Arthur’s first inclination1 was to call. But something within him warned him not to do that. Something just as imperative2 advised him to another course of action. He waited a moment or two to let Silva get far enough ahead, so that she could not possibly hear his footsteps. Then he followed her.
She walked with an extraordinary swiftness—so swiftly indeed that Arthur was put to it to keep up with her. However she had the advantage over him in that she knew the trail perfectly3. Her feet stumbled over no obstacles; her arms hit no protruding4 branches; her face brushed against no scratchy twigs5. She moved indeed as though it were day. Arthur was in a difficult situation. He must walk quickly to keep up with her; but if he walked too quickly she would certainly hear him.
Presently she came to the place in the trail where it turned at right angles on itself. Arthur, anticipating this, stopped in the shadow[Pg 165] of a tree in the far side of the path. Silva turned swiftly. It happened that she did glance indifferently backwards6 over the way in which she had come. But she could not have seen Arthur; for she went on at the same composed high pace. But Arthur saw that she was carrying under her arm a bottle of milk.
Arthur quickened his cautious footsteps; came in his turn to the fork in the trail. There was Silva ahead, her white skirt fluttering on both sides of her vigorous walking, much as the white foam7 of the sea flutters away from the prow8 of the ship. She kept straight on and Arthur kept straight on. The moon dipped behind clouds and dove out of them; flashed her great blaze on the earth and shadowed it again. On and on they went, the stalker and the stalked. They were approaching the Moraine. Big stones began to lift out of the underbrush on either side. Some were like great tables, flat and smooth; comfortable and comforting. Others were perturbing—like huge monsters that had thrust themselves out of the earth, were resting on their front paws or their haunches even. Layers of rust-colored leaves—the leaves that had been for many years falling—lay between them. And now and then the moonlight caught on the[Pg 166] rocks with a black glisten9 and on the leaves with a red gleam; for the dew was falling.
Arthur began to wonder what he should do. He somehow took it for granted that Silva was going to the Moraine; mainly because there seemed no other place for her to go; though for what purpose he could not guess. If for any reason she stopped there, he must soon become visible to her. Indeed there were only two courses for him to take: retreat by the path over which he had come or through the wood on either side. He could not make up his mind to turn back. If he took the second course, he would undoubtedly10 get lost. He would have to wait for daylight to find his way home and that, he recognized at once, would be stretching inexcusably the generous liberty which Mr. Westabrook had given him. He might call to Silva. But again something inside seemed to warn him not to make his presence known. He continued to follow the vigorous figure ahead.
As though she were approaching the end of her journey, Silva was hurrying faster and faster. Arthur hurried too. Silva broke into what was a half run. It would have been, Arthur felt, a complete run, if she were not [Pg 167]carrying the bottle of milk so carefully. Arthur seethed11 with perplexity. Why was she speeding so? What could she possibly have to do at this spot and at this hour? What could require such urgent haste? Well, perhaps he would know in another moment.
And then suddenly strange things happened all at once.
Silva’s rapid progress had, as it apparently12 neared its object, become less careful. At any rate, an overhanging briar caught her hair; pulled her up sharply. In her first effort to extricate13 herself, Silva turned completely about; caught sight of Arthur’s figure a little way down the trail.
She started so convulsively that even Arthur could see it. Then with a swift wrench14 of her slender hand she tore her hair away; turned and ran like a deer in the direction of the Moraine.
Arthur ran too. And as he ran he called, “Don’t be afraid, Silva. It’s Arthur Duncan from the Little House. Don’t mind me! I won’t hurt you.”
But Silva only redoubled her speed. Arthur redoubled his. He was gaining swiftly on her. He entered the Moraine. On the[Pg 168] other side Silva was just disappearing from it. “I tell you,” he called, “I’m not going to hurt you. Stop! I want to speak to you!”
Silva did not answer. He heard a frenzied15 floundering among the underbrush. For the noise Silva made, she might have been an elephant. And then suddenly came silence—silence utter and complete.
Had she fainted? What could be the matter? What a silly girl to act like that! Arthur rushed across the Moraine; penetrated16 the woods on the other side.
Silva had disappeared as completely as though she had vanished into the air. Arthur stared about him like one waking from a dream. Then he began to search for her. Around rocks, into clumps17 of bushes he peered. Nobody. Nothing.
“Silva Burle!” he called. “Silva! Silva! Where are you?” And then because he was genuinely alarmed, “Please answer. Please! I’m afraid you’re hurt.” Another search over a wider area. He mounted rocks this time. Remembering how Silva could climb, he stared upwards18 into trees. He crawled on hands and knees through every little thicket19 he found. And all the time he kept calling. Still nobody. Still nothing. As far as he[Pg 169] could see, he was absolutely alone in that part of the wood.
After half an hour, he gave it up. But he was a little alarmed and very much humiliated20. He walked back over the trail to the Magic Mirror and all the time his head was bent21 in the deepest thought. He found the canoe; absently slid into it; mechanically paddled himself across the water. And all the time he continued to think hard. “It’s like a dream,” he thought. “I’d think anybody else was dreaming who told me this.”
When he reached the barn, the whole mysterious episode seemed to float out of his mind in the great wave of drowsiness22 which suddenly beat through him. He fell immediately into slumber23. But his sleep was full of dreams, all so strange that when he awoke in the morning, his experience of the night before threatened for a moment to take its place among them. “But I didn’t dream the peacocks or the deer,” he said to himself. “And I know I didn’t dream Silva!”
He said nothing of his experience to any of the other children, though he found himself strangely tempted24 to tell Maida. But a kind of shyness held him back. At times it occurred to him that Silva might be lying [Pg 170]injured somewhere in the woods. But always some instinct made him believe that this was not true.
Halfway25 through the morning Granny Flynn sent him on an errand to the village. As he came out of the Post Office, he ran into Silva Burle just about to enter it. He tumbled off the wheel which he had just mounted.
“Say,” he said without any other greeting, “where did you disappear to last night?”
“Last night!” Silva repeated in a bland26 tone of mere27 curiousness. “What do you mean by last night?”
“You know very well what I mean,” Arthur persisted. “Last night in the Moraine—in the woods.”
“In the Moraine—in the woods,” Silva repeated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t sleep in the woods last night. I slept in my tent as usual.”
Arthur looked at her hard. “Well,” he said after a moment, “either you’re telling the biggest whopper I ever listened to or you were walking in your sleep.”
“Walking in my sleep,” Silva said scornfully, “you’re crazy.” And she passed on.
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1
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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2
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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3
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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4
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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5
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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6
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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7
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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8
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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9
glisten
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| vi.（光洁或湿润表面等）闪闪发光，闪闪发亮 | |
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10
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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11
seethed
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| （液体）沸腾( seethe的过去式和过去分词 )； 激动，大怒； 强压怒火； 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
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12
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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13
extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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14
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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15
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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16
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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17
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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18
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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19
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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20
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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21
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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22
drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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23
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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24
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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25
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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26
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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27
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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