“Please, don’t, Jess!” implored3 Amy, shrinking back as a breath of hot wind fanned her face. “I can’t bear to think of my poor brother. If only we could have found him before the fire started!”
“Don’t go on believing the very worst,” chided Nell, gently. “He may have been imprisoned in that hut we saw in the swamp for all we know.”
“But the trail led away from it,” objected Amy.
“They may have doubled back on their tracks, just to elude4 pursuit,” said Jessie, eagerly willing to grasp at the smallest hope.
“I wonder if swamp grass burns,” said Amy.
Before any one could respond, the hot breath of the fire enveloped5 them, driving them toward the lake. The roar of the burning timber was terrifyingly loud and the smoke rolled toward them in a dense6 black cloud.
The girls put their hands before their smarting eyes and retreated still farther toward the lake. Through blurred7 vision they saw Fol dash from the lodge with Burd limping painfully after him.
They ran forward and intercepted8 the boys, demanding what they were going to do.
“Fight the fire, of course,” replied Fol, pulling impatiently away from their restraining hands. “I guess the rangers9 need every man they can get.”
“But you, Burd! You aren’t fit to go,” protested Amy. “Your foot——”
“I have forgotten all about my foot,” retorted Burd, with a grimness altogether new to him. “After the fire is over will be time enough to remember it.”
“If you can go, so can we!” cried Jessie, her eyes suddenly blazing with purpose.
“That’s the idea!” cried Amy and Nell, eagerly, and the boys paused for a moment to regard them admiringly.
“You girls are the real stuff, all right,” said Burd, and Fol added:
“Come along, and maybe they will have a gunny sack or two to spare.”
The girls did not understand this reference, but they were soon to have it explained to them. They battled their way through the increasingly heavy smoke and the scorching10 heat to the first line of the fire-fighters.
There men worked like fiends with the sweat streaming down their soot-stained faces, bloodshot eyes strained and set and determined11. They worked with pick and shovel12 and hose and wet gunny sacks, chopping down ruthlessly branches of trees that were in the path of the fire, digging trenches13 in the earth to balk14 the darting15 flames, beating out with the sodden16 sacks little creeping hungry streams of fire that wriggled17 snakelike through the underbrush, the foreguard of fresh terror and destruction.
It was to this last task that the girls found themselves assigned. The forest rangers made no question of their presence there, merely taking time from their own fierce labors18 to motion to the gunny sacks.
The girls needed no further permission or instruction. Fired by the dauntless spirit of the men about them, stirred to fierce anger by the relentless19 onrush of the fire, they felt themselves suddenly incapable20 of fatigue21 or of fear.
Smoke burned their eyes, their throats were parched22 and dry. They tried to swallow and found their tongues swollen23 to twice the normal size.
Still they fought on, laying their dry and scorched24 sacks upon a pile of others and accepting new and sodden ones from the supply being constantly rushed to the spot by the rangers.
In spite of all they could do they were losing, were being pushed back slowly but steadily25 toward the water. The wind, gentle at first, was increasing in volume. It looked as though the entire water front was doomed26 to go.
“Look!” gasped27 Amy, hoarsely28, grasping Jessie’s arm and pointing upward. “The top branches of these trees have caught! We can’t fight it, up there.”
The order was given and they retreated some twenty yards. The work was to be done all over again, new trenches dug, new branches hacked29 away, more fighting of those insidious30 ribbons of flame darting slyly through the underbrush.
“Come on, Nell,” cried Jessie, hoarsely, brandishing31 her sack. “See where the fire is spreading over there? Quick!”
Nell followed her, and together they beat out that fresh assault. They rested for a moment, panting, only to rush to another spot where the flames had gained a foothold.
They caught sight of the boys now and then, and their hearts swelled32 with pride as they saw the look upon their faces and the gallant33 way they fought shoulder to shoulder with the older men.
If Darry were only there, in his place, beside them! Oh, where was Darry?
Once when they stopped to gain a breath they were surprised to see Miss Alling rushing up to them. On her face was the determined expression they had come to know so well.
“They need more men out here,” Miss Alling shouted. “And when it comes to work I am as good as any man.” And as though to prove her words she went to work with a will and a fresh new energy that further inspired the tired girls.
Suddenly it seemed that they were gaining ground. The wind had shifted and was bearing the flames backward over the charred34 and ravaged35 territory.
The rangers closed in, working fiercely to make the most of this advantage, striving to conquer the flames before the fickle36 wind could change again.
Sacks hung limply from tired fingers, every nerve and muscle quivered with fatigue. The girls rested, convinced that the battle was all but won.
“Do I look as bad as I feel?” asked Amy, vainly trying to stretch her cracked and parched lips into some semblance37 of a smile. “I can’t make my muscles behave.”
“My eyes!” moaned Nell.
“You girls worked like Trojans!”
It was Burd’s voice, and they turned to find him regarding them with bloodshot but approving eyes.
“Do you think the worst of it is over?” asked Jessie, looking out toward the flames, which, unconquered, still roared upward.
“If the wind doesn’t change again we are safe enough,” said Burd. “The fire won’t find much to feed on in the burned territory.”
“Oh, but look at that!” cried Amy, in sudden new terror. “It is coming this way again. The wind has changed!”
A startled glance proved that she was right. The fickle wind swept the flames again in their direction. The tongues of fire reached out eagerly, lapping at the branches as though the temporary lull38 had merely whetted39 its appetite.
“Girls, Burd, Fol—look over there!” almost screamed Jessie, as she pointed40 toward the swamp. “That crowd of people!”
Like rats swarming41 from the hold of a burning ship, men and women were pouring from the forest, running toward the lake. Between two rough and bearded men was a tall familiar figure.
“Darry!” cried Jessie, in a tone that mounted above the roaring of the fire. “It is Darry! Can’t you see?”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
lodge
|
|
| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
imprisoned
|
|
| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
implored
|
|
| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
elude
|
|
| v.躲避，困惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
enveloped
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
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： |
|
|
|
|
8
intercepted
|
|
| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
rangers
|
|
| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
scorching
|
|
| adj. 灼热的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
shovel
|
|
| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
trenches
|
|
| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
balk
|
|
| n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
darting
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
sodden
|
|
| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
wriggled
|
|
| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
labors
|
|
| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
relentless
|
|
| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
fatigue
|
|
| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
parched
|
|
| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
swollen
|
|
| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
scorched
|
|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
doomed
|
|
| 命定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
gasped
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
28
hoarsely
|
|
| adv.嘶哑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
hacked
|
|
| 生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
insidious
|
|
| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
brandishing
|
|
| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
swelled
|
|
| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
gallant
|
|
| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
charred
|
|
| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
ravaged
|
|
| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fickle
|
|
| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
semblance
|
|
| n.外貌，外表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
lull
|
|
| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
whetted
|
|
| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的过去式和过去分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
swarming
|
|
| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |