“Goodness, I wish they would stay away from here,” grumbled2 Mabel. “I’m still panting for breath and I certainly don’t want to move.”
“I reckon they won’t bother us if we don’t bother them,” suggested Jane. “It looks like a swell3 bunch.”
“That’s what I’ve got against them. How can a body eat before such elegance4 and Charlie and Breck will be back soon with food, I am thinking. That’s a pretty girl in the Vanity Fair bathing suit and scarlet5 cap—and look at the old gent in yachting togs! He must be postmaster general of all the railroads or something grand. He looks as though he owned the island and was thinking about annexing6 the ocean.”
“He doesn’t seem to take much pleasure in his possessions,” laughed Jane. “He looks sad to me.”
The gentleman in question was a powerfully built man of about sixty, with iron gray hair, piercing blue eyes, a high Roman nose that seemed to flaunt7 its aristocratic lines and a mouth and jaw8 of such force and determination that Jane wondered at the impertinence of a wave that, having leaped on the back of one of its brothers, came tumbling in all out of order, wetting the immaculate white shoes of the nabob. He looked indignant but evidently felt it to be beneath his notice.
Behind him trooped a crowd of young people, five girls and two young men. The old gentleman was the only one not in bathing costume.
“This is a good place to go in, Father,” said the pretty girl in the Vanity Fair suit. “I simply could not have gone in with that common crowd up there.”
“Humph!” whispered Mabel, “that must be the princess.”
“Of course not! Such persons!” spoke9 up one of the other girls.
“No one knows them,” from another.
“Well, hardly!” drawled one of the young men who seemed to be dancing attendance on the pretty girl Mabel had designated as “the princess.”
“I hope they can swim and know something about undertow and getting ‘boiled’,” murmured Jane.
“The snobs10! It might do them good to get a good drubbing on their stuck-up persons,” answered Mabel, looking at the interlopers with round wondering eyes.
The interlopers in turn paid not the least attention to either Jane or Mabel. If they had been sand fleas11 or skates’ eggs, their presence could not have been more completely ignored.
“Sorry you won’t go in, sir,” said one of the young men to the older man.
“I never learned to swim,” he answered with a certain haughty12 indifference13 of tone which put the polite young man along with the impertinent wave, the sand fleas, the skates’ eggs, Jane and Mabel, among the things to be ignored.
“Strange! Your daughter is a beautiful swimmer—”
“Yes, beautiful!” chorused the girls who seemed to be bent14 on flattering the pretty daughter.
“She does everything well,” said one of them.
“And your son is—” but what his son was Jane and Mabel could not hear, as the gentleman turned on his heel and walked off up the beach puffing15 vigorously at a long black cigar that Mabel insisted smelt16 as though it might have cost a dollar.
“Lorna, darling, I hate for you to get your pretty bathing suit wet,” said one of the girls, whose manner was even more fawning17 than the rest.
“Oh, Lord!” groaned18 Mabel. “Just listen!”
“Lorna! Lorna!” Jane said to herself. “Could these be Breck’s people?” Looking after the retreating figure of the impatient old gentleman, she saw unmistakable lines of resemblance. He could be none other than the father of the man she had promised to marry.
“Poor Breck! They are certainly difficult,” she said to herself. “But the father looks sad. I believe he has been suffering, and the girl is sweet looking and mighty19 pretty. It is just this lot of flatterers and sillies that are ruining her. Look at the men! They haven’t a chin between them and the girls ought to have a good strenuous20 course in Camp Fire training to knock the foolishness out of them.”
She said nothing to Mabel about the possibility of their being the Breckenridges. Mabel was not a marvel21 of tact22 and Jane felt that here was a situation that must be handled delicately. She hoped something would detain Breck and she could warn him that his father and sister were on the beach. It might be hard on him to come upon them unawares. She felt assured, however, that her Breck was equal to any emergency.
“I wish I could get my wind back,” said Mabel. “That ‘boiling’ has done me up for the day. I wanted to go in the water again but I fancy I’d better not.”
“You are panting, you poor dear,” said Jane sympathetically.
“I was scared about Charlie. I believe that did me up more than all of the fancy somersaults I turned.”
“Why don’t you cuddle down and take a nap?” suggested Jane.
“I believe I will,” Mabel curled herself up in the sand and in a moment was fast asleep.
Jane, glad to have quiet for her thoughts, directed her attention to the bathers. The pretty Lorna had dived through the breakers and was riding the waves like a veritable mermaid23. She was a good swimmer and seemed perfectly24 at home in the surf.
“Isn’t she wonderful?”
“Did you ever see anyone so beautiful?”
The flatterers were forced to shout their compliments in loud tones so that the pretty Lorna could hear them above the noise of the breakers.
“Come in!” she commanded. The young men looked rather ruefully at the curling waves and the girls took tentative steps in the direction of their princess. But tentative steps are fatal on a beach like that with a heavy uncertain sea. The “boiling” that Mabel and Charlie had just undergone was nothing to the one that the timid young men and maidens25 now were subjected to. It was the fault of one young man who hesitated and was lost. Over he went and clutching wildly grasped the arm of one of the girls, who in turn pulled down another and then the merry war went on.
“Help! Help!” they shrieked26.
“I reckon they can help one another,” said Jane grimly.
Just as one victim would stagger to his feet, another would clutch wildly at his legs and over he would go. In the midst of this confusion another cry rang out shrill27 and sharp above the rush of the waters and the squeals28 of those being “boiled.”
“Help! Oh, help! I’m giving out!”
Jane sprang to her feet. In her amusement over the laughable predicament of the unwary she had forgotten all about Lorna. Now she could plainly see that the girl was in distress29. Evidently she had tried to come in to shore and was being carried out by the undertow. She had lost her head and was struggling wildly. For a moment her head with the gay cap and handkerchief went under, a huge wave breaking over her.
Jane dived through the breakers. She was conscious of the fact that the father was near her. He had turned and walked back towards the beach, arriving near the friendly dune just as his daughter’s cry for help rang out.
“My God! It’s Lorna!” he gasped30. “Here!” he cried, grabbing one of the struggling young men out of the breakers just as he was being thrown up on the sands by a playful wave. “Here, you! My daughter is drowning!”
“So am I!” gasped the chinless youth.
“You can swim—go get her! Get her man! I can’t swim a stroke.”
The frantic31 father was rushing up and down like a raging lion. By that time, all of the party had come out of the boiling with no bones broken but with rueful countenances32.
“A nawsty beach!” announced the other young man.
“But my Lorna! She is drowning!” bellowed33 the father.
“Lorna! Lorna!” wailed34 the girls and the youths shivered and tried to make up their minds to go in after her but the waves seemed to have redoubled in force and fury. They rose up like walls and broke on the shore as though determined35 to smash anything that dared approach them.
“A rope! A rope! Get a rope!” commanded Mr. Breckenridge. But nobody seemed to know where to get a rope, so nobody got one. “Will none of you go in and get my girl? Cowards!”
He beat the trembling young men on their cringing36 backs and tried to shove them into the water.
“My God! My God! Why did I never learn to swim?”
The shrieks37 of the distracted friends of Lorna had at last attracted some of the people from the regular bathing beach and the crowd began to surge towards the scene of the disaster.
In the meantime Jane with sure eye and steady stroke had cut under the combing breakers and reached the spot where last she had seen the drowning girl. She trod water for a moment and peered through the clear green waves. Ah, there was a flash of the pretty crimson38 cap and handkerchief! Without a moment’s hesitation39, Jane dived and came up bearing a limp trophy40.
“I reckon it’s a good thing she’s lost consciousness,” thought Jane. “She can’t struggle and I have some chance of getting in with her.”
She looked back on the beach as a huge wave raised her aloft with her burden, and wondered if she could make it. It seemed a great way off.
“Of course you can, Jane Pellew! Keep your mouth shut and breathe through your nose; don’t fight the waves but let them take you in. Think of the skates’ eggs that are thrown up on the sands, how fragile they are and still safe. Think of Breck! Think of Father and Jack41 and poor Aunt Min! Think of Lorna and what it will mean to Breck’s father to have his child safe. Poor man!”
Holding Lorna’s head above water as much as possible, she began her perilous42 trip ashore43. She must time each wave and endeavor to ride it instead of being overcome by it. Many times she and Frances had played the game of saving each other and she was thankful for the skill she had acquired. But she found it quite a different thing saving Frances who inadvertently helped herself somewhat and saving this poor limp girl who flopped44 so piteously and whose head was so hard to keep above water.
“If Breck would only come!” her heart cried out.
Among the crowd that gathered on the beach there were many good swimmers but, as sometimes happens in a crowd, a strange panic had seized them. The run in the loose sand from the bathing beach proper had winded most of them too and men and women stood shuddering45 and watched the black-eyed girl make her fight.
“She will win! She will win!” they comforted themselves by saying.
“Lord! what pluck!”
“Who is it—the drowned girl?”
“Preston Breckenridge’s daughter. He’s the multimillionaire from California.”
“Money won’t help him much now.”
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1
dune
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| n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘 | |
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2
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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6
annexing
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| 并吞( annex的现在分词 )； 兼并； 强占； 并吞（国家、地区等） | |
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7
flaunt
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| vt.夸耀，夸饰 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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9
spoke
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| 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 | |
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10
snobs
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| （谄上傲下的）势利小人( snob的名词复数 )； 自高自大者，自命不凡者 | |
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11
fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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12
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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13
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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14
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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15
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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17
fawning
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| adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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18
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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19
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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22
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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mermaid
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| n.美人鱼 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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25
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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26
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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28
squeals
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| n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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30
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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31
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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33
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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34
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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36
cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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37
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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39
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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40
trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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41
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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42
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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43
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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44
flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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45
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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