CHAPTER XXXIII. — THE PRISONER.

 It may be said that Monteith Sterry's main hope for the success of his perilous¹ scheme lay in its boldness.

 

It was not to be supposed that the rustlers, surrounding the besieged³ on every hand, would forget the probability of just such an attempt as he made. The stockmen could not expect to slip away one by one, or in a body; nor was there anything to tempt⁴ such an effort, even if it offered a fair prospect⁵ of success; for, of necessity, they would have to depart on foot, and with the coming of daylight their situation would be worse than now, with a strong shelter above and around them.

 

But it was known among the defenders⁶ that two of their number were doomed⁷, if they fell into the hands of the rustlers. It was probable, therefore, that one or both of these individuals would try to get away.

 

Whether or not the leaders held any distrust of Vesey cannot be known; but his little scheme for befriending Monteith Sterry was nipped in the bud by his being retained at the front of the building, where, as has been shown, he acted as the bearer of messages between Inman and Capt. Asbury.

 

There were men closely watching the building from the moment darkness closed over the scene. Had Sterry attempted to steal along the side of the house and then dodge⁸ away, he would have been detected and halted at once. On the contrary, he moved with his usual gait in a diagonal direction toward the stables. His object was to learn the likeliest method of leaving the place.

 

He had perhaps walked fifty feet, when some one advanced from the gloom and called, in an undertone:

 

"Halloo, who is that?"

 

"It's I, Smith; who are you?"

 

The name, of course, was a venture, but it was not uncommon⁹, as the reader knows, and more likely to be right than any other. The best of it was, it seemed to satisfy the other, who, without announcing his own, asked:

 

"What are you doing?"

 

"I've been looking around to see what I could learn."

 

"Anything new?"

 

"No, not as far as I can discover; they seem to have a light burning in there, but are waiting for us."

 

"I wonder they didn't give you a shot; Vesey says they are desperate, and he brought back word that they would shoot the first of us seen prowling about the place. I wonder you didn't catch it."

 

"I took good care. When do you suppose the fight will open?"

 

"Pretty soon; I s'pose you are as tired of this dallying¹⁰ as the rest of us."

 

"Well, it strikes me as best to wait until sure everything is ready."

 

Sterry was anxious to end this pointless conversation, for the stranger had approached quite near and peered into his face, as though not free from suspicion. The darkness was deep, but on the other side of the ridge¹¹ a small fire was burning, from fragments brought from the stables. Of this the adventurer meant to keep clear at all hazards. More than one rustler² knew him intimately, and it might be that he to whom he was talking was an old acquaintance and enemy.

 

How Sterry longed for the presence of Vesey!

 

In a natural manner he sauntered up the ridge, as if his intention was to return to the camp-fire, that being the course most likely to dissipate any misgiving¹² on the part of the other.

 

The latter made no response, and Sterry kept on, thinking:

 

"I'm rid of him, any way, and ought to have less trouble with others that may wish to ask questions."

 

But, glancing over his shoulder, he was startled to observe that the man, instead of moving off, as he had supposed, was standing¹³ motionless in the gloom, as if studying him.

 

"By gracious!" concluded the youth, "he must have noticed my voice, for, not knowing Smith, how could I imitate it?"

 

The situation would have made any one uneasy, but he did not hasten nor retard¹⁴ his footsteps until he reached the top of the ridge, and was able to observe the camp-fire clearly.

 

It was small, as has been said, but five or six figures were lolling about it, smoking, talking, and passing the dismal¹⁵ hours as inclination¹⁶ prompted. Other forms were moving hither and thither¹⁷, some of them quite close to where Sterry had halted, though none paid him any attention.

 

The young man was looking for an opening by which he could make his way beyond the lines without attracting attention. The best prospect seemed to be the stretch of prairie extending from the front of the house toward the Big Horn Mountains.

 

"No one appears to be on the lookout¹⁸ there—"

 

At that instant each arm was tightly gripped, and the man with whom he had exchanged words but a few minutes before said:

 

"Mr. Smith, please go with us to the fire; my friend here is Smith, and he is the only one in our party with that name; maybe you are his double."

 

It was useless to resist, and Sterry replied:

 

"You know there are several Smiths in this country, and I ought to have the privilege of wearing the name without objection."

 

"We'll soon see," replied the first captor.

 

Within the next minute Sterry was marched in front of the camp-fire, where the full glare fell upon his countenance¹⁹.

 

Then a howl of exultation²⁰ went up, for more than half of the rustlers in the group recognized him.

 

1 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

2 rustler   

n.[美口]偷牛贼

参考例句：

• The ants have cornered the rustler and are attacking it. 蚂蚁把大虫围困起来并展开进攻。
• Roffman is a cattle-rustler, and he'sgot some stuff for sale. 罗夫曼是个盗肉贼，他又有赃可销了。

3 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

4 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

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 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

8 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

9 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。

10 dallying   

v.随随便便地对待( dally的现在分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情

参考例句：

• They've been dallying with the idea for years. 他们多年来一直有这个想法，但从没有认真考虑过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of dallying is, in a sense, optimal. 从某种意义上来说，这种延迟是最理想的。 来自互联网

11 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

12 misgiving   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕

参考例句：

• She had some misgivings about what she was about to do.她对自己即将要做的事情存有一些顾虑。
• The first words of the text filled us with misgiving.正文开头的文字让我们颇为担心。

13 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。

14 retard   

n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速

参考例句：

• Lack of sunlight will retard the growth of most plants.缺乏阳光会妨碍大多数植物的生长。
• Continuing violence will retard negotiations over the country's future.持续不断的暴力活动会阻碍关系到国家未来的谈判的进行。

15 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

16 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

17 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

18 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

19 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

20 exultation   

n.狂喜，得意

参考例句：

• It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。
• He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。