CHAPTER VI

 About the time that June and Jack¹ Silver were leaving for the Two Bar X ranch², a rider came through the gate of the S\ Bar\ P; a rider who swayed down along the fork of his saddle, a limp arm hanging on each side of the horse’s neck.

 

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.

 

“Been shot twice,” declared Rowdy. “Gawd A’mighty, he’s all shot to strings⁸!”

 

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—

 

“Rustlers—got—me—Porcupine¹⁰—Creek¹¹—”

 

That was all. He closed his eyes, twitched¹² slightly. Buck got to his feet, his old face twisted.

 

“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.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

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 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

6 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

7 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

8 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

9 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

10 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

11 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

12 twitched   

vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Her lips twitched with amusement. 她忍俊不禁地颤动着嘴唇。
• The child's mouth twitched as if she were about to cry. 这小孩的嘴抽动着，像是要哭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

14 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

15 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

16 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。