Yes, it was time to arrive. But, to trust to the American, on the very evening of this day which was breaking—the evening of the 18th of April, the little troop should finally reach the shelter of the "hacienda" of San Felice.
Twelve days' journey for a woman, twelve nights passed in the open air; it was enough to overwhelm Mrs. Weldon, energetic as she was. But, for a child, it was worse, and the sight of little Jack sick, and without the most ordinary cares, had sufficed to crush her.
Their provisions, although they were commencing to get exhausted5, had not become injured, and their condition was satisfactory.
As for Harris, he seemed made for the difficulties of these long journeys across the forests, and it did not appear that fatigue4 could affect him. Only, in proportion as he neared the farm, Dick Sand observed that he was more preoccupied6 and less frank in behavior than before. The contrary would have been more natural. This was, at least, the opinion of the young novice7, who had now become more than suspicious of the American. And meanwhile, what interest could Harris have in deceiving them? Dick Sand could not have explained it, but he watched their guide more closely.
The American probably felt himself suspected by Dick Sand, and, no doubt, it was this mistrust which made him still more taciturn with "his young friend."
The march had been resumed.
In the forest, less thick, the trees were scattered8 in groups, and no longer formed impenetrable masses. Was it, then, the true pampas of which Harris had spoken?
During the first hours of the day, no accident happened to aggravate9 the anxieties that Dick Sand felt. Only two facts were observed by him. Perhaps they were not very important, but in these actual junctures10, no detail could be neglected.
It was the behavior of Dingo which, above all, attracted more especially the young man's attention.
In fact the dog, which, during all this journey, had seemed to be following a scent12, became quite different, and that almost suddenly. Until then, his nose to the ground, generally smelling the herbs or the shrubs13, he either kept quiet, or he made a sort of sad, barking noise, like an expression of grief or of regret.
Now, on this day, the barking of the singular animal became like bursts, sometimes furious, such as they formerly14 were when Negoro appeared on the deck of the "Pilgrim." A suspicion crossed suddenly Dick Sand's mind, and it was confirmed by Tom, who said to him:
"How very singular, Mr. Dick! Dingo no longer smells the ground as he did yesterday! His nose is in the air, he is agitated15, his hair stands up! One would think he scented16 in the distance——"
"Negoro, is it not so?" replied Dick Sand, who seized the old black's arm, and signed to him to speak in a low voice.
"Negoro, Mr. Dick! May it not be that he has followed our steps?"
"Yes, Tom; and that at this moment even he may not be very far from us."
"But why?" said Tom.
"Either Negoro does not know this country," went on Dick Sand, "and then he would have every interest in not losing sight of us——"
"Or?" said Tom, who anxiously regarded the novice.
"Or," replied Dick Sand, "he does know it, and then he——"
"But how should Negoro know this country? He has never come here!"
"Has he never been here?" murmured Dick Sand.
Then, interrupting himself to call the dog, which, after some hesitation18, came to him:
"Eh!" said he; "Negoro! Negoro!"
A furious barking was Dingo's reply. This name had its usual effect upon him, and he darted19 forward, as if Negoro had been hidden behind some thicket20.
"What did you ask Dingo then?" said he.
"Oh, not much, Mr. Harris," replied old Tom, jokingly. "We asked him for news of the ship-companion whom we have lost!"
"Ah!" said the American, "the Portuguese22, the ship's cook of whom you have already spoken to me?"
"Yes." replied Tom. "One would say, to hear Dingo, that Negoro is in the vicinity."
"How could he get as far as this?" replied Harris.
"It would be astonishing," said Harris. "But, if you wish, we will beat these thickets24. It is possible that this poor devil has need of help; that he is in distress25."
"It is useless, Mr. Harris," replied Dick Sand. "If Negoro has known how to come as far as this, he will know how to go farther. He is a man to keep out of trouble."
"As you please," replied Harris.
The second observation made by the novice was in connection with the American horse. He did not appear to "feel the stable," as do animals of his species. He did not suck in the air; he did not hasten his speed; he did not dilate27 his nostrils28; he uttered none of the neighings that indicate the end of a journey. To observe him well, he appeared to be as indifferent as if the farm, to which he had gone several times, however, and which he ought to know, had been several hundreds of miles away.
"That is not a horse near home," thought the young novice.
And, meanwhile, according to what Harris had said the evening before, there only remained six miles to go, and, of these last six miles, at five o'clock in the evening four had been certainly cleared.
Now, if the horse felt nothing of the stable, of which he should have great need, nothing besides announced the approaches to a great clearing, such as the Farm of San Felice must be.
Mrs. Weldon, indifferent as she then was to what did not concern her child, was struck at seeing the country still so desolate29. What! not a native, not a farm-servant, at such a short distance! Harris must be wild! No! she repulsed30 this idea. A new delay would have been the death of her little Jack!
Meanwhile, Harris always kept in advance, but he seemed to observe the depths of the wood, and looked to the right and left, like a man who was not sure of himself—nor of his road.
Mrs. Weldon shut her eyes so as not to see him.
After a plain a mile in extent, the forest, without being as dense31 as in the west, had reappeared, and the little troop was again lost under the great trees.
At six o'clock in the evening they had reached a thicket, which appeared to have recently given passage to a band of powerful animals. Dick Sand looked around him very attentively32. At a distance winch far surpassed the human height, the branches were torn off or broken. At the same time the herbs, roughly scattered, exhibited on the soil, a little marshy33, prints of steps which could not be those of jaguars34, or cougars35.
Were these, then, the "ais," or some other tardi-graves, whose feet had thus marked the soil? But how, then, explain the break in the branches at such a height?
Elephants might have, without doubt, left such imprints36, stamped these large traces, made a similar hole in the impenetrable underwood. But elephants are not found in America. These enormous thick-skinned quadrupeds are not natives of the New World. As yet, they have never been acclimated37 there.
The hypothesis that elephants had passed there was absolutely inadmissible.
However that might be, Dick Sand hardly knew how much this inexplicable38 fact gave him to think about. He did not even question the American on this point. What could he expect from a man who had tried to make him take giraffes for ostriches39? Harris would have given him some explanation, more or less imaginative, which would not have changed the situation.
At all events, Dick had formed his opinion of Harris. He felt in him a traitor40! He only awaited an occasion to unmask his disloyalty, to have the right to do it, and everything told him that this opportunity was near.
But what could be Harris's secret end? What future, then, awaited the survivors41 of the "Pilgrim?" Dick Sand repeated to himself that his responsibility had not ceased with the shipwreck42. It was more than ever necessary for him to provide for the safety of those whom the waves had thrown on this coast! This woman, this young child, these blacks—all his companions in misfortune—it was he alone who must save them! But, if he could attempt anything on board ship, if he could act on the sea, here, in the midst of the terrible trials which he foresaw, what part could he take?
Dick Sand would not shut his eyes before the frightful43 reality that each instant made more indisputable. In this juncture11 he again became the captain of fifteen years, as he had been on the "Pilgrim." But he would not say anything which could alarm the poor mother before the moment for action had arrived.
And he said nothing, not even when, arrived on the bank of a rather large stream, preceding the little troop about one hundred feet, he perceived enormous animals, which threw themselves under the large plants on the brink44.
"Hippopotami! hippopotami!" he was going to exclaim.
And they were, indeed, these thick-skinned animals, with a big head, a large, swollen45 snout, a mouth armed with teeth which extend a foot beyond it—animals which are squat46 on their short limbs, the skin of which, unprovided with hair, is of a tawny47 red. Hippopotami in America!
They continued to march during the whole day, but painfully. Fatigue commenced to retard48 even the most robust49. It was truly time to arrive, or they would be forced to stop.
Mrs. Weldon, wholly occupied with her little Jack, did not perhaps feel the fatigue, but her strength was exhausted. All, more or less, were tired. Dick Sand, resisted by a supreme50 moral energy, caused by the sentiment of duty.
Toward four o'clock in the evening, old Tom found, in the grass, an object which attracted his attention. It was an arm, a kind of knife, of a particular shape, formed of a large, curved blade, set in a square, ivory handle, rather roughly ornamented51. Tom carried this knife to Dick Sand, who took it, examined it, and, finally, showed it to the American, saying:
"No doubt the natives are not very far off."
"That is so," replied Harris, "and meanwhile——"
"We should be very near the farm," replied Harris, hesitating, "and I do not recognize——"
"You are then astray?" quickly asked Dick Sand.
"Astray! no. The farm cannot be more than three miles away, now. But, I wished to take the shortest road through the forest, and perhaps I have made a little mistake!"
"Perhaps," replied Dick Sand.
"I would do well, I think, to go in advance," said Harris.
"As you will," replied the American. "But, during the night, it will be difficult for me to guide you."
"Never mind that!" replied Dick Sand. "We are going to halt. Mrs.
Weldon will consent to pass a last night under the trees, and
to-morrow, when it is broad daylight, we will proceed on our journey!
Two or three miles still, that will be an hour's walk!"
"Be it so," replied Harris.
At that moment Dingo commenced to bark furiously.
"Here, Dingo, here!" cried Dick Sand. "You know well that no one is there, and that we are in the desert!"
This last halt was then decided upon.
Mrs. Weldon let her companions work without saying a word. Her little
They sought the best place to pass the night. This was under a large bunch of trees, where Dick Sand thought of disposing all for their rest. But old Tom, who was helping55 him in these preparations, stopped suddenly, crying out:
"Mr. Dick! look! look!"
"What is it, old Tom?" asked Dick Sand, in the calm tone of a man who attends to everything.
"There—there!" cried Tom; "on those trees—blood stains!—and—on the ground—mutilated limbs!"
Dick Sand rushed toward the spot indicated by old Tom. Then, returning to him: "Silence, Tom, silence!" said he.
In fact, there on the ground were hands cut off, and above these human remains56 were several broken forks, and a chain in pieces!
Happily, Mrs. Weldon had seen nothing of this horrible spectacle.
As for Harris, he kept at a distance, and any one observing him at this moment would have been struck at the change made in him. His face had something ferocious57 in it.
The novice had hard work to drive him away.
Meanwhile, old Tom, at the sight of these forks, of this broken chain, had remained motionless, as if his feet were rooted in the soil. His eyes were wide open, his hands clenched59; he stared, murmuring these incoherent words:
"I have seen—already seen—these forks—when little—I have seen!"
He tried to recall them. He was going to speak.
"Be silent, Tom!" repeated Dick Sand. "For Mrs. Weldon's sake, for all our sakes, be silent!"
And the novice led the old black away.
Another halting place was chosen, at some distance, and all was arranged for the night.
The repast was prepared, but they hardly touched it. Fatigue took away their hunger. All were under an indefinable impression of anxiety which bordered on terror.
Darkness came gradually: soon it was profound. The sky was covered with great stormy clouds. Between the trees in the western horizon they saw some flashes of heat lightning. The wind had fallen; not a leaf moved on the trees. An absolute silence succeeded the noises of the day, and it might be believed that the heavy atmosphere, saturated62 with electricity, was becoming unfit for the transmission of sounds.
Dick Sand, Austin, and Bat watched together. They tried to see, to hear, during this very dark night, if any light whatsoever63, or any suspicious noise should strike their eyes or their ears. Nothing troubled either the calm or the obscurity of the forest.
Torn, not sleepy, but absorbed in his remembrances, his head bent64, remained quiet, as if he had been struck by some sudden blow.
Mrs. Weldon rocked her child in her arms, and only thought of him.
Only Cousin Benedict slept, perhaps, for he alone did not suffer from the common impression. His faculty65 for looking forward did not go so far.
Suddenly, about eleven o'clock, a prolonged and grave roaring was heard, with which was mingled66 a sort of sharper shuddering67. Tom stood up and stretched out his hand toward a dense thicket, a mile or more distant.
Dick Sand seized his arm, but he could not prevent Tom from crying in a loud voice: "The lion! the lion!"
This roaring, which he had so often heard in his infancy, the old black had just recognized it.
"The lion!" he repeated.
Dick Sand, incapable68 of controlling himself longer, rushed, cutlass in hand, to the place occupied by Harris.
Harris was no longer there, and his horse had disappeared with him.
A sort of revelation took place in Dick Sand's mind. He was not where he had believed he was!
So it was not on the American coast that the "Pilgrim" had gone ashore69! It was not the Isle70 of Paques, whose bearing the novice had taken at sea, but some other island situated71 exactly to the west of this continent, as the Isle of Paques is situated to the west of America.
The compass had deceived him during a part of the voyage, we know why! Led away by the tempest over a false route, he must have doubled Cape72 Horn, and from the Pacific Ocean he had passed into the Atlantic! The speed of his ship, which he could only imperfectly estimate, had been doubled, unknown to him, by the force of the hurricane!
America were missing in this country, which was neither the plateau of
Atacama nor the Bolivian pampa!
Yes, they were giraffes, not ostriches, which had fled away in the opening! They were elephants that had crossed the thick underwood! They were hippopotami whose repose74 Dick Sand had troubled under the large plants! It was the tsetse, that dipter picked up by Benedict, the formidable tsetse under whose stings the animals of the caravans75 perish!
Finally, it was, indeed, the roaring of the lion that had just sounded through the forest! And those forks, those chains, that knife of singular form, they were the tools of the slave-trader! Those mutilated hands, they were the hands of captives!
The Portuguese Negoro, and the American Harris, must be in collusion!
And those terrible words guessed by Dick Sand, finally escaped his lips:
"Africa! Equatorial Africa! Africa of the slave-trade and the slaves!"
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收听单词发音
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1
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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2
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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3
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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4
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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5
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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6
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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7
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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8
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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9
aggravate
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| vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火 | |
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10
junctures
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| n.时刻，关键时刻( juncture的名词复数 )；接合点 | |
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11
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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12
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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13
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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14
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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15
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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16
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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17
detests
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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19
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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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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21
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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22
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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23
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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24
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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25
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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26
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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27
dilate
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| vt.使膨胀，使扩大 | |
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28
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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29
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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30
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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31
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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32
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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33
marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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34
jaguars
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| n.（中、南美洲的）美洲虎( jaguar的名词复数 ) | |
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35
cougars
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| n.美洲狮( cougar的名词复数 ) | |
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36
imprints
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| n.压印( imprint的名词复数 )；痕迹；持久影响 | |
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37
acclimated
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| v.使适应新环境，使服水土服水土，适应( acclimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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39
ostriches
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| n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者 | |
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40
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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41
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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42
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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43
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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44
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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45
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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46
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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47
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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48
retard
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| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
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49
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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50
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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51
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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53
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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54
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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55
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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56
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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57
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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58
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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59
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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61
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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62
saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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63
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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64
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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65
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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66
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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67
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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68
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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69
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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70
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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71
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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72
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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73
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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74
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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75
caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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