“He had seen us as a?rial performers once upon a time at Ostend, and being an infantryman of the old school, he privately2 regarded the whole flying fraternity in the light of circus stars. He did, however, concede that if anything counted for much above ground, it was the invention of his friend, Count Zeppelin.
“As matters warmed up around Ypres, we were hustled3 back to Ostend, and hung around there for some time, on parole, they called it, until one day we were permitted to board a hospital ship bound for Calais.
“We can’t show any scars, nor bullet holes in our clothes—not a thing to add to our glorious achievement of turning you boys loose in the war zone.”
The captain by this time had heard all about the adventures of his young friends.
“In this fuel test,” he continued, “we can give you a lift that may pretty near, if not quite, land you where you want to go. I wouldn’t mind sailing into Paris myself, but there are no free agents at the working end of a contract. I don’t know yet.”
[159]
“Wake me and shake me at the mouth of the Thames,” exulted4 Jimmy, “show me the docks at Tilbury, see that there is a light in the window for me at Dover, and then won’t I be the horse for the Paris wagon5!”
“Bully boy!” applauded Josh.
“Give her power, Freeman.”
The planes were set for the upward flight, and the course for the Straits of Dover.
Reddy was the only “cat in a strange garret” when the sea-plane cut through the air. The little Frenchman had never had a like sensation, and he soon began to revel7 in it, even though he could look sheer down through 3,000 feet of space and see the heaving sea.
The captain lowered the flight along the French coast, for the soldiers all down the line had been warned not to fire on the sea-plane, it having been generally announced in wireless8 orders that it was an English airship out on a trial run. The schedule included Boulogne, and the boys had the opportunity of looking down upon the city where Napoleon had once encamped his troops.
Swinging ’round and circling backward, the sea-plane hovered9 over Calais. Somebody had evidently forgotten orders, for when the big machine was directly above the military governor’s headquarters[160] a half dozen or more soldiers seized their rifles and commenced firing at the aviators10. Out rushed an officer, crying:
“C’est un Anglais! C’est un Anglais! Ne tirez plus!” (It is an Englishman! It is an Englishman! Stop firing!)
The sea-plane dropped into the harbor off Calais, and all except Josh, remaining as faithful guardian11 of his precious motors, went ashore12.
The captain there hoped to solve the problem of getting his young friends safely to Paris, and the boys certainly wished him the best kind of luck in the effort. Both French approval and English backing would help some in the way of hastening unmolested progress.
On Rue13 de Moscow the boys discovered that these were days when there was something doing every minute in Calais. Clouds of smoke rose from sputtering14 motors, whizzing to and fro, some loaded with soldiers, some with food, while others were hastening for the field of battle.
Refugees from almost everywhere in the war zone filled the town to the point of overflow—and such a medley15 of French and Flemish! Men wearing blood-stained bandages, old women, babies in arms, worn out and half starved.
The great warehouses16, the Hotel de Ville, the railway station, lace factories, private residences,[161] and even ships in the harbor, were used as sleeping quarters.
“We can’t get away from it,” sighed Henri, as the party noted17 a limping procession of Belgian soldiers caked with mud, worn faces covered with three or four weeks’ growth of beard, and who looked like they had exhausted18 the last drop of energy and patience they had.
“And they are coming in by the thousands,” volunteered a bystander.
The boys waited near the Maritime19 station while the captain made his visit of state to one in authority, with whom he was well acquainted.
Presently the captain hove in sight, accompanied by a Belgian gendarme20, one of the force then engaged in patrolling the city. This was evidently a guard of honor, for the captain had no appearance of being disturbed by arrest.
“Now, youngsters,” he briskly announced, “there is a bit of a conference arranged for you, so put on your best front. It won’t be like a visit to a dentist, I assure you.”
In a street not far removed from the Victoria hotel, the captain ushered21 his young charges into the vestibule of a pretentious22 looking residence, and guided by a smiling secretary the visitors were soon in the presence of a man of most distinguished23 bearing and cordial manner, who instantly rose from his chair behind a desk littered with papers.
[162]
“I have the pleasure, I believe,” he said in English, with only a trace of the softer accent, “of making the acquaintance of young men who fly like birds, and, also, who have seen much in the battlefields.”
“The captain here tells me that you have an important mission in Paris, of a strictly27 personal nature,” continued the genial28 host, when all were seated.
“We have, sir,” responded Henri.
“You are a Trouville, I understand?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Henri.
“I know that family well,” observed the questioner. “Some of my people and yours, history tells, had mutual29 interests in the long ago.”
“I am very proud of that, sir.”
“Why, you are quite a young diplomat,” laughed the gentleman behind the desk.
“But,” he continued, “it is at the present we are looking.”
From the portfolio case the speaker took a sealed packet, closed by red wax, and tape-wound.
“In Paris, my dear boy,” addressing Henri, “you will deliver this to the address written thereon, and,” in impressive tone, “I should regret exceedingly[163] if it should fall into any other hands than those authorized31 to receive it.
“Remember that!
“The captain will give you all other necessary instructions.
“My young friends, permit me to say bon soir.” (Good evening.)
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
privately
|
|
| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
hustled
|
|
| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
exulted
|
|
| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
snug
|
|
| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
revel
|
|
| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
wireless
|
|
| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
hovered
|
|
| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
aviators
|
|
| 飞机驾驶员，飞行员( aviator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
rue
|
|
| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sputtering
|
|
| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
medley
|
|
| n.混合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
warehouses
|
|
| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
maritime
|
|
| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
gendarme
|
|
| n.宪兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
ushered
|
|
| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
pretentious
|
|
| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
strictly
|
|
| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
genial
|
|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
portfolio
|
|
| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
authorized
|
|
| a.委任的，许可的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |