Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean towards each other, black and ominous1, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned2 over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone3 and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness - a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity4 laughing at the futility5 of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage6, frozen- hearted Northland Wild.
But there WAS life, abroad in the land and defiant7. Down the frozen waterway toiled9 a string of wolfish dogs. Their bristly fur was rimed with frost. Their breath froze in the air as it left their mouths, spouting10 forth11 in spumes of vapour that settled upon the hair of their bodies and formed into crystals of frost. Leather harness was on the dogs, and leather traces attached them to a sled which dragged along behind. The sled was without runners. It was made of stout12 birch-bark, and its full surface rested on the snow. The front end of the sled was turned up, like a scroll13, in order to force down and under the bore of soft snow that surged like a wave before it. On the sled, securely lashed14, was a long and narrow oblong box. There were other things on the sled - blankets, an axe15, and a coffee-pot and frying-pan; but prominent, occupying most of the space, was the long and narrow oblong box.
In advance of the dogs, on wide snowshoes, toiled a man. At the rear of the sled toiled a second man. On the sled, in the box, lay a third man whose toil8 was over, - a man whom the Wild had conquered and beaten down until he would never move nor struggle again. It is not the way of the Wild to like movement. Life is an offence to it, for life is movement; and the Wild aims always to destroy movement. It freezes the water to prevent it running to the sea; it drives the sap out of the trees till they are frozen to their mighty16 hearts; and most ferociously17 and terribly of all does the Wild harry18 and crush into submission19 man - man who is the most restless of life, ever in revolt against the dictum that all movement must in the end come to the cessation of movement.
But at front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two men who were not yet dead. Their bodies were covered with fur and soft-tanned leather. Eyelashes and cheeks and lips were so coated with the crystals from their frozen breath that their faces were not discernible. This gave them the seeming of ghostly masques, undertakers in a spectral20 world at the funeral of some ghost. But under it all they were men, penetrating21 the land of desolation and mockery and silence, puny22 adventurers bent23 on colossal24 adventure, pitting themselves against the might of a world as remote and alien and pulseless as the abysses of space.
They travelled on without speech, saving their breath for the work of their bodies. On every side was the silence, pressing upon them with a tangible25 presence. It affected26 their minds as the many atmospheres of deep water affect the body of the diver. It crushed them with the weight of unending vastness and unalterable decree. It crushed them into the remotest recesses28 of their own minds, pressing out of them, like juices from the grape, all the false ardours and exaltations and undue29 self-values of the human soul, until they perceived themselves finite and small, specks30 and motes27, moving with weak cunning and little wisdom amidst the play nd inter-play of the great blind elements and forces.
An hour went by, and a second hour. The pale light of the short sunless day was beginning to fade, when a faint far cry arose on the still air. It soared upward with a swift rush, till it reached its topmost note, where it persisted, palpitant and tense, and then slowly died away. It might have been a lost soul wailing31, had it not been invested with a certain sad fierceness and hungry eagerness. The front man turned his head until his eyes met the eyes of the man behind. And then, across the narrow oblong box, each nodded to the other.
A second cry arose, piercing the silence with needle-like shrillness32.
Both men located the sound. It was to the rear, somewhere in the snow expanse they had just traversed. A third and answering cry arose, also to the rear and to the left of the second cry.
"They're after us, Bill," said the man at the front. His voice sounded hoarse33 and unreal, and he had spoken with apparent effort.
"Meat is scarce," answered his comrade. "I ain't seen a rabbit sign for days."Thereafter they spoke34 no more, though their ears were keen for the hunting-cries that continued to rise behind them.
At the fall of darkness they swung the dogs into a cluster of spruce trees on the edge of the waterway and made a camp. The coffin35, at the side of the fire, served for seat and table. The wolf-dogs, clustered on the far side of the fire, snarled36 and bickered37 among themselves, but evinced no inclination38 to stray off into the darkness.
"Seems to me, Henry, they're stayin' remarkable39 close to camp," Bill commented.
Henry, squatting40 over the fire and settling the pot of coffee with a piece of ice, nodded. Nor did he speak till he had taken his seat on the coffin and begun to eat.
"They know where their hides is safe," he said. "They'd sooner eat grub than be grub. They're pretty wise, them dogs."Bill shook his head. "Oh, I don't know."His comrade looked at him curiously41. "First time I ever heard you say anything about their not bein' wise.""Henry," said the other, munching42 with deliberation the beans he was eating, "did you happen to notice the way them dogs kicked up when I was a-feedin' 'em?""They did cut up more'n usual," Henry acknowledged.
"How many dogs 've we got, Henry?""Six.""Well, Henry . . . " Bill stopped for a moment, in order that his words might gain greater significance. "As I was sayin', Henry, we've got six dogs. I took six fish out of the bag. I gave one fish to each dog, an', Henry, I was one fish short.""You counted wrong.""We've got six dogs," the other reiterated43 dispassionately. "I took out six fish. One Ear didn't get no fish. I came back to the bag afterward44 an' got 'm his fish.""We've only got six dogs," Henry said.
"Henry," Bill went on. "I won't say they was all dogs, but there was seven of 'm that got fish."Henry stopped eating to glance across the fire and count the dogs.
"There's only six now," he said.
"I saw the other one run off across the snow," Bill announced with cool positiveness. "I saw seven."Henry looked at him commiseratingly, and said, "I'll be almighty45 glad when this trip's over.""What d'ye mean by that?" Bill demanded.
"I mean that this load of ourn is gettin' on your nerves, an' that you're beginnin' to see things.""I thought of that," Bill answered gravely. "An' so, when I saw it run off across the snow, I looked in the snow an' saw its tracks. Then I counted the dogs an' there was still six of 'em. The tracks is there in the snow now.
D'ye want to look at 'em? I'll show 'em to you."Henry did not reply, but munched46 on in silence, until, the meal finished, he topped it with a final cup a of coffee. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said:
"Then you're thinkin' as it was - "A long wailing cry, fiercely sad, from somewhere in the darkness, had interrupted him. He stopped to listen to it, then he finished his sentence with a wave of his hand toward the sound of the cry, " - one of them?"Bill nodded. "I'd a blame sight sooner think that than anything else.
You noticed yourself the row the dogs made."Cry after cry, and answering cries, were turning the silence into a bedlam47. From every side the cries arose, and the dogs betrayed their fear by huddling48 together and so close to the fire that their hair was scorched49 by the heat. Bill threw on more wood, before lighting50 his pipe.
"I'm thinking you're down in the mouth some," Henry said.
"Henry . . . " He sucked meditatively51 at his pipe for some time before he went on. "Henry, I was a-thinkin' what a blame sight luckier he is than you an' me'll ever be."He indicated the third person by a downward thrust of the thumb to the box on which they sat.
"You an' me, Henry, when we die, we'll be lucky if we get enough stones over our carcases to keep the dogs off of us.""But we ain't got people an' money an' all the rest, like him," Henry rejoined. "Long-distance funerals is somethin' you an' me can't exactly afford.""What gets me, Henry, is what a chap like this, that's a lord or something in his own country, and that's never had to bother about grub nor blankets; why he comes a-buttin' round the Godforsaken ends of the earth - that's what I can't exactly see.""He might have lived to a ripe old age if he'd stayed at home," Henry agreed.
Bill opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind. Instead, he pointed52 towards the wall of darkness that pressed about them from every side. There was no suggestion of form in the utter blackness; only could be seen a pair of eyes gleaming like live coals. Henry indicated with his heada second pair, and a third. A circle of the gleaming eyes had drawn53 abouttheir camp. Now and again a pair of eyes moved, or disappeared to appearagain a moment later.
The unrest of the dogs had been increasing, and they stampeded, in asurge of sudden fear, to the near side of the fire, cringing54 and crawlingabout the legsof the men. In the scramble55 one of the dogs had been overturned on the edge of the fire, and it had yelped56 with pain and fright as the smell of its singed57 coat possessed58 the air. The commotion59 caused the circle of eyes to shift restlessly for a moment and even to withdraw a bit, but it settled down again as the dogs became quiet.
"Henry, it's a blame misfortune to be out of ammunition60."Bill had finished his pipe and was helping61 his companion to spread the bed of fur and blanket upon the spruce boughs62 which he had laid over the snow before supper. Henry grunted63, and began unlacing his mocassins.
"How many cartridges65 did you say you had left?" he asked.
"Three," came the answer. "An' I wisht 'twas three hundred. Then I'dshow 'em what for, damn 'em!"He shook his fist angrily at the gleaming eyes, and began securely toprop his moccasins before the fire.
"An' I wisht this cold snap'd break," he went on. "It's ben fifty belowfor two weeks now. An' I wisht I'd never started on this trip, Henry. I don'tlike the looks of it. I don't feel right, somehow. An' while I'm wishin', Iwisht the trip was over an' done with, an' you an' me a-sittin' by the fire inFort McGurry just about now an' playing cribbage - that's what I wisht."Henry grunted and crawled into bed. As he dozed66 off he was arousedby his comrade's voice.
"Say, Henry, that other one that come in an' got a fish - why didn't thedogs pitch into it? That's what's botherin' me.""You're botherin' too much, Bill," came the sleepy response. "You wasnever like this before. You jes' shut up now, an' go to sleep, an' you'll be allhunkydory in the mornin'. Your stomach's sour, that's what's botherin'
you."The men slept, breathing heavily, side by side, under the one covering.
The fire died down, and the gleaming eyes drew closer the circle they hadflung about the camp. The dogs clustered together in fear, now and againsnarling menacingly as a pair of eyes drew close. Once their uproarbecame so loud that Bill woke up. He got out of bed carefully, so as not todisturb the sleep of his comrade, and threw more wood on the fire. As itbegan to flame up, the circle of eyes drew farther back. He glancedcasually at the huddling dogs. He rubbed his eyes and looked at them moresharply. Then he crawled back into the blankets.
"Henry," he said. "Oh, Henry."Henry groaned67 as he passed from sleep to waking, and demanded,"What's wrong now?""Nothin'," came the answer; "only there's seven of 'em again. I justcounted."Henry acknowledged receipt of the information with a grunt64 that slidinto a snore as he drifted back into sleep.
In the morning it was Henry who awoke first and routed his companion out of bed. Daylight was yet three hours away, though it was already six o'clock; and in the darkness Henry went about preparing breakfast, while Bill rolled the blankets and made the sled ready for lashing68.
"Say, Henry," he asked suddenly, "how many dogs did you say we had?""Six.""Wrong," Bill proclaimed triumphantly69.
"Seven again?" Henry queried70.
"No, five; one's gone.""The hell!" Henry cried in wrath71, leaving the cooking to come andcount the dogs.
"You're right, Bill," he concluded. "Fatty's gone.""An' he went like greased lightnin' once he got started. Couldn't 'veseen 'm for smoke.""No chance at all," Henry concluded. "They jes' swallowed 'm alive. Ibet he was yelpin' as he went down their throats, damn 'em!""He always was a fool dog," said Bill.
"But no fool dog ought to be fool enough to go off an' commit suicidethat way." He looked over the remainder of the team with a speculativeeye that summed up instantly the salient traits of each animal. "I bet noneof the others would do it.""Couldn't drive 'em away from the fire with a club," Bill agreed. "Ialways did think there was somethin' wrong with Fatty anyway."And this was the epitaph of a dead dog on the Northland trail - lessscant than the epitaph of many another dog, of many a man.
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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futility
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| n.无用 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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scroll
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| n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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specks
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| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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shrillness
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| 尖锐刺耳 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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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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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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bickered
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| v.争吵( bicker的过去式和过去分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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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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squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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munching
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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munched
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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huddling
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| n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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