But there was another whose view of duty led him from safety into the face of danger. All night the Franciscan had watched De Catinat as a miser6 watches his treasure, filled with the thought that this heretic was the one little seed which might spread and spread until it choked the chosen vineyard of the Church. Now when he saw him rush so suddenly down the ladder, every fear was banished7 from his mind save the overpowering one that he was about to lose his precious charge. He, too, clambered down at the very heels of his prisoner, and rushed into the stream not ten paces behind him.
And so the watchers at the window saw the strangest of sights. There, in mid-stream, lay the canoe, with a ring of dark warriors8 clustering in the stern, and the two women crouching9 in the midst of them. Swimming madly towards them was De Catinat, rising to the shoulders with the strength of every stroke, and behind him again was the tonsured10 head of the friar, with his brown capote and long trailing gown floating upon the surface of the water behind him. But in his zeal11 he had thought too little of his own powers. He was a good swimmer, but he was weighted and hampered12 by his unwieldy clothes. Slower and slower grew his stroke, lower and lower his head, until at last with a great shriek13 of In manus tuas, Domine! he threw up his hands, and vanished in the swirl14 of the river. A minute later the watchers, hoarse15 with screaming to him to return, saw De Catinat pulled aboard the Iroquois canoe, which was instantly turned and continued its course up the river.
“My God!” cried Amos hoarsely16. “They have taken him. He is lost.”
“I have seen some strange things in these forty years, but never the like of that!” said Du Lhut.
The seigneur took a little pinch of snuff from his gold box, and flicked17 the wandering grains from his shirt-front with his dainty lace handkerchief.
“Monsieur de Catinat has acted like a gentleman of France,” said he. “If I could swim now as I did thirty years ago, I should be by his side.”
Du Lhut glanced round him and shook his head. “We are only six now,” said he. “I fear they are up to some devilry because they are so very still.”
“They are leaving the house!” cried the censitaire, who was peeping through one of the side windows. “What can it mean? Holy Virgin18, is it possible that we are saved? See how they throng19 through the trees. They are making for the canoe. Now they are waving their arms and pointing.”
“There is the gray hat of that mongrel devil amongst them,” said the captain. “I would try a shot upon him were it not a waste of powder and lead.”
“I have hit the mark at as long a range,” said Amos, pushing his long brown gun through a chink in the barricade20 which they had thrown across the lower half of the window. “I would give my next year’s trade to bring him down.”
“It is forty paces further than my musket21 would carry,” remarked Du Lhut, “but I have seen the English shoot a great way with those long guns.”
Amos took a steady aim, resting his gun upon the window sill, and fired. A shout of delight burst from the little knot of survivors22. The Flemish Bastard23 had fallen. But he was on his feet again in an instant and shook his hand defiantly24 at the window.
“Curse it!” cried Amos bitterly, in English. “I have hit him with a spent ball. As well strike him with a pebble25.”
“Nay, curse not, Amos, lad, but try him again with another pinch of powder if your gun will stand it.”
The woodsman thrust in a full charge, and chose a well-rounded bullet from his bag, but when he looked again both the Bastard and his warriors had disappeared. On the river the single Iroquois canoe which held the captives was speeding south as swiftly as twenty paddles could drive it, but save this one dark streak26 upon the blue stream, not a sign was to be seen of their enemies. They had vanished as if they had been an evil dream. There was the bullet-spotted stockade27, the litter of dead bodies inside it, the burned and roofless cottages, but the silent woods lay gleaming in the morning sunshine as quiet and peaceful as if no hell-burst of fiends had ever broken out from them.
“By my faith, I believe that they have gone!” cried the seigneur.
“Take care that it is not a ruse,” said Du Lhut. “Why should they fly before six men when they have conquered sixty?”
But the censitaire had looked out of the other window, and in an instant he was down upon his knees with his hands in the air, and his powder blackened face turned upwards28, pattering out prayers and thanksgivings. His five comrades rushed across the room and burst into a shriek of joy. The upper reach of the river was covered with a flotilla of canoes from which the sun struck quick flashes as it shone upon the musket-barrels and trappings of the crews. Already they could see the white coats of the regulars, the brown tunics29 of the coureurs-debois, and the gaudy30 colours of the Hurons and Algonquins. On they swept, dotting the whole breadth of the river, and growing larger every instant, while far away on the southern bend, the Iroquois canoe was a mere31 moving dot which had shot away to the farther side and lost itself presently under the shadow of the trees. Another minute and the survivors were out upon the bank, waving their caps in the air, while the prows32 of the first of their rescuers were already grating upon the pebbles33. In the stern of the very foremost canoe sat a wizened34 little man with a large brown wig35, and a gilt-headed rapier laid across his knees. He sprang out as the keel touched bottom, splashing through the shallow water with his high leather boots, and rushing up to the seigneur, he flung himself into his arms.
“My dear Charles,” he cried, “you have held your house like a hero. What, only six of you! Tut, tut, this has been a bloody36 business!”
“I knew that you would not desert a comrade, Chambly. We have saved the house, but our losses have been terrible. My son is dead. My wife is in that Iroquois canoe in front of you.”
The commandant of Fort St. Louis pressed his friend’s hand in silent sympathy.
“The others arrived all safe,” he said at last. “Only that one was taken, on account of the breaking of a paddle. Three were drowned and two captured. There was a French lady in it, I understand, as well as madame.”
“Yes, and they have taken her husband as well.”
“Ah, poor souls! Well, if you are strong enough to join us, you and your friends, we shall follow after them without the loss of an instant. Ten of my men will remain to guard the house, and you can have their canoe. Jump in then, and forward, for life and death may hang upon our speed!”
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收听单词发音
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1
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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2
kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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3
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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6
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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7
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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9
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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10
tonsured
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| v.剃( tonsure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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12
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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14
swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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15
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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16
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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17
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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18
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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19
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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21
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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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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stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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29
tunics
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| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
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30
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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32
prows
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| n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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33
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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34
wizened
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| adj.凋谢的；枯槁的 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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36
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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