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- Джек Лондон
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- Стр. 1/31
Red plague
The
way
led
along
upon
what
had
once
been
the
embankment
of
a
railroad
.
But
no
train
had
run
upon
it
for
many
years
.
The
forest
on
either
side
swelled
up
the
slopes
of
the
embankment
and
crested
across
it
in
a
green
wave
of
trees
and
bushes
.
The
trail
was
as
narrow
as
a
man
’
s
body
,
and
was
no
more
than
a
wild
-
animal
runway
.
Occasionally
,
a
piece
of
rusty
iron
,
showing
through
the
forest
-
mould
,
advertised
that
the
rail
and
the
ties
still
remained
.
In
one
place
,
a
ten
-
inch
tree
,
bursting
through
at
a
connection
,
had
lifted
the
end
of
a
rail
clearly
into
view
.
The
tie
had
evidently
followed
the
rail
,
held
to
it
by
the
spike
long
enough
for
its
bed
to
be
filled
with
gravel
and
rotten
leaves
,
so
that
now
the
crumbling
,
rotten
timber
thrust
itself
up
at
a
curious
slant
.
Old
as
the
road
was
,
it
was
manifest
that
it
had
been
of
the
mono
-
rail
type
.
An
old
man
and
a
boy
travelled
along
this
runway
.
They
moved
slowly
,
for
the
old
man
was
very
old
,
a
touch
of
palsy
made
his
movements
tremulous
,
and
he
leaned
heavily
upon
his
staff
.
A
rude
skull
-
cap
of
goat
-
skin
protected
his
head
from
the
sun
.
From
beneath
this
fell
a
scant
fringe
of
stained
and
dirty
-
white
hair
.
A
visor
,
ingeniously
made
from
a
large
leaf
,
shielded
his
eyes
,
and
from
under
this
he
peered
at
the
way
of
his
feet
on
the
trail
.
His
beard
,
which
should
have
been
snow
-
white
but
which
showed
the
same
weather
-
wear
and
camp
-
stain
as
his
hair
,
fell
nearly
to
his
waist
in
a
great
tangled
mass
.
About
his
chest
and
shoulders
hung
a
single
,
mangy
garment
of
goat
-
skin
.
His
arms
and
legs
,
withered
and
skinny
,
betokened
extreme
age
,
as
well
as
did
their
sunburn
and
scars
and
scratches
betoken
long
years
of
exposure
to
the
elements
.
The
boy
,
who
led
the
way
,
checking
the
eagerness
of
his
muscles
to
the
slow
progress
of
the
elder
,
likewise
wore
a
single
garment
—
a
ragged
-
edged
piece
of
bear
-
skin
,
with
a
hole
in
the
middle
through
which
he
had
thrust
his
head
.
He
could
not
have
been
more
than
twelve
years
old
.
Tucked
coquettishly
over
one
ear
was
the
freshly
severed
tail
of
a
pig
.
In
one
hand
he
carried
a
medium
-
sized
bow
and
an
arrow
.
On
his
back
was
a
quiverful
of
arrows
.
From
a
sheath
hanging
about
his
neck
on
a
thong
,
projected
the
battered
handle
of
a
hunting
knife
.
He
was
as
brown
as
a
berry
,
and
walked
softly
,
with
almost
a
catlike
tread
.
In
marked
contrast
with
his
sunburned
skin
were
his
eyes
—
blue
,
deep
blue
,
but
keen
and
sharp
as
a
pair
of
gimlets
.
They
seemed
to
bore
into
aft
about
him
in
a
way
that
was
habitual
.
As
he
went
along
he
smelled
things
,
as
well
,
his
distended
,
quivering
nostrils
carrying
to
his
brain
an
endless
series
of
messages
from
the
outside
world
.
Also
,
his
hearing
was
acute
,
and
had
been
so
trained
that
it
operated
automatically
.
Without
conscious
effort
,
he
heard
all
the
slight
sounds
in
the
apparent
quiet
—
heard
,
and
differentiated
,
and
classified
these
sounds
—
whether
they
were
of
the
wind
rustling
the
leaves
,
of
the
humming
of
bees
and
gnats
,
of
the
distant
rumble
of
the
sea
that
drifted
to
him
only
in
lulls
,
or
of
the
gopher
,
just
under
his
foot
,
shoving
a
pouchful
of
earth
into
the
entrance
of
his
hole
.
Suddenly
he
became
alertly
tense
.
Sound
,
sight
,
and
odor
had
given
him
a
simultaneous
warning
.
His
hand
went
back
to
the
old
man
,
touching
him
,
and
the
pair
stood
still
.
Ahead
,
at
one
side
of
the
top
of
the
embankment
,
arose
a
crackling
sound
,
and
the
boy
’
s
gaze
was
fixed
on
the
tops
of
the
agitated
bushes
.
Then
a
large
bear
,
a
grizzly
,
crashed
into
view
,
and
likewise
stopped
abruptly
,
at
sight
of
the
humans
.
He
did
not
like
them
,
and
growled
querulously
.
Slowly
the
boy
fitted
the
arrow
to
the
bow
,
and
slowly
he
pulled
the
bowstring
taut
.
But
he
never
removed
his
eyes
from
the
bear
.
The
old
man
peered
from
under
his
green
leaf
at
the
danger
,
and
stood
as
quietly
as
the
boy
.
For
a
few
seconds
this
mutual
scrutinizing
went
on
;
then
,
the
bear
betraying
a
growing
irritability
,
the
boy
,
with
a
movement
of
his
head
,
indicated
that
the
old
man
must
step
aside
from
the
trail
and
go
down
the
embankment
.
The
boy
followed
,
going
backward
,
still
holding
the
bow
taut
and
ready
.
They
waited
till
a
crashing
among
the
bushes
from
the
opposite
side
of
the
embankment
told
them
the
bear
had
gone
on
.
The
boy
grinned
as
he
led
back
to
the
trail
.
“
A
big
un
,
Granser
,
”
he
chuckled
.
The
old
man
shook
his
head
.
