CHAPTER XXI. TROOPERS ON THE TRAIL.

 Captain Meinhold was on old Indian campaigner, and his lieutenant¹, a gallant² young fellow named Lawson, although much younger in the service, took to the work naturally.

 

They were fortunate in having all the essentials of a good troop. They had good horses, well seen to and in fine order. Next, they had good men, well disciplined, who liked their officers, and consequently were ready to endure hardship and extra duty without murmuring.

 

No company, therefore, was better prepared than Company B of the Third Cavalry³ to make a good record whenever it had a chance.

 

Pushing on by night as well as by day, and taking only such time to rest and feed as was actually necessary, even Steve Hathaway himself—an old “Overlander” who was used to getting through at all costs, even if the stock went under in doing it—was satisfied with the progress made by the soldiers.

 

On the third day out from the fort they had news from Buffalo⁴ Bill, for the scouts⁵ he had promised to send back met them, and now the order to “hurry up” did not require to be repeated.

 

Feeling almost certain that an Indian fight was before them, the seasoned troopers were as keen as war horses who snuff the smoke of gunpowder⁷. There was no hanging back on the part of any one of them.

 

Taking a route described to them so minutely by the scouts that Hathaway, with his experience, knew exactly where Buffalo Bill must be, they pushed on at the top of their speed. Steve told Captain Meinhold that they would see the tracks of Buffalo Bill and his party, if nothing more, inside of twenty hours.

 

“We must do that—or else stop to hunt,” replied the officer. “Our rations⁸ are all out.”

 

“Men who can’t go twenty hours without eating have got no business to come on the great plains at all,” responded the tough old scout⁶, who was himself thoroughly⁹ familiar with all the hardships of Western life.

 

The course now lay directly over the almost boundless¹⁰ plains, with no water except some half-stagnant pools met with now and then in a buffalo wallow, and it was a weary journey for both men and horses. But toward night the blue of the hills once more greeted their eyes, and when at last the grateful evening air, cool and pleasant, came to them, the hills were in full view.

 

A short halt at sunset by some poor water and yet poorer grass gave the animals and men a brief rest, and then the forced march was resumed, not to be broken by any ordinary circumstances until the hills and good water were reached.

 

This occurred after a long night ride, just at dawn, and the two hunter scouts, riding ahead, had the good luck to come upon a herd¹¹ of elk¹² in the mouth of the pass which first opened up before them.

 

Three of the animals were shot down before they could get out of range, so that meat was plentiful¹³ for the soldiers when they made their morning halt. The grass was good, too, and both men and horses had a good chance to recuperate¹⁴ after their hard travel.

 

The two scouts, after a brief rest, taking from Steve Hathaway the course he meant to travel, started off to find Buffalo Bill and to carry to him the news that help was at hand.

 

Before they left, Captain Meinhold arranged a code of smoke signals with them which would aid his movements—signals that would tell him when and where Buffalo Bill and his men were found, and whether they were fighting.

 

A halt of about three hours gave both men and animals sufficient rest and feeding time to make them quite fit for another rapid journey.

 

It was now deemed best to skirt the base of the hills until the trail was found. Hathaway became more and more eager as they went on, for he felt confident that Buffalo Bill would have the prudence¹⁵ to wait, and, therefore, that they would soon join him and his own good faith be proved.

 

The man had lived a hard and criminal life, but he now saw a chance to redeem¹⁶ the past and he was eager to seize it.

 

About noon they came upon the trail where Buffalo Bill and his party had entered into the hills.

 

Captain Meinhold asked Steve how long it was since the king of the scouts had passed.

 

“The trail is cold,” was the reply. “The night dew has fallen on it. He must be a long way ahead, if he has not halted to wait for us. He is on a trail almost as fresh as his own—and the trail of a bigger crowd, many times over. If he and all with him are wiped out, it is his fault. He should have waited for us, for I told him I’d guide you straight to his trail, and I’ve done it.”

 

“Halt!” cried the captain, turning to his men. “There are smoke signals rising. They must be from the scouts who left us. Yes, it is so. Three quick smokes half a minute apart. That means that a fight is going on.

 

 

“But it is strange. There is no long, steady smoke lasting¹⁷ five minutes—the signal which I arranged with them to show that Buffalo Bill was there. They must surely have forgotten, or else misunderstood me. Ah, there is another smoke spiral—another and another—but they are farther off!”

 

“And they are not made by those two scouts or by their friends,” said Steve. “Those last puffs¹⁸ of smoke came from the vicinity of that devil’s hole they call Nick’s Cavern¹⁹.”

 

“I don’t know the place. Who is there?” asked the officer.

 

“It is the favorite resort of the Death Riders—and a strong place. They are a gang of cutthroats and outlaws²⁰, sir—one of the worst in the West. I know them only too well! They have seen these signals, and the men probably think they are signs of their own comrades.

 

“They’ll be moving down to help them, too. Whatever gang are fighting over there will get help from them if they are fighting Buffalo Bill. They hate him so bitterly that they would gladly risk their lives on the chance of wiping him out.”

 

“Then we will move on. If there is a fight going on, the sooner we get into it, the better.”

 

And the captain at once put his command to a trot²¹.

1 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

2 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

3 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

6 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

7 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

8 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

9 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

10 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

12 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

13 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

14 recuperate   

v.恢复

参考例句：

• Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate.再住院几天，好好地恢复。
• He went to the country to recuperate.他去乡下养病去了。

15 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

16 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。

17 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

18 puffs   

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

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

19 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

20 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

21 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。