CHAPTER XXVII. THE NIGHT VOYAGE.

The indistinct object gradually took shape, and the boys then saw Shasta sitting in his small canoe, while directly behind him was Tim O'Rooney, his left hand extended backward and grasping the prow¹ of his own boat, which was being towed by the Indian.

The next moment the foremost lightly touched the shore and the savage² sprung out, quickly followed by the Irishman.

"I beg yez pardon, boys, for the time I tuk to git your dinner; but to shpake the thruth, I was unavoidably detained, as me brother writ³ me when he was locked up in Tipperary jail on his way to visit me."

"We are glad enough to see you again, but where is your game?"

"Worrah, worrah, but I had bad luck wid it. When I tuk it ashore⁴, I sat it down for a minit, and I hadn't the time to pick it up again."

"But tell us all about it."

This was quickly done, up to the point where Tim was saved by the timely appearance of the grizzly⁵ bear, when, as may well be supposed, the expressions of wonder were loud and continued.

"You saw nothing more of your pursuers?" asked Howard.

"Not a bit—nor be the same towken do I think they saw me."

"How did you and Shasta meet?"

"That was shtrange, was the same. After I found I was cl'ar of the varmints, from the raisin⁶ that their exclusive attention was occupied by the b'ar, I stopped and went to thinking—did I. I could saa the great necessity of our having me own canoe and I went back to whom I left the same. It took me some time to find it, and when I did find it, it wasn't it, but the one that belonged to the red gintlemen.

"There was little difference atwixt the two and I thought the best thing was to make a thrade, and just as I thought that I spied another canoe coming along the shore as though it was looking for something. I stepped back and raised the hammer of my gun, when I obsarved there was but one Injin in the same—was there. So, 'Tim,' says I, ''twould be a shame,' and I lowered me gun agin.

"Just then, and fur the life of me I don't know what put it into me head, I thought it was Shasta, though I knowed I had lift him with a big pain all through him. So I give a low whistle like, and called out 'Shasta,' and with one whip of his paddle he sent his canoe right at my faat, though I was sure he didn't saa me, and then waited fur me to step in.

"But he's a quaar fellow, is Shasta," added Tim. "I rached out me hand to shake his own, but he never noticed it, but motioned fur me to stow mesilf into the bottom of the canoe; and thin, after some muttering and throwing of his arms, I could saa he wanted me to howld on to the other canoe."

"And I did the same, and the way he towed us over the water would have frightened a steamboat."

"He is a smart fellow, indeed."

The Indian upon landing had just pulled his canoe slightly up the bank and then had gone at once to the opposite side of the island where he had lain when sick. They could see him walking slowly back and forth⁷ us if searching for something which he had some difficulty in finding.

"Well, boys, I shpose you are hungry," said Tim, "If yez isn't I begins to howld a very strong suspicion that it's meself that is."

"Yes," replied Elwood, "we are both very hungry, but we had little appetite so long as we knew you were in danger."

"It was very kind of yez to restrain your appetite out of respict to me, and I'll not forgit to do the same when yez git into throuble."

"We can afford to go supperless to-night," remarked Howard, "and feast on the contemplation of our good fortune. There was a time when our prospects⁸ looked pretty dark."

"Yis, sir; you may well say that. When I had the big bear walking at me from one direction and the three red gintlemen from the other, I thought to mesilf what a shplendid opportunity there was for the illigant exercise of one's idaas. But it was all the doings of the good Lord above," added Tim very reverently⁹.

"Yes; there can be no doubt of that," replied Howard. "He has cared for us all the time."

Tim now gave an account of his adventures in his hunt after the deer, previous to when he was first seen from the island. When he had finished Elwood asked:

"Are we to stay here over night?"

"I think not, but I defers¹⁰ to the judgment¹¹ of Mr. Shasta. It's just as he says about it."

"He appears to be taken up with something over yonder."

"He is searching for some object that he left when he made up his mind to get well," said Howard.

"He must know all that has occurred, for when we came back from watching you, there he stood with his arms folded, and a look in his eye that said he understood more about matters and things than we imagined he did."

"He must know that we are in danger so long as we are upon this island, and I should think he would leave it while it is dark."'

"Do yez rest on that pint¹²?" said Tim. "The red gintlemen will attind to the same—will he."

At this juncture¹³ the Pah Utah was observed walking slowly toward them, his long blanket grasped at the breast by his left hand, while his right was free. As soon as he came up he pointed¹⁴ at the canoes and muttered something.

"What does he mean?" asked Elwood.

"Terror understands him better than we do," replied Howard, as the Newfoundland sprung into the larger boat and nestled down near the stern.

Our friends were not long in imitating the action of the dog. Tim made as if to step into the Indian's boat, but he motioned him back, and took his seat in the front of the larger canoe. The savage now produced a cord, probably the tendon of some wild animal, with which he speedily fastened the prow of the larger canoe to the stem of his own.

This done he turned the head down stream and began using his paddle with the same wonderful dexterity¹⁵ he had displayed during the afternoon. The boys watched and admired his skill for a long time. The faint moon barely revealed the shores on either hand, stretching away in misty¹⁶ gloom, while all before and behind them was darkness.

The muscular arms of Shasta appeared to be as tireless as the piston-rods of an engine, and at last our friends grow weary of watching him. The boys became drowsy¹⁷, and they finally lay down in the bottom of the boat, with their blanket over them, and went to sleep.

In the course of an hour Tim did the same, and the Pah Utah was this left alone to ply¹⁸ the canoe, the Newfoundland now and then raising his head and looking over the edge as if to satisfy himself that all was right.

Once near the middle of the night Elwood awoke, and pushing his blanket from his face, raised himself on his elbow and looked around. The same picture met his eye—the dark-hued Shasta, his long hair streaming over his shoulders, the blanket down to his waist, and his bronzed arms working with the silence, skill and regularity¹⁹ of a perfect machine.

1 prow   

n.(飞机)机头，船头

参考例句：

• The prow of the motor-boat cut through the water like a knife.汽艇的船头像一把刀子劈开水面向前行驶。
• He stands on the prow looking at the seadj.他站在船首看着大海。

2 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。

3 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

6 raisin   

n.葡萄干

参考例句：

• They baked us raisin bread.他们给我们烤葡萄干面包。
• You can also make raisin scones.你也可以做葡萄干烤饼。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

9 reverently   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• He gazed reverently at the handiwork. 他满怀敬意地凝视着这件手工艺品。
• Pork gazed at it reverently and slowly delight spread over his face. 波克怀着愉快的心情看着这只表，脸上慢慢显出十分崇敬的神色。

10 defers   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的第三人称单数 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• She never defers to her parents' opinions. 她从来不听从父母的意见。 来自辞典例句
• Even in Iraq, America defers to the elected government. 即使在伊拉克，美国也要遵从他的民选政府。 来自互联网

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

13 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 dexterity   

n.(手的)灵巧，灵活

参考例句：

• You need manual dexterity to be good at video games.玩好电子游戏手要灵巧。
• I'm your inferior in manual dexterity.论手巧，我不如你。

16 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

17 drowsy   

adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的

参考例句：

• Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉，还引起了头疼。
• I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。

18 ply   

v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲

参考例句：

• Taxis licensed to ply for hire at the railway station.许可计程车在火车站候客。
• Ferryboats ply across the English Channel.渡船定期往返于英吉利海峡。

19 regularity   

n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The idea is to maintain the regularity of the heartbeat.问题就是要维持心跳的规律性。
• He exercised with a regularity that amazed us.他锻炼的规律程度令我们非常惊讶。