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CHAPTER XXVIII BUILDING A RAFT
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“What was the matter?” gasped1 Frank, somewhat dazed, as he crawled away and sat up. “Why did you shove me over?”

“Don’t you see?” asked Andy quickly. “He was going to hit you! Then he’d have tackled me I guess. Look out! He’s at it again!”

With a snarl2 of rage the man had again raised the club. But Frank was too quick for him. Fairly leaping at him, the sturdy lad tore the piece of driftwood away and tossed it some distance off.

“So! That’s how you keep your promise, is it?” the elder lad asked. “We won’t give you any more chances. We’ll tie him up again, Andy, and let him go hungry for a while.”

The man glared hatred3 at them, and tried to fight them with the hand they had freed so that he might eat. But the two lads were more than a match for him in his condition, and soon had him made fast again. He had eaten only a part of his dinner when he thought he saw this chance to make his escape.

“Are you going to leave me like this?” he growled4, when Andy and Frank resumed their interrupted meal. “I’ll get sunstruck.”

“It would almost serve you right,” murmured Frank, “but we’ll return good for evil. Let’s make a sort of shelter, Andy.”

With pieces of driftwood they raised a framework over their prisoner as he sat on the sands. On the boards they put sea weed, of which there was an abundance, and soon the man was sheltered from the hot sun.

“We’ll have to make something like that for ourselves to-night,” observed Frank.

“Yes, and it isn’t going to be very pleasant staying here with that man, even if he is tied up,” went on his brother. “I’m afraid he’ll get loose in the night and attack us.”

“We’ll have to look well to the knots, and keep a sort of watch I suppose,” remarked Frank. “But let’s go back and finish searching in that wreck5. I wonder what it is that’s in it, and where it is?”

But the boys found no answer to their questions, though they made diligent6 search.

“I don’t believe it’s here,” said Andy at length. “Whatever there was Paul must have taken away before he lost his memory, and he may have hidden it somewhere else. But I have another plan, Frank.”

“No jokes, I hope.”

“No, this is serious. The more I think of staying here with that man all night, the less I like it.”

“I don’t like it either, but what can we do? Dad may think we’re staying away too long, and he may come for us. He knows we started for Cliff Island. Then again he may not come for several days, as he knows we’ve got lots of food. And our distress7 signal doesn’t seem to attract any attention.”

“No, and that’s why I think we oughtn’t to stay here any longer. It is very seldom that vessels8 come here, and we haven’t much chance of being taken off. We ought to get away and in the path of the fishing schooners9. Then we would be picked up.”

“Yes, but how are we going to get off? We haven’t a boat.”

“I know, but we can make a raft. There’s no end of wood here, and we have plenty of rope left after tying that man up, with which to bind10 the planks11 together. There are some nails in the motor boat wreck, too, and some tools. We could make a raft good enough to take us far enough out so we would be picked up. We might even make the main land. There are two paddles in the Swallow.”

“What are we going to do with him—leave him here?” and he nodded toward the prisoner.

“We’ll have to take him along,” said Andy. “We’re not going to lose him after we had so much trouble in finding him.”

“Well, perhaps it’s the best thing to do,” agreed Frank, after thinking it over. “But we can’t get it done in time to leave to-day. It’s late afternoon now.”

“No, but we can start it, finish it the first thing in the morning, and leave as early as possible. We ought to be home by to-morrow easily.”

“I wish we could be. If we could only run the Swallow!”

“It wouldn’t be safe, in the condition she’s in. The raft is the only thing.”

They ceased their useless searching of the motor boat, and began gathering12 large pieces of driftwood. Their prisoner in his seaweed shelter watched them curiously13.

“What are you up to now?” he asked in his surly voice.

“You’ll see soon enough,” answered Frank. He had no idea of telling their plans.

It was not so easy to build a raft that would hold three as Andy had supposed. But they did manage to get the framework of it together. Then they had to think of a shelter for themselves, and built one near that of the prisoner. They also gathered wood for a campfire and made preparations for supper.

“Am I going to starve?” demanded the man, as they made no effort to loosen his bonds so that he might eat. “I’m thirsty, too.”

“We’ll feed you and give you a drink,” spoke14 Frank. “We aren’t going to take any more chances.”

And this they did, putting pieces of food in the man’s mouth, and holding up a tin cup for him to drink from.

They divided the night into watches, each taking turns. While one slept the other would sit by the fire to see that the desperate man did not loosen his bonds.

It was Andy’s trick, and he was very tired. In spite of himself his head would nod at times. He even walked up and down to get rid of the sleepy feeling but it came back. As he sat by the fire his head swayed to and fro.

“I’ll just close my eyes for a half minute,” he told himself. “Just for a few seconds. I—I’ll—”

Andy was asleep and in the shelter where the prisoner lay bound there was a movement. Eager and cruel eyes watched the lad on guard. Both Andy and Frank were slumbering15 now.

“It’s my only chance,” murmured the man as he heard their heavy breathing. “My only chance.” Then he began rolling over and over on the sand, out of his shelter.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
2 snarl 8FAzv     
v.吼叫,怒骂,纠缠,混乱;n.混乱,缠结,咆哮
参考例句:
  • At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
  • The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。
3 hatred T5Gyg     
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨
参考例句:
  • He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
  • The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。
4 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
6 diligent al6ze     
adj.勤勉的,勤奋的
参考例句:
  • He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
  • She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快,一会儿也不闲着。
7 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
8 vessels fc9307c2593b522954eadb3ee6c57480     
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人
参考例句:
  • The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
9 schooners 88eda1cebb18c03d16c7c600a86ade6c     
n.(有两个以上桅杆的)纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You've already drunk three schooners of sherry. 你已经喝了三大杯雪利酒了。 来自辞典例句
  • Might l beg the honour of pouring the privileged schooners myself? 请问我能不能自己倒尊贵的大杯酒? 来自电影对白
10 bind Vt8zi     
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬
参考例句:
  • I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
  • He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。
11 planks 534a8a63823ed0880db6e2c2bc03ee4a     
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点
参考例句:
  • The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
  • We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。
12 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
13 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
14 spoke XryyC     
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。
15 slumbering 26398db8eca7bdd3e6b23ff7480b634e     
微睡,睡眠(slumber的现在分词形式)
参考例句:
  • It was quiet. All the other inhabitants of the slums were slumbering. 贫民窟里的人已经睡眠静了。
  • Then soft music filled the air and soothed the slumbering heroes. 接着,空中响起了柔和的乐声,抚慰着安睡的英雄。


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