The boy went into the street again, mounted[208] and rode rapidly round the corner. His own home was across the way; his mother might see him at the office and call him. But once out of sight he stopped to consider what came next. Who was the right man to tell after the Doctor? The Sheriff!
A shiver chased up and down Billy’s spine2. He knew the Sheriff by sight only; and he was so inseparable from the handcuffs the boy had seen protruding3 from a pocket, that Billy felt it would “almost fasten suspicion on a fellow just to be seen speaking to the officer.”
But a familiar sound came to his ear, and he turned to see the Doctor’s splendid bays pounding down the street, pulling the buggy almost by the taut4 reins5. Billy followed quickly and was soon closeted with the man, who listened, first with a smile, afterward6 with grave attention.
“My boy, you have done a wonderful thing!” he said when Billy had finished. “You must come with me and tell your story again. If it comes out as I think, you’ll earn at least a thousand dollars.”
Half paralyzed with astonishment7 Billy went with the Doctor to the Sheriff’s office; but he was out and the deputy didn’t know when he would return; thought it might be within an hour or so. There was nothing to do but wait. Billy’s perplexed8, baffled face touched the Doctor. His temples were already gray, but he had not forgotten how a boy feels.
“You don’t want to see your mother now, do you, boy? No more do you feel like jabbering9 with Bess at our table. Come over to the hotel, and we’ll lunch together.”
“But Mrs. Carter’ll expect—” Billy began, yet stopped, for the physician was laughing.
“A doctor’s wife gets over ‘expecting’ very young, Billy. They won’t think I’m dead if I don’t come home to lunch. But your mother?” His inflection finished the question.
“She’ll be all right. May Nell and me—I—we took our lunch and went over to Potter’s pasture. Shoot! She’s waiting now! I hope the poor little kiddie—little girl—eats, don’t wait for me,—she an’ Bouncer.”
“Oh, she’ll eat when she gets hungry, never fear.”
But Billy thought with pride that May Nell was one person he knew better than the Doctor.
They turned into the town’s finest hotel, just opened.
“I didn’t—I haven’t washed. I’m—” All at once as Billy walked through the tiled entrance, and felt himself in the midst of splendors10 he had viewed only from without, he was overcome with the suspicion that he looked rather queer beside the immaculate Doctor. He knew his hair “stood up all ways for Sunday”; and his face must be dirty. “But they won’t know how dirty,” he reflected; “this is[211] the time them plaguey freckles11’ll get in an’ hide the dust.” Freckles were Billy’s sorest point.
“Come with me, Billy; I must wash up. I’ve had a dusty drive up Spring Mountain; you know the roads aren’t watered up there.”
Billy looked the Doctor over and wondered. He was not subtle enough to suspect the Doctor’s purpose. “Golly! I’d hate to have to wash as much as a doctor,” he exclaimed, as they stepped into the exquisitely12 appointed lavatory13. “You look now like you’d just had a Turkish bath. But I’m glad of the chance for myself.” He surely did look better when the two came out and crossed to the big dining-room; though there was a tell-tale streak14 around his neck, and his crown lock stood stiff and divided.
At first he could not eat with relish15, his mind was so distracted with admiration16 of the magnificent room, and impatient to get his worrying secret off his heart and conscience. But his wise host ordered so artfully, and filled the intervals17 of waiting with such delightful18 stories and anecdotes19, explanations of the decorations, funny facts or conjectures20 concerning the hotel and guests, that before he knew it, Billy had, he told his mother afterward, referring to his stomach, “loaded her up to the guards, ’nough to make you ’shamed of me, mother.”
When they entered the Sheriff’s office again it was two o’clock. He was there, and gave Billy a private audience far more graciously than he would have done had not Doctor Carter’s presence been voucher21 for the importance of the matter. When the boy repeated his story, less confidently, less dramatically than before, yet not needing the Doctor’s comment to prove its value, the Sheriff drew a long breath and emphasized it with a blow of his fist on the table.
“That’s the gang we’ve been hunting through[213] five counties. Boy, you’ve done what the State’s been trying a long time to do. The reward’s a good lump; if we bag the game you shall have your share.”
Billy looked on wide-eyed, as the Doctor said with a puzzling smile, “And, Sheriff, if I don’t think you divide fair with my friend here, you’ve got me to deal with next election. See?”
“All right, Doc,” the other replied a bit gruffly; “suppose we catch ’em before we fight about the divvy.”
It took a very short time to gather the posse, instruct it, and set out for the mountain. The Sheriff gave Billy an old hat and bade him to a seat behind the swift horses; and Billy obeyed, feeling a strange elation22 as they set out. It was just like a story. Could it be he, plain Billy Bennett, that was assisting the State to find long-sought-for criminals? The horses flew, yet Billy thought they would never arrive at the turn in the road where they would leave them. He felt as if in some unknown way the man at the hut would surely know of their coming, would hide, destroy, perhaps carry off all that would convict him, and the other, the big man,— Oh, would they never be there?
But a different and sudden fear leaped in both hearts as they rounded the shoulder of the mountain. The air had rapidly grown more oppressive; now they knew the cause, the forest was on fire!
June had been unusually warm and dry, and careless early campers had already started their annual conflagrations23. Now high over the crest24 of the mountain the flames came sweeping25 down; came with the wind from the valley on the other side where they had raged till fuel was exhausted26.
“Great Scott, boy! We’ll have to hurry. We must get up there before the fire gets down. Do you know the shortest way?”
“Yes,” Billy answered breathlessly as he leaped from the buggy; “but we’ll have to go in the way I did if you want to catch ’em sure. We can come out by the trail.”
They tied the horses, and once hidden from the road, shed every superfluous27 garment. Billy was quite ashamed of the chill he could not help when he saw the handcuffs, pistols, and cartridges28 disposed neatly29 and conveniently about the Sheriff’s waist. They looked so vicious, “disrespectable.”
The heat and smoke increased alarmingly as they went on, the man puffing30 at the boy’s pace. In and out, occasionally doubling and returning but never losing altitude, Billy crashed on. His slender body slipped through underbrush by way of small apertures31 that would not admit the man’s greater bulk; he had to break his way. The boy, also accustomed to running, climbing, had the advantage of better breath; though the other could not, Billy still held his mouth shut against the suffocating32 smoke, kept his smarting eyes partly closed.
The roar of the flames came dreadfully near. Trees cracked, crashed and fell, sending up columns of sparks and cinders34 that dropped about the panting climbers. Billy began to wonder if he would hold out to the end of his task. His boy’s agility35 had easily outdone the man’s; but he had made the trip once before that day, had ridden from town at a killing36 speed; and now his endurance was almost at an end, while the Sheriff was getting his “second wind.”
They came to the crest of the gorge37. “We’ll have to slow up and zig-zag down carefully or they’ll hear us an’ get away,” Billy suggested.
“They won’t be watching for visitors,” the man answered; “they’ll be hiding the plant and skinning out of here,—if they haven’t already,” he added apprehensively38. He stood[217] back to the wind and scanned the opposite bank. “There they are, two of our fellows; the chaps haven’t escaped in that direction.”
As ordered two of the posse were closing in from the west toward the rendezvous39. A few more steps and the four met. Those who had been ordered to beat the mountain about the spring were waiting below; the fire had perfectly40 policed that territory.
As the four descended41 the air in the gorge became clearer. They approached the hut stealthily; and when in full view of the closed door, the Sheriff told Billy his part of the work was done, and ordered him home out of the fire.
“Oh, Mr. Sheriff, you won’t send me off now, will you, when the business is just beginning?”
In spite of the grave situation, the officer smiled at Billy’s entreating42 words, remembered suddenly the danger from both fire and possible lurking43 desperadoes. “All right. Get behind that tree, and stay out of the reach of stray shot.”
The three men lined up in front of the closed door, and one of the deputies quickly threw it open. For an instant the officers stood motionless with weapons drawn44. Billy watched with fascinated eyes; the moment the door opened forgot orders, ran and crouched45 behind the Sheriff, peering under his uplifted arm. There in the lurid46 firelight that streamed through the closed window, stood the two men he had seen before, hands up, rigid47, staring into pistol barrels. Floor boards were torn up; strange vessels48, scales, various paraphernalia49 Billy could not understand, lay about them; while in a deep hole they had dug, a small, iron-bound chest was partially50 covered with earth. The men’s faces were smutched, streaming with perspiration51, and pale with terror.
“Just in time, I reckon,” the Sheriff said[219] facetiously52; “pull up that chest and come along to our party.”
Fight gleamed in the big man’s eye, and for the breath of an instant he hesitated.
The Sheriff was a small man with fair, curly hair like a girl’s; but there was that in his eye that reinforced his pistol, made the big fellow quail54, the other mutter a low warning. The two lifted the chest by its strong handles and stepped out.
In the short moments that had passed since their coming the Sheriff saw that the fire had gained perilously55. Instead of sparks great flaming brands dropped all around them; the crests56 of the ravine were sheets of fire that swept downward, wrapping every tree and shrub57 in their path, making of the pines huge towers of flame.
“There’s a better way,” Billy called, when the deputy leading started to climb back as he had come. “Follow the creek58; there’s a trail.”
“That’s good news. Run ahead, boy, and show us the way. Fly, fly!”
Billy needed no hurrying. He dashed off along a well defined path, free from hindering branches. It hugged the brawling59 stream, crossed it more than once by way of stepping stones, and led on past the already shriveling azaleas. It must have been long used to be so clear.
Billy ducked his head into the cooling water, filled his mouth, and ran on. He could hear the painful breathing of the prisoners bearing the chest. It looked heavy, and he knew it was hard to carry, walking single file down the steep trail. How awfully60 they must feel, Billy thought. It was like the children in the fiery61 furnace. Did the men see that this was a tragic62 beginning of the just penalty for their sins? Cheats! Robbers! No, not robbers, boldly[221] risking life for booty, but cunning thieves, stealing from their fellow men, from widows, orphans63, perhaps from his own mother; she had taken a counterfeit64 piece only a little while before.
The heat was awful; yet it was growing less, for the fire was nearly spent, but Billy was so exhausted he did not perceive it. He began to stumble, to see double. Everything seemed to be on fire,—trees, rocks, even the water gleaming from overhead flames. His blood felt hot in his veins65; and long afterward he saw red in his sleep. At length his foot caught in a root, and he fell heavily.
They came upon him a second later, insensible, his head bleeding from a scalp wound. Hurriedly the Sheriff lifted him close to the brook66, dashed water over his face, washed out the cut a little, and bound it with his handkerchief, not untenderly if in haste; for Billy had won something more than his approval.
“Oh, don’t wait for me,” Billy exclaimed, opening his eyes suddenly; “you won’t catch ’em! The fire’ll get there first! Hurry! Leave me alone, I tell you!”
The Sheriff smiled at the note of command in the boy’s incoherence. “Not on your life, sonny,” and his voice softened67; “we’ve got to have you in our business. Help him along,” he said to one of the deputies, as they came a moment later to where the path broadened; while he walked behind covering the panting prisoners.
Presently they came to others of the posse, and after that to a long line of farmers and other citizens, fighting desperately68 but successfully against the dying flames.
The clearer air revived Billy, and he was soon walking without help, coming shortly to the road where the wagons70 waited; coming in sight of Ellen’s Isle71.
May Nell! Where was she? He had forgotten her! It must be three—four— Oh, how late was it? Was she safe? Or had she fainted from fright; and was she lying there now, helpless? He looked across the plashing river to the green, blossoming isle, grateful for water and grass and green shrub, and the sheltering Lodge72 that would keep her safe from the fire. Yet the terror of being there alone, of seeing that awful sheet of flame sweep down the mountain to her very feet,—perhaps a fainting spell,—that surely must have followed,—with no one there to revive her, it might be—fatal!
“Oh, Betsey, give it to me!” he whispered in agony of soul. “Don’t let up’s long’s I live! Maybe I’ve killed her!”
But even as he looked he saw two people coming; his mother and Jean, crossing the foot-bridge that led to the pasture side of the river. The throbbing73 in his head, the stifled74 lungs, interest in the capture of the prisoners,—all faded before this terrible dread33.
“Let me go, please!” he pleaded. “There’s a little girl, our refugee, over there, fainted, I think, perhaps—dead.”
The Sheriff wondered at the boy’s vehemence75, yet was too busy loading the wagon69 to pay much attention to him. “Think you’re fit, sonny? You look all in. Better ride to town—we’ll send some one for the little girl.”
“Oh, no, no! I’m fit—I must find her myself—right now!”
The man gave him an affectionate slap. “Go, then. You’re a right game kid, sure.”
Billy was off, fear lending fleetness to feet that a moment before had been leaden. He overtook his mother and Jean in the path to the Lodge. “Have you come for her?” he panted. “Do you think she’s alone still?”
“What has happened to you, Billy?” his mother questioned sharply as she turned at his voice and saw his damaged head. “You’re hurt, Billy!”
“Not a bit!” His words were strangely impatient. “I’ve got to find her!” He started past them.
“Wait, Billy! You are hurt, badly. Let me see.” She put out a detaining hand.
But he was not to be hindered. “It’s only a scratch, mother; you can fuss it up all you want to later; but you mustn’t stop me now!” He pulled away from her and bounded up the path.
“It’s my fault, too, Mrs. Bennett; don’t put the blame all on Billy,” Jean half sobbed76; and hurried after him.
But Mrs. Bennett wasn’t blaming any one; she didn’t really know what the excitement was all about.
Before he emerged from the leafy path Billy heard well-known whining77, and wondered why the dog didn’t come to meet him. The next instant he saw him straining against his bonds.
Bouncer tied? That red handkerchief! The boy went cold and pale. Before he looked he knew that May Nell was not there. He turned his white face to the others as they came up.
“She’s been stolen, mother! But I’ll find her—I know where to look. Don’t be afraid, mother, I will find her!” he repeated with grave emphasis, as he whipped out his knife and cut the dog loose.
“Billy! Who could steal our little girl? I cannot think it. She’s gone with some of the children to watch the fire.” Mrs. Bennett’s words were braver than her face, for in her heart she felt Billy was right, though she wondered why.
“They’ve stolen her, all right. I don’t know why, but I know who,—it’s the Ha’nt people!” Billy panted, coming out of the Lodge.
“O Billy!” Jean gasped78, fear for the little, delicate girl in that eery place lending sympathy to her voice.
“Are you sure, my boy? I’ll go with you—”
“No, no, mother! This is business for only Bouncer and me.” He caught up the cut handkerchief and called the dog before his mother could hinder. “Find her, Bouncer! Find May Nell! Sic ’em!” he shouted, and set off heedless of his mother’s continued protestations, after the bounding dog.
“You can send some one after us, a man—not you, not either of you,” he called back over his shoulder, and was soon out of sight.
Jean was for following in spite of Billy’s commands; but Mrs. Bennett, full of apprehension79, insisted that the girl should go with her; and the two set out in search of help.
点击收听单词发音
1 valiantly | |
adv.勇敢地,英勇地;雄赳赳 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 spine | |
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 protruding | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的现在分词 );凸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 taut | |
adj.拉紧的,绷紧的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 reins | |
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 perplexed | |
adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 jabbering | |
v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 );急促兴奋地说话;结结巴巴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 splendors | |
n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 );壮丽;光辉;显赫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 freckles | |
n.雀斑,斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 lavatory | |
n.盥洗室,厕所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 streak | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 intervals | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 anecdotes | |
n.掌故,趣闻,轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 conjectures | |
推测,猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 voucher | |
n.收据;传票;凭单,凭证 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 elation | |
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 conflagrations | |
n.大火(灾)( conflagration的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 superfluous | |
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 cartridges | |
子弹( cartridge的名词复数 ); (打印机的)墨盒; 录音带盒; (唱机的)唱头 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 neatly | |
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 puffing | |
v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 apertures | |
n.孔( aperture的名词复数 );隙缝;(照相机的)光圈;孔径 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 suffocating | |
a.使人窒息的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 cinders | |
n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 );炭渣;煤渣路;煤渣跑道 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 agility | |
n.敏捷,活泼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 gorge | |
n.咽喉,胃,暴食,山峡;v.塞饱,狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 apprehensively | |
adv.担心地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 rendezvous | |
n.约会,约会地点,汇合点;vi.汇合,集合;vt.使汇合,使在汇合地点相遇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 entreating | |
恳求,乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 lurking | |
潜在 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 lurid | |
adj.可怕的;血红的;苍白的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 rigid | |
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 vessels | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 paraphernalia | |
n.装备;随身用品 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 facetiously | |
adv.爱开玩笑地;滑稽地,爱开玩笑地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 cremated | |
v.火葬,火化(尸体)( cremate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 quail | |
n.鹌鹑;vi.畏惧,颤抖 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 perilously | |
adv.充满危险地,危机四伏地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 crests | |
v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的第三人称单数 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 shrub | |
n.灌木,灌木丛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 brawling | |
n.争吵,喧嚷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 awfully | |
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 orphans | |
孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 counterfeit | |
vt.伪造,仿造;adj.伪造的,假冒的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 brook | |
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 softened | |
(使)变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 wagons | |
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 lodge | |
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 throbbing | |
a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 stifled | |
(使)窒息, (使)窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 ); 镇压,遏制; 堵 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 vehemence | |
n.热切;激烈;愤怒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 sobbed | |
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 whining | |
n. 抱怨,牢骚 v. 哭诉,发牢骚 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |