Our exiles up to this time had been so busy with their preparations for winter that they had given but little attention to their neighbors below. They had noticed on frosty mornings columns of white smoke rising straight into the air from half a dozen cabins in the valley, most of which had been hidden from view by the thick foliage12 during the summer months. Now that the November winds had stripped the trees of their leaves, two cabins appeared in the direction of Sheep Cliff, standing13 side by side among the bare oaks on a knoll14 which sloped gently to the road. The two seemed to be precisely15 alike, with rude verandas16 in front, and at no great distance back of these, in an open clearing, surrounded with orchards17 and stacks, was a long house with a heavy stone chimney at each end. Scattered19 to the right of the plateau were several cabins, and close on the road a square brown building which looked to be a store. Just below this point of rocks where the three solders20 looked down on the valley stood the largest house in the settlement, old and rambling21 in construction, with lurching chimneys and roofs extending to left and rear. The woodpile was at the opposite side of the road, and comfortable log barns stood on the hillside above. All these details were to be seen with the naked eye, but the powerful telescope of the station revealed much more, even showing the faces and forms of the people who lived in the cabins.
As the three exiles were lounging together one afternoon at this very point of rocks, studying their neighbors through the telescope as if they had been the inhabitants of another planet, Philip broke the silence with quite an original speech—one only he could make.
"See here, fellows," he said with that new familiarity they had begun to show toward each other, "as we are likely to take considerable interest in these people down below, it will be mighty22 inconvenient23 when we talk about them to say, 'The man in the big house across the road from the log barn did this,' or 'The man in the farthest twin cabin did that,' or 'The old chap in the long house flanked by orchards and stacks did something else'; so I say, let's give them family names."
The others laughingly admitted that the idea was not a bad one, and Bromley suggested at random25 the names Smith, Jones, and Brown.
"As good as any others," said Philip.
"Very well," said Bromley, "then we will call this first neighbor 'Smith.'"
"No, you don't," cried Philip, with much spirit. "I've taken a prejudice against that old fellow, because he sits on the woodpile and smokes his pipe every afternoon while his wife does the milking. Smith is too respectable a name for him."
"I didn't know," said Coleman, laughing, "that there was any particular virtue26 in the name of Smith."
"I didn't say there was," said Philip, "but if this first old loafer should turn out half as bad as I fear he will, the name would be a slur27 on too many families, you know. Now, if it's all the same to you, gentlemen, we will begin at the other end and call the man of the orchard18 'Smith.' 'Jones' naturally falls to the owner of the second twin cabin, and this fellow below becomes—say, 'Shifless,' whether he likes it or not."
As no one of the three had ever heard of any one of the name of Shifless, Philip's arrangement was agreed to, and from time to time they settled other names on the dwellers28 in every cabin in sight, and one column of smoke which rose from behind an intervening ridge was spoken of as "Thompson's smoke."
On the morning of December 23 in that first year on the mountain, the three soldiers were thrown into a great state of excitement by a remarkable29 discovery. Coleman and Bromley were clearing off the snow from a stack of pea-vines, preparatory to beating them out on the floor of the house, when Philip came running toward them, holding up the telescope and beckoning30 them to meet him. He said he had seen three United States officers at the long cabin under Sheep Cliff, which was known as Smith's. The others needed no urging to follow Philip. Indeed, they ran so rapidly over the frozen ground in the rare upper air that they scarcely had breath for speaking when they arrived on the point of rocks. Philip directed the glass on the house again, and then, with a cry of delight, he passed it to Coleman.
"There they are! There they are! See? By the end of the house!"
As soon as the lieutenant had adjusted the powerful glass to his eye, he had the men before him almost as distinctly as if they had been standing within hailing distance. There was no mistaking the evidence that two of them were officers of what the three soldiers considered the beaten and disbanded army, while, although the third was in citizen's dress, it was unlike the dress of the mountaineers.
"Heaven help them!" exclaimed Lieutenant Coleman, as he gazed in amazement31 on the scene at the end of the long house. "How ragged32 they are! They must have been hunted through the woods like wild animals. Both of the two in uniform wear jackets of the mounted service, and—stop—as sure as you are born, the taller of the two is a lieutenant of artillery33. He has but one shoulder-strap left, and that has too dark a ground for either cavalry34 or infantry35. They may be from the staff. There is something about their uniforms, in spite of rags and dirt, that makes me think so. The other carries a roll of blankets over his shoulder—he must be a soldier; and they have just come in, too, for their haversacks are mighty lean."
It looked as if the poor fellows had found friends at last; for, while they stood talking with two women at the end of the house, Smith himself, who was a lank24 mountaineer with a red beard, was lounging by the gate with his gun on his shoulder, as if watching against surprise from the road. Bromley, who had been patiently waiting, now took the glass.
"By Jove!" he cried, "there are four girls there now, and the short officer is going into the house. You are right, Fred; the old man is on guard, with a sharp eye in his head, too. They are all going into the house now, by Neighbor Smith's advice, I fancy. I'll tell you who they are, Fred. They are escaped prisoners from Charleston. They must have been hiding in the woods and swamps for months. If that is the condition of the officers of the United States that were, a thousand times better is our lot on this free mountain-top." And returning the glass, Bromley ventured some bitter reflections on the Congress and the high officials who had conducted the war to a disastrous36 end.
"We must not lose sight of these unhappy men while they remain in the valley," said Coleman; and, it then being ten o'clock, he settled himself behind the glass, and gave his watch to Bromley, who was to relieve him at twelve.
Philip was too much excited by the presence of the fugitive37 officers to leave the rocks of his own accord; but Coleman presently sent him to the house for a loaded carbine, which was laid by in a dry niche38 of granite39, to be fired as a signal to the others in case of any movement of importance at the cabin below. For the rest of the morning Smith with his gun kept his post at the gate, and the officers were never once seen outside the cabin. Judging by the volume of smoke from both chimneys, it would appear that they were faring pretty well inside.
Shortly before noon one of the girls ran through the bare woods to the two cottages overlooking the road, and brought back Jones, who relieved Smith at the gate. It was evident that Jones was friendly to the officers, for when he was relieved in turn he went into the house, and it was a long time before he came out.
Whoever was on watch was seldom alone, so keen was the interest of the exiles in the movements of their fellow-soldiers, and in any other happening which might concern them. According to Philip, who took the post of observation at four o'clock, old Shifless bossed the milking from the woodpile as usual. It was plain that he had not been taken into the confidence of the Smiths or the Joneses, and this fact was laid up against him.
After supper all three gathered on the rocky lookout40, and remained observing the lights at the cabin of the Smiths long after it was too dark to use the telescope. There were no signs of departure below, and after they returned to the house, chilled by exposure and inaction, they sat until a late hour by the warm fire, discussing the events of the day and laying plans for the morrow.
At the first indication of dawn Bromley dressed and set out for the rocks, while his comrades turned over for another nap, which was taken with one eye open, so excited were they in view of what might happen during the day. In their drowsy41, half-wakeful state it seemed to Coleman and Philip as if no time at all had passed since the departure of Bromley when they were startled by the echoing report of the carbine. Hurrying on their clothing, they scampered42 across the hard snow to the rocks, where they found Bromley with the telescope fixed43 on the house of Shifless.
"There the old rogue44 is," said Bromley, handing the spy-glass to Coleman, "leading his mule45 out of the stable. He must have got some information during the night, for, after going to the stable with a lantern, he climbed up on to that ridge beyond and looked over at Smith's clearing as if he wanted to satisfy himself that all was quiet there. I suspected he was up to some deviltry as soon as I got out here, for I saw a light in the house, showing first from one window and then from another. Drat his picture!" Bromley continued. "As soon as he began climbing the hill I fired the alarm."
"I never knew him to turn out before eight o'clock," said Philip.
"He certainly means mischief," said Coleman, "for he is saddling the mule. Now he has blown out the lantern and hung it on the bar-post. Now he is mounting, the treacherous46 old villain47! Confound him! there he goes trotting48 down the road toward the store."
Philip and Bromley took a look at the man, hurrying along in the gray of the morning before another soul was awake in the settlement, and then they saw him turn on to the road which would lead him around the mountain into the Cove.
"If I were only down in his neighborhood now," said Coleman, following Shifless with the telescope, "with a good rifle, I'd tumble him off that mule. I should be serving my country."
"What country?" sneered49 Bromley.
To this Coleman made no reply, and the three walked slowly across the mountain to the boulder side. They had not long to wait there before the man on the mule appeared on the road below, and they followed him with scowling50 eyes until he drew up in front of the Cove post-office, dismounted, and went in.
"Of course," exclaimed Bromley, "the postmaster is a creature of the Confederacy."
In half an hour the two men trotted51 away together, and soon disappeared among the mountains.
Our heroes turned back, certain in their minds that this stealthy journey of Shifless had been undertaken with hostile intentions toward the three officers who still remained in the cabin under the shadow of Sheep Cliff. They felt keenly their inability to warn them of the danger which hung over them, and hoped that during the day they might see the visitors leaving the valley.
Their anxiety now made it necessary to watch for developments in the Cove as well as in the valley, and they scarcely found time to prepare their meals, which they ate as they moved about. All day the telescope was in transit52 from one side of the mountain to the other until there was a deep path trodden in the snow. From time to time one or another of the officers was seen near the cabin, and even if they had not been seen at all, the presence of Smith or one of the girls watching at the gate would have been sufficient evidence that the officers were still there. They might be waiting for a guide or the cover of night before going on. The day was unusually cold, and beyond the smoke from the chimneys, and here and there a woman in a doorway53, there was no movement in the quiet valley.
Late in the afternoon of this December 24—for it was Christmas eve, and not a very cheerful one on the mountain—Bromley, who was watching on the Cove side, spied a body of men at that very point in the road where the two horsemen had disappeared in the morning. He shouted so lustily for the telescope that both Philip and Coleman joined him with all haste.
What they saw through the glass was a straggling column of mountaineers advancing in single file along the winding54 road, their steel rifle-barrels catching55 the last rays of the setting sun. There were thirteen men in the party, of whom about half wore some part of a Confederate uniform; but neither Shifless nor the Cove postmaster was with them. They had scarcely time to pass the glass from one to another, in their excitement, before the men left the road and turned up the mountain-side with a stealthy movement that made it plain they were going into temporary concealment56.
A few extracts from Lieutenant Coleman's diary at this point give a vivid picture of what was happening during the night on the mountain and about it.
"I am writing by the light of the fire in our house on this Christmas eve, at 10:30 o'clock by my watch, powerless to warn our friends at the cabin of the impending57 calamity58. Soon after dark, fire appeared on mountainside, and it is now burning brightly, as reported by Philip, who has just returned to the lookout.
"12, midnight. Have just come in—fire still visible.
"12:35. Philip reports that fire has just been extinguished on mountain-side. Sparks indicated fire was put out by beating and scattering59 the brands. We are all about to go to Point of Rocks—shall probably be up all night."
It seems that as soon as day began to dawn faintly on the mountain-tops, and while it was still dark in the valley, the three soldiers were crouching60 on the rocks eagerly awaiting light in the clearing. First the whitewashed61 walls of the cabin came into view, and then, in the gray dawn, as they fully62 expected, they began to distinguish motionless figures stationed at regular intervals63 in the clearing, and forming an armed cordon64 about the house. There was no sign of smoke from the stone chimneys, nor any other evidence that the inmates65 had been disturbed by the soldiers or had awakened66 of their own accord.
There was one hope left. The officers might have gone away during the night. They should soon know; and meanwhile the snowy mountains reared their dark ridges against the slowly reddening eastern sky, and a great silence lay on the valley.
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1
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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5
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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terrapin
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| n.泥龟；鳖 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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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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knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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16
verandas
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| 阳台，走廊( veranda的名词复数 ) | |
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17
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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19
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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20
solders
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| n.焊料，焊锡( solder的名词复数 )v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的第三人称单数 ) | |
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21
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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22
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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24
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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25
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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27
slur
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| v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音 | |
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28
dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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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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30
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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31
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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32
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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33
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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36
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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40
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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41
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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42
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
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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44
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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45
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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46
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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47
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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48
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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49
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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51
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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52
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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53
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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54
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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55
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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56
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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57
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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58
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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59
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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60
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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61
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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63
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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64
cordon
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| n.警戒线，哨兵线 | |
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65
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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66
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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