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tales of trail and town-第39部分

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〃Keep onwhar?  There ain't no trailno nuthin'!〃 said Jackson

querulously; to hold down a rising fear。  It was true。  The trail

had long since disappeared; even their footprints of a moment

before were filled up by the piling snow; they were isolated in

this stony upland; high in air; without a rock or tree to guide

them across its vast white level。  They were bitterly cold and

benumbed。  The stimulus of the storm and chase had passed; but

Julian kept driving them before him; himself driven along by the

furious blast; yet trying to keep some vague course along the

waste。  So an hour passed。  Then the wind seemed to have changed;

or else they had traveled in a circlethey knew not which; but the

snow was in their faces now。  But; worst of all; the snow had

changed too; it no longer fell in huge blue flakes; but in millions

of stinging gray granules。  Julian's face grew hard and his eyes

bright。  He knew it was no longer a snow…squall; but a lasting

storm。  He stopped; the boys tumbled against him。  He looked at

them with a strange smile。



〃Hev you two made up?〃 he said。



〃Noo!〃



〃Make up; then。〃



〃What?〃



〃Shake hands。〃



They clasped each other's red; benumbed fingers and laughed; albeit

a little frightened at Julian。  〃Go on!〃 he said; curtly。



They went on dazedly; stupidly; for another hour。



Suddenly Provy Smith's keen eyes sparkled。  He pointed to a

singular irregular mound of snow before them; plainly seen above

the dreary level。  Julian ran to it with a cry; and began wildly

digging。  〃I knew I hit him;〃 he cried; as he brushed the snow from

a huge and hairy leg。  It was the beardead; but not yet cold。  He

had succumbed with his huge back to the blast; the snow piling a

bulwark behind him; where it had slowly roofed him in。  The half…

frozen lads threw themselves fearlessly against his furry coat and

crept between his legs; nestling themselves beneath his still warm

body with screams of joy。  The snow they had thrown back increased

the bulwark; and drifting over it; in a few moments inclosed them

in a thin shell of snow。  Thoroughly exhausted; after a few grunts

of satisfaction; a deep sleep fell upon them; from which they were

awakened only by the pangs of hunger。  Alas! their dinnersthe

school dinnershad been left on the inglorious battlefield。

Nevertheless; they talked of eating the bear if it came to the

worst。  They would have tried it even then; but they were far above

the belt of timber; they had matcheswhat boy has not?but no

WOOD。  Still; they were reassured; and even delighted; with this

prospect; and so fell asleep again; stewing with the dead bear in

the half…impervious snow; and woke up in the morning ravenous; yet

to see the sun shining in their faces through the melted snow; and

for Jackson Tribbs to quickly discover; four miles away as the crow

flies; the cabin of his father among the flaming sumacs。



They started up in the glare of the sun; which at first almost

blinded them。  They then discovered that they were in a depression

of the table…land that sloped before them to a deep gully in the

mountainside; which again dropped into the canyon below。  The trail

they had lost; they now remembered; must be near this edge。  But it

was still hidden; and in seeking it there was danger of some fatal

misstep in the treacherous snow。  Nevertheless; they sallied out

bravely; although they would fain have stopped to skin the bear;

but Julian's mandate was peremptory。  They spread themselves along

the ridge; at times scraping the loose snow away in their search

for the lost trail。



Suddenly they all slipped and fell; but rose again quickly;

laughing。  Then they slipped and fell again; but this time with the

startling consciousness that it was not THEY who had slipped; but

THE SNOW!  As they regained their feet they could plainly see now

that a large crack on the white field; some twenty feet in width;

extended between them and the carcass of the bear; showing the

glistening rock below。  Again they were thrown down with a sharp

shock。  Jackson Tribbs; who had been showing a strange excitement;

suddenly gave a cry of warning。  〃Lie flat; fellers! but keep a…

crawlin' and jumpin'。  We're goin' down a slide!〃  And the next

moment they were sliding and tossing; apparently with the whole

snow…field; down towards the gullied precipice。



What happened after this; and how long it lasted; they never knew。

For; hurried along with increasing momentum; but always

mechanically clutching at the snow; and bounding from it as they

swept on; they sometimes lost breath; and even consciousness。  At

times they were half suffocated in rolling masses of drift; and

again free and skimming over its arrested surface; but always

falling; as it seemed to them; almost perpendicularly。  In one of

these shocks they seemed to be going through a thicket of

underbrush; but Provy Smith knew that they were the tops of pine…

trees。  At last there was one shock longer and lasting; followed by

a deepening thunder below them。  The avalanche had struck a ledge

in the mountain side; and precipitated its lower part into the

valley。



Then everything was still; until Provy heard Julian's voice

calling。  He answered; but there was no response from Tribbs。  Had

he gone over into the valley?  They set up a despairing shout!  A

voicea smothered onethat might be his; came apparently from the

snow beneath them。  They shouted again; the voice; vague and

hollow; responded; but it was now surely his。



〃Where are you?〃 screamed Provy。



〃Down the chimbley。〃



There was a black square of adobe sticking out of the snow near

them。  They ran to it。  There was a hole。  They peered down; but

could see nothing at first but a faint glimmer。



〃Come down; fellows!  It ain't far!〃 said Tribbs's voice。



〃Wot yer got there?〃 asked Julian cautiously。



〃Suthin' to eat。〃



That was enough。  In another instant Julian and Provy went down the

chimney。  What was a matter of fifteen feet after a thousand?

Tribbs had already lit a candle by which they could see that they

were in the cabin of some tunnel…man at work on the ridge。  He had

probably been in the tunnel when the avalanche fell; and escaped;

though his cabin was buried。  The three discoverers helped

themselves to his larder。  They laughed and ate as at a picnic;

played cards; pretended it was a robber's cave; and finally;

wrapping themselves in the miner's blankets; slept soundly; knowing

where they were; and confident also that they could find the trail

early the next morning。  They did so; and without going to their

homes came directly to schoolhaving been absent about fifty

hours。  They were in high spirits; except for the thought of

approaching punishment; never dreaming to evade it by anything

miraculous in their adventures。





Such was briefly their story。  Its truth was corroborated by the

discovery of the bear's carcass; by the testimony of the tunnel…

man; who found his larder mysteriously ransacked in his buried

cabin; and; above all; by the long white tongue that for many

months hung from the ledge into the valley。  Nobody thought the

lanky Julian a hero;least of all himself。  Nobody suspected that

Jackson Tribbs's treatment of a 〃slide〃 had been gathered from

experiments in his father's 〃runs〃and he was glad they did not。

The master's pardon obtained; the three truants cared little for

the opinion of Hemlock Hill。  They knew THEMSELVES; that was

enough。











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