CHAPTER XVIII.

 The crack of Richard Brainerd's rifle and the death-shriek of the Seneca Indian were almost simultaneous, but the redskin was only a slight way in advance of the other savages¹, who, understanding the meaning of the report and outcry, dashed forward.

 

The startling episode caused some bewilderment on the part of the other fugitives², seeing which, the eldest³ called out to them impatiently:

 

"Push on, there! Push on! the Indians are right on us."

 

Providentially, the advance were so close to the refuge that Gravity Gimp caught sight of the spot, and without looking around, he swung his hand over his head and exclaimed:

 

"Here we am! Here we am!"

 

"And that's the trouble," growled⁴ Habakkuk McEwen, crowding hard after him, "if we were only somewhere else, we'd feel a good deal better—leastways I would."

 

Another whoop⁵ was heard, then others at the rear, and those who glanced back caught sight of several warriors⁶ flitting among the trees and within the toss of a stone of them.

 

Brainerd would have fired again had it been in his power, but his gun was unloaded and it was impossible to ram⁷ a charge home, and pour the powder in the pan, without coming to a standstill for a minute or two, and such hesitation⁸ would be death.

 

Had the place of refuge toward which they were hastening been a dozen rods farther, not one of the fugitives would have reached it alive, but, at the critical moment, Gimp, the African, told the joyous⁹ news that it was at hand, and a general scramble¹⁰ followed.

 

The servant paused at the head of the elevated path, and turning around, beckoned¹¹ excitedly for the others to hurry, when they were already doing their utmost, while he danced about and waited the few seconds necessary for them to reach him.

 

While he was doing so, Habakkuk McEwen suddenly vanished from sight, evidently concluding that the "time for disappearing" had come.

 

He had caught sight of the refuge, and with one bound he went down the declivity¹² and was first to enter.

 

He took a sweeping¹³ glance of the interior, and was disappointed, for it was not what he expected, but it was far better than the open wilderness¹⁴. He dashed for the narrow path on the outside, to take his part in yelling for the others to hurry up, or rather down.

 

"Be quick! Quick!"

 

It was Aunt Peggy who came panting into the opening with a rush, and, colliding with McEwen, sent him tumbling backwards¹⁵.

 

By the time the bewildered New Englander was on his feet again, Maggie Brainerd, Eva, her father, and Gravity Gimp came crowding into the narrow place, all nearly out of breath.

 

There was a general looking around in the semi-gloom, and Habakkuk's disappointment was shared by those who had not seen the place before.

 

It was of little account, and, although it might be made to answer as a temporary refuge, it could hardly be expected to furnish secure defense¹⁶ for an extended time.

 

Descending¹⁷ a narrow path for twenty feet, and all the time along the face of the ravine, as it may be called, they reached a spot which looked as if it had been scooped¹⁸ out of the solid stone wall.

 

It ran back a dozen feet or more, and was about the same breadth and height, but the difficulty was that the opening was fully¹⁹ as great, so that, viewed from the front, the person or animal who might seek shelter there was in plain sight.

 

The spot was one of the many romantic ones that abound²⁰ in the mountains fringing the Wyoming Valley. The rapidly sloping path that the fugitives followed terminated in front of the cave, which, therefore, could only be approached from the single direction. Beyond, the path narrowed off to nothing, leaving a perpendicular²¹ wall of stone for twenty feet below, and almost as much overhead.

 

The ravine on which this bordered was fifty feet across, but directly opposite was the weak point of the defense.

 

A mass of rocks rose fully as high, if not a few feet higher, than the cavern²² in which the fugitives had taken refuge; consequently, if an enemy could gain a position behind these boulders²³, he could fire down into the opening, where our friends had no means of protecting themselves from the shots.

 

But it was no easy matter to reach this monument-like pile, though it could be done at much risk to the one attempting it. The configuration²⁴ was so peculiar²⁵ that one man at a time could creep along behind the other stones, until a point was almost reached which commanded the retreat, though the inmates²⁶, by pressing close against one side of the cavern, could escape the fire of an enemy.

 

On the other side there was no means of approach to such a position.

 

If a foe²⁷ would climb up the rocks, and steal forward to a certain point, an active Indian could make a leap that would carry him to the cover of the pile, where he could aim and shoot into the cavern without risk to himself, provided he used ordinary caution.

 

Furthermore, it was unlikely that the Indians, skilled as they were in woodcraft, would fail to see this vulnerable point and their own coigne of vantage.

 

In truth they detected it almost on the same instant the fugitives hurried into the cavern.

 

1 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

2 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

3 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

4 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 whoop   

n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息

参考例句：

• He gave a whoop of joy when he saw his new bicycle.他看到自己的新自行车时，高兴得叫了起来。
• Everybody is planning to whoop it up this weekend.大家都打算在这个周末好好欢闹一番。

6 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

7 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

8 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

9 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

10 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

11 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 declivity   

n.下坡，倾斜面

参考例句：

• I looked frontage straightly,going declivity one by one.我两眼直视前方，一路下坡又下坡。
• He had rolled down a declivity of twelve or fifteen feet.他是从十二尺或十五尺高的地方滚下来的。

13 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

14 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

15 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

17 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

18 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

20 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

21 perpendicular   

adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。
• The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。

22 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。

23 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 configuration   

n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。

25 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

26 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。