“It’s because you are moving with the machine,” explained Roy. “A grade don’t seem as steep when you are on it.”
“I couldn’t get up even a thrill,” declared Andy. “I supposed I’d hang on—I didn’t. Why, Roy even let me look after the engine.”
“When I began flying,” said Roy, “I went up alone. It was a foolish thing to do. After that, when I was really learning, I had to follow Mr. Atkinson’s first rule for new men—if they flew lower than six feet or higher than twenty-five, he made them descend3. Follow that rule, and you’ll learn all you can find out by going up higher.”
It was agreed that nothing more should be done that day. The aeroplane was wheeled[146] over near the boathouse and the engine was covered with a tarpaulin4. There would be no risk in leaving it thus exposed, but Captain Anderson said Ba would likely show up, as it was Saturday night. The colored man was to act as watchman.
“And how long are you going to keep that up?” asked the thoughtful Mrs. Anderson. “What use is the thing going to be?”
This was a poser. The captain did not attempt an answer.
“I’d like a few more lessons, if I can get them,” suggested Andy.
“You can operate it now,” put in Roy, “if you do as I said.”
“Why do you want more lessons?” asked Mrs. Leighton in turn. “Are you thinking of becoming an aviator2 yourself?”
Roy smiled, and Andy’s jaws5 set. But the boy made no reply.
When Roy, the aeroplane cared for and the exciting flights having been discussed in all details, suggested that he might as well board the night train and proceed to Lake Worth, there was a protest on the part of all. The young aviator had already endeared himself to his Valkaria hosts. Finally, he was persuaded[147] to stay over Sunday, with the promise of a sail on the Valkaria the next day.
Nearly all of Sunday was spent on the Valkaria. Saturday night and Sunday night, Roy and Andy slept in the boatshed, the captain returning to the house.
By the time the two boys went to sleep Sunday night they had become fast friends. It was arranged that the model of the bird-tail propeller6 was to be sent to Andy’s father in St. Paul that he might consult a patent lawyer concerning it. The boys were not so clear about the engine.
Roy had really no power to buy it outright7 for Mr. Atkinson before consulting that gentlemen. But he told Andy that he felt sure his employer would be eager to get the motor. Mr. Atkinson, he felt sure, would send his motor superintendent8 down to look at the engine, and Andy, in turn, assumed the power to give Roy and his friends an option on the engine, subject to examination. Andy was careful to secure Captain Anderson’s approval of these negotiations10.
“Have it your own way,” Captain Anderson said. “I reckon your father and I can settle it between us when I see him.”
[148]
Four times on Monday did the Pelican11 make successful ascents12. On the last one, at two o’clock, Andy made his first flight alone. So far as his anxious observers could see, his operation of the car was in no way different from that of young Osborne. At least, the moment Andy alighted, Roy slapped him on the back and said:
“I guess I’m not needed longer. You can teach someone else now.”
And, despite the regrets of his new friends, the young aviator boarded the night train for Lake Worth, each boy agreeing to write to the other, and Roy promising13 to send his latest pupil an aneroid barometer14 and an anemometer as soon as he reached Newark.
That night, as on the two previous nights, the strange Ba watched the new aeroplane. The next morning Captain Anderson suggested that the rudder, landing skis, and engine be detached and the frame and parts housed in the shop until the possible arrival of the motor expert from the north.
Andy entered a protest at once.
“I should say not,” he said; “that is, unless you insist. I want to make a real flight.”
“That’s why I want to take it apart,” confessed[149] the captain frankly15. “I knew you’d want to keep it up.”
“You’re not afraid of my breaking it, are you?” queried16 the boy.
“I’m only afraid of your breaking your neck.”
“Were you afraid Osborne would break his neck?”
“That’s different—he’s an expert.”
“‘Expert’,” repeated Andy. “I’ll be an expert when I’ve had the practice. And how will I get it? Not by readin’ about airships.”
“Settle it with your mother,” exclaimed the captain. “I certainly won’t object, if she don’t.”
Although Andy’s head was now brimming full of his great, but sleeping, project, he was not yet ready to consult his mother about it. As another step in his great plan, however, he obtained permission to go to his uncle’s house, one of the conditions being that he was to bring back some fruit. Although Ba had been watchman for three nights, none knew when he slept. And as soon as Andy got out the Red Bird’s oars17, the negro made ready to accompany him.
Andy’s mind was on other things, but he[150] never neglected an opportunity to talk to the Bahaman. Usually he approached the subject diplomatically. That morning on the way to Goat Creek18, he was out of sorts. Therefore, and much to his own surprise, he blurted19 out:
“Why don’t you tell me about that Timbado place, Ba? What are you afraid of?”
For a moment the colored man gave no sign in face or gesture that he heard. Then, as in the past, his lips began to twitch20 and his narrow brow grew narrower.
“You ain’t go on dat Timbado?” he repeated, his usual slow-witted question.
“Sure I am,” answered Andy perversely21. “Why not? I’m thinkin’ of goin’ right over there.”
There was no outward change in the black man’s bearing, but the boy could see that some emotion was affecting him within. They had reached Goat Creek, and, as the little boat passed into the currentless channel, Ba ceased rowing.
“Marse Andy,” he began in a husky voice, “Ah done bin22 on dat Timbado—white men don’ go dar.”
“I’m thinkin’ of goin’,” exclaimed Andy, hoping to draw out the colored man.
[151]
Ba looked at him long and intently.
“Yo’ ain’t know de big white man in Andros—Cap’n Bassett?”
Andy knew that Andros was one of the Bahama “out islands” and that more than one white man lived there, plantation23 owners.
“An Englishman?” asked the boy.
“Cap’n Bassett done took me on de boat when Ah bruk out de jail in Nassau.”
“And took you to Timbado?” asked Andy eagerly, overjoyed to find at last some inkling of Ba’s story.
The colored man shook his head.
“Two crops Ah wuk on Andros. Den9 dey sunt me to it.”
“Captain Bassett sent you to Timbado?”
A gulp24 came in the colored man’s throat and he simply nodded his head.
“What for?”
“Wid Nickolas an’ Thomas—dey ain’t never git away.”
“Ba,” exclaimed Andy sharply, “why did you go to Timbado?”
“Yo’ ain’t nebber hear ’bout Timbado?”
“I never heard of Timbado—”
“Cap’n Bassett tole us to steal it.”
“Steal what?”
“Yo’ ain’t nebber hear ’bout dat big pearl?”
“You mean that Captain Bassett sent you and two other men to steal a big pearl?” asked Andy breathlessly.
“Ah done see it, but Nickolas and Thomas dey don’ see it.”
“Saw a big pearl?”
“Like dat,” said Ba suddenly, leaning forward and holding out his heavy thumb. “An’ like de conch look.”
“A pink pearl as big as your thumb?” questioned Andy, his voice dropping into a whisper.
“Dat’s fetich,” was the frightened answer. “Ain’t no white man see dat big pearl.”
“And you stole it for Captain Bassett?” went on the boy excitedly.
The frightened Bahaman shook his head again.
“What happened?” persisted his companion. “Tell me!”
“Ah ain’t nebber see dat Nickolas. Ah ain’t nebber see dat Thomas no mo’.”
“And you?” insisted Andy. “Did you get the pearl?”
The oarsman’s hands were trembling. It was evident that in his half-savage way, he[153] was trying to recall what happened or to think of words to describe it. Again he shook his head, and then suddenly drew the oars into the boat and shipped them. His mouth twitching25 and his eyelids26 trembling, he caught his loose shirt with both hands and drew it up to his shoulders. At the same time, he turned on the seat.
His great, muscle-knotted back was seamed with a mass of scars. Long and deep wounds that had turned white in the healing crossed his flesh from his neck to his waist.
Andy shrank back. The persistency27 with which he had forced the African into this revelation covered him with shame.
“Yo’ ain’t goin’ on dat Timbado Key, is yo’?”
It was Ba’s last appeal.
For answer, Andy could only touch the agitated28 man sympathetically on his knee and turn away. It seemed to satisfy the colored man, and from that moment, ashamed of his idle curiosity, Andy said no more.
But as he watched the stolid29 face of the black Hercules, his imagination carried him far from Goat Creek. The ignorant negro became the center of a wild romance. What did it[154] mean? A fugitive30 from justice carried away from Nassau by an Englishman; kept in his service for a time and then sent with two others to steal a big pink pearl; two of the men disappear, one of them sees the fetich jewel big as a man’s thumb and pink “like a conch,” a priceless treasure; then the cruel wounds that must have meant death to any but a man like Ba.
Little wonder that Andy had small thought for anything else that morning. Landing at his uncle’s place, he sent Ba to the grove31 for the fruit, then sat a long time trying to compose himself. Try as he might, to put the weird32 tale out of his mind, he could not. Finally he entered the house and feverishly33 sought through the bookshelves until he found an atlas34.
After a long search he closed the book with a sigh of relief. He could not find Timbado Key.
“I’m glad of it,” he admitted to himself. “It may be only a crazy tale of Ba’s, but I’ve had enough. Back to the aeroplane for me.”
The real thing that had brought Andy to his uncle’s place that day was to examine a gasoline barrel which stood behind the shop. The[155] oil used in all their flights so far had been secured in Melbourne, Captain Anderson having ordered it by telephone before consulting the boy.
Andy was overjoyed to find the barrel at least half full. There were no vessels35 suitable for carrying any of it back, but there were wood-encased tins at Captain Anderson’s, and, satisfied with his discovery, the boy made ready to depart. Before he did so, he made a careful and significant examination of the open space on the gentle incline in front of the house, nodded his head approvingly, and, locking the house again, entered the boat.
On the way home the boy was moodily36 silent, a strange caprice for him. But he had suddenly reached a point where he was disturbed by doubts. He had been in Florida two weeks, but seemed to have lived months in his unexpected and sudden experience, and he was now debating whether it was to end as suddenly in nothing but a boyish fancy or to be the turning point in his young life.
He was positive that never again might such a glorious opportunity present itself to him to make a name for himself. His few days with Roy Osborne had fired him with an ambition[156] to achieve something out of the ordinary. The question was—should he give his parents the opportunity to crush his ambitions (and he knew he would never disobey their instructions), or should he win their later approval by carrying out his secret plan without their knowledge?
With scarcely a word to Ba, Andy lay in the stern of the boat and thought. But the more he thought, the further away seemed the solution of his problem. Still lost in doubt, the Red Bird touched Captain Anderson’s pier37.
“Cap’n Anderson’s gone off in the de Valkar’,” said Ba.
It was true. Hastening to the house, Andy found it deserted38. The boathouse was closed. On the door of the bungalow39 was a scrap40 of paper. It read:
“Your father is at Melbourne. Telephoned us. We’ve gone for him. Dinner in the pantry. Back this evening.
“Anderson.”
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aviators
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| 飞机驾驶员，飞行员( aviator的名词复数 ) | |
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aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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pelican
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| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
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ascents
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| n.上升( ascent的名词复数 )；（身份、地位等的）提高；上坡路；攀登 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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14
barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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twitch
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| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
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perversely
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| adv. 倔强地 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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persistency
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| n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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vessels
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| 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 | |
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moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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