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第15章 the white ilence(第1页)

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‘Carmenwon&aos;tlastmorethanacouleofdays。’Masonsatoutachunkoficeandsurveyedtheooranimalruefully,thenutherfootinhismouthandroceededtobiteouttheicewhichclusteredcruellybetweenthetoes。

‘Ineversawadogwithahighfalutin&aos;namethateverwasworthara,’hesaid,asheconcludedhistaskandshovedheraside。&aos;Theyjustfadeawayanddieundertheresonsibility。DidyeeverseeonegowrongwithasensiblenamelikeCassiar,Siwash,orHusky?No,sir!TakealookatShookumhere,he&aos;s-&aos;Sna!Theleanbruteflashedu,thewhiteteethjustmissingMason&aos;sthroat。

‘Yewill,willye?’Ashrewdcloutbehindtheearwiththebuttofthedogwhistretchedtheanimalinthesnow,quiveringsoftly,ayellowslaverdriingfromitsfangs。

‘AsIwassaying,justlookatShookumhere-he&aos;sgotthesirit。BetyeheeatsCarmenbeforetheweek&aos;sout。’I&aos;llbankanotherroositionagainstthat,&aos;reliedMalemuteKid,reversingthefrozenbreadlacedbeforethefiretothaw。&aos;We&aos;lleatShookumbeforethetriisover。Whatd&aos;yesay,Ruth?&aos;TheIndianwomansettledthecoffeewithaieceofice,glancedfromMalemuteKidtoherhusband,thenatthedogs,butvouchsafednorely。Itwassuchaalabletruismthatnonewasnecessary。Twohundredmilesofunbrokentrailinrosect,withascantsixdays&aos;grubforthemselvesandnoneforthedogs,couldadmitnootheralternative。Thetwomenandthewomangrouedaboutthefireandbegantheirmeagermeal。Thedogslayintheirharnessesforitwasamiddayhalt,andwatchedeachmouthfulenviously。

‘Nomorelunchesaftertoday,’saidMalemuteKid。&aos;Andwe&aos;vegottokeeacloseeyeonthedogs-they&aos;regettingvicious。They&aos;djustassoonullafellowdownasnot,iftheygetachance。&aos;AndIwasresidentofanEworthonce,andtaughtintheSundayschool。&aos;Havingirrelevantlydeliveredhimselfofthis,Masonfellintoadreamycontemlationofhissteamingmoccasins,butwasarousedbyRuthfillinghiscu。

‘ThankGod,we&aos;vegotslathersoftea!I&aos;veseenitgrowing,downinTennessee。Whatwouldn&aos;tIgiveforahotcornonejustnow!Nevermind,Ruth;youwon&aos;tstarvemuchlonger,norwearmoccasinseither。&aos;Thewomanthrewoffhergloomatthis,andinhereyeswelleduagreatloveforherwhitelord-thefirstwhitemanshehadeverseen-thefirstmanwhomshehadknowntotreatawomanassomethingbetterthanamereanimalorbeastofburden。’

‘Yes,Ruth,’continuedherhusband,havingrecoursetothemacaronicjargoninwhichitwasaloneossibleforthemtounderstandeachother;&aos;waittillwecleanuandullfortheOutside。We&aos;lltaketheWhiteMan&aos;scanoeandgototheSaltWater。Yes,badwater,roughwater-greatmountainsdanceuanddownallthetime。Andsobig,sofar,sofaraway-youtraveltenslee,twentyslee,fortyslee&aos;-hegrahicallyenumeratedthedaysonhisfingers-&aos;allthetimewater,badwater。Thenyoucometogreatvillage,lentyeole,justthesamemosquitoesnextsummer。Wigwamsoh,sohigh-ten,twentyines。

Hi-yuskookum!&aos;Heausedimotently,castanaealingglanceatMalemuteKid,thenlaboriouslylacedthetwentyines,endonend,bysignlanguage。MalemuteKidsmiledwithcheerycynicism;butRuth&aos;seyeswerewidewithwonder,andwithleasure;forshehalfbelievedhewasjoking,andsuchcondescensionleasedheroorwoman&aos;sheart。

‘Andthenyousteintoa-abox,andouf!uyougo。’Hetossedhisemtycuintheairbywayofillustrationand,ashedeftlycaughtit,cried:&aos;Andbiff!downyoucome。Oh,greatmedicinemen!YougoFortYukon。IgoArcticCity-twenty-fiveslee-bigstring,allthetime-Icatchhimstring-Isay,

"Hello,Ruth!Howareye?

"-andyousay,

"Isthatmygoodhusband?

"-andIsay,

"Yes

"-andyousay,

"Nocanbakegoodbread,nomoresoda

"-thenIsay,

"Lookincache,underflour;good-by。

"Youlookandcatchlentysoda。AllthetimeyouFortYukon,meArcticCity。Hi-yumedicineman!&aos;Ruthsmiledsoingenuouslyatthefairystorythatbothmenburstintolaughter。ArowamongthedogscutshortthewondersoftheOutside,andbythetimethesnarlingcombatantsweresearated,shehadlashedthesledsandallwasreadyforthetrail。-&aos;Mush!Baldy!Hi!Mushon!&aos;Masonworkedhiswhismartlyand,asthedogswhinedlowinthetraces,brokeoutthesledwiththegeeole。Ruthfollowedwiththesecondteam,leavingMalemuteKid,whohadheledherstart,tobringutherear。Strongman,brutethathewas,caableoffellinganoxatablow,hecouldnotbeartobeattheooranimals,buthumoredthemasadogdriverrarelydoes-nay,almostwetwiththemintheirmisery。

‘Come,mushonthere,youoorsore-footedbrutes!’hemurmured,afterseveralineffectualattemtstostarttheload。Buthisatiencewasatlastrewarded,andthoughwhimeringwithain,theyhastenedtojointheirfellows。

Nomoreconversation;thetoilofthetrailwillnotermitsuchextravagance。

Andofalldeadeninglabors,thatoftheNorthlandtrailistheworst。Hayisthemanwhocanweatheraday&aos;stravelatthericeofsilence,andthatonabeatentrack。Andofallheartbreakinglabors,thatofbreakingtrailistheworst。Ateverystethegreatwebbedshoesinkstillthesnowislevelwiththeknee。Thenu,straightu,thedeviationofafractionofaninchbeingacertainrecursorofdisaster,thesnowshoemustbeliftedtillthesurfaceiscleared;thenforward,down,andtheotherfootisraisederendicularlyforthematterofhalfayard。Hewhotriesthisforthefirsttime,ifhalyheavoidsbringinghisshoesindangerousroinquityandmeasuresnothislengthonthetreacherousfooting,willgiveuexhaustedattheendofahundredyards;hewhocankeeoutofthewayofthedogsforawholedaymaywellcrawlintohissleeingbagwithaclearconscienceandaridewhichassethallunderstanding;andhewhotravelstwentysleesontheLongTrailisamanwhomthegodsmayenvy。

Theafternoonworeon,andwiththeawe,bornoftheWhiteSilence,thevoicelesstravelersbenttotheirwork。Naturehasmanytrickswherewithsheconvincesmanofhisfinity-theceaselessflowofthetides,thefuryofthestorm,theshockoftheearthquake,thelongrollofheaven&aos;sartillery-butthemosttremendous,themoststuefyingofall,istheassivehaseoftheWhiteSilence。Allmovementceases,theskyclears,theheavensareasbrass;theslightestwhiserseemssacrilege,andmanbecomestimid,affrightedatthesoundofhisownvoice。Soleseckoflifejourneyingacrosstheghostlywastesofadeadworld,hetremblesathisaudacity,realizesthathisisamaggot&aos;slife,nothingmore。

Strangethoughtsariseunsummoned,andthemysteryofallthingsstrivesforutterance。

Andthefearofdeath,ofGod,oftheuniverse,comesoverhim-thehoeoftheResurrectionandtheLife,theyearningforimmortality,thevainstrivingoftheimrisonedessence-itisthen,ifever,manwalksalonewithGod。

Soworethedayaway。Therivertookagreatbend,andMasonheadedhisteamforthecutoffacrossthenarrowneckofland。Butthedogsbalkedatthehighbank。Againandagain,thoughRuthandMalemuteKidwereshovingonthesled,theysliedback。Thencametheconcertedeffort。Themiserablecreatures,weakfromhunger,exertedtheirlaststrength。U-u-thesledoisedonthetoofthebank;buttheleaderswungthestringofdogsbehindhimtotheright,foulingMason&aos;ssnowshoes。Theresultwasgrievous。

Masonwaswhiedoffhisfeet;oneofthedogsfellinthetraces;andthesledtoledback,draggingeverythingtothebottomagain。

Slash!thewhifellamongthedogssavagely,eseciallyuontheonewhichhadfallen。

‘Don&aos;t,-Mason,’entreatedMalemuteKid;&aos;theoordevil&aos;sonitslastlegs。Waitandwe&aos;llutmyteamon。&aos;Masondeliberatelywithheldthewhitillthelastwordhadfallen,thenoutflashedthelonglash,comletelycurlingabouttheoffendingcreature&aos;sbody。

Carmen-foritwasCarmen-coweredinthesnow,criediteously,thenrolledoveronherside。

Itwasatragicmoment,aitifulincidentofthetrail-adyingdog,twocomradesinanger。

Ruthglancedsolicitouslyfrommantoman。ButMalemuteKidrestrainedhimself,thoughtherewasaworldofreroachinhiseyes,and,bendingoverthedog,cutthetraces。Nowordwassoken。Theteamsweredoublesannedandthedifficultyovercome;thesledswereunderwayagain,thedyingdogdraggingherselfalongintherear。Aslongasananimalcantravel,itisnotshot,andthislastchanceisaccordedit-thecrawlingintocam,ifitcan,inthehoeofamoosebeingkilled。

Alreadyenitentforhisangryaction,buttoostubborntomakeamends,Masontoiledonattheheadofthecavalcade,littledreamingthatdangerhoveredintheair。Thetimberclusteredthickintheshelteredbottom,andthroughthistheythreadedtheirway。Fiftyfeetormorefromthetrailtoweredaloftyine。Forgenerationsithadstoodthere,andforgenerationsdestinyhadhadthisoneendinview-erhasthesamehadbeendecreedofMason。

Hestooedtofastentheloosenedthongofhismoccasin。Thesledscametoahalt,andthedogslaydowninthesnowwithoutawhimer。Thestillnesswasweird;notabreathrustledthefrost-encrustedforest;thecoldandsilenceofoutersacehadchilledtheheartandsmotethetremblinglisofnature。Asighulsedthroughtheair-theydidnotseemtoactuallyhearit,butratherfeltit,liketheremonitionofmovementinamotionlessvoid。Thenthegreattree,burdenedwithitsweightofyearsandsnow,layeditslastartinthetragedyoflife。Heheardthewarningcrashandattemtedtosringubut,almosterect,caughttheblowsquarelyontheshoulder。

Thesuddendanger,thequickdeath-howoftenhadMalemuteKidfacedit!Theineneedleswerestillquiveringashegavehiscommandsandsrangintoaction。NordidtheIndiangirlfaintorraisehervoiceinidlewailing,asmightmanyofherwhitesisters。Athisorder,shethrewherweightontheendofaquicklyextemorizedhandsike,easingtheressureandlisteningtoherhusband&aos;sgroans,whileMalemuteKidattackedthetreewithhisax。Thesteelrangmerrilyasitbitintothefrozentrunk,eachstrokebeingaccomaniedbyaforced,audibleresiration,the‘Huh!’‘Huh!’ofthewoodsman。

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