Jack1 watched his opportunity like a mousing cat. As the grapnel in which he was standing2, holding with one hand to the rope, swung above Dick, he leaned out and with a swift, sure grasp drew the lad up. They saw him disengage the life-jacket from the unconscious young reporter and envelop3 his own body in it.
He leaned out and with a swift, sure grasp drew the lad up.—Page 144.
This done, he deliberately4 secured Dick to the grapnel by looping the rope around the boy’s body and fastening it with one of the forked ends. Then he slipped off into the water and shouted to Tom, to “call all hands” to haul Dick up to safety.
“But what about you?” cried Tom in an agony of distress5.
“I’ll get along till you lower the rope again. Haul up now and be quick!”
There was nothing to be done but to obey the gritty lad’s order. Inch by inch they hauled on the rope till at last Dick could be reached and pulled on board. No time was then lost in lowering the rope to Jack. It was not any too soon. Attracted no doubt by the furious flurry of the battle between the whale and the sword-fish, several fish with triangular6 fins8 were to be seen cruising about in the vicinity.
“Sharks!” cried Captain Sprowl; but it hardly needed his warning cry to apprise9 the boys of the nature of this new peril10.
Fortunately, Jack kept his head and made a prodigious11 splashing in the water whenever a fin7 came close. This had the effect of scaring off the sharks for the time being, although had Jack delayed an instant in grasping the rope, securing himself, and giving the word to haul up quickly, there is little doubt that they would have rushed at him en masse and made escape impossible. As it was, Captain Sprowl had his rifle ready to shoot the first one that drew near the boy, but luckily there was no need of his shooting.
By the time the sharks had rallied from their temporary alarm Jack was being hoisted12 upward, and within a few minutes was once more on board. Congratulations on his daring act were loud and hearty13 and, as may be imagined, when Dick came to himself his thanks were not rendered the less sincere by the knowledge that the plucky14 young inventor had risked his life to save him.
When all was in readiness the engine was set in motion once more, and the machine shot ahead still on a due westerly course. Before long there was visible, on the western horizon, a dim blue line that at first looked like a bank of low-lying clouds.
It was Tom who first proclaimed it for what it was:
“Land ho!” he sung out in nautical15 fashion, and a ringing cheer was the response.
“What part of the country is it, I wonder?” exclaimed Jack. “I hope we will land near a town or settlement of some sort.”
Captain Sprowl looked dubious16.
“Hard telling what we’ll strike,” he said, “but we’d best be prepared not to find any hotels or tably de hoteys around, unless the ‘gators and sea-cows have started one since I was on this coast last.”
“Ever here before?” asked Dick, who by this time had fully17 recovered.
“Shipwrecked off this coast in the Mary Anne McKim of Baltimore in ‘86,” was the brief reply.
As they drew nearer to land they saw that the coast which faced them was apparently18 well-wooded. The towering forms of palms and other large trees could be made out some time before any other details were distinguishable.
On closer view, however, they saw that the country was undulating and hilly. A long line of dense19 forest rose, seemingly, directly from the water. It stretched north and south as far as the eye could reach. It was, in fact, the great primeval forest that clothes this part of South America from the seacoast to the foothills of the Andes, two thousand miles to the west.
“Just as I thought,” grunted20 Captain Sprowl, laying aside the binoculars21 with which he had been scrutinizing22 the coast; “it’s a limber-go-shiftless sort of a place; but at any rate it’s better than nothing. It’s dry land, anyhow.”
They all concurred23 in this view. It was something to look forward to after their buffeting24 at the hands of the ocean,—this prospect25 of setting foot on what the captain called “terrier firmer” once more.
As the Wondership winged its way closer to the coast, Jack began to look about for a place to land. At first sight there was none visible. The massive dark crowns of shady mangoes, the towering forms of the palms and certain stately dome-like and somber26 trees, shot up everywhere above the surrounding forest, which grew as densely27 as weeds in a neglected pasture.
On a white strip of beach the surf hurled28 itself thunderously, spuming and foaming29 up to the very roots of the trees.
“Doesn’t look very promising30 for a landing,” remarked Tom, gazing about quite as anxiously as Jack for a landing place.
“I should say not,” was the reply of the boy at the steering32 wheel.
“Maybe the woods will open out more when we get over them,” rejoined Tom.
“I hope so.”
“Can’t we land on the beach?” asked Mr. Chadwick.
“Not a chance,” rejoined Jack. “I wouldn’t dare to come down on that tiny strip of sand. A slight miscalculation would put us in the surf. The ship would be ruined and we might be drowned.”
“Well, as the poet said, ‘all as goes up must come down,’” remarked the captain sententiously, “so I s’pose we’ll find some place to drop.”
“No bird ever flew so high it didn’t have to light,” put in Dick whimsically, whereat they all had a laugh.
“Well, at all events, it looks as if we were destined33 to have the place to ourselves,” remarked Mr. Chadwick.
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” responded Captain Sprowl, pessimistically.
For some reason or other the old mariner34 did not look entirely35 at ease. He scanned the tree-grown coast anxiously with his binoculars.
They were just about over the crashing surf when above its roar a most peculiar36 sound fell upon their ears.
It came swelling37 over the woods and was startlingly like the cry of someone shouting out in agony.
“What in the name of time is that?” cried Tom, turning a rather alarmed face on the others.
“Indians!” shouted Dick. “We’d better steer31 clear of here.”
“Idt vos somevuns in pain,” declared the German savant nervously38.
Again came the cry. A long shuddering39 wail40 that fairly made their flesh creep. They no longer tried to disguise their alarm, but exchanged disquieted41 looks.
“It is someone suffering pain,” declared Mr. Chadwick. “Better look to your rifles, boys.”
But Captain Sprowl held up his hand to command silence. The grizzled old sailor listened intently for a minute. He was waiting for a repetition of the cry that had so disturbed them.
All at once it came once more,—a moaning, long-drawn sigh this time. It was like the cry of a suffering sinner on his death-bed.
“It’s an awful sound!” shuddered42 Tom nervously.
“Awful, but blamed human,” put in Captain Sprowl with a sigh of relief, like a gust43 of wind. “That’s nothin’ more alarmin’ than a sea-cow singin’ her evenin’ song.”
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1
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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envelop
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| vt.包，封，遮盖；包围 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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apprise
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| vt.通知，告知 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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14
plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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15
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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16
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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17
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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18
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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20
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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21
binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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22
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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23
concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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24
buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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26
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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28
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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29
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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31
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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32
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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35
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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36
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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37
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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38
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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39
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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40
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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41
disquieted
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| v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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43
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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