She had been taught, as was her brother, that under heaven she must rely upon herself to get forward in the world. Nick was rarely if ever allowed to extend her a helping2 hand in her lessons, and she was given to understand that whatever was possible for her to do must be done without the aid of any one.
As for sitting down and crying when in trouble, without making any effort to help herself, she knew better than to try that when either her father or mother were likely to find it out.
Her intention, when she left school that afternoon before the session closed, was to keep on in the direction of Dunbarton until she met Nick returning.
She turned off at the forks, and did not lessen3 her gait until she reached the woods. Her rapid walking caused her to feel quite warm, and the cool shade of the woods was refreshing4.
She began wandering aimlessly forward, swinging her hat in her hand, singing snatches of school songs, and feeling just as happy as a little girl can feel who is in bounding health, high spirits, and without an accusing conscience.
It was not the time of year for flowers, and Nellie knew better than to look for any. They had drooped5 and died long ago; but some of the leaves were turning on the trees, and they gave a peculiar6 beauty to the autumnal forest.
At intervals7 she caught sight of the cleanly, symmetrical maple8, with some of its leaves turning a fiery9 red and looking like flecks10 of flame through the intervening vegetation. At the least rustling11 of the wind some of the leaves came fluttering downward as lightly as flakes12 of snow; the little brown squirrel scampered13 up the shaggy trunks and out upon the limbs, where, perching on his hind14 legs, he peeped mischievously15 down at the girl, as if inviting16 her to play hide-and-seek with him; now and then a rabbit, fat and awkward from his gluttony on the richness around him, jumped softly a few steps, then munched17 rapidly with his jaws18, flapped his long silken ears, looked slyly around with his big, pretty eyes, and, as the girl made a rush toward him, he was off like a shot.
The woods were fragrant19 with ripening20 grapes and decaying vegetation, and were putting on a garb21 whose flaming splendor22 surpassed the hues23 of spring.
Indeed, everything conspired24 to win a boy or girl away from study or work, and to cause the wish on the part of both that they might be a bird or squirrel, with no thought of the responsibilities of life.
Nellie Ribsam forgot for the time everything else except her own enjoyment25; but by-and-by the woods took on such tempting26 looks that she turned off from the highway she had been following, with the intention of taking a stroll, which she meant should not lead her out of sight of the road.
The first view which stopped her was that of a large vine of wild grapes.
Some of them were green, some turning, while others were a dark purple, showing they were fully27 ripe: the last, as a matter of course, were at the top.
These wild grapes were small and tart28, inferior to those which grew in the yard of Nellie at home; but they seemed to be trying to hide in the woods, and they were hard to get, therefore they were more to be desired than the choicest Catawba, Isabella, or Concord29.
The main vine, where it started from the ground, was as thick as a man's wrist, and it twisted and wound about an oak sapling as if it were a great African constrictor seeking to strangle the young tree. Other vines branched out from the sides until not only was the particular sapling enfolded and smothered30, but the greedy vine reached out and grasped others growing near it.
Nellie felt like the fox who found the grapes more tempting the longer he looked at them.
"I'm going to have some of them," she said, and straightway proceeded to help herself.
She climbed as readily as Nick himself could have done, and never stopped until she was so high that the sapling bent31 far over with her weight. Then she reached out her chubby32 hand and plucked a cluster of the wild fruit. They were about the size of buckshot, and when her sound teeth shut down on them, the juice was so sour that she shut both eyes and felt a twinge at the crown of her head as though she had taken a sniff33 of the spirits of ammonia.
But the grapes were none the less delicious for all that; the fact that there seemed to be something forbidden about them added a flavor that nothing else could give.
Nellie had managed to crush a handful of the vinegar-like globules, when she caught sight of another vine deeper in the woods. It was much larger and climbed fully a dozen yards from the ground, winding34 in and out among the limbs of a ridgy35 beech36, which seemed to be forever struggling upward to get away from the smothering37 embrace of the vegetable python.
Five minutes later, Nellie was clambering upward like a monkey, never pausing until the bending tree-top warned her that if she went any higher it would yield to her weight.
Nellie disposed of one bunch and that was enough: she concluded that she was not very hungry for grapes and, without eating or even gathering38 more, she devoted39 herself to another kind of enjoyment.
Standing40 with one foot on a limb and the other on one near it, she grasped a branch above her and began swaying back and forth41, with the vim42 and abandon of a child in a patent swing.
The tree bent far over as she swung outward, then straightened up and inclined the other way as her weight passed over to that side. Any one looking at the picture would have said that a general smash and giving away were certain, in which case the girl was sure to go spinning through the limbs and branches, as though driven forth by the springs within the big gun which fling the young lady outward just as the showman touches off some powder.
But a green sapling is very elastic43, and, although the one climbed by Nellie bent back and forth like a bow, it did not give way. Her hair streamed from her head, and there was a thrilling feeling as the wind whistled by her ears, and she seemed to be shooting like a bird through space.
All this was well enough, and it was no more than natural that Nellie should have forgotten several important facts: she was so far from the highway that she could not see any one passing over it; the rush of the wind in her ears shut out sounds that otherwise would have been noticed, and she had gone so far and had lingered so long by the way that it was time to look for Nick on his return from Dunbarton, even though he was later than he expected to be.
It was while she was swinging in this wild fashion that her brother drove by on his way home, without either suspecting how close they were to each other.
Nellie displayed a natural, childish thoughtlessness by keeping up this sport for a half hour longer, when she came down to the ground, simply because she was tired of the amusement.
Although out of sight of the road she managed to find her way back to it without trouble. With her lunch basket in hand, she continued in the direction of Dunbarton, taking several mouthfuls of the bread which had been left over at noon.
In this aimless manner she strolled forward, stopping now and then to look at the squirrel or rabbit or the yellow-hued warbler, the noisy and swift-flying finch44, the russet-coated thrush, or dark brown and mottled woodpecker, as his head rattled45 against the bark of the tree trunks, into which he bored in quest of worms.
The first real surprise of the girl came when she reached the bridge. This proved that she was more than four miles from home, a distance much greater than she had suspected.
"Where can Nick be?" she asked herself, never once thinking that they might have missed each other when she was swinging in the tree-top. It struck her that the day was nearly gone, for she noticed the gathering twilight46 diffusing47 itself through the forest.
"I don't think I will go any farther," she said; "Nick will be along pretty soon, and I'll wait here for him."
Standing on the bridge and looking down the road and listening for the sound of the carriage wheels were tiresome48 to one of Nellie's active habits, and it was not long before she broke off some of the bread, set down her lunch basket, and then dropped some crumbs49 into the water.
As they struck the surface, sending out little rings toward the shore, several tiny fish came up after the food. Nellie laughed outright50, and, in her eagerness, was careless of how she threw the crumbs, most of which fell upon the bank.
It occurred to her that she could do better by going down to the edge of the stream, where she would not mistake her aim.
Childlike, she did not pause to think of the wrong of so doing, for she ought to have known that her parents never would have consented to such an act.
Just there, Nellie, like many another little girl, made a great mistake.
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1
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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7
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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8
maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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10
flecks
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| n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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12
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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13
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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munched
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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23
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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24
conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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28
tart
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| adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇 | |
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concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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30
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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31
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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32
chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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33
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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34
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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ridgy
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| adj.有脊的；有棱纹的；隆起的；有埂的 | |
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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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smothering
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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40
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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41
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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vim
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| n.精力，活力 | |
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43
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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44
finch
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| n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀，金丝雀等) | |
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45
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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46
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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47
diffusing
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| （使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播 | |
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48
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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49
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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50
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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