When he turned the corner, he came full in sight of the spot where the fire had been lit. There was still a glowing pile of wood ashes there, but it had evidently not been tended since his departure. The same dead silence still reigned all round. With his fears all changed to convictions, he hurried on. There was no living creature near the remains of the fire: animals, man, maiden, all were gone. It was only too clear that some sudden and terrible disaster had occurred during his absence – a disaster which had embraced them all, and yet had left no traces behind it.

彼が角を曲がった時 / 彼が焚き火を燃やした場所の全体が見えた◆そこにはまだ赤く光る木の燃え殻の山があった / しかしそれは明らかに彼が出発してから手が入っていなかった◆同じ完全な静けさがまだあたりを支配していた◆彼の恐れは全て確信に変わった / 彼は急いで駆けつけた◆生き物は焚き火の燃え跡の近くにはいなかった / 動物も / 男性も / 女性も / 全ていなくなっていた◆ただはっきりしているのはなにか突然の恐ろしい惨事が起きたということだけだ / 彼がいない間に / / 彼ら全てを捕らえる惨事が / それにもかかわず全く跡を残さない

Bewildered and stunned by this blow, Jefferson Hope felt his head spin round, and had to lean upon his rifle to save himself from falling. He was essentially a man of action, however, and speedily recovered from his temporary impotence. Seizing a half-consumed piece of wood from the smouldering fire, he blew it into a flame, and proceeded with its help to examine the little camp. The ground was all stamped down by the feet of horses, showing that a large party of mounted men had overtaken the fugitives, and the direction of their tracks proved that they had afterwards turned back to Salt Lake City. Had they carried back both of his companions with them? Jefferson Hope had almost persuaded himself that they must have done so, when his eye fell upon an object which made every nerve of his body tingle within him. A little way on one side of the camp was a low-lying heap of reddish soil, which had assuredly not been there before. There was no mistaking it for anything but a newly dug grave. As the young hunter approached it, he perceived that a stick had been planted on it, with a sheet of paper stuck in the cleft fork of it. The inscription upon the paper was brief, but to the point:

この衝撃に当惑し呆然として / ジェファーソン・ホープは目が回るのを感じた / そして倒れないようにライフルにもたれかかる必要があった◆しかし彼は本質的に行動の男だった / そしてすぐに一時的な無気力から立ち直り◆くすぶっている焚き火から半分燃え残った木を掴み / それを吹いて燃え上がらせた / そしてその助けをかりてこの小さな野営地を調べ始めた◆地面はそこら中が馬の足跡で一杯だった / 馬に乗った男の大きな集団が逃亡者に追いついたことを示し / そして彼らの足跡の方向で / 彼らがその後ソルトレイクシティの方向に引き返したと判明した◆彼らは同行者を両方とも連れ帰ったのか？ / ジェファーソン・ホープはほとんど自分を納得させかけていた / 彼はきっとそうしたのだと / その時彼の目はある物体に止まった / それは体全体の神経をぞっとさせた◆野営地の片側をちょっと行ったところに / 赤っぽい土の低い山があった / それは間違いなく以前にはそこになかった◆身間違えようもなくそれは新しく掘られた墓以外の何物でもなかった◆若き狩人がそれに近づくと / 彼はそれに棒が突き刺してあるのが見えた / 二股に割れた部分に一枚の紙が挟まれていた◆その碑文は短かった / しかし的確だった

JOHN FERRIER,

ジョン・フェリアー

FORMERLY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

元ソルトレイクシティ在住

Died August 4th, 1860.

1860年8月4日死去

The sturdy old man, whom he had left so short a time before, was gone, then, and this was all his epitaph. Jefferson Hope looked wildly round to see if there was a second grave, but there was no sign of one. Lucy had been carried back by their terrible pursuers to fulfil her original destiny, by becoming one of the harem of an Elder’s son. As the young fellow realized the certainty of her fate, and his own powerlessness to prevent it, he wished that he, too, was lying with the old farmer in his last silent resting-place.

あのがっしりした老人は / ほんの少し前に別れたばかりの / 亡くなったのか / それでは / そしてこれが彼の墓碑銘の全てか◆ジェファーソン・ホープは狂ったようにあたりを見回した / もしや二つ目の墓があるのではと / しかしその痕跡はなかった◆ルーシーは連れ去られていた / 恐るべき追跡者に彼女の元の運命を達成するために / 長老の息子の一人のハーレムの一員となることで◆青年は悟った / 彼女の運命をはっきりと / そしてそれを防ぐ事が出来なかった自分の無力さを / 彼は望んだ / 自分も老農夫と一緒に最後の静かな墓場に横たわっていればと

Again, however, his active spirit shook off the lethargy which springs from despair. If there was nothing else left to him, he could at least devote his life to revenge. With indomitable patience and perseverance, Jefferson Hope possessed also a power of sustained vindictiveness, which he may have learned from the Indians amongst whom he had lived. As he stood by the desolate fire, he felt that the only one thing which could assuage his grief would be thorough and complete retribution, brought by his own hand upon his enemies. His strong will and untiring energy should, he determined, be devoted to that one end. With a grim, white face, he retraced his steps to where he had dropped the food, and having stirred up the smouldering fire, he cooked enough to last him for a few days. This he made up into a bundle, and, tired as he was, he set himself to walk back through the mountains upon the track of the Avenging Angels.

しかし再び / 彼の行動的な精神は絶望から沸き起こった無気力を振り払った◆もし他に何も残されていないとしても / 少なくとも彼の人生を復讐にささげる事は出来る◆不屈の忍耐と粘り強さに加え / ジェファーソン・ホープはどこまでも続く執念深さの能力を備えていた / それは彼が暮らしていたインディアンから学んだものかも知れなかった◆彼が無人の焚き火の側に立っているとき / 彼の苦悩を和らげうる唯一つのことは / 徹底的で完全な復讐だろうと感じていた / 自分自身の手で彼の仇に下す◆彼の強い意志と疲れを知らないエネルギーは / 彼は固く心に決めた / 最後まで捧げられると◆恐ろしい青ざめた顔で / 彼は食料を落とした場所まで戻り / くすぶった焚き火の中でかき回し / 数日食いつなぐ分の火を通した◆彼はそれを一つの包みにまとめ / そして / 疲れていたが / そして彼は山を越えて歩いて戻り始めた / 復讐の天使たちの後を追って