Guy had no desire to repeat the experience of Robinson Crusoe. It would doubtless be romantic, but he preferred to read romances rather than enact3 them.
Guy’s feelings were shared by his two companions.
“Whenever I come to the island I pray that it may be for the last time,” said Abner Titcomb. “With such a man as Captain Richmond in command of the Osprey I never feel safe.”
“I feel so, too,” added Luke Clark.
He had no doubt of their general loyalty5, but{252} both had families in far-away Maine, and their affections made them timid.
Guy himself had a father and friends in America, and he, too, shrank from the fate which would be his if the captain should take a fancy to sail away and leave them on the island.
It was certainly a strange and momentous6 responsibility that rested upon this American boy of but seventeen years. Here were two men of middle age under his direction. He had hired them for a special service, but he could not command them to remain faithful in the face of the danger which they all dreaded7.
“Don’t you think, Mr. Titcomb,” said Guy, on the second morning after his conversation with Frank Low, “that we had better work more systematically8?”
“What do you mean, Guy?”
“I will tell you. Hitherto we have kept together. Would it not be well to separate and go in different directions, meeting, say, at four o’clock? It would not be so pleasant, but I think it would multiply our chances of success.”
“I am ready for any plan that will have that result. Do you know, I dreamed of my wife and children last night?”
“That must have been pleasant.”{253}
“No; for in my dream one of the children seemed to be very sick with a fever. I could not help thinking of what might happen during our protracted9 absence.”
Abner Titcomb spoke10 gravely, and it was easy to see that the dream had made a deep impression upon him. Not only upon him, but upon Luke Clark, to whom the same thought seemed to have come.
“If Captain Grover were in command of the Osprey, we wouldn’t feel so anxious or hurried,” he said.
“No; but we have a very different man in command.”
“Suppose, however, that Frank Low’s conjecture12 is correct, and the man is insane?”
“Then, of course, he would be capable of anything,” said Luke Clark.
“Don’t let us brood over a danger which perhaps does not exist,” interrupted Guy. “Rather let us consult together how to succeed.”
It was decided13 to adopt Guy’s suggestion and separate, each of the three taking a different route, and meeting again at four o’clock. It was felt by all that there was no time to be lost.{254}
It may be as well to explain here that each of the three was provided with a watch, so that there would be no difficulty about meeting at any hour agreed upon.
The first day on which this arrangement was carried out proved to be a long one for each member of the party. Previously14 they were able to converse15 together, and this made the time slip by more rapidly.
They met on the hill, at the place where they had found the seat already referred to.
Guy and Titcomb were the first to arrive.
“Well, Abner, what success?” asked Guy.
“None at all. I presume you have no better news to report.”
“No.”
“I wonder whether your clue—about the trees in the shape of a cross—can be depended upon?”
“If not, I shall have absolutely nothing to guide me.”
“Then let us trust that it is reliable. Well, I scanned closely every clump16 of trees in my wanderings, and saw nothing that answered the description.”
“Let us hope that Luke was more fortunate.”
Five minutes later Luke Clark made his appearance, coming from the west. There was an unusual{255} expression upon his face that made Guy hopeful.
“Well, Luke,” he said, “have you discovered anything?”
“Yes,” answered Clark.
“What is it?” asked Guy, eagerly. “Not the cross?”
“No, not the cross. This is what I found.”
He drew from his pocket a small volume, looking like an account book. The cover bore the marks of exposure. It had evidently been out in the rain, but the inside pages were full of writing which was still legible.
“The book must have been left here by one of the pirates,” said Guy.
“No; not by one of the pirates, but by an unfortunate man who met the fate that we have all been dreading17.”
“What do you mean, Luke?”
“I mean that the man who wrote the account which you will find in this book was left here purposely by a ship captain who had a grudge18 against him. So much I have gathered from the pages that I have read.”
“Sit down and read it to us. It is nearly two hours before we shall have to be on the beach to meet the boat.”{256}
The handwriting was plain and legible, though a lead pencil had been employed. It looked very much like a schoolboy’s hand, the letters being round and well formed. The writer had evidently written slowly and deliberately19.
The reading was listened to with deep interest. The story ran thus:
“I wonder whether anyone will ever read these lines which I pen in my despair. I hope so, though when they are read I shall be beyond human help. Not that I am sick. I am well in body, but so unhappy that I have made up my mind when this record is completed to throw myself into the sea and end my captivity20 in the only way that seems practicable.
“Four years I have lived on this island in the completest solitude21. Every day I have made a notch22 on a tree, which I selected for the purpose, as it was the only way of keeping tally23 of the time. The seasons are so much alike that the changes are not sufficient to be a guide to me.
“I have just been counting the notches24 I have made, and I find them to number fourteen hundred and sixty. That makes exactly four years, not making account of the extra day for leap year.
“But I must not make my preface too long. Let{257} me say, then, that in the year 187—I set sail from Liverpool for Bombay, rating as an ordinary seaman25. I had made other voyages, for I have been a sailor, man and boy, for twenty years, but I had no presentiment26 that this was to be the last and most disastrous27.
“We had a good captain, a man who understood his business, strict, and yet kind. I always liked him, and got on well with him. I may say that I never sailed under a captain whom I more highly respected. His name was Clark——”
“Your name, Luke,” suggested Guy. “I don’t understand how, under such a captain, the poor fellow could have come to grief.”
“You will see further on.”
Luke Clark continued reading:
“The mate, however, was a different man, arrogant28, rough, and domineering. None of us liked him. He would have misused29 the sailors had the captain allowed, but Captain Clark, though a mild and good-tempered man, was one who did not permit his authority to be questioned or disputed. More than once, when the mate was on the point of abusing one of us sailors, the captain interfered30 and sternly reprimanded him.{258}
“Of course, under these circumstances, the mate could not do the harm or indulge in the brutality31 to which his nature impelled32 him. This was fortunate for me, for by ill luck I had managed to incur33 his special ill will. Once he was on the point of striking me to the deck when Captain Clark interfered.
“The mate never forgot this. He was humiliated34, for the captain had reproved him sharply in the presence of some of the crew. He often looked at me in a manner which boded35 me no good. Still I did not feel anxious, for I knew that Captain Clark was just and humane36, and would not tolerate any abuse on the part of the mate.
“But I could not foresee the future. I did not dream what misfortune was in store for us. We were nearing Madagascar, when the captain fell sick of some mysterious disorder37, and in the space of two days was dead.
“So it chanced that we sailors lost our best friend, and John Richmond became captain in his place.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
hostility
|
|
| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
enact
|
|
| vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
persevere
|
|
| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
loyalty
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
momentous
|
|
| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
systematically
|
|
| adv.有系统地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
protracted
|
|
| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
lurch
|
|
| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
conjecture
|
|
| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
converse
|
|
| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
clump
|
|
| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
dreading
|
|
| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
grudge
|
|
| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
captivity
|
|
| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
notch
|
|
| n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
tally
|
|
| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
notches
|
|
| n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
seaman
|
|
| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
presentiment
|
|
| n.预感，预觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
arrogant
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
misused
|
|
| v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
interfered
|
|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
brutality
|
|
| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
incur
|
|
| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
humiliated
|
|
| 感到羞愧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
boded
|
|
| v.预示，预告，预言( bode的过去式和过去分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
humane
|
|
| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |