CHAPTER VIII ON THE WAY

 To be sure, a hike of thirty miles is no exploit, not in the field of scouting¹, certainly. If the road went straight to the park, then the boys could hardly hope to face that doubter, Mr. Wilde, with any consciousness of glory.

On the time-table map which Westy had left in the train, the way from Livingston to Gardiner seemed very simple. A little branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad connected the two places with a straight line. And a road seemed to parallel this.

But maps are very seductive things. You have only to follow a road with your lead pencil to reach your destination. Nature’s obstacles are not always set forth³ upon your map. Lines parallel on a map are often not within sight of each other on the rugged⁴ face of Nature. A little, round dot, a village, is seen close to a road. But when you explore the road the village is found to nestle coyly a mile or two back.

So if what the boys had undertaken was not so very big, at least it held out the prospect⁵ of being not so very little. But big or little, something big did happen among those lonely mountains that very day, an exploit of the first order. It was a bizarre adventure not uncommon⁶ in the Far West and it had an important bearing on the visit of these three scouts⁷ to the Yellowstone Park. And Westy Martin, hiking along that quiet, winding⁸, western road, dissatisfied with himself because of what a chance acquaintance had said to him, was face to face with the biggest opportunity in all his young scout² life. He did not know it, but he was walking headlong into it.

He had been proud when he had won the stalking badge. He was soon to know that this badge meant something and that it was no toy or gewgaw.

“I suppose it’s pretty wild on Pelican⁹ Cone¹⁰,” said Warde, as they hiked along.

They were all cheerful for they were sure of their way for the present and were not disposed to borrow trouble. It was a pleasant summer morning, the sun shone bright on the rock-ribbed mountains, a fresh, invigorating breeze blew in their faces, birds sang in the neighboring trees, all Nature seemed kindly¹¹ disposed toward their little adventure.

As the railroad line left the roadside and curved away into a mountain pass, they felt a momentary¹² lonesomeness, the trusty rails had guided them so far on the long journey. It was like saying good-by to a friend, a friend who knew the way. For a minute they conferred again on whether they should “count the ties,” but they decided¹³ in favor of the road. So they went upon their adventure along the road, just as the great, thundering, invincible¹⁴ train had gone upon its adventure along the shining tracks.

“Yellowstone Park is just about like this,” said Westy; “I mean the wild parts. Of course there are things to see there like geysers and all that, but I mean the wild parts; it’s wild just like this. I suppose there are trails,” he added with a note of wistfulness in his voice. “I suppose they know just where to go if they want to get a look at grizzlies¹⁵. I’d be willing to give up the other things, you bet, if I could go on a trip like that. I was going to ask Mr. Wilde, only I knew he’d just guy me about it.”

“We can see the film when it comes out anyway,” said Ed, always cheerful and optimistic. “We can go up on Mount what-do-you-call it, Pelican——”

“Pelican Cone,” said Westy. Already that hallowed mountain was familiar to him in imagination and dear to his heart. “Can’t you remember Cone?”

“I can remember it by ice cream cone,” said Ed. “What I was going to say was if that film comes to Bridgeboro we can go up on that cone for thirty cents and the war tax. What more do we want?”

“Sugar-coated adventures,” said Warde.

“Sugar-coated is right,” said Westy disgustedly.

“Now you’ve got me thinking about candy,” said Ed. “I hope we can buy some in the Park.”

“Do you suppose they have merry-go-rounds there?” Warde asked.

“Gee¹⁶ whiz, I hope so,” said Ed. “I’m just crazy for a sight of wild animals. Imitation ones would be better than nothing, hey, Westy?”

“Imitation scouts are better than no kind,” said Warde. “We’re pretty good imitations.”

“I wouldn’t admit it if I were you,” said Westy with the least suggestion of a sneer¹⁷.

“A scout that gives imitations is an imitation scout,” said Ed. “Dutch Cleanser is an imitation scout; he imitates animals, Mr. Wilde West said so. That proves everybody’s wrong. What’s the use of quarreling? None whatever. Correct the first time. You can be a scout without knowing it, that’s what I am.”

“Nobody ever told you you were Daniel Boone, did they?” Westy sulked.

“They don’t have to tell me, I know it already,” said the buoyant Ed.

“Come on, cheer up, Westy, old boy,” said Warde. “We came out here to see Yellowstone Park and now you’re grouching because a funny little man with a cigar as big as he is that we met on the train says we’re just playing a little game, sort of. What’s the matter with the little game? We always had plenty of fun at it, didn’t we? Are you going to spoil the party because a little movie man wouldn’t take us up in the forest with him? Gee whiz, I wouldn’t call that being grateful to the Rotary¹⁸ Club that wished this good time on us. I wouldn’t call that so very big; I’d call it kind of small.”

Westy gave him a quick, indignant glance. It was a dangerous moment. It was the ever-friendly, exuberant¹⁹ Ed who averted²⁰ angry words and perhaps prevented a quarrel. “If there’s anything big anywhere around and it wants to wait till I get to it, I’ll do it. I won’t be bullied²¹. I’m not going to run after it, it will have to wait for me. I’m just as big as it is—even more so. It will have to wait.”

They all laughed.

1 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

2 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。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

7 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

8 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

9 pelican   

n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟

参考例句：

• The pelican has a very useful beak.鹈鹕有一张非常有用的嘴。
• This pelican is expected to fully recover.这只鹈鹕不久就能痊愈。

10 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

11 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。

12 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

15 grizzlies   

北美洲灰熊( grizzly的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies 127-113 earlier Tuesday night. 在周二晚上早些时候，太阳以127：113击败孟菲斯灰熊。
• Whatever you do, do not blink.They're like grizzlies. 无论你做什么，别眨眼。他们跟熊有点相象。

16 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！

17 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

18 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。

19 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

20 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

21 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》