The rider was Harry3 O’Steen, one of Buck4 Priest’s men—a red-headed, freckled5 cowboy; a laughing, rollicking sort of person, whose disposition6 did much to keep up the morale7 of the S\ Bar\ P.
Buck Priest was sitting on the ranchhouse porch talking with “Rowdy” Dow, another of his cowboys, when the horse came in. They could see at a glance that O’Steen had been hurt, and both of them ran down to him. They eased him to the ground and then carried him to the shade of the porch.
Buck Priest nodded shortly and knelt beside O’Steen, who was trying to talk. Rowdy ran through the house and came back with a dipper of water, which he held to O’Steen’s lips. Ken9 Mader and Dick Leeson, the two other cowboys, came from the bunk-house and joined them.
“Can yuh talk, Harry?” asked Buck anxiously. “Who shot yuh?”
O’Steen struggled painfully, trying to say something. It came in a jerky sentence—
“Uh-huh,” he said softly. “Rustlers got him on Porcupine Creek, boys. Help me carry him in the house. That’s more of Park Reber’s work.”
They placed the body of O’Steen on a cot and covered it up with a bright-colored blanket.
“Saddle up,” ordered Priest. “Take yore rifles along. We’re goin’ to Tomahawk and talk to Park Reber with the only language he understands. He’s goin’ to pay for killin’ O’Steen.”
“That’s the talk,” said Rowdy. “We’ll wipe his town off the map.”
“Four men may not be able to do that, Rowdy,” said Buck Priest wearily, “but we’ll do what we can.”
Ten minutes later the four men galloped13 from the S\ Bar\ P, heading for Tomahawk town. The sun was almost down, and they wanted to get there before dark. About two miles from the ranch the road intersected with the main road, and as the four riders swept around the point of a hill they saw a team and light wagon14 coming from the south.
They were close enough to see that the driver was Nelson, one of Reber’s men. They drew rein15 and waited for the wagon to reach them. Priest swung his horse across the road ahead of the team, forcing them to stop.
“Hyah, Nelson,” said Priest coldly.
“Howdy, gentlemen,” nodded Nelson. “I’m sure glad to see somebody. I stopped at the Half-Wheel, but there wasn’t nobody at home. Me and Sam Herd16 was takin’ that girl to the Two Bar X and we got held up. Sam tried to draw a gun, and they killed him. And they put the girl on a horse and took her away. Sam’s in the back of the wagon.”
Rowdy spurred his horse around the wagon and looked in.
“He’s here all right, Buck,” he said.
“Where’d this all happen?”
“Near the mouth of Trapper. Down in them willers, jist before yuh reach the ford17. Two men, Priest. They had sacks over their heads.”
Priest backed his horse off the road and motioned for Nelson to drive on.
“Ain’t we goin’?” asked Rowdy.
Buck Priest watched the wagon disappear up the road.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” he said. “Sam Herd was one of Park Reber’s trusted men. And they stole that girl, eh? That’s funny. We’re goin’ back home, boys. No use goin’ off half-cocked, I reckon. We’ll pack up some grub and blankets and swing in on the Porcupine. It must have been kinda late when O’Steen was shot, and the rustlers can’t move cattle much after dark.”
They turned and rode back to the ranch.
点击收听单词发音
1 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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2 ranch | |
n.大牧场,大农场 | |
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3 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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4 buck | |
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃 | |
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5 freckled | |
adj.雀斑;斑点;晒斑;(使)生雀斑v.雀斑,斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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7 morale | |
n.道德准则,士气,斗志 | |
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8 strings | |
n.弦 | |
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9 ken | |
n.视野,知识领域 | |
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10 porcupine | |
n.豪猪, 箭猪 | |
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11 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
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12 twitched | |
vt.& vi.(使)抽动,(使)颤动(twitch的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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13 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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14 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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15 rein | |
n.疆绳,统治,支配;vt.以僵绳控制,统治 | |
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16 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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17 Ford | |
n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过 | |
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