A chief of the Indians, named Hawk4, who was a shrewd as well as a bad man, had suspected Wapaw’s intentions in quitting the camp of his people alone and in such unnecessary haste. This man had great influence over his fellows, and easily prevailed on them to set off on their murderous expedition against the Fort of the “pale-faces” without delay.
Being well supplied with food, they travelled faster than their starving comrade, and almost overtook him. They finally encamped within a short distance of the Fort the day after Wapaw’s arrival, and prepared to assault it early next morning.
“If the wicked skunk5 has got there before us,” said Hawk to his fellows, as they prepared to set out before daybreak, “the pale-faces will be ready for us, and we may as well go back to our wigwams at once; but if that badger’s whelp has been slow of foot, we shall hang the scalps of the pale-faces at our belts, and eat their food this day.”
The polite titles above used by Hawk were meant to refer to Wapaw.
Indians are not naturally loquacious6. No reply was made to Hawk’s remark, except that one man with a blackened face, and a streak7 of red ochre down the bridge of his nose, said, “Ho!” and another with an equally black face, and three red streaks8 on each of his cheeks, said, “Hum!” as the war-party put on their snowshoes and prepared to start.
They had not gone far when Hawk came to a sudden pause, and stood transfixed and motionless like a dark statue. His comrades also stopped abruptly9 and crouched10. No question was asked, but Hawk pointed11 to a spark of fire, which every Indian in the band had observed the instant their leader had paused. Silently they crept forward, with guns cocked and arrows fitted to the bowstrings, until they all stood round an encampment where the fire was still smouldering, and in the centre of which lay a little boy and girl, fast asleep and shuddering12 with cold.
Poor Roy and Nelly had told each other stories until their eyes would not remain open; then they fell asleep, despite their efforts to keep awake, and, as the fire sank low, they began to shiver with the cold. Lucky was it for them that the Indians discovered them, else they had certainly been frozen to death that night.
Hawk roused them with little ceremony. Roy, by an impulse which would appear to be natural to those who dwell in wild countries, whether young or old, seized his axe13, which lay beside him, as he leaped up. Hawk grinned, and took the axe from him at once, and the poor boy, seeing that he was surrounded by dark warriors15, offered no resistance, but sought to comfort Nelly, who was clinging to him and trembling with terror.
Immediately the savages sat down in the encampment, and began an earnest discussion, which the children watched with great eagerness. They evidently did not agree, for much gesticulation and great vehemence16 characterised their debate. Some pointed towards the Fort, and touched their tomahawks, while others pointed to the woods in the direction whence they had come, and shook their heads. Not a few drew their scalping knives partially17 from their sheaths, and, pointing to the children, showed clearly that they wished to cut their career short without delay, but several of the more sedate18 members of the party evidently objected to this. Finally, Hawk turned to Roy, and said something to him in the Indian tongue.
Roy did not understand, and attempted to say so as well as he could by signs, and the use of the few words of the Cree language which his father had taught him. In the course of his speech (if we may use that term), he chanced to mention Wapaw’s name.
“Ho! ho! ho!” said one and another of the Indians, while Hawk grinned horribly.
A variety of questions were now put to poor Roy, who, not understanding, of course could not answer them. Hawk, however, repeated Wapaw’s name, and pointed towards the Fort with a look of inquiry19, to which Roy replied by nodding his head and repeating “Wapaw” once or twice, also pointing to the Fort; for he began to suspect these must be Wapaw’s comrades, who had come to search for him. He therefore volunteered a little additional information by means of signs; rubbed his stomach, looked dreadfully rueful, rolled himself as if in agony on the ground, and then, getting up, pretended to eat and look happy! By all of which he meant to show how that Wapaw had been on the borders of starvation, but had been happily saved therefrom.
Indians in council might teach a useful lesson to our members of parliament, for they witnessed this rather laughable species of pantomime with profound gravity and silence. When Roy concluded, they nodded their heads, and said, “Ho! ho!” which, no doubt, was equivalent to “Hear hear!”
After a little more discussion they rose to depart, and made signs to the children to get up and follow. Roy then pointed out the broken state of his snow-shoe, but this difficulty was overcome by Hawk, who threw it away, and made him put on his sister’s snow-shoes. A stout20 young warrior14 was ordered to take Nelly on his back, which he did without delay, and the whole party left the encampment, headed by their chief.
The children submitted cheerfully at first, under the impression that the Indians meant to convey them to the Fort. Great, however, was their horror when they were taken through the woods by a way which they knew to be quite in the opposite direction.
When Roy saw this he stopped and looked back, but an Indian behind him gave him a poke21 with the butt22 of his gun which there was no resisting. For a moment the lad thought of trying to break away, run home, and tell his father of Nelly’s fate; but a second thought convinced him that this course was utterly23 impracticable. As for Nelly, she was too far from her brother in the procession to hold converse24 with him; and, as she knew not what to do, say, think, she was reduced to the miserable25 consolation26 of bedewing with her tears the shoulders of the young warrior who carried her.
The storm which had commenced the day before still continued, so that, in the course of a few hours, traces of the track of the war-party were almost obliterated27, and the chance of their being followed by Robin and his friends was rendered less and less likely as time ran on.
All that day they travelled without halt, and when they stopped at night to encamp, Roy was nearly dead from exhaustion28. “My poor Nell,” said he, drawing his sobbing29 sister close to him, as they sat near the camp fire, after having eaten the small quantity of dried venison that was thrown to them by their captors, “don’t despair; father will be sure to hunt us down, if it’s in the power of man to do it.”
“I don’t despair,” sobbed30 Nelly; “but oh! what will darling mother do when she finds that we’re lost, and I’m so afraid they’ll kill us.”
“No fear o’ that, Nell; it’s not worth their while. Remember, too, what mother often told us—that—that—what is it she used to read so often out of the Bible? I forget.”
“I think it was, ‘Call upon Me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver thee.’ I’ve been thinkin’ of that, Roy, already.”
“That’s right, Nell; now, come, cheer up! Have you had enough to eat?”
“Yes,” said Nelly, with a loud yawn, which she did not attempt to check.
Roy echoed it, as a matter of course, (who ever did see anyone yawn without following suit?) and then the two lay down together, spread over themselves an old blanket which one of the Indians had given them, and fell asleep at once.
Day succeeded day, night followed night, and weeks came and went, yet the Indians continued their journey through the snow-clad wilderness31. Roy’s snow-shoes had been picked up and repaired by one of the savages, and Nelly was made to walk a good deal on her own snowshoes; but it is justice to the Indians to say that they slackened their pace a little for the sake of the children, and when Nelly showed symptoms of being fatigued32, the stout young warrior who originally carried her took her on his shoulders.
At length the encampment of the tribe was reached, and Nelly was handed over to Hawk’s wife to be her slave. Soon after that the tents were struck, and the whole tribe went deeper into the northern wilds. Several gales33 arose and passed away, completely covering their footprints, so that no tracks were left behind them.
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收听单词发音
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1
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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skunk
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| n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥 | |
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loquacious
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| adj.多嘴的，饶舌的 | |
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7
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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8
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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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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13
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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28
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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29
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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30
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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31
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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