For two months Goodloe Banks and I—separately—tried every scheme we could think of to track the runaways. We used our friendship and influence with the ticketagent， with liverystable men， railroad conductors， and our one lone， lornlorn adj.寂寞的， 孤单的， 荒凉的 constableconstable n.治安官， 警官， 巡官， but without results.
整整两个月，古德洛和我分头想方设法去追踪这两个逃亡者。我们同火车站的售票员，出租马车行里的人，火车上的乘务员，以及镇上惟一的那个警察讲交情，拉关系，可是毫无结果。
Then we became better friends and worse enemies than ever. We forgathered in the back room of Snyders saloon every afternoon after work， and played dominoesdominoes 多米诺， and laid conversational traps to find out from each other if anything had been discovered. That is the way of rivals.
于是我和古德洛便成了比以往任何时候都更亲密的朋友和更势不两立的仇人。每天下午工作结束后，我们都在斯奈德酒店的后屋里碰头，玩玩骨牌，谈话时勾心斗角，互相套对方的口气，想知道有没有什么新的线索。情场角逐的人就是这样的。
Now， Goodloe Banks had a sarcasticsarcastic adj.讽刺的 way of displaying his own learning and putting me in the class that was reading “Poor Jane Ray， her bird is dead， she cannot play.” Well， I rather liked Goodloe， and I had a contempt for his college learning， and I was always regarded as good natured， so I kept my temper. And I was trying to find out if he knew anything about May Martha， so I enduredendure v.耐久， 忍耐 his society.
古德洛·班克斯老是嘲弄似的卖弄自己的学问，把我列为那类只配念“简·雷真可怜，她的小鸟死了，她没有什么可玩了”的人。不过我挺喜欢古德洛，我蔑视他那套大学里的学问，而且人们都认为我脾气好，所以我压住火气。再说，我想探听他有没有梅·玛莎的消息，我这才按捺住性子，继续同他来往。
In talking things over one afternoon he said to me：“Suppose you do find her， Ed， whereby would you profit？ Miss Mangum has a mind. Perhaps it is yet uncultureduncultured adj.没有文化的，无教养的，落后的，未开垦的， but she is destined for higher things than you could give her. I have talked with no one who seemed to appreciate more the enchantmentenchantment n.迷惑， 着迷， 魔法， 妖术， 魅力 of the ancient poets and writers and the modern cults that have assimilated and expended their philosophy of life. Dont you think you are wasting your time looking for her？”
一天下午，我们聊天时，他对我说：“即使你找到了她，埃德，你又能有什么指望？曼格姆小姐很有头脑。也许她天真本色，但她注定要享受更高级的东西，不是你所能提供的。同我交谈的人中间，惟有她才能欣赏古代诗人作家以及吸收并发展了他们的生活哲学的近代文人的魅力。你不认为你找她是在白白浪费时间吗？
“My idea，” said I， “of a happy home is an eightroom house in a grove of liveoaks by the side of a charco on a Texas prairie. A piano，” I went on， “with an automatic player in the sittingroom， three thousand head of cattle under fence for a starter， a buckboardbuckboard n.四轮马车的一种 and ponies always hitched at a post for ‘the missus’—and May Martha Mangum to spend the profits of the ranch as she pleases， and to abide with me， and put my slippers and pipe away every day in places where they cannot be found of evenings. That，” said I， “is what is to be； and a fig—a dried， Smyrna， dagostand fig—for your curriculumscurriculum n.课程， cults， and philosophy.”
“我对幸福家庭的概念，”我说，“是得克萨斯草原上一幢八居室的房屋，傍依一流池水，橡树环抱。起居室里，”我接着说，“有一架带自动弹奏器的钢琴，牧场上圈三千头牛作为开端，一辆四轮马车和挂在柱子上的小马随时听从太太使唤——梅·玛莎·曼格姆可以随心所欲地花费牧场的收益，同我长相厮守，每天把我的拖鞋和烟斗藏到晚上找不到的地方。情况将是这样，”我说，“你的课程、文化、哲学连一枚无花果都不值——并且还是干瘪的、士麦拿小贩摊上的无花果。”
“She is meant for higher things.” repeated Goodloe Banks.
“她应该享受更为高级的东西。”古德洛·班克斯又说了一遍。
“Whatever she is meant for，” I answered， “just now she is out of pocket. And I shall find her as soon as I can without aid of the colleges.”
“不管她应该享受什么，”我回说，“反正她现在不见了。我要尽快找到她，用不着大学帮忙。”
“The game is blocked.” said Goodloe， putting down a domino and we had the beer.
“这副牌打不通了。”古德洛摘下一张骨牌说，我们便喝啤酒。
Shortly after that a young farmer whom I knew came into town and brought me a folded blue paper. He said his grandfather had just died. I concealed a tear， and he went on to say that the old man had jealously guarded this paper for twenty years. He left it to his family as part of his estate， the rest of which consisted of two mules and a hypotenusehypotenuse n.直角三角形之斜边 of nonarable land.
不久以后，我认识的一个年轻农民来到镇上，给我带来一张折好的蓝纸。他说他爷爷刚去世。我忍住了眼泪，他接着说老人家把这张纸珍藏了二十年。他把它作为遗产的一部分留给家人，其余的只有两头毛骡和一块不能耕作的土地。
The sheet of paper was of the old， blue kind used during the rebellionrebellion n.谋反， 叛乱， 反抗， 不服从 of the abolitionistsabolitionist n.废除主义者， 废奴主义者 against the secessionists. It was dated June 14， 1863， and it described the hidingplace of ten burroloads of gold and silver coin valued at three hundred thousand dollars. Old Rundle—grandfather of his grandson， Sam—was given the information by a Spanish priest who was in on the treasureburying， and who died many years before—no， afterward—in old Rundles house. Old Rundle wrote it down from dictationdictation n.听写， 口述.
那是废奴主义者同脱离主义者打仗期间使用的古老的蓝纸。纸上标的日期是一八六三年六月十四日，记的是价值三十万元的十驮金币和银币的埋藏地点。老朗德尔——也就是孙子山姆的爷爷——从一个西班牙教士那里听到这消息，埋钱的时候教士在场；许多年前——不，许多年后——他在老朗德尔家去世的。老朗德尔根据教士的口授记录下来。
“Why didnt your father look this up？” I asked young Rundle.
“你爸爸干吗不去找藏宝呢？”我问道。
“He went blind before he could do so.” he replied.
“他还没去，眼睛就瞎了。”他回答。
“Why didnt you hunt for it yourself？” I asked.
“你自己干吗不去呢？”我又问。
“Well，” said he， “Ive only known about the paper for ten years. First there was the spring ploughin to do， and then choppin the weeds out of the corn； and then come takin fodder； and mighty soon winter was on us. It seemed to run along that way year after year.”
“嗯，”他说，“我是十年前才知道有这张纸的。春天要犁地；接着要在玉米地里锄草；然后要替牲口准备饲料；冬天很快又来了。一年年这么下去，给耽误了。”
That sounded perfectly reasonable to me， so I took it up with young Lee Rundle at once.
我觉得这些话十分在理，当场就决定同小李·朗德尔一起着手觅宝。
The directions on the paper were simple. The whole burro cavalcadecavalcade n.队伍 laden with the treasure started from an old Spanish mission in Dolores County. They travelled due south by the compass until they reached the Alamito River. They forded this， and buried the treasure on the top of a little mountain shaped like a packsaddle standing in a row between two higher ones. A heap of stones marked the place of the buried treasure. All the party except the Spanish priest were killed by Indians a few days later. The secret was a monopolymonopoly n.垄断， 垄断者， 专利权， 专利事业. It looked good to me.
纸上的说明很简单。驮财宝的驼队从多洛雷斯县一个古老伯西班牙传教基地出发。他们根据罗盘方向，直奔南方，到了阿拉米托河。涉水过河后，他们把财宝埋在两座大山中间一座马鞍形小山顶上。藏宝地点有一堆乱石作为标志。几天后，整个骡队被印第安人杀死，只有那个西班牙教士逃出性命。这一秘密是独家垄断的。我认为切实可行。
Lee Rundle suggested that we rig out a camping outfit， hire a surveyor to run out the line from the Spanish mission， and then spend the three hundred thousand dollars seeing the sights in Fort Worth. But， without being highly educated， I knew a way to save time and expense.