The singular existence of the five in the little hollow in the haunted island endured much longer. The great cold had come early, and it held the earth fast in its grasp. The ice grew thicker on the lake beneath the snow, and winds that would freeze one to the marrow1 swept over its surface. Fortunately, there was plenty of fallen wood on the island, and they never allowed the fire in Hart's furnace to go out. They never built it up high, but a bed of coals was always smoldering2 there, sending out grateful light and heat.
Henry and Ross scouted3 at intervals5, but only as a matter of habit rather than necessary precaution. They knew that the danger of an attack at such a time had decreased to the vanishing point. Now Paul became for a while the central figure of what he called their little colony. His mental resources were in great demand, and for the sake of his comrades he drew willingly upon his stores of learning. In the evening, when they were all sitting before the coals, and could just see one another's faces in the faint light, Paul would tell what he had read about other times and other lands. He knew the outlines of ancient history, and the victories of Hannibal, Alexander, and Cæsar suffered nothing at his hands, though Alexander, as before, was condemned6 by Shif'less Sol and Ross. Paul, moreover, had both the dramatic and poetic7 sense, and he made these far-away heroes, of whom Jim Hart had never heard before, actually live in the little cabin.
"It 'pears to me," said Shif'less Sol reflectively, "that that feller Hannibal wuz jest about the finest fighter o' them all. Ef, ez you say, Paul, he had to hire all kinds o' strangers an' barbarians9, too, like the red Injuns out thar in the woods, an' lead sech a mixed lot up ag'in the Romans, who were no slouches in a fracas10, an' whip 'em over an' over ag'in, on thar own groun', too, then I call him about the smartest o' all them old fellers. But he shore had the luck ag'in' him, an' I admire the man who kin8 stan' up an' fight the odds11."
"He has my sympathy," said Paul.
"What did them old-time fellers eat?" asked Jim Hart.
"Mostly vegetables and grain," replied Paul.
"No wonder they're dead," said Jim Hart solemnly. "I can't fight an' I can't march good on anything but buffalo12 steak an' venison an' things uv that kind. I has to have meat."
Then Jim rose gravely, and looked at what he called his kitchen.
"'Nough to last three or four weeks," he said. "We'll shorely get fat an' lazy layin' roun' here an' doin' nothin' but eatin' an' sleepin' an' listenin' to Paul's tales."
"You ought to appreciate your chance, Jim Hart," said Shif'less Sol. "Ef me an' Paul wuz to work on you about a hundred years, maybe we might make you into a sort o' imitation o' a eddicated man. But I reckon we'd have to work all the time."
"You an eddicated man!" said Jim Hart indignantly. "Why, readin' a book is harder work to you than choppin' wood, an' they say you won't chop wood 'less two big, strong men stand by you an' make you."
"Never min'," said Shif'less Sol complacently13; "I know I ain't had much chances to become eddicated, but I hev the natur' o' an eddicated man. My mind jest glows at the idea uv learnin', an' I respecks eddication with a deep an' lastin' respeck."
Then both stopped to hear Paul begin the story of Troy for the second time, but when he came to the death of Hector he would have to stop to let Shif'less Sol utter what he called a "few cuss words." Hector, like Hannibal, had the sympathy of everyone, and Sol spoke14 for them all when he said: "'Twa'n't fair o' that air goddess Minerver hoppin' in an' helpin' A-Killus when Hector might hev a-slew him in a fair battle. Women ain't got no business mixin' in a fight. Whenever they do they allus help the wrong feller. I've no doubt that ef me an' Jim Hart was a-hittin' an' a-wrastlin', an' hevin' the terriblest fight you ever heard on, ef any woman wuz to come along she'd pull me off the ornery, long-legged, knock-kneed, ugly Jim Hart—an' me a handsome man, too."
"I wonder all the ice on the lake don't melt when it sees your face, Sol Hyde," retorted Jim Hart scornfully.
"I don't think much uv them old Greeks an' Trojans," said Tom Ross, who seldom delivered himself at length. "'Pears to me they had pow'ful cur'us ways uv fightin'. Think uv a feller, when he feels like takin' a scalp, comin' out before the hull15 army an' beatin' a big brass16 shield till it rattled17 like a tin pan, an' then, when he got 'em all to lookin' an' listenin', hollerin' at the top uv his voice, 'I'm A-Killus, Defyer uv the Lightnin', Slayer18 uv the Trojans, the terriblest fighter the world ever seed! I pick up a ship in my right ban', an' throw it, with all the sailors in it, over a hill! When I look at the sun, it goes out, skeered to death! I've made more widders an' orphans19 than any other ten thousan' men that ever lived.' 'Pears to me them wuz the pow'fullest boasters that ever wuz born. Why, what they said wuz mostly lies. 'Twas bound to be so, an' their ways uv fightin' wuz plumb20 foolishness. Why, ef A-Killus wuz to come along nowadays, beatin' his brass shield in the face an' hollerin' out his big words, some Shawnee layin' behind a rock would send a bullet through his head, jest ez easy ez knockin' over a rabbit, an' thet would be the end uv Mr. A-Killus, an' a good thing fur all, too."
"But there were no Shawnees and no rifles on the plains of Troy, Tom," said Paul.
"What uv it?" exclaimed Ross in hot indignation. "They didn't fight fair, anyway. It's jest ez Sol sez—whut did all them women goddesses mean by interferin' an' allus sp'ilin' a good stan'-up fight? Now, ez Paul tells it, Ole Jupe, a-settin' up on his golden throne, wuz willin' to tote fair an' let the Greeks an' Trojans fight it out among theirselves, but the women critters, whut had more power than wuz good fur 'em, couldn't keep their hands off. Every one uv 'em hed a fav'rite either among the Greeks or the Trojans, an' she had to go snoopin' 'roun', makin' his enemy see double, or throwin' a cloud over him so he couldn't see at all, or pumpin' all the blood out uv his veins21 an' fillin' 'em full uv water in the place. Why, there ain't a Shawnee or Miami in all these woods thet would he mean enough to take sech an' advantage ez askin' to be helped out by a squaw thet knowed witchcraft22. Ez fur thet Paris feller, he wouldn't a-lived a week down in Kain-tuck-ee!"
"But all this happened a long, long time ago, Tom, when ways were different," said Paul.
Henry always listened with attention to these stories, and the sight of Paul's flushed face and vivid eyes, as he talked, would please him. He understood Paul. He knew that his comrade's mind ranged over not only the wilderness23 in which they dwelt, but over the whole world, and far into past and future times. Hence he respected Paul with a deep respect.
Presently the cold abated24 a little—just enough to let the surface of the ice and snow soften25 a bit, and make walking easier. Then Henry and Ross crossed once more to the mainland, partly to scout4 and partly to hunt. They easily killed a large deer which was half-imbedded in a snowdrift, and might have taken a fine cow buffalo in the same way; but, as the deer was enough, they spared her. They dressed the body of the deer where it had fallen, and, carrying it between them, started back. With instinctive26 caution they kept to the thickest part of the forest, wishing to be hidden as much as possible by the tree trunks, and they plodded27 along in silence, carrying their burden easily, because the two were very, very strong. Near the edge of the lake, but still in dense28 forest, Henry paused and looked down. Tom Ross also paused and looked down, his glance following Henry's. It was never necessary for these two to say much to each other. They did not talk about things, they saw them.
"Tracks of two Indians and one white," said Henry.
"Yes," said Tom Ross. "White is Braxton Wyatt, uv course. He's still hangin' about the Miami village."
"And perhaps suspecting that we are yet in these parts."
"Uv course. An' maybe thar will be trouble."
They said no more, but each understood. Their own trail would be left in the snow, and the sight of it would confirm all the suspicions of Wyatt and the savages29. Some such chance as this they had always expected, and now they prepared to deal with it. They turned back into the forest, carrying with them the body of the deer, as they were resolved not to abandon it. Both had noticed that the slight abatement30 of the cold was not lasting31. In an hour or two it would be as chill as ever, and once more the surface of the snow would be icy.
They stayed several hours in a dense clump32 of trees and bushes, and then, half walking, half sliding, they resumed their journey, but now they left no trail. Each also had every sense alert, and nothing could come within sound or sight and not be perceived first by these two wonderful trailers, masters of their craft. They reached the edge of the lake in the twilight33, and then they sped swiftly over the ice to their island home.
"I'm thinking," said Henry Ware34, at a council a little later, "that Braxton Wyatt suspects we're here. He, of course, does not believe in the Indian superstitions35, and maybe he'll persuade them to search the island."
"An' since they kin come over the ice, we can't beat 'em off ez easy ez we could ef they came in canoes in the water," said Shif'less Sol. "I see trouble ahead fur a tired man."
Paul had been saying nothing, only sitting in a corner of the hut and listening intently to the others. Now his face flushed and his eyes sparkled with light, as they would always do whenever a great idea suddenly came to him.
"If Braxton Wyatt undertakes to persuade them there are no ghosts," he said, "it is for us to persuade them that there are."
"What do you mean, Paul?" asked Henry.
"We must show the ghosts to them."
Silence for a half minute followed. Then Shif'less Sol spoke up.
"Meanin' ourselves?" he said.
"Yes," said Paul.
The others looked at his glowing face, and they were impressed.
"Just how?" said Henry.
"If the Miamis come at all, they will come in the night, and that is when ghosts should appear. I'll be a ghost and Jim Hart will be another. The rest of you can lay hidden, ready to use the rifles if they are needed."
"Well planned!" said Henry Ware. "We'll do it."
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1
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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smoldering
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| v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 ) | |
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3
scouted
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| 寻找，侦察( scout的过去式和过去分词 )； 物色（优秀运动员、演员、音乐家等） | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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5
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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6
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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7
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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8
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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9
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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10
fracas
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| n.打架；吵闹 | |
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11
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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12
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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13
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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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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15
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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16
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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slayer
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| n. 杀人者，凶手 | |
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orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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24
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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25
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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26
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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27
plodded
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| v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作） | |
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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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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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30
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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31
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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32
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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33
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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34
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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35
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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