CHAPTER XXII SOLVING THE SECRET

 Though the moon shone brightly, there were shadows in the forest that surrounded the mysterious camp—mysterious in the sense that the boys did not know whose it was. And these shadows made silent progress difficult. Rick and Chot were very likely to slip and stumble over a rock or fallen branch, making a noise that would arouse the sleeping men.

 

Several times they did stumble, and thus Ruddy had the advantage over them, for his padded paws made no sound. But though the boys made several noises none of them seemed to have any effect. It remained dark and quiet in the camp—dark that is save for a glimmering¹ camp fire and the silvery moon, the light of which was very welcome to the boys.

 

There was little for the lads to discover in the camp itself. They had learned this much while taking observations from their hiding place just within the tunnel. From their vantage point they had seen the water coming down a rocky defile², though its exact source they could only guess at. They could not tell whether it came through another tunnel—part of the series of mysterious underground channels in that part of the country—or whether it flowed along in the open.

 

This secret they hoped to solve on their night-scouting expedition, and after they had made a detour³ of the camp they listened for a sound of rippling⁴ or gurgling water which would put them on the right track.

 

“Well, so far so good,” remarked Chot when they had gotten safely some distance up the trail, above the log shack⁵ and the sleeping men.

 

“That’s right,” agreed Rick. “Ruddy, you’re a dandy!” he said to the dog. “You didn’t make a false move.”

 

“And not as much noise as we did,” added Chot as they both petted their canine⁶ companion.

 

“I should say so!” chuckled⁷ Rick. “That time we both nearly fell—I thought sure they’d hear us.”

 

“So did I. But I reckon we’re all right now.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

They had come out from under a clump⁸ of trees and were walking along a rough trail that led up the mountain. The moon shone gloriously making objects very plain to see. There was little wind and soon the boys heard the murmur⁹ of water off to their left—a sound for which eagerly they had been listening.

 

“There’s the river,” exclaimed Chot.

 

“I hear it,” admitted Rick. “Either the one we’re after or another. Let’s head over that way.”

 

They walked on side by side, with Ruddy trailing them. Rick had ordered his dog to heel, for he did not want the setter rushing on ahead through the brush, perhaps stirring up a skunk¹⁰ or some small wild animal that might cause the dog to bark, thus betraying their presence.

 

As they went on, the noise of the water became louder to their ears, until at last they emerged in view of a beautiful stream flowing in the centre of a small valley, bordered on either side by trees and bushes.

 

Though the stream was called Lost River, or by various other names in which the word “river” occurred, it must not be supposed that it was a large waterway. In fact it was not more than a good-sized brook¹¹, in places, though in others it attained¹² the width of what, in some parts of the country, is called a creek¹³. But Lost River it had been christened and so it shall remain, as far as I am concerned.

 

The boys stood for a moment impressed by the beauty of the scene that they had come upon. Under the moon everything was glorified—the rippling, sparkling water, the trees, the bushes and even the rough rocks.

 

“Say, this is slick!” exclaimed Chot, paying one of the highest compliments in his rather limited vocabulary.

 

“Nifty!” agreed Rick, adding his tribute.

 

But, boy like, they did not pause long to admire just the mere¹⁴ beauty of the place, romantic as it was. They had come upon sterner business, and Rick gave a hint of it when he said:

 

“Chot, I don’t believe this stream has flowed here very long.”

 

“Why not? How can you tell?”

 

“Because it’s too near the trees and bushes. And there aren’t many stones along the banks. When a river has run a long time in a place it washes away the dirt and leaves a lot of rocks, and where it washes away the dirt from tree roots the trees partly die. But this looks like a river that has suddenly been turned loose in the woods.”

 

“That’s what it does,” assented¹⁵ Chot. “Do you think the men turned it in here?”

 

“I guess they did,” agreed Rick. “And the thing for us to do is to find out where they turned it, and shift it back again so it will run into Uncle Tod’s tunnel.”

 

“Do you think we can?” asked Chot.

 

“I hope so,” answered Rick. “Let’s keep on.”

 

They walked for a few minutes longer and then suddenly, over their heads in a big tree, there was a rustling¹⁶ in the branches—a rustling not caused by the wind, for there was no hint of a breeze then.

 

“What’s that?” whispered Chot, ready with his gun.

 

“I don’t know,” answered Rick, as he, too, brought his weapon around. Uncle Tod had given the boys each a light shot gun, and they had learned to pick off small game in the woods, shooting, however, only enough for actual needs.

 

The lads stared up in the tree. The rustling of the branches continued and Ruddy, seeing that some business in which he ought to take an interest was afoot, stood at attention. Suddenly the dog growled¹⁷ and immediately there was a hiss¹⁸ above the boys’ heads as if an angry cat were there.

 

“Look!” whispered Chot, and Rick saw that his chum was pointing to two blazing, greenish, reddish spots of light; the eyes of some animal on which the moon reflected.

 

Chot raised his gun, but Rick said:

 

“Don’t shoot!”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It’s only a small bob cat and he won’t hurt us if we go away. Shooting will only wake up those men, and we haven’t found what we want yet.”

 

“But aren’t bob cats dangerous?”

 

“Not if you leave ’em alone, Uncle Tod told me. And we’ll leave this one alone.”

 

Ruddy had now seen the lithe¹⁹ form of the lynx stretched out on a tree branch overhead. It was not a large animal—in fact not much larger than some overgrown house cat. Of course it was more dangerous if cornered, but, as Rick had observed, it would not needlessly attack them if not molested²⁰.

 

Ruddy growled as if eager for the fray²¹; but Rick knew even a large setter dog is no match for a small bob cat, and he ordered Ruddy away. The lynx continued to snarl²² as it glared at those it evidently regarded as its enemies, and remained in watchful²³ readiness on the branch as Chot and Rick went on their way.

 

“I’d like to have taken a pop at him,” said Chot regretfully.

 

“So’d I,” admitted Rick. “But shot guns aren’t much good against a lynx—not little shot guns like ours. And, anyhow, we don’t want to stir up those men.”

 

Chot agreed to this, and they kept on up along the river.

 

“’Tisn’t so much a lost river now,” observed Chot as the stream murmured beside them.

 

“No, but it’s lost as far as Uncle Tod is concerned,” remarked Rick. “That is until he can shift it back—if he can.”

 

The boys made a turn in the trail and suddenly became aware of a slightly different sound made by the water. It was a splashing noise, as though a cascade²⁴ were not far away.

 

“What do you imagine that is?” asked Chot.

 

“We’ll soon find out,” said Rick for, as they advanced they heard the strange sound more plainly.

 

And then, as they pushed their way through a fringe of bushes growing close to the edge of the stream the lads made a strange discovery.

 

They had solved the secret of Lost River!

 

1 glimmering   

n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I got some glimmering of what he was driving at. 他这么说是什么意思，我有点明白了。 来自辞典例句
• Now that darkness was falling, only their silhouettes were outlined against the faintly glimmering sky. 这时节两山只剩余一抹深黑，赖天空微明为画出一个轮廓。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

2 defile   

v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道

参考例句：

• Don't defile the land of our ancestors!再不要污染我们先祖们的大地！
• We respect the faith of Islam, even as we fight those whose actions defile that faith.我们尊重伊斯兰教的信仰，并与玷污伊斯兰教的信仰的行为作斗争。

3 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

4 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

5 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

6 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

7 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

8 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

9 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

10 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

11 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

12 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

13 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

14 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

15 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

16 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

17 growled   

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

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

19 lithe   

adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的

参考例句：

• His lithe athlete's body had been his pride through most of the fifty - six years.他那轻巧自如的运动员体格，五十六年来几乎一直使他感到自豪。
• His walk was lithe and graceful.他走路轻盈而优雅。

20 molested   

v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• The bigger children in the neighborhood molested the younger ones. 邻居家的大孩子欺负小孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He molested children and was sent to jail. 他猥亵儿童，进了监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

22 snarl   

v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮

参考例句：

• At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
• The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。

23 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

24 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。