CHAPTER XXIV. A RACE FOR LIFE.

 “Gee! But isn’t this a jolly place, if you don’t care what you say.”

A rat almost as big as a small rabbit had made a dash over Billy’s feet. He also had just dodged¹ a bat that had flapped straight at his head.

[114]

“You’re a good way underground, my boy,” said Henri, “and I guess it’s been many a day since anybody hit this trail. It is called ‘Monk’s Walk.’ Jules, Francois and myself explored this passage one day when we didn’t have anything else to do, but had no desire to do it more than once. Our old butler, he was ninety when he died, showed us how to get in here, and he had a long story to tell about a hair-raising happening here a century ago. But that’s another thing that will keep for the campfire.”

The journey through this rat and bat infested² passage seemed an age in the making. The floor was damp and slippery and each of the boys had a fall, but, happily, without injury.

It was really less than half an hour that was consumed in going from the crypt of the chapel³ to the door opening into “Old Round Tower,” but Billy declared that he was much older when he got there than when he started.

“‘It’s dead for sleep I am,’ as Mike said,” further declared the boy from Bangor, “and I’ll bet it’s past midnight this very minute. Twenty minutes of, anyhow,” looking at his watch. “And hasn’t this been a day and a half for full measure? Something doing every minute.”

Reddy felt the same way, but there was no use telling Billy so, because Billy did not take kindly⁴ to the French language.

[115]

Henri himself, if the truth be known, was fighting to keep his eyes open.

So on the bottom floor of “Old Round Tower” the boys stretched themselves, and with knapsack pillows as hard as the floor itself they dozed⁵ into uneasy slumber⁶, which lasted until the dawn of a new day.

The sleepers⁷ were startled by the roar of cannon⁸. Not that the roar of cannon was unusual to these now veterans in the ways of war, but the booming seemed particularly close this morning, and in a locality that had, as stated before in this chronicle, heretofore escaped shelling.

“I thought that French general had gone to seek trouble when the whole push galloped⁹ away yesterday,” was Billy’s first after-waking remark.

“Pity they hadn’t taken that dining-hall chasseur with them.”

Henri in this moment of alarm, had a thought for the busybody who had tracked them from pillar to post a few hours ago.

A shell landed with tremendous explosion in the courtyard of the chateau¹¹; another, and another, until the whole place was shaken in every foundation, the air was aflame with the shrieking¹² projectiles¹³, and crash after crash made a din¹⁰ that was deafening¹⁴.

“Us for the tunnel!” cried Henri, as a round-shot[116] clipped the side of the tower above them and sent down a hail of stone chips.

The boys got out from under that tower in a hurry, and fortunate for them that they did. Two or three minutes later the whole structure collapsed¹⁵ under the terrific impact of the shelling.

When the trio ran through the tunnel door, it was sealed behind them by tons of riven stone.

Pale to the lips and trembling as if with acute ague, the boys weakly stumbled down the tunnel’s descending¹⁶ course.

The earth above and about them quaked and shivered as the storm of powder and lead raged outside.

The same powerful engines of destruction that had blasted and silenced the French barrier forts had been turned on the chateau and its surroundings. Such buildings were as paper before this cannonading.

The walls of the tunnel were holding as far as the boys had proceeded. But they had yet to traverse the line in low ground, where they had noted¹⁷, in coming, the sagging¹⁸ roof and leaning walls, which even then had almost choked up the passage.

With these conditions made worse by the artillery¹⁹ shake-up, it would be a close call if the boys escaped burial alive. There was no way out at the rear.

A shut off ahead—and that would be the end.

[117]

But for the lanterns it is doubtful if the boys could have refrained from running wild, and dashing into obstructions²⁰ without care or reason.

They at least did not have the added horror of total darkness with which to contend.

As the descent grew sharper so grew the nerve strain of the travelers.

They passed the first point of danger on hands and knees. Between the roof and the floor there was the scant²¹ margin²² of three feet.

At the next the barrier presented an even tighter squeeze.

Then a clearer way for ten or fifteen yards.

Here it was that the lantern shafts²³ of light ahead showed in one appalling²⁴ instant a shifting of earth; first dust, then clods and small stones.

The passage was closing in!

The boys stood for a second as if petrified²⁵ in their tracks.

Pour vos vies, courez! (for your lives, run!)

Reddy’s shrill²⁶ voice broke the spell, and the three dashed for the fast closing aperture²⁷. Billy, in the lead, essayed to step aside and let the others get through first, but Henri countered the movement with a violent push against the back of his friend and a reach for Reddy’s neck—the one boy he pushed through and the other he dragged, himself falling, full length, on his face, but safe on the other side of the death trap!

[118]

None too soon, for Henri’s legs were powdered with the dust from the earth mass that had fallen in a lump just behind him!

“Glory be!”

Billy said it with more fervency²⁸ than ever before.

“Glory be!”

He said it again with grateful heart.

They were on the gradual ascent²⁹, and finally rested under the slab³⁰ that would let them out into the free air.

No matter what they might be called upon to face there—it would be in the open.

Glory be!

1 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

3 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

4 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

5 dozed   

v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

7 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

8 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

9 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

10 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

11 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

12 shrieking   

v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

14 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

15 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

16 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 sagging   

下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
• We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

19 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。

20 obstructions   

n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠

参考例句：

• The absence of obstructions is of course an idealization. 没有障碍物的情况当然是一种理想化的情况。 来自辞典例句
• These obstructions could take some weeks to clear from these canals. 这些障碍物可能要花几周时间才能从运河中清除掉。 来自辞典例句

21 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

22 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

23 shafts   

n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）

参考例句：

• He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。 来自辞典例句

24 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

25 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

27 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

28 fervency   

n.热情的；强烈的；热烈

参考例句：

• Their fervency is hospitable, but often arrives late. 他们热情好客，却常常迟到。 来自互联网
• The bright, wide, neat office environment, It's help to Increase the staff's working fervency. 明亮、宽敞、整洁的办公环境，有助于提高员工的工作热情。 来自互联网

29 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

30 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。