Constable1 Williams cursed fervently2, forgetting Helen. It was his way of rendering3 first aid. Mahon's mind was too busy for his lips. Therein lay the foundation of their respective ranks. In ten seconds he was running for the street.
Throwing the flash ahead of him as he ran, he wriggled4 at top speed down the winding5 path that led through the village; and Constable Williams stumbled behind. As the last of the deserted6 shacks7 fell behind, a luminous8 spot ahead led them straight to Murphy's tent. From forty yards Mahon shouted:
"How long to get steam up, Murphy? It's life and death, and we need the engine."
A bewhiskered face thrust itself through the opening, carefully pulling the flap below to cut off a fleeting9 glimpse of bare legs and loose shirt.
"What ye take us for? Night nurses? Think we're taking shifts keeping Mollie snuggled up warm o' nights? Go away and change yeer dhrinks. What's the hullabaloo anyway? Short o' tobacco? Or has the newest tenderfoot discovered the one lone10 flea11 in all this lousy village?"
"The bohunks are attacking the trestle! They've stolen our horses."
"Dunno about getting you there right away," he grunted13, tugging14 at a suspender, "but sure the next instant. Glory be! ain't we afther getting in late to-noight--and me blasting the hide o' me crew and old man Torrance? And 'Uggins didn't draw the fires, he was that lazy and cantankerous15 himself--"
"Call the crew!" ordered Mahon. "We'll need them."
"'Ere's 'Uggins," said a small voice from the edge of the cot.
The fireman was pulling on his second sock. He waited for nothing more. Shirt flapping about his short legs, he ran into the night, shouting at the top of his voice.
"Wish I had about three more o' thim for this collar-button," grumbled17 the engineer before the mirror.
"Have you a gun, I asked?"
"Well," said Murphy carefully, "if ye're enquir-ring to enfor-rce the law agin carrying arms, nary a jack-knife even. If it's help ye nade, I guess we might be able to scrape up a shooter apiece. We lug18 'em along for ballast, ye understand, in the absence o' fire-water. If it's a foighter ye're talking like, ivery devil of a mother's son of us can make a bang like a gun, with a bullet t'rowed in--though for meself I prefer a shillalah. I'm going to be in this foight if I have to use a lead pencil. Ain't I Oirish?"
Murphy turned a disgusted face on the Policeman. "Niver go into a foight excited-like. It's dangerous. I wouldn't enjoy meself if it's too scrambly a show. 'Tain't ivery day a fellow has a chance out here to get into one. Anyway, 'Uggins has to get steam up. . . . Now I'm ready for anything from dam-sels to any other damn thing."
As they ran from the tent, the shacks the crews had taken to themselves were bustling20 with activity. Four half-clothed figures, pulling on jackets as they ran, fell in behind them and made for the siding where great gusts21 of flame revealed Huggins' frantic22 struggle with the engine.
The half-naked fireman was firing recklessly, madly. Limitless dry wood was at his hand, and from the live coals that remained from the day's work a mass of flame was already throwing heavy sparks against the smokestack guard. But Huggins was a fuming23 thing of cursing impatience24. Mouthing unlisted oaths, his wet shirt lashing25 against his bare legs, he was repeatedly filling a small pail from a nearby barrel and, standing26 on the cab steps, was tossing its contents into the blazing fireplace. Great gushes27 of fire roared out in response, revealing him, face streaming perspiration29, lips moving ceaselessly, one sock hanging in tatters, already swinging about for the next pail.
Murphy looked on in anxious admiration30.
"Holy smoke! Here I been wor-rking five years to get a hustle31 on that Englishman, and him arguing coal oil was made for wiping engines and lighting32 lamps and smelling up a grocery store. . . . That's what I call a medal job. Anyway," he added, as a greater gush28 than usual burst out and seemed to lick about the frantic fireman, "there ain't much o' him to catch fire, if he don't tumble down them steps in time. . . . Poof! That must have been half the barrel. For the love of Mike!" he bawled33, wiping the soot34 from his eyes, "Here, you crazy bat, go aisy. The cab'll be catching35 fire."
"Garn!" yelled Huggins, reaching for a fresh supply. "Look arfter yer own blinkin' cab, yu blighter!"
"Blighter, is it?" Murphy was dancing excitedly about--until he got in the fireman's way, to receive such a furious push that he went sprawling36 on his back. He lifted himself to his feet as if something new had entered his experience, and stood agitatedly37 chewing his beard.
"When this foight's over," he announced solemnly, "there's going to be another that'll make the one at the threstle look like a Sunday School picnic; and Oireland's going to put England over her knee and spank38 the place yeer shirt don't cover dacent. . . . Stop it, ye loon39! Make a pair o' pants o' the rest o' the ile and look respectable. Ye don't seem to remember Mollie's sex. I'm ashamed o' ye. . . . Climb aboard, ye fools--and ithers. She'll do five miles on what she has, and in three miles she'll be cutting' out twenty. . . . For the sake o' me dead and buried mother, somebody sit on that barrel or we'll be one short in the foight! I got to work in this cab! He's gone daffy! He'll miss the fireplace some time and set the bush on fire!"
Huggins' blind haste was deaf to everything but the clang of the starting lever and the grind of the big wheels. Grabbing the rail, he swung aboard, a half-filled pail clutched tight. And Murphy had only time to knock it from his hand to save the seven of them from one last gush of flame. Huggins swore deeply, swept a black arm across his dripping eyes, and leaned out to estimate their speed.
Engine and tender chugged out from the siding. And Murphy leaned through the window and broke all traffic rules.
"Jump on, ye loon!" he yelled to the brakesman standing by the open switch. "Think I'm going to waste steam stopping for you?" The brakesman swung aboard. "All the specials are cancelled to-noight for the foight. We got three miles o' clear track. Go on, Mollie!"
But he was wrong. Lack of steam pressure alone saved them. Murphy, staring ahead into the beam of the headlight, suddenly grabbed a lever in either hand, yelling a warning:
"Hang on, b'ys!"
The wheels scraped the rails. Mahon unsupported, fell against the fireplace but rolled clear without injury. There was a sickening thump40, and the engine sagged41 forward and stopped abruptly42.
"Missed it, be the powers!" snarled43 Murphy. "Another foot and we'd have kept the rails. They've put one over on us. Bally fools we were not to look for it. How far's the foight away, it's hoofing44 it we are now."
A sputter45 of rifle fire burst from the woods and bullets rattled46 on the metal of engine and tender. No one was hurt, and the two Policemen silenced the fire immediately by returning it with surprising precision. A yell from the darkness told of a nip at least.
"Out behind the grade!" ordered Mahon. "I'll keep them down till you're covered."
A blaze from the trees, and he fired twice at it in rapid succession.
"To blazes with Mollie!" Mahon exploded, and threw the engineer through the cab door.
Murphy slowly picked himself up. "I see two foights on afther this one," he declared joyously48. "And I'll lick the bohunk that stops a one o' thim, I will."
"Somebody st'ys with the engine, any'ow," muttered 'Uggins stubbornly. "'Ere, Murphy, we'll toss."
"What good's that?" asked Mahon. "It's human lives we're saving to-night, not engines."
"Gor lumme! Wots the use o' losin' the engine, too, I says. Any'ow, them rifles in there is more use to us 'ere than there at the trestle. An' I can't be savin' 'uman lives, women ones, in these togs."
Murphy climbed back into the cab. His purpose was the innocent one of letting off the rapidly accumulating steam; but Huggins was suspicious and followed closely.
"It's a toss, I tell yu," he insisted. "'Ere, len' me a tanner; I forgot my wallet."
Murphy extracted a coin from his pocket, and Huggins opened the fireplace door for light. There were to be no tricks in this toss. Three bullets thudded into the metal about them, but Murphy and his fireman were intent on a falling copper49.
Huggins pulled his shirt back from the sucking draft of the flames. "'Eads!" he called.
The coin rattled to the floor and both men dropped to their knees. Another rifle tried for them.
"An' 'eads it is. I st'ys. Any'ow, it's warmer 'ere. Blimey, if them pants o' mine wasn't somethink to blow about after all. Sometimes it's the wind, then it's the bloomin' fire. I'll keep a bit o' steam up; looks as if I'll maybe need a bath when I get 'ome. S'long, ole sport! Tell Miss Tressa--" He broke into a convulsive chuckle50, which another burst of rifle fire tried to interrupt. "Cripes! Wouldn't I 'a' been a d'isy for rescuin' lidies? Not 'arf!"
The farewell of the two men who ceaselessly fought and loved each other was nothing more than a pat on the back, Murphy's the more exuberant51 because it smacked52 louder on the thin shirt of the fireman. Then the latter was alone. "Mollie sends 'er love," he called into the darkness after the engineer.
For several minutes Huggins searched the tender for a comfortable spot for his unprotected body, but scratchy, knobby pieces of wood, with a foundation of sharp chunks53 of coal, was not conducive54 to rest. A bullet rattling55 against the engine added to his irritation56, and he looked over the edge and fired his revolver petulantly57.
"That'll larn 'em I'm no blinkin' Irishman with a stick."
He crawled painfully to the very back of the tender and fired again.
"In case they thort the first was a misfire," he growled58, "or fright." After a minute or two he began to grin. "Unless them bohunks is bigger fools than they need be, I guess yer friend 'Uggins is due for a rosy59 wreath from his friend Murphy when the sky clears."
He busied himself with a sputtering60 return fire to show he was still alive and prepared to exchange compliments. Between intervals61 of a vain search for something smooth and soft he expressed his feelings by a blind banging into the trees. At last he carefully wiped over the floor, settled himself against the entrance to the tender, and began to doze62. A bullet struck close to his ear.
"Always the w'y," he groaned, moving back to safer quarters. "There's a fly in every hointment. An' we're as apt to 'it each other as a woman at a cokernut shy."
A distant burst of firing came down the breeze from toward the trestle. Huggins leaped to his feet and climbed to the pile of wood, and recklessly on to the top of the water tank.
"'Urray!" he yelled, dancing in the cold night air and blazing three shots into the woods. "The charge o' the light brigade! Waterloo! Lidysmith! The Camperdown an' orl the rest! Yu got no traditions, yu sneakin' pups! If I 'it one o' yu yu'd think of nothink but the quickest w'y 'ome."
A bullet whistled past either ear, and he tumbled back into the tender, barking several fresh places on his sore body.
"Wots the use?" he growled. "They don't understand. . . . Lidysmith don't 'elp none if they 'it me, though she's orl right for--for tradition. I better lie low an' stop gassin' 'istory. . . . Any'ow, 'Uggins wouldn't sound right in 'istory."
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1
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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6
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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shacks
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| n.窝棚，简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 ) | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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14
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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15
cantankerous
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| adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的 | |
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enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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17
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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lug
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| n.柄，突出部，螺帽；(英）耳朵；（俚）笨蛋；vt.拖，拉，用力拖动 | |
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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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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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fuming
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| 愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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26
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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gushes
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| n.涌出，迸发( gush的名词复数 )v.喷，涌( gush的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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hustle
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| v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌) | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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agitatedly
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| 动摇，兴奋； 勃然 | |
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spank
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| v.打，拍打(在屁股上) | |
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loon
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| n.狂人 | |
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40
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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42
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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43
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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44
hoofing
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| v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的现在分词 ) | |
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sputter
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| n.喷溅声；v.喷溅 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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jugful
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| 一壶的份量 | |
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48
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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49
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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50
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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51
exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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52
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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54
conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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55
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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56
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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petulantly
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58
growled
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| 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 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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60
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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61
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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62
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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