"Well," said Shad, at length, "there's the sun about as high as it will get to-day, and where's your pretty Indian girl?"
"I been thinkin', now," Bob explained, "she's sure havin' a canoe, an' could make un t' th' river tilt1 an' back, by travellin' all night. But Dick an' Ed an' Bill ain't havin' a canoe, an' if they comes they has t' walk, an' walkin' they can't make un before some time t'morrer, whatever. 'Tis like, now, she'll wait t' show un th' way t' where we be, an' doin' that she won't be comin' till they does t 'morrer."
"Your logic2 is sound," Shad admitted, "but it's mighty3 disappointing."
"There she be!" exclaimed Bob, a moment later, as Manikawan, quite alone, emerged from the forest hastening toward them, carrying on her arm two coils of rope--one the coil Bob had left in the first tilt of the new trail, and which she had observed at the time she found and carried away Bob's rifle; the other a tracking line which the trappers had used on their last trip up the river, and which she had discovered in the river tilt.
"Is it well with White Brother of the Snow and his friend?" she asked, stepping eagerly forward to the river bank.
"It is, and they are glad to see Manikawan," answered Bob.
"They will do now as Manikawan directs, and they will soon again be free to hunt the atuk (caribou), the amishku (beaver), and the neejuk (otter)," she promised.
With this she tied the ropes securely together, end to end, and then producing a quantity of salmon5 twine6, which she had appropriated for the purpose from one of the tilts7, tied an end of this to one end of the connected ropes. She now proceeded to coil the twine carefully upon a smooth flat rock at her feet, after which she drew from her quiver a long, blunt-nosed arrow, and directly above the feathered end of the arrow attached the loose end of the twine.
These preliminary arrangements completed, and her plan of rescue ready for the test, Manikawan stood erect8, bow and arrow in position, and a moment later the arrow flew out across the water and fell upon the gravelly point.
Ungava Bob sprang forward, seized the twine, still fast tied to the arrow, and rapidly drew it and the end of the rope attached to the twine to him, while Manikawan played out the coil.
"Now," said she, "let White Brother of the Snow make the line which he has received fast and tight to the bow thwart9 of his canoe.
"White Brother of the Snow and his friend will then place their canoe into the water with its bow facing the river as it comes down to meet them. They will paddle hard against the river, for the Matchi Manitu (bad spirit) beneath the waves will draw them backward toward the place where the water is white and angry.
"They need not fear. Manikawan holds one end of the rope in her hand. The other end will be fast to the canoe. Manikawan is strong and she will not let the Matchi Manitu draw White Brother of the Snow and his friend down.
"While White Brother of the Snow and his friend paddle, their canoe will move toward the place where Manikawan stands. Near the shore the spirits are weaker than where the water is deep.
"When their canoe is near the shore, Manikawan will let it go backward very slowly to the place where the bank slopes."
Bob ran the end of rope under and around the bow thwart, as Manikawan directed, knotting it securely, leaving sufficient length to extend back to the centre thwart, around which he again wrapped it and finally tied the end. This he did in order that the strain upon the canoe might be more evenly distributed.
With Shad's rifle and shotgun and their few other possessions in the canoe, they immediately placed it in the water. Bob held it while Shad took a kneeling position in the stern, then himself stepped lightly to his place in the bow, and in an instant they were afloat in the rushing water, paddling fast and hard in order to relieve the stress upon the long line, and to keep the canoe head on to the current.
A few moments later they found themselves close under the mainland bank, with Manikawan letting them slip slowly down to the sloping rock.
Though the treacherous10 footing on the steep, slippery incline rendered it a hazardous11 undertaking12, the landing was safely accomplished13, and the canoe brought ashore14.
When Manikawan saw the young adventurers standing15 before her, her work of rescue completed and the excitement and uncertainty16 of the preceding days and nights at an end, she sank upon the ground, weak, dazed, and overcome with fatigue17.
During sixty hours her only sleep or refreshment18 had been that snatched the preceding morning in the tilt, and throughout the entire period she had been bending herself to almost superhuman effort.
After all, she was but a girl. Human emotions are pretty much the same the world over, irrespective of race, and Manikawan, the Indian maiden19, was very human indeed in her emotions and the limit of her physical endurance.
She looked faint and weary, indeed, as Shad and Bob bent20 over her solicitously21, but presently she indicated her desire to rise; and slowly, for Manikawan's exhaustion22 was still apparent, Bob led the way while the three took a direct course to the tilt on the first lake.
It was not far, and in the course of an hour, mounting a ridge23, they saw the lake shimmering24 below them and the little tilt nestling among the trees on the shore.
"How good it looks! Almost homelike!" said Shad.
"Aye, almost homelike," echoed Bob.
At the tilt they made a fire under the trees, and Bob quickly brewed25 a kettle of strong tea, and prepared food; and when Manikawan had taken nourishment26, she was sent into the tilt for the rest she so much needed.
Bob and Shad were still lingering over their meal when they looked up to find Dick Blake, Ed Matheson, and Bill Campbell staring at them from the edge of the woods.
"Hello!" cried Shad, jumping up in pleasure to greet their friends.
"Evenin'," said Bob; "set in an' have a drop o' tea an' a bite."
"Well, now, I wern't sure I see straight!" exclaimed Ed, and the three strode forward. "Here we was thinkin' never t' see you lads ag'in, an' arguin' who were goin' t' break th' news o' your death t' your folks, an' there you be, eatin'! Bob, I'm never goin' t' break th' news o' your death ag'in till I sees you dead. I were doin' it once, an' now I comes pretty nigh havin' to ag'in;" and Ed nearly shook Bob's arm off in his delight.
"Aye," Dick explained, while he and Bill followed Ed in the greeting, "th' Injun lass Manikawan comes an' tells us you lads was drove over th' falls by Mingens."
"An' we goes out huntin' Mingens," went on Bill, "tryin' t' kill un, an' would ha' killed un if we'd found un."
"Now, what devilment were she up to? That's what I wants t' know, tellin' us that. They's no knowin' what a Injun'll do, leastways a female," declared Ed.
"She was about right, now," said Bob, and he proceeded to relate the experiences of the preceding days, while Shad now and again interjected dramatic colour.
"Th' lass were doin' rare fine! Rare fine!" said Ed. "An' we was thinkin' she's up t' some devilment. But why wern't you shootin' at th' Injuns from th' canoe when they opens on you? Your repeatin' rifle would ha' scattered27 un, Bob."
"I left un in th' tilt by th' first lake above th' river. Shad were steerin', an' he weren't thinkin' t' use his'n," Bob explained.
"In th' first tilt above th' river?" Ed repeated. "We were in th' tilt, now, Dick, when we comes through, an' there weren't any rifle there. Rope an' tent an' other outfit28, but no rifle."
"No, there weren't none there," corroborated29 Dick and Bill.
"Now, 'tis strange," said Bob. "I left un there, didn't I, Shad?"
"Yes, you certainly left it there, on the rear bunk," Shad affirmed positively30.
This puzzled them long, and they were never to learn the truth, for Manikawan, on her return journey for the ropes, had replaced the rifle exactly as she had found it, and none but herself ever knew the part she had played in the river tragedy.
While Manikawan rested in the tilt, and Bill Campbell set out to hunt ptarmigans for supper, Dick Blake and Ed Matheson in Manikawan's canoe, and Bob and Shad in Shad's canoe, left upon a reconnoitering expedition to the tilt from which the two latter were returning on the day of the Indian attack.
They had no fear now of an Indian surprise, since Ed Matheson had observed the retreat of the savages31 to the southern shore, and they proceeded boldly to their destination.
As anticipated, the tilt had been rifled of its contents, chiefly flour and pork. The tilt itself, however, had not been burned, and was otherwise undisturbed.
"They was thinkin', now, t' have un an' t' use un theirselves when they comes here t' hunt, th' winter," declared Ed. "They thinks Bob an' Shad's done for. Unless they gets scairt out by th' ha'nts in th' water--"
"The what?" asked Shad.
"Th' ghosts or spirits they thinks is there. They's wonderful easy scairt, Injuns is. Oh, I knows th' Injuns; I been havin' trouble with un before."
"When was you havin' trouble with Injuns, now?" asked Dick sceptically.
"More'n once," said Ed. "There were th' time, now, I comes t' my tilt an' finds a hull32 passel o' Mountaineers--they wan4't friendly in them days, th' Bay Mountaineers wan 't--so many they eats up a hull barrel o' my flour t' one meal--"
"Now, Ed," broke in Dick, in evident disgust, "you been tellin' that yarn33 so many times you believes un yourself. Now, don't tell un ag'in."
"'Tis gospel truth--" Ed began.
"'Tis no kind o' truth."
"Well, an' you don't want t' hear un, I won't tell un," said Ed, with an air of injured innocence34.
"'What was it, Ed, that happened you?" asked Shad, laughing, for he had learned to know the peculiarities35 of these two friends.
"Dick's not wantin' t' hear un, Shad. He gets all ruffled36 up when I tells o' some happenin' I been havin' that's bigger'n any he ever has. I won't tell un now; 'twould make he feel bad, an' I don't want t' make he feel bad, nohow," said Ed, with mock magnanimity. "But there were another time--I'll tell you o' this, Shad, an' Dick don't mind?"
"Oh, go ahead an' yarn, if you wants to! But th' Lard'll strike you dead some day, Ed, for lyin';" and Dick turned toward the canoes in disgust.
"Now Dick's mad," Ed laughed, "but don't mind he, Shad; he'll get over un."
"As I was sayin', now, 'twas when I was layin' my trail t' th' nu'th'ard o' Wanokapow. I gets my tilt built an' all in shape an' stocked up, an' I goes out one mornin' lookin' t' kill a bit o' fresh meat. 'Tis early, an' too soon t' set up th' traps, for th' fur ain't prime.
"I gets a porcupine38, which is all I wants, an' comin' down t' my second tilt about th' middle o' th' forenoon, finds un all afire an' a band o' twelve Injuns--I counts un, an' they's just a dozen--lookin' on, an' dividin' up my things, which they takes out o' th' tilt before they fires un.
"Now I were mad--too mad t' be scairt--an' I steps right down among th' Injuns, an' when they sees me lookin' fierce an' ready t' kill un all, they's too scairt t' do a thing or t' run, an' they just stands lookin' at me.
"Well, I keeps on lookin' wonderful fierce, an' jumps about a bit an' hollers. It makes me laugh now t' think how that passel o' Injuns stared! One of un tells me a couple o' years after that they thinks I gone crazy.
"'Tisn't long till I gets un all so scairt they thinks I'm goin' t' shoot un all up, an' they's afeared t' run, thinkin' if they does I'll start right in quick.
"Then I thinks it's time t' break th' news t' un, an' I tells un if they builds th' tilt up new for me I'll let un off. An' they starts right in t' build un, an' has un all done before th' sun sets. Th' same tilt's standin' there yet--'
"Ed!" called Dick, from the canoe, "if you're through yarnin', come on now an' get started back. It'll be dark now before we gets t' th' tilt."
It was dark when they reached the tilt. Bill, sitting alone by the camp-fire, had seen nothing of Manikawan while they were gone, and none of them ventured to enter the tilt or to disturb her.
But, when they arose from their bed of boughs39 in the lee of the tent the following I morning, they found that the fire at their feet had been renewed while they slept. Manikawan was not in the tilt, but presently they discovered her, standing upon the pinnacle40 of rock near the lake shore, looking toward the glowing East, immovable as a statue, picturesque41 and beautiful in her primitive42 Indian costume.
As the rim37 of the sun appeared above the horizon and the marvellous colourings of the morning melted into the fuller light of day, Manikawan extended her arms before her for a moment, then descended43 from her rock, and, observing that her friends were astir, she approached them, her face glowing with the health and freshness of youth, and bearing no trace of the ordeal44 through which she had passed.
"White Brother of the Snow, the matchi manitu has been cheated. You have escaped from his power, and you will live long in the beautiful world," said she, for the first time adopting a more personal and affectionate form of address. "Manikawan's heart is as the rising sun, bright and full of light. It is as the earth, when the sun shines in summer, warm and happy. It soars like the gulls45, no longer weighted with trouble."
"Manikawan is my good sister, and I am glad she is happy," responded Bob. "White Brother of the Snow and his friend will never forget that she outwitted the Matchi Manitu. They will never forget what she did."
Ungava Bob and Bill Campbell, sharing the canoe with Manikawan, Dick Blake and Ed Matheson the canoe with Shad Trowbridge, they reached the river tilt that evening. Manikawan was radiantly happy, but Bob, uncertain as to what course she might decide upon, and well aware that any attempt to send her back to her people would prove quite fruitless if she chose to remain with them, was much disturbed in mind. He sat long by the campfire that night, before he joined his companions in the tent, still undetermined what he should do to rid himself of her.
When morning came Manikawan gave no hint of going until breakfast was eaten. Then with her customary promptness of action, standing before Ungava Bob, she announced:
"Manikawan will now return to the lodge46 of Sishetakushin, her father, and wait for White Brother of the Snow. He is safe from the Matchi Manitu. She will wait and be contented47. She will know that he is in the country of her people. She will wait for him till the sun grows timid and afraid, till the Spirit of the Frost grows bold and strong. Then White Brother of the Snow will come to the lodge of Sishetakushin, and there he will rest. Manikawan will prepare for him his nabwe (stew) and make for him warm garments from the skin of the atuk."
Without further preliminary or adieu, she lifted her canoe upon her head and disappeared as unexpectedly as she had appeared.
收听单词发音 |
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tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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tilts
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| （意欲赢得某物或战胜某人的）企图，尝试( tilt的名词复数 ) | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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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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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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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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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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solicitously
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| adv.热心地，热切地 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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40
pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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41
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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44
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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45
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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47
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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