Early as they were, the emigrant3 camps on the plain, and Denver City and Auraria in the midst, were astir: smoke was welling from camp-fires and chimneys, shouts and calls arose as outfits5 prepared to journey onward6, people were moving busily, and the procession beyond the Platte was wending in a long file mountain-ward.
Already another announcement was displayed on Mr. Reilly's show tent. "Also (it said) the Only Genuine Wild Buffalo7 Now in Captivity8, and the Identical Wagon9 That He Drew Across the Plains."
Mr. Reilly was working on the first announcement, to make it read, "The Bullet-Pierced Head of the Ferocious10 Chief Bloody11 Knife," and to change the frontiersman's name from "Black Panther" to "Dead-Shot Bill."
"It's a pity one of you fellers won't hire out to be my scout," he proffered12. "'Tother one might take in the tickets at the door. I got the shirt and weepon back from that man Ike, but he won't work again. Anyhow, you can unhitch and help me get that buffalo inside this tent, out of sight. We'll tie him to a stake, and roll the wagon in afterward13."
This was done, after the flaps had been thrown wide. Duke limped in rather gladly, was stationed at the far end beside the head of the late Thunder Horse, and the wagon, unloaded of its few goods, was pushed and pulled to another position.
"You might stay with Jenny and the stuff, while I do our marketing," proposed Harry to Terry, as he shouldered the big roll of gunny sacks, for some mysterious purpose, and lugged15 it away.
He disappeared in the doorway16 of the store under the News office. Jenny hee-hawed after him. She missed him and Duke.
Harry soon returned jubilant, without the sacks.
"All right. We're fixed," he proclaimed. "I traded them in for a sack of dried apples. The man didn't appreciate their value, at first, but I explained. Value No. 1: Most of the cabins hereabouts have only dirt floors; the sacking will be fine for carpets to keep the dust down. Value No. 2: It will be handy for covering windows, to keep out the wind. Value No. 3: It will be useful to patch pants with, instead of buckskin. Value No. 4: It will lengthen17 pants—in fact, the pants of that Rocky Mountain News peddler gave me the idea. Value No. 5: It will make good ticking for straw mattresses18. To tell the truth, it is so valuable that I wouldn't part with any of it except for dried apples. Now we can have pie!"
They bestowed19 on Duke and the cart a friendly good-luck slap, shook hands with Mr. Reilly, and proceeded to the store with Jenny. The purchases amounted to considerable. First, a pack-saddle, not brand new, but of ash and rawhide20 in excellent condition; a sack of flour, the sack of dried apples, a quarter of antelope21 meat—the only cheap meat, at four cents a pound; five pounds of coffee (very dear), soda22, salt, sugar, soap, a square of rawhide for soling their boots, two miner's pans for washing out the gold, etc., etc.
These, with the picks and spades, and the bedding, and the cooking and eating utensils23 made quite a problem. No wonder that Jenny groaned24 when the saddle was cinched upon her.
However, with her pack bulging25 on either side and atop, the tools projecting and the cooking utensils jingling26, she accepted her fate, and stepping in cautious, top-heavy fashion submitted to being headed out of town into the trail for the Platte River crossing.
Terry, the shot-gun upon his shoulder, and Harry, shouldering a pick and spade that had not fitted anywhere, followed close after. So did Shep, who carried nothing but his shaggy coat. On the whole, no one could deny that this was a real prospecting27 outfit4.
"Forty miles, they say, to those Gregory diggin's," remarked Harry. "Wonder if they mean forty or four hundred? You see that flat-top mountain—the first mountain in the northwest? How far do you think it is?"
"Five miles," asserted Terry.
"Well, it's eighteen miles! They call it Table Mountain. That's where we go in. So when a fellow's looking five miles, in this country, he's looking eighteen, and that makes forty miles about one hundred and fifty."
The trail was becoming crowded as other outfits converged28 from the right and left for the Platte crossing. It was a procession much like the procession on the Pike's Peak trails—oxen, horses, mules29, cows, dogs, wagons30; and men, women and children either afoot or riding. But there were more men with packs on their backs and more animals packed like Jenny.
The long-legged Jenny, her pack swaying and jingling, could be urged past the slower travelers—and well that was, for ere the Platte was reached, the wagons in the procession had stopped. They formed a waiting line several hundred yards in length. Forging to the front, Terry and Harry might see the occasion. The Platte evidently was to be crossed by means of a flat-boat ferry, running back and forth31 on a cable. So the wagons need must bide32 their turn.
Harry went forward to investigate. He came back with a rueful face.
"Two dollars and a half for a wagon outfit; a dollar and a half for our outfit," he reported. "The ferry's run by a couple of Indian traders named McGaa and Smith. Wonder if we can't ford33."
"Nary ford, this time o' year, strangers," reproved a red-shirted miner. "See those wagons; they'll be out o' sight by noon! Quicksand!"
Several wagons foolishly had tried to ford; and there they were, abandoned, some of them even only a few rods out. Already just the tops of two were visible above the surface.
"Guess we won't risk it," agreed Terry.
So they paid their fee, and squeezing in aboard the ferry, were carried across.
The trail continued, entering amidst low rolling swells34 of sandy gravel35 and sparse36, tufty grass and stiff brush, between which and over and on toiled37 the pilgrimage for the new diggin's where one John Gregory and others were harvesting their pound of gold a day. The Gregory claim was said to be so marvelously rich and yellow that no strangers had been permitted to see it.
From the high places glimpses were given, on the right, of a creek38 course below, bordered by willows39 and cottonwoods. This was that Clear Creek on whose headwaters in the mountains the Gregory strike had been made. But the landmark40 of Table Mountain drew near so gradually, in spite of the haste by everybody, that not until evening did it loom41 close at hand, shadowed with purple and rising a wall-like six hundred feet.
Here the trail ran along Clear Creek itself, and the procession was halting for night camp, to water and graze the animals and to rest. On both sides of the creek prospectors42 had settled, to wash out gold; but now the most of them had quit work and in front of their tents and bough43 lean-tos were preparing supper.
"Better stop off, boys," warned a hairy miner, who, squatting44 over a little fire, was deftly45 cooking flap-jacks—tossing them one by one from a fry-pan into the air and catching46 them other side down. "You can't go much farther till mornin'. There's a trail ahead so steep your mule'll have to turn over an' prop14 herself with her ears to keep from slidin' backwards47."
"Sounds like good advice," accepted Harry. "You going on in, or are you making your pile here?"
"Makin' a pile o' flap-jacks, if those hungry partners don't eat 'em faster'n I can cook. Yep, we're goin' on somewhere, if this creek doesn't pan out better. We've been followin' the gold all the way from Pike's Peak an' the Boilin' Springs, an' the best diggin's alluz seem forty miles ahead."
"Where are the Boiling Springs?" asked Terry. "Do they boil?"
"Haven't you heard o' them yet? They're down at the foot o' Pike's—tremenjous good water, sody an' iron both an' a lot o' other minerals, I reckon; bubblin' an' poppin', an' liable to cure anything. Sacred to the Injun, they were, but they're powerful good for white man."
Jenny, her pack removed, took a hearty48 roll, and a shake, and a long cold drink, and fell to browsing49. Terry built a fire and prepared camp; Harry got out their own fry-pan and the coffee pot, and while the water in the pot was coming to a boil he proceeded to mix batter50.
"What'll it be?" queried Terry, hungry.
"Flap-jacks."
"I didn't know you could make them."
"I didn't, either, to date. But I can."
The first flap-jack stuck confoundingly, and would not turn at all except by pieces. So it burned, and they gave it to Shep. The next sailed free and high, and landed, dough51 side down, in Terry's lap. Terry started to laugh, but changed his tune52 and frantically53 tore the hot dough loose, then executed a war-dance while he sucked his fingers.
"Too much flap," commented Harry. "Once again."
This flap-jack flew straight for his face and he ducked only just in time to prevent being plastered.
"Everything goes to Shep," he complained. "I can make 'em, all right, but I haven't the knack54 of turning 'em."
"You can shout there's a knack, Mister," agreed the other flap-jack performer, who now had stepped over to watch. "You'll not be a true miner till you can toss a flap-jack up the cabin chimbley an' ketch it again outside, turned over. Where you boys from?"
"Blue River Valley, Kansas. We were the Pike's Peak Limited; now we're the Extra Limited," explained Harry.
"The Russell brothers are somewhar in this hyar procession, aren't they?"
"Are they? All of them?"
"So I heard tell. They left Aurary today, for the new diggin's."
"Are the Gregory diggin's full of gold?" eagerly invited Terry.
"Mebbe so, for people who know how to find it. Trouble is, this country's fuller of people who don't know how to find it."
He went back to his own fire. Harry turned the rest of the flap-jacks with a knife, and they were very good. He really had become an excellent camp cook.
"Jiminy! Wish we could see Sol Judy at the diggin's," voiced Terry. "He knows all about gold. He was in California."
"Yes, Sol knows gold, and I have an idea we don't," answered Harry, with sober reflection.
"I suppose when we see something yellow we'll save it," hazarded Terry, more hopefully.
Forward, march, with morning light, to Gregory Gulch55! Clear Creek had to be forded; and while, soaked to the knees, they trudged56 on behind the shambling Jenny, and Terry was wondering how they were to climb Table Mountain, the trail left the creek, veered57 to the right, and traversed a deep narrow gulch whose rocky bottom, scored by wagon-tires, made rough going.
"Great Cæsar's ghost!" uttered Harry, as they rounded a shoulder.
High above them, before, was a portion of the procession: wagons, animals, and people, far aloft, zig-zagging up a mountainside by another trail (or was it the same trail?), clinging for footholds and every now and then pausing as if to breathe.
Several of the wagons were drawn58 by eight and ten yoke59 of oxen; several of the wagons with one and two yoke were apparently60 stuck fast; teams and people alike—particularly the pack animals and the people carrying packs—seemed to be having all they could do to advance yard by yard. Wagons also were descending61, and raising immense clouds of dust.
"Do we go up there?" protested Terry.
Yes, the start of the climb was only a short distance ahead. The canyon64 almost closed, and at a sharp angle the trail zigzagged65 right up the steep flank of the mountain—not Table Mountain, but another, higher.
Jenny pricked67 forward her long ears, in inquiring fashion, and halted of her own accord to survey. Here at the base of the mountain other outfits likewise had halted: wagons unloading, or waiting for teams to return and help them up; pack animals having their packs readjusted; foot travelers sitting and resting while gazing upward.
The wagons descending were dragging behind them huge boughs68, as brakes. These boughs raised the dust. From the zigzag66 the grinding of iron tires, the popping of whips and the shouting of drivers echoed incessantly69.
Along the line in the canyon welled a cheer; and accompanying it there forged past, for the climb, a large party who must have numbered one hundred and fifty, mostly men. They were well equipped with horses, oxen, wagons and pack mules. Two men rode confidently in the lead. One was Captain William Green Russell; the other looked a little like him, but had whiskers that flowed down upon his chest. A third man, who looked a little like both, but whose whiskers flowed clear to his saddle-horn, brought up the rear.
"The Russells!"
"Those are the Russell brothers and their party!"
The man who rode beside Captain Green Russell was said to be Dr. Levi J. Russell. The long-whiskered man at the rear was the other brother, J. Oliver Russell.
On and up toiled the Russell company, bound for the Gregory diggin's; and encouraged by the sight, the halted procession bestirred to follow.
"Jenny," appealed Harry, "are you good for it, if Terry and I shove?"
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收听单词发音
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1
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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6
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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10
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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11
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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12
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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15
lugged
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| vt.用力拖拉（lug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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16
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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17
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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18
mattresses
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| 褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 ) | |
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19
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
rawhide
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| n.生牛皮 | |
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antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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22
soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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23
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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24
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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25
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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28
converged
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| v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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29
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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30
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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31
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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32
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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34
swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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35
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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38
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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39
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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40
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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41
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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42
prospectors
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| n.勘探者，探矿者( prospector的名词复数 ) | |
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43
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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44
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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45
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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46
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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47
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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48
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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49
browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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50
batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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51
dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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52
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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53
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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54
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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55
gulch
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| n.深谷，峡谷 | |
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56
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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57
veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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58
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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59
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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60
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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61
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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62
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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63
props
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| 小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋 | |
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64
canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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65
zigzagged
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| adj.呈之字形移动的v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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67
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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68
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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69
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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