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第15章 the white ilence（第1页）

kLondon

‘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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