CHAPTER XXX. THE TREE OF REFUGE.

 THE tramp was stout¹ and clumsily made, and although he was strongly made he was not agile². Moreover, the branch by which Robert had helped himself upward was over six feet from the ground, and had only been reached by a leap. The trunk of the tree was large in circumference³, and afforded no facilities for climbing. The efforts of the pursuer, therefore, were vain.

"Come down!" he shouted, peremptorily⁴.

"I have already said that I am very comfortable here," answered Robert.

"Do you mean to defy me?"

"I don't wish to have anything to do with you."

"I wish I had a pistol!" muttered the tramp. "I'd soon have you down then."

Robert was devoutly⁵ thankful that he was not provided with such a weapon. He felt relieved242 by the discovery, for it had occurred to him as possible, and in that event he would have had to make a virtue⁶ of necessity and come down.

"Why didn't I lay hold of the boy when I had him beside me?" thought the disappointed tramp. "Who would have thought he could have sprung up like that?"

He determined⁷ to try once more what he could accomplish by threats.

"Look here, boy, if you know what's best for yourself, you'll come down!" he cried, furiously.

"I think it's best for me to remain up here," said Robert.

"When you come down I'll wring⁸ your neck, you little rascal⁹!"

"That isn't much inducement for me to come down," said Robert, coolly.

"If you come down within five minutes and hand over your money, I'll let you go without doing you any harm."

"That's very kind of you, but I need it myself."

Robert's coolness incensed¹⁰ the tramp, who would have felt more satisfaction if his intended victim had exhibited terror.

243

Robert was reminded of the scene in the woods at Crampton, where Mr. Tarbox had besieged¹¹ Charlie Davis and himself, and the trick by which they had then escaped. This would not work now, and indeed it didn't seem clear how he was to escape at all. There was nothing but to remain up in the tree, and try to tire out the patience of the thievish tramp.

Twenty minutes passed. They passed slowly for Robert, but they also passed slowly for his besieger¹², who was in a hurry to get possession of the boy's money, and feared some one might come along to whom he could appeal for help. If he had known that Robert had twenty dollars in his pocket his eagerness would have increased.

"Are you coming down?" he demanded, looking up in the tree fiercely.

"When you are gone away," answered the boy, composedly.

"If you wait much longer I'll murder you when you do come down. You may think I won't do it, but I'm savage¹³ enough to do anything."

"I don't doubt it at all," said our hero.

"I might tell you of how I've served other persons who trifled with me."

244

"Do!" replied Robert. "It'll take up the time."

"No," answered the tramp, suspiciously. "I don't care to have you inform against me, but I want you to remember that I am a desperate man."

"I'll take it for granted. I don't want to fall into the hands of such a man."

The tramp hunted about for a stone to throw at the boy, but in that part of the West stones are not as plenty as in New England, and his kind intentions were frustrated¹⁴.

"Perhaps you think I'll go away after a while," he said presently, "but that's where you make a mistake. I will stay here all night, if necessary."

He looked as if he would really carry out his threat, and Robert, it must be admitted, in spite of his coolness of demeanor¹⁵, began to feel anxious.

"What an obstinate¹⁶ ruffian!" he thought. "If he keeps his word, it will be decidedly uncomfortable for me."

"Will no one come along?"

That was the thought that kept recurring¹⁷ to him. It seemed to offer the only means of escape.

245

At last he heard wheels, and was thankful. So did the tramp, and felt uneasy. But when the carriage came along it turned out to contain a woman and young boy. It would do no good to hail them, for they could not help him, and the tramp might be led to attack and rob them. So Robert was constrained¹⁸ to let the carriage pass, and to find himself once more in solitude¹⁹ with the tramp.

"You did well not to speak," said the latter, grimly. "If you had I would have robbed her, too."

"Just what I thought," returned Robert. "That seems to be your business."

"Don't be impudent²⁰, boy!"

"Isn't it the truth?"

"Come down and you'll find out."

"I know well enough already."

Another half hour passed, and no one came by. At last the two heard a sound and a man whistling; the same seemed approaching.

"I hope it's a strong, able-bodied man," thought Robert.

When at length the man came in sight, a great tide of joy swept over him. It was the very man246 whose presence he would have desired above all others. It was Hercules, who had at one time been employed in the same circus with himself, to perform feats²¹ of strength.

2 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

3 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

4 peremptorily   

adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地

参考例句：

• She peremptorily rejected the request. 她断然拒绝了请求。
• Their propaganda was peremptorily switched to an anti-Western line. 他们的宣传断然地转而持反对西方的路线。 来自辞典例句

5 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

6 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

9 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

10 incensed   

盛怒的

参考例句：

• The decision incensed the workforce. 这个决定激怒了劳工大众。
• They were incensed at the decision. 他们被这个决定激怒了。

11 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

12 besieger   

n. 围攻者, 围攻军

参考例句：

13 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

14 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

16 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

17 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

18 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

19 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

20 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

21 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。