CHAPTER XVIII LUCK, PALS, AND PROVIDENCE

Scarcely had Jack¹ seated himself beside the slim girl in the shadows away from the campfire when she whispered:

“I hoped you’d come. I have something tremendously important to show you. First you must play for these people, for they love it.”

At that she clapped her hands and at the same time gave a sharp exclamation³. Some native word, thought Jack. He was startled by this sudden turn of affairs.

The natives were on their feet in an instant. Three brown warriors⁴, doubtless misunderstanding the call, seized their spears.

Like figures done in bronze, with the firelight playing on their dark faces, these three stood there, silent and alert, ready for action, as the girl said a few words to them in their own language. Then the men relaxed and a low murmur⁵ ran round the campfire.
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“Play now!” the girl commanded, turning to Jack.

A louder murmur came from the natives as they settled back in their places and Jack tuned⁶ his violin.

Deciding that some simple tunes⁷ would suit these people best, the boy played “Turkey in the Straw.” Pleased by their dancing eyes, he did the “Arkansas Traveler,” then “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

When he swung into “Old Man River,” the natives seemed to sense the meaning of the song, for their faces were somber⁸ and sad. But now some one was singing the words.

He listened carefully. It was the girl who sang.

“Sing it all,” he whispered. He started once more at the beginning and she sang with him to the end.

After that he played on and on, wondering, Where did this girl learn that song? She had said, “These people.” Were they not her people? It was mighty⁹ strange.

When the fire had burned low and some of the native children were asleep at their mothers’ sides, Jack put his violin away. Then, as if he were in church and had preached a good sermon, the older members of the group came forward for a solemn handshake.

After a few words to the natives, the girl turned to Jack. “I’ll show you a new way back to your camp,” she said in a quiet voice.
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A moment later, without a light, she was leading him through the inky blackness of a jungle trail.

“There are only two of us, my pal¹⁰ and I,” Jack said to the girl after a time. “We may get into a tight spot any time!”

“Oh, you are in a tight spot right now!”

In the meantime, some distance to the south, things were happening on the dark waters of night. Catching¹¹ the drone of airplane motors and recognizing them as those used in U. S. fighter planes, Ted² on his raft had become greatly excited. That’s Kentucky and my other pals¹², he thought. They’re out looking for me. How can I signal to them?

A flare¹³. The thought came to him at once. In his emergency outfit¹⁴ were matches in a sealed tin. With trembling fingers he opened the can.

But what could he use for a torch? He thought of his gony. Its feathers would burn. But no. He couldn’t do that. His parachute? Yes, it would burn. But what a waste. If other things failed, he’d use it. But meanwhile he’d tie his shirt to one of the paddles and light it. He wadded it tightly around the paddle blade so it would burn for some time. He lighted it, and moved it about in the air.

“It makes so little light. They’ll never see it,” he despaired.
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But they did see it. Soon Kentucky came zooming¹⁵ down while the others circled above him.

“Boy! Am I glad to see you!” Ted put out a hand to Kentucky when the plane was down and he had paddled to it.

“That makes two of us!” Kentucky gripped his hand excitedly.

“I’ll be with the old Black Bee after all when we make that big push!” Ted exulted¹⁶.

“You won’t be in anything if you don’t get busy and climb up here!” Kentucky laughed.

“Wait. I’ll have to take care of my gony.” Ted reached down.

“Hey! Ouch! Quit it!” he exclaimed. “Ungrateful creature! I should have used you for a torch.”

“What is it?” Kentucky asked in surprise.

“Just a gony—an albatross,” said Ted. “He lit on my head and now he bites me for the tenth time. Give me a light.”

Kentucky held a light on it while Ted cut the strap¹⁷ that held the huge bird. Then he tossed the gony into the sea. “I was keeping it for emergency rations,” he laughed.

Five minutes later he was in the plane, and they were roaring away. “Just one more incident in the great war,” Ted said. “Some get rescued and some don’t.”
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“It’s all a matter of luck,” said Kentucky.

“Providence, luck, and pals,” Ted added.

“There’s more work of the same kind to be done,” said Kentucky. “I think I’ve got Jack and Stew¹⁸ located on one of those three islands.”

“Great stuff! How did you do it?”

“Stew’s got some kind of radio. Not very strong, but I got him. He told me in a sort of code that they were on this end of the biggest island.”

“That’s swell¹⁹!” Ted exclaimed. “Going after them is my job. Jack’s from my home town.”

“Say! That’s keen!” said Kentucky. They flew on.

At the same time, on the island, with the aid of the girl, Jack was making a startling discovery. She walked with surprising speed over the jungle trail. Only now and then did she take his hand for an instant to whisper, “Over a log here” or “Up a low ledge²⁰ now.”

“I didn’t want the natives to know,” she murmured low. “There might have been trouble if they saw what you are going to see. I didn’t want a fight—not now.”

“Know what?” Jack wanted to ask, but did not. What a queer girl this was! Her skin was dark, her nose was rather broad, and her lips seemed thick, yet she was surely not like the others.
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“Been raised by some missionary,” he told himself. He knew well enough that there were such girls. He had seen some of them in the Solomons. Some were nurses. He thought again of the nurse’s uniform hidden at the foot of a huge palm. Had the girl been a native nurse?

“Up now,” she whispered, gripping his hand.

They climbed straight up a rocky ledge. At the crest²¹ she pushed him down to a place beside her.

“Look down,” she whispered.

He looked, then stared. Almost directly beneath them, surprisingly close and all lit up by a near-by campfire, was the mystery plane. Seated around the fire were not two men, but five. Three were small, the others large. Just then the two large men stood up. One was tall and rather thin, the other short and stout²².

“Not the same men!” Jack whispered in astonishment²³.

“No, they’re not,” she agreed. “The three little men are Japs.”

“Japs!” Jack could feel prickles at the back of his neck. “What does it mean?”

“Danger!” came in a low whisper.

1 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。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

4 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

5 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

6 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

10 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

11 catching   

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。

12 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

13 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

14 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

15 zooming   

adj.快速上升的v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去分词 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说，平移和缩放一起使用时，产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

16 exulted   

狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people exulted at the victory. 人们因胜利而欢腾。
• The people all over the country exulted in the success in launching a new satellite. 全国人民为成功地发射了一颗新的人造卫星而欢欣鼓舞。

17 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

18 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

19 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

20 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

21 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

23 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。