The Bar H foreman rode leisurely12 past the corral, noting the absence of Arnold's horse and the pony, and stopped before the door. Swinging from the saddle he sauntered up to the kitchen door and knocked. Margaret wondered who it could be, a sudden thought of injury to her father coming to her, and she hastened to answer it. When she saw who the visitor was she stopped and recoiled13 a little.
"How-do-you-do?" she said coldly.
"Glad to see you. Ma'am," came the answer. "I rode over to see yore father about some mavericks14 of his that are eatin' up my grass."
"You have just missed him," replied Margaret. "If you return by the way of Gunsight you can see him there."
"Now, ain't that just my luck?" regretted the foreman, stepping inside. "Might I have a drink of water, Ma'am? I wasn't aimin' to ride back that way. Of course there ain't no chance at all of his comin' back soon?"
"Why, no," answered Margaret, handing him the dipper. "He may not return until evening. But you can leave a message for him with me."
"It's somethin' we has to talk over," Big Tom replied, giving her the empty dipper. As her hand touched it he grabbed her to him, her screams muffled15 by his hand. Struggle as she would she was helpless against his bearlike strength and soon was limp with[347] exhaustion16 and partially17 suffocated18. Holding her with one arm and hand he took a clothesline from a peg19 on the wall and quickly trussed her with it until she was powerless to move. Gagging her with a towel he carried her to the corral, caught her horse, and threw her on it and cinched up the saddle which lay at the gate. Hurrying back to the house he collected provisions and ran out again, and in another minute he rode rapidly for the brush and rough ground west of the house, leading her horse. Bound, gagged, and tied to the saddle she could do nothing, every beat of the horses' hoofs20 increasing her terror.
Back at the house Charley wriggled21 around the corner, his curiosity overcoming caution, and he stared in amazement22 as he saw them crossing the open, his sister bound with rope. Suddenly cursing the useless rifle in a burst of rage, he dashed for his horse, mounted and rode for town to tell his father, keeping to the low levels until the hills and brush formed a screen behind him. The little pony ran at top speed, shrewdly guided over the rough trail, and the nine miles did not take long. Dashing up to Dave's, Charley shouted at the top of his lungs and pulled up at the door.
"Peggy's kidnapped! Dad! Peggy's kidnapped!"
A chair crashed in Dave's and three men jammed in the doorway23, Johnny forcing his two companions back as he fought his way past them. "What's that?" he demanded.
"Big Tom's stole Peggy, d—n him!" shrilled24 the boy, tears of helpless rage in his eyes.
Johnny needed no further proof than the words and[348] Charley's earnestness. "Where was it? Which way did he go?" he snapped, leaping to the black horse standing25 at the tie rail.
"At th' ranch—they went west. Oh, Peggy!" he sobbed26. "Oh, Peggy!"
"Come a-runnin'!" shouted Johnny over his shoulder, wheeling his horse. He spoke27 to the black thoroughbred and she struck into a gait she could hold for hours, and one which was deceptive28 in its smoothness. As he rocked down the trail three Double X punchers rode in from the south.
"Keep a-goin'!" Dave yelled to them, apoplectic29 with his emotions. "Foller him! Big Tom's run off with th' Arnold gal30!"
Slim's brief remark is better left unrecorded. Three sets of hoofs rolled out of the town and sent the dust swirling31 high along the trail. The punchers overtook and passed Arnold, who cursed the slowness of his mount, shouted profane32 reassurance33 at him and left him their dust. Dailey led Fanning around the corner of the saloon and aroused surprised resentment34 in his horse, which heretofore had regarded him as a sane35 being. Fanning's gray felt a touch of its youthful spirits return; if it had to race, all right; it wasn't much for speed, but it expected to be better than last at the finish.
Big Tom, having passed the boundaries of the ranch, pulled up long enough to remove the gag. "If you behave yoreself I'll untie36 you," he said. "You can't get away—if you try it you'll learn what a rope feels like."
[349]
Margaret managed to nod and the rope came off of her.
"'Twon't do no good to yell," he told her, "nor to hold back. You won't be missed till supper time, an' then nobody will do much worryin' till dark. They'll search th' range first—an' by th' time they finish that we'll be so far away that they'll never find us. Yo're thinkin' they'll trail us? Huh! Let 'em, then. Once we get into my country they can trail an' be d—d! You might as well make th' best of it. I got th' herd37 money in my pockets, an' we can have a nice little ranch an' live like th' story books say—happy ever after. Yo're goin' to live there with me. If yo're sensible you can do it as my wife. I'm going to give you that chance. But, yo're goin' to live there with me, just the same."
"You are even more of a beast than I thought," she retorted. "You'll never reach that ranch; and if you do, I'll kill you while you sleep."
"I'm chancin' th' last," he retorted. "Yo're thinkin' of that Nelson, huh?" he grinned. "When Big Tom does play his cards it takes more'n a fool like him to win th' pot. An' I'm sayin' I stacked this deck. I've been stackin' it for a long time, figgerin' everythin'. He's cold-decked, Ma'am; beat clean when he'd reckoned he'd won. Thinkin' they'll trail us, an' get us because we're not pushin' hard?" He laughed ironically. "Didn't I say I've been plannin' this a long time? There ain't no use of wearin' horses out when it ain't needed. With twenty hours, or more, start, ours will be fresh when we need speed—which we won't. You'd do better to begin practicin' callin' yoreself Missus Huff[350]—it'll come easy before you know it. I'm givin' you that chance, an' I'll not bother you till a parson is handy. Then it will be yore move. You've got three days." Receiving no reply he looked around the range and thenceforth ignored her.
A black thoroughbred swept across the little SV valley, passed the corral, and rocked westward38 along a plain trail. The rider, his sombrero jammed tightly down on his head to baffle the pull of the whistling wind, cold with a rage which had turned him into the personification of vengeance39, felt an exultant40 thrill as the double trail sped past him, for his quarry41 had but eighteen miles start, and he felt sure that it had been cut down by the speed at which half of it had been covered. There was nothing on hoofs on all that range that could keep an even lead against Pepper. She flashed past mesquite, around chaparrals, her great heart beating with a gameness which excelled even her love for the race; her trim legs swinging rhythmically43, the reaching of her free, beautiful stride eating up the range and sending it past like the speeding surface of some great rapids. A Gila monster moved from her course barely in time, and a rattler coiled and struck too late. Off in the brush a startled coyote changed its mind about crossing the open and slunk back into cover, following the black with suspicious gaze. The great muscles writhed44 and bunched, rippled45 and bulged46 under the satiny skin, the barrel-like chest rising and falling with a rhythm and smoothness which graphically47 told that it was a perfect part of a perfect running machine. Down the slopes at top speed, up them at a[351] lope, the undulating range slipped swiftly past. Brush and scattered48 mesquite, chaparrals and lone49, sentinel cacti50; hollows, coulees, draws, and arroyos51 went behind in swift procession. Still the double trail lay ahead, now lost as it crossed hard ground, now plain with small, shallow basins where the sand had slid back and hidden the outlines of the roofs, and then clear and sharp and fresh in soils possessing claylike cohesion52.
The rider gave no thought to ambush53. There was a time for everything, but hesitation54 or caution would not claim its turn until the ride was done. If an ambush lay ahead, what mattered it? Others were coming along that trail, and only one need survive. The picture which he carried in his brain was not one from which counselings of safety could arise. Its message was to ride, ride, ride; and kill, kill, kill; and it turned the thin-lipped, narrow-lidded rider into an agent of Death, merciless and untiring. The ages rolled back from around his soul and stripped it of the last, pulsating55 film of civilization's veneer56. No gray wolf ever ran a trail, no wolverine hunted in its northern fastness that was more coldly savage57 or cruel than this man whose grim confidence gave no thought of failure. Mile after mile he rode, motionless in the saddle save for the rhythmic42 rise and swing of a saddle poise58 superb. Neither to right nor left he looked, nor back where the billowing dust swirled59 suddenly high to roll spreading over the drab earth, slowly settling. Straight ahead he set his gaze, to the fartherest new-made mark on the winding60, twisting trail, a trail which twisted and wound as though vainly seeking a place to hide until that flying[352] Death were past. A high ridge61 of limestone62 poured into view and the swinging black was pulled to a walk, for a breathing spell wise in its length, and canny63 in its shortness. Then up slowly and off again on her far-reaching stride, the noonday sun blazing down unheeded.
To the west the ribbon-like trail was widening. Behind Johnny it was bigger by one more strand64; behind Slim, a furnace of rage, was another strand; Tom Wilkes, grimly determined65, made another; half a mile behind him rocked Cimarron, vengeful and silent, and added the sixth. Certain memories, returning to the segundo, caused him to ride off and make a trail of his own, confident that it would be a chord in a great arc and lead him past his two ranch mates. There was a certain pass far to the northeast which he vaguely66 coupled to the Bar H foreman, and with three men ahead of him to follow the certainty of the tell-tale trail, he could afford to gamble. Two hours later Slim became indignant and wondered if Cimarron's black-and-white had grown wings, for his segundo's dust did not suit his mouth and eyes.
"He can do it with me," muttered Slim, "but that Pepper hoss won't be seen by any of us till she stops. I hope Nelson ain't killin' her."
The Pepper horse was neither stopping nor being killed. She skimmed along with no faltering67 in her stride as though she remembered a day in a quicksand. There was a debt to be paid, and if heart held out and the heaving sides did not prove false to her thoroughbred courage, the lengthening68 shadows would see it[353] canceled before they became lost in the day's deepening twilight69. Down a narrow valley she sped, the hills rolling the tattoo70 of her drumming hoofs as though they liked the sound and were reluctant to let it die. Taking a brook71 at a bound and scorning her rising thirst, she swirled around a sharp bend, and twitched72 her ears suddenly forward, the quick pressure of her rider's knees telling her that he had seen.
Johnny slipped his Sharp's from its long sheath and, holding it at the ready, stood up in his stirrups, his horse somewhere finding a reserve power that fairly hurled73 her forward, the trim black legs whirring under her like flashing spokes74 of jet. The rider's lids narrowed to thin slits75 and the tight-pressed lips pressed tighter. Yard after yard he gained, second after second. The half mile became a quarter, steadily76 lessened77 and then, Pepper pounding over a stretch of rocky ground where the hammering of her hoofs rang out loudly, there was a quick turning in the saddles ahead, and a roar from the saddle behind, a ragged78 cloud of acrid79 smoke tearing itself to filmy bits and blending with the suddenly tenuous80 dust cloud in the rear.
Big Tom cursed in sudden rage and whirled his horse behind Margaret's, his rifle spitting past her shoulder. His shelter bolted from in front of him as a Sharp's Special stung the SV horse, its rider barely able to keep her seat during the convulsive lunge. Big Tom leaped down behind his mount and rested the gun across the saddle. Before he could pull the trigger another Special passed through the animal's abdomen81 and, its force spent, struck his belt and doubled him up, gasping82 for[354] breath as the agonized83 animal leaped forward. The cantle of the saddle, striking the barrel of the Winchester, tore the weapon from its owner's hands and left him, slowly straightening up, with a Colt for his only defense84.
Coming at him like a skimming swallow sped Pepper, her rider, having slipped the rifle back into its long sheath, standing erect85 in the stirrups, each hand holding a Colt. For a moment they were held aloft and then as the Bar H foreman drew his six-gun they chopped down and poured jets of flame and puffs86 of smoke over Pepper's head. The foreman twisted, fired aimlessly, lurched, fired again, and plunged87 forward, face down on the sand. Johnny slid his guns back into their holsters and raced for Margaret, who was fighting a pain-crazed horse.
Slim and Cimarron, neck and neck now, jumped the brook, sped along the little valley, keyed to fighting pitch by the sound of distant shots, and flashed around the bend, where they pulled up sharply and looked across the level pasture.
"H—l!" growled88 Cimarron. "I thought we was ridin' to a lynchin'! This here looks more like a weddin'. Get back, around that bend, you fool!"
"It shore does," said Slim, grinning. "A weddin', huh? Well, then, I says he's still a-rollin'."
The End
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收听单词发音
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1
stimulation
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| n.刺激，激励，鼓舞 | |
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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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3
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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4
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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7
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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picketed
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| 用尖桩围住（picket的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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12
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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13
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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14
mavericks
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| 未烙印的牲畜( maverick的名词复数 )； 标新立异的人，不合常规的人 | |
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15
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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16
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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19
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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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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21
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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22
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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23
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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24
shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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26
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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27
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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28
deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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apoplectic
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| adj.中风的；愤怒的；n.中风患者 | |
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gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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31
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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32
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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reassurance
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| n.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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34
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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35
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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36
untie
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| vt.解开，松开；解放 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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40
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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41
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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42
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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43
rhythmically
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| adv.有节奏地 | |
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44
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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46
bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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47
graphically
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| adv.通过图表；生动地，轮廓分明地 | |
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48
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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49
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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50
cacti
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| n.（复）仙人掌 | |
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51
arroyos
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| n.（美洲沙漠中的）旱谷，干涸沟壑( arroyo的名词复数 )；干谷 | |
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52
cohesion
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| n.团结，凝结力 | |
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53
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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54
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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55
pulsating
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| adj.搏动的，脉冲的v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的现在分词 )；跳动；脉动；受（激情）震动 | |
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56
veneer
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| n.(墙上的)饰面，虚饰 | |
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57
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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58
poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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59
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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61
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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62
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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63
canny
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| adj.谨慎的，节俭的 | |
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64
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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65
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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66
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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67
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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68
lengthening
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长 | |
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69
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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70
tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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72
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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73
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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74
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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75
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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76
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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77
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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78
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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80
tenuous
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| adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的 | |
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81
abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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82
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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83
agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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84
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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86
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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87
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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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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