Terrified so that the very muscles in her body quivered, she sprang toward her mother and pushed her way in between the two mares. Fire had been part of the horrible process in the corral, but that fire had been as nothing to this. She was afraid! She wanted to run, and she worried about their standing still.
The black colt on the other side of his white mother was not the least bit frightened. He had as yet met with nothing baneful8 in fires and they only interested him. At that moment, having slept well and fed well and feeling unusually good, he wanted very much to frisk about and play. He trotted9 over to Queen and mischievously10 butted11 her from behind, pushing her half way out from between the two mares. Queen was much too nervous to tolerate his playfulness. With an impatient toss of her head she moved back against her mother and called for help. The old buckskin herself was in no mood for trifling12 and drove the black colt away with an angry threat. The white mare, who was as indulgent a mother as the buckskin, took the matter so seriously that there would have been trouble but for a sudden blast of wind, loaded with smoke.
There was a hurried clatter13 of hoofs14 and the herd started away as with one impulse. Down slopes, through wide hollows, up hills, leaping over badger15 holes and stones, they ran, half enjoying the excitement. Occasionally they stopped to look back with glaring eyes upon the flames that swept along in their wake, still far, but unmistakably nearer every time they stopped.
With the coming of full daylight the flames lost their brilliance16 and the colts, tired of running, would stop every once in a while and noisily protest to their mothers, who kept a short distance ahead of them. They would then walk slowly and whinny till a new gust17 of wind with a new offensive cloud of smoke would frighten them and send them on again with renewed energy.
But their endurance was rapidly giving out and toward the middle of the day they refused to run any more. Their mothers, a few paces ahead of them, called to them solicitously18, ran on as if they meant to desert them, then seeing that that did not move them, they came back calling coaxingly19 and tried to encourage them. A step at a time, their heads bobbing wearily, their sides wet, they lumbered20 along complainingly.
The prairie fire kept gaining upon them. The mothers’ anxiety turned into desperation. They came back to them and getting behind them fairly pushed them along. Suddenly a blazing thistle, driven by the gale21, rolled into their midst. All weariness, all aches and pains were at once forgotten. As if they were controlled by a single mind, they bounded forward, re-entering the race for life with an energy which they themselves did not know they had.
The sun with smiling indifference22 moved rapidly down the lower half of its diurnal23 arc. The wind tore along behind them with irregular force and with a constant changing of direction. The smoke it had borne all day had grown less and less perceptible. The weight of Queen’s body dragged more and more irresistibly24 downward. Her head began swimming in waves of weariness that were inundating25 the whole of her body; but she struggled on bravely, though she vaguely26 felt that it would not be long before she would be forced to give up the struggle. Then, as she reached the top of a hill, she beheld27 through the film of moisture on her eyes, the mares and the stronger colts who had gone on ahead, now grazing on the other side of a long, black, dried mud spot down in the hollow.
That the wind had veered28 decidedly, taking smell and smoke and fire off to the east, they had not even noticed. They had been running unnecessarily for some time, impelled29 by the fear of the burning thistle. The sight of the herd grazing with apparent fearlessness reassured30 them. Most of the stragglers walked on ahead to join them, but Queen selected a soft spot on the grass and dropped to the ground with a sigh.
Hunger had no power over her now. She stretched out her legs and her head and relaxed, sinking willingly into the stupor31 that swept over her. Her mother near her cropped the delicious grass with avidity; but the long-drawn sighs that came from her little one and the rapid sinking and swelling32 of her wet sides, worried her. She walked over to Queen, whinnied softly and licked the perspiration33 from her little body. Little Queen continued to breathe heavily but a note of relief entered the sound of her breathing, and now more comfortable she fell asleep.
But if Queen had gone to sleep thinking that her exhausting journey was over, she was doomed34 to disappointment. She woke shortly after she had fallen asleep, with a most intense desire to drink. On the hill above the hollow she saw the greater part of the herd already moving on. Some of the mares and their colts near Queen were starting away and her mother was calling her, very evidently moved by the same urge. There was nothing behind them forcing them to go. There was no discussion of any sort to make clear the need for going. In the mind of each of them there was the image of a slough35. It was a sort of composite image of all the sloughs36 they had ever drunk from and with that image like a mirage37 on the prairie distance before them, they doggedly38 hit once more the unbroken trail to the north.
All day and most of the evening they continued the discouraging advance without coming even to the bed of a dried-up slough. That night they grazed a little and slept a little, but the thirst for water, somewhat weakened by the coldness of the early night, soon reasserted itself and sent them restlessly going again. The morning brought some relief. The ground was covered with a thick frost and the grass they ate partially39 quenched40 their thirst. But by the time the sun was quite high on its arc they were as thirsty as ever and soon commenced the weary march once more.
It was in the early evening that they came at last upon a half-dried slough toward one end of which there was a good sized hole full of water. The surface of the water was covered with a layer of ice. With her hoof one of the mares made a large hole in the ice and as many as could squeeze into the first circle around it, drank till some of the others began to fear that there would be no water left for them. Some pushed the drinkers greedily and even nipped at them but the others just waited patiently.
Her mother was one of the first to drink, but little Queen waited till she saw two of the horses—strangers to her—turn away. The old work-horse whose good nature had impressed itself upon her at the haystack, and who by daylight seemed even more kindly41 disposed, his sorrel coat somehow intensifying42 his harmlessness, took half the space they left and Queen walked up beside him. The old fellow’s upper lip trembled in soft assurance of his friendship. Very grateful to him Queen bent43 down and drank, a few inches away from his head, keeping her eyes on the reflections in the water, raising her head hastily just as soon as one of the reflections moved.
The world seemed altogether different to her after that drink. It seemed as if every wish of her little soul had been gratified. She was still tired but it was not a very painful tiredness and not strong enough to keep her from preferring the tender grasses in the old slough to resting.
Night came again. The wind completely changed. It blew strong and cold now from the southeast. The sky was very clear and in the north just above the horizon many lights quivered. The old buckskin mare settled down comfortably in the midst of the other mares and little Queen nestled up against her warm body. With her head upon her mother’s flank she delighted in her comfort and gazed at the northern lights, whose brilliant display did not seem to worry the older horses. Yet so long as Queen’s eyes were open they were fastened upon those lights; and so long as the little brain was awake it kept wondering with a bit of fear what they might mean, for they were different from fire yet moved as fire did.
She had slept a long time when she was awakened by the sound of anxious neighing that seemed far away and yet filled the air above the little valley. Upon opening her eyes she beheld the northern lights so clear and so near that she trembled for fear of them, and was certain that the disorderly running about that she heard was due to the same fear. But when her mother jumped up and she followed, she discovered that the frightful44 odour of fire was coming on the wind from the south, where she had last seen the flames creeping behind her.
The same confusion, the same bewildering excitement and again the wearing race for life began. That they ran directly toward the northern lights convinced her that these were as harmless as the moon and stars. With very few differences this flight was like the first. Though the discomfort45 of it was even more hateful to her, Queen felt no impending46 breakdown47 and without realising it, she was stronger now.
Dawn came and soon gave way to a somewhat dull day. The wind changed several times and finally for a while died down altogether. There was no trace of smoke in the air; but the south was now established as a region of horror and they continued their flight northward48 till late in the afternoon.
They ran down a steep hillside dotted with many knolls49 and stones and came into an elongated50, bowl-like valley toward one end of which there was a small spring lake. There they stopped to drink, to graze and to rest.
Just as the air in that valley bore no trace of smoke, the plains that stretched away from that valley bore no trace of man. A few grass-overgrown buffalo51 trails led from the lands above to the deepest part of the ancient lake and a bleached52 buffalo skull53 beside the main trail told the story of a day and its life that had passed.
A coyote den2 at the opposite end of the bowl and half way up the slope gave the only evidence of life about the lake. The rim54 of the bowl shut away the barrenness of the prairies above. The very dome55 of heaven rested upon the rim of that bowl and vast primordial56 spaces interposed protection against man’s greedy intrusions.
Little Queen drank some water at the ice hole, drank the milk that nature had prepared for her with all the care and concern of her mother’s love, then slept away another night at her beloved mother’s side, never even dreaming that this night was shutting fast forever the doors behind which lay the closed first period of her life.
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1
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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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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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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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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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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baneful
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| adj.有害的 | |
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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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mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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butted
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| 对接的 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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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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badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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18
solicitously
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| adv.热心地，热切地 | |
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coaxingly
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| adv. 以巧言诱哄，以甘言哄骗 | |
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lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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diurnal
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| adj.白天的，每日的 | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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25
inundating
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| v.淹没( inundate的现在分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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28
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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29
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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31
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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34
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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sloughs
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| n.沼泽( slough的名词复数 )；苦难的深渊；难以改变的不良心情；斯劳(Slough)v.使蜕下或脱落( slough的第三人称单数 )；舍弃；除掉；摒弃 | |
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37
mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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40
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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41
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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42
intensifying
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉 | |
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43
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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44
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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45
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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47
breakdown
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| n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌 | |
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48
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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49
knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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50
elongated
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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52
bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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53
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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55
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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primordial
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| adj.原始的；最初的 | |
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