The only trouble with the "scheme" was its general indefiniteness. And that the seven recognized. It was all very well to say you were going to "bust7 up" Bull Harris' speech. But how? It would not do to guy him, or to use any device of which the authors might be found out. It was quite a problem.
Texas suggested an alarm of fire, which was outvoted as dangerous, likely to produce a panic. Some one else wondered how about kidnaping Bull and tying him up. This suggestion was put on file as being possible, to be[Pg 23] consulted in case no better appeared, which bid fair just then to be the case.
Mark and his friends marched down to dinner without any further ideas appearing. The plebes still marched separate from the rest of the corps8, though they were allowed to share the privilege of the spirited band which enlivened the proceedings9. They still sat at separate tables, too, which made most of them feel very much outcast indeed.
The command "Break ranks," after the march from mess hall again, marked the beginning of that holiday during which the seven had vowed10 to do so much. And still nobody had seemed to hit upon any suitable plan for the discomfiture11 of Bull Harris.
"We've got to hurry up about it, too," Mark declared. "For, if there's any fixing up to be done, we ought to be doing it now."
"Where's the thing to be, anyway?" inquired Dewey.
"In the big gymnasium building, they say," was the answer. "They'll probably cover the floor with seats. But I don't think we can do anything inside the place. I think we ought to kick up some sort of rumpus outside."
And with this advice the seven heads got to work again.
Ideas come slowly when you want them badly. It would seem that with those seven minds busy on the same[Pg 24] subject something should have resulted. But it didn't. The seven strolled away from camp and wandered about the grounds cudgeling their brains and calling themselves names for their stupidity. And still no plan came forward.
They strolled down to the gymnasium building in hopes that proximity12 to the scene itself would prove efficacious. They stared at the vestibule and the windows blankly, wondering what the place might be like inside, wondering if there would be much of a crowd, wondering if Bull would have much of a speech—wondering about everything except the matter in hand.
"Plague take it all!" they muttered. "Let's walk out Professor's Row and find some quiet place to sit down. Perhaps we can think better sitting."
Professor's Row is a street that bounds the parade ground on the west. It is cool and shady, with benches and camp chairs on the lawn. But there were plenty of people to occupy the seats, and so the seven found no place there to cogitate13.
They had not gotten much farther before all ideas of plots and orations14 were driven from Mark's head a-flying. They were passing a group of people standing15 on the opposite side of the street, and suddenly one of them, a girl, hurried away from the others, and cried out:
"Mr. Mallory! Oh, Mr. Mallory!"
[Pg 25]Mark turned the moment he heard the voice, and, when he saw who it was, he promptly16 excused himself from his friends and crossed the street. The six strolled on, smiling and winking17 knowingly at one another.
"Hope he'll remember what Wicks Merritt said, b'gee!" laughed Dewey.
Mark had no time to remember anything much. He was too busy, watching the vision that was hurrying to meet him.
Grace Fuller certainly was a beautiful girl, beyond a doubt. She was a blonde of the fairest type; her complexion18 was matchless, and set off by a wealth of wavy19 golden hair. She was dressed in white, and made a picture that left no room to wonder why "half the cadets in the place were wild over her."
"I'm glad I swam out to save her," was the thought in Mark's mind.
A moment later he took the small white hand that was held out to him.
"Mr. Mallory," said the girl, gazing at him earnestly, "I shall not wait for any one to introduce you to me. I must tell you that I appreciate your bravery."
Mark bowed and thanked her; he could think of nothing more to say.
"They just let me out of the hospital to-day," she continued, "and I made up my mind that the very first thing[Pg 26] I was going to do was to tell you what I thought of your courageous20 action on my behalf. I want to know you better, Mr. Mallory."
She said it in a plain and simple way that Mark liked, and he told her that nothing would please him more.
"I would ask you to take a walk with me now," said Grace, "but for all those cadets who are with me. I don't think they'd relish21 that, you being a fourth class man."
"I don't think they would," responded Mark, with a queer smile which the girl did not fail to notice.
"I don't care!" she exclaimed, suddenly. "They can get mad if they want to. I think a great deal more of some plebes than I do of yearlings. Excuse me just a moment."
And then, to Mark's infinite glee, this beautiful creature hurried over and said something to the group of cadets, at which they all bowed and walked off rather stiffly, sheepishly, Mark thought. The girl rejoined him, with a smile.
"I told them they'd have to excuse me," she said, as she took Mark's arm. "I told them I owed you a debt of gratitude22, and I hoped they wouldn't mind."
"Probably they won't," observed Mark, smiling again.
"I don't care if they do," vowed Grace, pouting3 prettily23. "They'll get over it. And they're awfully24 stupid, anyway. I hope you're not stupid."
[Pg 27]With which Mark quite naturally agreed.
"I don't think the cadets like you much," she went on, laughing. "I had such fun teasing them by talking about your heroism25. They didn't like it a bit, and they'd try all sorts of ways to change the subject, but I wouldn't let them. They say you are terribly B. J. Are you?"
"I suppose they think so," answered Mark. "I'm nothing like as B. J. as I shall be before I get through."
"That's right!" vowed the girl, shaking her head. "I like B. J. plebes. I think I should be B. J. if I were a plebe. I don't like these mild, obedient fellows, and I think the plebes stand entirely26 too much."
"I wish you were one to help me," laughed Mark, noticing the contrast between the girl's frail27 figure and her energetic look.
"I'm stronger than you think," said she. "I could do a lot." And then suddenly she broke into one of her merry, animated28 laughs, during which Mark thought her more charming than ever. "If I can't fight," she said, "you must let me be a Daughter of the Revolution. You must let me make clothes and bake bread the way the colonists29' daughters did. It's just appropriate for to-day, too."
"I don't want any bread——" began Mark, looking at her thoughtfully.
"Perhaps not," she put in, with a peal30 of laughter. "If[Pg 28] you saw the bread I make, you'd be still more emphatic31. It's like the fruit of the tree of knowledge—'Whoso eateth thereof shall surely die.'"
"I see you read the Bible," said Mark, laughing. "But to get back where I was. I'll let the tailor make my clothes, also. What I need most just now are tricks to play on the yearlings."
"Do you?" inquired Grace. "I can tell you of lots of tricks the cadets have played. But that's the first time I ever heard of a plebe playing tricks on yearlings. It's usually the other way."
"Variety is the spice of life," said Mark. "The yearlings have tried rather contemptible32 tricks on me once or twice, very contemptible! I could tell you what several of those cadets who were with you did to me last night, and I think you'd be angry. Anyway, I'm going to make them miserable33 in return."
"I helped the yearlings get up a beautiful joke last year," said Grace, looking at Mark in ill-concealed admiration34. "Wicks Merritt was the ringleader. He wrote to me, by the way, and told me to be very nice to you now that you'd saved my life—just as if he thought I wouldn't! Anyway, I got them some powder to use for the scheme."
"Powder!" echoed Mark. "How did you get powder?"
[Pg 29]"They couldn't manage to run off with any around here, so I got George to buy some. George is our butler. You'll see George when you come over to visit me, which I hope you will."
"I thought you lived across the river, beyond cadet limits," put in Mark.
"So I do, but the cadets come, all the same, lots of them."
"So will I, then!" laughed the other. "But you haven't told me what you did with the powder."
"Do you see that big gun over there?" she answered, indicating Trophy35 Point. "Well, they stood that upon end and fired it off late one night. Wasn't that a fine joke?"
"Ye-es," said Mark, very slowly. "Ye-es, it was."
He was staring at the girl, a look as of an inspiration on his face.
"They stood that gun up on end and fired it off late one night," he repeated, scarcely heeding36 what he was saying, so rapt was he in his thought.
"Yes," said Grace, gazing at him curiously37, and meeting his eyes. "Yes. Why?"
Mark studied her look for a moment; he saw mischief38 and fun dancing in it, and, in a moment more, he had made up his mind.
"Tell me, Miss Fuller," he said, speaking very low.[Pg 30] "Would you—would you like to have 'George' buy some more powder?"
"More powder!" she echoed. "What do you——"
And then she caught the gleam in her escort's eye.
"Are you—do you mean you want to do it?" she cried.
"Yes," said Mark, simply. "Will you help?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Do you mean it?"
"I'll give you my hand on it," responded Grace.
Mark took it.
"When?" asked she.
And Mark answered, with a laugh, almost a shout of triumph.
"To-night!" he said. "To-night! Ye gods!"
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收听单词发音
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1
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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pouting
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的现在分词 ) | |
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ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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10
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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cogitate
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| v.慎重思考，思索 | |
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orations
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| n.（正式仪式中的）演说，演讲( oration的名词复数 ) | |
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15
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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17
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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18
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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20
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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21
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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22
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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26
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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27
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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31
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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33
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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34
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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35
trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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36
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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