The position in which the trio found themselves next morning, when daylight revealed it, was, we might almost say, tremendously romantic.
The ledge1 on which they had passed the night was much narrower than they had supposed it to be, and their beds, if we may so call them, had been dangerously near to the edge of a frightful2 precipice3 which descended4 sheer down to a strip of sand that looked like a yellow thread two hundred feet below. The cliff behind them rose almost perpendicularly5 another hundred feet or more, and the narrow path or gully by which they had gained their eyrie was so steep and rugged6 that their reaching the spot at all in safety seemed little short of a miracle. The sun was brightening with its first beams an absolutely tranquil7 sea when the sleepers8 opened their eyes, and beheld9 what seemed to them a great universe of liquid light. Their ears at the same time drank in the soft sound of murmuring ripples10 far below, and the occasional cry of sportive sea-birds.
Paul did not speak. His thoughts were too deep for utterance12, but his mind reverted13 irresistibly14 to some of the verses in that manuscript Gospel which he carried so carefully in his bosom15.
As for Oliver, his flushed young face and glittering eyes told their own tale. At first he felt inclined to shout for joy, but his feelings choked him; so he, too, remained speechless. The silence was broken at last by a commonplace remark from Paul, as he pointed16 to the horizon—“The home of our shipmates is further off than I thought it was.”
“The rascals17!” exclaimed the captain, thinking of the shipmates, not of the home; “the place is too good for ’em.”
“But all of them are not equally bad,” suggested Paul gently.
“Humph!” replied Trench, for kind and good-natured though he was he always found it difficult to restrain his indignation at anything that savoured of injustice18. In occasionally giving way to this temper, he failed to perceive at first that he was himself sometimes guilty of injustice. It is only fair to add, however, that in his cooler moments our captain freely condemned19 himself.
“‘Humph!’ is a very expressive20 word,” observed Paul, “and in some sense satisfactory to those who utter it, but it is ambiguous. Do you mean to deny, Master Trench, that some of your late crew were very good fellows? and don’t you admit that Little Stubbs and Squill and Grummidge were first-rate specimens21 of—”
“I don’t admit or deny anything!” said the captain, rising, with a light laugh, “and I have no intention of engaging in a controversy22 with you before breakfast. Come, Olly, blow up the fire, and go to work with your pork and cakes. I’ll fetch some more wood, and Paul will help me, no doubt.”
With a good grace Paul dropped the discussion and went to work. In a few minutes breakfast was not only ready, but consumed; for a certain measure of anxiety as to the probability of there being an available path to the top of the cliffs tended to hasten their proceedings23.
The question was soon settled, for after ascending24 a few yards above their encampment they found an indentation or crevice25 in the cliff which led into an open spot—a sort of broader shelf—which sloped upwards26, and finally conducted them to the summit.
Here, to their surprise, they discovered that their new home, instead of being, as they had supposed it, one of a series of large islands, was in truth a territory of vast, apparently27 boundless28, extent, covered with dense29 forests. Far as the eye could reach, interminable woods presented themselves, merging30, in the far distance, into what appeared to be a range of low hills.
“Newfoundland is bigger than we have been led to believe,” said Paul Burns, surveying the prospect31 with great satisfaction.
“Ay is it,” responded Trench. “The fact is that discoverers of new lands, bein’ naturally in ships, have not much chance to go far inland. In a country like this, with such a wild seaboard, it’s no wonder they have made mistakes. We will find out the truth about it now, however, for we’ll undertake a land voyage of discovery.”
“What! without arms or provisions, father?” asked Oliver.
“What d’ye call the two things dangling32 from your shoulders, boy?” returned the captain, with some severity; “are these not ‘arms’? and have not woods—generally got lakes in ’em and rivers which usually swarm33 with provisions?”
“That’s so, father,” returned the lad, somewhat abashed34; “but I did not raise the question as a difficulty, only I’ve heard you sometimes say that a ship is not fit for sea till she is well-armed and provisioned, so I thought that it might be the same with land expeditions.”
Before the skipper could reply, Paul drew attention to an opening in the woods not far from them, where an animal of some kind was seen to emerge into an open space, gaze for a moment around it, and then trot35 quietly away.
“Some of our provisions—uncooked as yet,” remarked Oliver.
“More of them,” returned his father, pointing to a covey of birds resembling grouse36, which flashed past them at the moment on whirring wings. “How we are to get hold of ’em, however, remains37, of course, to be seen.”
“There are many ways of getting hold of them, and with some of these I am familiar,” said Paul. “For instance, I can use the long-bow with some skill—at least I could do so when at school. And I have no doubt, captain, that you know how to use the cross-bow?”
“That I do,” returned Trench, with a broad grin.
“I was noted38 at school as bein’ out o’ sight the worst shot in the neighbourhood where I lived. Indeed, I’ve bin39 known to miss a barn-door at twenty yards!”
“Well, well, you must learn to shoot, that’s all,” said Paul, “and you may, perchance, turn out better with the sling40. That weapon did great execution, as no doubt you know, in the hands of King David.”
“Why, Olly, my boy, excitement seems to have confused your brain, or the air of Newfoundland disagrees with you,” said Paul. “We shall make them, of course. But come,” he added, in a more serious tone, “we have reached a point—I may say a crisis—in our lives, for we must now decide definitely what we shall do, and I pray God to direct us so that we may do only that which is right and wise. Are you prepared, captain, to give up all hope of returning to our shipmates?”
“Of course I am,” returned Trench firmly, while a slight frown gathered on his brow. “The few who are on our side could not make the rest friendly. They may now fight it out amongst themselves as best they can, for all that I care. We did not forsake42 them. They sent us away. Besides, we could not return, if we wished it ever so much. No; a grand new country has been opened up to us, and I mean to have a cruise of exploration. What say you, Olly?”
“I’m with ’ee, father!” answered the boy, with a nod of the head that was even more emphatic43 than the tone of his voice.
With a laugh at Oliver’s enthusiasm, Paul declared himself to be of much the same mind, and added that, as they had no boxes to pack or friends to bid farewell to, they should commence the journey there and then.
“I don’t agree with that,” said the captain.
“Why not, Master Trench?”
“Because we have not yet made our weapons, and it may be that we shall have some good chances of getting supplies at the very beginning of our travels. My opinion is that we should arm ourselves before starting, for the pork and cakes cannot last long.”
This being at once recognised as sound advice, they entered the forest, which was not so thick at that place as it at first appeared to be. They went just far enough to enable them to obtain a species of hardwood, which the experienced eye of Paul Burns told them was suitable for bow-making. Here they pitched their camp. Paul took the axe44 and cut down several small trees; the captain gathered firewood, and Oliver set about the fabrication of a hut or booth, with poles, bark, turf, and leaves, which was to shelter them from rain if it should fall, though there was little chance of that, the weather being fine and settled at the time.
The work which they had undertaken was by no means as easy as they had anticipated. Paul had indeed made bows and arrows in former years, but then all the materials had been furnished “in the rough” to his hands, whereas he had now not only to select the tree best adapted to his purpose, but had to choose the best part of it, and to reduce that portion from a massive trunk to suitably slender proportions. It was much the same with the arrows and cross-bow bolts. However, there was resolution and perseverance45 in each member of the party far more than sufficient to overcome such little difficulties; only, as we have said, they were slower about it than had been expected, and the work was far from completed when the descent of night obliged them to seek repose46.
“Not a bad little bower47,” remarked Paul, as they sat down to supper in the primitive48 edifice49 which Oliver had erected50.
The said bower was about four feet high, eight wide, and five deep, of irregular form, with three sides and a roof; walls and roof being of the same material—branchy, leafy, and turfy. The fourth side was an open space in which the inhabitants sat, facing the fire. The latter, being large enough to roast a sheep whole, was built outside.
“Why, Olly, you’re a selfish fellow,” said the captain, during a pause in the meal; “you’ve thought only of yourself in building this bower. Just look at Paul’s feet. They are sticking out ten or twelve inches beyond our shelter!”
“That comes of his being so tall, daddy. But it does not matter much. If it should come on to rain he can draw his feet inside; there’s room enough to double up. Don’t you think so, Paul?”
But Paul replied not, save by a gentle snore, for he was a healthy man, and child-like in many respects, especially in the matter of going off to the land of Nod the moment his head touched his pillow. Possibly the fresh air, the excitement, the energy with which he had wrought51, and the relish52 with which he had supped, intensified53 this tendency on the present occasion. Oliver very soon followed his friend’s example, and so Captain Trench was left to meditate54 beside the fire. He gazed into its glowing embers, or sometimes glanced beyond it towards an open space where a tiny rivulet55 glittered in the moonlight, and a little cascade56 sent its purling music into the still air.
Ere long he passed from the meditative57 to the blinking stage. Then he turned his eyes on the sleepers, smiled meekly58 once or twice and nodded to them—quite inadvertently! After that he stretched his bulky frame beside them, and resigned himself to repose.
Now, it is probable that we should have had nothing more to record in reference to that first night in Newfoundland if Captain Trench had been in the habit of taking his rest like ordinary mortals, but such was not his habit. He bounced in his sleep! Why he did so no one could ever find out. He himself denied the “soft impeachment,” and, in his waking moments, was wont59 to express disbelief as well as profound ignorance in regard to the subject. Several broken beds, however, had, in the course of his career, testified against him; but, like the man who blamed “the salmon,” not “the whisky,” for his headaches, Trench blamed “the beds,” not “the bouncing,” for his misfortunes.
One might have counted him safe with the solid earth of Newfoundland for his bed, but danger often lurks60 where least expected. Oliver Trench was not an architect either by nature or training. His bower had been erected on several false principles. The bouncing of a big man inside was too much for its infirm constitution. Its weak points were discovered by the captain. A bounce into one of its salient supports proved fatal, and the structure finally collapsed61, burying its family in a compost of earth and herbage.
With a roar that would have done credit to a native walrus62, the captain struggled to free himself, under the impression that a band of savages63 had attacked them. All three quickly threw off the comparatively light material that covered them, and stood in warlike attitudes for a few seconds, glancing around for foes65 who did not exist! Then the roar of alarm was transformed into shouts of laughter, but these were quickly checked by a real foe64 who crept up insidiously66 and leaped on them unexpectedly. The half-extinguished fire, having been replenished67 by the falling structure—much of which was dry and inflammable—caught on the roof and flashed down into the interior.
“Ay, ay, father,” replied the son.
Paul meanwhile grasped the half-finished bows and arrows in his arms, and thus their little all was rescued from the flames. Of course, the bower was utterly69 consumed, but that caused them little grief. Having extinguished the flames, they all lay down to finish off the night under a neighbouring tree, and even its architect became so oblivious70 of what had occurred that he employed the remainder of his slumbering71 hours in dreaming of the home in old England, and of that dear mother whose last letter was still carefully guarded in the pocket of the coat that covered his ardent72 little bosom.
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1
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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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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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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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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9
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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10
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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15
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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18
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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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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21
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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22
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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merging
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| 合并（分类） | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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32
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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33
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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40
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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41
slings
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| 抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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42
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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43
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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44
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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45
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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46
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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47
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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48
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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49
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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50
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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51
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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52
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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53
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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55
rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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56
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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58
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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59
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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60
lurks
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| n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式） | |
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61
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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walrus
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| n.海象 | |
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63
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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64
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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66
insidiously
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| 潜在地，隐伏地，阴险地 | |
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67
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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68
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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69
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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70
oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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71
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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