At the first glance, he jerked back as if he had caught the flash of a rifle aimed at him, for the sight that he gazed upon was startling enough. Within ten feet of him sat an Indian warrior1, his knees gathered up, his back against the arch, and his head bowed as if in slumber2.
The lad's first supposition was that the redskin was waiting for him, and had seen his head as it was thrust forward and drawn3 back again. But, as he listened, there was no sound to betray any movement, and when he recalled the terrifying picture that caught his eye, he remembered that the face of the warrior was not turned toward him, so that it was hardly to be supposed that he could have observed the stealthy movement. By carefully considering the matter and reassuring5 himself, Fred soon gained sufficient courage to repeat the attempt.
This time, after pushing his head forward enough to see the red-skin, he held it motionless sufficiently6 long to take in the entire picture.
The first thing which impressed itself upon his mind was the fact that the Indian was not an Apache, or at least, did not belong to the trio which had had him in charge. His dress and make-up were altogether different, and he clearly belonged to another tribe. The truth of it was, he was a Kiowa, and his attitude was that of a sleeping person.
A dirty blanket was gathered about his shoulders, and his head, with its straggling horse-hair covering, drooped7 so far forward that the line of the face was at right angles with that of the chest. The up-drawn knees were separated enough to permit a long, gleaming rifle to rest between them, the barrel partly supported by the shoulder, with the stock at his feet, while if the aquiline8 nose, clear cut against the dim fire beyond, had descended9 three or four inches lower, it would have been shut off from view by the same knees. The blanket was thrown back far enough to reveal the body, legs and moccasins of the warrior, which were those of a man of powerful frame and great activity.
The camp-fire had smoldered10 as though it had not been replenished11 for hours. Still it diffused12 a steady, subdued13 glow, from the other side of the figure, as if the latter were stamped in ink, and the picture was a striking one in every respect.
After Fred had scrutinized14 it a few minutes he gathered more courage and took in the surroundings. These were not very extensive, but such as they were, they were of a hopeful nature. Just in front of the sleeping Indian were several objects lying upon the leaves, which he was certain were the bones of some animal, most probably a deer or buffalo15.
“And if they are, there's meat upon them,” was the consideration of the lad, who smacked16 his lips in anticipation17.
That might be, but how were they to be obtained? That was the all-important question. It was not to be supposed that the most skillful scout18 in the West could creep up to the feet of a sleeping Kiowa and gather some food without an almost certainty of detection. But for the fact that Fred was so hungry, nothing could have induced him to make the attempt. As it was, he believed that he could succeed. At any rate, he resolved that the attempt should be made.
“Maybe he'll wake up and turn over,” reflected the boy, as he fixed19 his eyes upon the Kiowa and watched him, like a cat waiting for a mouse to come within its reach. “I wonder whether Indians snore,” added Fred, a moment later. “I can't hear him breathe, and yet his chest seems to rise and sink, just as regular as anybody's.”
Some ten minutes' more waiting brought the boy to the second crisis in his perilous20 undertaking21. With another ejaculated prayer he crept out from the rock, and moved toward the “feast,” as he believed it to be.
He knew where the fragments lay, and, heading in that direction, he moved carefully forward, while he kept his eyes fixed upon that dreaded22 red-skin, who certainly seemed a remiss23 sentinel when in an enemy's country. Only a few feet interposed, and these were speedily passed over, and Fred stretched out his hand to lay it upon what seemed the greatest prize of his life.
So, indeed, it proved.
The Kiowas, at some time during the day, had cooked some antelope24 meat by that very campfire, and had scattered25 the remnants all round. The first thing which Fred grasped was a bone, upon which still remained considerable half-cooked meat. His hunger was so consuming at that moment that, forgetful of the red-skin sitting so near, he began knawing the bone like a famished26 dog.
Never did food taste sweeter and more delicious!
If the boy's jaws27 had been a little stronger, he would have crunched28 up the bone also—but he cleaned it of its nutritious29 covering so speedily and cleanly that it seemed as if done by some wonderful machinery30.
When he found that no more remained, he clawed about in the semi-darkness for more and found it. Indeed, it looked very much as if the Kiowas had left one of their rude meals prepared for some expected visitors.
When fairly under way, Fred did not stop until he had fully4 sated his appetite, and there proved to be enough to satisfy all his purpose. Then, when he craved32 no more, he awoke to a keen realization33 of the extremely perilous position in which he was placed.
“I had better dig out of here,” was the thought that came to him, as he glanced furtively34 at the motionless figure. “He doesn't see me yet, but there is no telling how soon he will.”
And now the extraordinary good fortune which had attended the boy up to this time seemed to desert him. He had scarcely begun his return to the cover of the rock, when he felt a sudden desire to sneeze coming over him. He grasped his nose, in the hope of checking it—but it only made matters worse, and the explosion which instantly followed was twice as great as it would have been otherwise.
Poor Fred was in despair!
He felt that it was all over, and he was powerless to move. He was like one overtaken by a dreadful nightmare, when he finds himself unable to escape some appalling35 evil that is settling down upon him. He turned, with a despairing glance, to the red-skin, expecting to see the glitter of his tomahawk or knife as it descended.
The warrior did not stir! Could Indian sleep so sound?
Surely not, and the boy just then recalled the fate of the sentinel Thompson, a couple of nights before.
“I believe he is dead,” he muttered, looking attentively36 toward him, and feeling a speedy return of his courage.
With a lingering fear and doubt besetting37 him, he crept around the corner of the rock, taking one of the bones as he did so, and, when in position, he gave it such a toss that it dropped directly upon the head of the unconscious red man.
This was not a very prudent38 way of learning whether a man was sleeping temporially or eternally, when so much depended upon the decision of the question, for, if he were only taking a nap, he would be certain to resent the taking of any such liberties with his person. The test, however, was effectual. The bone struck his bead39, and glanced as though it had fallen against the surface of a rock, and Fred could no longer doubt that the red-skin had been slain40 while sitting in this very attitude by the fire.
Such was the case. There had been plotting and counterplotting. While the Kiowas were playing their tricks upon the Apaches, the latter managed to a certain extent to turn the tables. When they branched out upon their reconnoitering expedition, Waukko was engaged in the same business. When he discovered the single sentinel sitting by the fire, he crept up like a phantom41 behind him, and drove his hunting knife with such swift silence that his victim gave only a spasmodic quiver and start, and was dead.
Waukko placed him in the position he was occupying at the time he first caught sight of him, and then left his companions to learn the truth for themselves, while he crept back to learn that his prisoner had given his captor the slip.
Fred Munson was terrified when he found he was standing42 by the dead form of his friend Thompson, a couple of nights before, and so, in the present instance, a certain awe31 came over him, as it naturally does when a person stands in the presence of death. But, for all that, the boy was heartily43 glad, and he had wisdom enough to improve the splendid opportunity that thus came to him, and for which he had hardly dared to pray.
“I don't see what a dead man can want of a gun,” he muttered, as he moved rather timidly toward the figure, “and, therefore, it will not be thieving for me to take it.”
There was a little involuntary shuddering44 when he grasped the barrel and sought to draw the weapon from its resting-place. The inanimate warrior seemed to clutch it, as though unwilling45 to let it go, and the feeling that he was struggling with a dead man was anything but comfortable. Fred persevered46, however, and speedily had the satisfaction of feeling that the rifle was in his possession.
The weapon was heavy for one of his size, but it was a thousand times preferable to nothing.
He stood “hefting” it, as the expression goes, and turning it over in his hand, when he heard the report of a second gun, this time so close that he started, thinking it had been aimed at him.
Such was not the case; but at that moment there came an overpowering conviction that he was doing a most foolhardy thing in remaining so conspicuously47 in view, when the red-skins were liable to return at any moment and wreak48 their vengeance49 upon him for the robbery, to say nothing of the death, of their comrade, which might be attributed to him. So he hurriedly and quietly withdrew into the outer darkness.
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1
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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smoldered
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| v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的过去式 ) | |
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replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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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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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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dreaded
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| 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) | |
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remiss
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| adj.不小心的，马虎 | |
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antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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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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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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nutritious
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| adj.有营养的，营养价值高的 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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besetting
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| adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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42
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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43
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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44
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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45
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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46
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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48
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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