Mountain Jim Bothwell uttered the exclamation1 as he gazed at the immense pile of baggage labeled H. D. Ware2.
“Say, who is H. D. Ware, anyhow? He goin’ to start a hotel hereabouts? When’s the wagons3 comin’ for all this truck?”
“That’s my camping equipment,” struck in “H. D. Ware,” looking rather red and uncomfortable under the appraising5 blue eye of Mountain Jim.
“Young feller,” spoke6 Jim solemnly, “you’d need an ocean liner to transport all that duffle. We ain’t goin’ to sea; we’re goin’ inter7 the mountains. What you got in there, anyhow?”
[46]
“Dingbats,” said Ralph quietly, a mischievous8 smile playing about his mouth.
“Dingbats? Great Bells of Scotland, what’s them?”
“The things that the sporting goods catalogues say no camper should be without,” exclaimed Ralph; “we told him, but it wasn’t any good.”
“Well, my mother said I was to have every comfort,” said poor Hardware, crimsoning9 under the guide’s amused scrutiny10. “When we were camping in Maine——”
“When you were camping in Maine, I don’t doubt you had a cook——”
Hardware nodded. He had to admit that, like most wealthy New Yorkers, his parents’ ideas of “a camp” had been a sort of independent summer hotel under canvas.
“Well, young fellow, let me tell you something. From what the professor here wrote me, you young fellers came up here to rough it. I’m goin’ to see that you do. The cooking will mostly be[47] done by you and your chums; your elders will—will eat it, and that’ll be sufficient punishment for them.”
“But—but I’ve just engaged a lad to aid with the cooking and help out generally,” struck in the professor.
“That’s all right,” responded Mountain Jim airily, eying Jimmie, whose clothes, since they had been dried by the agent’s cook stove, looked worse than before, “that kid seems all right, and he can take his turn with the others. In the mountains it’s share and share alike, you know, and no favors. That’s the rule up this way.”
The boys looked rather dismayed. Already the standards of the city were being swept aside. Evidently this mountaineer looked upon all men and boys as being alike, provided they did their share of the work set before them.
Ralph, alone, whose wild life on the Border had already done for him what the Rockies were to perform for his companions, viewed the guide[48] with approval. He knew that out in the wilderness11, be it mountain or plain, certain false standards of caste and station count for nothing. As Coyote Pete had been wont12 to say in those old days along the Border, “It ain’t the hide that counts, it’s the man underneath13 it.”
“First thing to do is to sort out some of this truck and see what you do need and what you don’t,” decided14 Mountain Jim presently. “Most times it’s the things that you think you kain’t get along without that you kin4, and the things you think you kin that you kain’t.”
“That’s right,” agreed Ralph heartily15. “Daniel Boone, on his first journey into Kentucky, managed to worry along on pinole and salt, and relied for everything else on his old rifle and flint and steel.”
“Never heard of the gentleman,” said Mountain Jim, “but he must uv been a good woodsman. Now let’s get to work and sort out this truck.”
[49]
Ruthlessly the travelers’ kits16 were torn open, and it was amazing, when Mountain Jim got through, what a huge pile of things that he declared unnecessary were heaped upon the depot17 platform. As for poor Hardware’s “dingbats,” a new kind of compass and a hunting knife that met with Jim’s approval, alone remained.
“All this stuff can stay here till you get ready to come back,” said Jim; “the station agent will look after it and see that it is put in the freight shed.”
But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Out of the rejected “Dingbats” a fine hunting suit, axe18, knife and compass were found for Jimmie, who, indeed, stood sadly in need of them. When the boy had retired19 to the station agent’s room and dressed himself in his new garments, the change in him was so remarkable20, when he reappeared, as to be nothing less than striking. In the place of the ragged21 looking Bowery boy, they saw a well set-up lad in natty[50] hunting outfit22. A trifle emaciated23 he was, to be sure, but “We’ll soon fill him out with hard work and good grub,” declared Mountain Jim, who had been told the boy’s story, and who had warmly praised his heroism24 in rescuing Persimmons.
The latter had also changed his wet garments and was in his usual bubbling spirits when they were ready, in Ralph’s phrase, to “hit the trail.” This was not till nearly noon, however, for the rejection25 of the superfluous26 “Dingbats,” of which even Ralph and the professor were found to have a few, had occupied much time. Then, after hearty27 adieus to the station agent, who had incidentally been the recipient28 of a generous gratuity29 from the professor, they mounted their ponies30 and, with Mountain Jim in the lead, started on their long journey into the wilds. Jimmy, whose circus experience had taught him how to ride, was mounted on one of the pack[51] animals, for, such had been Mountain Jim’s ruthless rejection of “Dingbats,” only a tithe31 of the expected “pack” remained.
Up the trail they mounted at an easy pace under the big pines that shook out honey-sweet odors as the little cavalcade32 passed beneath them. At the summit of the rocky cliff that towered above the depot, the trail plunged33 abruptly34 into a dense35, black tunnel of tamarack, pine and Douglas firs.
As the horses’ hoofs36 rang clear on the rocky trail and echoed among the columnular trunks that shot up on every side like the pillars of some vast cathedral roof, Mountain Jim broke into dolorous37 song:
“Hokey pokey winky wang;
Linkum, lankum muscodang;
The Injuns swore that th-e-y would h-a-n-g
Them that couldn’t keep w-a-r-m!”
[52]
Over and over he sang it, while the shod hoofs clattered39 out a metallic40 accompaniment to the droning air.
“Can we ride ahead a bit?” asked Ralph after a while, for the monotony of keeping pace with the pack animals and the constant repetition of Mountain Jim’s song began to grow wearisome.
“Sure; go ahead. You can’t get lost. The trail runs straight ahead. The only way to get off it is to fall off,” said Jim cheerfully, drawing out and filling with black tobacco a villainous-looking old pipe.
“Don’t get into any trouble,” warned the professor, who had been provided with a quiet horse, and who was intent, as he rode along, on a volume dealing41 with the geological formation of the Canadian Rockies.
“We’ll be careful! So long! Come on, boys,” shouted back Ralph, as he struck his heels into his pony42.
Off they clattered up the trail, the rocks ringing[53] with their excited voices till the sound died away in the distance. Jimmie alone remained behind. He felt that his duty as general assistant demanded it. When the last echo of the ponies’ hoofs had died out, Mountain Jim turned to the professor with a profound wink38.
“I can see where we have our hands full this trip, professor,” he remarked, as they ambled43 easily along.
The professor looked up from his book and sighed.
“Really, I wonder my hair is not snow white,” he said mildly. “But surely that is a fine specimen44 of Aethusa Cijnapium I see yonder!”
“Oh, that,” said Mountain Jim, gazing at the feathery plant indicated, which grew in great profusion45 at the trail side, “that’s ‘fool’s parsley.’”
“O-h-h!” said the professor.
He might have said more, but at that instant from the trail ahead, came a series of shouts[54] and yells that made it appear as if a troop of rampant46 Indians was on the war-path. The sharp crack of a rifle sounded, followed by silence.
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1
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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2
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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3
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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4
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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appraising
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| v.估价( appraise的现在分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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6
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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7
inter
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| v.埋葬 | |
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8
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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9
crimsoning
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| 变为深红色（crimson的现在分词形式） | |
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10
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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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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12
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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13
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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14
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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15
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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16
kits
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| 衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件 | |
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17
depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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18
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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19
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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23
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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24
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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25
rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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26
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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27
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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28
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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29
gratuity
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| n.赏钱，小费 | |
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30
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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31
tithe
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| n.十分之一税；v.课什一税，缴什一税 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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33
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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34
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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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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36
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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37
dolorous
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| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
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38
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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39
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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40
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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41
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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42
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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43
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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44
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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45
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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46
rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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