Chapter 29 Wyatt Again

It was a morning in the middle of September. The Jacksons werebreakfasting. Mr. Jackson was reading letters. The rest, includingGladys Maud, whose finely chiselled¹ features were graduallydisappearing behind a mask of bread-and-milk, had settled down toserious work. The usual catch-as-catch-can contest between Marjory andPhyllis for the jam (referee² and time-keeper, Mrs. Jackson) hadresulted, after both combatants had been cautioned by the referee, ina victory for Marjory, who had duly secured the stakes. The hour beingnine-fifteen, and the official time for breakfast nine o'clock, Mike'splace was still empty.

　　"I've had a letter from MacPherson," said Mr. Jackson.

　　MacPherson was the vigorous and persevering³ gentleman, referred to ina previous chapter, who kept a fatherly eye on the Buenos Ayres sheep.

　　"He seems very satisfied with Mike's friend Wyatt. At the moment ofwriting Wyatt is apparently⁴ incapacitated owing to a bullet in theshoulder, but expects to be fit again shortly. That young man seems tomake things fairly lively wherever he is. I don't wonder he found apublic school too restricted a sphere for his energies.""Has he been fighting a duel⁵?" asked Marjory, interested.

　　"Bushrangers," said Phyllis.

　　"There aren't any bushrangers in Buenos Ayres," said Ella.

　　"How do you know?" said Phyllis clinchingly.

　　"Bush-ray, bush-ray, bush-ray," began Gladys Maud, conversationally,through the bread-and-milk; but was headed off.

　　"He gives no details. Perhaps that letter on Mike's plate suppliesthem. I see it comes from Buenos Ayres.""I wish Mike would come and open it," said Marjory. "Shall I go andhurry him up?"The missing member of the family entered as she spoke⁶.

　　"Buck up, Mike," she shouted. "There's a letter from Wyatt. He's beenwounded in a duel.""With a bushranger," added Phyllis.

　　"Bush-ray," explained Gladys Maud.

　　"Is there?" said Mike. "Sorry I'm late."He opened the letter and began to read.

　　"What does he say?" inquired Marjory. "Who was the duel with?""How many bushrangers were there?" asked Phyllis.

　　Mike read on.

　　"Good old Wyatt! He's shot a man.""Killed him?" asked Marjory excitedly.

　　"No. Only potted him in the leg. This is what he says. First page ismostly about the Ripton match and so on. Here you are. 'I'm dictatingthis to a sportsman of the name of Danvers, a good chap who can't helpbeing ugly, so excuse bad writing. The fact is we've been having abust-up here, and I've come out of it with a bullet in the shoulder,which has crocked me for the time being. It happened like this. Anass of a Gaucho⁷ had gone into the town and got jolly tight, andcoming back, he wanted to ride through our place. The old woman whokeeps the lodge⁸ wouldn't have it at any price. Gave him the absolutemiss-in-baulk. So this rotter, instead of shifting off, proceeded tocut the fence, and go through that way. All the farms out here havetheir boundaries marked by wire fences, and it is supposed to be adeadly sin to cut these. Well, the lodge-keeper's son dashed off insearch of help. A chap called Chester, an Old Wykehamist, and I weredipping sheep close by, so he came to us and told us what had happened.

　　We nipped on to a couple of horses, pulled out our revolvers, andtooled after him. After a bit we overtook him, and that's when thetrouble began. The johnny had dismounted when we arrived. I thoughthe was simply tightening⁹ his horse's girths. What he was really doingwas getting a steady aim at us with his revolver. He fired as we cameup, and dropped poor old Chester. I thought he was killed at first, butit turned out it was only his leg. I got going then. I emptied all thesix chambers¹⁰ of my revolver, and missed him clean every time. In themeantime he got me in the right shoulder. Hurt like sin afterwards,though it was only a sort of dull shock at the moment. The next itemof the programme was a forward move in force on the part of the enemy.

　　The man had got his knife out now--why he didn't shoot again I don'tknow--and toddled¹¹ over in our direction to finish us off. Chester wasunconscious, and it was any money on the Gaucho, when I happened tocatch sight of Chester's pistol, which had fallen just by where I camedown. I picked it up, and loosed off. Missed the first shot, but gothim with the second in the ankle at about two yards; and his day'swork was done. That's the painful story. Danvers says he's gettingwriter's cramp¹², so I shall have to stop....'""By Jove!" said Mike.

　　"What a dreadful thing!" said Mrs. Jackson.

　　"Anyhow, it was practically a bushranger," said Phyllis.

　　"I told you it was a duel, and so it was," said Marjory.

　　"What a terrible experience for the poor boy!" said Mrs. Jackson.

　　"Much better than being in a beastly bank," said Mike, summing up.

　　"I'm glad he's having such a ripping time. It must be almost as decentas Wrykyn out there.... I say, what's under that dish?"

1 chiselled   

adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• A name was chiselled into the stone. 石头上刻着一个人名。
• He chiselled a hole in the door to fit a new lock. 他在门上凿了一个孔，以便装一把新锁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

3 persevering   

a.坚忍不拔的

参考例句：

• They will only triumph by persevering in their struggle against natural calamities. 他们只有坚持与自然灾害搏斗，才能取得胜利。
• Success belongs to the persevering. 胜利属于不屈不挠的人。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

6 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 gaucho   

n. 牧人

参考例句：

• Outside the city there are many countryside ranches for city dwellers to live the gaucho life,or just enjoy country life in the pampas,the grasslands outside buenos aires.城外有许多农庄，可以供城市居民前往居住和体验牛仔生活，或者只是去享受一下草原上的农家生活。
• There are many working estancias where tourists can live out the gaucho lifestyl

8 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

9 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

10 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

11 toddled   

v.（幼儿等）东倒西歪地走( toddle的过去式和过去分词 )；蹒跚行走；溜达；散步

参考例句：

• It's late — it's time you toddled off to bed. 不早了—你该去睡觉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her two-year-old son toddled into the room. 她的两岁的儿子摇摇摆摆地走进屋里。 来自辞典例句

12 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。