CHAPTER XXXVI. THE RAMBLE.

After the restraint the boys had undergone, cramped¹ in the canoe, and not daring to wander out of sight of their camp-fire when upon shore, there was a delicious relief in rambling² through the woods. The clear, pure air that was dry and cool in the shadow of the forest, the undulating, charming scenery, the novel look that rested upon all they saw—these possessed³ a charm to our young friends which they hardly could have resisted, even if they had the will to do so; but when we say that after starting forth⁴ scarcely a thought of their imprudence entered their heads, it was but natural that they should find themselves led much further away than was either wise or consistent with the resolves with which they left their friends, Tim and Terror.

They took no notice of the direction they were following, nor of the distance they had gone, until near the middle of the afternoon Howard abruptly⁵ paused and asked, with a look of alarm:

"Elwood, what have we done?"

"Why? What is the matter?"

"We must be a mile off from Tim, and it will be dark before we can get back."

"O! I think not. You know we have walked very slowly, and we can hurry when we take it into our heads to return."

"But do you know the way?"

"Certainly. Don't you?"

"What course must we follow?"

Elwood pointed⁶ to the northwest, which, while it was not far from their general course, was by no means the proper one by which to rejoin their companion.

"How strange!" said Howard. "It seems to me that yonder is the point from which we started."

And he pointed nearly due west, just as wrong as he could possibly be.

"You are wrong," said Elwood positively⁷. "I am sure of the right way."

"We won't dispute over it," replied his companion, with some sadness, "for it is very doubtful if either of us is right."

"All we have to do then, is to hunt for the river and follow that up until we find Tim sound asleep."

"Yea; but how is the river to be found? To you it lies in one place, and to me in another."

"But I can prove that you are wrong, and," laughed Elwood, "that I am, too, although I was never right."

"How so?"

"The sun sets in the west, and notice where it is."

Howard now opened his eyes in amazement⁸. He would have been sure that it was going down in the other part of the sky; but the proof before his eyes was irrefragable.

"It must be," he replied. "We have been 'turned round.' Just as when we left the wharf⁹ at New York. I was below when the steamer came out, and so long as New York was in sight I was sure it lay in the wrong place."

"But, how bad even that makes it! We cannot reach the river before dark, and we shall not know whether we am a mile above or below where Tim is sleeping."

"If we go straight for the river, I think it likely that we shall come much nearer him than that."

"It may be, but how are we to tell?"

"Why, if we don't find him by night, we can fire oft our guns and call to him."

"And bring a party of the savages¹⁰ down upon us."

"That may be if there are any in the neighborhood, but we shall have to run the risk."

By this time the boys were fully¹¹ impressed with their want of discretion¹² and with the urgent necessity of making all haste back to the river.

"Let us keep our thoughts about us," said Howard, "for we have been without them long enough. Now, the Salinas River runs very nearly north and south, doesn't it?"

"This portion of it does."

"Then we must go as nearly east as we can, and let's be off."

Turning their backs upon the sun, they began retracing¹³ their steps; but they had journeyed scarce half an hour when they found themselves near a range of hills, which they were sure they had not passed through, and did not remember to have seen.

"What does this mean?" asked Howard, still more alarmed. "We never have been near these."

"Are they not the hills we noticed just us we were about starting?"

"They cannot be;—these are larger, have not half as much wood upon them. I tell you, Elwood, there is one thing sure."

"I know what you mean."

"What is it?"

"We are lost!"
"We are lost."

"You are right. We may find Tim again, but we are going to have trouble to do it."

"Listen! He may call to us."

They stopped walking find held their breath, but not a sound broke the solemn stillness, save a faint, hollow roar—whether the deep murmur¹⁴ that is always heard in a great forest, or the sound of the distant Pacific Ocean they could not tell.

"No; he is asleep yet," said Elwood. "If he would only wake up he would shout to us."

"Thus you see, if we shoot our guns, the chances are that he will not hear it, while it may be the means of bringing to us the very ones we are so anxious to keep away."

So they concluded not to fire their rifles for the present.

"But these hills," continued Howard, "they don't extend in any great direction either north or south. The question now is, shall we pass around the northern or southern end?"

"What difference will it make?"

"All the difference in the world. If Tim is to the south of us, and we pass around that way, I think we shall find him without much hunting, while if we take the wrong course it will be night before we can get anywhere near him."

"I see," replied Elwood. "We shall have to guess at it. But, hold!" he exclaimed, with sparkling eyes. "You go one way and I will another!"

Howard shook his head.

"There is too much risk."

"Not at all. The distance is short, and we can whistle to each other every few minutes. Then, you know, as we shall be looking for each other, we cannot lose ourselves in these still woods. The minute I get sight of the river I can tell whether we are above or below Tim."

Howard would not consent at first, but his cousin set forth the advantages of the plan so eloquently¹⁵ that he finally agreed. Arranging their signals and manner of proceeding¹⁶, the boys, therefore, separated.

1 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

2 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

3 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

4 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。

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 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。

7 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

8 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

9 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

10 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

13 retracing   

v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We're retracing the route of a deep explorer mission. 我们将折回一个深入的探险路线中去。 来自电影对白
• Retracing my steps was certainly not an option. 回顾我的脚步并不是个办法。 来自互联网

14 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

15 eloquently   

adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地)

参考例句：

• I was toasted by him most eloquently at the dinner. 进餐时他口若悬河地向我祝酒。
• The poet eloquently expresses the sense of lost innocence. 诗人动人地表达了失去天真的感觉。

16 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。