CHAPTER XXX FROM OUT THE CLOUDS

 Johnny Thompson saw no more of the mysterious Gray Shadow among the clouds that morning. He was soon enough to forget all about him, for fresh adventure lay before him.

 

Hardly had they left the Shadow and his cloud behind than he began thinking of his promise to Curlie. He had agreed to drop from the sky and to play the part of good fairy to a crippled child.

 

Johnny was very fond of small children, crippled children most of all. But as the plane sped on high in the air, as they came nearer and nearer to the place where Curlie must turn and give him the signal to prepare for the leap, he found himself wishing that the sky lay close to the ground where one might step off at any time.

 

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“Well,” he sighed at last, “there must always be a first time.

 

“And,” he groaned¹ a moment later, “if anything goes wrong, the first is last and the last is first.”

 

At that he began thinking of Curlie’s instructions: “Walk out on the wing. Watch your balance. Play you are on a diving board. Make a dive. Count five. Pull the cord. The parachute will do the rest. Only, when you come close to the earth, see that your knees are bent². Don’t land stiff-legged. That’s dangerous.”

 

Buttoned inside of Johnny’s jacket was a doll. Wrapped about the doll was the marked money.

 

“Anyway,” he sighed, “I’ll be through with that money. They’ll never suspect this trick of ours. And they’ll never find it. This is once in my life when I do the Robin³ Hood⁴.”

 

Hardly had he thought this through than Curlie turned his head about to nod. He held up three fingers.

 

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“Three fingers. Three minutes!” Johnny’s mind went into a whirl. Three minutes of sunshine and fleecy clouds. Three minutes of glorious freedom and life. And after that?

 

He rose stiffly to his place. As he put out a hand to steady himself it seemed that he was stiff as a wooden soldier.

 

“What nonsense!” He got a grip on himself. “Gotta go through! Lots of fellows have.”

 

At this he felt better. He moved carefully a little way out on the wing, looked to the straps⁵ about his body, allowed his eyes to circle the sky; then, putting his hands together, he made a perfect dive.

 

At once he was shocked because there was no shock. He was going down. But what a glorious sensation! Like real flying, a bird’s way.

 

“One. Two. Three. Four. Five!”

 

He pulled the cord. More gliding⁶ downward. A slight shock that told him the parachute was open; then the earth came up to meet him.

 

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At first a blurred⁷ impression, it resolved itself into fields and pastures, an orchard⁸, a farmhouse⁹, and last of all, a small girl dressed in red.

 

Johnny came down standing¹⁰. He ran a few steps. His parachute folded up. He lurched a step or two, then stood still not thirty feet from a very much surprised little girl who fairly danced, in spite of her crutches¹¹.

 

“Where did you come from?” she demanded. “I looked, and you were not there. Then I looked again and you were. How funny!”

 

“Yes,” said Johnny, “it is strange. But then, this is a strange world.

 

“I came down from the air to bring you a doll. Curlie sent it—Curlie Carson.”

 

“Curlie Carson! A doll!”

 

“Yes,” said Johnny. “She shuts her eyes when she sleeps. And she can talk a little. But the best part is her dress. See! It is all made of real money! There is another dress underneath¹². So tell your daddy to take off this green dress and use it buying things for you.”

 

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“Oh!” The little girl stared. She did not understand all this. But she took the doll.

 

“Her father may not understand it either,” Johnny told himself. “Guess I’ll leave it that way, at that.”

 

“Good-bye, little girl. Have a good time.”

 

He gathered up his parachute and started for the road.

 

“Aren’t you going back into the air?” she asked.

 

“Not to-day. Some other time.”

 

He climbed over the fence, caught a ride on a passing truck, and was gone.

 

That night there was surprise and great rejoicing in the little unpainted farmhouse that lay beneath the great Air Mail route to New York. And many were the happy days that followed.

 

It is safe to say that Greasy¹³ Thumb and his gang never guessed the final disposition¹⁴ of their ill-gotten gain—their marked money.

1 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

5 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

6 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

7 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

9 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

12 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

13 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

14 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。