containing among other things the required tests for tenderfoot, first-class, and second-class scouts. These were listed numerically, and as Gordon was very familiar with all of them they did not interest him particularly. Having done all the second-class tests, he did not even glance at these, but he did bestow70 a fond and covetous71 eye upon the first-class list. The first test, beginning, “Swim fifty yards,” was checked off. The second, requiring the sum of fifty cents in the savings72 bank, was also checked.
“He’s to the good on the financial side,” commented Gordon. The third requirement (the signal test) was also checked. Not so the fourth.
“4. Go on foot or row a boat alone to a point seven miles away and return, or if conveyed by any vehicle or animal, go to a distance of fifteen miles and back; and write a short report on it. It is preferable that he should take two days over it.”
“Go on foot, alone, to a point seven miles away and return,” said Gordon, thoughtfully. “Ticonderoga must be about five miles from here. But the fellow came up on the train. If he’s trying to make his test—. Well, anyway, if he came from the village and was headed for a point seven miles from the village, his camp must be only a mile or two farther on.”
Inspired by the thought, he added more fuel to his fire and printed across the back of the pamphlet, with a charred73 stick, the words, Gone for help.
He stuck the pamphlet on a twig27 and placed it so that the boy, if he opened his eyes, must see it in the light of the fire. Then, hurrying along the gully, carrying nothing but his staff, he sought for a place low enough or sloping enough for him to mount the farther side of the hollow. Finally, clambering up through tangled brush, he reached the brow and went cautiously along the edge to a point almost above where his fire still burned and where the prostrate figure lay, stark and white and motionless. He lighted a match to make sure that the path recommenced here, and in its short glare he noticed something which made him start.
It was a new, clearly defined footprint, pointing in the same direction that he himself was about to take.
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1
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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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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4
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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5
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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6
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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8
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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10
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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11
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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12
offhand
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| adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的 | |
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13
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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14
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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15
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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16
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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17
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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18
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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21
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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22
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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23
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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24
stunt
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| n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长 | |
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25
brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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26
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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28
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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30
foraged
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| v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西） | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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33
whittled
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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35
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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36
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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37
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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38
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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39
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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40
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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42
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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43
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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44
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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45
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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46
waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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47
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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48
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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49
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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50
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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51
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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52
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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53
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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54
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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56
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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57
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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58
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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59
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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60
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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61
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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62
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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63
entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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64
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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65
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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66
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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67
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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68
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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69
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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70
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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71
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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72
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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73
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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