It was a calm but very dark night when Swinton, Blazer, Garnet, Heron, Taylor, and several other men of kindred spirit, rose from their couches at the further end of the island, and, stealthily quitting the place, hastened back to their original camp.
They reached it about midnight, and, as they had expected, found all quiet, for the so-called “guard” of the camp had been hard at work all day and were at that moment fast asleep. Paul and the captain, with Oliver, lay side by side under a tent which they had constructed out of broken spars and a piece of sailcloth.
“Now, men,” said Swinton, “this is a tough job we have in hand, for they are strong men, and the boy, albeit3 not big, is a very tiger-cat to fight. You see, if our plan was murder we could easily settle their business while they slept but that’s not our plan. We are not murderers—by no means!”
“Well, that bein’ so, we must take them alive. I will creep into the tent with you, Jim Heron, for you’re big and strong enough. You will fall on Trench6 and hold ’im down. I’ll do the same to Burns. Garnet will manage the boy. The moment the rest of you hear the row begin, you will jump in and lend a hand wi’ the ropes. After we’ve got ’em all safe into the boat, we will pull to the big island—land them there, an’ bid them a tender farewell!”
“Why not? They’re sure to fall in wi’ their dear friends the savages8, who will, doubtless, be very grateful to ’em, an’ supply grub gratis9! Now, lads, you understand what you’ve got to do?”
“Ay, ay,” was the response, in a low tone, as they moved cautiously away, like evil spirits, to carry out their wicked plans.
“Fortune,” it is said, “favours the brave,” but in this case she did not thus bestow10 her favours, for the cowardly plan was successfully carried out. Before the sleepers11 were well awake, they were overwhelmed by numbers, secured and bound. They were not gagged, however, as no one was near to hear even if they shouted their loudest, which they knew it was useless to do. In a few minutes the three prisoners were hurried into the boat and rowed across the wide channel that separated the islet from the opposite shore.
At that time it was not supposed, either by the original discoverers or those who immediately followed them, that Newfoundland was one large island—considerably larger than Ireland. Not till many a year afterwards did explorers ascertain12 that it was an island of about three hundred and seventeen miles in length, by about the same in breadth; but so cut up by deep bays, inlets, and fords as to have much the appearance of a group of islands.
During their passage across the channel both Trench and Paul attempted to reason with Swinton, but that hardened villain13 refused to utter a word till their prisoners were marched up the shingly14 beach, and told to sit down on a ledge15 of rock under the steep cliffs, where innumerable sea-birds were screaming a clamorous16 welcome, or, perchance, a noisy remonstrance17.
“Now, my friends,” said their foe1, “as you are fond of commanding, you may take command o’ them there sea-birds—they won’t object!—and if ye fall in wi’ your friends the savages, you may give them my love an’ good wishes.”
“But surely you don’t mean to leave us here without food, and with our hands tied behind us?” fiercely exclaimed Master Trench, whose wrath18 at any thing like injustice19 was always prone20 to get the better of his wisdom.
“As to grub,” answered Swinton, “there’s plenty of that around, if you only exert yourself to find it. I won’t cut your lashin’s, however, till we are fairly in the boat, for we can’t trust you. Come along, lads; and, Garnet, you bring the boy with ye.”
Under the impression that he was to be separated from his father and friend, and taken back again to the islet, poor Oliver, whom they had not thought it worth while to bind21, struggled with a ferocity that would have done credit to the wildcats with which he had been compared; but Garnet was a strong man, and held him fast.
“Take it easy, my boy,” said Paul, who, being helpless, could only look on with intense pity. “Submit to God’s will—we will pray for you.”
But Olly’s spirit could by no means reach the submitting point until he was fairly exhausted22. While they dragged him towards the boat, Taylor turned back and flung a small canvas bag at the captain’s feet.
“There, Master Trench,” he said, “you’ll find a lump o’ pork in that bag to keep you goin’ till ye get hold o’ somethin’ else. An’ don’t take on about the boy. We don’t want ’im, bless you. Why, we only want to prevent him settin’ you free before we gets fairly away.”
This was true. When the boat was reached and the men were on board, ready to shove off, Garnet, still holding Olly fast by the arm, said, “Keep still, will you, and hear what Master Swinton has got to say?”
“Now, you fiery23 polecat,” said Swinton, “you may go and cut their lashin’s, and take that as a parting gift.”
The gift was a sounding box on the ear; but Olly minded it not, for while Garnet was speaking, as he stood knee-deep in the water close to the boat, he had observed an axe24 lying on one of the thwarts25 near to him. The instant he was set free, therefore, he seized the axe, and, flourishing it close past Garnet’s nose, with a cheer of defiance26 he sprang towards the beach. Garnet leaped after him, but he was no match for the agile27 boy, who in another minute had severed28 Paul’s bonds and placed the weapon in his hands.
“Hallo! hi, you’ve forgot me. Cut my—ho!”
But there was no occasion for Master Trench to cry out and struggle with the cords that bound him. A furious rush of Paul with the axe caused Garnet to double with the neatness of a hunted hare. He bounded into the boat which was immediately shoved off, and the sailors rowed away, leaving Paul to return and liberate29 the captain at leisure.
Silently the trio stood and watched the receding30 boat, until it was lost in the darkness of the night. Then they looked at each other solemnly. Their case was certainly a grave one.
“Cast away on an unknown shore,” murmured the captain, in a low tone; as if he communed with his own spirit rather than with his companions, “without food, without a ship or boat—without hope!”
“Nay, Master Trench,” said Paul, “not without hope; for ‘God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble,’ so says His own Word, as my mother has often read to me.”
“It is well for you, Paul,” returned the captain, “that you can find comfort in such words—I can find none. Stern realities and facts are too strong for me. How can I take comfort in unfulfilled promises? Here we are in trouble enough, surely. In what sense is God a ‘refuge’ to us—or ‘strength,’ or a ‘present help’? Why, we are left absolutely destitute31 here, without so much as a bite of food to keep our bodies and souls together.”
He spoke32 with some bitterness, for he was still chafing33 under the sense of the wrong which he had suffered at the hands of men to whom he had been invariably kind and forbearing. As he turned from Paul with a gesture of impatience34 his foot struck against the canvas bag of pork which the man Taylor had flung to him on leaving, and which had been forgotten. He stopped suddenly and gazed at it; so did Paul.
“Looks like as if God had already helped us—at least to food—does it not?” said the latter.
“It was Taylor helped us to that,” objected Trench.
“And who put it into Taylor’s heart to help us?” asked Paul. “He is one of the worst men of our crew, so we can hardly say it was his own tenderness, and certainly it was not the devil who moved him to it. Am I wrong in holding that it was ‘Our Father’?”
“I believe you are right, Paul. Anyhow, I have neither the capacity nor the inclination35 to dispute the point now. Pick up the bag, Olly, and come along. We must try to find some sort of shelter in which to spend the rest o’ the night and consider our future plans.”
With a lighter36 heart and firmer faith, Paul Burns followed his leader, silently thanking God as he went along for thus far, and so opportunely37, demonstrating His own faithfulness.
They had to wander some time before a suitable camping spot was found, for that part of the Newfoundland coast on which they had been landed was almost inaccessible38. The cliffs in many places rose sheer out of the water to a height of full three hundred feet. Only in a few places little strips of shingly beach lay between the base of the cliffs and the sea, so that the finding of an opening in those stupendous ramparts of rock was no easy matter in a dark night.
At last they came to a place where the cliffs appeared to rise less precipitously. After careful clambering for some minutes they discovered a sort of gap in the rampart, up which they climbed, amid rugged39 and broken masses, until they reached a somewhat level plateau, or shelf, covered with small bushes. Here they resolved to encamp.
“Whether it’s the top o’ the cliffs or not, there’s no findin’ out,” remarked Trench, as he tried to survey the ground; “but whether or not don’t matter, for it looks level enough to lie on, an’ we’re as like as not to break our necks if we try to go further.”
“Agreed,” said Paul; “but now it occurs to me that our pork may be raw, and that we shall want fire to cook it. Have you got flint and steel in your pocket, Master Trench?”
“Ay—never travel without it; but by ill-luck I’ve got no tinder. Flint and steel are useless, you know, without that.”
“If ill-luck troubles you,” returned Paul, “good luck favours me, for I have got a bit of tinder, and—”
“The pork’s raw,” exclaimed Oliver, who had been hastily investigating the contents of the canvas bag; “but, I say, there’s more than pork here. There’s a lot o’ the little flour-cakes our cook was so fond of makin’.”
“Good. Now then let us have a search for wood,” said Paul. “If we find that, we shall get along well enough till morning. But have a care, Olly, keep from the edge of the cliff. The ledge is not broad. Have an eye too, or rather an ear, for water as you go along.”
Success attended their search, for in a few minutes Paul and the captain returned with loads of dry branches, and Olly came back reporting water close at hand, trickling40 from a crevice41 in the cliffs.
“Your shirt-front tells the tale, Olly. You’ve been drinking,” said Paul, who was busy striking a light at the time.
“Indeed I have; and we shall all be obliged to drink under difficulties, for we have neither cup nor mug with us.”
“Neither is wanted, boy, as I’ll soon show you,” said Paul. “Why, a bit of birch-bark, even a piece of paper, forms a good drinking vessel42 if you only know how to use it. Ha! caught at last,” he added, referring to some dry grasses and twigs43 which burst into flame as he spoke.
Another moment and a ruddy glare lit up the spot, giving to things near at hand a cosy44, red-hot appearance, and to more distant objects a spectral45 aspect, while, strangely enough, it seemed to deepen to profounder darkness all else around. Heaping on fresh fuel and pressing it down, for it consisted chiefly of small branches, they soon had a glowing furnace, in front of which the pork ere long sputtered46 pleasantly, sending up a smell that might have charmed a gourmand47.
“Now, then, while this is getting ready let us examine our possessions,” said the captain, “for we shall greatly need all that we have. It is quite clear that we could not return to our shipmates even if we would—”
“No, and I would not even if I could,” interrupted Oliver, while busy with the pork chops.
“And,” continued his father, regardless of the interruption, “it is equally clear that we shall have to earn our own livelihood48 somehow.”
Upon careful examination it was found that their entire possessions consisted of two large clasp-knives; a sheath hunting-knife; flint, steel, and tinder; the captain’s watch; a small axe; a large note-book, belonging to Paul; three pencils; bit of indiarubber; several fish-hooks; a long piece of twine49, and three brass50 buttons, the property of Oliver, besides the manuscript Gospel of John, and Olly’s treasured letter from his mother. These articles, with the garments in which they stood, constituted the small fortune of our wanderers, and it became a matter of profound speculation51, during the progress of the supper, as to whether it was possible to exist in an unknown wilderness52 on such very slender means.
Olly thought it was—as a matter of course.
Master Trench doubted, and shook his head with an air of much sagacity, a method of expressing an opinion which is eminently53 unassailable. Paul Burns condescended54 on reasons for his belief—which, like Olly’s, was favourable55.
“You see,” he said, wiping his uncommonly56 greasy57 fingers on the grass, “we have enough of pork and cakes here for several days—on short allowance. Then it is likely that we shall find some wild fruits, and manage to kill something or other with stones, and it cannot be long till we fall in with natives, who will be sure to be friendly—if not, we will make them so—and where they can live, we can live. So I am going to turn in and dream about it. Luckily the weather is warm. Good-night.”
Thus did our three adventurers, turning in on that giddy ledge, spend their first night in Newfoundland.
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1
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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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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gratis
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| adj.免费的 | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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12
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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shingly
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| adj.小石子多的 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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thwarts
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| 阻挠( thwart的第三人称单数 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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33
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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36
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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43
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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46
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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gourmand
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| n.嗜食者 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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50
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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51
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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52
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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54
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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