Hurrying around back of a hill of sand covered with coarse grass, 他匆忙环绕到长满野草的沙丘后面，

he came to a point where he could see a little open level space gleaming white in the moonlight. 他到了一处可以看到一小片空旷水平空间的地方，这片地区在月光下闪烁白光。

The three pirates had been crossing the level of sand, and were now not more than twenty-five paces from him. 三名海盗穿越了这片沙地，离他不到二十五步的距离。

They had again set down the chest upon which the white man with the long queue 他们再次将箱子放在地面上，梳着长辫子，

and the gold earrings had seated himself to rest, the negro standing close beside him. 戴着金耳环的白人男子坐在箱子上，另一名黑人紧挨着他站立。

The moon shone as bright as day, full upon Tom's face. It was looking so directly at him that Tom drew back with a start, 月光闪烁得和白天一样亮，完整地照在汤姆的脸上，月光直勾勾地看着他，汤姆突然向后退，

almost thinking he had been discovered. He lay silent, his heart beating heavily in his throat; 他似乎在想他已经被发现了，他在地上安静地躺着，他的心脏已经蹦到嗓子眼，

but there was no alarm, and presently he heard the counting begin again. 但没有警告，他再次听到了数数声。

When he looked once more, he saw they were going away straight across the little open. 当他再看一遍后，他发现这些人径直穿越了这片空旷地区。

A soft, sliding hillock of sand lay directly in front of them. They did not turn aside, 正对着他们的是一片柔软，倾斜的沙丘，他们没有转弯，

but went straight over it, the leader helping himself up the sandy slope with his cane, 而是径直走去，那名领导者用手杖攀爬沙丘的斜坡，

still counting and still keeping his eyes fixed upon that which he held in his hand. 仍然数着数字，仍然注视着手中拿着的东西。

They then disappeared again on the other side of the hill. So Tom followed them cautiously until they had gone almost half a mile inland. 他们再一次消失在沙丘的另一头，汤姆小心地跟上去，直到他们向内陆走了近半英里。

When he saw them clearly, the white man who had helped to carry the chest was kneeling, busied at some work, 当汤姆再次清晰地看到他们时，那名拿着箱子的白人正在跪着做些事情，

though what it was Tom at first could not see. He was whittling the point of a stick into a long wooden peg. 汤姆第一眼看不清他正在做什么，他正在将木棍削尖成木钉。

When he had finished what he was about, he rose and stepped to the place 当他完成这一工作后，他站起身，走到

where the man who seemed to be the captain had stuck his cane upright into the ground as though to mark some particular spot. 似乎是一名船长的位置旁，他已经将手杖直直地插入地面，似乎是在做某个特定几号。

He drew the cane out of the sand, thrusting the stick down in its place. 他将手杖拿出沙堆，将手杖刺入记号内。

Then he drove the long peg down with a wooden mallet which the negro handed to him. 之后他用木槌将木钉插入，木槌是那名黑人给他的。

The sharp rapping of the mallet upon the top of the peg sounded loud in the perfect stillness, 在一片寂静下，木槌在木钉上面的敲击声显得很大，

and Tom lay watching and wondering what it all meant. The man drove the peg farther and farther down into the sand 汤姆躺在那里思考这些事情，之后这名男子将木钉深深地插入沙子里，

until it showed only two or three inches above the surface. Just as he finished his work, 直到木钉显示在表面时只有2-3英寸，就在他完成工作以后，

there was another faint flash of light followed soon by another rumble of thunder. 雷电再一次隆隆想起，之后又是发出微弱的闪电。