Chapter 31 On the Mountain Path

 My readers will not have forgotten Bill Mosely and his companion Tom Hadley, who played the mean trick upon Bradley and our hero of stealing their horses. I should be glad to state that they were overtaken and punished within twenty-four hours, but it would not be correct. They had a great advantage over their pursuers, who had only their own feet to help them on, and, at the end of the first day, were at least ten miles farther on than Ben and Bradley.

 

As the two last, wearied and well-nigh exhausted¹, sat down to rest, Bradley glanced about him long and carefully in all directions.

 

'I can't see anything of them skunks³, Ben,' he said.

 

'I suppose not, Jake. They must be a good deal farther on.'

 

'Yes, I reckon so. They've got the horses to help them, while we've got to foot it. It was an awful mean trick they played on us.'

 

'That's so, Jake.'

 

'All I ask is to come up with 'em some of these days.'

 

'What would you do?'

 

'I wouldn't take their lives, for I ain't no murderer, but I'd tie 'em hand and foot, and give 'em a taste of a horsewhip, or a switch, till they'd think they was schoolboys again.'

 

'You might not be able to do it. They would be two to one.'

 

'Not quite, Ben. I'd look for some help from you.'

 

'I would give you all the help I could,' said Ben.

 

'I know you mean it, and that you wouldn't get scared, and desert me, as a cousin of mine did once when I was set upon by robbers.'

 

'Was that in California?'

 

'No; in Kentucky. I had a tough job, but I managed to disable one of the rascals⁴, and the other ran away.'

 

'What did your cousin have to say?'

 

'He told me, when I caught up with him, that he was goin' in search of help, but I told him that was too thin. I told him I wouldn't keep his company any longer, and that he had better go his way and I would go mine. He tried to explain things, but there are some things that ain't so easily explained, that I wouldn't hear him. I stick to my friends, and I expect them to stand by me.'

 

'That's fair, Jake.'

 

'That's the way I look at it. I wonder where them rascals are?'

 

'You mean Mosely and his friend?'

 

'Yes. What galls⁵ me, Ben, is that they're likely laughin' in their shoes at the way they've tricked us, and there's no help for it.'

 

'Not just now, Jake, but we may overtake them yet. Till we do, we may as well take things as easy as we can.'

 

'You're right, Ben. You'mind me of an old man that used to live in the place where I was raised. He never borrered any trouble, but when things was contrary, he waited for 'em to take a turn. When he saw a neighbor frettin', he used to say, 'Fret⁶ not thy gizzard, for it won't do no good.''

 

Ben laughed.

 

'That was good advice,' he said.

 

'I don't know where he got them words from. Maybe they're in the Bible.'

 

'I guess not,' said Ben, smiling. 'They don't sound like it.'

 

'Perhaps you're right,' said Bradley, not fully² convinced, however. 'Seems to me I've heard old Parson Brown get off something to that effect.'

 

'Perhaps it was this-'Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.''

 

'Perhaps it was. Is that from the Bible?'

 

'Yes.'

 

'It might have been made a little stronger,' said Bradley thoughtfully. 'The evil of some days is more than sufficient, accordin' to my notion.'

 

The two explorers camped out as usual, and the fatigue⁷ of their day's tramp insured them a deep, refreshing⁸ sleep. The next day they resumed their journey, and for several days to come no incident worthy⁹ of mention varied¹⁰ the monotony of their march. Toward the close of the fourth day they saw from a distance a figure approaching them, who seemed desirous of attracting their attention. Ben was the first to see him.

 

'Jake,' said he, 'look yonder!'

 

'It's a Chinee!' said Bradley, in surprise.

 

'How did the critter come here, in the name of wonder?'

 

'I suppose he is looking for gold as well as we.'

 

'The heathen seems to be signalin' us. He's wavin' his arm.'

 

This was the case. The Chinaman, for some reason, seemed to wish to attract the attention of the newcomers. He stopped short, and waited for Ben and Bradley to come up.

 

'Who are you, my yeller friend?' asked Bradley, when he was near enough to be heard.

 

'My name Ki Sing.'

 

'Glad to hear it. I can't say I ever heard of your family, but I reckon from the name, it's a musical one.'

 

Ki Sing probably did not understand the tenor¹¹ of Bradley's remark.

 

'Is there any hotel round here, Mr. Sing?' asked Ben jocosely¹³, 'where two weary travelers can put up for the night?'

 

'Nohotellee!'

 

'Then where do you sleep?'

 

'Me sleep on glound.'

 

'Your bed is a pretty large one, then,' said Bradley. 'The great objection to it is, that it is rather hard.'

 

Ki Sing's mind was evidently occupied by some engrossing¹⁴ thought, which prevented his paying much attention to Bradley's jocose¹² observations.

 

'Melican man wantee you,' he said, in an excited manner.

 

'What's that?' asked Bradley. 'Melican man want me?'

 

Ki Sing nodded.

 

'Where is he?'

 

Ki Sing turned, and pointed¹⁵ to a rude hut some half a mile away in a little mountain nook.

 

'Melican man thele,' he said.

 

'Come along, Ben,' said Bradley. 'Let us see what this means. It may be some countryman of ours who is in need of help.'

 

The Chinaman trotted¹⁶ along in advance, and our two friends followed him. 

1 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

2 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。

3 skunks   

n.臭鼬( skunk的名词复数 )；臭鼬毛皮；卑鄙的人；可恶的人

参考例句：

• Slim swans and slender skunks swim in the slippery slime. 苗条的天鹅和纤细的臭鼬在滑滑的黏泥上游泳。 来自互联网
• But not all baby skunks are so lucky. -We're coming down. 但不是所有的臭鼬宝宝都会如此幸运。-我们正在下来。 来自互联网

4 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

5 galls   

v.使…擦痛( gall的第三人称单数 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱

参考例句：

• Best results will be obtained on recently formed galls. 如果瘿瘤是新近形成的，则效果最好。 来自辞典例句
• Crown galls are cancerous growths composed of disorganized and proliferating plant cells. 冠瘿是无组织的正在不断增殖的植物细胞所组成的癌状物。 来自辞典例句

6 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

7 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

8 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

9 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

10 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

11 tenor   

n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意

参考例句：

• The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
• The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。

12 jocose   

adj.开玩笑的，滑稽的

参考例句：

• Dr. Daniel was a gleg man of a jocose nature.丹尼尔大夫是一位天生诙谐而反应机敏的人。
• His comic dialogues are jocose and jocular,thought-provoking.他的小品诙谐，逗乐，发人深省。

13 jocosely   

adv.说玩笑地，诙谐地

参考例句：

14 engrossing   

adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He told us an engrossing story. 他给我们讲了一个引人入胜的故事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It might soon have ripened into that engrossing feeling. 很快便会发展成那种压倒一切的感情的。 来自辞典例句

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。