CHAPTER XVII. THE POINT OF ROCKS.

 The French and allied¹ forces were located in a range of wooded hills running north and south along the east bank of the Meuse. They had fortified² steeply terraced slopes with successive rows of trenches³, permitting line above line of infantry⁴ to fire against an advancing enemy.

At the foot of the hillside is the village of Vignueilles, a little stone-built town that had been shot into ruins by artillery⁵. A boy from this village, who had taken refuge with the soldiers on the high[83] ground, found a former playmate when he met Henri. This boy’s father had once been employed as a gardener by the Trouvilles.

As Billy said, “they jabbered⁶ French until they made him tired.”

The new friend had the given name of Joseph, but Henri called him “Reddy.” Billy called him a “muff,” because he could not understand half that the new boy said.

But Joseph, or Reddy, by any name was just now a tower of strength, even if the tower was only five feet three inches up from the ground.

As Leon, the little Belgian, served at Ypres, so Reddy was going to prove a big help in the adventure at hand.

He had chased rabbits into almost every hole in these hills, and in the woods he could travel even beyond the German frontier by as many different routes as he counted fingers on his hands.

Billy, Henri and Reddy were in close conference all day, so quiet, and so cautious, for the once, in their movements, that the sergeant⁷ wavered between suspicion and anxiety, the first because he thought his charges must be up to something, and the second for the reason that he feared they were going to be ill.

He might have imagined relief from anxiety by thinking the boys were tremendously hungry had[84] he seen their frequent trips during the day to the places where provisions were stored.

Had he seen them, however, taking several small safety lanterns from the ammunition⁸ department, suspicion would have stood first in his mind.

“The tunnel begins at a point 500 yards directly west of Fort Les Paroches, and it is called ‘point of rocks,’” Henri reading the notes and following with a pin point the lines of the little map that Francois had given him.

The mentioned fort had been silenced only the day before by German mortars⁹, and its location was now marked by a huge mound¹⁰ of black, plowed¹¹ up earth.

“That’s only three miles from here.”

Reddy was eager to show his knowledge of the neighborhood.

Henri passed Reddy’s statements on to Billy in English.

“‘Bowlders laid in the form of a cross show the place of entrance,’” Henri continuing to read.

“‘Stone slab¹² at foot of cross. Remove stone and find iron ring in oak cover. Lift cover and find stone steps.’”

“Seems simple enough if we had a derrick.”

Billy was still doubtful.

“The only thing I fear,” said Henri, paying no attention to Billy’s pert remark, “is that with time[85] the markings may be wiped out by changes of earth formation, forest growth or the like.”

“No,” quickly advised Reddy, “if it’s the place that I’ve seen there are still a lot of rocks there.”

“I suppose you could find the place for us, couldn’t you, Reddy?” asked Henri.

“Yes! Yes!”

Reddy was on his feet to furnish proof without further delay.

“We can get there through the ravine,” he was in a hurry to add.

“When the sergeant goes to inspect the outposts, then, let’s make the break.”

Billy was catching¹³ the spirit of the occasion.

So it was while good Sergeant Scott was performing a military duty the boys shouldered their well filled knapsacks, and, with Reddy leading, in the dusk succeeded in eluding¹⁴ the sentry¹⁵ first in the way.

The cunning of Reddy as a woodsman was wonderfully shown by the manner in which he took to the brush and the way he avoided notice. It seemed hardly any time at all before the boys were silently picking their way, shadow-like, in the depths of the pitch-dark ravine.

They had heard no challenge until Billy planted his foot on a fallen twig¹⁶, which cracked like a pistol shot.

“Who goes there?”

[86]

Sharp question, in French, from above.

Down went the boys flat on the ground, concealed¹⁷ by overhanging bushes.

The sentry repeated the challenge.

All as silent as the grave.

The boys scarcely breathed. They knew the guard was one of the allied forces, but yet they had no desire to take issue with him. Even if he only turned them back to quarters their chances of getting away again would be few and far between. The sergeant would see to that.

Some ten minutes passed. It seemed longer to the truants¹⁸ in the ravine.

Then, as if satisfied that the noise was without menace, the sentry resumed his pace, and the boys flitted on as if shod with velvet¹⁹.

The path took an upward turn, and Reddy nudged his companions to a halt.

“We’re there,” he whispered.

1 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。

2 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

3 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

4 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

5 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

6 jabbered   

v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的过去式和过去分词 )；急促兴奋地说话

参考例句：

• She jabbered away, trying to distract his attention. 她喋喋不休，想分散他的注意力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The politician jabbered away about matters of which he has no knowledge. 那个政客不知所云地侈谈自己一无所知的事情。 来自辞典例句

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

9 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

10 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

11 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句

12 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

13 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

14 eluding   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的现在分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• He saw no way of eluding Featherstone's stupid demand. 费瑟斯通的愚蠢要求使他走投无路。 来自辞典例句
• The fox succeeded in eluding the hunters. 这狐狸成功地避过了猎手。 来自辞典例句

15 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

16 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

17 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

18 truants   

n.旷课的小学生( truant的名词复数 )；逃学生；逃避责任者；懒散的人

参考例句：

• The truants were caught and sent back to school. 逃学者都被捉住并送回学校去。 来自辞典例句
• The truants were punished. 逃学者被惩罚了。 来自互联网

19 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。