Joe heard terrified cries of "Fish gang!" "Fish gang!" from those who fled, and he would have fled himself from this new danger, only he was breathless from his last encounter, and knew the impossibility of escaping whatever threatened. Fred and Charley felt mighty3 longings4 to run away from a danger great enough to frighten the redoubtable5 Simpson gang and the valorous fireman, but they could not desert their comrade.
Dark forms broke into the vacant lot, some surrounding the boys and others dashing after the fugitives6. That the laggards7 were overtaken was evidenced by the cries of distress8 that went up, and when later the pursuers returned, they brought with them the luckless and snarling9 Brick, still clinging fast to the bundle of kites.
Joe looked curiously10 at this latest band of marauders. They were young men of from seventeen and eighteen to twenty-three and -four years of age, and bore the unmistakable stamp of the hoodlum class. There were vicious faces among them—faces so vicious as to make Joe's flesh creep as he looked at them. A couple grasped him tightly by the arms, and Fred and Charley were similarly held captive.
"Look here, you," said one who spoke11 with the authority of leader, "we 've got to inquire into this. Wot 's be'n goin' on here? Wot 're you up to, Red-head? Wot you be'n doin'?"
"Looks like it." The leader turned up Brick's face to the electric light. "Who 's been paintin' you up like that?" he demanded.
"Wot was you scrappin' about?"
"Kites—my kites," Joe spoke up boldly. "That fellow tried to take them away from me. He 's got them under his arm now."
"Oh, he has, has he? Look here, you Brick, we don't put up with stealin' in this territory. See? You never rightly owned nothin'. Come, fork over the kites. Last call."
The leader tightened14 his grasp threateningly, and Simpson, weeping tears of rage, surrendered the plunder15.
"Wot yer got under yer arm?" the leader demanded abruptly16 of Fred, at the same time jerking out the bundle. "More kites, eh? Reg'lar kite-factory gone and got itself lost," he remarked finally, when he had appropriated Charley's bundle. "Now, wot I wants to know is wot we 're goin' to do to you t'ree chaps?" he continued in a judicial17 tone.
"What for?" Joe demanded hotly. "For being robbed of our kites?"
"Not at all, not at all," the leader responded politely; "but for luggin' kites round these quarters an' causin' all this unseemly disturbance18. It 's disgraceful; that 's wot it is—disgraceful."
At this juncture19, when the Hill-dwellers were the center of attraction, Brick suddenly wormed out of his jacket, squirmed away from his captors, and dashed across the lot to the slip for which he had been originally headed when overtaken by Joe. Two or three of the gang shot over the fence after him in noisy pursuit. There was much barking and howling of back-yard dogs and clattering20 of shoes over sheds and boxes. Then there came a splashing of water, as though a barrel of it had been precipitated21 to the ground. Several minutes later the pursuers returned, very sheepish and very wet from the deluge22 presented them by the wily Brick, whose voice, high up in the air from some friendly housetop, could be heard defiantly23 jeering24 them.
This event apparently25 disconcerted the leader of the gang, and just as he turned to Joe and Fred and Charley, a long and peculiar26 whistle came to their ears from the street—the warning signal, evidently, of a scout27 posted to keep a lookout28. The next moment the scout himself came flying back to the main body, which was already beginning to retreat.
"Cops!" he panted.
Joe looked, and he saw two helmeted policemen approaching, with bright stars shining on their breasts.
"Let 's get out of this," he whispered to Fred and Charley.
The gang had already taken to flight, and they blocked the boys' retreat in one quarter, and in another they saw the policemen advancing. So they took to their heels in the direction of Brick Simpson's slip, the policemen hot after them and yelling bravely for them to halt.
But young feet are nimble, and young feet when frightened become something more than nimble, and the boys were first over the fence and plunging29 wildly through a maze30 of back yards. They soon found that the policemen were discreet31. Evidently they had had experiences in slips, and they were satisfied to give over the chase at the first fence.
No street-lamps shed their light here, and the boys blundered along through the blackness with their hearts in their mouths. In one yard, filled with mountains of crates32 and fruit-boxes, they were lost for a quarter of an hour. Feel and quest about as they would, they encountered nothing but endless heaps of boxes. From this wilderness33 they finally emerged by way of a shed roof, only to fall into another yard, cumbered with countless34 empty chicken-coops.
Farther on they came upon the contrivance which had soaked Brick Simpson's pursuers with water. It was a cunning arrangement. Where the slip led through a fence with a board missing, a long slat was so arranged that the ignorant wayfarer35 could not fail to strike against it. This slat was the spring of the trap. A light touch upon it was sufficient to disconnect a heavy stone from a barrel perched overhead and nicely balanced. The disconnecting of the stone permitted the barrel to turn over and spill its contents on the one beneath who touched the slat.
The boys examined the arrangement with keen appreciation36. Luckily for them, the barrel was overturned, or they too would have received a ducking, for Joe, who was in advance, had blundered against the slat.
"It must be," Fred concluded, "or else the back yard of some member of his gang."
Charley put his hands warningly on both their arms.
"Hist! What 's that?" he whispered.
They crouched38 down on the ground. Not far away was the sound of some one moving about. Then they heard a noise of falling water, as from a faucet39 into a bucket. This was followed by steps boldly approaching. They crouched lower, breathless with apprehension40.
A dark form passed by within arm's reach and mounted on a box to the fence. It was Brick himself, resetting41 the trap. They heard him arrange the slat and stone, then right the barrel and empty into it a couple of buckets of water. As he came down from the box to go after more water, Joe sprang upon him, tripped him up, and held him to the ground.
"Don't make any noise," he said. "I want you to listen to me."
"Oh, it 's you, is it?" Simpson replied, with such obvious relief in his voice as to make them feel relieved also. "Wot d' ye want here?"
"We want to get out of here," Joe said, "and the shortest way 's the best. There 's three of us, and you 're only one—"
"That 's all right, that 's all right," the gang-leader interrupted. "I 'd just as soon show you the way out as not. I ain't got nothin' 'gainst you. Come on an' follow me, an' don't step to the side, an' I 'll have you out in no time."
"Follow this to the street," Simpson directed; "turn to the right two blocks, turn to the right again for three, an' yer on union. Tra-la-loo."
They said good-by, and as they started down the alley received the following advice:
"Nex' time you bring kites along, you 'd best leave 'em to home."
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1
precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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2
urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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3
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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redoubtable
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| adj.可敬的；可怕的 | |
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6
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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7
laggards
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| n.落后者( laggard的名词复数 ) | |
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8
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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9
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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10
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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11
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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12
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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13
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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14
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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15
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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16
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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17
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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18
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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19
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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20
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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21
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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22
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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23
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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24
jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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25
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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26
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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27
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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28
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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29
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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30
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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31
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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32
crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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33
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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34
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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35
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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36
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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37
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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38
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
faucet
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| n.水龙头 | |
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40
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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41
resetting
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| v.重新安放或安置( reset的现在分词 )；重拨（测量仪器指针）；为（考试、测试等）出一套新题；重新安置，将…恢复原位 | |
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42
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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