CHAPTER XXI. COLLINGWOOD.

“Forests burned for clearing, to spare the woodman’s stroke,
Buttonwood and chestnut¹, and ash, and giant oak.”

A bright band of light clearly defined the eastern horizon, and heralded² the approach of the sun. A steamer, making its way along the shore, stood out with great distinctness in the clear atmosphere. They were in Georgian Bay, dotted with pretty islands, and near the southwestern shore, deeply indented³ and covered with timber.

“There are our friends, the sea-gulls,” exclaimed Norman. Yes, there they were—
“The hungry sea-gulls
Came back from the reedy islands,
Clamorous⁴ for the morning banquet,”

their white wings glancing in the sunlight. At length Collingwood was visible, 241a stone light-house, on an island, passed, then another wooden light-house, and they were in the harbor.

Norman saw two wigwams among the trees, and a “dug-out” with four or five Indians in it.

The train had left twenty minutes before the smoke of the Planet was seen, and a telegram was sent to Toronto requesting a special train, which it was thought would be granted. The passengers were all seated in the cars, the locomotive had its steam up, when a telegram came to say that there could be no train before four o’clock.

Collingwood is a collection of unpainted houses built in the sand, most dreary⁵ and uninviting in its aspect. Norman and his mother, and Alfred Scarborough, walked through its streets. The stores are shaded by evergreens⁶, stuck in the ground, to afford a temporary shade. They went into several stores, to buy some 242Indian things, but there was no one in the store to sell them, and after waiting a while they were obliged to leave. At length Mrs. Lester found some pretty boxes, worked with porcupine⁷ quills⁸, and Norman bought an Indian battle-axe.

After wandering a while on the shores of the lake, looking down into its clear transparent⁹ waters, and gathering¹⁰ some wild flowers, they returned to the boat, where they found the other passengers. The view of the harbor of Collingwood was very pretty, the waters were blue and beautiful, and the breezes cool and bracing¹¹.

Norman watched with great interest a race between a little sloop¹² and schooner¹³, round the light-house. The wind was so fresh that the vessels¹⁴ leaned very far over, and seemed in some danger of being capsized.

While the train was coming slowly up from the pier¹⁵ to the station, where 243the passengers awaited it, a gentleman, with a baby in his arms, was walking on the track. The English clergyman rushed forward before it, waving his umbrella and crying, “Off, man, off the track, or in one moment you will be crushed to atoms.”

Again they were seated in the cars. “What beautiful spikes¹⁶ of purple flowers,” exclaimed Mrs. Lester, “and close by the station. I wish we had seen them.”

“And those brilliant red flowers,” said Norman, “Did you ever see anything prettier?”

“Do you think they are flowers or berries” asked his mother; “we go so fast that I cannot tell which they are.”

At a station where they stopped, a gentleman got out and gathered some of these red berries, handing them to Mrs. Lester through the window.

“Red elderberries,” said Mrs. Lester; “very pretty, but not the gorgeous flowers 244we thought them; we cannot press these.”

The road lay through timber, and the stations were groups of unpainted houses in the clearings. Felled trees and blackened stumps¹⁷ met the eye in every direction.

At a station near Lake Simcoe the train stopped for two or three minutes, and Norman and his mother rushed to an opening, where they had a lovely view of the pretty sheet of water.

A longer view they had, though not so lovely, when the train went down on a short railroad running to the lake, to take the passengers who had made the circuit of it in the little steamboat. The boat was in sight, but some distance off, so that the passengers seated themselves on the pier, or on the piles of boards that encumbered¹⁸ it. Logs and boards met the eye in every direction, and an immense steam saw-mill was at work, converting the 245felled trees of the great forest through which they had passed, into the boards with which the settler builds his house.

“Where is Norman?” asked Mrs. Lester anxiously of Mr. Campbell, a Scotch¹⁹ gentleman. “I do not see him anywhere.” The gentleman told her he would look for him, and in a few minutes he returned with the boy.

“Mother, I went up to that wood to gather some of these beautiful purple flowers for you, and for that young lady. She said she would like some of them, and I saw that the steamboat was so far off that I had time.”

“You should have told me where you were going, my child, and you would have spared me some moments of anxiety.”

“I am sorry, mother, but I was in no danger. I wanted to get some red berries for that young lady, but I could not find any.”

246“You may have these,” replied his mother; “I do not want them;” and while Norman went to give his berries and flowers to the young lady, with whom he had had many pleasant talks on the Planet, his mother pressed the pretty spikes of purple flowers in her guidebook.

The English clergyman stayed that he might go around Lake Simcoe, of which most of the passengers thought they had seen enough. It was dark when they reached Toronto, and Norman did not see much, roused as he was from a sound sleep, till he walked through the stately halls and parlors²⁰ of the Rossin House, and into his comfortable room.

1 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

2 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 indented   

adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版

参考例句：

• His voyage was down Chile's indented coastline.他的航行沿智利参差曲折的海岸线行进。
• Each paragraph of the body is usually indented five blocks.正文每段开始，一般缩进五个英文字母。

4 clamorous   

adj.吵闹的，喧哗的

参考例句：

• They are clamorous for better pay.他们吵吵嚷嚷要求增加工资。
• The meeting began to become clamorous.会议开始变得喧哗了。

5 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

6 evergreens   

n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The leaves of evergreens are often shaped like needles. 常绿植物的叶常是针形的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pine, cedar and spruce are evergreens. 松树、雪松、云杉都是常绿的树。 来自辞典例句

7 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

8 quills   

n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管

参考例句：

• Quills were the chief writing implement from the 6th century AD until the advent of steel pens in the mid 19th century. 从公元6世纪到19世纪中期钢笔出现以前，羽毛笔是主要的书写工具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defensive quills dot the backs of these troublesome creatures. 防御性的刺长在这些讨人厌的生物背上。 来自互联网

9 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

12 sloop   

n.单桅帆船

参考例句：

• They heeled the sloop well over,skimming it along to windward.他们使单桅小船倾斜适当，让它顶着风向前滑去。
• While a sloop always has two sails,a cat-rigged boat generally has only one.一艘单桅帆船总是有两面帆，但一艘单桅艇通常只有一面帆。

13 schooner   

n.纵帆船

参考例句：

• The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。
• The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。

14 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

16 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 stumps   

（被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。

18 encumbered   

v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。
• The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句

19 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

20 parlors   

客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店

参考例句：

• It had been a firm specializing in funeral parlors and parking lots. 它曾经是一个专门经营殡仪馆和停车场的公司。
• I walked, my eyes focused into the endless succession of barbershops, beauty parlors, confectioneries. 我走着，眼睛注视着那看不到头的、鳞次栉比的理发店、美容院、糖果店。