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CHAPTER XXIII HOT CANNIBAL RIVETS
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Ted1’s plane was heavy, a dead weight in the water. Progress toward the island was slow, but the protecting screen of mist held on. Noon came, and Mary produced cold meat sandwiches and bananas for their lunch.

As Jack2 watched her give a banana to the monkey perched on her shoulder, he caught the gleam of the chain and the tag the monkey wore about his neck.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “That’s your dog tag the monk3 is wearing!”

“Sure,” she flashed him a smile. “What did you think?”

“Almost anything before I knew you were a white girl,” he admitted.

“I’ll bet you thought the natives had eaten me,” she laughed, “and that all that was left of me was the dog tag.”

“That, and your white uniform,” he supplemented.
193

“Oh! So you saw me dig it out from its hiding place!” she accused him. “Aren’t you ashamed, spying on a lady while she tries on a new dress?”

“It wasn’t too shocking. Besides, you were just one more dusky maiden4, and still are.” He touched her dark cheek.

“All that will change,” she replied soberly. Then recited:

Turn, turn my wheel.

All things must change.

The blue eggs in the robin’s nest

Will soon have wings and beak5 and breast and flutter and fly away.

“Robins and appleblossoms and home,” Jack murmured huskily. “Glorious thought! But I say! You’d better get that dog tag back on your neck, for we are once more on our way to war, and unless I miss my guess our next stop will be the Philippines.”

“Oh! The Philippines! Lead me to them!” she exclaimed, unsnapping the dog-tag chain from the monkey’s neck.

It was midafternoon by the time the natives had dragged Ted’s plane between towering rocks to a small, well-hidden cove6 where they might make needed repairs unmolested.
194

“We’ve got to get out of here just as soon as we can.” Ted’s brow wrinkled. “Look! I’ve got a chart that shows the course our task force is taking.”

“Wouldn’t the Japs like to get their hands on that!” Mary whispered when he had the chart spread out on a rock.

“Well, they won’t. I’ll eat it first.” Ted was deeply in earnest. “Look. This is the way they are going.”

“Straight away from here,” said Jack.

“And straight for Mindanao.” Mary danced a jig7. “Please! Oh, please take me along!”

“We’ll all go—or none,” Jack said seriously. “But we’d better get busy or we’ll never catch up with our task force.”

All three boys pitched into the task of examining and overhauling8 Ted’s plane. At length Jack came up with a very long face.

“You must have hit the water mighty9 hard, Ted,” he said soberly.

“Well, yes, I suppose I did,” Ted replied. “I don’t remember that part of the adventure very well. When you’ve been chased all over the sky by a plane that’s a freak and faster than anything you’ve ever seen on land or in the air, you’re not likely to notice a tough landing. Why? What’s the matter?”
195

“Matter enough!” said Jack. “Your right wing is half torn away. Some of the rivets10 are actually gone. Many more are loose. You’ll never get me up in this kite, not until a lot of work has been done on it.”

“Great guns!” Stew11 exploded. “We’ll never catch up with the Black Bee now! And that means we miss the big show!”

“There’s that jet plane,” Jack suggested.

“Yes, sure!” Stew scoffed12. “And who’s got it? Two Germans, three Japs, and two machine guns!”

“One German, I think,” said Ted. “I’m positive that one of them fell or jumped from the plane. I saw him hit the water. Still,” he added slowly, “there are four of them, and with machine guns—that’s a lot.”

“What do you need for fixing the plane?” Mary asked.

“Rivets,” said Jack. “Hot rivets. Got any in your outfit13?”

“We might have.” The girl did not smile. “I’ll ask my dusky godfather.” She hurried down to the canoes, where the natives were having a sun bath.

The boys could see her talking to the men. They found it interesting and amusing. She would ask a question of the Chief. At once they would all explode into wild talk. This would die down abruptly14. Then the Chief would say a few words to Mary.
196

This was repeated a dozen times. Then she came rushing back.

“Yes,” she said, “we have hot rivets, copper15 ones, this big.” She held up an inch-long section of wood. “Will they do?”

“Nothing better,” said Ted. “But, I say—”

He did not say it, for she was away like a flash and ten seconds later the natives in their canoes were making the foam16 fly.

“Can you beat that!” Stew exclaimed. “Hot copper rivets in a cannibal village!”

“I can’t,” said Ted. “But I believe we’ll get them all the same.”

And they did. Not half an hour had passed when the girl and her dusky crew once more entered the harbor.

“Great Scott!” Stew exclaimed at sight of their heavily laden17 canoes. “Where’d you get all that equipment?”

“I think we have all it takes,” Mary said, smiling.

“You certainly have!” Jack exclaimed. “A portable forge with coal to fire it, a vise, an anvil18, and all sorts of tools. Where did they come from?”

“Let’s not go into that now,” Mary replied in a most professional manner. “It was my understanding that you were in a great rush.”
197

“Sure! Of course, we are!” the boys agreed.

“Well, then, let’s get busy.” She motioned her men to unload.

“We don’t have rivets,” she went on, “but we do have several sizes of copper pipes and these boys will make you the finest rivets you ever saw—any size—any length.”

That this was no idle boast the boys soon discovered, for in an incredibly short time the forge was glowing and the anvil ringing.

“I only hope those Japs don’t hear that noise.” Jack’s brow wrinkled.

“They won’t,” was Mary’s reply, “for there’s a high stone wall between them and us. But if they did, and came over here without their machine guns, we would be a match for them. My natives took their rifles from hiding. There are six of them with good rifles. And believe me, they can shoot!”

With the natives to forge out hot copper rivets of just the right size and the young airmen to hammer them into place, the work progressed rapidly.

So busy were the boys that they failed to miss Mary Brown, who had slipped away almost at once. They failed, too, to note that night was falling.

“Three more rivets,” Ted breathed, “and we’re through. What luck!”
198

At that instant Mary appeared at the crest19 of a huge rock. Without speaking, she beckoned20 to Jack.

When he reached her side he realized that she was greatly excited.

“Tell them you’re going with me,” she whispered. “Say you’ll be right back.”

Jack told them. They assured him that they could finish the job by themselves in jigtime. Then they’d have a bite to eat.

As Mary and Jack vanished over a low ridge21 she said in a low, tense voice:

“You said you’d like to fly the jet plane away.”

“Would I!”

She gripped his arm to silence him. “There is just a chance that you might if only—”

“If only what?”

“If only you could beat that Nazi22 to the controls.”

“But the Japs?”

“That’s all right,” she whispered. “The natives were roasting pork. The Japs smelled it. They like pork. So they came over with their rifles and took over the village. The men were with you. If they hadn’t been, there might have been trouble. I told the women to feed them and give them coffee. They put a powder in the coffee. The Japs will fall asleep.”
199

“Great! But the German?” Jack asked.

“That’s what you’ve got to find out right now. It’s not far. We’ll be there in ten minutes—I mean to the ridge—looking down on the plane.”

“And then?” Jack caught his breath.

“Then we can decide what is to be done.”

After that they walked on in silence. Only once Jack whispered, “Listen!”

They stood still listening.

“What was it?” she whispered.

“I thought I heard a motor, not like a plane motor, but one on a boat. Guess I was mistaken.”

Once again they moved forward in the growing dusk.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ted 9gazhs     
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。
2 jack 53Hxp     
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。
3 monk 5EDx8     
n.和尚,僧侣,修道士
参考例句:
  • The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
  • Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。
4 maiden yRpz7     
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的
参考例句:
  • The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
  • The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。
5 beak 8y1zGA     
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻
参考例句:
  • The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
  • This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。
6 cove 9Y8zA     
n.小海湾,小峡谷
参考例句:
  • The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁,嫩绿一片,好一个山外的小海湾。
  • I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。
7 jig aRnzk     
n.快步舞(曲);v.上下晃动;用夹具辅助加工;蹦蹦跳跳
参考例句:
  • I went mad with joy and danced a little jig.我欣喜若狂,跳了几步吉格舞。
  • He piped a jig so that we could dance.他用笛子吹奏格舞曲好让我们跳舞。
8 overhauling c335839deaeda81ce0dd680301931584     
n.大修;拆修;卸修;翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 );大修;赶上;超越
参考例句:
  • I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
  • Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改,而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网
9 mighty YDWxl     
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 rivets bcbef283e796bd891e34464b129e9ddc     
铆钉( rivet的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Straighten the rivets, please. 请把那铆钉铆直。
  • Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, and a visitation. 但是铆钉并没有运来,来的却是骚扰、混乱和视察。
11 stew 0GTz5     
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。
12 scoffed b366539caba659eacba33b0867b6de2f     
嘲笑,嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
  • A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。
13 outfit YJTxC     
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。
14 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
15 copper HZXyU     
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的
参考例句:
  • The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
  • Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。
16 foam LjOxI     
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
参考例句:
  • The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
  • The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
17 laden P2gx5     
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的
参考例句:
  • He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
  • Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。
18 anvil HVxzH     
n.铁钻
参考例句:
  • The blacksmith shaped a horseshoe on his anvil.铁匠在他的铁砧上打出一个马蹄形。
  • The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly.订书机上的铁砧安装错位。
19 crest raqyA     
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。
20 beckoned b70f83e57673dfe30be1c577dd8520bc     
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
  • The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 ridge KDvyh     
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭
参考例句:
  • We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
  • The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。
22 Nazi BjXyF     
n.纳粹分子,adj.纳粹党的,纳粹的
参考例句:
  • They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻,并出面求和。
  • Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。


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