CHAPTER VII. TIED TO A TREE.

 When Ben and his friend Bradley left the cabin in search of Ki Sing, they were puzzled to fix upon the direction in which it was best to go. There was no particular reason to decide in favor of any one against the others.

 

"Shall we separate, Jake, or shall we go together?" asked Ben.

 

"I think we had better stick together, Ben. Otherwise, if one succeeds he won't have any way of letting the other know."

 

"That's true."

 

"Besides, we may need each other's help," added Bradley.

 

"You mean in case Ki Sing has met with an accident?"

 

"Well, no; I don't exactly mean that, Ben."

 

[Pg 63]"Perhaps," said Ben, laughing, "you think two pairs of eyes better than one."

 

"That's true, Ben; but you haven't caught my idea."

 

"Then, suppose you catch it for me and give me the benefit of it."

 

"I think," said Bradley, not smiling at this sally of Ben's, "that our Chinese friend has fallen in with some rough fellows who have done him harm."

 

"I hope not," said Ben, sobered by this suggestion.

 

"So do I. Ki Sing is a good fellow, if he is a heathen, and I'd like to scalp the man that ill-treats him."

 

"There are not many travellers among these mountains."

 

"No, but there are some. Some men are always pulling up stakes and looking for better claims. Besides, we are here, and why shouldn't others come here as well?"

 

"That is so."

 

"I think, Ben, we'll keep along in this direc[Pg 64]tion," said Bradley, indicating a path on the eastern slope of the hill. "I haven't any particular reason for it, but I've got a sort of idea that this is the right way."

 

"All right, Jake; I will be guided by you. I hope you're mistaken about Ki Sing's fate. Why couldn't he have fallen and sprained¹ his ankle, like Mr. Dewey?"

 

"Of course he could, but it isn't likely he has."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Because Chinamen, I have always noticed, are cautious and supple². They are some like cats; they fall on their feet. They are not rash like white men, but know better how to take care of their lives and limbs. That's why I don't think Ki Sing has tumbled down or hurt himself in any way."

 

"Of course he wouldn't leave us without notice," said Ben, musingly³.

 

"Certainly not: that isn't Ki Sing's way. He's faithful to Dick Dewey, and won't leave him as long as Dick is laid up. I never had much idea of Chinamen before, and I don't know as I have now,[Pg 65] but Ki Sing is a good fellow, whatever you may say of his countrymen. They're not all honest. I was once robbed by a Chinaman, but I'll bet something on Ki Sing. He might have robbed Dick when he was helpless and dependent, before we came along, but he didn't do it. There are plenty of white men you couldn't say that of."

 

"For instance, the gentlemen who stole our horses."

 

"It makes me mad whenever I think of that little transaction," said Bradley. "As for that braggart⁴, Mosely, he'll come to grief some of these days. He'll probably die with his boots on and his feet some way from the ground. Before that happens I'd like a little whack⁵ at him myself."

 

"I owe him a debt too," said Ben. "His running off with my mustang cost me a good many weary hours. But hark! what's that?" said Ben, suddenly.

 

"What's what?"

 

"I thought I heard a cry."

 

"Where away?"

 

"To the left."

 

[Pg 66]Jake Bradley halted and inclined his ear to listen.

 

"Ben," said he, looking up, "I believe we're on the scent⁶. That cry came either from a Chinaman or a cat."

 

Ben couldn't help laughing, in spite of the apprehensions⁷ which the words of his companion suggested. "Let us push on, then," he said.

 

Three minutes later the two came in sight of poor Ki Sing, chafing⁸ in his forced captivity⁹ and making ineffectual attempts to release himself from his confinement¹⁰.

 

"That's he, sure enough," exclaimed Jake Bradley, excited. "The poor fellow's regularly treed."

 

The Chinaman had not yet seen the approach of his friends, for he happened to be looking in another direction.

 

"Ki Sing!" called Ben.

 

An expression of relief and joy overspread the countenance¹¹ of the unfortunate captive when he saw our hero and Bradley.

 

"How came you here, Ki Sing?" asked Bradley. "Did you tie yourself to the tree?"

 

[Pg 67]"No, no," replied the Chinaman, earnestly. "Velly bad men tie Ki Sing."

 

"How many of them bad men were there?" queried¹² Bradley.

 

"Two."

 

"That's one apiece for us, Ben," said Bradley. "There a job ahead for us."

 

At the same time he busied himself in cutting the cord that confined the poor Chinaman to the tree, and Ki Sing, with an expression of great relief and contentment, stretched his limbs and chafed¹³ his wrists and ankles, which were sore from the cutting of the cord.

 

"Now, Ki Sing, tell us a little more about them men. What did they look like?"

 

The Chinaman, in the best English he had at command, described the two men who had perpetrated the outrage¹⁴.

 

"Did you hear either of them call the other by name?" inquired Bradley.

 

"One Billee; the other Tommee," answered Ki Sing, who remembered the way in which they addressed each other.

 

[Pg 68]"Why, those are the names of the men who stole our horses!" said Ben, in surprise.

 

"That's so!" exclaimed Bradley, in excitement. "It would be just like them scamps to tie up a poor fellow like Ki Sing.—I say, Ki, did them fellows have horses?"

 

"Yes," answered the Chinaman.

 

"I believe they're the very fellows," cried Bradley. "I hope they are, for there's a chance of overhauling¹⁵ them.—Why did they tie you, Ki Sing?"

 

Ki Sing explained that they had tried to induce him to guide them to Richard Dewey's cabin, but that he was sure they wanted to steal his gold, and he had led them astray.

 

"That's the sort of fellow Ki Sing is," said Bradley, nodding to Ben; "you see, he wouldn't betray his master."

 

"So they tie me to tlee," continued the poor fellow. "I thought I stay here all night."

 

"You didn't take us into the account, Ki Sing. When these scoundrels left you where did they go?"

 

Ki Sing pointed¹⁶.

 

[Pg 69]"And you think they went in search of the cabin?"

 

"Yes—they say so."

 

"Did they know we were there—Ben and I?"

 

"No; me only say Dickee Dewey."

 

"Did you say that Dewey was sick?"

 

"Yes."

 

"It is clear," said Bradley, turning to Ben, "that them rascals¹⁷ were bent¹⁸ on mischief¹⁹. From what Ki Sing told them they concluded that Dewey would be unable to resist them, and that they would have a soft thing stealing his gold-dust."

 

"They may have found the cabin and be at work there now," suggested Ben.

 

"So they may," answered Bradley, hastily. "What a fool I am to be chattering²⁰ here when Dick may be in danger!—Stir your stumps²¹, Ki Sing. We're goin' back to the cabin as fast as our legs can carry us. I only hope we'll be in time to catch the scoundrels."

 

Not without anxiety the three friends retraced²² their steps toward the little mountain-hut which was at present their only home.

1 sprained   

v.&n. 扭伤

参考例句：

• I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤，把脚脖子扭了。
• When Mary sprained her ankles, John carried her piggyback to the doctors. 玛丽扭伤了足踝，约翰驮她去看医生。

2 supple   

adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺

参考例句：

• She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好，因为她的天性柔和。
• He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。

3 musingly   

adv.沉思地，冥想地

参考例句：

4 braggart   

n.吹牛者；adj.吹牛的，自夸的

参考例句：

• However,Captain Prien was not a braggart.不过，普里恩舰长却不是一个夸大其词的人。
• Sir,I don't seek a quarrel,not being a braggart.先生，我并不想寻衅挑斗，也不是爱吹牛的人。

5 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

6 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

7 apprehensions   

疑惧

参考例句：

• He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
• But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而，随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。

8 chafing   

n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒

参考例句：

• My shorts were chafing my thighs. 我的短裤把大腿磨得生疼。 来自辞典例句
• We made coffee in a chafing dish. 我们用暖锅烧咖啡。 来自辞典例句

9 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

10 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

11 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。

12 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

13 chafed   

v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒

参考例句：

• Her wrists chafed where the rope had been. 她的手腕上绳子勒过的地方都磨红了。
• She chafed her cold hands. 她揉搓冰冷的双手使之暖和。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

15 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

18 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

19 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

20 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

21 stumps   

（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

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。

22 retraced   

v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返，想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》