Alan recovered first from our hard running. Hewent to the edge of the wood and looked out a little.
Then he returned and sat down.
“We ll！”he said，“tha t wa s a sha rp run，Da vid.”
I neither spoke nor lifted my face. I had seenthe sudden death of a great，fine strong gentleman.
I had not recovered from that sight，and I still feltthe pity of it. But there was something else.
Someone had murdered the Red Fox. Alan hatedthis man and Alan was an expert with a gun.
Alan was here. He was hiding in the trees，and runningfrom the soldiers. Had he fired the shot or hadhe only ordered the man’s death？It did not matter.
My only friend in that wild Highland countrywas guilty of murder. I could not look at him.
“Are you s till tire d？”he asked.
“No ，”I said，with my face in the bracken，“no，
剛才那陣猛跑之後，艾倫第一個喘過氣來，他走到樹林邊上，向外張望了一下，然後回來坐下，說：
“哎呀，大衛，咱們剛才跑得可真夠嗆。”
我沒有吭聲，也沒有抬頭。我剛才親眼看到一位身材高大、身體健壯的紳士突然一命嗚呼，當時的慘狀仍然曆曆在目，使我感到傷心。
但這隻是事情的一方麵。
有人殺害了紅狐狸。艾倫對紅狐狸是恨之入骨的，而他又是個神槍手。艾倫就在此地，躲在樹林裏，逃避士兵們的追捕。剛才那槍是他開的呢？還是僅僅由他下令，別人執行的？反正是一回事。我在這荒涼的高地一帶唯一的朋友是個劊子手，我不願意抬頭看他。
“你還累嗎？”他問道。
我的頭仍然鑽在羊齒植物叢中，
I am no t tire d now，a nd I c a n spe a k. You a nd I mus ts e pa ra te . I like d you we ll，Ala n ，but your wa ys a re notmy wa ys . And the y a re not God ’s .”
說：“不，不，我現在不累，可以講話了。
咱們倆得分道揚鑣。我原來很喜歡你，艾倫，可是你的所作所為我無法接受，也是違背上帝旨意的。”
“I will not pa rt from you，Da vid ，without somegood re a s on，”Alan said very seriously. “If youknow a nythin g a ga ins t my good name ，you mus t te llme . And if you a re only tire d of my c ompa ny，I mus the a r the c a us e of tha t. I mus t judge if you a re insutlingme .”
“Ala n ，”I said，“you know ve ry we ll tha t theCampbe ll ma n lie s in his blood down the re .”
He was silent for a little. Then he spoke.
“Mr Ba lfour of S haws ，if I kille d a ge ntlema n ，Ic ould ne ve r do it he re ，to bring trouble on my cla n . Ic ould no t do it without a sword or a gun. I co uld notdo it with a fis hing - rod .”