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第5章 lve f life（第1页）

kLondon

Themanhadfallenintothecreekandhadsrainedhisankle。

Hecalledtohisfriend，

"Isay，Bill，waitthere。I&aos;vesrainedmyankle。

"

Therewasnoanswer。Billhaddisaearedinthedamfog。AlthoughitwasstillAugust，theCanadianwildernesslaycoldandlonelyintheweaklightoftheafternoonsun。Everywherewasthedullskyline。Thehillswerealllow-lying。Therewerenotrees。Therewasnothingbutdesolationthatsentfearintotheman&aos;sheart。

"Bill!

"hecalledagain。

"Bill!

"Therewasnoanswer。

Themanrosetohisfeet，shakingasifhehadafever。Hefoughtagainstthefearinhisheart。Hefoundhisgunwherehehaddroeditinthewater。Thenhecontinuedhiswayslowly。Thegunwasnowuseless，forhehadnoammunitionforit，buthedidnotleaveit。

Heshiftedhisacktohisleftshouldersoastofavorhisrightankleandhurriedtothetoofahill。Fromtherehesawabroadvalley，emtyoflife。

Thebottomofthevalleywassoftandswamy。Heushedon，tryingtofollowthetracksofhiscomanion。

Thoughhewasnowalone，hewasnotlost。Fartheralongheknewwheretofindthetrail。Hewouldfollowituntilitcametotheriver，wheretheyhadlefttheircanoe，weighteddownwithrocks。Underthecanoewasacacheofammunitionforhisemtygun，fishhooksandlines，andasmallnet。Hewouldalsofindsomeflour，bacon，andbeans-notmuch，fortheyhadtakenmostoftheirfoodwiththemontheirtriintothenorthcountrylookingforgold。

HeknewBillwouldwaitforhimthere;thentheywouldaddledowntherivertoaHudsonBayComanyost，wheretherewouldbewarmshelterandlentyoffood。

Thesewerethethoughtsofthemanashelimedalongthetrail。ThenhebegantothinkthaterhasBillhaddesertedhim。Themanhadnoteatenfortwodays，andnowwastheaddedfearofstarvation。Hehadstoedafewtimestoeatsomewildberries，buttheyweremostlyseedsandbitter。Hishungerincreasedbythehour。

Alreadythesunhadsliedbeyondthehorizon。Suddenlyhestruckhistoeonarockyledgeandfell。Helaystillforsometimewithoutmovement。Thenhesliedoutofhisackstrasanddraggedhimselftoasittingosition。Itwasnotyetdark，andinthelingeringtwilighthegatheredsomemoss。Whenhehadagood-sizedile，hebuiltafireandsetasmallailofwateroverthefiretoboil。

Heunwraedhisack，andthefirstthinghedidwastocounthismatches。Thereweresixty-seven。Hecountedthemthreetimestomakesure。Hedividedthemintothreesmallacks，wraingtheminoilaer，uttingonebunchinhisemtytobaccoouch，anotherbunchintheinsidebandofhishat，andthethirdbunchunderhisshirtonhischest。Hewasafraidthatifhefellintothewateragain，allofhismatcheswouldbecomewetanduseless。

Hedriedhisfootgearbythefire。Thewetmoccasinshadbeencuttoieces。Thesockswerewornthroughinlaces，andhisanklehadswollentothesizeofhisknee。Hetorealongstrifromoneofhisblanketsandboundtheankletightly。Hetoreotherstrisandboundthemabouthisfeetforfootwear。Hewascold，andheknewthattherewouldsoonbethedangerofsnowandfrost。Afterthewaterheated，hedranksomeofit;thenhewoundhiswatch，andcrawledbetweenhisblankets。Hesletlikeadeadman。

Atsixo&aos;clockheawoke，lyingonhisback。Hegazedstraightuintothegrayskyandknewthathewashungry。Asherolledoveronhiselbow，heheardaloudsnortandsawacariboulookingathimstrangely。Theanimalwasnotmorethanfiftyfeetaway，andinstantlythemanhadthoughtsofacaribousteakfryingoverafire。Hereachedforhisemtygun，aimed，andulledthetrigger。Theanimalsnortedattheclickoftheemtygunandranaway。

Themancursedandgroanedaloudashedraggedhimselftohisfeet。Slowlyherolledhisacktogether。Helookedatthemoose-hidebagthathecarriedinhisack。Itwasextraweight，andhebegantowonderwhatvalueitscontentshadnow。However，herolledittogetherwithhisaceandstartedout。

Theaininhisanklewasterrific，butitwasnoworsethanthatinhisemtystomach。Thehungerhadbecomefrightful。Inalittlewhilehecameuonavalleywheresomebirdsroseonwhirringwings，

"Ker。。。ker。。。ker，

"theycriedastheyflewaway。Hethrewstonesbuthecouldnothitaone。Helacedhisackonthegroundandbegantostalkthebirdslikeacat。

Thesharrockscutthroughhisantslegstillhiskneeswerescratchedandbleeding，buthewasnotawareofhishurtsashishungerwassogreat。Hecursedthebirdsandmockedthemwiththeirowncry。

Asthedayworeon，hecameintoavalleywheregamewasmorelentiful。Aherdoftwentycaribouassedbywithinriflerange。Hefeltlikerunningafterthem，butheknewsuchaneffortwouldbesenseless。Oncehesawafoxwithabirdinitsmouth。Hecalledloudly，hoingtofrightenthefoxintodroingthebird;butthefox，leaingawayinfright，didnotdrothebird。

Hewaswearyandoftenwishedtorest-toliedownandslee，buthewasdrivenonbyhishunger。Hesearchedlittleondsforfrogsanddugutheearthwithhisfingernailsforworms，thoughheknewthatneitherfrogsnorwormslivedthatfarnorth。