I looked at the stranger carefully becatlse Ihad never seen a Jacobite before. Many of thesemen were rebels from the Highlands. They hadfought against King George and his government.
Now Their lives were not safe in Scotland，and somehad joined the King of France’s army. Sometimesthese rebels came back to the Highlands to gathermoney for their chiefs.
I set food in front of him.
“You’re a J a cobite ，a re you？”I said.
“I am，”he said.“And you ，with your long fa c e ，a re a Whig ？”
I was，indeed，a good Whig，true to KingGeorge； but I did not want a quarrel with this man.
So I replied：“Ha lf - a nd - ha lf.”
“And tha t’s nothing，”he said.“We ll，Mr Ha lf-a nd -ha lf，this bottle is empty.”
我把那位陌生人仔细打量了一番，因为我从来没有见过约各党人。
他们中有许多人是原籍苏格兰高地的叛逆者，曾用武力反对过乔治国王及其政府。他们在苏格兰随时都有送命的危险，所以有些人参加了法国国王的军队。这些叛逆者有时返回高地，为他们的首领筹款。
我把饭菜放在他面前后，问道：
“你是约各党人，是吗？”
他说：“是。那么你呢，瞧你哭丧着脸这副样子，你是个辉格党人吧？”
我确实是个不折不扣的辉格党人，对乔治国王忠心耿耿。但是，我不想跟他争论，所以就回答说，“我是个中间派。”
“那没关系。不过，中间派先生，这个酒瓶是空的。”他说。
“I’ll go for the ke y，s ir，”I said. I went on deck.
“我去取钥匙，先生。”我说完
The fog was still very thick. I could not seeanyone，but I heard voices. The captain and the twoofficers were whispering.
“Ca n we ge t him out of the round - ho us e ？”MrRiach asked.
“No. Le t him s ta y the re ，”the captain said.“Hec a n’t us e his s word in tha t sma ll s pa ce .”
“Ye s ，but ca n we re a ch him in the re ？”
“Oh，”Hoseason said，“we mus t s ta rt a c onve rsa tion with him，one on e a ch s ide . The n we ca n s e izehis a rms ，a nd ma ke him priso ne r. Or we c a n a tta ck byboth the d oors a nd surpris e him.”
I was filled with fear when I heard these cruel，evil men. Had not the captain just made a promiseto the stranger？Now he was planning this dirtytrick. I was angry but what could I do？Run away？
No. I moved forward.
“Ca pta in ，” I said，“the ge ntlema n wa nts adrink. Ma y I ha ve the ke y？”
“He re is o ur cha nc e ！”Riach cried.“Da vid ca nge t the pis tols for us .”
Ye s ，”the captain said，“tha t wild Highla nde r isa da nge r to the s hip，Da vid. He is a n e nemy of KingGe orge . We ne e d our guns a nd gunpowde r from the
就到甲板上去了。
雾仍然很浓，对面不见人，只听到说话的声音。船长和大副、二副在低声交谈。
“咱们能不能把他从后甲板室弄出来？”里亚契先生问道。
“不，就让他待在那儿吧。那儿地方小，他的刀施展不开。”船长说。
“好吧。可是咱们在那儿怎样才能把他逮住呢？”
“噢，咱们得把他夹在中间，跟他聊天，然后一人抓住他一只胳膊，就能把他逮住。或者咱们分别从两个门里冲进去，打他个措手不及。”
霍西森说。
听到这些家伙这么狠毒，我不由得心惊胆战。船长刚才不是答应过那个陌生人了吗？而现在他却要耍这个阴谋。我很气愤，可我该怎么办呢？逃掉吗？不能。我走上前，说道：
“船长，那位先生想喝酒。您可以把钥匙给我吗？”
“这是一个好机会！可以叫大卫把咱们的手枪取来。”里亚契大声说。
船长说：“对，那个野蛮的高地人对咱们的船是个威胁，大卫。他是乔治国王的敌人。我们得从后甲
round - hous e . If you c a n ge t s ome quie tly for us ，Iwill he lp you in Ame rica . You will ne e d a frie nd the na nd we will g ive you s ome of the Highla nde r’s money.”
板室把我们的枪支和火药拿出来。
你要是能悄悄给我们弄一些出来，将来到了美国，我一定会帮你的忙。
到那时候，你得有个朋友帮忙。另外，我们会把那个高地人带的钱给你分一些。”
He gave me the key and I went slowly back tothe round - house. What could I do？They weredogs and thieves. They had stolen me from my owncountry. They had killed poor Ransome. Must I helpin another murder？But what could a boy and aman do，against all the seamen？
The Jacobite was eating his meal under thelamp. I looked at him，and suddenly I decided. Iwent up and put my hand on his shoulder.“The ya re coming to kill you ，”I said.“The y ha ve murde re da boy a lre a dy. Now it’s yo u.”
He jumped to his feet.
“We ll，”he said，“the y ha ve n ’t got me ye t. ”Helooked straight at me.“Will you s ta nd by me ？”“Iwill！”I cried.“I am not a thie f，a nd I do not murde r.
I’ll s ta nd by you.”
“We ll，th e n，”be said，“wha t is your n ame ？”
“Da vid Da lfour ，”I replied. Then I added，“ofS haws . ”I thought a gentleman With fine clothes
我从他手里接过钥匙，慢腾腾地走回后甲板室。我该怎么办呢？他们是一伙坏蛋，一伙强盗。他们把我从自己的祖国拐了出来，还杀害了可怜的兰塞姆。我能帮他们再干一次杀人的勾当吗？可是，一个孩子和一个大人能对付得了全船的水手吗？”
那位约各党人正在灯下吃饭。
我看了看他，忽然下了决心。我走上前去，把手搭在他的肩膀上对他说道：“他们要来杀害你，他们已经谋害了一个小孩子，现在又要害你了。”
他倏地跳了起来，说道：
“哼，他们还没有逮住我呢。”
他盯着我，问道：“你愿意不愿意帮我的忙？”我大声说：“愿意！我不是强盗，也不想害人。我跟你一起对付他们。”
他说：“那好，你叫什么名字？”
“大卫· 巴尔福。”我回答说，然后又补充了一句，“是肖府的。”
must like fine people. But this did not please him.
“My name is S tewa r ，”he said. He had a proudlook“The y c a ll me Ala n Bre c . I ha ve no la nds of myown，but I be a r a king ’s name .”
He turned to examine the room. The roundhouse had two doors. One was open. and I wentquickly to close it.
我以为一位衣着考究的绅士必然会喜欢出身名门的人。可是，他对我的出身门第并没有多大兴趣。
他带着自豪的神气说：“我姓期图尔特，大家叫我艾伦· 布雷克。
我本人并没有地产，可是，我跟一家王室是同姓。”
他转过身，打量了一下屋内的布局。后甲板室有两个门，有一个是开着的。我马上走过去想把它关住。艾伦却说：
“No，Da vid ，”Alan said，“if one door is ope n，the y will c ome tha t wa y. I s ha ll s e e my e nemie s infront of me . Th a t is be tte r.”
He gave me a cutlass from the wall. He said Imust load all the pistols with gunpowder. Then hedrew his own great sword and swung it up anddown.
“The room is too sma ll，”he said.“I ca n onlyus e the point of the sword. It is a pity. Now，lis te n tome . ”
I said I was listening. My chest was tight，mymouth was dry. My heart was. beating hard. Ithought I was going to die.
“How ma ny a re the re a ga ins t us ？”he asked.
I counted.“Fifte e n ，”I said.
“We ll，”he said，“the y a re e nough ！I will de fe ndthe ope n door. Don ’t s hoot this wa y，be ca us e you will
“不用关，大卫。一个门开着，他们就会从那儿进来。这样我可正面对付他们。这样好。”
他从墙上取下一把弯刀递给我，并叫我把所有的手枪都装上火药。然后，他抽出自己的佩刀，上下挥舞了几下，说：
“这间屋子太小，我只能用上刀尖，实在遗憾。现在，你听我说。”
我说我听着呐，可是我胸口发闷，口干舌燥，心里咚咚直跳，觉得好象快要死了。
“敌人一共有多少？”他问道。
我数了一下，说：“十五个。”
他说：“好哇，他们还真不少！
我来把守这个开着的门。你可不要
hit me .”
“The re is the othe r door be hin d you ，”I said.
“Ye s ，”Alan replied，“you mu s t wa tc h tha t one .
Climb up into the be rth by the window. If the y a tta cktha t door，you mus t shoot.”
“The re is the skylight，too，”I said. I“ca n ’twa tch tha t a nd the d oor.”
“Tha t is true ，”Alan said，“but ha ve you no e a rsin your he a d？”
朝这面打枪，一打就打着我了。”
“你背后还有一个门。”我说。
