Chapter Fourteen ON THE WILD MEN’S ISLAND

 “Deliver this note at once to the Old Soldier,” said the General, as he handed the following letter to the army aviator¹:

Commander of the rear guard of the Teenie Weenie Army, Camp Bitem, on the Swamp Road:

My dear Captain:

We have had a battle with the enemy and our brave men have put them to rout².

Our transport met with an accident and it was broad daylight before we landed on the island.

The wild men attacked us as we neared the shore and sent a shower of arrows at us.

I ordered my men to return the fire, and at the first crack of their rifles the wild men were greatly scared and ran off into the tall grass; I believe that it is the first time the wild men have ever heard a rifle shot.

We have taken possession of a high bank where I have ordered the men to begin work on a trench³.

The raft is now on its way to your camp, and I want you to rush over the cannon⁴ and baggage as soon as possible, for I fully⁵ expect the wild men to attack us before long.

I am sending this note by our brave aviator so you can have things ready to load on the raft when it arrives.

Respectfully yours,

THE GENERAL,

Commander in Chief of the Teenie Weenie Army.

P. S.—I forgot to say that none of my men was hurt in the battle except the Dunce, who was badly scared by being shot through the hat.

“Yes, sir,” saluted⁶ the Turk, and springing onto the back of the airplane he quickly flew out of sight over the water.

 

When the Old Soldier received the General’s message, he set to work at once breaking camp and when the raft arrived the artillery⁷ was quickly loaded. The raft made two trips during the day and most of the necessary baggage was taken over to the island.

A line of trenches⁸ was considered necessary by the General, who ordered Sergeant⁹ Gogo to direct the work and that brave little chap had the trenches done in a remarkably¹⁰ short time.

Nothing more was seen of the wild men, but the closest watch was kept, for there was no telling when they might appear again.

The little soldiers were much too excited to sleep and most of them sat about the tiny camp fire until a late hour talking of the day’s experience, but one by one they finally rolled up in their tiny blankets and slept, while the guards paced back and forth¹¹, ever watchful¹² for prowling wild men.

 

1 aviator   

n.飞行家，飞行员

参考例句：

• The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
• Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。

2 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

3 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

4 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

9 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

10 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。