Sinking down on the ground, as limp as a rag, he began begging in the most pitiful tones for his life. Indeed, he groveled so in the dirt that all the whites who looked upon him found their feelings of hatred3 turning to disgust and pity.
Fred Godfrey was disappointed, and, stepping back a pace or two, gazed on the miserable4 craven as he would upon a dog he had caught stealing sheep, and which was then cringing5 at his feet.
Instead of waiting until the patriot6 had proven the truth of his declaration, the renegade succumbed7 at once. It is hard to kick the wretch8 who clasps your knees, and the lieutenant, who was determined9 to rid the world of the man as soon as he had made the declaration of his purposes respecting the captives, found his resentment10 gone.
Mr. Brainerd, with an expression of scorn, sprang up from the log and strode over to his son.
"In Heaven's name, let him go, Fred! Kick him out of sight, for he hasn't the manhood to stand up and be shot like a man."
"Get up!" commanded Fred, catching11 him by the collar of his coat, and jerking him to his feet: "I want to speak to you."
But Golcher was no sooner on his feet than he went to pieces again, groaning12 and whining13, and begging for that mercy that he had so often denied to others.
Again the lieutenant yanked him to the upright position, and, finding him collapsed as before, he cuffed14 his ears until they tingled15, shouting:
"Stand up, or you're a dead man!"
Finally, after wabbling about several minutes, Golcher summoned enough strength to keep his feet, though in a shaky condition; and finding he was not to be executed immediately, he managed to grasp the situation.
"I was going to say—What do you mean, Gravity?"
This sudden question was caused by Gimp, the African, who, with a chuckle16, ran forward from the darkness that was beginning to give away before the approach of day, and, jamming his head down in the ground between Godfrey and Golcher, threw his huge feet in the air, and began kicking with such recklessness that one of them struck the lieutenant in the breast, nearly knocking him over, while the other sent the Tory recoiling17 some distance.
"Can't help it!" exclaimed the happy African; "Jake Golcher's s'prise party dat was to hab arriv, hab arroven, and me and Aunt Peggy feels like standin' on our heads, and kickin' de limbs off de trees."
Gravity used his feet rather too vigorously, and, swaying beyond the point of nature's gravity, came down on his back with a resounding18 thump19; but he did not mind it, and leaping up, ran to the fallen tree, where he sat down among his friends with the most extravagant20 manifestations21 of joy.
It is not to be supposed that the six Senecas remained idle spectators of this extraordinary scene. They were quick to comprehend what it meant, and had they but maintained guard for the preceding hour or two with their usual care the surprise could not have been effected.
But, if any warriors22 could feel warranted in believing themselves beyond danger of molestation23 from white men, it was those Indians who took part in the Wyoming massacre24.
When they grasped their guns and glanced around, their eyes encountered a strange sight. It seemed as if a score of men had sprung from the ground like so many visions of the night, and every one of the Iroquois who used his eyes saw a gun leveled at him.
Had the scene occurred in Texas to-day, it would have been said that Dick Durkee and his foresters "had the drop" on the Tory and his Iroquois.
The latter saw they were caught, and they preserved a masterly inactivity, pending25 the negotiations26 between the two parties.
There was a threatened complication that might turn the tables again, and this time against the patriots27. Some of the Senecas were absent and were likely to come back. Gray Panther might be among them, and in such an event the whites were likely to find themselves between two fires.
"You poor fool," said Fred, when Golcher got into such shape that he could understand what was said to him; "stand up like a man, or I'll shoot you!"
"Yes—yes—yes, I—w-w-wi-ll; what do you want?"
Thereupon the Tory straightened up wonderfully; but, happening to look about him and to catch sight of the patriots standing29, as it seemed everywhere, with their guns leveled, he was seized with another fit of shivering, and it was some time before he could compose himself.
"You see," said the lieutenant, "that you are at my mercy, and I'll treat you better than you deserve. I have but to give the signal, as I told you a minute ago, and ten seconds from now there wouldn't be a Tory or red Indian standing alive in this camp. Every one of you is covered, but I'll agree to let you and them withdraw, on condition that you do so without a second's delay."
"I'll do it—I'll do it!" gasped30 Golcher; "I'll give you an escort to Stroudsburg, or anywhere you want to go."
"I rather think you won't," was the reply of Godfrey. "You have escorted us altogether too much as it is. Thank Heaven, we are in shape to take care of ourselves now."
"Wal, I'm ready to do whatever you want; fact is, leftenant, I never meant one-half I said about you, and I ain't half as mean as—"
"Not another word!" commanded Fred. "We'll attend to business now."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
collapsed
|
|
| adj.倒塌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
cringing
|
|
| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
patriot
|
|
| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
succumbed
|
|
| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
wretch
|
|
| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
resentment
|
|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
groaning
|
|
| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
whining
|
|
| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
cuffed
|
|
| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
tingled
|
|
| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
chuckle
|
|
| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
recoiling
|
|
| v.畏缩( recoil的现在分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
resounding
|
|
| adj. 响亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
thump
|
|
| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
extravagant
|
|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
manifestations
|
|
| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
molestation
|
|
| n.骚扰，干扰，调戏；折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
massacre
|
|
| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
pending
|
|
| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
negotiations
|
|
| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
patriots
|
|
| 爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |