At nine o’clock in the morning，I awoke. Iwas breathing hard，and Alan had put his hand overmy mouth. His face was anxious.
“Be quie t！”he whispered. He pointed over theedge of the rock.
It was now bright day，and very hot . Half amile up the river there was a soldiers’camp. A bigfire was burning，and they were cooking food. Nearby，on another high rock，a sentry stood. I saw othersentries marching up and down all over the valley.
At the top end there were horse - soldiers，too.
I looked once，and dropped quickly into thehollow again.
“You s e e ，Da vid ，I wa s right，”Alan said. “Ithoug ht the y mus t wa tch the rive r . The y came twohours a go. We ’re in a na rrow pla ce . If the y go up thehill - s ide ，the y ma y s e e us . If the y s ta y down in theva lle y，we ma y b e s a fe . Whe n night come s ，we mus tmove .”
吧，小伙子，我来放哨。”
石头顶部那个凹进去的地方有点土，长着一些羊齿植物，我躺在上面，睡着了。
早晨九点钟，我醒了。睡觉时我的鼾声很大，所以艾伦一只手捂着我的嘴。我看见他忧心忡忡。
他用手指往石头的边缘一指，轻声对我说；“静一点！”
这时，阳光灿烂，天气很热。河上游半英里的地方扎起一个士兵的营地。他们围着一堆熊熊大火，在做饭吃。在附近的另一块大石头上站着一名哨兵。我看到山谷中到处都有士兵来回巡逻，最远处还有骑兵。
我只望了一眼，便急忙缩回身子，躺在凹槽里。
艾伦说；“你看，大卫，我没有说错。我早就认为他们要监视这条河的。他们是两个小时以前赶到的。
咱们这地块方很窄。他们要是上到山坡，就能发现我们。他们要是只待在山谷里，我们倒可以安然无事。
天一黑，我们就得离开。”
“And wha t sha ll we do till night？”I asked.
“Lie he re ，”he said，“a nd burn.”
“那么天黑以前咱们怎么办呢？”我问道。
“躺在这儿，捱烤。”他说。
The word‘ burn’was a true one. All day thecruel sun beat on us. We were thirsty，and had nowater . The bracken was large enough for one persononly. We lay on it in turn. The rock was hot likefire.
Sometimes the red - coats changed guard andsometimes they searched among the rocks. Theycame very near to us. I saw the sharp steel pointspushing into the heather，and my stomach felt cold.
Time passed slowly. The sun and the rockwere hotter and hotter. I felt faint，and I had sharppains in my body. By two o’clock we could bear nomore . The sun was moving a little to the west. Therewas some shade on the east side below the rock.
This side was away from the soldiers.
“It is one de a th or a nothe r，”Alan said. Hedropped to the ground in the shade. I followed atonce，and fell down. We lay there for all hour ortwo. We were weak and dizzy. No soldier came by，and so we were lucky.
“捱烤”这个说法倒是再恰当不过了。火辣辣的太阳晒了我们一整天。我们口干舌燥，滴水未进。
羊齿植物上只能躺下一个人。我们俩轮换着躺在上面。那块石头象火一样炙热。
红外套有时换岗，有时在岩石中间搜索。有一次，他们走到离我们很近的地方。我看见锋利的刀尖往灌木丛中扎，感到很恐惧。
时间过得真慢。太阳越来越毒，石头越来越烫。我被晒得头晕，浑身刺疼。到了下午两点时，我们再也忍不住了。太阳稍微往西边偏过去一点，大石头的东脚下有了一点荫凉。那边没有士兵把守。
“反正顶多是个死。”艾伦说着就下到荫凉处的地面上。我紧跟着他下去，摔倒了。我们在那里躺了一、两个钟头，浑身无力，头昏眼花。
幸好士兵们没有走过来，我们还算走运。
After a time，our strength returned. The redcoatswere lying near the river and they，too，werefeeling the heat. They were tired，and were notwatching well. Alan said we must move. We slippedfrom rock to rock. Sometimes we crept on our我们很快恢复了体力。红外套们在离那条河不远的地方躺着，也感到热得难受。他们累了，也就放松了警戒。艾伦说我们必须乘机行动。于是我们从一个个岩石旁边往
stomachs，sometimes we ran. We moved down thevalley away from the camp. It was slow and difficultwork. The afternoon was very silent. If we movedone stone with our feet ，the noise must disturb thecamp.
At sunset we reached a deep stream from the hill- side. It was rushing down to join the river in thevalley. We dropped to the ground and put our headsand shoulders in the fresh cold water. We lay thereand drank again and again. Then we took out our bagof oatmeal. We mixed it with water and ate it.
Night came，and we started off again. We werebolder now，and walked. I was not tired，but I couldnot see the ground in the dark. The moon rose atlast and showed us mountains and a deep narrowsea - loch. Alan recognised the way. We were nowsafe！He sang and whistled. The music made usgay，and we marched on over the great emptymountains.
过溜，有时爬行，有时跑。我们在山谷里移动着，渐渐离士兵的营地远了。那可真又慢又吃力。下午，万籁俱寂。我们脚下要是带动石头，一定会惊动野营的士兵。
太刚落山时，我们来到一条从山坡上流下来的小溪。溪水很深，奔腾而下，流入山谷中那条小河。我们扑倒在地，连头带肩膀都伸进清凉的溪水中。然后我们躺在水边，一次又一次地喝着水。后来，我们取出麦片口袋，吃了一顿水拌麦片。
夜幕降临了，我们又开始前进。
这时，我们的胆子大了一些，就干脆站起来走。我不感到累了，可是在黑暗中看不清路。月亮终于升起，映出了周围的群山和一个狭窄的深水海湾。艾伦认出了路，我们脱离了危险！他又是唱歌又是吹口哨。
歌声使我们兴致勃勃。我们在空旷的群山中前进着。
