CHAPTER III

 "It's like this," said Robin¹, as he hung over the side of the boat, "at first I thought we couldn't do anything, but we can. It's stupid to suggest that we should come and nurse Dick, because we'd be sure to catch it, and give miles more trouble. Even if we don't nurse him, there'll be the chance of infection. So—suppose we stay here!"

 

"My dear boy," began Mrs. Vaughan, "but——"

 

"Don't 'but,' Mother; do listen. We were to have a camp, weren't we? Well, let's begin at once. I suppose Dick and his spots are now in the bedroom leading out of Peter's and mine, so it's jolly likely——"

 

"Yes," Mrs. Vaughan nodded her head. "I put him there before I had realised——. Then, as he had infected the place, I thought he'd better stay. I meant to move him to one of the unoccupied rooms, but so far I haven't managed it, and——"

 

"Well then, think of my idea. If we move into the house we'll be in quarantine when term begins. No one—not even school—could say we've been near infection if we stay here. There's Brown's house, too, if——"

 

Mrs. Vaughan's face was beginning to clear: "You'd promise not to sleep out if it were wet? I'm sure Brownie would arrange for Jan, and anything you might want. Well, Robin—I'm not so sure that your plan isn't a good one after all. And, if it does work, it will be a decided² help to me."

 

"Hurray!" shouted Robin. "Hurray!" shouted the other two. This was Robin's plan, was it? they thought; well, it was a jolly good one. Peter waved an oar³ in the air.

 

"Listen though," said their mother anxiously, "for if I am going to allow it, I have any amount to say first."

 

But in half an hour every single thing was arranged. Jan, despatched to fetch Brownie, appeared in due course with the old woman, who seemed as "adaptable⁴ as a jolly old glove," as Peter said, hugging her. She was delighted to provide the campers with food and anything that they might need, and was overjoyed that there was a possibility of "Miss Jan" staying at the cottage. "And in bad weather, the young gentlemen too! Yes, ma'am, to be sure," said Brownie. "But—" her voice sounded a little fearful and dubious⁵ as she spoke⁶—"there's only the attic⁷, ma'am, with the sloping roof; they wouldn't be fr——"

 

"Of course not." Mrs. Vaughan's voice sounded almost impatient; she broke off hastily, and Brownie said no more. "Really, Robin," declared his mother, with a change of tone, "I don't know what I should do without you. It seems a very good plan. Now, if only the weather——"

 

"Wind's in the right quarter," said Peter, with sparkling eyes.

 

"And—you'll blow your horn every day after breakfast, Mother," begged Jan, "and come and talk to us, won't you? We won't come to the house at all, but we'll send letters by Brown."

 

"Very well, good-bye till to-morrow." Mrs. Vaughan turned, looking greatly relieved.

 

"Good luck to Dick; and take care of yourself, Mother," shouted the three as she disappeared, waving her hand at the bend of the path.

 

"And now, what are we to do?" inquired Peter of his older brother.

 

"I'll jolly well show you that, old chap," said Robin. "We've got to pitch a camp, and that pretty quickly too, for arrangements have taken time. It's fortunate that we decided on the site; but we've got to make our sleeping-place, you know."

 

"Better sleep to-night in the large attic, Master Robin, perhaps," suggested Brownie, but she looked relieved at the boys' emphatic⁸ refusal of her offer. The attic wanted clearing out; no one had slept there since the Browns took possession, and it was a veritable ark of lumber⁹. "And I've Miss Jan's room to get ready," thought the old woman.

 

Jan herself was only too eager to help the boys in their preparations; a camper she intended to be from morn till eve; only for the nights would she condescend¹⁰ to the shelter of a roof. Guide as she was, too, her services proved invaluable¹¹; with the boys she collected fuel for the fire as to the manner born; dry bark and chips were collected for kindling¹² purposes, and larger pieces of dead wood for the blaze later on. The sun was not strong enough at that time in the afternoon for the fire to be lighted by the help of the burning-glass that Robin always carried, but a single match sufficed in his practised hands; then, when the flame was safely spluttering, he left the fire to the tender mercies of his sister, and the two boys turned their attention to the preparation of a sleeping-place.

 

"It's miles too late to get through with a real hut," said Robin. "We're likely to be on this Island for a while, and we might spend some of our time in building a real good one. What do you say to working up for our Pioneer Badge while we're here, Peter? Good idea, don't you think?"

 

Peter nodded; he was rather unusually silent, and was evidently thinking something out.

 

"For to-night we'd better see about a temporary shelter"—Robin was busily engaged in pulling armfuls of bracken as he spoke; "there's a likely tree-trunk over there, and we might lay one of our staves against that fork that comes some way up the trunk. We'll need a jolly lot of bracken to thatch¹³ it across, so you and Jan had better both come along here and pull some. It'll be better than sleeping in the attic to spend the night under the stars."

 

Peter nodded again; then he spoke. "About that attic, Robin," he said, "didn't you twig¹⁴ from the way Brownie spoke, that there is something mysterious about the place?"

 

1 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。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

4 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

5 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

6 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。

7 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

8 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

9 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

10 condescend   

v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑

参考例句：

• Would you condescend to accompany me?你肯屈尊陪我吗？
• He did not condescend to answer.He turned his back on me.他不愿屈尊回答我的问题。他不理睬我。

11 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

12 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

13 thatch   

vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋)

参考例句：

• They lit a torch and set fire to the chapel's thatch.他们点着一支火把，放火烧了小教堂的茅草屋顶。
• They topped off the hut with a straw thatch. 他们给小屋盖上茅草屋顶。

14 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。