25. An Adventure on the High Road.

 “My officer,” said the sergeant¹, “it is not permitted to stop here.”

 

“That prohibition² is not for me,” said D’Artagnan. “Have the fugitives³ been pursued?”

 

“Yes, my officer; unfortunately, they are well mounted.”

 

“How many are there?”

 

“Four, and a fifth whom they carried away wounded.”

 

“Four!” said D’Artagnan, looking at Porthos. “Do you hear, baron⁴? They are only four!”

 

A joyous⁵ smile lighted Porthos’s face.

 

“How long a start have they?”

 

“Two hours and a quarter, my officer.”

 

“Two hours and a quarter--that is nothing; we are well mounted, are we not, Porthos?”

 

Porthos breathed a sigh; he thought of what was in store for his poor horses.

 

“Very good,” said D’Artagnan; “and now in what direction did they set out?”

 

“That I am forbidden to tell.”

 

D’Artagnan drew from his pocket a paper. “Order of the king,” he said.

 

“Speak to the governor, then.”

 

“And where is the governor?”

 

“In the country.”

 

Anger mounted to D’Artagnan’s face; he frowned and his cheeks were colored.

 

“Ah, you scoundrel!” he said to the sergeant, “I believe you are impudent⁶ to me! Wait!”

 

He unfolded the paper, presented it to the sergeant with one hand and with the other took a pistol from his holsters and cocked it.

 

“Order of the king, I tell you. Read and answer, or I will blow out your brains!”

 

The sergeant saw that D’Artagnan was in earnest. “The Vendomois road,” he replied.

 

“And by what gate did they go out?”

 

“By the Saint Maur gate.”

 

“If you are deceiving me, rascal⁷, you will be hanged to-morrow.”

 

“And if you catch up with them you won’t come back to hang me,” murmured the sergeant.

 

D’Artagnan shrugged⁸ his shoulders, made a sign to his escort and started.

 

“This way, gentlemen, this way!” he cried, directing his course toward the gate that had been pointed⁹ out.

 

But, now that the duke had escaped, the concierge¹⁰ had seen fit to fasten the gate with a double lock. It was necessary to compel him to open it, as the sergeant had been compelled to speak, and this took another ten minutes. This last obstacle having been overcome, the troop pursued their course with their accustomed ardor¹¹; but some of the horses could no longer sustain this pace; three of them stopped after an hour’s gallop¹², and one fell down.

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

3 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

4 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

5 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。

6 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

7 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

8 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 concierge   

n.管理员；门房

参考例句：

• This time the concierge was surprised to the point of bewilderment.这时候看门人惊奇到了困惑不解的地步。
• As I went into the dining-room the concierge brought me a police bulletin to fill out.我走进餐厅的时候，看门人拿来一张警察局发的表格要我填。

11 ardor   

n.热情，狂热

参考例句：

• His political ardor led him into many arguments.他的政治狂热使他多次卷入争论中。
• He took up his pursuit with ardor.他满腔热忱地从事工作。

12 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。