CHAPTER XXXIX WESTY’S DESCENT

 Westy Martin lost no time in starting down the face of the ravine toward his friend. The cliff he descended¹ was so precipitous that the problem of reaching the bottom alive absorbed all his attention and he had no time to worry much over what condition he might find Warde in. Occasionally, as he hung by his fingers from one rock and ventured to drop to a shelf below, he wondered how anything could be left of Warde at all. Sometimes the loose stones and dirt gave way under his feet and sent him tumbling until he could clutch a bush and hold on, only to find his hands and knees skinned raw. Pausing to pant and gain his balance, Westy would try not to wonder whether the vultures would leave anything of Warde for him to find. It was lucky for Westy that the sunlight, reflected against these steep rocks which directly faced the sunset, lit up the ravine long after Ed, on the opposite side of the mountain, was left in darkness. For Westy, in darkness, would have been in peril² indeed, since the task he was attempting seemed to him very like those movie scenes of a Human Fly crawling down the face of a skyscraper³! Had this ravine been an Alpine⁴ pass traversed by mountain-climbing tourists, each tourist would have been roped to another and guides would have controlled these safety lines. Such a descent Westy was daring all alone. He came at last to a narrow and abrupt⁵ slide between two long walls of rock. Here there were few bushes to hold back by and the only thing to do, Westy decided⁶, was to sit down and slide. To climb back and hunt another way down was impossible. So down he sat and slid cautiously, but try as he might to brake his pace with his feet, he shot faster and faster until he had every fear that he would shoot clean off the mountainside and land below, food for vultures too. Vainly he spread his feet and clutched at the rocks with his hands until his fingers bled. He could not stop himself, but, gathering⁷ momentum⁸, he shot down the mountain slide faster than before. Ahead of him the rocks narrowed so that while at first he had a gleam of hope that they would stop his fall, on tumbling nearer he felt sure that to dash against them at his present speed would only dash out his brains and at best break all his ribs⁹. With never a thought that he might shoot over an edge into eternity¹⁰, Westy quickly lay flat on his back and in a spatter of pebbles¹¹ and cloud of dust shot safely between the narrow walls of rock just skinning both shoulders. He found himself riding on a miniature landslide¹² coasting quickly toward the edge of overhanging rock and his heart leapt to his throat as he realized he might as well fall off a twelve-story fire-escape to pavements below, as hope to survive the dashing to pieces which he now faced. In the flash of time that it took for the falling dirt to shoot him out on this ledge¹³, he had one sickening moment when he wished he had never heard of scouting¹⁴, and it must be confessed he offered up a quick prayer for help. Then the miracle happened, as if in answer to this prayer. He stopped as suddenly as he had started. The seat of his breeches had caught on the branches of a small scrub pine that thrust out from between rocks in the path of his descent, and this had checked his fall. For a moment Westy hardly dared draw breath for fear brush or breeches give way. Then, securing a grip on the friendly little pine and assuring himself that it was rooted sturdily, Westy cautiously freed himself and lay down to study the way ahead. It was less steep below, and, lowering himself down inch by inch, Westy was soon on a safe way to the bottom. His shirt was scraped off from neck to belt, including considerable skin, the seat of his trousers could never be the same again, but save for such battle scars, Westy, to his surprise and thankfulness, was not so much the worse for all the hard wear and tear he had undergone “skidding down the face of the Woolworth Tower,” as Ed would have said. Westy now faced the task of finding Warde. This was made only too easy by the sight of vultures ahead. Furious at these loathsome¹⁶ scavengers Westy ran headlong, yelling to frighten them away. The sight ahead made him pause and feel too faint to move.

Two giant birds were tearing at the scout¹⁵ figure with their hideous¹⁷ curved beaks¹⁸. Westy was near enough to see their powerful crooked¹⁹ claws with which they helped in tearing his friend’s khaki suit. The bird’s ugly naked necks twisted to and fro in their bloody²⁰ task. A great smear²¹ of red discolored the tunic²². At Westy’s approach the huge birds flapped roughly away on ragged²³ wings that made a great creaking and rustling²⁴ and left behind the smell of carrion²⁵.

Westy could never tell how he summoned courage to approach that lump of blood and khaki. But when he finally found himself standing²⁶ by it he could not believe his eyes. This was not Warde he was gazing at, but a mere²⁷ dummy²⁸ stuffed with sticks and leaves and baited with some meat and old dead fish! It was only a scarecrow that had fallen over the cliff!

Bewildered by this unbelievable hoax²⁹ Westy stood spellbound. At this moment a great scrambling³⁰ and shouting followed by hearty³¹ laughter broke upon him and Mr. Wilde, followed by Billy, the camera man, came out of the woods opposite, convulsed with loud guffaws³².

“Well, young one, if I ever called you a little Lord Fauntleroy I take it all back now,” roared Mr. Wilde. “You’re the original Douglas Fairbanks and a true screen star. You’ve made this film a howling success.” Whereupon he doubled up with laughter which cramped³³ him so violently that for a time he could not speak.

“Oh, laugh! laugh!” urged Billy, ironically, rubbing at his neck. “It’s awful funny! Oh, yes! A mere incident like breaking my only neck in the cause is nothing! Oh, no! Laugh! Laugh by all means!”

“Well, what is he laughing at?” demanded Westy crossly. Here was Westy, his clothes and skin peeled off in too many places for comfort and after risking life and limb and undergoing the nervous shock of hours of horror. He was now simply laughed at. Small wonder if Westy felt sore in spirit as well as in body. Billy explained as Mr. Wilde could do nothing but snicker.

“Why, he wanted to film the birds in the act of knocking some one off a cliff, and I don’t doubt he’d have used me for that part if he didn’t need me to crank the camera. Anyway, he spared me and rigged up a dummy. He didn’t want you kids getting into danger up there so he said nothing to you. You remember Ed didn’t wear his scout suit. Well, we took that along to stuff for a dummy. We had to bait the scarecrow with stuff to attract the old buzzards, and for that we’d brought along some meat anyway, and we just stuffed it inside the suit. I’m afraid Ed’s suit is ruined; we didn’t expect that. We’ll get him another. It was well worth the price, for it all worked out fine after we’d worked all day up there, scaring up those birds and trying to hide from them and focus on the dummy and all. Just as the sunlight began to go back on us the birds condescended³⁴ to star for something elegant. They knocked the boy scout over the cliff and I filmed it for a thriller³⁵. Well, then something happened that we hadn’t bargained for and it was too good to miss. We saw you start down the cliff on the other side. Mr. Wilde was afraid you’d fall, but I said, no, you could make it all right, you weren’t a scout for nothing and when you didn’t hear him when he yelled to you to go back I said, ‘let him go ahead and I’ll snap him too and we can add it to the picture as the “Daredevil Rescue.”’ Well, it was too good to miss. We followed along down after you on the other side and I hope to say the movie fan’s hair will stick up on end when they see you shoot the shoots and hang over the Leap of Death by the seat of your pants. It was wonderful! Doug Fairbanks isn’t in it. I’m sorry to say it got too dark for me to get you when you discover the body and you’ll have to act that over for me in broad daylight. Of course the fact that I had to run along holding on by my eyelashes in steep spots just to film you, is a mere detail. Wilde just kept laughing and hollering at me, ‘Shoot! shoot! There’s a good one, shoot!’ and I said, ‘I’ll break my neck at this,’ and he said, ‘Well, don’t break the camera.’ Oh, a camera man has a sweet life. I twisted every joint³⁶ out of socket³⁷ on the way down, but, oh, boy, wait till you see yourself in that picture!”

This pleasing prospect³⁸ cheered Westy enough to remove the sting of ridicule³⁹ that pricked⁴⁰ him when he saw he had been made the goat, and be it said to his credit that he joined Mr. Wilde in laughing at himself.

“Yes, but what about Ed?” he asked.

1 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

2 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

3 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

4 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。

5 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

6 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。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

9 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

10 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

11 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

12 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

13 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

14 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

15 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。

16 loathsome   

adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的

参考例句：

• The witch hid her loathsome face with her hands.巫婆用手掩住她那张令人恶心的脸。
• Some people think that snakes are loathsome creatures.有些人觉得蛇是令人憎恶的动物。

17 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

18 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

19 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

20 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

21 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

22 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

23 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

24 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

25 carrion   

n.腐肉

参考例句：

• A crow of bloodthirsty ants is attracted by the carrion.一群嗜血的蚂蚁被腐肉所吸引。
• Vultures usually feed on carrion or roadkill.兀鹫通常以腐肉和公路上的死伤动物为食。

26 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

27 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

28 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

29 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

30 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

32 guffaws   

n.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的名词复数 )v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Harry even had to cover his face duck out of view to hide his uncontrolled guffaws. 哈里王子更是一发不可收拾，捂住脸，狂笑起来。 来自互联网

33 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

34 condescended   

屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲

参考例句：

• We had to wait almost an hour before he condescended to see us. 我们等了几乎一小时他才屈尊大驾来见我们。
• The king condescended to take advice from his servants. 国王屈驾向仆人征求意见。

35 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

36 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

37 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

38 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。

39 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

40 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。