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1、【英文读物】The Steel HorseCHAPTER I. IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW.Scotlands a-burning! Look out, fellows! Put on the brakes, or you will be right on top of it the first thing you know.On top of what?Why, cant you see? If it hadnt been for my lamp I should have taken the worst header anybody ever heard of. How
2、some fellows can run around on their wheels after dark without a light, and take the chances of breaking their necks, beats my time, I wouldnt do it for any money.Pg 2Great Scott! How do you suppose that pile of things came on the track?It isnt a pile of things. It is a big rock which has rolled dow
3、n from the bank above, and we have discovered it in time to prevent a terrible railroad disaster.The rains loosened it, probably.Well, what are we standing here for? Lets take hold, all hands, and roll it off before the train comes along.We cant roll it off. Its half as big as Rube Royalls cabin. It
4、 seems strange to me that it stopped so squarely in the middle of the track. I should think it ought to have gathered headway enough during its descent to roll clear across the road-bed, and down into the gulf on the other side.The speakers were your old friends Joe Wayring and his two chums, Roy Sh
5、eldon and Arthur Hastings; and I am one of the Expert Columbians who were introduced to your notice in the concluding chapters of the second volume of this series of books. I have been urged by my companions to describe the interesting and exciting incidents that happened duringPg 3 our vacation run
6、 from one end of the State to the other and back again, on which we set out just a week ago to-day. I have begun the task with many misgivings. This is my first appearance as a story-teller; but then my friends, Old Durability and the Canvas Canoe, labored under the same disadvantage. When I am thro
7、ugh it will be for you to decide which one of us has interested you the most.You will remember that when the Canvas Canoes adventures were ended for the season and he was laid up in ordinary (by which I mean the recess in Joe Wayrings room), it was midwinter. The ponds and lakes were frozen over, an
8、d the hills surrounding the little village of Mount Airy were covered with snow. The canoe had just been hauled up from the bottom of Indian River, where he had lain for four long, dismal months, wondering what was to become of him and the six thousand dollars he had carried down with him when he wa
9、s Snagged and Sunk by the big tree that was carried out of Sherwins Pond by the high water. You know that Roy Sheldon discovered him with the aid of his water-scope,Pg 4 that Joe got his canoe back (a little the worse for his captivity, it must be confessed, for there was a gaping wound in his side)
10、, and that the money quickly found its way into the hands of the officers of the Irvington bank, from whom it had been stolen by the two sneak-thieves who were finally captured by Mr. Swan and his party.Before this happened Matt Coyles wife and boys had been shut up in the New London jail to await t
11、heir trial, which was to come off as soon as Matt himself had been arrested. The truth of the matter was, the Indian Lake guides were so incensed at Matt for his daring and persistent efforts to break up their business and to ruin the two hotels at the lake, that they threatened to make short work o
12、f him and all his worthless tribe; and as the guides were men who never said a thing of this sort unless they meant it, the authorities were of opinion that the old woman and the boys would be safer in the New London lock-up than they would be if confined in the tumble-down calaboose at Irvington. B
13、ut now it appeared that Matt Coyle could not be arrestedPg 5 and brought to trial, for the good and sufficient reason that he was dead. He was drowned when the canvas canoe was snagged and sunk.Joe Wayring and his chums declared, from the first, that if the squatter had attempted to run out of the r
14、iver into Sherwins Pond during the freshet that prevailed at the time of his flight, he had surely come to grief. If three strong boys, who were expert with the oars, could not pull a light skiff against the current that ran out of the pond, how could Matt Coyle hope to stem it in a heavily-loaded c
15、anoe and with a single paddle? If he had been foolish enough to try it, he would never be heard of again until his body was picked up somewhere in the neighborhood of the State hatchery. The finding of the canoe and his valuable cargo at the bottom of the river led others to Joes way of thinking, an
16、d it was finally conceded on all hands that the squatter would never again rob unguarded camps, or renew his attempts to break up the business of guiding. Nothing remained, then, but to remove his wife and boys to Irvington and hold them for trial at the next term of the circuit court. The grandPg 6
17、 jury first took the matter in hand, and Joe Wayring and his chums, much to their disgust, were summoned to appear before it as witnesses.When Tom Bigden and his cousins, Loren and Ralph Farnsworth, heard of that, they shook in their boots. And well they might; for, as you know, Tom was accessory to
18、 some of Matts violations of the law. More than that, rumor said that the old woman had told all she knew, and that she had even gone so far as to assure the officers of the Irvington Bank that she and her family would not have been half so bad as they were, if one Tom Bigden had not advised and urg
19、ed them to commit crime.Its all over with me, boys, groaned Tom, when one of his school-fellows incidentally remarked in his hearing that he had seen Joe Wayring and his two friends take the train for Irvington that morning to testify before the grand jury. You know Joe is jealous of me and that he
20、will do anything he can to injure me.Well, said Ralph, plunging his hands deep into his pockets and looking thoughtfullyPg 7 at the ground, what would you do to a fellow who was the means of having you tied to a tree with a fair prospect of a good beating with hickory switches on your bare back? Wou
21、ld you be friendly to him or feel like shielding him from punishment?But I didnt tell Matt to tie Joe Wayring to a tree and thrash him, retorted Tom. I never thought of such a thing.I didnt say you did, replied Ralph. I said you were the cause of it, and so you were; for you told Matt that you had s
22、een the valises that contained the six thousand stolen dollars in Joes camp-basket.Matt was a fool to believe it, said Loren. One little camp-basket wouldnt hold both those gripsacks.That doesnt alter the facts of the case, answered Ralph. Matt did believe the story, ridiculous as it was, and Toms f
23、ate is in the hands of a boy whom we have abused and bothered in all possible ways ever since we have been here.And we didnt have the slightest reason or excuse for it, added Loren.Pg 8So youre going back on me, are you? exclaimed Tom.Not at all. We are simply telling you the truth.Perhaps Joe doesn
24、t know that Tom put it into Matts head to follow him and his friends to No-Mans Pond, suggested Loren. I havent heard a word said about it.Neither have I; but thats no proof that Joe doesnt know all about it, answered Ralph.Who do you think told him? asked Tom. It couldnt have been Matt Coyle, for I
25、 told him particularly not to mention my name in Joes hearing, or drop a hint that would lead him to suspect that Matt had seen me in the Indian Lake country.The squatter didnt care that for your injunctions of secrecy, said Ralph, snapping his fingers in the air. What he said to you during those in
26、terviews you held with him ought to convince you that he would just as soon get you into trouble as anybody else. Being a social outcast, Matt believes in makPg 9ing war upon every one who is higher up in the world than he is.Well, said Tom, with a sigh of resignation, if Joe knows as much as you th
27、ink he does, my chances of getting out of the scrapes Ive got into are few and far between. Hell tell everything, and be glad of the chance. I wish from the bottom of my heart that we had never seen or heard of Mount Airy.Joe Wayring will tell nothing unless it is forced out of him, said Ralph stout
28、ly; and for the first time in his life Tom did not scowl and double up his fists as he had been in the habit of doing whenever either of his cousins said anything in praise of the boy he hated without a cause. If Joe was as honorable as Ralph seem to think he was, Tom thought he saw a chance to esca
29、pe punishment for his wrong-doing. Hell not commit perjury nor even stretch the truth to screen you, continued Ralph, as if he read the thoughts that were passing in Toms mind. But hell not volunteer any evidence; I am sure of that.If Ralph had been one of Joe Wayrings most intimate friends he could
30、 not have read him betPg 10ter. The latter was very much afraid that he would be compelled to say something that would criminate Tom, but to his surprise and relief the members of the grand jury did not seem to know that there was such a fellow in the world as Tom Bigden, for they never once mention
31、ed his name. If the old woman and her boys had tried to throw the blame for their misdeeds upon his shoulders, they hadnt made anything by it. All the jury cared for was to find out just how much Joe and his friends knew about the six thousand dollars that had been stolen from the Irvington Bank; an
32、d as the boys knew but little about it, it did not take them long to give their evidence. Finally one of the jurymen said:Matt Coyle bothered you a good deal by stealing your canvas canoe and other property, I believe.Joe replied that that was a fact.Would you prosecute him for it, if you had a chan
33、ce?Joe said he never expected to have a chance, because Matt was dead.Perhaps he is, and perhaps he isnt, saidPg 11 the juryman, with a laugh. Matt Coyle is a hard case, if all I hear about him is true, and it sorter runs in my mind that he will turn up again some day, as full of meanness as he ever
34、 was.You wouldnt think so if you could see Indian River booming as it was on the day we came home, said Joe, earnestly. It must have been a great deal worse when Matt saw it, but he had the hardihood to face it.And went to the bottom, added Roy.Would you have the law on him for tying you to a tree a
35、nd threatening to wallop you with switches? asked the juryman.No sir, I would not, said Joe, truthfully. All we ask of Matt Coyle or any other tramp is to keep away from us and let us alone.Do you believe any one told Matt that you had the banks money and sent him to No-Mans Pond to whip it out of y
36、ou?No, I dont.Matts boys stick to it that such is the fact.I dont care what Matts boys say or what they stick to, answered Joe. You canPg 12 imagine what the evidence of such fellows as they are amounts to. Folks who will steal are not above lying, are they?That juryman isnt half as smart as he thin
37、ks he is, said Roy, when he and his companions had been dismissed with the information that they might start for Mount Airy as soon as they pleased. I was awfully afraid that his next question would be: Did you ever hear that Tom Bigden was accessory to Matt Coyles assault upon you at No-Mans Pond?
38、You could not have wiggled out of that corner, Mr. Wayring.I didnt wiggle out of any corner, answered Joe. I made replies to all the questions he asked me, didnt I? That juryman knew his business too well to ask me any such question as that. My answer would have been simply hearsay, and thats not ev
39、idence. See the point?Why, didnt Jake Coyle declare in your hearing that Tom Bigden told his father that the money was in your camp-basket? demanded Arthur.Well, whats that but hearsay? Do youPg 13 expect me to take Jakes word for anything? I didnt hear Tom tell him so.No; but you have as good proof
40、 as any sensible boy needs that Tom did it. If not, why did Matt fly into such a rage at the mention of his name, and cut Jakes face so unmercifully with that switch?I dont believe that would pass for evidence, although it might lead the jury to put a little more faith in Jakes story and Sams, answe
41、red Joe. We didnt come here to get Tom into trouble. Didnt they say at the start that all they wanted of us was to tell what we knew about that money? Weve done that, and my conscience is clear. I think Tom will take warning and mind what he is about in future.Ill bet you he wont, Roy declared. Hell
42、 get you into difficulty of some sort the very first good chance he gets.If he does, and I can fasten it on him, Ill give him such a punching that his cousins wont know him when they see him. Im getting tired of this sort of work, and Ill not put up with it any longer. If Tom will not leavePg 14 off
43、 bothering us of his own accord, Ill make him.In due time the jury returned a true bill against Jake Coyle for burglary. Mr. Haskins had little difficulty in proving that Jake broke the fastenings of his door before he robbed the cellar, gave a list of the things he had lost, and Rube Royall, the wa
44、tchman at the hatchery, testified that those same articles appeared on Matt Coyles table on the following morning. Jake went to the House of Refuge for five years; but nothing could be proved against Sam and the old woman, and they were turned over to a justice of the peace to be tried for vagrancy.
45、 They got ninety days each in the New London work-house.There, Ralph, said Tom, when he read this welcome news in his fathers paper. You said Matt Coyle didnt care the snap of his finger for my wishes, but now you see that you were mistaken, dont you? Matt never told Joe Wayring that I sent them to
46、his camp after that money, and his boys didnt blab it, either. If they had, Joe would have said somePg 15thing about it when he was brought before the grand jury.Well, what are you going to do to Joe now? inquired his cousin. I mean, what kind of a scrape are you going to get into next?I do not inte
47、nd to get into any scrape, answered Tom; and when he said it he meant it. I shall treat Joe and everybody who likes him with the contempt they deserve. I wish I might never see them again. I tell you, fellows, I feel as if a big load had been taken from my shoulders. Matt will never again demand tha
48、t I shall act as receiver for the property he steals, his vagabond family are safe under lock and key, I am free from suspicion, and what more could I ask for? For once in my life I am perfectly happy.But, as it happened, Tom was not long permitted to live in this very enviable frame of mindnot more than a couple of hours, to be exact. Of late he had stayed pretty close around the house when he was not at school. He could not bear to loaf about the village, as he used