I lay in a terrible suspense3, listening. I dared not change my posture—I dared not move. The weight of the Jarocho’s body had hitherto held my feet securely in the notch4; but that was gone, and my ankles were still tied. A movement and my legs might fall off the limb and drag me downward. I was faint, too, from the protracted5 struggle for life and death, and I hugged the tree and held on like a wounded squirrel.
The shots seemed less frequent, the shouts appeared to recede6 from the cliffs. Then I heard a cheer—an Anglo-Saxon cheer—an American cheer, and the next moment a well-known voice rang in my ears.
“By the livin’ catamount, he’s hyur yit! Whooray—whoop! Niver say die! Hold on, Cap’n, teeth an’ toenail! Hyur, boys! clutch on, a lot o’ yer! Quick!—hook my claws, Nat! Now pull—all thegether!—Hooray!”
I felt a strong hand grasping the collar of my coat, and the next moment I was raised from my perch7 and landed upon the top of the cliff.
I looked around upon my deliverers. Lincoln was dancing like a lunatic, uttering his wild, half-Indian yells. A dozen men, in the dark-green uniform of the “mounted rifles”, stood looking on and laughing at this grotesque9 exhibition. Close by another party were guarding some prisoners, while a hundred others were seen in scattered10 groups along the ridge11, returning from the pursuit of the Jarochos, whom they had completely routed.
I recognised Twing, and Hennessy, and Hillis, and several other officers whom I had met before. We were soon en rapport12, and I could not have received a greater variety of congratulations had it been the hour after my wedding.
Little Jack13 was the guide of the rescue.
After a moment spent in explanation with the major, I turned to look for Lincoln. He was standing14 close by, holding in his hands a piece of lazo, which he appeared to examine with a strange and puzzled expression. He had recovered from his burst of wild joy and was “himself again.”
“What’s the matter, Bob?” I inquired, noticing his bewildered look.
“Why, Cap’n, I’m a sorter bamfoozled yeer. I kin8 understan’ well enuf how the feller; irked yer inter15 the tree afore he let go. But how did this hyur whang kum cuf? An’ whar’s the other eend?”
I saw that he held in his hand the noose16 of the lazo which he had taken from my ankles, and I explained the mystery of how it had “kum cut”. This seemed to raise me still higher in the hunter’s esteem17. Turning to one of the riflemen, an old hunter like himself, he whispered—I overheard him:
“I’ll tell yer what it is, Nat: he kin whip his weight in wild-cats or grizzly18 b’ars any day in the year—he kin, or my name ain’t Bob Linkin.”
Saying this, he stepped forward on the cliff and looked over; and then he examined the tree, and then the piece of lazo, and then the tree again, and then he commenced dropping pebbles19 down, as if he was determined20 to measure every object, and fix it in his memory with a proper distinctness.
Twing and the others had now dismounted. As I turned towards them Clayley was taking a pull at the major’s pewter—and a good long pull, too. I followed the lieutenant’s example, and felt the better for it.
“But how did you find us, Major?”
“This little soldier,” said he, pointing to Jack, “brought us to the rancho where you were taken. From there we easily tracked you to a large hacienda.”
“Ha! you routed the guerilla, then?”
“Routed the guerilla! We saw no guerilla.”
“What! at the hacienda?”
“Peons and women; nothing more. Yes, there was, too—what am I thinking about? There was a party there that routed us; Thornley and Hillis here have both been wounded, and are not likely to recover—poor fellows!”
I looked towards these gentlemen for an explanation. They were both laughing, and I looked in vain.
“Hennessy, too,” said the major, “has got a stab under the ribs21.”
“Och, by my soul have I, and no mistake!” cried the latter.
“Come, Major—an explanation, if you please.”
I was in no humour to enjoy this joke. I half divined the cause of their mirth, and it produced in me an unaccountable feeling of annoyance22, not to say pain.
“Be my faith, then, Captain,” said Hennessy, speaking for the major, “if ye must know all about it, I’ll tell ye myself. We overhauled23 a pair of the most elegant crayteurs you ever clapped eyes upon; and rich—rich as Craysus—wasn’t they, boys?”
“Oh, plenty of tin,” remarked Hillis.
“But, Captain,” continued Hennessy, “how they took on to your ‘tiger’! I thought they would have eaten the little chap, body, bones, and all.”
I was chafing24 with impatience25 to know more, but I saw that nothing worth knowing could be had in that quarter. I determined, therefore, to conceal26 my anxiety, and find an early opportunity to talk to Jack.
“But beyond the hacienda?” I inquired, changing the subject.
“We trailed you down stream to the cañon, where we found blood upon the rocks. Here we were at fault, when a handsome, delicate-looking lad, known somehow or other to your Jack, came up and carried us to the crossing above, where the lad gave us the slip, and we saw no more of him. We struck the hoofs again where he left us, and followed them to a small prairie on the edge of the woods, where the ground was strangely broken and trampled27. There they had turned back, and we lost all trace.”
“But how, then, did you come here?”
“By accident altogether. We were striking to the nearest point on the National Road when that tall sergeant28 of yours dropped down upon us out of the branches of a tree.”
“Whom did you see, Jack?” I whispered to the boy, after having drawn29 him aside.
“I saw them all, Captain.”
“Well?”
“They asked where you were, and when I told them—”
“Well—well!”
“They appeared to wonder—”
“Well?”
“And the young ladies—”
“And the young ladies?”
“They ran round, and cried, and—”
Jack was the dove that brought the olive-branch.
“Did they say where they were going?” I inquired, after one of those sweet waking dreams.
“Yes, Captain, they are going up the country to live.”
“Where—where?”
“I could not recollect30 the name—it was so strange.”
“Jalapa? Orizava? Cordova? Puebla? Mexico?”
“I think it was one of them, but I cannot tell which. I have forgotten it, Captain.”
“Captain Haller!” called the voice of the major; “here a moment, if you please. These are some of the men who were going to hang you, are they not?”
Twing pointed31 to five of the Jarachos who had been captured in the skirmish.
“Yes,” replied I, “I think so; yet I could not swear to their identity.”
“By the crass32, Major, I can swear to ivery mother’s son av thim! There isn’t a scoundhrel among thim but has given me rayzon to remimber him, iv a harty kick in the ribs might be called a rayzon. Oh! ye ugly spalpeens! kick me now, will yez?—will yez jist be plazed to trid upon the tail av my jacket?”
“Stand out here, my man,” said the major.
Chane stepped forward, and swore away the lives of the five Jarochos in less than as many minutes.
“Enough!” said the major, after the Irishman had given his testimony33. “Lieutenant Claiborne,” continued he, addressing an officer the youngest in rank, “what sentence?”
“Hang!” replied the latter in a solemn voice.
“Lieutenant Hillis?”
“Hang!” was the reply.
“Lieutenant Clayley?”
“Hang!” said Clayley in a quick and emphatic34 tone.
“Captain Hennessy?”
“Hang them!” answered the Irishman.
“Captain Haller?”
“Have you determined, Major Twing?” I asked, intending, if possible, to mitigate35 this terrible sentence.
“We have no time, Captain Haller,” replied my superior, interrupting me, “nor opportunity to carry prisoners. Our army has reached Plan del Rio, and is preparing to attack the pass. An hour lost, and we may be too late for the battle. You know the result of that as well as I.”
I knew Twing’s determined character too well to offer further opposition36, and the Jarochos were condemned37 to be hung.
The following extract from the major’s report of the affair will show how the sentence was carried out:
We killed five of them, and captured as many more, but the leader escaped. The prisoners were tried, and sentenced to be hung. They had a gallows38 already rigged for Captain Haller and his companions, and for want of a better we hanged them upon that.
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收听单词发音
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1
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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2
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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3
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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4
notch
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| n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级 | |
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5
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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9
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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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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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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rapport
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| n.和睦，意见一致 | |
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13
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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14
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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inter
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| v.埋葬 | |
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noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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17
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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18
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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19
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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20
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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21
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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22
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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23
overhauled
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| v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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24
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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25
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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26
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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27
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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28
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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29
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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crass
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| adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的 | |
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33
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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34
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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35
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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36
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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37
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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38
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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