The Lieutenant1 and the Sergeant2 spent the evening in the large room of the fort, where all were assembled except the astronomer3, who still remained shut up in his cabin. The men were busy over their various occupations, some cleaning their arms, others mending or sharpening their tools. The women were stitching away industriously4, and Mrs Paulina Barnett was reading aloud; but she was often interrupted not only by the noise of the wind, which shook the walls of the house like a battering-ram, but by the cries of the baby. Corporal Joliffe, who had undertaken to amuse him, had enough to do. The young gentleman had ridden upon his playmate’s knees until they were worn out, and the Corporal at last put the indefatigable5 little cavalier on the large table, where he rolled about to his heart’s content until he fell asleep.
At eight o’clock prayers were read as usual, the lamps were extinguished, and all retired6 to rest.
When every one was asleep, Hobson and Long crept cautiously across the large room and gained the passage, where they found Mrs Barnett, who wished to press their hands once more.
“Till to-morrow,” she said to the Lieutenant.
“Yes,” replied Hobson, “to-morrow, madam, without fail.”
“But if you are delayed?”
“You must wait patiently for us,” replied the Lieutenant, “for if in examining the southern horizon we should see a fire, which is not unlikely this dark night, we should know that we were near the coasts of New Georgia, and then it would be desirable for me to ascertain7 our position by daylight. In fact, we may be away forty eight hours. If, however, we can get to Cape8 Michael before midnight, we shall be back at the fort to-morrow evening. So wait patiently, madam, and believe that we shall incur9 no unnecessary risk.”
“But,” added the lady, “suppose you don’t get back to morrow, suppose you are away more than two days?”
“Then we shall not return at all,” replied Hobson simply.
The door was opened, Mrs Barnett closed it behind the Lieutenant and his companion and went back to her own room, where Madge awaited her, feeling anxious and thoughtful.
Hobson and Long made their way across the inner court through a whirlwind which nearly knocked them down; but clinging to each other, and leaning on their iron-bound staffs, they reached the postern gates, and set out [beween] between the hills and the eastern bank of the lagoon10.
A faint twilight11 enabled them to see their way. The moon, which was new the night before, would not appear above the horizon, and there was nothing to lessen12 the gloom of the darkness, which would, however, last but a few hours longer.
The wind and rain were as violent as ever. The Lieutenant and his companion wore impervious13 boots and water-proof cloaks well pulled in at the waist, and the hood14 completely covering their heads. Thus protected they got along at a rapid pace, for the wind was behind them, and sometimes drove them on rather faster than they cared to go. Talking was quite out of the question, and they did not attempt it, for they were deafened15 by the hurricane, and out of breath with the buffeting16 they received.
Hobson did not mean to follow the coast, the windings17 of which would have taken him a long way round, and have brought him face to face with the wind, which swept over the sea with nothing to break its fury. His idea was to cut across in a straight line from Cape Bathurst to Cape Michael, and he was provided with a pocket compass with which to ascertain his bearings. He hoped by this means to cross the ten or eleven miles between him and his goal, just before the twilight faded and gave place to the two hours of real darkness.
Bent18 almost double, with rounded shoulders and stooping heads, the two pressed on. As long as they kept near the lake they did not meet the gale19 full face, the little hills crowned with trees afforded them some protection, the wind howled fearfully as it bent and distorted the branches, almost tearing the trunks up by the roots; but it partly exhausted20 its strength, and even the rain when it reached the explorers was converted into impalpable mist, so that for about four miles they did not suffer half as much as they expected to.
But when they reached the southern skirts of the wood, where the hills disappeared, and there were neither trees nor rising ground, the wind swept along with awful force, and involuntarily they paused for a moment. They were still six miles from Cape Michael.
“We are going to have a bad time of it,” shouted Lieutenant Hobson in the Sergeant’s ear.
“Yes, the wind and rain will conspire21 to give us a good beating,” answered Long.
“I am afraid that now and then we shall have hail as well,” added Hobson.
“It won’t be as deadly as grape-shot,” replied Long coolly, “and we have both been through that, and so forwards!”
“Forwards, my brave comrade!”
It was then ten o’clock. The twilight was fading away, dying as if drowned in the mists or quenched22 by the wind and the rain. There was still, however, some light, and the Lieutenant struck his flint, and consulted his compass, passing a piece of burning touchwood over it, and then, drawing his cloak more closely around him, he plunged23 after the Sergeant across the unprotected plain.
At the first step, both were flung violently to the ground, but they managed to scramble24 up, and clinging to each other with their backs bent like two old crippled peasants, they struck into a kind of ambling25 trot26.
There was a kind of awful grandeur27 in the storm to which neither was insensible. Jagged masses of mist and ragged28 rain-clouds swept along the ground. The loose earth and sand were whirled into the air and flung down again like grape-shot, and the lips of Hobson and his companion were wet with salt spray, although the sea was two or three miles distant at least.
During the rare brief pauses in the gale, they stopped and took breath, whilst the Lieutenant ascertained29 their position as accurately30 as possible.
The tempest increased as the night advanced, the air and water seemed to be absolutely confounded together, and low down on the horizon was formed one of those fearful waterspouts which can overthrow31 houses, tear up forests, and which the vessels32 whose safety they threaten attack with artillery33. It really seemed as if the ocean itself was being torn from its bed and flung over the devoted34 little island.
Hobson could not help wondering how it was that the ice-field which supported it was not broken in a hundred places in this violent convulsion of the sea, the roaring of which could be distinctly heard where he stood. Presently Long, who was a few steps in advance, stopped suddenly, and turning round managed to make the Lieutenant hear the broken words —
“Not that way!”
“Why not?”
“The sea!”
“What, the sea! We cannot possibly have got to the southeast coast!”
“Look, look, Lieutenant!”
It was true, a vast sheet of water was indistinctly visible before them, and large waves were rolling up and breaking at the Lieutenant’s feet.
Hobson again had recourse to his flint, and with the aid of some lighted touchwood consulted the needle of his compass very carefully.
“No,” he said, “the sea is farther to the left, we have not yet passed the wood between us and Cape Michael.”
“Then it is”——
“It is a fracture of the island!” cried Hobson, as both were compelled to fling themselves to the ground before the wind, “either a large portion of our land has been broken off and drifted away, or a gulf35 has been made, which we can go round. Forwards!”
They struggled to their feet and turned to the right towards the centre of the island. For about ten minutes they pressed on in silence, fearing, not without reason, that all communication with the south of the island would be found to be cut off. Presently, however, they no longer heard the noise of the breakers.
“It is only a gulf.” screamed Hobson in the Sergeant’s ear. “Let us turn round.”
And they resumed their original direction towards the south, but both knew only too well that they had a fearful danger to face, for that portion of the island on which they were was evidently cracked for a long distance, and might at any moment separate entirely36; should it do so under the influence of the waves, they would inevitably37 be drifted away, whither they knew not. Yet they did not hesitate, but plunged into the mist, not even pausing to wonder if they should ever get back.
What anxious forebodings must, however, have pressed upon the heart of the Lieutenant. Could he now hope that the island would hold together until the winter? had not the inevitable38 breaking up already commenced? If the wind should not drive them on to the coast, were they not doomed39 to perish very soon, to be swallowed up by the deep, leaving no trace behind them? What a fearful prospect40 for all the unconscious inhabitants of the fort!
But through it all the two men, upheld by the consciousness of a duty to perform, bravely struggled on against the gale, which nearly tore them to pieces, along the new beach, the foam41 sometimes bathing their feet, and presently gained the large wood which shut in Cape Michael. This they would have to cross to get to the coast by the shortest route, and they entered it in complete darkness, the wind thundering among the branches over their heads. Everything seemed to be breaking to pieces around them, the dislocated branches intercepted42 their passage, and every moment they ran a risk of being crushed beneath a falling tree, or they stumbled over a stump43 they had not been able to see in the gloom. The noise of the waves on the other side of the wood was a sufficient guide to their steps, and sometimes the furious breakers shook the weakened ground beneath their feet. Holding each other’s hands lest they should lose each other, supporting each other, and the one helping44 the other up when he fell over some obstacle, they at last reached the point for which they were bound.
But the instant they quitted the shelter of the wood a perfect whirlwind tore them asunder45, and flung them upon the ground.
“Sergeant, Sergeant! Where are you?” cried Hobson with all the strength of his lungs.
“Here, here!” roared Long in reply.
And creeping on the ground they struggled to reach each other; but it seemed as if a powerful hand rivetted them to the spot on which they had fallen, and it was only after many futile46 efforts that they managed to reach each other. Having done so, they tied their belts together to prevent another separation, and crept along the sand to a little rising ground crowned by a small clump47 of pines. Once there they were a little more protected, and they proceeded to dig themselves a hole, in which they crouched48 in a state of absolute exhaustion49 and prostration50.
It was half-past eleven o’clock P.M.
For some minutes neither spoke51. With eyes half closed they lay in a kind of torpor52, whilst the trees above them bent beneath the wind, and their branches rattled53 like the bones of a skeleton. But yet again they roused themselves from this fatal lethargy, and a few mouthfuls of rum from the Sergeant’s flask54 revived them.
“Let us hope these trees will hold,” at last observed Hobson.
“And that our hole will not blow away with them,” added the Sergeant, crouching55 in the soft sand.
“Well!” said Hobson, “here we are at last, a few feet from Cape Michael, and as we came to make observations, let us make them. I have a presentiment56, Sergeant, only a presentiment, remember, that we are not far from firm ground!”
Had the southern horizon been visible the two adventurers would have been able to see two-thirds of it from their position; but it was too dark to make out anything, and if the hurricane had indeed driven them within sight of land, they would not be able to see it until daylight, unless a fire should be lighted on the continent.
As the Lieutenant had told Mrs Barnett, fishermen often visited that part of North America, which is called New Georgia, and there are a good many small native colonies, the members of which collect the teeth of mammoths, these fossil elephants being very numerous in these latitudes57. A few degrees farther south, on the island of Sitka, rises New-Archangel, the principal settlement in Russian America, and the head-quarters of the Russian Fur Company, whose jurisdiction58 once extended over the whole of the Aleutian Islands. The shores of the Arctic Ocean are, however, the favourite resort of hunters, especially since the Hudson’s Bay Company took a lease of the districts formerly59 in the hands of the Russians; and Hobson, although he knew nothing of the country, was well acquainted with the habits of those who were likely to visit it at this time of the year, and was justified60 in thinking that he might meet fellow-countrymen, perhaps even members of his own Company, or, failing them, some native Indians, scouring61 the coasts.
But could the Lieutenant reasonably hope that Victoria Island had been driven towards the coast?
“Yes, a hundred times yes,” he repeated to the Sergeant again and again. “For seven days a hurricane has been blowing from the northeast, and although I know that the island is very flat, and there is not much for the wind to take hold of, still all these little hills and woods spread out like sails must have felt the influence of the wind to a certain extent. Moreover, the sea which bears us along feels its power, and large waves are certainly running in shore. It is impossible for us to have remained in the current which was dragging us to the west, we must have been driven out of it, and towards the south. Last time we took our bearings we were two hundred miles from the coast, and in seven days “——
“Your reasonings are very just, Lieutenant,” replied the Sergeant, “and I feel that whether the wind helps us or not, God will not forsake62 us. It cannot be His will that so many unfortunate creatures should perish, and I put my trust in Him!”
The two talked on in broken sentences, making each other hear above the roaring of the storm, and struggling to pierce the gloom which closed them in on every side; but they could see nothing, not a ray of light broke the thick darkness.
About half past one A.M. the hurricane ceased for a few minutes, whilst the fury of the sea seemed to be redoubled, and the large waves, lashed63 into foam, broke over each other with a roar like thunder.
Suddenly Hobson seizing his companion’s arm shouted —
“Sergeant, do you hear?”
“What?”
“The noise of the sea?”
“Of course I do, sir,” replied Long, listening more attentively64, “and the sound of the breakers seems to me not”——
“Not exactly the same . . . isn’t it Sergeant; listen, listen, it is like the sound of surf! . . . it seems as if the waves were breaking against rocks!”
Hobson and the Sergeant now listened intently, the monotonous65 sound of the waves dashing against each other in the offing was certainly exchanged for the regular rolling sound produced by the breaking of water against a hard body; they heard the reverberating66 echoes which told of the neighbourhood of rocks, and they knew that along the whole of the coast of their island there was not a single stone, and nothing more sonorous67 than the earth and sand of which it was composed!
Could they have been deceived? The Sergeant tried to rise to listen better, but he was immediately flung down by the hurricane, which recommenced with renewed violence. The lull68 was over, and again the noise of the waves was drowned in the shrill69 whistling of the wind, and the peculiar70 echo could no longer be made out.
The anxiety of the two explorers will readily be imagined. They again crouched down in their hole, doubting whether it would not perhaps be prudent71 to leave even this shelter, for they felt the sand giving way beneath them, and the pines cracking at their very roots. They persevered72, however, in gazing towards the south, every nerve strained to the utmost, in the effort to distinguish objects through the darkness.
The first grey twilight of the dawn might soon be expected to appear, and a little before half-past two A.M. Long suddenly exclaimed:
“I see it!”
“What?”
“A fire!”
“A fire?”
“Yes, there — over there!”
And he pointed73 to the south-west. Was he mistaken? No, for Hobson also made out a faint glimmer74 in the direction indicated.
“Yes!” he cried, “yes, Sergeant, a fire; there is land there!”
“Unless it is a fire on board ship,” replied Long.
“A ship at sea in this weather!” exclaimed Hobson, “impossible! No, no, there is land there, land I tell you, a few miles from us!”
“Well, let us make a signal!”
“Yes, Sergeant, we will reply to the fire on the mainland by a fire on our island!”
Of course neither Hobson nor Long had a torch, but above their heads rose resinous76 pines distorted by the hurricane.
“Your flint, Sergeant,” said Hobson.
Long at once struck his flint, lighted the touchwood, and creeping along the sand climbed to the foot of the thicket77 of firs, where he was soon joined by the Lieutenant. There was plenty of deadwood about, and they piled it up at the stems of the trees, set fire to it, and soon, the wind helping them, they had the satisfaction of seeing the whole thicket in a blaze
“Ah!” said Hobson, “as we saw their fire, they will see ours!”
The firs burnt with a lurid78 glare like a large torch. The dried resin75 in the old trunks aided the conflagration79, and they were rapidly consumed. At last the crackling ceased, the flames died away, and all was darkness.
Hobson and Long looked in vain for an answering fire — nothing was to be seen. For ten minutes they watched, hoping against hope, and were just beginning to despair, when suddenly a cry was heard, a distinct cry for help. It was a human voice, and it came from the sea.
Hobson and Long, wild with eager anxiety, let themselves slide down to the shore.
The cry was not, however, repeated.
The daylight was now gradually beginning to appear, and the violence of the tempest seemed to be decreasing. Soon it was light enough for the horizon to be examined.
But there was no land in sight, sea and sky were still blended in one unbroken circle.
收听单词发音 |
1
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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industriously
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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conspire
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| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
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quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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23
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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ambling
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的现在分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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27
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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41
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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43
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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44
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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50
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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51
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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52
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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53
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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54
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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55
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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56
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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57
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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58
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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59
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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