8043
Look you there, cried, in a cracked Flutters and Starlight were safe out of sight now, and smiled at each other with supreme10 satisfaction.
“That’s Robbin’s voice,” chuckled11 Flutters, as they walked off through the woods that grew close up to the circus; “he could get over a mountain as easily as over that fence; he has the rheumatics awful bad, and he’s very old besides, He’s the only one I mind about leaving.” Poor old Bobbin stood gazing up at the fence, and seemed wisely to come to the conclusion that there was no harm in a boy’s leaving the circus in that manner if he chose. The harm would be if he attempted to come in that way; and so hobbled off to his dreary12, back-breaking task of gathering13 up the papers and stray bits of rubbish constantly accumulating on every side. It is possible, too, that even if he had recognized Flutters, and guessed his motive14, he would not have tried to detain him. He had once been a tumbler himself, and knew enough of the trials of circus life to be willing, perhaps, that a promising15 little fellow should escape them.
The grove16 in which the boys found themselves was the only piece of old forest land that remained in the near vicinity of the town, and was fitted up with rude tables and benches for the use of picnic parties.
Starlight led the way to one of these tables, sat down, and comfortably rested his folded arms upon it, as though they had reached their point of destination. Here was where Hazel was to meet them and, while they waited, the boys entertained each other with little scraps17 of their life histories; but Starlight did not for a moment forget to keep eye and ear on guard for any one approaching. There was a hollow tree just at Flutters’s back, into which he could tumble in a flash and be securely hid should it become necessary. But the sound of their own low voices and the occasional fall of a pine cone18 or crackling of a branch was all that broke the stillness. At last they heard a footfall in the distance, but Starlight knew that quick, short little step, and there was no need for Flutters to take refuge in the tree. Hazel had come with the precious bundle, that was all, and Flutters was straightway arrayed in Hans Van Wyck’s clothes, his dark little face not at all agreeing with the Dutch-looking coat and trousers; but they answered the purpose of complete disguise, and what more could be wished for? So the children set out for home at a brisk pace, not by the way they had come, bur, so far as possible, by cross cuts and quiet lanes, to avoid observation. That their little tongues moved even faster than their feet was not at all strange, for, of course, they wanted to know all about each other.
“Are you an Italian, Flutters?” asked Hazel, in the course of the cross-questioning.
Flutters smiled, and shook his head in the negative.
“Then I guess you’re Spanish,” remarked Starlight.
“No, not Spanish.”
Hazel and Starlight looked mystified. He was certainly neither American nor English with that dark skin of his.
0045
“What kind of people does that sort of hair grow on?” Flutters asked, running his hand through his tight-curling hair.
“On—on darkeys,” answered Hazel, ruefully. “But it does not curl so tight as—as some darkeys,” hoping there might be a mistake somewhere.
“So much the better for me,” Flutters answered, cheerily.
“Are—you—a regular—darkey—really?” questioned Starlight, with a little pause between each word.
“Well, I’m what they call a mulatto; that’s not quite so bad as an out-and-out darkey, perhaps.”
“Oh, Flutters, don’t you mind?” asked Hazel, who was disappointed enough that the hero of this thrilling adventure should prove to be only a kind of negro. Hazel had an idea as, sadly enough, many far older and wiser than she had in those days—and, indeed, for long years afterward—that negroes were little better than cattle, and that it was quite right to buy and sell them in the same fashion.
“What would be the use of minding?” said Flutters, in response to her sympathetic question; “minding would not make things any different, Miss Hazel.”
It was the first time he had called her by name, and Hazel, born little aristocrat19 that she was, was glad to discover that “he knew his place,” as the phrase goes—so far, at least, as to put the Miss before her name.
After this the children trudged20 along for a while in silence, each busy with their own thoughts. Starlight was beginning to have some misgivings21 as to the course he had taken. It might, after all, become a serious question what to do with Flutters. He began to wonder how Aunt Frances would look when he should go back to the farm-house next day with his little protégé in tow. She would be pretty sure to say, “What are you thinking of, Job dear? It is not at all as though we were in our own home, you know. We cannot allow the Van Vleets to take this strange little boy into their home for our sakes; though no doubt they would be willing to do it.”
Yes, the more he thought of it, the more he felt sure that would be just what she would say; strange that all this had not occurred to him before, and a little sickening sensation—half presentiment22, half regret—swept over him. So it was that Starlight trudged along in silence, for, of course, such thoughts as those could not be spoken with Flutters there to hear them.
As for Hazel, she was turning over a fine little scheme of her own in her mind. She was a hopeful little body, and it did not take long for her to recover from the despair into which the discovery of Flutters’s nationality had thrown her. “Why, look here,” she thought to herself, “I believe I’m glad he’s a darkey after all. It was awful cute to hear him say ‘Miss Hazel;’ how nice it would be to have him for a sort of body-servant, just as so many officers have body-servants! He could brush my clothes, and groom24 the pony25, and tend to my flower garden, and just stand ‘round, ready to do whatever I should wish,” and so it was that Hazel trudged along in silence, for she thought it wiser not to announce, as yet, the exact nature of her thoughtful meditation26.
And Flutters—well, it would have been hard to tell about what he was thinking. He was a most sensitive little fellow, and strong and intense were the emotions that often played through his lithe27 frame, so strong and intense at times as to find no other expression than in a perceptible little tremble from head to foot; it was this peculiarity28 that had won for him the expressive29 name of “Flutters” among the circus people. Now, of course, his state of mind was joyous30 and satisfied. Kind friends and a home in this new land! What more could be desired, and the happiest look played over his handsome face, for Flutters was handsome, and the dark olive complexion31 was most to be thanked for it; but the light went out of his face when, after a while, he glanced toward Starlight and saw his troubled look.
Instantly he divined its cause. “Are you sorry you took me?” he asked, coming to an abrupt32 standstill in the brier-hedged lane.
“No, not exactly;” Starlight was betrayed into a partial confession33 of the truth by the suddenness of the question.
Oh, how that hurt poor little Flutters, with his sensitive temperament34!
“It is not too kite,” he said, turning and looking in the direction they had come; “I think I can find my way back. They’d never know I’d regular runned away;” but there was a mistiness35 in the bright little darkey eyes, and an actual ache in the poor little heart.
“Flutters, I am not sorry then,” said Hazel, warmly; and laying a firm hand on each shoulder, she turned him right about face again in the direction of her own home. “Just you trust to me, Flutters, and you’ll never be sorry you ran away from that miserable36 old circus—never.”
And now, so completely was all gloom dispelled37 by these kind words, that back in a flash came the glad look into Flutters’s face, and from that moment he was Hazel’s sworn servant. Starlight looked rather ashamed of himself, but, after all, his fears had some foundation, and he was thankful enough thus to have Hazel take matters into her own hands, and more than share the responsibility The sun was already down as the children neared the house, standing38 in clear-cut outline against the September sky. There were no clouds, only a marvellous gradation of color, shading imperceptibly from the dark, dark blue of the river and the hills beyond, up into the red glow of the sunset, and then again by some subtle transformation39 into a wonderful pale turquoise40 high overhead.
It was indeed a beautiful fall evening, and Captain and Mrs. Boniface and Josephine, seated on the wide, pillared porch, were waiting for the coming of the children, and the exciting narrative41 that was sure to follow. “Kate, the bonny-face baby,” as they used to call her, was there too, a sunny, winsome42 little daughter, almost three years old, and Harry43 Avery besides, Job Starlight’s cousin, a good-looking young fellow, and who lately had managed to spend a good deal of time at the Bonifaces. He had sailed over that morning from Paulus Hook (which, by the way, was the old name for Jersey44 City) with a fine little plan in mind for the day—a plan which he had already promised Hazel should some time be carried out; but the absence of the children had made it necessary to postpone45 it for at least twenty-four hours. This Harry Avery was the oldest of a varied46 assortment47 of little brothers, and his home was in New London, Connecticut. But two years before he had enlisted48 as a volunteer on board a brig named “The Fair American,” and not one of the little brothers had ever had a sight of the big brother since He had had a sorry enough time of it, too, for eighteen months of the twenty-four since he left home had been passed in the prison-ship “Jersey,” and he had only been released within the last few weeks, when the success of the American armies compelled the English to discharge all their prisoners of war. The old ship where so many brave men had lost their lives by privation and disease now lay a great deserted49 hulk in the waters of Wallabout Bay, and what Harry had come over to propose was a sail over to have a look at her. He knew it would interest the children immensely, and he had proposed to Mrs. Boniface that Josephine should go with them, and Josephine, only too glad to fall in with any plan that involved being out on the water, had that morning concocted50 some very delicious little iced cakes with a view to the luncheon51 they would take with them on the morrow. Meanwhile, the children were almost at the gate. “Why, there’s Cousin Harry!” exclaimed Starlight, whose eyes were good at a long range.
“So it is,” said Hazel, excitedly; and when they had passed a few steps farther on, she added, “Now, Flutters, this is the best place for you to stop, and remember, when you hear me call, come quick as anything.” Flutters smiled assent52, and stepped into the deeper shadow of one of the maples53 that edged the road.
“Well, here you are at last,” called Captain Boniface a few moments later from where he sat smoking in a great easy-chair on the porch.
“Yes, here we are,” answered Starlight, and they marched up the path and took their seats on the porch, Hazel having first kissed the family all round, not at all reluctantly including “Cousin Harry,” for his prison experience made him a wonderful hero in her eyes.
Of course they right away began to give an account, interrupted by a good many questions, of all they had seen and done. Mrs. Boniface thought, and thought rightly, that she detected a little sense of disappointment in their description, but did not know that that was easily accounted for by the insight they had had into the inner workings of a circus. They had indeed been greatly impressed with the velvet and spangles, but only until they had learned through Flutters what heavy hearts velvet and spangles could cover.
Finally, at the close of quite a vivid description on Hazel’s part of the grand entrance march, which had proved to both the children the most impressive feature, Harry Avery remarked, just by way of taking some part in the conversation, “that they ought to have brought a bit of the circus home with them for the benefit of people who had not been so fortunate as to see it.” Could there have been a better opportunity for the introduction of Flutters?
“We did bring a bit of it home,” cried Hazel; and then, stepping to the edge of the porch, she called, “Flutters, Flutters,” at the top of her strong little lungs. Of course the Bonifaces looked on astonished at this performance, while Starlight, from suppressed excitement, bit his lip till he almost made the blood come; but in a second, head over heels in a series of somersaults up the path, bounded a remarkable54 little creature in satin slippers, velvet cap and all, as real a bit of a circus as Cousin Harry or any one else could have desired. The little tumbler was, of course, acting55 under orders, and brought up at the step of the porch with the most beaming smile imaginable, and a most gracious little bow.
0050
“Come right up, Flutters,” was Hazel’s reassuring56 invitation, and nothing abashed57, but still beaming and smiling, so great was his confidence in Hazel, Flutters mounted the steps, swung himself into the hammock that was strung across the porch, and drew the netted meshes58 close about him, as though conscious of the scarcity59 of his apparel.
There was a pause for a moment—that is, no word was spoken, but the four pairs of eyes belonging to Captain and Mrs. Boniface and Josephine and Harry were riveted60 upon Hazel, asking as plainly as words, “What does this mean?” while Starlight’s eyes were urging her in an imploring61 fashion to tell about it all right away. As for Flutters, the complacent62, trustful gaze with which he regarded his little benefactress implied that he was sure she would proceed to explain matters to the entire satisfaction of everybody. Meantime little Kate looked on in admiring wonder, but fortunately her pretty head did not need to trouble itself with “explanations of things.” She only knew that that little fellow in the hammock was “awfully funny.” and extended her pretty hands toward him as though she would very much like to touch him.
“Well,” Hazel began at last with much the same air as a veritable showman, “this little boy is named Flutters, and he did belong to the circus, but he does not belong to it any more. He has run away, and we’ve helped him to do it. Somehow he’s quite alone in the world, and he has to s’port himself, so he joined the circus ‘cause he found he could do what the other tumblers did, and’cause he heard they were coming to America. But he has not been at all happy in the circus,” and Hazel, pausing a moment, looked toward Flutters for confirmation63 of this sad statement, and Flutters bore witness to its truth by gravely shaking his head from side to side. Indeed all through her narration64 it was most amusing to watch his expression, so perfectly65 did it correspond with every word she spoke23. Little folk and old folk have a fashion of letting each passing thought write itself legibly on the face. It is only the strong “in-between” folk who take great care that no one shall ever know what they chance to be thinking about.
By this time Starlight began to show a desire to take a share in the telling of the story, but Hazel would none of it. She thought, perhaps unjustly, that he had proved somewhat of a coward in the latter part of the transaction; at any rate, he himself had pushed her to the front, and there she meant to stay. “No, he has not been at all happy,” she continued; “indeed, the manager has often been very cruel to him; but I will tell you about that another time” (for her eyes were growing a little tearful at the mere66 remembrance of some things Flutters had told them); “and the way we came to know about it was this: sometimes when Flutters takes a great jump from the spring-board and turns a somersault two times in the air, he slips his knee-cap—that’s what you call it, Flutters, isn’t it?” (Flutters nodded yes), “and then he has to slip it back again himself, and it hurts a good deal, so that he can’t jump any more for a while. Well, to-day he slipped it, and then he crawled over underneath67 where we sat, and we talked with him a little; then Starlight told him to creep under the benches when no one was looking, and Starlight dropped down between the seats and talked with him some more.”
“And then we arranged,” Starlight now interrupted in such an unmistakably determined68 manner that Hazel allowed him to continue, “how he should run away, and he didn’t even go back for his clothes, because he says that the manager can almost see what a fellow’s thinking about, and he didn’t dare. So when we had fixed69 everything I climbed up to Hazel and told her what she was to do, and then I dropped down again, and Flutters put on Hazel’s cloak so as to cover him up a little, and we scooted. We came near being found out once, but we got over the great fence safe at last and into Beekman’s woods. There Hazel was to meet us with some of Hans Van Wyck’s clothes, if she could get them.”
“And I did get them,” chimed in Hazel, for it was surely her turn once more, “and—but, oh!” stopping suddenly, “the clothes! Starlight, do hurry and get them, or some one coming along the road may run off with them.” Starlight obeyed, frightened enough at the thought of the possible loss of the borrowed articles, and quickly returning with them to the great relief of both Hazel and himself.
Then the story went on again, turn and turn about, Flutters gaining courage to join in now and then, till at last, when the twilight70 had given place to the sort of half darkness of a starlight night, and the fire-flies were flashing their little lanterns on every side, they had told all there was to tell, and three foot-sore little people confessed they were tired and sleepy and hungry, and glad enough to go indoors and do justice to a most inviting71 little supper, which Josephine had slipped away some time before to prepare.
“Bonny Kate” (as she was called more than half the time, after a certain wilful72 but very charming young woman in one of Shakespeare’s great plays) had long ago fallen asleep, and lay just where her mother, running indoors for a moment, had stowed her away in a corner of the great hair-cloth sofa in the dining-room. One pretty hand was folded under her rosy73 cheek, and such a merry smile played over her sweet face! She surely must have been dreaming of a remarkable little fellow, in beautiful velvet and spangles, coming head over heels up a garden path.
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收听单词发音
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1
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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2
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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3
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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8
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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drudges
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| n.做苦工的人，劳碌的人( drudge的名词复数 ) | |
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10
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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11
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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13
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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15
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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19
aristocrat
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| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
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20
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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22
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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24
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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32
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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mistiness
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| n.雾，模糊，不清楚 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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40
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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41
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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winsome
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| n.迷人的，漂亮的 | |
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43
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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44
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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45
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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46
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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47
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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48
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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49
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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50
concocted
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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51
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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52
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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53
maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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54
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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55
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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56
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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57
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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meshes
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| 网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境 | |
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59
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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60
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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61
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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62
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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63
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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64
narration
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| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
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65
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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67
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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69
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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