Radway returned to camp by the 6th of January. He went on snowshoes over the entire job; and then sat silently in the office smoking "Peerless" in his battered1 old pipe. Dyer watched him amusedly, secure in his grievance2 in case blame should be attached to him. The jobber3 looked older. The lines of dry good-humor about his eyes had subtly changed to an expression of pathetic anxiety. He attached no blame to anybody, but rose the next morning at horn-blow, and the men found they had a new master over them.
And now the struggle with the wilderness4 came to grapples. Radway was as one possessed5 by a burning fever. He seemed everywhere at once, always helping6 with his own shoulder and arm, hurrying eagerly. For once luck seemed with him. The marsh7 was cut over; the "eighty" on section eight was skidded8 without a break. The weather held cold and clear.
Now it became necessary to put the roads in shape for hauling. All winter the blacksmith, between his tasks of shoeing and mending, had occupied his time in fitting the iron-work on eight log-sleighs which the carpenter had hewed10 from solid sticks of timber. They were tremendous affairs, these sleighs, with runners six feet apart, and bunks11 nine feet in width for the reception of logs. The bunks were so connected by two loosely-coupled rods that, when emptied, they could be swung parallel with the road, so reducing the width of the sleigh. The carpenter had also built two immense tanks on runners, holding each some seventy barrels of water, and with holes so arranged in the bottom and rear that on the withdrawal12 of plugs the water would flood the entire width of the road. These sprinklers were filled by horse power. A chain, running through blocks attached to a solid upper framework, like the open belfry of an Italian monastery13, dragged a barrel up a wooden track from the water hole to the opening in the sprinkler. When in action this formidable machine weighed nearly two tons and resembled a moving house. Other men had felled two big hemlocks14, from which they had hewed beams for a V plow16.
The V plow was now put in action. Six horses drew it down the road, each pair superintended by a driver. The machine was weighted down by a number of logs laid across the arms. Men guided it by levers, and by throwing their weight against the fans of the plow. It was a gay, animated17 scene this, full of the spirit of winter--the plodding18, straining horses, the brilliantly dressed, struggling men, the sullen-yielding snow thrown to either side, the shouts, warnings, and commands. To right and left grew white banks of snow. Behind stretched a broad white path in which a scant19 inch hid the bare earth.
For some distance the way led along comparatively high ground. Then, skirting the edge of a lake, it plunged20 into a deep creek21 bottom between hills. Here, earlier in the year, eleven bridges had been constructed, each a labor22 of accuracy; and perhaps as many swampy23 places had been "corduroyed" by carpeting them with long parallel poles. Now the first difficulty began.
Some of the bridges had sunk below the level, and the approaches had to be corduroyed to a practicable grade. Others again were humped up like tom-cats, and had to be pulled apart entirely24. In spots the "corduroy" had spread, so that the horses thrust their hoofs25 far down into leg-breaking holes. The experienced animals were never caught, however. As soon as they felt the ground giving way beneath one foot, they threw their weight on the other.
Still, that sort of thing was to be expected. A gang of men who followed the plow carried axes and cant-hooks for the purpose of repairing extemporaneously26 just such defects, which never would have been discovered otherwise than by the practical experience. Radway himself accompanied the plow. Thorpe, who went along as one of the "road monkeys," saw now why such care had been required of him in smoothing the way of stubs, knots, and hummocks27.
Down the creek an accident occurred on this account. The plow had encountered a drift. Three times the horses had plunged at it, and three times had been brought to a stand, not so much by the drag of the V plow as by the wallowing they themselves had to do in the drift.
"No use, break her through, boys," said Radway. So a dozen men hurled28 their bodies through, making an opening for the horses.
"Hi! YUP!" shouted the three teamsters, gathering29 up their reins30.
The horses put their heads down and plunged. The whole apparatus31 moved with a rush, men clinging, animals digging their hoofs in, snow flying. Suddenly there came a check, then a CRACK, and then the plow shot forward so suddenly and easily that the horses all but fell on their noses. The flanging arms of the V, forced in a place too narrow, had caught between heavy stubs. One of the arms had broken square off.
There was nothing for it but to fell another hemlock15 and hew9 out another beam, which meant a day lost. Radway occupied his men with shovels32 in clearing the edge of the road, and started one of his sprinklers over the place already cleared. Water holes of suitable size had been blown in the creek bank by dynamite33. There the machines were filled. It was a slow process. Stratton attached his horse to the chain and drove him back and forth35, hauling the barrel up and down the slideway. At the bottom it was capsized and filled by means of a long pole shackled36 to its bottom and manipulated by old man Heath. At the top it turned over by its own weight. Thus seventy odd times.
Then Fred Green hitched37 his team on and the four horses drew the creaking, cumbrous vehicle spouting38 down the road. Water gushed39 in fans from the openings on either side and beneath; and in streams from two holes behind. Not for an instant as long as the flow continued dared the teamsters breathe their horses, for a pause would freeze the runners tight to the ground. A tongue at either end obviated40 the necessity of turning around.
While the other men hewed at the required beam for the broken V plow, Heath, Stratton, and Green went over the cleared road-length once. To do so required three sprinklerfuls. When the road should be quite free, and both sprinklers running, they would have to keep at it until after midnight.
And then silently the wilderness stretched forth her hand and pushed these struggling atoms back to their place.
That night it turned warmer. The change was heralded41 by a shift of wind. Then some blue jays appeared from nowhere and began to scream at their more silent brothers, the whisky jacks42.
"She's goin' to rain," said old Jackson. "The air is kind o' holler."
"Hollow?" said Thorpe, laughing. "How is that?"
"I don' no," confessed Hines, "but she is. She jest feels that way."
In the morning the icicles dripped from the roof, and although the snow did not appreciably43 melt, it shrank into itself and became pock-marked on the surface.
Radway was down looking at the road.
"She's holdin' her own," said he, "but there ain't any use putting more water on her. She ain't freezing a mite34. We'll plow her out."
So they finished the job, and plowed44 her out, leaving exposed the wet, marshy45 surface of the creek-bottom, on which at night a thin crust formed. Across the marsh the old tramped road held up the horses, and the plow swept clear a little wider swath.
"She'll freeze a little to-night," said Radway hopefully. "You sprinkler boys get at her and wet her down."
Until two o'clock in the morning the four teams and the six men creaked back and forth spilling hardly-gathered water--weird, unearthly, in the flickering46 light of their torches. Then they crept in and ate sleepily the food that a sleepy cookee set out for them.
By morning the mere47 surface of this sprinkled water had frozen, the remainder beneath had drained away, and so Radway found in his road considerable patches of shell ice, useless, crumbling48. He looked in despair at the sky. Dimly through the gray he caught the tint49 of blue.
The sun came out. Nut-hatches and wood-peckers ran gayly up the warming trunks of the trees. Blue jays fluffed and perked50 and screamed in the hard-wood tops. A covey of grouse51 ventured from the swamp and strutted52 vainly, a pause of contemplation between each step. Radway, walking out on the tramped road of the marsh, cracked the artificial skin and thrust his foot through into icy water. That night the sprinklers stayed in.
The devil seemed in it. If the thaw53 would only cease before the ice bottom so laboriously54 constructed was destroyed! Radway vibrated between the office and the road. Men were lying idle; teams were doing the same. Nothing went on but the days of the year; and four of them had already ticked off the calendar. The deep snow of the unusually cold autumn had now disappeared from the tops of the stumps55. Down in the swamp the covey of partridges were beginning to hope that in a few days more they might discover a bare spot in the burnings. It even stopped freezing during the night. At times Dyer's little thermometer marked as high as forty degrees.
"I often heard this was a sort 'v summer resort," observed Tom Broadhead, "but danged if I knew it was a summer resort all the year 'round."
The weather got to be the only topic of conversation. Each had his say, his prediction. It became maddening. Towards evening the chill of melting snow would deceive many into the belief that a cold snap was beginning.
"She'll freeze before morning, sure," was the hopeful comment.
And then in the morning the air would be more balmily insulting than ever.
"Old man is as blue as a whetstone," commented Jackson Hines, "an' I don't blame him. This weather'd make a man mad enough to eat the devil with his horns left on."
By and by it got to be a case of looking on the bright side of the affair from pure reaction.
"I don't know," said Radway, "it won't be so bad after all. A couple of days of zero weather, with all this water lying around, would fix things up in pretty good shape. If she only freezes tight, we'll have a good solid bottom to build on, and that'll be quite a good rig out there on the marsh."
The inscrutable goddess of the wilderness smiled, and calmly, relentlessly56, moved her next pawn57.
It was all so unutterably simple, and yet so effective. Something there was in it of the calm inevitability58 of fate. It snowed.
All night and all day the great flakes59 zig-zagged softly down through the air. Radway plowed away two feet of it. The surface was promptly60 covered by a second storm. Radway doggedly61 plowed it out again.
This time the goddess seemed to relent. The ground froze solid. The sprinklers became assiduous in their labor. Two days later the road was ready for the first sleigh, its surface of thick, glassy ice, beautiful to behold62; the ruts cut deep and true; the grades sanded, or sprinkled with retarding63 hay on the descents. At the river the banking64 ground proved solid. Radway breathed again, then sighed. Spring was eight days nearer. He was eight days more behind.
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1
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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jobber
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| n.批发商；(股票买卖)经纪人；做零工的人 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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skidded
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| v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区 | |
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hew
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| v.砍；伐；削 | |
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hewed
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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bunks
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| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
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withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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hemlocks
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| 由毒芹提取的毒药( hemlock的名词复数 ) | |
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hemlock
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| n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉 | |
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plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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extemporaneously
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hummocks
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| n.小丘，岗( hummock的名词复数 ) | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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shackled
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| 给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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39
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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40
obviated
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| v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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42
jacks
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| n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃 | |
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appreciably
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| adv.相当大地 | |
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44
plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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45
marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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46
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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47
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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48
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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49
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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50
perked
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| （使）活跃( perk的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）增值； 使更有趣 | |
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51
grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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52
strutted
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| 趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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54
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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55
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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56
relentlessly
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| adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断 | |
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57
pawn
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| n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押 | |
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58
inevitability
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| n.必然性 | |
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59
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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60
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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61
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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62
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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63
retarding
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| 使减速( retard的现在分词 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟 | |
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64
banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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