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Chapter Eighteen CONSULTING AN ENGINEER
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 The General studied the map of the wild men’s island which the Turk had drawn1, in the hope that he could figure out a way to attack the Saboes without storming their fort. In storming the fort, the General felt sure that many of his soldiers might be injured and he wished to rout2 the enemy with as little damage as possible.
“I have it! I have it!” exclaimed the General one morning as he sat studying the tiny map. “We can hire a mole3 to tunnel under the wild men’s fort and then we can blow it up with a firecracker.”
“Bully!” shouted the Old Soldier. “And before they get over the surprise of the explosion we can charge through the destroyed fort into the village.”
“That’s the idea,” smiled the General. “We’ll go over to-morrow and engage the old mole who lives down by the river.”
“Moles are great engineers,” said the Doctor, “and what they don’t know about underground digging isn’t worth knowing.”
The next day the General and the Doctor, with an escort of four soldiers, set out on the journey to the mole’s home.
“S-s-say, what is a m-m-mole anyhow?” asked the Dunce as the little party marched along.
“A mole? Why, a mole—let’s see, a mole—why a mole is a mole,” answered Gogo.
“I’ll tell you what a mole is like,” laughed the Doctor, who had overheard the Dunce’s question. “A mole is an animal almost the size of a rat and he lives under the ground. He has very small eyes and ears, and he very seldom comes out in the day time, for it is pretty hard for him to see in the bright sunlight. He has very short and powerful legs with which he can dig very fast. He lives on worms and grubs and roots, and he is usually very gruff and bad-tempered4.”
Presently the little party came to the place where the mole lived and the General ordered the soldiers to halt. They had stopped by the side of a steep bank and near the top was a hole under the roots of a tree, which was the front door of the mole’s home.
“Dress up in line, men!” commanded the General, “and when Mr. Mole comes to the door of his house I want you all to present arms, for we will have to use the greatest diplomacy5 in order to engage this fellow.”
The General stepped up near the bank and called loudly several times into the hole and presently a long furry6 nose appeared in the opening.
“Well, what do you mean by awakening7 honest people out of a sound sleep?” growled8 the mole. “What is it? What do you want?”
“I beg your pardon,” said the General as he lifted his hat and made a low bow; “I’m awfully9 sorry I disturbed your rest, but having heard of your reputation as an engineer I have come to beg your services for the Teenie Weenie army. We want to engage you to dig a trench10 for us.”
“I’ll work for four fat white grubs a day and not a grub less,” snapped the mole.
 
“That’s quite satisfactory,” answered the General. “We are willing to pay whatever you ask, but I want you to know just what the work will be. We want you to dig a tunnel in the ground so we can explode a mine in it.”
“I don’t care a snap of my tail what kind of work it is; all I want is my pay,” growled the mole.
“When may we expect you?” asked the General.
“To-morrow at four o’clock, not a minute sooner or later,” answered the mole.
“Shall we have breakfast for you?” asked the General.
“Why, certainly! Why, certainly!” exclaimed the mole. “How in the name of angleworms do you expect me to work without food? What do you suppose I’m workin’ for—pleasure?”
“We’ll have a couple of nice young grubs for you,” said the General politely, although he was quite disturbed by the mole’s ungentlemanly manner.
“Two grubs and a couple of angleworms would make me work better,” suggested the mole.
“You shall have them,” answered the General stiffly. “Good day to you, sir.” Lifting his hat politely, he ordered the soldiers to march back to camp.
 

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1 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
2 rout isUye     
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 mole 26Nzn     
n.胎块;痣;克分子
参考例句:
  • She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
  • The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。
4 bad-tempered bad-tempered     
adj.脾气坏的
参考例句:
  • He grew more and more bad-tempered as the afternoon wore on.随着下午一点点地过去,他的脾气也越来越坏。
  • I know he's often bad-tempered but really,you know,he's got a heart of gold.我知道他经常发脾气,但是,要知道,其实他心肠很好。
5 diplomacy gu9xk     
n.外交;外交手腕,交际手腕
参考例句:
  • The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
  • This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。
6 furry Rssz2D     
adj.毛皮的;似毛皮的;毛皮制的
参考例句:
  • This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
  • Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗,当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。
7 awakening 9ytzdV     
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的
参考例句:
  • the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
  • People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。
8 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》
9 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
10 trench VJHzP     
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。


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