So far as they could see there was no change in its surroundings. It was still moored5 against the bank, so close that any one could step aboard, but no sign of living person was visible on or about it. There was something so uncanny in it all that but for their mutual6 knowledge they would have doubted the evidence of their senses.
"I don't understand it," whispered Jack. "Suppose you stay here while I steal nigh enough to learn something that will help clear up the horrible mystery."
"You are running frightful7 risk," said the doctor; "I cannot advise you to try it."
"All the same, I shall do it."
Thus, it will be observed that the three persons composing the little party became separated from one another for greater or less distances. The daughter was waiting, two or three hundred yards away, for the return of her father and lover, while they had just parted company, though they expected to remain in sight of each other.
Dr. Marlowe stood in the path, partly sheltering himself behind a couple of tree trunks, but with his eyes fixed8 upon his young friend, who walked cautiously but unhesitatingly forward. Jack held his rifle in a trailing position at his side, his shoulders bent9 slightly forward, while he stepped lightly, his senses alert, like those of a scout10 entering the camp of an enemy. That he was running into great danger was self-evident, but he was determined11 not to turn back until he learned something of the strange occurrences.
Watching his young friend, the doctor saw him stop when at the side of the motionless boat. His profile showed first on one side and then, on the other, while he listened for the slightest sound that could give an atom of knowledge. Apparently12 the effort was useless, for the next moment he placed his left hand on the gunwale and vaulted13 lightly upon deck. He stood a few moments as if transfixed, then turning abruptly14 about leaped to the ground, and, breaking into a run, hurried back to his friend, who noticed that his face was more ghastly than before, while his eyes stared as if they still looked upon unutterable things.
"What is it?" asked the elder in a ghostly whisper.
"My God! don't ask me to tell!"
"You forget that we are both physicians."
"But not that we are human beings; thank Heaven forever that you did not look upon the sight my eyes saw a moment ago. Let it suffice, doctor, to say that of the three men and women to whom we bade good-bye within the past twenty minutes not one is alive! The fiends have been there."
Not the least singular fact connected with this hideous15 incident was that the devils who committed the unspeakable crime had vanished, so far as could be seen, as utterly16 as if the ground had opened beneath their feet and swallowed them. Two men had come back upon the scene within a few minutes after all this was done, and yet the doers were nowhere in sight. What was the meaning of their hasty departure?
It was unreasonable17 to think they had gone far. They must be in the vicinity. They must have noticed the absence of the doctor and his companions; doubtless they were looking for them along shore; possibly they had started over some of the trails and ere long would strike the one along which the three had fled.
"A wonderful Providence18 has preserved us thus far," said Jack Everson; "but it is too much to expect we shall emerge unscathed from this hell hole."
"I hope nothing will happen to Mary before we rejoin her."
"We shall be with her in a minute."
Nevertheless, a vague fear disturbed both. The parent was again leading, and he unconsciously hastened his footsteps. Only a slight distance beyond they came to the small opening where they had left her standing19 but a brief while before. Since the men had passed over the intervening distance to the river it was unlikely that anything had occurred to alarm the young woman, but there was no saying what might happen in those times and in that part of the world.
The real shock came to the parent when he turned in the trail and saw the open space but failed to observe his daughter. He hurried on without speaking, but Jack, directly behind him, had made the discovery, for a moment he was so breathless and dizzy that he barely saved himself from falling. His heart became lead, and the awful conviction got hold of him that the most woeful affliction of all had come upon them, and that his betrothed20 was lost irrecoverably.
But the sight of the anguish22 of the parent when he turned about and faintly gasped23, "Where is my child?" brought the self-command of the young man back.
It was the despairing question wrung24 from the heart of the parent, with a grief that was no keener than that of Jack Everson himself. Here was another instance of the appalling25 suddenness with which tragedies began and were completed in this infernal country. A band of half a dozen was cut off within the space of a few minutes, and now, in still less time, a young woman vanished as if she had never been.
Jack did not dare trust his voice in the effort to speak, but when his eyes met those of the parent he shook his head, saying by the gesture:
"God have mercy, I cannot answer."
But strong men do not remain dazed and helpless in the presence of a shuddering26 calamity27. If any one thing could be set down as certain it was that Miss Marlowe had left the place by fleeing deeper into the jungle. She could not have approached them without being observed: therefore they must seek her by taking the same direction.
The energy of the man more than threescore under the spur of his anguish was like that of the athlete of one-third of his years. He still led the way, and, after the brief halt under the fearful blow, he rallied and compelled Jack Everson to keep upon a trot21 to save himself from falling behind.
A hundred paces from the opening they reached a point where the trails forked. They stopped, the parent being the first to do so.
"Jack," said he, using the less formal name, for under the awful shadow they had drawn28 nearer to each other, "we can't afford to make any mistake."
"There shall be none if you tell me how to prevent it."
"She must have followed one of these paths, but who shall say which?"
He stooped over and peered at the ground. Within the dim hush29 of the jungle he was unable to discern the slightest disturbance30 of the earth.
"No use of that," said the doctor, reading his intention; "therefore we will separate; one of us will overtake them."
"Have you any idea of the identity of these devils?"
"I think they are Ghoojurs, but it makes no difference; Mussulmans and Hindoos are the same; each of us has a rifle and revolver; if you get sight of them don't wait to notify me; shoot to kill; you know how to do it."
"I shall shrink from nothing, but the case may be hopeless."
"If it is will you promise me one thing?" asked, the parent of the young man looking him in the eye.
"I do; what is the pledge?"
"That you point your gun at her?"
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1
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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2
imminently
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| 迫切地，紧急地 | |
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precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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4
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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5
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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6
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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7
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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8
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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9
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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10
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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11
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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12
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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13
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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14
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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15
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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16
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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17
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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18
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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19
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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20
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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21
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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22
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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23
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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24
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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25
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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26
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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27
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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28
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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29
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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30
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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