CHAPTER XXV—A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD

 After dinner Harold went back to his cabin; locking himself in, he lay down on the sofa.  The gloom of his great sorrow was heavy on him; the reaction from the excitement of the morning had come.

 

He was recalled to himself by a gentle tapping.  Unlocking and opening the door he saw Mr. Stonehouse, who said with trouble in his voice:

 

‘I came to you on account of my little child.’  There he stopped with a break in his voice.  Harold, with intent to set his mind at ease and to stave off further expressions of gratitude¹, replied:

 

‘Oh, pray don’t say anything.  I am only too glad that I was privileged to be of service.  I only trust that the dear little girl is no worse for her—her adventure!’

 

‘That is why I am here,’ said the father quickly.  ‘My wife and I are loth to trouble you.  But the poor little thing has worked herself into a paroxysm of fright and is calling for you.  We have tried in vain to comfort or reassure² her.  She will not be satisfied without you.  She keeps calling on “The Man” to come and help her.  I am loth to put you to further strain after all you have gone through to-day; but if you would come—’  Harold was already in the passage as he spoke³:

 

‘Of course I’m coming.  If I can in any way help it is both a pleasure and a duty to be with her.’  Turning to the father he added:

 

‘She is indeed a very sweet and good child.  I shall never forget how she bore herself whilst we waited for aid to come.’

 

‘You must tell her mother and me all about it,’ said the father; much moved.

 

When they came close to the Stonehouses’ suite⁴ of rooms they heard Pearl’s voice rising with a pitiful note of fear:

 

‘Where is The Man?  Oh! where is The Man?  Why doesn’t he come to me?  He can save me!  I want to be with The Man!’  When the door opened and she saw him she gave shriek⁵ of delight, and springing from the arms of her mother fairly leaped into Harold’s arms which were outstretched to receive her.  She clung to him and kissed him again and again, rubbing her little hands all over his face as though to prove to herself that he was real and not a dream.  Then with a sigh she laid her head on his breast, the reaction of sleep coming all at once to her.  With a gesture of silence Harold sat down, holding the child in his arms.  Her mother laid a thick shawl over and sat down close to Harold.  Mr. Stonehouse stood quiet in the doorway⁶ with the child’s nurse peering anxiously over his shoulder.

 

After a little while, when he thought she was asleep, Harold rose and began to place her gently in the bunk⁷.  But the moment he did so she waked with a scream.  The fright in her eyes was terrible.  She clung to him, moaning and crying out between her sobs⁸:

 

‘Don’t leave me!  Don’t leave me!  Don’t leave me!’  Harold was much moved and held the little thing tight in his strong arms, saying to her:

 

‘No darling!  I shan’t leave you!  Look in my eyes, dear, and I will promise you, and then you will be happy.  Won’t you?’

 

She looked quickly up in his face.  Then she kissed him lovingly, and rested her head, but not sleepily this time, on his breast said:

 

‘Yes!  I’m not afraid now!  I’m going to stay with The Man!’  Presently Mrs. Stonehouse, who had been thinking of ways and means, and of the comfort of the strange man who had been so good to her child, said:

 

‘You will sleep with mother to-night, darling.  Mr. . . . The Man,’ she said this with an appealing look of apology to Harold, ‘The Man will stay by you till you are asleep . . . ’  But she interrupted, not fretfully or argumentatively, but with a settled air of content:

 

‘No!  I’m going to sleep with The Man!’

 

‘But, dear one,’ the mother expostulated, ‘The Man will want sleep too.’

 

‘All right, mother.  He can sleep too.  I’ll be very good and lie quite quiet; but oh! mother, I can’t sleep unless his arms are round me.  I’m afraid if they’re not the sea will get me!’ and she clung closer to Harold, tightening⁹ her arms round his neck.

 

‘You will not mind?’ asked Mrs. Stonehouse timidly to Harold; and, seeing acquiescence¹⁰ in his face, added in a burst of tearful gratitude:

 

‘Oh! you are good to her to us all!’

 

‘Hush!’ Harold said quietly.  Then he said to Pearl, in a cheerful matter-of-fact way which carried conviction to the child’s mind:

 

‘Now, darling, it is time for all good little girls to be asleep, especially when they have had an—an interesting day.  You wait here till I put my pyjamas¹¹ on, and then I’ll come back for you.  And mother and father shall come and see you nicely tucked in!’

 

‘Don’t be long!’ the child anxiously called after him as he hurried away.  Even trust can have its doubts.

 

In a few minutes Harold was back, in pyjamas and slipper¹² and a dressing-gown.  Pearl, already wrapped in a warm shawl by her mother, held out her arms to Harold, who lifted her.

 

The Stonehouses’ suite of rooms was close to the top of the companion-way, and as Harold’s stateroom was on the saloon deck, the little procession had, much to the man’s concern, run the gauntlet of the thong¹³ of passengers whom the bad weather had kept indoors.  When he came out of the day cabin carrying the child there was a rush of all the women to make much of the little girl.  They were all very kind and no troublesome; their interest was natural enough, and Harold stopped whilst they petted the little thing.

 

The little procession followed.  Mr. and Mrs. Stonehouse coming next, and last the nurse, who manifested a phase of the anxiety of a hen who sees her foster ducklings waddling¹⁴ toward a pond.

 

When Harold was in his bunk the little maid was brought in.

 

When they had all gone and the cabin was dark, save for the gleam from the nightlight which the careful mother had placed out of sight in the basin at the foot of the bunk, Harold lay a long time in a negative state, if such be possible, in so far as thought was concerned.

 

Presently he became conscious of a movement of the child his arms; a shuddering¹⁵ movement, and a sort of smothered¹⁶ groan¹⁷.  The little thing was living over again in sleep the perils¹⁸ and fears of the day.  Instinctively she put up her hands and felt the a round her.  Then with a sigh clasped her arms round his neck, and with a peaceful look laid her head upon his breast.  Even through the gates of sleep her instinct had recognised and realised protection.

 

And then this trust of a little child brought back the man to his nobler self.  Once again came back to him that love which he had had, and which he knew now that he had never lost, for the little child that he had seen grow into full womanhood; whose image must dwell in his heart of hearts for evermore.

 

The long night’s sleep quite restored Pearl.  She woke fairly early and without any recurrence¹⁹ of fear.  At first she lay still, fearing she would wake The Man, but finding that he was awake—he had not slept a wink²⁰ all night—she kissed him and then scrambled²¹ out of bed.

 

It was still early morning, but early hours rule on shipland.  Harold rang for the steward²², and when the man came he told him to tell Mr. Stonehouse that the child was awake.  His delight when he found the child unfrightened looking out of the port was unbounded.

 

1 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

2 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

5 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

8 sobs   

啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
• She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。

9 tightening   

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。

10 acquiescence   

n.默许；顺从

参考例句：

• The chief inclined his head in sign of acquiescence.首领点点头表示允许。
• This is due to his acquiescence.这是因为他的默许。

11 pyjamas   

n.（宽大的）睡衣裤

参考例句：

• This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
• Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。

12 slipper   

n.拖鞋

参考例句：

• I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。
• The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。

13 thong   

n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带

参考例句：

• He fastened the dog to the post with a thong.他用一根皮带把狗拴到柱子上。
• If I switch with Harry,do I have to wear a thong?如果我和哈里调换，我应该穿皮带吗？

14 waddling   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Rhinoceros Give me a break, were been waddling every day. 犀牛甲：饶了我吧，我们晃了一整天了都。 来自互联网
• A short plump woman came waddling along the pavement. 有个矮胖女子一摇一摆地沿人行道走来。 来自互联网

15 shuddering   

v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

16 smothered   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
• The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。

17 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

18 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

19 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

20 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

21 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。