Never had Jake Utway taken a paddle in such a wild canoe race! It was impossible that the two fugitives2 should still be at liberty. The boy had given up hope long before they had reached the lake and taken the canoe; their furious progress across the half-mile of water had seemed the despairing effort of a dream; but here they were, miraculously3 ashore again, and for the moment still free. Yet the dream feeling still persisted; Jake moved his body as if he were wrapped in the twining coils of a nightmare, when horrors beset4 the sleeper5 and all efforts to escape the menacing shapes in pursuit are of no avail.
“Tired, partner?” asked Burk. The man seemed to be made of whipcord; he had taken the stern paddle in their mad dash, yet his set face showed no trace of anything but determination.
175
“I can keep going,” Jake managed to say.
“We’ll have to get somewhere else pretty quick.” Burk pointed6 toward the far shore from which they had come. “Look over there! See that little motorboat just pushing out? Well, I’m pretty sure that the people in it won’t take long to get over here and pick up our trail again. We’re in for it again—but at least we’ve got a few minutes’ start.”
“I’m ready. Which way?”
Burk shook his head. “We’ve just got to trust to our luck now. They’ve driven us out into the open; I’m not much good down here near town. There’s only one way we can go.”
They had landed on a little spit of gravel7 on the east side of Lake Wallis, almost directly across from the town. There must have been people over on the wharf8 who had seen them desert the canoe, who would put their pursuers on the track at once; even now, hostile eyes might be watching their every move.
176
“Don’t run—somebody may be watching us, and get suspicious,” warned the man, and set the example by walking rapidly away from the border of the lake. Jake, following, tried to smile; he felt that he couldn’t run even if his life depended upon it. They climbed a bushy slope, came out above in a little glade9 aglow10 with maple11 and sumach. Burk darted12 a look backward; the motorboat was already well on its way across, coming toward them with a feather of spray on either side of its bows.
“The state highway runs along here on this side somewhere,” remarked Burk. “We’ll have to keep away from it; it’s dangerous for us right now.”
He swerved13 to the right to avoid crossing the ribbon of asphalt that cut through the woods, and the two walked parallel to the files of telegraph wires lining14 the highway. For five minutes or so they followed a course which brought them ever nearer to Wallistown; and each of those passing minutes, they knew, brought the net of capture ever closer.
Suddenly Burk gave a sharp exclamation15, and pointed. “Something funny ahead!” he said warningly.
It was too late to turn back. A few yards before them, the highway bent16 toward them in a sharp angle. They stopped in their tracks, and looked on a strange scene.
177
The queerest vehicle Jake had ever seen was tilted17 drunkenly at the side of the road at the outer corner of the bend. “Half flivver, half covered wagon,” the boy described it to himself. Two little seats huddled18 behind the steering-wheel; the remainder of the chassis19 was roofed over by a spreading arc of canvas, patched and weatherworn, stretched over hoops20 fastened in the truck-like body of the car, from the rear of which hung down a few narrow steps. The right-hand wheel at the rear was firmly bedded in the ditch; the opposite wheel in front was raised several inches from the road. Two quaint21 figures stood mournfully gazing at the ditched wheel. One of these was a short, very fat woman of middle age. She stood with her stout22 arms akimbo, and with such a downcast look on her dark face that Jake almost burst out laughing. Her arms glittered with several bracelets23, and large rings dangled24 from her ears. The man at her side was also short and fat, and also wore earrings25, and in one hand swung a spreading black hat which, when worn, must have given him the appearance of an Italian bandit in a stage melodrama26. With his other hand he was scratching among his graying locks with a perplexed27 air.
He must have heard Burk and Jake approaching, for he wheeled about on his toes, and flashed a dazzling display of white teeth at them.
178
Jake had taken in the situation in an instant.
“We’ll help you get back on the road, Mister!” he said. “Come on, partner—let’s give them a hand!” He gripped the ditched wheel, and tried to lift it.
The little man danced about on his toes, while his wife swung back and forth28 until her bracelets and bangles tinkled29 in delight.
Burk was now at the front of the car. He pulled back the emergency brake lever, and Jake felt the strange vehicle starting to roll farther down into the ditch. He put all his strength against the tailboard; the little dark man was at his side. “Poosh—that’s right!” The boy heaved, his face red with exertion30; Burk had gripped the spokes31 of the wheel in the ditch, and was bending all his effort to force the car from its lodgment. The united strength of the three of them slowly shoved the strange little vehicle up the slanting32 grade, and in half a minute the car was back on the road again, headed toward Wallistown, no worse for its plunge33.
179
“Many, many thanks—many!” the dark man cried happily. He clapped his villainous-looking hat on his head, and scrambling34 into the seat, worked the levers and steering-wheel back and forth to see that no damage had been done. “You help fine! Come up, Maria!”
“Yes, you help fine!” the little man repeated. “Now we go. You go, too?”
“We’re going the same way you are,” said Jake quickly. “You—you couldn’t give us a lift, could you?”
“For sure! For sure!” Their new acquaintance was all smiles. “You help me fine! I help you a little bit maybe.”
They needed no second invitation and darted around to the tiny set of steps that hung from the tailboard, sprang one after the other through the slit35 in the canvas at the back, and tumbled into the body of the caravan36. An alarming pop-popping sounded in front; the wheels began to move, and the car rattled37 down the highway at the breath-taking speed of twenty miles an hour.
180
Jake looked around the interior of the strange van. Overhead arched the canvas roof, filtering the sunshine and splashed with moving shadows as the car journeyed down the road. He found himself sitting on the edge of a bunk38 built across the floor of the car, directly back of the driver’s seat now occupied by the ridiculous couple whom they had helped. In one corner was a small charcoal39 stove. The interior was heaped with all sorts of things: a little tin trunk, cooking pots, a cage with a canary chirping40 inside, bundles of clothing; from hooks swung more clothing, a lantern, a jangling bucket, a spare tire. “A regular house on wheels!” he told himself. “Wonder if these people are sure-enough gypsies?”
The little dark man’s head appeared as if by magic through an opening cut in the front of the canvas, his teeth showing white against his sweeping41 mustachios. “That ees right! Make yourselfs like at home, eh?”
“How far are you going?” Burk asked him. “To Wallistown?”
The car bumped and shook dangerously; the head was withdrawn42 and the machine put back on its course again. Then the rolling black eyes were turned on them once more. “What town ees that?”
“The one just down the road there.”
“We do not like the towns. We just go on, and then go on some more. Maybe we see nice place, we stop, eh? Maybe not.” A teeth-rattling lurch43 of the car again demanded his full attention, and the conversation was cut off.
181
Burk shook his head. “I don’t know whether we’ve done the right thing or not,” he said in a low tone. “These people seem to be going our way; but it remains44 to be seen whether we’re any better off than we were.”
“But, Burk—those people from the lake would have found us in no time if we hadn’t got this lift! And now we’re going south, even if it’s not very fast. And we’re hidden here under this cover, so that nobody will see us, even if the police have sent out a description.”
Burk nodded soberly. “I guess so. But you can be sure this highway is the first place they’ll watch.” He peeped out through the flap in the back of the caravan. “Look; we’re almost into Wallistown; if he stops here, I might as well be back in my cell at the prison right now. I know this was the only thing we could do; but maybe we’ve jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.” The hunted man had never been at his ease among crowds of people; now, he felt doubly unsure.
Jake tried to reassure45 him. “Cheer up! We’re snug46 enough here for a while, and it’ll give us time to think up a plan. We’ll make it yet, old timer! Now, if I only knew where Jerry was, I think I’d feel pretty good.”
182
The creaking van shivered to a halt; bumped forward again. Burk chanced another look outside. “We’ve crossed the main street of town,” he whispered. “Looks like we’re going south after all.”
“Sure! That’s the stuff!” Jake replied. “You see—it was a lucky thing we were able to help out these gypsies, or whatever they are. If the cops can find us here in this travelling house, they’re pretty good. Keep a stiff upper lip, and we’ll make Canoe Mountain before dark!”
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1
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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2
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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3
miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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4
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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5
sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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6
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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7
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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8
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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9
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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11
maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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13
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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15
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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16
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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17
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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18
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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19
chassis
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| n.汽车等之底盘；（飞机的）起落架；炮底架 | |
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20
hoops
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| n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓 | |
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21
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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23
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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24
dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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25
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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26
melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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27
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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28
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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29
tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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30
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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31
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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32
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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34
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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35
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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36
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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37
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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39
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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40
chirping
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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41
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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42
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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43
lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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44
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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45
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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46
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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