"Get into it, Daylight!" he muttered. "We're riding for old Thor to-day!"
From a distance Billy Winch, hurrying homeward, heard that long call he knew so well. He pulled his horse down from a steady canter and turned, calling to Mexicali Joe to come back with him. Once within sight Standing waved and shouted again; Winch and Joe sensed urgency and dipped their spurs, riding back to a meeting with him. Winch stared and frowned while his employer made his curt4 explanation; Mexicali Joe gasped5. But neither man had a word to say; Standing laid his brief command upon them and the three turned back, riding hard, into the mountains.
Again Standing called, when near enough to camp to hope that his voice would carry above the noise of the tumbling waterfalls; this time to Lynette, to tell her of their coming. He rode ahead; again and again he shouted to her; he leaned out to right and left from his horse's back, seeking a glimpse of her through the trees. And yet, when they were almost in the camp, there still came no answer to his shoutings and he caught no glimpse of her.... Suddenly, to his fancies, the woods seemed strangely hushed—and empty.
"She's gone," said Winch carelessly.
[Pg 291]
"No!" said Standing with such brusque emphasis that Winch looked at him wonderingly. "She said she'd wait for us, Bill."
But when they drew closer, so close that the various familiar camp objects were revealed, and still there was no response and no sight of her, Winch muttered:
"Just the same, gone or not gone, she ain't here, Timber."
"I tell you, man," snapped Standing, "she said she would wait. And what she says she will do, she will do!"
Now the three dismounted in the heart of the camp and still there was no sign of Lynette.
"Anyhow," said Winch, "it's a dog and not a girl we come looking for. Thor'll be here ... if he's alive yet."
"He will be right where I left him." Standing led the way among the big trees, an arm about Billy Winch, hopping6 at his side the last few steps; they saw him looking in all directions and understood that while he led them toward Thor he was seeking the girl. But they found only the dog lying where he had been struck down; Thor barely able to lift his bloody7 head, his sight dim, but his dog's intelligence telling him that his master had come back to him; Thor whining8 weakly. Winch squatted9 down at the dog's side, become upon the instant an impressive diagnostician.
Standing stood a moment over the two, looking down upon them. Then he turned away, leaving Thor in the skilful10 hands of Winch and hurrying down to the creek11, seeking Lynette. It was possible, he told himself, that she had gone down for a drink; that so near the waterfall she had not heard him calling. So he called again as he went on and looked everywhere for her.
But she was not down by the creek and she did not
[Pg 292]
answer him from the woods. He came back, up into camp, perplexed12. Winch was still bending over Thor; he was snapping out brusque orders to Joe for hot water and soap; Standing heard Mexicali Joe's mutterings:
"Por Dios, I no understan'. Somebody hurt one dog an' we wait, an' we look for one girl ... an' all the time I got one meelion dollar gol'-mine down yonder...."
"Shut up," Winch grunted13 at him. And, seeing Standing coming back: "Say, Timber, we better take this dog home with us right away. We can make a sling14 of that canvas of yours, tying either end to our saddle horns, making a sort of stretcher; some blankets in it and old Thor on top of 'em. And I'll tell you this: if we get him home alive, and I think we will, I'll keep the life in him."
Thor was whining piteously; Winch shook his head; if only he had his instruments, his antiseptics, and a bottle of chloroform! For here he foresaw such an operation as did not come his way every day.
"Diagnosin' off-hand," Winch was telling the uninterested Joe, "I'd say here's the two important facts: first, old Thor has been beat unmerciful; his head's been whanged bad, but I don't believe the skull's fractured; his left fore15 leg is busted16 and he may have a cracked rib17. Second and most important, after all that the old devil is alive."
Bruce Standing, still seeking Lynette, more than satisfied to have Thor in Billy Winch's capable hands, turned toward the grotto18 which he had set apart for Lynette. And thus upon his first discovery. There was a piece of paper tied with a bit of string so that it fluttered gently from a low limb where it was inevitable19 that it must be seen. He caught it down eagerly. On the scrap20 of paper were a few pencilled words, written in a girlish-looking hand. At one sweeping21 glance he read:
"I have gone back to Babe Deveril.
Lynette."
[Pg 293]
He stood staring incredulously at the thing in his hand. Here was a shock which for a moment confused him; here was something beyond credence22. Lynette gone ... to Deveril? For that first second his brain groped blindly rather than functioned normally. Lynette gone to Babe Deveril ... that cursed Baby Devil! A handsome, graceful23, and altogether irresistible24 young devil of a fellow to fill any girl's eye, to stir vague romantic longings25 in her heart. So she had gone to him? He had the proof of it in his hand; a word from her, signed with her name. A cruel, chill, heartless message of seven meagre words.... And she had broken her word; she had promised to wait for his return and she had not waited. She had left a dying dog to die alone and had gone to her lover ... and she carried with her the key to Mexicali Joe's golden secret ... to turn it over to Deveril!
"What's eating you, Timber?" shouted Winch. "Gone to sleep or what?"
Standing tossed the scrap of paper away. And then suddenly he laughed and both Winch and Joe were startled. Bill Winch had heard that laugh once before and knew vaguely26 the sort of emotion which prompted it: Standing's soul was suddenly steeped in rage ... and anguish27....
"We'll be on our way pretty quick, Timber," said Winch. "We'll ride slow and you can pick us up in no time. And ... if you've got anything on your chest, any of your own private rat-killing to do, why, me and Mexicali will make out fine as far as headquarters, and once there I'll see old Thor through."
Standing only nodded at him curtly28 and went hurriedly to his horse.
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收听单词发音
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1
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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2
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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3
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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4
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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5
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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6
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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7
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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8
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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9
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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10
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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11
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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12
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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13
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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14
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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15
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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16
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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17
rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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18
grotto
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| n.洞穴 | |
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19
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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20
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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21
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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22
credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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23
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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24
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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25
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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26
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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27
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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28
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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