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CHAPTER VIII ANDY FIRST HEARS OF KING CAJOU
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Before ten o’clock the next morning, Andy, with the savage-looking Ba rowing the little Red Bird, had been to the Leighton cottage on Goat Creek1, and was back with the model of the bird-tail guide and a box of special metal-working tools. By noon the projected aeroplane was under way.

While daylight lasted, Captain Anderson and his assistant applied2 themselves to selecting timber, roughing out the frame of the flying machine, with frequent conferences. From Andy’s handbook, dimensions were readily secured, and that evening a working sketch3 of the car was made.

The following morning, Andy began a search for batteries. Those found at his uncle’s cottage were practically exhausted4. There was much that the boy would have to do at the forge in his uncle’s shop in the way of metal work, but he was anxious that the batteries should be secured to test the engine.
 
“We’ll have to get cloth, too, for covering the planes. We ought to have balloon silk, but that is out of the question. Good muslin will do—we’ll waterproof5 it—I know how—alum and sugar of lead, equal parts in warm water—”

“I’m afraid we haven’t muslin enough,” interrupted the captain.

“Certainly not,” exclaimed the boy, “nor alum, nor sugar of lead, nor batteries. So I’ll go to Melbourne this afternoon and get ’em—it’s only eight miles. I can be back this evening—”

“There’s a nice breeze,” volunteered the captain, “and it’s abeam6. We’ll have Ba sail the Valkaria, and you can take your mother and Mrs. Anderson.”

“Won’t you come along?” asked the boy, overjoyed, but feeling a little guilty.

“When I get set on a job,” answered the industrious7 captain, “I like to keep agoin’. I ain’t goin’ to let this one get cold on my hands. We’ve got to have those things, so hurry along and get ’em.”

By one o’clock, the supply expedition set sail, with a long list of needed material. In a half hour, Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Leighton being[88] comfortably busy with their fancy work well up in the bow, Andy found opportunity to interview the mysterious Ba.

“Ba,” he began, “didn’t you like it over there in the Bahamas?”

“Didn’ Ah like it? Ah liked it all right in de big town—Ah liked it in Nassau, but dey ain’t gwine ’low me stay dar.”

“Why not?”

“’Case I done had my trial.”

“What did you do?”

“Me? Ah don’ do nuthin’. Me an’ Robert was in de sisal fiel’ and dar was de machete. Dis Robert he done say de machete was hissen. An’ I done rutch ober and tuck it to gib it to him. An’ Robert he riz up an’ cut hissef on de neck. Ah don’ do nuthin’.”

“Then what?” urged the interested boy.

“De big judge he jes look at me, an’ den8 dey put me in de jail.”

“And you served your term?”

“Ah don’ know nothin’ ’bout dat. But Ah pushed de bars out an’ Ah comed away.”

“Didn’t you have a home?” asked Andy.

Ba shook his head, and his eyes widened.

“I ain’t gwine back to no out islands.”

“Out islands?” repeated Andy. “What are they?”

[89]

But Ba made no answer. He looked at the boy with narrowed eyes, and then gave his attention to the flying boat. After a few moments, still ignoring the boy’s question, the strange black man, without facing Andy and in a new tone, said in a low voice:

“You ain’t nebber gwine on dat Timbado Key, is you?”

“Timbado Key?” asked Andy. “Where’s that?”

The slow-spoken Bahaman made no answer.

“Was that your home?” suggested the lad.

Again there was no immediate9 reply. Then, suddenly, in a whisper, the black said:

“Dat’s fetich. You ain’t gwine dar?”

The boy nodded his head reassuringly10. He knew what “fetich” meant—the African’s sign of ill-omen. Alarmed over a fetich! Finally he went forward and asked Mrs. Anderson what she knew about the blacks of the Bahamas.

She told him that they were mostly descended11 from real Africans; that, in the days when slave stealing was being practised, it was the custom when slavers were caught by English or American men-of-war, to liberate12 the victims on the tropic Bahamas.

“There may be old men there now,” she[90] said, “who were born in the wilds of Africa. And the second and third generation are not much more civilized13. Ba is probably almost as much African as if he were living in the Congo,” she concluded.

“Where is Timbado Key?” asked Andy.

Mrs. Anderson shook her head. “All the Bahama Islands, except Providence14, are ‘out islands.’ This must be one of the smaller ‘out islands.’ I never heard of it.”

When the boy returned to the stern he again attempted to learn from Ba why Timbado was fetich, and where it was. But there was only blankness on the boatman’s immobile face. In a short time, Andy was to know a great deal about Timbado Key, but for the time he had to restrain his curiosity.

In Melbourne, Andy was greeted by a clerk from the general store. He had a message received by telephone from Captain Anderson. In addition to the things the boy was to get, there was a new list, which included more straight-grained and knotless pine.

The rather delicate question of who was to pay for the needed material might have embarrassed the boy and his mother had not Captain Anderson made it easy by assuming half the[91] expense as a partner and insisting on paying for the other half until Mr. Leighton could send a check for it.

The aeroplane architects were most anxious to secure a quantity of No. 12 piano wire for bracing15 the aeroplane, but as there was none available, Andy took an entire roll of the same size in plain steel. The next anxiety was that they might not be able to find needed turn-buckles for tightening16 the bracing wires. The store had a few—a little larger than absolutely necessary—and the town boatmaker had, fortunately, enough more to fill out Andy’s list.

He searched the town for shoemaker’s twist, but shoemaking seemed to have gone out of style, and he had to content himself with what approximated it, a skein of fine thread-like linen17 cord used by fishermen in making nets. As he could not get shoemaker’s wax to wax it, he bought a cake of beeswax.

The selecting of the wood screws, which had to be of various and exact sizes, was a task that Andy relegated18 to the storekeeper while he visited the lumber19 yard.

“Spruce is really what we want,” explained the boy to the proprietor20, who also ran the livery stable, “but we’ll have to use pine—”

[92]

“Spruce?” exclaimed the dealer21. “Then I’m your boy, if this’ll do.” He led Andy to a bundle of boards, 2 × 2 stuff, and some thin rib-like slats. “This is spruce.”

“How’d you happen to have that down here?” exclaimed Andy.

“I’ve had it two years,” answered the man. “I got it for two college boys from Boston, who were going to make two racin’ shells. But they didn’t make nothin’ but a lot of bills and some quick tracks.”

“I’ll take it all,” broke in Andy, highly elated.

By five o’clock, the Valkaria was considerably22 lower in the water. With a fine burst of generosity23, Andy conducted his mother and Mrs. Anderson back to the store, regaled them with some not over cold pop and a box of chocolates, bought a can of smoking tobacco and some new magazines for the captain, and with a couple of two-for-a-nickel cigars for Ba, assisted the ladies aboard the boat.

Ba was all smiles over the cigars. He appeared all smiles over something else, too.

“What’s doin’, Ba?” joked Andy.

“Ain’t nothin’ doin’,” replied Ba, licking his cigar preliminary to lighting24 it. “Leastways, ain’t no wind. She’s a dead cam.”

[93]

“Why, so it is,” exclaimed Mrs. Anderson, “and here it is five o’clock. Do you think it’ll freshen up later, Ba?” she went on, with some concern.

“Ain’t gwine be no win’ dis eben, Miss Anderson,” was Ba’s verdict, as he rolled out an odorous volume of smoke.

“What in the world shall we do?” cried Mrs. Leighton.

Mrs. Anderson laughed.

“There isn’t any train, and we can’t walk. Ba,” she said to the happy Bahaman, “you’ll have to pole us home.”

The obedient darkey, without any great gusto, however, began unlashing two long poles that were made fast to the deck alongside the washboard. Andy understood.

“Can you do that?” he asked. “Is the river shallow enough?”

“The Indian River is like a lot of people,” answered Mrs. Anderson, laughing. “It’s not anyways as deep as it looks. And Captain Anderson has one weakness—he’ll never leave his boat if he goes sailing. He’ll come home in it if he has to push it every foot of the way. That’s why we’ve got the poles.”

Ba had already cast off and (having extinguished[94] his cigar and stowed it away in his pocket), was getting the Valkaria under way. As the boat began to move, he walked along the deck gangway to the bow, and dropping the end of his twelve-foot pole to the bottom, rested the other end against his shoulder and began to walk aft. As he did so, the boat moved forward under the pressure of Ba’s feet.

“Great!” shouted Andy, catching25 up the other pole. “That’s fun. We’ll get you home quicker’n a couple o’ canal boat mules26.”

Ba did not protest. Showing Andy how to alternate with him so that one of them was pushing forward while the other was returning to the bow, the colored man and the eager boy soon had the little yacht moving on her course.

Andy’s black and blue shoulder was good proof the next day that he did his share. Ba crooned the songs of the “out islands” when the time dragged, and at last, after eight o’clock, Mrs. Anderson detected the pin-point light of the lantern she knew Captain Anderson would hang on the end of the pier27.

The captain, receiving the tired stragglers with many a joke, showed his skill as a cook in the hot supper he had ready. The evening meal disposed of, it was a new pleasure to Andy, in[95] spite of his stiff limbs and sore shoulder, to help carry the aeroplane material to the boathouse, and almost a supreme28 happiness to sit in the light of the rising moon and recount all his experiences to his friend.

After a time, Andy went into the house and soon returned with the captain’s chart of the Bahamas. Spreading it out on the desk, the boy began studying it intently.

“Got it again?” asked the captain laughing. “Well, I don’t blame you. They’re curious islands—”

“Where’s Timbado Key?” interrupted Andy.

“Timbado? Oh, I see! Old Ba has loosened up. That’s Ba’s notion of a good place to keep away from.”

“Why?” asked the boy quickly. “He wouldn’t tell me.”

“Nor me,” answered the captain, freshly charging his pipe. “I’ve heard it’s a place colored men never go back to a second time and that white men never go to even once.”

Andy dropped the map, and Captain Anderson walked over and picked it up. He pointed29 to a nameless speck30 on the southern edge of the Bahama Banks.

[96]

“It’s about here,” he indicated. “They told me over on Andros Island, when I put in there two years ago, that if you want to see real African savagery31, you don’t need to cross the ocean—just go to Timbado.”

Andy’s eyes dilated32.

“At other places there are white men, Englishmen and Americans, growin’ fruit and spongin’ and fishin’, but on Timbado, there’s nothin’ doin’.”

“What do you mean?” interrupted the boy.

“Well,” went on the captain, “they say, mind you I just say they say, that there is a village o’ blacks over there bossed by an old African who thinks he’s a king, King Cajou. And,” laughed the captain, “they say that old Cajou ain’t ever been cured o’ eatin’ his enemies—and sometimes those who ain’t.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 creek 3orzL     
n.小溪,小河,小湾
参考例句:
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
2 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
3 sketch UEyyG     
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述
参考例句:
  • My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
  • I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。
4 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
5 waterproof Ogvwp     
n.防水材料;adj.防水的;v.使...能防水
参考例句:
  • My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
  • All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。
6 abeam Yyxz8     
adj.正横着(的)
参考例句:
  • The ship yawed as the heavy wave struck abeam.当巨浪向船舷撞击时,船暂时地偏离了航道。
  • The lighthouse was abeam of the ship.灯塔在船的正横方向。
7 industrious a7Axr     
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的
参考例句:
  • If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
  • She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。
8 den 5w9xk     
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室
参考例句:
  • There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
  • The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。
9 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
10 reassuringly YTqxW     
ad.安心,可靠
参考例句:
  • He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
  • The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑,让人心里很踏实。
11 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
12 liberate p9ozT     
v.解放,使获得自由,释出,放出;vt.解放,使获自由
参考例句:
  • They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
  • This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。
13 civilized UwRzDg     
a.有教养的,文雅的
参考例句:
  • Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
  • rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
14 providence 8tdyh     
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
参考例句:
  • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
  • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
15 bracing oxQzcw     
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。
16 tightening 19aa014b47fbdfbc013e5abf18b64642     
上紧,固定,紧密
参考例句:
  • Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前,检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
  • It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。
17 linen W3LyK     
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的
参考例句:
  • The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
  • Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。
18 relegated 2ddd0637a40869e0401ae326c3296bc3     
v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 );使降职;转移;把…归类
参考例句:
  • She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
  • I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
19 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
20 proprietor zR2x5     
n.所有人;业主;经营者
参考例句:
  • The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
  • The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。
21 dealer GyNxT     
n.商人,贩子
参考例句:
  • The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
  • The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。
22 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
23 generosity Jf8zS     
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为
参考例句:
  • We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
  • We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。
24 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
25 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
26 mules be18bf53ebe6a97854771cdc8bfe67e6     
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者
参考例句:
  • The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
  • She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。
27 pier U22zk     
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。
28 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
29 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
30 speck sFqzM     
n.微粒,小污点,小斑点
参考例句:
  • I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
  • The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗,一星星云彩也没有。
31 savagery pCozS     
n.野性
参考例句:
  • The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
  • They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。
32 dilated 1f1ba799c1de4fc8b7c6c2167ba67407     
adj.加宽的,扩大的v.(使某物)扩大,膨胀,张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyes dilated with fear. 她吓得瞪大了眼睛。
  • The cat dilated its eyes. 猫瞪大了双眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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