CHAPTER VI STRANDED

 “Well, we know which direction to start in, and that’s something,” said Westy.

“And we’re not hungry yet, and that’s something else,” said Warde. “We ought to be able to walk fifteen miles to-day and the rest of the way to-morrow. And if we can’t find enough to eat in Montana to keep us from starving——”

“Then we ought to be ashamed to look Mr. Wilde in the face,” said Westy.

“I wish I knew something about herbs and roots,” said Ed. “The only kind of root that I know anything about is cube¹ root and I don’t like that; I’d rather starve. I wonder if they have sassafras roots out this way. I’ve got my return ticket pinned in my pocket with a safety-pin so we ought to be able to catch some fish.”

“How about a line?” Warde asked.

“I can unravel² some worsted from my sweater,” said Ed. “Oh, I’m a regular Stove Polish. Maybe we can find some mushrooms; I’m not worrying. I know one thing, I’d like to go up on Penelope’s Peak with Mr. Wilde and those fellows.”

“Pelican Cone,” said Westy.

“My social error—Pelican Cone,” said Ed.

“He’d about as soon think of taking us as he would our grandmothers,” said Westy. “That’s what gets me; they take an Indian boy who maybe can’t even speak English, because he can do the things we’re supposed to be able to do. I don’t mean just you and I. But wouldn’t you think there’d be some fellow in the scout³ organization—— Gee⁴, I should think out west here there ought to be some who could stalk⁵ and things like that. You heard what he said about amateurs⁶ and professionals. He’s right, that’s the worst of it.”

“He’s right and we’re wrong as he usually is,” said Ed. “Believe me, I’m not worrying about what he thinks. We have plenty of fun scouting⁷. What’s worrying me is whether we should follow the tracks or the road. I believe in tracking and I’d say follow the tracks only suppose they go over high bridges and places where we couldn’t walk. It’s not so easy to track railroad⁸ tracks. But the trouble with the road is we don’t know where it goes.”

“I don’t believe it knows itself,” said Warde, “by the looks of it.”

“We want to go south; we know that,” said Westy. “Gardiner is south from here.”

“I thought we were on our way out west,” said Warde. “I wish we had a compass, I know that.”

“Do you suppose Shining Sun has a compass?” Westy asked.

“Now listen,” said Ed. “I mean you, Westy. You’ve got the pathfinder’s badge⁹ and the stalker’s badge and a lot of others; you’re a star scout. You should worry about Dutch Cleanser or Stove Polish or whatever his name is——”

“Shining Sun,” said Westy.

“All right, when the shining sun comes up a little higher we’ll find out which is north and south and east and west and up and down and in and out and all the other points of the compass including this and that. How do you know we want to go south from here? Tell me that and I’ll find out where south is.”

“Silver Cleaner, the Indian boy!” shouted Warde. “Grandson of the old Sioux Chief Gold Dust Twins. I’ll tell you why we have to go south. Livingston, where we ate our last meal on earth, is north of here. We turned south at Livingston; this is a branch that goes down to the Gardiner entrance of the Park. If we go south from here we’re sure to strike the Park even if we don’t strike Gardiner. The Park is about fifty miles wide. I don’t know whether there’s a fence around it or not. Anyway, if we go south from here we’re sure to get into the Park.”

“Maybe we’ll land on Pelican’s Dome,” said Ed.

“Come face to face with Mr. Wilde, hey?” said Warde. “We’ll say to Stove Polish, ‘Oh, we don’t know, when it comes to picking trails——’”

“Come on, let’s start,” said Westy.

“Sure,” said Warde, “maybe they’ll be naming canoes¹⁰ after us yet—Hiawatha, Carlylus, Wesiobus, Martinibo——”

“I wonder what Indian they named Indian meal after?” said Ed.

“You’re worse than Roy Blakeley,” said Warde; “they named it after the Indian motorcycle, didn’t they, Westy, old scout?”

“You say you think the road runs south?” Westy asked.

1 cube   

n.立方体，立方形；立方；vt.使自乘两次

参考例句：

• The cube of 3 is 27.3的立方是27。
• A cube has six sides.立方体有6个面。

2 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

3 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。

4 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

5 stalk   

n.茎，追踪，高视阔步；v.悄悄靠近，蔓延，高视阔步

参考例句：

• It's no better than a hollow stalk.那比根空麦秆子好不了多少。
• It was not a stalk，it was an ambush.这不是暗暗跟踪而是伏袭。

6 amateurs   

n.业余爱好者( amateur的名词复数 )；外行，生手

参考例句：

• The tournament is open to both amateurs and professionals. 这次锦标赛业余选手和职业选手均可参加。
• The boss kissed the other performers off as mere amateurs. 老板认为其他的演员只有业余水平而把他们打发掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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

8 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

9 badge   

n.徽章，证章，标记，标识，象征

参考例句：

• Every student should carry a school badge.每个学生都应该佩带校徽。
• The olive leaf is a badge of peace.橄榄叶是和平的象征。

10 canoes   

n.小而轻的舟，独木舟( canoe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the Rolls-Royce of canoes. 这是独木舟中的极品。
• Paddles are used especially to propel canoes and kayaks. 短桨特别用于划独木舟和小艇。 来自《简明英汉词典》