"Terry, it won't do to stay here," shouted Fred, casting about for some place of refuge; "where shall we go?"
Quite close to the stream which they had just crossed was an enormous rock. Its irregular surface, a dozen feet in extent each way, must have reached far down in the ground, so that nothing could have been more immovable. It was not the refuge that the boys would have taken, had they been given time to hunt for one, but surely they could not have found a better.
A couple of leaps took Terry to the place, and, as he threw himself on his face, Fred was directly behind him. As they lay, the shelving rock was less than two feet above their heads. Though they could hear, they could not see what was coming. They could look to the right and left, but only for a few seconds in front.
Using their eyes as best they could, they saw the air filled with leaves, twigs3, branches, huge limbs and trunks, which spun4 forward and over and over, like so many feathers in a tornado5.
The first shock that came to the boys crouching6 behind the rock was a dead thump7 near their heads. An uprooted8 tree had been hurled9 from some point above, like an enormous spear, and, striking the rock at a slant10, slid over the rough surface like the finger of a player over the face of a tambourine11 and out beyond, hunting for some spot where it could penetrate12. It found it on the ground, but it was instantly wrenched13 loose by the resistless power that had first thrown it forward, and went end over end into the general wreck14 and ruin beyond.
The next sight which startled the boys was on their left, directly over the stream. The air was filled apparently15 with snow, as if a violent342 squall had suddenly sprung up. It was accompanied by a hissing16 noise, which mingled17 with the fearful roar that had not stopped and was like that of the stormy Atlantic beating upon the rock-bound coast.
Striking the stream, the cyclone whirled most of the water from its bed, scattered18 the mist and foam19 among the trees, and saturated20 the boys where they lay. The huge torch was quenched21 as suddenly as it was lighted.
The most terrifying moment to Fred and Terry was when they felt the rock in front of them move. It was turned several inches to one side, and for one frightful22 moment, they believed that that too would be sent skimming through the air, or whirled over upon them. But there was no other refuge to which they could fly; had they attempted to rise to their feet, they would have been snatched up and dashed to death. So they flattened23 themselves as much as they could on their faces, and the terrific outburst could not reach them.
Such an elemental fury can not last long. Having torn up the ponderous24 trees, overturned rocks, and cleaned out the stream, the cyclone seemed to mount upward and leave the earth entirely25, probably to descend26 some miles away and continue its work of destruction.
Fred lay still several minutes after it had passed, and then turned to look at his companion. He had unrolled the package and taken therefrom the cooked buffalo27 steak, which had been so roughly handled during his ride on the bull.
"Well, well," said the astonished Fred, "I believe you are the only person in the world who could eat his dinner in the middle of such a storm as this."
"I was thinkin', bein' as we are in so much of a hurry, that I would save some toime by dinin' without delay, though ye do me an injoostice by sayin' I'm through the same; I'm jist about to begin and I'll be plaised to have yer company."
Terry may not have had much sentiment, but he was sensible. Fred sat up, his head just rising above the rock, and, for a few minutes, they gave their attention to their meal. There was enough for a fair lunch, but no more. A gentle wind blew against them, being344 the remnant left by the cyclone, and while they ate, you need not be told they used their eyes.
The sight was a striking one: the trees lay across each other, many with their prong-like roots pointing toward the sky, limbs and trunks having been tossed about in the most bewildering confusion. The water that had been lifted from the creek28 rendered not only their clothing wet, but every thing around them was saturated. Walking to the side of the stream, they looked down at the sloping banks, wet and muddy, but with little water except in the bottom. The current, however, was pouring so swiftly from above that this was rapidly filling up, and before long would reach its former level.
Now that the cyclone had passed, the sky rapidly cleared. There was a chilliness29 in the air, and the sun did not show itself.
The boys took but a short time to view the destruction, great as it was, when they faced about in the direction of the camp which was their destination from the first. It looked as though they were finally separated from the345 trail, for since it was so covered by fallen trees and limbs, not the slightest trace of it was seen. They were filled with dismay, and indeed would have been at their wits' end had not the cyclone confined its fury to exceedingly narrow limits. All its prodigious30 force was spent in and directly along the stream. Twenty yards away, the forest was undisturbed, so that the elemental scythe31 had made a clean swath as it sped along.
"Hurrah32!" called out Terry, "here's the path; I follyed a straight line as I could from the water here, so I'm sure I couldn't coom out very far from the right place."
Fred hurried over the ruins to his side, and a glance at the ground showed that his friend was right: there was the trail at their feet.
"Now," said Terry, recovering his spirits, "if we had only knowed that that storm was coomin', we could have fastened our guns to our backs and swum across, without waitin' to build the raft, and saved all the time that we lost."
"But we would have been wetted all the same, had we done so."
"And gained that much time; do ye know," added Terry, in a half frightened voice, "what I obsarved?"
"I suppose you saw what I did,—the air full of water, trees, limbs, stones and lightning."
"While we were peepin' over the edge of the rock, ye moind that the wind cut our faces so we had to lower 'em to keep our heads flyin' off where we couldn't find 'em agin. It was yersilf that stuck yer nose in the ground, but I took a paap off beyanst the creek and I saan one of the Winnebagos."
"Can it be possible! what was he doin'?"
"Turnin' summersets at the rate of twinty to the second and about a dozen faat above the ground; I had only the one glimpse of him, but whin I obsarved him it looked to me as if his head and one leg wint off in different directions; I s'pose he's lookin' for the same."
Fred Linden could hardly believe that Terry had seen one of their enemies, though, as you can well understand, from what cyclones33 have done in recent years, it was not at all impossible. The youth insisted so strongly on the first part of his statement, that Fred decided347 that at the time the storm burst, one at least of their foes34 was on the bank behind them.
All this confirmed the belief he had expressed that they had lost invaluable35 time by wandering from the trail, and that they would have hard work to keep far enough in advance to reach the camp before the Winnebagos. The proof that they had received too of some of the Winnebagos being in front complicated the situation and added to the mental discomfort36 of both.
The sky which, as you will remember, had become overcast37 sometime before the bursting of the cyclone, continued to clear, and to the surprise of the young hunters, about the middle of the afternoon the sun showed itself. The chilliness, however, remained, though the two walked so briskly that they could have well stood a still lower temperature.
Fortunately for them (though it also operated in favor of their enemies) the trail was traveled without difficulty. The ground was uneven38, sometimes up and sometimes down, but it was not hard for the feet and they made good progress. The distance they had to go348 was too great for them to hope to reach the end of the journey before the morrow, even if they traveled most of the night. They had already proven their pluck and resolution, and you may be sure, now that they were on the right path, that they did not throw away any minutes.
They had eaten the extra buffalo steak sooner than was intended, but they could afford to wait until the morrow before partaking of any more food.
The afternoon was far along and they were pushing forward in their usual vigor39, talking in a hopeful strain now and then, when both were startled by the report of a rifle. It did not sound in front nor to the rear, but only a moderate distance to the left. The boys stopped and looked in each other's face.
"Anither of the spalpeens," whispered Terry; "now there ought to be a gun fired on tother side of us and one in front and one behind us."
"They may be there, all the same," replied Fred, staring in the direction whence came the report, as though he expected the appearance349 of the one who had caused it. They looked and listened for several minutes, but saw and heard nothing more, and resumed their hurried pace, frequently glancing behind, for they were in that distrustful state of mind which comes to one who has a strong suspicion that an enemy is trying to steal behind him unawares. The actual presence of such an enemy is no more trying than the suspense40 itself.
The shot might have been innocent—that is, fired by some wandering white man or Indian who had not the remotest thought that any other person was within hearing. Probably such was the fact, though there was enough uncertainty41 about it to prevent the theory affording the youth the comfort it otherwise would have done.
The lads, as you may well believe, did not stop to look into the matter, but pressed on at a gait which they were confident would prevent any of their enemies overtaking them, unless they broke into their loping trot42, which was hardly likely.
Somehow or other, Terry seemed to be thinking more about the three Winnebago horsemen with whom Fred Linden had had his encounter than he did about his own experience.
"How thim spalpeens could be ridin', whin all the rist are afoot, is somethin' that puzzles me," said he, after they had walked some distance further; "can't ye give some explanation that will relaave me mind, Fred?"
"I can certainly know no more about it than you do."
"Didn't ye obsarve them with particularity?"
"I can't say that I did; they were rather small, tough-looking; two were bay in color, while one was black: I noticed the black one more than the others, because the Indian that I hit was riding on him; I remember that he had a star in his forehead."
"Who? The Winnebago?"
"You know well enough that I meant the horse——"
Fred Linden stopped short, and turned his white, scared face upon his friend. He had just awakened43 to an astounding44 fact.
"What's the matter, Fred? Are ye ill?"
"My gracious! why didn't I think of that before? Those three horses belong to father, Mr. Hardin and Mr. Bowlby."
"Are ye sure of the same?"
"Why, of course; I can't understand why I did not notice it the moment I saw them!"
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1
cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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8
uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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tambourine
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| n.铃鼓，手鼓 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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13
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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14
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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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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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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28
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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chilliness
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| n.寒冷，寒意，严寒 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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cyclones
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| n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风 | |
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34
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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35
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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40
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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42
trot
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| 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 | |
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43
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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44
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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