The sun was quite low in the sky, and the gait of the mustangs began to tell upon them. The two were galloping4 side by side, and going nearly at full speed. Both Tom and Dick were angry at being forced into such a position, which, to them, was a cowardly flight from a lot of wretches5 whom they despised and hated.
"I must give 'em my compliments," suddenly exclaimed the latter, when they were within rifle shot of each other. As he spoke6, he raised his gun, and fired into Lone Wolf's band.
He seemed to take no aim at all, and, indeed, there was little necessity for it, as the Indians were so numerous and compact. A yell followed and then a commotion7, showing very plainly that the shot had told.
"I reckon I'll try it again, it works so well," said Dick, repeating the demonstration8, except that he aimed to the company on the left. He took a little more pains to guard against throwing his shot away and the result was similar to the first.
"Now we'll catch it," said the terrified Ned, crouching9 down beside the hunter, who like his friend was engaged in reloading his gun.
But there was no return fire. The Apaches, evidently, had concluded that they could wait. The shots, however, resulted somewhat advantageously for the fugitives, who, during the momentary10 confusion thus created, managed to crowd a little ahead. The horses were then put to a dead run and the final rush made for Hurricane Hill, the last refuge for which the fugitives could flee, seeing which, the Indians converged11 toward them, and made every effort to shut them off.
Although the hunters had apparently12 used their utmost endeavors up to this time, they had husbanded the strength of their animals so cleverly that their pursuers themselves were deceived, and when they expected to interpose themselves directly across the path, they beheld13 them flying like a whirlwind toward the rocks.
The few hundred yards remaining between the latter and Hurricane Hill were passed in a few seconds by the fleet-footed mustangs. Ned was fairly dazed by the bewildering rush of events, and hardly able to keep track of their order. He saw the hurrying warriors14 directly behind them, and the rough, cragged mass of rocks in front. The next moment he was off the mustang. The scouts15 had checked their beasts at the same instant at the base of Hurricane Hill, and, leaping to the ground, skurried up the steep incline by which its surface was reached. The feet of the lad did not touch the earth. Dick, who was slightly in advance, carried him under his arm as if he were an infant snatched up in haste, and the men bounded toward the top of the hill, the whole howling horde16 at their heels.
Hurricane Hill, it should be stated, was a pile of rocks about one hundred feet in diameter, with half that height. On one side a narrow path led upward at an angle of forty-five degrees, and, as it permitted only one to pass at a time, the place, with a few defenders17, was impregnable against almost any force. This path upward was filled with loose, rattling18 stones, which sometimes made one's foothold treacherous19, and it also made several curious turns, so that, after ascending20 a rod or so, one was shut out from the view of those upon the ground below.
The very instant this point was reached Dick Morris dropped the lad and exclaimed:
"Now run like thunder, and don't stop till you reach the top."
Then, wheeling about, he leaped back several paces to the assistance of Tom, who was defending the pass like a second Leonidas against the swarming21 warriors.
A huge, stalwart redskin, who probably believed his strength to be superior to that of the scouts, advanced boldly and seized him, with the evident purpose of drawing him down among the others and making him a prisoner in spite of himself. But he found he had made a slight miscalculation when he was lifted like a child from the ground and hurled22 over the heads and among the glowering23 redskins crowding below. The momentum24 of his body was such that a half dozen were forced backward and almost off their feet. Had the Apaches chosen to do so, it would have been an easy matter to have shot all three of the fugitives, or even two of them, and taken the lad; but they had some old score against Tom and Dick, which could not be wiped out by mere25 death alone. Now that such a fine opportunity was presented for securing them and indulging in all the luxury of torture, they were not the ones to throw away the chance. Hence, they persistently26 refused to fire and as persistently forced their way upward.
This check, which might have been simply temporary, was emphasized and made more permanent in its character by Dick, who at the critical moment seized a goodly sized rock, which he drove down among the wretches like the discharge from a fifty pounder. It made terrible work and the discomfited27 Apaches retreated tumultuously to the bottom, while the hunters hastened away again to the top of the hill. Ned was there awaiting their coming with the most painful misgiving28 about their coming at all. He knew from the uproar29 that a desperate fight was raging in the narrow pass, and he feared that the resentful Apaches would overcome the braver hunters, who were defending themselves so desperately30. But there they were at last, with the announcement that their enemies had fallen back and a temporary peace was given them.
"Can't expect it to last long, howsomever," added Tom, who breathed scarcely any faster from his terrific exertions31. "Them skunks32 are bound to swallow us whole, and we've got to kick hard to prevent it."
As soon as a little breathing time had been gained, the besieged33 made an examination of their immediate34 surroundings, to learn the probable form in which this business was likely to end. The hunters removed all superfluous35 articles from their persons,—in the shape of canteens and a few appurtenances,—like pugilists who are stripping for a fight.
The surface of Hurricane Hill was generally level, and free from the boulders36 and obstructions37 which one would naturally expect to find there, which Tom Hardynge explained by saying that they had all been rolled down upon the Indians below by parties who had been driven to this dernier resorte years before. The position of the three, therefore, was very much as if they were upon the extensive top of a tower which was reached by a narrow stairway, their province being to defend it against all comers.
For some time after the repulse38 of the Apaches, all remained quiet. Of course, they took charge of the two mustangs that the fugitives had been compelled to leave behind in their flight and then disposed themselves around the refuge, like those who had made up their minds to wait until the fruit dropped into their hands.
The afternoon was drawing to a close, and Ned naturally viewed the coming night with distrust. Darkness seemed to be the appropriate time for the fiends to work, and more than once he shuddered39 as he pictured in his imagination the merciless wretches swarming up the narrow path and spreading over the top, like the rush of waters when bursting up from some hidden fountain.
"All we've got to do is to keep our eyes open," said Dick, with a most reassuring40 manner. "If I could have plenty to eat and drink, with the privilege of sleeping a little now and then, I wouldn't want any better fun than to stay up here for a few months and crack their heads as they come up."
"Shall I do the watching to-night?"
"Not much," grinned Dick. "Tom takes the first half, me the last, and that's as good a way as we can fix it."
"And what shall I do to help?"
"Go to sleep as soon as it is dark, and don't wake up for three or four days—and even then you must not be dry or hungry."
点击收听单词发音
1 fugitives | |
n.亡命者,逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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2 lone | |
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的 | |
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3 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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4 galloping | |
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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5 wretches | |
n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 );可怜的人;恶棍;坏蛋 | |
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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 | |
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7 commotion | |
n.骚动,动乱 | |
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8 demonstration | |
n.表明,示范,论证,示威 | |
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9 crouching | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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10 momentary | |
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的 | |
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11 converged | |
v.(线条、运动的物体等)会于一点( converge的过去式 );(趋于)相似或相同;人或车辆汇集;聚集 | |
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12 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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13 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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14 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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15 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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16 horde | |
n.群众,一大群 | |
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17 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
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18 rattling | |
adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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19 treacherous | |
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的 | |
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20 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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21 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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22 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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23 glowering | |
v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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24 momentum | |
n.动力,冲力,势头;动量 | |
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25 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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26 persistently | |
ad.坚持地;固执地 | |
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27 discomfited | |
v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词);使狼狈;使挫折;挫败 | |
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28 misgiving | |
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕 | |
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29 uproar | |
n.骚动,喧嚣,鼎沸 | |
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30 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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31 exertions | |
n.努力( exertion的名词复数 );费力;(能力、权力等的)运用;行使 | |
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32 skunks | |
n.臭鼬( skunk的名词复数 );臭鼬毛皮;卑鄙的人;可恶的人 | |
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33 besieged | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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35 superfluous | |
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的 | |
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36 boulders | |
n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 );巨砾;(受水或天气侵蚀而成的)巨石;漂砾 | |
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37 obstructions | |
n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 );阻碍物;阻碍;阻挠 | |
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38 repulse | |
n.击退,拒绝;vt.逐退,击退,拒绝 | |
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39 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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40 reassuring | |
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的 | |
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