酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

Tracks of a Rolling Stone-Part24_Henry J.Coke(1827-1916)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
the rapidly diminishing supply of hams. Fred said nothing,



but I saw by his look how this trifling accident helped to

depress him. I was ready to cry with vexation. My rifle was



my pride, the stag of my life - my ALTER EGO. It was never

out of my hands; every day I practised at prairie dogs, at



sage hens, at a mark even if there was no game. A few days

before we got to Laramie I had killed, right and left, two



wild ducks, the second on the wing; and now, when so much

depended on it, I could not hit a thing as big as a donkey.



The fact is, I was the worse for illness. I had constant

returns of fever, with bad shivering fits, which did not



improve the steadiness of one's hand. However, we managed to

get a supper. While we were examining the spot where the



antelope had stood, a leveret jumped up, and I knocked him

over with my remaining barrel. We fried him in the one tin



plate we had brought with us, and thought it the most

delicious dish we had had for weeks.



As we lay side by side, smoke curling peacefully from our

pipes, we chatted far into the night, of other days - of



Cambridge, of our college friends, of London, of the opera,

of balls, of women - the last a fruitful subject - and of the



future. I was vastly amused at his sudden outburst as some

start of one of the horses picketed close to us reminded us



of the actual present. 'If ever I get out of this d-d mess,'

he exclaimed, 'I'll never go anywhere without my own French



cook.' He kept his word, to the end of his life, I believe.

It was a delightfulrepose, a complete forgetting, for a



night at any rate, of all impending care. Each was cheered

and strengthened for the work to come. The spirit of



enterprise, the love of adventure restored for the moment,

believed itself a match for come what would. The very



animals seemed invigorated by the rest and the abundance of

rich grass spreading as far as we could see. The morning was



bright and cool. A delicious bath in the Sweetwater, a

breakfast on fried ham and coffee, and once more in our



saddles on the way back to camp, we felt (or fancied that we

felt) prepared for anything.



That is just what we were not. Samson and the men, meeting

with no game where we had left them, had moved on that



afternoon in search of better hunting grounds. The result

was that when we overtook them, we found five mules up to



their necks in a muddy creek. The packs were sunk to the

bottom, and the animals nearly drowned or strangled. Fred



and I rushed to the rescue. At once we cut the ropes which

tied them together; and, setting the men to pull at tails or



heads, succeeded at last in extricating them.

Our new-born vigour was nipped in the bud. We were all



drenched to the skin. Two packs containing the miserable

remains of our wardrobe, Fred's and mine, were lost. The



catastrophe produced a good deal of bad language and bad

blood. Translated into English it came to this: 'They had



trusted to us, taking it for granted we knew what we were

about. What business had we to "boss" the party if we were



as ignorant as the mules? We had guaranteed to lead them

through to California [!] and had brought them into this



"almighty fix" to slave like niggers and to starve.' There

was just truth enough in the Jeremiad to make it sting. It



would not have been prudent, nay, not very safe, to return

curse for curse. But the breaking point was reached at last.



That night I, for one, had not much sleep. I was soaked from

head to foot, and had not a dry rag for a change. Alternate



fits of fever and rigor would alone have kept me awake; but

renewed ponderings upon the situation and confirmed



convictions of the peremptory necessity of breaking up the

party, forced me to the conclusion that this was the right,



the only, course to adopt.

For another twenty-four hours I brooded over my plans. Two



main difficulties confronted me: the announcement to the




文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号