“No!” cried Jack2. “You get in the boat. Your wet clothes are too heavy. I’ll dive for her. I saw where she went down!”
There was wisdom in this, as Blake well knew, and, though he would have dared anything to make the rescue, he realized that Jack’s plan was best. The latter had already thrown off his coat, and kicked loose his rubber-soled low shoes. Clad in a pair of light-weight trousers, and a sleeveless shirt, he poised3 for a moment on the bow of the boat, and then dived.
He cut the water cleanly, and Blake, swimming to Phil’s boat, managed to get in over the stem, Phil with an agonized4 look on his face holding it steady. Mrs. Bonnell, who with Mabel and Alice was in Jack’s boat, looked to see the result of his dive.
“It wasn’t your fault, Phil,” said the Guardian5 gently. “It wasn’t a very hard bump. The canoe is a very tippy one.”
“That’s right!” gasped Blake.
It seemed an age ere Jack came shooting up out of the water. With a shake of his head he cleared his eyes and mouth, and cried:
“I saw her—on the—bottom!” he gasped. “But—she was too far over. I’ll dive again. I can get her—stay here!” he called to Phil, and Blake, who seemed about to leap overboard.
Filling his lungs with air, Jack again dived. They could watch him by the commotion6 in the water, and when he presently appeared, bearing the unconscious form of Natalie to the surface, Phil gave a spasmodic yell, the others joining in.
“Get her into your boat, Phil—it’s larger,” commanded Mrs. Bonnell. “Then row to shore as fast as you can. We’ll have to practice first aid work, just as we did in class, girls,” she added, for the Camp Fire rules called for a girl knowing how to resuscitate7 an apparently8 drowned person.
It did not take long to get Natalie into the boat, and then with feverishly9 rapid strokes Phil rowed to shore, the others following.
“Make a little pillow of your coats, boys,” commanded Mrs. Bonnell. “We’ll place that under her, as she lies face down. That will help to drain the water out of her lungs.”
The inert10 form of Natalie was rolled over, until some water did come from her lips. Then, directing the efforts of Jack and Phil, Mrs. Bonnell had them raise the girl’s arms above her head, while she pressed on the diaphragm to facilitate the getting of air into the lungs.
Natalie had only been a short time in the water, and, as it developed later, her head had struck on the gunwale of the canoe, rendering11 her unconscious, so that she had swallowed only a little water. The blow, in a measure, was lucky for her, since it made her rescue easier. She had not struggled in Jack’s grip.
“There!” exclaimed Mrs. Bonnell, as a tremor12 of the white eyelids13, and a gentle sigh, told that consciousness was returning. “She’s coming to!”
“Ah!” breathed Phil in relief. He had been under a great strain.
Natalie opened her eyes.
“What happened? Did I— Oh, I remember,” she gasped. “I fell out of the boat. How silly!”
“Not at all!” exclaimed Marie. “How do you feel?”
“Rather—rather weak,” was the answer.
“She ought to have a warm drink,” exclaimed Mabel. “Oh, if we could only make a fire, and heat some coffee!”
“We can make a fire,” said Phil, “but the coffee is out of the question. We’d better get back to camp. It was all my fault. I should have looked where I rowed.”
“No, I got in the way,” declared Blake. “I should have told Nat to sit down on the bottom of the canoe, instead of on the seat, but she wanted to improve her paddle stroke.”
Natalie shivered as she sat up. A little color was beginning to show in her cheeks.
“I have it!” cried Jack. “We’re not far from the old mill. I’ll run over there, and get Old Hanson to make some coffee!”
“I’ll go!” volunteered Phil, anxious to be of service.
“No, let me,” insisted Jack. “I want to get dry and the run will do the trick,” and he was off on a path that led to the mysterious mill.
He was lucky in finding Old Hanson in his shack14. The solitary15 man was just starting a fire for supper. The kettle was boiling and, quickly explaining the need, Jack helped make coffee. Then, with a pailful of the steaming beverage16, while Hanson came after him with a blanket, the lad hurried back to where the others were.
The coffee was just what Natalie needed and it sent the warm blood into her now rather more pale than olive cheeks. She insisted on Jack and Blake taking some of the beverage, which they consented to do. For, though, the day was warm, their damp, clinging clothes were none too comfortable.
“Here, wrap her in this blanket,” urged Old Hanson as he came up. “It’s clean,” he added quickly, “I only use it as a spread for the couch. It will keep her from getting a cold.”
Natalie gladly wound it about her, and then, looking more than ever like an Indian maiden17 she was helped down to the smaller boat. Jack offered to row her to camp, and no one disputed him the honor. Mrs. Bonnell went with them to assist Natalie on reaching the tent. The others came on more leisurely18, the overturned canoe having been righted.
Jack never rowed so fast in his life and he was in a warm, rosy19 glow when Crystal Springs was reached. Natalie, too, was much improved, and soon, clad in warm, dry garments she was herself again. The others came on, and then the whole affair was gone over in detail, each one telling his or her feelings during the crucial moments.
Phil was contrition20 itself, but no one blamed him, though they all agreed that they must all use more care in the future. The next day saw no ill effects of the accident, though Natalie remained rather quietly about camp, stretched in a barrel stave hammock the boys had made in honor of her “convalescence,” as they called it.
“Where are you boys going?” asked Marie, a few days later, as the three chums stopped in their repaired motor craft at the small dock of Dogwood Camp.
“We’re going to see if we can find that Gypsy outfit,” explained Jack. “We’re going to ask Old Hanson if he knows anything about it, and, incidentally, we’ll take him back his blanket. He may need it. Want to come, girls?”
“I think not,” said Mrs. Bonnell for them. “We have some work to do about camp, and, really, if you do locate those Gypsies I think you boys had better deal with them.”
“We’ll deal all right!” exclaimed Phil grimly. “Maybe we had better size up their place, though, before we take the girls over. Come on, fellows,” and after a brief stay at the camp of their friends they went across the lake in the motor boat, which seemed to be running well.
There were many little details to be looked after about the tents, and, as the Camp Fire Girls were working for their “degrees,” as they called them, they divided up the tasks.
“For we will want to become Fire Makers21, after our probation22 as Wood Gatherers is up,” said Natalie. “Some of you can qualify under some of the rules about knowing what to do when a person is nearly drowned,” she added, looking fondly at her friends. “Though I can’t understand what happened to me. I know how to swim.”
“It was that blow on the head,” declared the Guardian, “And yet maybe it was a good thing for you, for with your water-soaked clothing you might have tried to swim and have failed. I shall take into consideration what you girls did in the emergency, though,” she went on, “and it will count when you come up for the next step in the Camp Fire ritual. But you must not forget the twenty elective honors.
“You can choose from health, home, nature, camp or hand craft, business or patriotism,” she went on. “I suggest camp-craft nature-lore or hand-craft while you are here in the woods. You will have time enough for the others when we go back to Middleford.
“Oh, I don’t ever want to go back—not in such lovely weather as this,” exclaimed Alice. “It is perfect here.”
“And so restful,” added Mabel, who was darning some stockings, with a green apple to bring the holes up into rounded relief.
“I know what I’m going to do!” exclaimed Natalie, as she went in the main tent, to come out presently with a big apron23 over her brown suit.
“Wash the dishes?” asked Mabel, for they had only eaten a light lunch that day, and the utensils24 had been left until after the night meal.
“No, I’m going to see if that red clay can be modeled into anything like a vase,” said Natalie, for near the drinking spring they had found a bed of sticky clay a day or so before, and Natalie had brought a sample to camp. Soon she was busily engaged in mixing it with water, and then the others watched her curiously25 as she moulded it into a rudely-formed but not inartistic vase of the Navajo style.
“Fine!” cried Mrs. Bonnell, when it was finished. “Now if you can bake it in the fire, you’ll have something really pretty.”
“I’m going to try,” said Natalie. “But I think I’ll make a pit first, build a fire in that, and then, when the embers are hot, I’ll cover the vase with them. It will have to dry a bit in the sun first, anyhow,” and she set her creation down in a warm spot while she looked for something with which to dig the fire hole.
“There was a shovel26 around somewhere,” suggested Mabel. “I saw Marie have it last.”
“I used it to dig some ferns with,” the latter admitted, “but I put it back under the tent platform.”
“It isn’t there,” said Natalie, after a search. “But I can use the hatchet,” and with that she began to dig. When she had her pit-fire made, however, she found that her vase was still to soft to bake, so she decided27 to let it stand until the next day.
“Let’s all make something,” suggested Marie, and soon the four were well daubed with the red clay, that lent itself so readily to moulding.
The boys came back just before supper, tired and hungry and they quickly accepted an invitation of the Camp Fire Girls to take “pot-luck” with them.
“Did you find the Gypsy camp?” asked Mabel eagerly.
“Not a trace of it,” replied Blake. “Old Hanson thought he knew where it was, but we tramped miles and miles, and never saw the smoke of their fires.”
“We’ll ask that constable28 the first time we see him,” added Jack. “He’ll probably know.”
“If he doesn’t we’ll find it ourselves,” declared Alice. “I’m not afraid—if we all go together—I mean we girls!” she quickly added.
The doings of the day were talked over, and plans made for both parties to go next day to the nearest store for some needed camp supplies. Then followed a delightful29 hour around the fire for which the faithful Wood Gatherers had provided plenty of fuel. There was the singing of some simple choruses, which they all knew, or in lieu, hummed. Stories were told and then came the farewells.
In the middle of the night Mrs. Bonnell was awakened30 by a queer, thumping31 sound that seemed to come from the space between the cooking and sleeping tents—where a canvas shaded a wooden platform, on which the table was placed.
“I wonder if that can be my ammonia-fox?” she murmured as she reached for her trusty little weapon.
“I think I’ll take a look before I fire,” she thought. None of the girls was awakened.
Cautiously peering out through the tent flaps, the Guardian saw a curious sight. She could not restrain a laugh, at the sound of which Natalie suddenly sat up on her cot.
“What is it?” she demanded in a whisper.
“Come and see!” answered Mrs. Bonnell. “It’s too odd—the poor creature!”
Natalie glided32 to her side, while the queer thumping sound continued.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
poised
|
|
| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
agonized
|
|
| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
commotion
|
|
| n.骚动，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
resuscitate
|
|
| v.使复活，使苏醒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
feverishly
|
|
| adv. 兴奋地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
inert
|
|
| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
rendering
|
|
| n.表现，描写 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
tremor
|
|
| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
eyelids
|
|
| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
shack
|
|
| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
beverage
|
|
| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
leisurely
|
|
| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
contrition
|
|
| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
makers
|
|
| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
probation
|
|
| n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
utensils
|
|
| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
shovel
|
|
| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
constable
|
|
| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
thumping
|
|
| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
glided
|
|
| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |