"I don't like those terms, at all," he said, "too much like giving your weapons to the enemy. I don't like all this."
He would temporize2 and rely on Le Grand Diable's covetous3 disposition4 bringing him to our terms; but Hamilton would hear of neither caution nor delay.
The ransom5 price was at once collected. Next morning, Little Fellow, on a fresh mount with a string of laden6 horses on each side, went post haste back to the Sioux.
In all conscience, Hamilton had been wild enough during the first parley7. His excitement now exceeded all bounds. The first two days, when there was no possibility of Miriam's coming and Little Fellow could not yet have reached the Sioux, I tore after Eric so often I lost count of the races between our lodge8 and the north hill. The performance began again on the third day, and I broke out with a piece of my mind, which surprised him mightily9.[Pg 247]
"Look you here, Hamilton!" I exclaimed, rounding him back from the hill, "Can't you stop this nonsense and sit still for only two days more, or must I tie you up? You've tried to put me crazy all winter and, by Jove, if you don't stop this, you'll finish the job——"
He gazed at me with the dumb look of a wounded animal and was too amazed for words. Leaving me in mid-road, feeling myself a brute10, he went straight to his own hut. After that incident, he gave us no further anxiety and kept an iron grip on his impatience11. With me, anger had given place to contrition12. He remained much by himself until the night, when our messengers were expected. Then he came across to my quarters, where Father Holland and I were keyed up to the highest pitch. Putting out his hand he said—
"Is it all right with us again, Rufus, old man?"
That speech nigh snapped the strained cords.
"Of course," said I, gripping the extended hand, and I immediately coughed hard, to explain away the undue13 moisture welling into my eyes.
We all three sat as still and silent as a death-watch, Father Holland fumbling14 and pretending to pore over some holy volume, Eric with fingers tightly interlaced and upper teeth biting through lower lip, and I with clenched15 fists dug into jacket pockets and a thousand imaginary sounds singing wild tunes16 in my ears.
How the seconds crawled, and the minutes barely moved, and the hours seemed to heap up in a blockade and crush us with their leaden[Pg 248] weight! Twice I sought relief for pent emotion by piling wood on the fire, though the night was mild, and by breaking the glowing embers into a shower of sparks. The soft, moccasined tread of Mandanes past our door startled Father Holland so that his book fell to the floor, while I shook like a leaf. Strange to say, Hamilton would not allow himself the luxury of a single movement, though the lowered brows tightened17 and teeth cut deeper into the under lip.
Dogs set up a barking at the other end of the village—a common enough occurrence where half-starved curs roved in packs—but I could not refrain from lounging with a show of indifference18 to the doorway19, where I peered through the moon-silvered dusk. As usual, the Indians with shrill20 cry flew at the dogs to silence them. The noise seemed to be annoying my companions and was certainly unnerving me, so I shut the door and walked back to the fire.
The howl of dogs and squaws increased. I heard the angry undertone of men's voices. A hoarse21 roar broke from the Mandane lodges22 and rolled through the village like the sweep of coming hurricane. There was a fleet rush, a swift pattering of something pursued running round the rear of our lodge, with a shrieking23 mob of men and squaws after it. The dogs were barking furiously and snapping at the heels of the thing, whatever it was.
"A hostile!" exclaimed Hamilton, leaping up.
Hardly knowing what I did, I bounded towards[Pg 249] the door and shot forward the bolt, with a vague fear that blood might be spilled on our threshold.
But the words had not passed his lips when the parchment flap of the window lifted. A voice screamed through the opening and in hurtled a round, nameless, blood-soaked horror, rolling over and over in a red trail, till it stopped with upturned, dead, glaring eyes and hideous26, gaping27 mouth, at the very feet of Hamilton.
It was the scalpless head of La Robe Noire. Our Indian had paid the price of his own blood-lust28 and Diable's enmity.
Before the full enormity of the treachery—messengers murdered and mutilated, ransom stolen and captives kept—had dawned on me, Father Holland had broken open the door. He was rushing through the night screaming for the Mandanes to catch the miscreant29 Sioux. When I turned back, not daring to look at that awful object, Hamilton had fallen to the hut floor in a dead faint.
And now may I be spared recalling what occurred on that terrible night!
Women luxuriate and men traffic in the wealth of the great west, but how many give one languid thought to the years of bloody30 deeds by which the west was won?
Before restoring Hamilton, it was necessary to[Pg 250] remove that which was unseemly; also to wash out certain stains on the hearth-stones; and those things would have tried the courage of more iron-nerved men than myself.
I should not have been surprised if Eric had come out of that faint, a gibbering maniac31; but I toiled32 over him with the courage of blank hopelessness, pumping his arms up and down, forcing liquor between the clenched teeth, splashing the cold, clammy face with water, and laving his forehead. At last he opened his eyes wearily. Like a man ill at ease with life, moaning, he turned his face to the wall.
Outside, it was as if the unleashed33 furies of hell fought to quench34 their thirst in human blood. The clamor of those red demons35 was in my ears and I was still working over Hamilton, loosening his jacket collar, under-pillowing his chest, fanning him, and doing everything else I could think of, to ease his labored36 breathing, when Father Holland burst into the lodge, utterly37 unmanned and sobbing38 like a child.
"For the Lord's sake, Rufus," he cried, "for the Lord's sake, come and help! They're murdering him! They're murdering him! 'Twas I who set them on him, and I can't stop them! I can't stop them!"
"Let them murder him!" I returned, unconsciously demonstrating that the civilized39 heart differs only in degree from the barbarian40.
"Come, Rufus," he pleaded, "come, for the love of Frances, or your hands will not be clean.[Pg 251] There'll be blood on your hands when you go back to her. Come, come!"
Out we rushed through the thronging41 Mandanes, now riotous42 with the lust of blood. A ring of young bucks43 had been formed round the Sioux to keep the crowd off. Naked, with arms pinioned44, the victim stood motionless and without fear.
"Good white father, he no understand," said the Mandanes, jostling the weeping priest back from the circle of the young men. "Good white father, he go home!" In spite of protest by word and act they roughly shoved us to our lodge, the doomed45 man's death chant ringing in our ears as they pushed us inside and clashed our door. In vain we had argued they would incur46 the vengeance47 of the Sioux nation. Our voices were drowned in the shout for blood—for blood!
The sigh of the wind brought mournful strains of the victim's dirge48 to our lodge. I fastened the door, with robes against it to keep the sound out. Then a smell of burning drifted through the window, and I stop-gapped that, too, with more robes.
That the Sioux would wreak49 swift vengeance could not be doubted. As soon as the murderous work was over, guides were with difficulty engaged. Having fitted up a sort of prop50 in which I could tie Hamilton to the saddle, I saw both Father Holland and Eric set out for Red River before daybreak.
It was best they should go and I remain. If[Pg 252] Miriam were still in the country, stay I would, till she were safe; but I had no mind to see Eric go mad or die before the rescue could be accomplished51.
This, Father Holland bore to Frances Sutherland from me.
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1
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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2
temporize
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| v.顺应时势；拖延 | |
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covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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4
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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5
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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6
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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7
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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8
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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10
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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12
contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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13
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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14
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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15
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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17
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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18
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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19
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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20
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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22
lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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23
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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24
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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25
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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26
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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27
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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28
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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29
miscreant
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| n.恶棍 | |
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30
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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31
maniac
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| n.精神癫狂的人；疯子 | |
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32
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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33
unleashed
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| v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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35
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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36
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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37
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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38
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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39
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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40
barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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41
thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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42
riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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43
bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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44
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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46
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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47
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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48
dirge
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| n.哀乐，挽歌，庄重悲哀的乐曲 | |
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49
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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50
prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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51
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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52
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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53
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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54
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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