Английский язык. Агабек (855602), страница 35

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Ijumped up to see what the matter was. Red Chief was sit­ting on Bill's chest, holding him by the hair with one hand.In the other hand he had the sharp knife which weused for cutting bacon. He was trying to take Bill's scalp.I took the knife from the child and made him lie downagain. But Bill could not sleep. I slept a little, but thenI woke up. I remembered that Red Chief was g o i n g toburn me at sunrise.

I was not afraid, but I sat up and litmy pipe.•Why did you get up so early, Sam?* asked Bill. •Oh,I don't want to sleep*, said I.•That's a Не!» said Bill. «You are afraid. He was go­ing to burn you at sunrise, and you are afraid he will doit. And he will, if he finds a match. Isn't it awful, Sam?Do you think anybody will pay money to get such a boyback home? &•Of course*, said I. •Now you and the Chief get upand cook breakfast, and I shall go to the top of the moun­tain and look around*.I went up to the top of the little mountain and lookeddown at the town.

I thought there would be many peoplein the streets, talking about how a boy was kidnappedand how to find, him. But the streets of the little townwere quiet, there were almost no people, nobody wasexcited. .Perhaps*, I said to myself, «they don't knowyet that a child has been kidnapped*.IllWhen I came back to the cave, I saw that Bill wasstanding with his back to the wall, breathing hard. Theboy was standing in front of him, ready to strike himwith a big stone.294«Не put a hot potato down my back*, explained Bill,•and then mashed it w i t h his foot; and I boxed his ears.•Have you a gun, Sam?*I took the stone away from the boy. •If you don'tbehave, « I said, «Г11 take y o u s t r a i g h t home.

Now, areyou g o i n g to be good or not? *•It was a joke*, said he. Л didn't want to hurt him.Г11 behave, Snake-eye, if y o u don't send me home and ifyou let me play the Black Scout today*.•I don't know the game*, said I. « Г т going away, andyou will play with Bill*.I thought that it was time to send a letter to old manDorset, demanding the ransom and dictating how thatransom must be paid. Bill asked me, with tears in hiseyes, to make the ransom fifteen hundred dollars insteadof two thousand. I agreed, and we wrote t h i s Letter:Ebenezer Dorset, Esq.We have your boy in a place far from Summit.

It isuseless for you to try to find him. You can have himback only if you pay a ransom. We demand fifteen hun­dred dollars for his return. If you agree, send the moneytonight at half-past eight o'clock. After crossing the riveron the road to P., there are three large trees near afence. At the bottom of the middle tree your messengerwill find a small box.

The messenger must put the moneyinto that box and immediately return to Summit.If you pay the money, your son will be returned toyou safe within three hours. If you don't pay the ran­som, you will never see your boy again.Two Desperate men.I put the letter into my pocket. As I was going tostart, the boy came up to me and said:295Английский языкПриложение 2«I say*, Snake-eye, you said I could play the BlackScout today*, *Play it, of course*, said I. «Mr. Bill willplay with you. What kind of game is it?*•I'm the Black Scout*, said Red Chief, •and I mustride to the fort to tell the people there that the Indiansare coming.

I'm tired of playing Indian myself. I want tobe the Black Scout*. — «А11 right*, said I. «I think Mr.Bill will help you*. «What must I do?* asked Bill, look­ing at the boy. «You are the horse », said the BlackScout. «Get down on your hands and knees. How can Iride to the fort without a horse?*Bill got down on his hands and knees. In his eyesthere was a look that a rabbit has when you catch it in atrap. «How far is it to the fort?* he asked.•Ninety miles*, said the Black Scout and jumped onBill's back. . P l e a s e * , said Bill to me, « с о т е back, Sam,as soon as you can *.IVI went to the village and sent the letter. When I cameback to the cave, Bill and the boy were not there. Iwalked around but did not see them.

So I lit my pipe andsat down to wait.In about half an hour Bill came out of the bushes.Behind him was the boy. He was walking noiselessly,like a scout, there was a broad smile on his face. Billstopped, took off his hat and wiped his face with a redhandkerchief. The boy stopped about eight feet behindhim. «Sam*, said Bill, «I suppose you will be angry, butI couldn't help it.

The boy has gone, I have sent himhome*. «What's the matter, Bill?* I asked him.«Не rode т е » , said Bill*, «the ninety miles to thefort. Then, when the people were saved, I was g i v e noats. And then, for an hour, I had to try to explain to296him why there is nothing in holes, how a road can runboth ways, « and what makes the grass green. I tell you,Sam, I could not stand it. I took him down the mountain,and showed him t h e way home, and kicked him .I'msorry we lose t h e ransom*.•Bill*, said I, •you have no heart diseases?* «No»,said Bill, •why?*•Then you may turn around*, said I, «and see what'sbehind you*. Bill turned and saw the boy. Bill turnedpale and sat down on the ground.

Then I told him that Ihad already sent the letter, and that we should g e t theransom and go away by midnight. So Bill cheered up alittle and promised the boy that he would play the Russianin the Japanese war w i t h him.I had a plan to g e t that ransom without danger. I hadto be sure that Mr. Dorset would not send policemen tothose trees. So I went to that place beforehand, and athalf-past e i g h t I was already s i t t i n g in one of those trees.A young man on a bicycle appeared on the road, rode upto the trees, found the box, put a parcel into it and rodeaway.I waited an hour and then climbed down.

I took theparcel and hurried back to the cave. We opened theparcel and found a note, which said:Two Desperate Men.Gentlemen: I have received your letter in which youdemand a ransom for the return of my son. I think youdemand, too much, so I make you another propostion,which, I think, you will accept. You bring Johnny homeand pay me two hundred and fifty dollars, and I agreeto take him back. I advise you to come at night, becausethe neighbours believe he is lost, and I don't know what297Английский языкПриложение 2they would do to you if they saw that you had broughthim back.EbenezerDorset.«Sam», said Bill, «what*s two hundred and fifty dol­lars, after all?. We have the money.

One more nightwith this child will send me to the madhouse*.•To tell you the truth, Bill*, said I, «he is g e t t i n g onmy nerves*, too. We'll take him home, pay t h e ransomand go away*, We took him home that night. We toldhim that his father had bought a rifle and a pair ofmoccasins for him, and that the next night we should goto h u n t bears.I t w a s j u s t t w e l v e o'clock w h e n w e k n o c k e d a tEbenezer's front door. We counted our two hundred andfifty dollars into Dorset's hand.When the boy understood that we were leaving himat home, he started up a howl and caught hold of Bill'sleg. W i t h much difficulty his father tore him off, «Howlong can you hold him?* asked Bill.

«I am not as s t r o n gas I was*, said old Dorset, «but I think I can promiseyou t e n minutes*. «Enough*, said Bill.And though it was very dark, and though Bill wasfat, and though I am a good runner, he was a good mileand a half out of Summit before I could catch up withhim.298SPREADING THE WORDMany people say that the British read millions of books,newspapers and magazines each day. Most of us read atleast one newspaper a day and often pick up a copy of abook that is being read by hundreds of people, perhapsat the same time in the same language. I wonder how.many people stop and think back to that day in the notso-distant past when the first sheet of printed papercame off the first printing press used in England.

Thatwas in the year 1477 when William Caxton brought hisprinting press from Flanders, set it up at W e s t m i n s t e rin the shadow of the old Abbey and set to work to pro­duce the first books in English.Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, who lived from 1 3 4 0 to1 4 0 0 , was among the books he printed, together withmany translations from Latin and French.Canterbury Tales was very popular among the peoplewho could read at that time.

These educated people wholived mainly in London could easily understand the lan­guage of Canterbury Tales because it was written in thedialect of London. But people from other parts of Eng­land couldn't understand very much because at that timeeach county had-its own dialect. So the people of Kent,the W e s t Country, the Midlands, London, the N o r t h and299Приложение 2Английский языкother parts of England could not easily understand eachother.Because Caxton printed his book in one dialect, theeducated English had a common dialect, and as educa­tion spread, this dialect became the language of England.Of course, if you read one of Caxton's original booksyou won't understand it very well because of the greatchanges in English grammar and spelling since Caxtonlived.

Caxton himself wrote in one of his books about themany changes in his lifetime.«And certainly our language now used varyeth ferrefrom that whiche was used and s p o k e n w h e n I w a sbourne*.As you can see it varies very much in spelling andstructure from the English y o u are reading, but y o ucertainly recognize it as English of Caxton to whom weowe so much.THE SKYLIGHT ROOM(afterO.Henry)First Mrs.Parker would show you the double parlours.She would describe the gentleman who had lived herefor eight years. Then you would stammer that you wereneither a doctor nor a dentist, and Mrs. Parker wouldgive you a cold look.N e x t you went up one flight of stairs' and looked atthe second floor room. Again y o u stammered that youwanted something cheaper.At last Mrs.

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