There was a peculiar3 air of resolute4 fearless deviltry in the face of the young hunter, coupled with the piercing, roving glances of his intensely black eyes, that showed he was no novice5 to the trade of hunter and scout6. He was in the midst of the hunting-grounds of Shawnee and Delaware, miles away from the then infant settlement of Boonesborough; and he was all alone with his rifle and knife, to take care of himself.
The look of his face abundantly evinced that he felt quite equal to the task, and only the acquired caution of his craft kept him from wading7 boldly into the river at once.
But as it was, he had learned the lesson of the successful Indian-slayer by hard experience. Therefore, now, it was with a long, deep scrutiny8 that he scanned the opposite banks, across the first open piece of landscape he had come on in a day’s travel. On the opposite bank all was still as death, save for the occasional note of a bird. It was late in May and the forest was all blinded with its canopy9 of leaves, while game was distant and hiding in the coverts10.
As the young hunter looked, a black squirrel, shyest of all its kind, ran out on a limb of a tree on the other side of[10] the river, and stood, whisking its tail and chattering13, before his eyes, above the stream.
“Wal,” muttered the young man, as he stepped boldly out, “thar kurn’t be much to be skeered on when you’re thar, my little kuss. Go ahead, Simon.”
Without further ado he descended14 the bank, deep, brown, and bare, for some sixty feet, and then ran quickly across a bed of sand into the shallow stream.
The Kentucky river, in winter a broad and powerful stream, had dwindled15 under the summer heats to a rivulet16 not more than two hundred feet across, running over a sandy rocky bed walled in by high banks.
Into this stream waded17 the hunter, and soon found himself midway between the banks and up to his armpits in water. He was obliged to lift up rifle and powder-horn over his head as he waded along, and every now and then he would stop to brace18 himself against the current, and glance anxiously up and down either side of the river, as if anticipating the presence of enemies, ready to take him at advantage.
At last the water began to sink below his arms; and slowly he emerged from the river, strode through the shallows, and stood on the opposite shore.
“By the holy poker19!” he muttered, as he climbed the further bank, “that ar’s a bad scrape fur to ketch a kuss in. You’d best git to cover right smartly, Simon, ef you’re the spy you used to was. Git!”
And, as he spoke20, he hurried up the bank into the woods, and threw himself down under a tree, completely hidden from sight. With the hunter’s instinct, he lay still as death, listening intently for sounds. The presence of the squirrel had assured him of the quiet of things before, or he would not have ventured where he did. But, the hunter knew too well that a very few minutes were able to change the whole current of events around him, and that the chance passing of a single Indian might render his own situation very perilous21.
It was therefore with the keenest attention that he looked and listened in the woods all round, before going further.
Presently came the sweet pipe of a red-bird from a tree not far off, and the hunter muttered:
[11]
“All right on that side.”
He knew the note, as belonging to one of the most wary22 of birds. Then several other birds chirped23 at intervals24, and he heard the tiny chatter12 of squirrels all round him.
“Simon, you blamed ornary kuss, I reckon you kin11 git,” said the hunter deliberately25, and he rose to his feet.
Hardly had he done so, when he sunk down again as if shot, for the loud snap of a dry stick sounded plainly in the air, and it came from the further bank of the river.
“Follered, by the holy poker!” he ejaculated, in a low tone. “Now, who the Old Scratch kin that be?”
As he spoke he threw himself down behind the tree, and, bringing all his intelligence to bear on the north bank, which he had just left, awaited the advance of the stranger.
There was no more noise now. The other, whoever he was, had evidently been startled by his own carelessness. Apart from the snapping of that single stick, there was no further sign of human presence on the north bank.
The man on the south bank lay there watching silently and eagerly, but saw nothing. The usual noises of the woods kept on around him, and he could see squirrels moving on the other side of the river.
There was a small deserted27 space on either side of him, and a patch of the same breadth on the opposite side that showed him that the wild animals were shy of human creatures, and revealed to him the locality of his enemy.
In those two places all were still, and, as unerringly as if he had seen the strange hunter, Simon guessed that the latter had come to the identical tree by which himself had first scanned the river.
“And by the holy poker, ef that’s so, the kuss kin see my trail,” he grumbled28, half aloud. “Simon, Simon, you orter be ashamed of yourself fur leavin’ them huff-tracks in the mud, when ye mout ’a’ jumped from stone to stone.”
Even while he grumbled, his eyes were fixed29 on the great beech tree, and the heavy Kentucky rifle he carried was trained on its bole, while he watched with intense gaze for a motion of the foe30 he guessed to be there.
Suddenly he shifted his gaze and aim to a point on one side of the tree, and fired at something moving there.
[12]
Leaping to one side out of the smoke, he distinctly beheld31 the splinters of bark fly where his bullet struck, and the next moment felt the stinging whiz of a bullet, that grazed his own side, as an answering puff32 of white smoke came from the other side of the tree, followed by the sharp crack of a rifle. The bullet stung him sharply, and he dropped to the earth, catching33 a glimpse of the vanishing figure of a man on the other side of the river, flitting from tree to tree.
“By the holy poker, that’s a right smart kuss, whoever he is,” muttered Simon, ruefully, as he rubbed his side, “Who’d ’a’ thunk he’d ’a’ fooled me as quick as that, and with sich an old trick. By the holy poker, Simon, you’d better go and soak your head ef you ain’t smarter than that kuss. But, I’ll get even with him. Darn me ef he shall fool me ag’in like that. No, sir. Mister stranger, be you white or red, runnygade or Shawnee, I’ll hev your skulp fur that ar’ shot, or my name ain’t Simon Kenton.”
And the renowned34 ranger26 darted35 from tree to tree on his passage up the river, following the shadowy form of his antagonist36, as he caught occasional glimpses of it, and both tending toward a spot a mile further up the stream, where a wooded island reduced the danger of crossing to a less degree.
The two enemies raced for that island, loading as they ran.
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1
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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2
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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7
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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8
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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coverts
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| n.隐蔽的，不公开的，秘密的( covert的名词复数 )；复羽 | |
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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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12
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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13
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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14
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
brace
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| 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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19
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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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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21
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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chirped
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 ) | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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ranger
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| n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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29
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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31
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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32
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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33
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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34
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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35
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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36
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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