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Prester John-Part2_John Buchan(1875-1940)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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us off.



At most times I am a notablecoward, and in these days I

was still more of one, owing to a quick and easily-heated



imagination. But now I think I did a brave thing, though more

by instinct than resolution. Archie was running first, and had



already splashed through the burn; Tam came next, just about

to cross, and the black man was almost at his elbow. Another



second and Tam would have been in his clutches had I not

yelled out a warning and made straight up the bank of the



burn. Tam fell into the pool - I could hear his spluttering

cry - but he got across; for I heard Archie call to him, and the



two vanished into the thicket which clothes all the left bank of

the gully. The pursuer, seeing me on his own side of the water,



followed straight on; and before I knew it had become a race

between the two of us.



I was hideously frightened, but not without hope, for the

screes and shelves of this right side of the gully were known to



me from many a day's exploring. I was light on my feet and

uncommonly sound in wind, being by far the best long-



distance runner in Kirkcaple. If I could only keep my lead till

I reached a certain corner I knew of, I could outwit my enemy;



for it was possible from that place to make a detour behind a

waterfall and get into a secret path of ours among the bushes.



I flew up the steep screes, not daring to look round; but at the

top, where the rocks begin, I had a glimpse of my pursuer.



The man could run. Heavy in build though he was he was not

six yards behind me, and I could see the white of his eyes and



the red of his gums. I saw something else - a glint of white

metal in his hand. He still had his knife.



Fear sent me up the rocks like a seagull, and I scrambled

and leaped, making for the corner I knew of. Something told



me that the pursuit was slackening, and for a moment I halted

to look round. A second time a halt was nearly the end of me.



A great stone flew through the air, and took the cliff an inch

from my head, half-blinding me with splinters. And now I



began to get angry. I pulled myself into cover, skirted a rock

till I came to my corner, and looked back for the enemy. There



he was scrambling by the way I had come, and making a

prodigious clatter among the stones. I picked up a loose bit of



rock and hurled it with all my force in his direction. It broke

before it reached him, but a considerable lump, to my joy,



took him full in the face. Then my terrors revived. I slipped

behind the waterfall and was soon in the thicket, and toiling



towards the top.

I think this last bit was the worst in the race, for my strength



was failing, and I seemed to hear those horrid steps at my

heels. My heart was in my mouth as, careless of my best



clothes, I tore through the hawthorn bushes. Then I struck

the path and, to my relief, came on Archie and Tam, who



were running slowly in desperateanxiety about my fate. We

then took hands and soon reached the top of the gully.



For a second we looked back. The pursuit had ceased, and

far down the burn we could hear the sounds as of some one



going back to the sands.

'Your face is bleeding, Davie. Did he get near enough to hit



you?' Archie asked.

'He hit me with a stone. But I gave him better. He's got a



bleeding nose to remember this night by.'

We did not dare take the road by the links, but made for



the nearest human habitation. This was a farm about half a

mile inland, and when we reached it we lay down by the stack-



yard gate and panted.

'I've lost my lantern,' said Tam. 'The big black brute! See if



I don't tell my father.'

'Ye'll do nothing of the kind,' said Archie fiercely. 'He knows



nothing about us and can't do us any harm. But if the story

got out and he found out who we were, he'd murder the lot of US.'



He made us swear secrecy, which we were willing enough to

do, seeing very clearly the sense in his argument. Then we



struck the highroad and trotted back at our best pace to

Kirkcaple, fear of our families gradually ousting fear of pursuit.



In our excitement Archie and I forgot about our Sabbath

hats, reposing quietly below a whin bush on the links.



We were not destined to escape without detection. As ill

luck would have it, Mr Murdoch had been taken ill with the



stomach-ache after the second psalm, and the congregation




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