CHAPTER XXII UNSEEN VISITORS

The girls clung to one another, after their first few frightened screams of dismay, and then Mrs. Bonnell exclaimed:

“Oh, Natalie! How could you? To frighten us so!”

“I didn’t mean to. But really I did see something at the window.”

“Probably a rag fluttering in the wind,” spoke¹ Alice.

“Maybe,” assented² Natalie, with a nervous glance at the broken casement³. “And yet do fluttering rags have dark eyes, that look hopelessly at you?”

“Did you see that?” demanded Mabel.

“I—I think I did.”

“I guess Nat’s been reading too many novels,” was Marie’s opinion.

“I have not! There isn’t a thing up here to read anyhow, if I wanted to. I was thinking of sending for a few. But I did see a face at that window,” and Natalie shook her pretty head vigorously to emphasize her words. “It was just as you spoke,” she went on, addressing Old Hanson.

“I wouldn’t be at all s’prised,” he admitted. “I’m sure there’s a hant here, and that’s why I’m movin’. I wouldn’t stay here another night.”

“Tell us more about it,” urged Mrs. Bonnell. “Maybe it can all be explained by natural causes. I never heard of a ghost yet, that couldn’t.”

“This ’un can’t!” declared the old hermit⁴. “Sech groans⁵ an’ cries, an’ goin’s on! An’ cold winds sweeping⁶ over you ’fore you know what’s up.”

“Maybe you left a door open?” suggested Marie.

“No’m, I never do that. It’s the ghost—that’s what ’tis. Th’ mill is haunted. I’ve allers heard ’twas, but I never believed it until lately. Now, I’m goin’ to quit!”

The girls and the Guardian⁷ gathered closer together and watched the preparations to move on the part of Old Hanson. He had most of his household goods out of the shack⁸ next to the mill now. As he went back for something one of the horses started slightly.

“There it is! There it is!” suddenly cried the old hermit from within the shack. “It jest brushed past me! I felt a cold hand on the back of my neck! Oh, I’m a goner! I’m doomed⁹. It’s the call of fate!”

“Whoa there!” called the farm hand to the restless steeds, that had jumped nervously¹⁰ at the sound of the old man’s weird¹¹ scream.

“Come on!” cried Natalie. “I’ve had enough of this. I won’t sleep a wink¹² to-night. Come on, girls!”

“Yes, it’s—getting late,” added Marie. “We must get back to camp.”

“Not to mention staying here after dark,” added Mabel. “Oh! Perhaps it’s silly, but I don’t like it. Are you sure you saw something, Nat?”

“Of course I did. I don’t know what it was, but it looked like a face— Oh, don’t let’s talk about it,” she begged.

Mr. Rossmore had rushed from the shack with the last few of his household goods. He threw them into the wagon¹³.

“Go on!” he cried to the farm hand. “Drive away from here as fast as you can. I don’t ever want to see the place again. It near had me that time.”

“What was it?” demanded Mrs. Bonnell.

“The hant, sure. Oh, what a place!” and leaping up on the wagon seat he called to the horses which seemed glad enough to leave the eerie¹⁴ place.

“Come on, girls!” cried Natalie, as the wagon rattled¹⁵ off down the road. “We must get back to camp.”

“Before dark,” added Mabel.

“My! but we’ve had a full day!” declared Alice. “But we found the Gypsy camp.”

“And a lot of good it did us,” said Marie. “We didn’t locate the girl we wanted.”

“Oh, the police can do that,” said Mrs. Bonnell. “We’ll tell them where the camp is, and the constables¹⁶ can look after the suspects.”

With a last glance at the old mill, which seemed silent and deserted¹⁷ enough now, and a parting look at the disappearing wagon, the Camp Fire Girls made their way to where they had left their boats. Soon they were rowing over the peaceful lake, which the setting sun was painting in hues¹⁸ of vermillion, olive and yellow.

“Isn’t it beautiful,” said Natalie softly, as she hummed a few strains of “The Land of the Sky-blue Water.” “Beautiful!”

“And to think of the old mill and—” began Marie.

“Don’t,” suggested Alice. “Let’s enjoy the sunset.”

Silently they rowed onward¹⁹, their faces to the glorious colors in the west.

“Wo-he-lo! Wo-he-lo!” suddenly called Marie, as they neared the shore. “Wo-he-lo!”

“What is it? Who is it?” asked Mabel.

“The boys. There they are on shore, waiting for us,” and she waved her hand.

Over the water came floating the echo of the call of the Camp Fire Girls:

“Wo-he-lo!”

“Work—health—love!” murmured Natalie. “What a wonderful combination for—girls.”

“And the greatest of these is—love,” softly quoted Alice.

“I’m thinking of that poor Gypsy girl,” murmured Natalie. “She perhaps had plenty of work—but I wonder how much of—love? Did she have any?”

“She had health, at any rate,” observed Mabel, as she pulled on her left oar²⁰ to change the course of the craft.

“Of course—if she was anything like the other girls in the camp,” admitted Natalie. “But perhaps she has been driven away—maybe the rest of the tribe found she had been—been taking things, and drove her away. She may have taken her health with her, but very little of love, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, no doubt some of those Gypsy lads, with their beautifully white teeth, are in love with her,” suggested Mabel.

“That isn’t the only kind of love there is,” said Natalie softly.

“Oh, my! How romantic we’re getting!” cried Alice. “I declare, that haunted mill must have affected²¹ all of us.”

“Let’s forget it,” suggested Mrs. Bonnell. “I wonder what the boys want? They seem a bit excited.”

The three chums were hurrying down to the water’s edge and, as the boats approached, Blake hailed the girls.

“Where have you been?” he demanded.

“Out for a row,” evaded²² Marie.

“Were you over to our camp?” asked Jack²³.

“Your camp? No,” answered his sister. “What do you mean?”

“Why some one has been there and about cleaned us out of grub. We thought maybe you girls had borrowed some.”

“Indeed not,” answered Marie. “We are just getting back. We’ve been to Bear Pond again. But, girls!” she exclaimed, “if the boys have had unseen visitors, perhaps we have too. Let’s look,” and, springing from the boat she hurried up to the tents.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

3 casement   

n.竖铰链窗；窗扉

参考例句：

• A casement is a window that opens by means of hinges at the side.竖铰链窗是一种用边上的铰链开启的窗户。
• With the casement half open,a cold breeze rushed inside.窗扉半开，凉风袭来。

4 hermit   

n.隐士，修道者；隐居

参考例句：

• He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。
• Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

5 groans   

n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• There were loud groans when he started to sing. 他刚开始歌唱时有人发出了很大的嘘声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was a weird old house, full of creaks and groans. 这是所神秘而可怕的旧宅，到处嘎吱嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

8 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

9 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

10 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

11 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

12 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

13 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

14 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

15 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

16 constables   

n.警察( constable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn. 警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。 来自辞典例句
• There were also constables appointed to keep the peace. 城里也有被派来维持治安的基层警员。 来自互联网

17 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

18 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。

19 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

20 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

21 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

22 evaded   

逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
• The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。

23 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。