Chapter Thirteen THE ATTACK

 It was a long trip to the wild men’s island and the General wished to make the journey under cover of darkness. “I want to land on the island before daybreak so we can surprise the wild men,” the General told his officers, who were gathered for a council of war.

“The Sailor tells me,” continued the General, “that the wind and current are just right to sail the raft over to-night. I will take over the infantry¹ on the first trip and then the raft can return for the artillery² and the baggage and the rear guard, which the Old Soldier will command.”

The Cook had a great pot of rice cooked and he had stewed³ five lima beans. This great amount of food was portioned out, and three days’ rations⁴ were given to each soldier.

A number of picks and shovels⁵, with a lot of bags and a chest of bullets, was loaded onto the raft.

Promptly⁶ at eleven o’clock the General, followed by several men, marched onto the raft and some of the soldiers with long poles quickly pushed out into the dark stream.

 

The Teenie Weenies pull the captured Wild Men out of the bottle.—Chapter Sixteen.

The Sailor and the Cowboy handled the big sweep at the back of the raft, while the Policeman and the Scotchman pushed wherever they could with the long poles.

No lights were allowed on the raft and the men were ordered to talk only in whispers, for the General wished to land on the island unknown to the wild men.

“J-j-j-jimminie C-c-christmas!” stuttered the trembling Dunce, “I-I-I’m not a-a bit s-s-scared. Are you, G-g-gogo?”

“Not v-v-very m-m-much,” answered the colored lad, trying to keep his knees from knocking together. “I done hope we-all—”

 

But at that minute, the raft struck something with such a bang it nearly upset most of the little soldiers. In fact, the Scotchman would have tumbled into the water if the Cowboy hadn’t caught him.

The raft had struck the limb of an old tree that lay in the water and to the alarm of the General it stuck fast.

“This is terrible. Perfectly⁷ terrible,” groaned⁸ the General, glancing towards the eastern sky. “It will soon be daylight and the wild men will see us if we are delayed here.”

The men worked with might and main to free the raft, but it was stuck tight to the snag and before they managed to get it free it was broad daylight.

“The wild men have very likely seen us by this time,” said the General, peering towards the island. “So instead of our surprising them, they probably will surprise us, but we have got to land. Examine your rifles and see that they are in condition to use, for we are likely to have a fight.”

“Look there!” cried the Sailor, pointing towards the shore, for the raft was now only a short distance from the island. “There’s something behind that stick.”

“Maybe it’s a wild man,” suggested the Dunce, turning a trifle pale. “Don’t you think we had better go back, General?”

“We intend to go on,” said the General, glancing scornfully at the frightened Dunce, “but if you want to you can jump into the water and swim back.”

“I-I-I think I’ll stay here,” said the Dunce as he thought of the many frogs and turtles that might snap him up if he tried to swim back.

As the raft drew near the shore, several arrows whistled over the soldiers’ heads and instantly a number of wild men sprang up from behind a stick that lay on the shore and began shooting at the raft.

“Make ready, men!” shouted the General, drawing his sword. “Shoot over the wild men’s heads when I give the word to fire. We don’t want to hurt any of them if we can avoid it.”

“O-o-o-oh, I-I-I’m shot!” screamed the Dunce, as an arrow knocked his hat from his head, but the rest of the little soldiers never heard the foolish fellow, for they stood ready, awaiting the General’s order to fire.

 

1 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

2 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

3 stewed   

adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧

参考例句：

• When all birds are shot, the bow will be set aside;when all hares are killed, the hounds will be stewed and eaten -- kick out sb. after his services are no longer needed. 鸟尽弓藏，兔死狗烹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• \"How can we cook in a pan that's stewed your stinking stockings? “染臭袜子的锅，还能煮鸡子吃！还要它？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

4 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

5 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

6 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》