Dick was afoot after a few hours' sleep. He aroused Sam and went about the preparation of breakfast. May-may-gwán attempted to help, but both she and her efforts were disregarded. She brought wood, but Dick rustled1 a supply just the same, paying no attention to the girl's little pile; she put on fresh fuel, but Dick, without impatience,--indeed, as though he were merely rearranging the fire,--contrived to undo2 her work; she brought to hand the utensils3, but Dick, in searching for them, always looked where they had originally been placed. His object seemed not so much to thwart4 the girl as to ignore her. When breakfast was ready he divided it into two portions, one of which he ate. After the meal he washed the few dishes. Once he took a cup from the girl's hand as she was drying it, much as he would have taken it from the top of a stump5. He then proceeded to clean it as though it had just been used.
May-may-gwán made no sign that she noticed these things. After a little she helped Sam roll the blankets, strike the shelter, construct the packs. Here her assistance was accepted, though Sam did not address her. After a few moments the start was made.
The first few hours were spent as before, wading6 the stream. As she could do nothing in the water, May-may-gwán kept to the woods, walking stolidly7 onward8, her face to the front, expressionless, hiding whatever pain she may have felt. This side of noon, however, the travellers came to a cataract9 falling over a fifty-foot ledge10 into a long, cliff-bordered pool.
It became necessary to portage. The hill pinched down steep and close. There existed no trails. Dick took the little camp axe11 to find a way. He clambered up one after the other three ravines--grown with brush and heavy ferns, damp with a trickle12 of water,--always to be stopped near the summit by a blank wall impossible to scale. At length he found a passage he thought might be practicable. Thereupon he cut a canoe trail back to the water-side.
In clearing this trail his attention turned to making room for a canoe on a man's back. Therefore the footing he bothered with not at all. Saplings he clipped down by bending them with the left hand, and striking at the strained fibres where they bowed. A single blow would thus fell treelets of some size. When he had finished his work there resulted a winding13, cylindrical14 hole in the forest growth some three feet from the ground. Through this cylinder15 the canoe would be passed while its bearer picked a practised way among slippery rocks, old stubs, new sapling stumps16, and undergrowth below. Men who might, in later years, wish to follow this Indian trail, would look not for footprints but for waist-high indications of the axe.
When the canoe had been carried to the top of the bluff17 that marked the water-fall, it was relaunched in a pool. In the meantime May-may-gwán, who had at last found a use for her willingness, carried the packs. Dick re-embarked. His companion perceived that he intended to shove off as soon as the other should have taken his place. Sam frustrated18 that, however, by holding fast to the gunwale. May-may-gwán stepped in amidships, with a half-deprecating glance at the young man's inscrutable back. At the end of the brief paddling the upper pool allowed them, she was first ashore19.
Late that afternoon the travel for a half mile became exceedingly difficult. The stream took on the character of a mountain brook20. It hardly paid to float the canoe in the tiny holes among the rocks, miniature cascades21, and tortuous22 passages. The forest grew to the very banks, and arched over to exclude the sun. Every few feet was to be avoided a tree, half clinging to the bank, leaning at a perilous23 slant24 out over the creek25. Fortunately the spring freshets in this country of the great snows were powerful enough to sweep out the timber actually fallen, so the course of the stream itself was clear of jams. At length the travellers reached a beaver-dam, and so to a little round lake among the hills. They had come to the head waters of the Mattawishguia.
In the lake stood two moose, old and young. Dick succeeded in killing26 the yearling, though it took two shots from his Winchester. It was decided27 to camp here over one day in order that the meat might be saved.
A circle of hills surrounded the little body of water. On them grew maples28 and birches, among which scattered29 a few hemlocks30 and an occasional pine. At the edge of the water were cedars31 leaning out to look at their reflections. A deep and solemn peace seemed to brood over the miniature lake. Such affairs as bird songs, the slap of a paddle, the shots from Dick's rifle could not break this strange stillness. They spoke32 hastily, and relapsed to silence, like the rare necessary voices in a room where one lies dead. The hush33, calm and primal34, with the infinity35 of the wilderness36 as its only measure of time, took no account of the shock of a second's interruption. Two loons swam like ghosts. Everywhere and nowhere among the trees, in the hills, over the water, the finer senses were almost uneasily conscious of a vast and awful presence. It was as yet aloof37, unheeding, buddhistic38, brooding in nirvanic calm, still unawakened to put forth39 the might of its displeasure. Under its dreaming eyes men might, fearfully and with reverence40, carry on their affairs,--fearfully and with reverence, catching41 the breath, speaking low, growing silent and stern in the presence of the North.
At the little camp under the cedars, Dick Herron and Sam Bolton, assisted by the Ojibway girl, May-may-gwán, cut the moose-meat into thin strips, salted, and dried it in the bright sun. And since the presence of loons argued fish, they set their nets and lines. Several days thus passed.
In their relations the three promptly42 settled back into a species of routine. Men who travel in the Silent Places speedily take on the colour of their surroundings. They become silent also. A band of voyageurs of sufficient strength may chatter43 and sing; they have by the very force of numbers created an atmosphere of their own. But two are not enough for this. They have little to say, for their souls are laved by the great natural forces.
Dick Herron, even in ordinary circumstances, withdrew rather grimly into himself. He looked out at things from beneath knit brows; he held his elbows close to his sides, his fists clenched44, his whole spiritual being self-contained and apart, watchful45 for enmity in what he felt but could not understand. But to this, his normal habit, now was added a sullenness46 almost equally instinctive47. In some way he felt himself aggrieved48 by the girl's presence. At first it was merely the natural revolt of a very young man against assuming responsibility he had not invited. The resulting discomfort49 of mind, however, he speedily assigned to the girl's account. He continued, as at first, to ignore her. But in the slow rumination50 of the forest he became more and more irritably51 sensible of her presence. Sam's taciturnity was contrastedly sunny and open. He looked on things about him with the placid52 receptivity of an old man, and said nothing because there was nothing to say. The Ojibway girl remained inscrutable, helping53 where she could, apparently54 desirous of neither praise nor blame.
At the end of three days the provisions were ready. There had resulted perhaps sixty pounds of "jerky." It now became necessary to leave the water-way, and to strike directly through the forest, over the hills, and into the country of the Kabinikágam.
Dick shouldered a thirty-pound pack and the canoe. Sam Bolton and the girl managed the remainder. Every twenty minutes or so they would rest, sinking back against the trunks of trees, mossy stones, or a bank of new ferns. The forest was open and inexpressibly lofty. Moose maples, young birches, and beeches56 threw their coolness across the face, then above them the columns of the trunks, then far up in green distance the leaves again, like the gold-set roof of a church. The hill mounted always before them. Ancient rocks hoary57 with moss55, redolent of dampness, stood like abandoned altars given over to decay. A strange, sweet wind freighted with stray bird-notes wandered aimlessly.
Nothing was said. Dick led the way and set the intervals58 of the carrying. When he swung the canoe from his shoulders the others slipped their tump-lines. Then all rubbed their faces with the broad caribou-leaf to keep off the early flies, and lay back, arms extended, breathing deep, resting like boxers59 between the rounds. Once at the top of the ridge60 Dick climbed a tree. He did this, not so much in expectation of seeing the water-courses themselves, as to judge by the general lay of the country where they might be found.
In a bare open space under hemlocks Sam indicated a narrow, high, little pen, perhaps three feet long by six inches wide, made of cut saplings. Dick examined it.
"Marten deadfall," he pronounced. "Made last winter. Somebody's been trapping through here."
After a time a blaze on a tree was similarly remarked. Then the travellers came to a tiny creek, which, being followed, soon debouched into a larger. This in turn became navigable, after the north-country fashion. That is to say, the canoe with its load could much of the time be floated down by the men wading in the bed of the creek. Finally Sam, who was in the lead, jerked his head toward the left bank.
"Their winter camp," said he, briefly61.
A dim trail led from the water to a sheltered knoll62. There stood the framework of a pointed63 tepee, the long poles spread like fingers above their crossing point. A little pile of gnawed64 white skulls65 of various sizes represented at least a portion of the season's catch. Dick turned them over with his foot, identifying them idly. From the sheltered branches of a near-by spruce hung four pairs of snow-shoes cached there until the next winter. Sam gave his first attention to these.
"A man, a woman, and two well-grown children," he pronounced. He ran his hand over the bulging66 raquette with the long tail and the slightly up-curved end. "Ojibway pattern," he concluded. "Dick, we're in the first hunting district. Here's where we get down to business."
He went over the ground twice carefully, examining the state of the offal, the indications of the last fire.
"They've been gone about six weeks," he surmised67. "If they ain't gone visiting, they must be down-stream somewheres. These fellows don't get in to trade their fur 'till along about August."
Two days subsequent, late in the afternoon, Dick pointed out what looked to be a dark streak68 beneath a bowlder that lay some distance from the banks on a shale69 bar.
"What's that animal?" he asked.
"Can't make her out," said Bolton, after inspection70.
"Ninny-moosh," said the Indian girl, indifferently. It was the first word she had spoken since her talk with the older man.
"It's a dog, all right," conceded Sam. "She has sharp eyes."
The animal rose and began to bark. Two more crashed toward him through the bushes. A thin stream of smoke disengaged itself from the tops of the forest trees. As they swept around the bend, the travellers saw a man contemplating71 them stolidly through a screen of leaves.
The canoe floated on. About an hundred yards below the Indians Sam ordered a landing. Camp was made as usual. Supper was cooked. The fire replenished72. Then, just before the late sunset of the Far North, the bushes crackled.
"Now let me do the talking," warned Sam.
"All right. I'll just keep my eye on this," Dick nodded toward the girl. "She's Ojibway, too, you know. She may give us away."
"She can't only guess," Sam reminded. "But there ain't any danger, anyway."
The leaves parted. The Indian appeared, sauntering with elaborate carelessness, his beady eyes shifting here and there in an attempt to gather what these people might be about.
"Bo' jou', bo' jou'," he greeted them.
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1
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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hemlocks
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| 由毒芹提取的毒药( hemlock的名词复数 ) | |
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cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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32
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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33
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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primal
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| adj.原始的；最重要的 | |
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infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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Buddhistic
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| adj.佛陀的，佛教的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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40
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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41
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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42
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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43
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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44
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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45
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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46
sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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47
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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48
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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49
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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50
rumination
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| n.反刍，沉思 | |
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51
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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52
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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53
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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54
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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55
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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56
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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57
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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58
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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59
boxers
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| n.拳击短裤；（尤指职业）拳击手( boxer的名词复数 )；拳师狗 | |
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60
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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61
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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62
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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63
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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64
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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65
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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66
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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67
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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68
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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69
shale
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| n.页岩，泥板岩 | |
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70
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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71
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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72
replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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