A few scattered flakes of snow began to fall as his pony galloped easily along the trail by which they had come that day. 当他的小马沿着那天他们经过的小路轻快地奔驰时，几片散落的雪花开始飘落下来。

　　William did not want to push the animal. 威廉不想推那马儿。

　　He could get no fresh horse closer than twenty miles or more; 他不能使一匹新马走超过二十英里的距离；

　　he must save his pony as much as possible at first. 首先，他必须尽可能多地保护他的小马。

　　Within the boy's breast there was a fierce pride and joy. 男孩的胸中充斥着一种强烈的自豪和喜悦。

　　He was riding a Pony Express relay, and the mail was going through. 他骑着“快马邮递”的马儿，邮件就这样送过去了。

　　The wind was rising now, and the snow was falling faster and faster. 现在起风了，雪下得越来越大。

　　Suddenly out of the storm and darkness loomed up the corral of the remount station which earlier in the day had been surprised by the Indians. 换马站外面突然被暴风雨和黑暗笼罩，而早些时候印第安人也让他们大吃一惊。

　　It was deserted. 这里已经被废弃了。

　　William turned his pony into the trail again. 威廉又骑着小马上了路。

　　As if the little animal had gone weary at being denied the rest and food which his day's hard work had earned him, he began to slow down. 这只小动物似乎已经厌倦了被剥夺一天辛苦工作后本应得到的休息和食物，马儿开始放慢速度。

　　From a gallop his gait dropped to a trot, then to a fast shuffle, and by and by into a' walk, until finally he was merely plodding along. 马儿的脚步从疾驰变成了小跑，接着又变成了快步走，一会儿又变成了慢吞吞地走着，直到最后只是吃力地走着。

　　The cold had begun to chill the boy. 男孩开始觉得冷了。

　　He felt sleepiness stealing over him. 他感到昏昏欲睡。

　　He stopped the pony, got stiffly down from the saddle, and started the blood to circulate freely again by thrashing his body with his arms. 他让小马停下，僵硬地从马鞍上下来，用手臂抽打着他的身体，让血液重新自由循环。

　　Then, leading the pony, he began to walk. 然后，他牵着小马开始走路。

　　Warmed again, he remounted and kept his heels beating a tattoo against the pony's ribs. 他又暖和起来，重新骑上马，继续用脚跟敲打着小马的肋骨。

　　When he grew numb again, he dismounted and once more walked. 当他觉得麻木时，他下了马，又走起来。

　　All at once before his eyes appeared other tracks in the fresh snow. 突然，他看到新下的雪中出现了其他的印记。

　　He bent over to examine them, puzzled that the wind had not filled them up almost as soon as made. 他弯下腰去仔细察看，很奇怪风还没有把他们吹散。

　　Then the truth burst upon him. 然后他突然明白了真相。

　　They were his own tracks and those of his pony. 它们是他自己的足迹，也是他小马的足迹。

　　Leading the way, he had been walking in a short circle! 他走在前面，走了一小圈！