One person Wilfred did seek out, however, and that was Tom Slade who, of course, knew all. The two strolled up into the woods away from the camp and sat on a stone wall which belonged to the Archer4 farm. Old Seth Archer and his men were out in the fields beyond raking hay, and Wilfred in his troubled preoccupation could hear the soothing5 voices of the workers directing the patient oxen, and occasionally a few strains of some carefree song.
“You see, Billy, you made your bed and now you’ve got to lie in it.”
“You mean I have got to get out of it?”
“Well,” said Tom, shrugging his shoulders; “what do you expect. If you’ve got two duties, do the most important one and explain why you can’t do the other. Now that’s plain, common sense, isn’t it?” He ruffled6 Wilfred’s wavy7 hair good-naturedly to take the sting out of what he had said.
“Why, Billy, you know what they think, don’t you? Somebody started it and now they all think it. They think you deliberately8 let Berry get that emblem; they think you did it because he’s an old friend. Now wait a second—don’t speak till I get through. A traitor9 never gets any love anywhere. When Benedict Arnold turned traitor—now wait a minute—why even the English had no use for him. They accepted the information but not the man. Now even Berry and that New Haven bunch haven’t got a whole lot of use for you. I suppose Berry’d be decent to you on account of what you did for him. But this is the way they see it—every last scout10 in this camp; you either were afraid to run after him or you deliberately wanted those fellows to get it. All right, now the only thing for you to do is to go to Artie Van Arlen—he’s your leader and he’s a mighty11 fine kid—you just go to him and tell him——”
“Tell him I’m a cripple like Archie Dennison?”
“No, tell him you’re under the doctor’s orders——”
“And he’ll have to tell the patrol and all the troop—no sir, I’m not on any sick list,” said Wilfred with a defiant12 shake of his fine head. “I don’t go in the class with Archie Dennison, thank you!”
Tom gazed at him, amazed at his absurd stubbornness.
“You made me a promise, you know,” Wilfred reminded him.
“Sure,” Tom agreed, still scrutinizing13 him in perplexity.
“I have to get out of the patrol,” said Wilfred.
“Well now, look here,” said Tom, starting on another tack14, “you’re feeling pretty nifty, aren’t you? No more pains or anything? You’re looking fine, I’ll say that. Why not see the doc and let him give you the once over, and if he says you’re all right——”
“What’s done is done,” said Wilfred
“Yes, that’s so,” agreed Tom ruefully.
“I’m going to see the doctor on August first and not till then. Suppose he should tell me to lie on my back or something like that? Do you suppose I don’t like to walk?”
“Well, I’m afraid you’ll walk alone,” said Tom.
“Well, that’s what I’ve been doing right along,” said Wilfred.
Tom tried to reach him from another angle. “I suppose you know the Ravens15 are planning to have you swim the lake for the record, don’t you? In the Mary Temple event on August tenth? Wig-wag Weigand won’t hear of anybody but you; he’s got Artie started now. Don’t you want to stick with that bunch and swim for it? I believe you would walk away with it in those arms of yours. All you’ve got to do is say you made a promise—these fellows up here all know what a promise means—they’ve got mothers, too. Let me tell them. What do you say?”
“I say no,” said Wilfred. “If they want to misjudge me——”
“Misjudge you? Well, what the dickens do you expect them to do? They’re not mind-readers. They’d care more for you than they would for that crazy, little white rag if you’d only tell them. The way it is now, you’re going to lose everything.”
“It’s crazy for them to think I’m a traitor to them,” said Wilfred. “I haven’t seen Berry for two or three years. If a fellow would commit treason on account of living in a place, why then, he might commit treason on account of—on account of Hoboken, or Coney Island. The fellows that think that are crazy, and the others think I just got rattled16 and didn’t start running in time, and let them think so.”
“That’s what you want them to think?”
“I’m not going to have them thinking that maybe I’ll drop dead any time, and they have to treat me soft and kind.”
“All right,” said Tom, tightening17 his lips conclusively18, “I don’t think they’re likely to treat you very soft and kind. I’d like to know where an A-1 fellow like you got your notions from. It wasn’t from your sister, I bet.”
It was funny how Tom had to drag in Wilfred’s sister. One might have suspected that he had some notions of his own.
“Well then, you’ll just have to paddle your own canoe,” he said finally. And he added, “I don’t know that I blame you for not wanting to be on the list with Archie Dennison. When are your folks coming up, anyway, Billy?”
“I was going to ask them to come up for the swimming contest on the tenth. I don’t know what I’ll do now.”
“Well, come and watch me chop some wood this morning, anyway.”
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收听单词发音
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1
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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2
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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3
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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4
archer
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| n.射手，弓箭手 | |
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5
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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6
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
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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8
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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9
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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10
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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11
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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12
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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13
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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14
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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15
ravens
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| n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 ) | |
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16
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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17
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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conclusively
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| adv.令人信服地，确凿地 | |
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