Thorpe and four others were set to work on this road, which was to be cut through a creek1 bottom leading, he was told, to "seventeen." The figures meant nothing to him. Later, each number came to possess an individuality of its own. He learned to use a double-bitted ax.
Thorpe's intelligence was of the practical sort that wonderfully helps experience. He watched closely one of the older men, and analyzed2 the relation borne by each one of his movements to the object in view. In a short time he perceived that one hand and arm are mere3 continuations of the helve, attaching the blade of the ax to the shoulder of the wielder4; and that the other hand directs the stroke. He acquired the knack5 thus of throwing the bit of steel into the gash6 as though it were a baseball on the end of a string; and so accomplished7 power. By experiment he learned just when to slide the guiding hand down the helve; and so gained accuracy. He suffered none of those accidents so common to new choppers. His ax did not twist itself from his hands, nor glance to cut his foot. He attained8 the method of the double bit, and how to knock roots by alternate employment of the edge and flat. In a few days his hands became hard and used to the cold.
From shortly after daylight he worked. Four other men bore him company, and twice Radway himself came by, watched their operations for a moment, and moved on without comment. After Thorpe had caught his second wind, he enjoyed his task, proving a certain pleasure in the ease with which he handled his tool.
At the end of an interminable period, a faint, musical halloo swelled9, echoed, and died through the forest, beautiful as a spirit. It was taken up by another voice and repeated. Then by another. Now near at hand, now far away it rang as hollow as a bell. The sawyers, the swampers, the skidders, and the team men turned and put on their heavy blanket coats.
Down on the road Thorpe heard it too, and wondered what it might be.
"Come on, Bub! she means chew!" explained old man Heath kindly10. Old man Heath was a veteran woodsman who had come to swamping in his old age. He knew the game thoroughly11, but could never save his "stake" when Pat McGinnis, the saloon man, enticed12 him in. Throughout the morning he had kept an eye on the newcomer, and was secretly pleased in his heart of the professional at the readiness with which the young fellow learned.
Thorpe resumed his coat, and fell in behind the little procession. After a short time he came upon a horse and sledge13. Beyond it the cookee had built a little camp fire, around and over which he had grouped big fifty-pound lard-tins, half full of hot things to eat. Each man, as he approached, picked up a tin plate and cup from a pile near at hand.
The cookee was plainly master of the situation. He issued peremptory14 orders. When Erickson, the blonde Swede, attempted surreptitiously to appropriate a doughnut, the youth turned on him savagely15.
"Get out of that, you big tow-head!" he cried with an oath.
A dozen Canada jays, fluffy16, impatient, perched near by or made little short circles over and back. They awaited the remains17 of the dinner. Bob Stratton and a devil-may-care giant by the name of Nolan constructed a joke wherewith to amuse the interim18. They cut a long pole, and placed it across a log and through a bush, so that one extremity19 projected beyond the bush. Then diplomacy20 won a piece of meat from the cookee. This they nailed to the end of the pole by means of a pine sliver21. The Canada jays gazed on the morsel22 with covetous23 eyes. When the men had retired24, they swooped25. One big fellow arrived first, and lit in defiance26 of the rest.
"Give it to 'im!" whispered Nolan, who had been watching.
Bob hit the other end of the pole a mighty27 whack28 with his ax. The astonished jay, projected straight upward by the shock, gave a startled squawk and cut a hole through the air for the tall timber. Stratton and Nolan went into convulsions of laughter.
"Get at it!" cried the cookee, as though setting a pack of dogs on their prey29.
The men ate, perched in various attitudes and places. Thorpe found it difficult to keep warm. The violent exercise had heated him through, and now the north country cold penetrated30 to his bones. He huddled31 close to the fire, and drank hot tea, but it did not do him very much good. In his secret mind he resolved to buy one of the blanket mackinaws that very evening. He began to see that the costumes of each country have their origin in practicality.
That evening he picked out one of the best. As he was about to inquire the price, Radway drew the van book toward him, inquiring,
"Let's see; what's the name?"
In an instant Thorpe was charged on the book with three dollars and a half, although his work that day had earned him less than a dollar. On his way back to the men's shanty32 he could not help thinking how easy it would be for him to leave the next morning two dollars and a half ahead. He wondered if this method of procedure obtained in all the camps.
The newcomer's first day of hard work had tired him completely. He was ready for nothing so much as his bunk33. But he had forgotten that it was Saturday night. His status was still to assure.
They began with a few mild tricks. Shuffle34 the Brogan followed Hot Back. Thorpe took all of it good-naturedly. Finally a tall individual with a thin white face, a reptilian35 forehead, reddish hair, and long baboon36 arms, suggested tossing in a blanket. Thorpe looked at the low ceiling, and declined.
"I'm with the game as long as you say, boys," said he, "and I'll have as much fun as anybody, but that's going too far for a tired man."
The reptilian gentleman let out a string of oaths whose meaning might be translated, "We'll see about that!"
Thorpe was a good boxer37, but he knew by now the lumber-jack's method of fighting,--anything to hurt the other fellow. And in a genuine old-fashioned knock-down-and-drag-out rough-and-tumble your woodsman is about the toughest customer to handle you will be likely to meet. He is brought up on fighting. Nothing pleases him better than to get drunk and, with a few companions, to embark38 on an earnest effort to "clean out" a rival town. And he will accept cheerfully punishment enough to kill three ordinary men. It takes one of his kind really to hurt him.
Thorpe, at the first hostile movement, sprang back to the door, seized one of the three-foot billets of hardwood intended for the stove, and faced his opponents.
"I don't know which of you boys is coming first," said he quietly, "but he's going to get it good and plenty."
If the affair had been serious, these men would never have recoiled39 before the mere danger of a stick of hardwood. The American woodsman is afraid of nothing human. But this was a good-natured bit of foolery, a test of nerve, and there was no object in getting a broken head for that. The reptilian gentleman alone grumbled40 at the abandonment of the attack, mumbling41 something profane42.
"If you hanker for trouble so much," drawled the unexpected voice of old Jackson from the corner, "mebbe you could put on th' gloves."
The idea was acclaimed43. Somebody tossed out a dirty torn old set of buckskin boxing gloves.
The rest was farce44. Thorpe was built on the true athletic45 lines, broad, straight shoulders, narrow flanks, long, clean, smooth muscles. He possessed46, besides, that hereditary47 toughness and bulk which no gymnasium training will ever quite supply. The other man, while powerful and ugly in his rushes, was clumsy and did not use his head. Thorpe planted his hard straight blows at will. In this game he was as manifestly superior as his opponent would probably have been had the rules permitted kicking, gouging48, and wrestling. Finally he saw his opening and let out with a swinging pivot49 blow. The other picked himself out of a corner, and drew off the gloves. Thorpe's status was assured.
A Frenchman took down his fiddle50 and began to squeak51. In the course of the dance old Jackson and old Heath found themselves together, smoking their pipes of Peerless.
"The young feller's all right," observed Heath; "he cuffed52 Ben up to a peak all right."
"Went down like a peck of wet fish-nets," replied Jackson tranquilly53.
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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analyzed
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| v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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wielder
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| 行使者 | |
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knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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enticed
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| 诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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reptilian
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| adj.（像）爬行动物的；（像）爬虫的；卑躬屈节的；卑鄙的n.两栖动物；卑劣的人 | |
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baboon
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| n.狒狒 | |
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boxer
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| n.制箱者，拳击手 | |
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embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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acclaimed
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| adj.受人欢迎的 | |
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farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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48
gouging
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| n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出… | |
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49
pivot
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| v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的 | |
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50
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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51
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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52
cuffed
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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