But the young fellow had been used to just such people before. They were not a bad sort, and if they were keenly interested in the affairs of other people, it was because they had few books and newspapers, and small chance to amuse themselves in the many ways which city people have.
Hiram slept with Henry that night, and Henry agreed to show the visitor over the Atterson place the next day.
“I know every stick and stone of it as well as I do ourn,” declared Henry. “And Dad won't mind my taking time now. Later—Whew! I tell you, we hafter just git up an' dust to make a crop. Not much chance for fun after a week or two until the corn's laid by.”
“You know all the boundaries of the Atterson farm, do you?” Hiram asked.
“Yes, sir!” replied Henry, eagerly. “And say! do you like to fish?”
“Of course; who doesn't?”
“Then we'll take some lines and hooks along—and mother'll lend us a pan and kettle. Say! We'll start early—'fore anybody's a-stir—and I bet there'll be a big trout1 jumping in the pool under the big sycamore.”
“That certain-sure sounds good to me!” cried Hiram, enthusiastically.
So it was agreed, and before day, while the mist was yet rolling across the fields, and the hedge sparrows were beginning to chirp2, the two set forth3 from the Pollock place, crossed the wet fields, and the road, and set off down the slope of a long hill, following, as Henry said, near the east boundary of the Atterson farm—the line running from the automobile4 road to the river.
It was a dull spring morning. The faint breeze that stirred on the hillside was damp, but odorous with new-springing herbs. As Hiram and Henry descended5 the aisle6 of the pinewood, the treetops whispered together as though curious of these bold humans who disturbed their solitude7.
“It doesn't look as though anybody had been here at the back end of old Jeptha Atterson's farm for years,” said Hiram.
“And it's a fact that nobody gets down this way often,” Henry responded.
The brown tags sprung under their feet; now and then a dew-wet branch swept Hiram's cheek, seeking with its cold fingers to stay his progress. It was an enchanted8 forest, and the boy, heart-hungry from his two years of city life, was enchanted, too!
Hiram learned from talking with his companion that at one time the piece of thirty-year-old timber they were walking through had been tilled—after a fashion. But it had never been properly cleared, as the hacked9 and ancient stumpage betrayed.
Here and there the lines of corn rows which had been plowed10 when the last crop was laid by were plainly revealed to Hiram's observing eye. Where corn had grown once, it should grow again; and the pine timber would more than pay for being cut, for blowing out the big stumps11 with dynamite12, and tam-harrowing the side hill.
Finally they reached a point where the ground fell away more abruptly14 and the character of the timber changed, as well. Instead of the stately pines, this more abrupt13 declivity15 was covered with hickory and oak. The sparse17 brush sprang out of rank, black mold.
Charmed by the prospect18, Hiram and Henry descended this hill and came suddenly, through a fringe of brush, to the border of an open cove16, or bottom.
At some time this lowland, too, had been cleared and cultivated; but now young pines, quick-springing and lush, dotted the five or six acres of practically open land which was as level as one's palm.
It was two hundred yards, or more, in width and at the farther side a hedge of alders19 and pussywillows grew, with the green mist of young leaves upon them, and here and there a ghostly sycamore, stretching its slender bole into the air, edged the course of the river.
Hiram viewed the scene with growing delight. His eyes sparkled and a smile came to his lips as he crossed, with springy steps, the open meadow on which the grass was already showing green in patches.
Between the line of the wood they had left and the breadth of the meadow was a narrow, marshy20 strip into which a few stones had been cast, and on these they crossed dry shod. The remainder of the bottom-land was firm.
“Ain't this jest a scrumptious place?” demanded Henry, and Hiram agreed.
At the river's edge they parted the bushes and looked down upon the oily-flowing brown flood. It was some thirty feet broad and with the melting of the snows in the mountains was so deep that no sign was apparent here of the rocks which covered its bed.
Henry led the way up the bank of the stream toward a huge sycamore that leaned lovingly over the water. An ancient wild grape vine, its butt21 four inches through and its roots fairly in the water, had a strangle-hold upon this decrepit22 forest monarch23, its tendrils reaching the sycamore's topmost branch.
Under the tree was a deep hole where flotsam leaves and twigs24 performed an endless treadmill25 dance in the grasp of the eddy26.
Suddenly, while their gaze clung to the dimpling water, there was a flash of a bronze body—a streak27 of light along the surface of the pool—and two widening circles showed where the master of the hole had leaped for some insect prey28.
“See him?” called Henry, but under his breath.
Hiram nodded, but squeezed his companion's hand for silence. He almost held his own breath for the moment, as they moved back from the pool with the soundless step of an Indian.
“That big feller is my meat,” declared Henry.
“Go to it, boy!” urged Hiram, and set about preparing the camp.
He cut with his big jack-knife and set up a tripod of green rods in a jiffy, skirmished for dry wood, lit his fire, filled the kettle from the river at a little distance from the eddy, and hung it over the blaze to boil.
Meanwhile Henry fished out a line and an envelope of hooks from an inner pocket, cut a springy pole back on the hillside, rigged his line and hook, and kicked a hole in the soft, rich soil until he unearthed29 a fat angleworm.
With this impaled30 upon the hook he cautiously approached the pool under the sycamore and cast gently. The struggling worm sank slowly; the water wrinkled about the line; but there followed no tug31 at the hook, although Henry stood patiently for several moments. He cast again, and yet again, with like result.
“Ah, ba!” muttered Hiram, in his ear; “this fellow's appetite needs tickling32. He is being fed too well and turns up his nose at a common earthworm, does he? Let me show you a wrinkle, Henry.”
“You're, not fishing,” Hiram continued with a grim smile. “You've just been drowning a worm. But I'll show that old fellow sulking down below there that he is no match this early in the spring for a pair of hungry boys!”
He recrossed the meadow, and the stepping stones, to the wood. He had noticed a log lying in the path as he descended the hillside. With the toe of his boot he kicked a patch of bark from the log, and thereby34 lay bare the wavering trail of a busy grub. Following the trail he quickly found the fat, juicy insect, which immediately took the earthworm's place upon the hook.
Again Henry cast and this time, before the grub even touched the surface of the pool, the fish leaped and swallowed the tempting35 morsel36, hook and all!
There was no playing of the fish on Henry's part. A quick jerk and the gasping37 spotted38 beauty, a pound and a quarter, or more, in weight, lay upon the sward beside the crackling fire.
“Whoop-ee!” called Henry, excitedly. “That's Number One!”
While Hiram dexterously39 scaled and cleaned the first trout, Henry caught a couple more. Hiram brought forth, too, the coffee, salt and pepper, sugar, a piece of fat salt pork and two table knives and forks.
He raked a smooth bed in the glowing coals, sliced the pork thin, laid some slices in the pan and set that upon the coals, where the pork began to sputter40 almost at once.
The water in the kettle was boiling and he made the coffee. Then he laid the trout upon the pan with three slices of pork upon each, and sat back upon his haunches beside Henry enjoying the delicious odor in anticipation41 of the more solid delights of breakfast.
They had hard crackers42 and with these, and drinking the coffee from the kettle itself, when it was cool enough, the two boys feasted like monarchs43.
But as he ate, Hiram's gaze traveled again and again across the scrub-grown meadow. The lay of the land pleased him. The richness of the soil had been revealed when they dug the earthworm.
For thousands of years the riches of yonder hillside had been washing down upon the bottom, and this alluvial46 was rich beyond computation.
Here were several acres, the young farmer knew, which, however over-cropped the remainder of Uncle Jeptha's land had been, could not be impoverished47 in many seasons.
“It's as rich as cream!” muttered he, thoughtfully. “Grubbing out these young pines wouldn't take long. There's a heavy sod and it would have to be ploughed deeply. Then a crop of corn this year, perhaps—late corn for fear the river might overflow48 it in June. And then——
“Great Scot!” ejaculated Hiram, slapping his knee, “what wouldn't grow on this bottom land?”
“Yes, it's mighty49 rich,” agreed Henry. “But it's a long way from the house—and then, the river might flood it over. I've seen water running over this bottom two feet deep—once.”
They finished the al fresco50 meal and Hiram leaped up, inspired by his thoughts to brisker movements.
“Whatever else this old farm has on it, I vow51 and declare,” he said, “this five or six acres alone might be made to pay a profit on the whole investment!”
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1
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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chirp
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| v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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hacked
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| 生气 | |
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plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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alders
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| n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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treadmill
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| n.踏车；单调的工作 | |
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eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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impaled
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| 钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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tickling
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| 反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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sputter
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| n.喷溅声；v.喷溅 | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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gravy
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| n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快 | |
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alluvial
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| adj.冲积的；淤积的 | |
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47
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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48
overflow
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| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
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49
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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50
fresco
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| n.壁画；vt.作壁画于 | |
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51
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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