Between the two, his white, frightened face showing above the current as he clung with might and main to a log, was Persimmons. This log, evidently the trunk of a tree which had fallen from its foothold beside the path on the depot[26] side of the torrent, reached out some twenty feet above the devil’s caldron of the stream. The roots and the main part of the trunk rested on the shore. That portion that projected over the water was nothing more than a slender pole. The freshets of spring had swept it clean of branch or limb. It was as bare as a flag-staff.
Under it the green water rushed frantically6 on toward a fall that lay beyond the trestle. The voice of the cataract7 was plainly audible in their ears, although in the extremity8 of their fear for Persimmons they gave it no heed9. It was almost at the end of this frail10 support that the boy was clinging. Only his head and shoulders were above the water, which dragged malignantly11 at him, trying to tear loose his hold. It was plain at once that flesh and blood could not stand the strain long. If they did not act to save him, and that quickly, Percy Simmons was doomed12 speedily to be swept from his hold and hurtled to[27] the falls and—but they did not dare dwell upon that thought.
How the boy could have got where he was, was for the present a mystery. But there he was, almost at the end of the slender tree trunk, which whipped under the strain of his weight.
“Can you hold on?” shouted Ralph, using the first words that came into his head.
They saw Persimmons’ lips move, but could not hear his reply.
“Don’t make him speak; he needs every ounce of breath he has,” said the professor, whose face was ashen13 white under his tan. The boys were hardly less pale. They looked about them despairingly.
“We must find a rope and get it out to him,” cried Harry14 Ware15.
“But how? Nobody could maintain a foothold on that log,” declared Ralph.
“We might drift it down to him,” suggested the station agent; “get on the bank further up[28] and allow the current to carry down a loop that he could grab.”
“That’s a good idea,” cried the professor, hailing any solution of their quandary16 with joy, “have you got a rope?”
“Yes, in the shack17 above. I’ll get it in a jiffy.”
Before he had finished speaking, the man was off, racing18 up the rocky path as fast as his legs could carry him.
“Hold on, Perce!” cried Ralph encouragingly, waving his hand. “We’ll get you out of that in no time.”
They saw poor Persimmons’ lips try to frame a pitiful smile, but the next instant a wave of foam dashed over him. After what seemed an agony of waiting, but which was in reality only a few minutes, the agent reappeared with several yards of light but strong rope.
“Now we shan’t be long,” he said encouragingly, as he rapidly formed a loop in it.
No sooner was this done, than Ralph seized the[29] rope and tried to throw it over Persimmons’ head like a lasso. He had learned to throw a rope like a cowboy on the Border, but this time either the feat19 was beyond his skill, or he was too unnerved to do it properly. At any rate, at each attempt the throw fell short, and the current whirled the lifeline out of their comrade’s reach.
Fortunately, Persimmons had managed, by this time, to brace20 his feet against an out-cropping rock, and so give his overstrained arms some relief. But it was obvious that, even with this aid, he could not hold on much longer.
Nothing remained but to try the plan that the agent had suggested, namely, to carry the rope up the bank a little and try to drift it down stream. With a prayer on his lips, Ralph made the first cast. The rope fell on the water in what appeared to be just the spot for the current to carry it down to the boy they were trying to rescue.
But their joy was short lived. Having carried[30] the loop a short way, a viciously swirling eddy caught it and sucked it under the surface. It became entangled21 in a rock, and they had much ado to get it back ashore22 at all.
A sigh that was almost a groan23 broke from Ralph as he saw the futility24 of his cast. It looked like the last chance to save the boy whose life depended on their reaching him quickly. It was out of the question to get out on the slender, swaying end of the trunk to which young Simmons was clinging. Not one of them but was too heavy to risk it. And, in the event of the trunk snapping, they knew only too well what would ensue. A brief struggle, and their comrade would be swept to the falls, from which he could not possibly emerge alive.
“We must save him!” panted Ralph, “but how—how?”
“The only way is to get the rope to him,” said the professor.
“And we can’t accomplish that unless—I think[31] I can do it, professor,” broke off Ralph suddenly.
“What do you mean to do?”
“To straddle that log and get the rope out to him in that way.”
“Nonsense, it would not bear your weight even if you could balance on it.”
But Ralph begged so hard to be allowed to put his plan into execution that the professor was at last forced to give way and consent to his trying the perilous25 feat.
“But come back the instant you are convinced you are in danger,” he commanded; “remember, I am in charge of you boys.”
Ralph eagerly gave the required bond. Fastening the rope to his waist, he straddled the narrow trunk and gingerly began working himself forward toward his imperiled chum.
He got along all right till he was in a position where his feet began to be clawed at by the hurrying waters below. He swayed, recovered[32] himself by a desperate effort, and then once more began his snail-like progress. The sight of Persimmons’ blue lips and white cheeks, for in that land the waters are almost as cold in midsummer as in the depth of winter, gave him fresh determination to continue his hazardous26 mission.
But even the most determined27 will cannot always overcome material obstacles. A chunk28 of driftwood was swept against Ralph’s feet. He was almost overbalanced by the force of the blow. The watchers on shore saw him strive wildly for an instant to recover his equilibrium29, and then a cry of alarm broke from their lips as they saw the boy suddenly lose his balance completely and topple off the trunk into the stream.
“The rope! Haul on the rope!” shouted the professor, as Ralph vanished, to reappear an instant later fighting for his life in the relentless30 torrent.
Well it was for the boy then, that he had tied the rope to his waist. Had he not done so, the[33] moment might have been his last, for even the strongest swimmer that ever breasted water would have been but a helpless infant in that titanic31 current.
They all laid hold of the rope and pulled with every ounce of muscle their combined forces could command. But, even then, so strongly did the swiftly dashing stream suck at its victim that it was all they could do to get him ashore. Blue and shivering from cold, however, Ralph finally found footing and scrambled32 up the bank. Then, and not till then—such had been the strain—did they recollect33 Persimmons.
For an instant they hardly dared to look up. They feared that the end of the long log might prove to be tenantless34. But, to their unspeakable relief, Persimmons still was clinging there. But even as they gave a shout of joy at the sight of him, another thought rushed in. Of what avail was it that the boy was there, when there appeared no possible way of getting him out of his predicament?
[34]
Were they to stand there helplessly and see him swept to his death before their very eyes? Was there nothing they could do? No untried way of getting that precious rope to him?
It appeared that the answer to these questions must be in the negative.
“Great heaven!” burst from the professor’s pale lips, and his voice sounded harsh and rough as if his throat was as dry as ashes. “Can’t we do anything? Can none of you suggest a way?”
“I tink I can get dat rope out dere, if you’ll gimme a chanct, boss,” piped a voice at his elbow.
They all looked around. It was Jimmie, whom, in the stress of the last minutes, they had forgotten as completely as if he had never existed. But now here he was, repeating, with calm assurance, but no braggadocio35, his offer:
“I tink I can get it to him, if you’ll gimme a chanct.”
点击收听单词发音
1 swirling | |
v.旋转,打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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2 torrent | |
n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
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3 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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4 eddy | |
n.漩涡,涡流 | |
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5 seethed | |
(液体)沸腾( seethe的过去式和过去分词 ); 激动,大怒; 强压怒火; 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
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6 frantically | |
ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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7 cataract | |
n.大瀑布,奔流,洪水,白内障 | |
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8 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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9 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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10 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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11 malignantly | |
怀恶意地; 恶毒地; 有害地; 恶性地 | |
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12 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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13 ashen | |
adj.灰的 | |
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14 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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15 ware | |
n.(常用复数)商品,货物 | |
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16 quandary | |
n.困惑,进迟两难之境 | |
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17 shack | |
adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚 | |
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18 racing | |
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的 | |
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19 feat | |
n.功绩;武艺,技艺;adj.灵巧的,漂亮的,合适的 | |
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20 brace | |
n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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21 entangled | |
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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23 groan | |
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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24 futility | |
n.无用 | |
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25 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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26 hazardous | |
adj.(有)危险的,冒险的;碰运气的 | |
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27 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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28 chunk | |
n.厚片,大块,相当大的部分(数量) | |
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29 equilibrium | |
n.平衡,均衡,相称,均势,平静 | |
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30 relentless | |
adj.残酷的,不留情的,无怜悯心的 | |
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31 titanic | |
adj.巨人的,庞大的,强大的 | |
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32 scrambled | |
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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33 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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34 tenantless | |
adj.无人租赁的,无人居住的 | |
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35 braggadocio | |
n.吹牛大王 | |
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