But she could not stop to think of this: she could think only of Melvina, cowering3, wet and afraid, under the juniper bushes.
“Perhaps she will be blown down the slope into the river,” thought Anna, “and it will be my fault. Perhaps I have killed Melvina, by trying to make myself out as cleverer than she. Oh! If she is only safe I’ll never try to be clever again,” she vowed4, as she fought her way on against wind and rain.
As she reached the top of the bluff there was46 a moment’s lull5 in the storm, and Anna could clearly see the wide branched juniper bushes where she had left Melvina.
“Melly! Melly!” she called, scrambling6 down the slope. But there was no answer; and in a moment Anna realized that Melvina was not under the trees.
The storm began again with even greater violence, and Anna was obliged to cling closely to the rough branches to keep from being swept down the slope. She could hear the dash of the waves on the shore, and she trembled at the thought that Melvina might have been swept down into the angry waters.
After a little Anna, on her hands and knees, crawled up the slope, clinging to bits of grass here and there, and not venturing to stand upright until she had reached the top.
She knew what she must do now, and she did not hesitate. She must go straight to Mr. Lyon’s house and tell him the story from the moment that she had told Melvina that pine trees were alders7. For a moment she wondered what would become of her afterward9; but only for a moment did she think of herself.
It seemed to the little girl that she would never47 reach the minister’s house. For a moment she rested in the shelter of the church, and then dragged herself on. Her feet hurt so badly now that it was all she could do to walk.
There were lights to be seen, up-stairs and down, at the parsonage; but Anna did not wonder at this. She managed to reach the front door and to lift the knocker.
In a moment London opened the door, holding a candle above his head.
“Well, boy, who be ye?” he questioned sharply, seeing only Anna’s curly brown head.
“If you please, I am Anna Weston,” faltered10 the little girl. “I—I—must see the minister. It’s about Melvina.”
A smile showed on the black face, and London nodded his head.
“Missy Melvina am safe in bed,” he whispered, then in a louder tone, “Step in, if ye please, Missy Anna.”
Anna dragged herself up the high step, and Mr. Lyon just then opened a door leading into his study.
“What is it, London?” he questioned, and seeing Anna, lifted his hands in amazement11.
Anna stumbled toward him.48
“I am to blame about Melvina!” she exclaimed, and, speaking as quickly as she could, she told the whole story. She told it exactly as it had happened, excepting Luretta’s part of the mischief12, and Melvina’s willingness to wade13 in the creeping tide.
Mr. Lyon had taken her by the hand and led her into the candle-lit room. A little fire blazed on the brick hearth14, and as Anna came near it a little mist of steam rose from her wet clothes.
The minister listened, keeping Anna’s cold little hand fast in his friendly clasp. His face was very grave, and when she finished with: “Is Melvina safe? London said she was. But, oh, Mr. Lyon, all her fine clothes are swept away, and it is my fault,” he smiled down at her troubled face.
“Be in no further alarm, my child. But come with me, for your feet are cut and bruised15, and Mrs. Lyon will give you dry clothing. Melvina does not blame you in her story of this mischievous16 prank17. But I doubt not you are both blameworthy. But ’twill be your parents’ duty to see to thy punishment.” As the minister spoke18 he drew her toward a door at the far end of the room and opened it, calling for Mrs. Lyon, who49 rose from her seat near a low table in front of the big kitchen fireplace.
All Anna’s courage had vanished. She hung her head, not daring to look at Mrs. Lyon, saying:
“I must go home. I must not stay.”
“London is at your father’s house ere this, and will tell him that you are to spend the night here. They will not be anxious about you,” said Mrs. Lyon; “and now slip out of those wet garments. I have warm water to bathe your feet,” and almost before Anna realized what was happening she found herself in a warm flannel19 wrapper, her bruised feet bathed and wrapped in comforting bandages, and a bowl of hot milk and corn bread on the little table beside her. When this was finished Mrs. Lyon led the little girl to a tiny chamber20 at the head of the stairs. A big bedstead seemed nearly to fill the room.
“Say your prayers, Anna,” said Mrs. Lyon, and without another word she left the little girl alone. Anna was so thoroughly21 tired out that even the strange dark room did not prevent her from going to sleep, and when she awoke the tiny room was full of sunshine; she could hear robins22 singing in the maples23 near the house, and people50 moving about down-stairs. Then she sat up in bed with a little shiver of apprehension24.
What would the minister and Mrs. Lyon and Melvina say to her? Perhaps none of them would even speak to her. She had never been so unhappy in her life as she was at that moment. She slipped out of bed; but the moment her feet touched the floor she cried out with pain. For they were bruised and sore.
There was a quick rap at the door, and Mrs. Lyon entered. “Good-morning, Anna. Here are your clothes. I have pressed them. And I suppose these are your shoes and stockings!” and she set down the stout25 shoes and the knit stockings that Anna had supposed had been swept out to sea.
“When you are dressed come to the kitchen and your breakfast will be ready,” said Mrs. Lyon, and left the room before Anna had courage to speak. Anna dressed quickly; but in spite of her endeavors she could not get on her shoes. Her feet hurt her too badly to take off the bandages; she drew her stockings on with some difficulty, and shoes in hand went slowly down the steep stairs.
When she was nearly down she heard Mrs.51 Lyon’s voice: “She is a mischievous child, and her parents encourage her. She looks like a boy, and I do not want Melvina to have aught to do with her.”
Anna drew a quick breath. She would not go into the kitchen and face people who thought so unkindly of her. “I will go home,” she thought, ready to cry with the pain from her feet, and her unhappy thoughts. The front door was wide open. There was no trace of the storm of the previous night, and Anna made her way softly across the entry and down the steps. Every step hurt, but she hurried along and had reached the church when she gave a little cry of delight, for her father was coming up the path.
“Well, here’s my Danna safe and sound,” he exclaimed, picking her up in his arms. “And what has happened to her little feet?” he asked, as he carried her on toward home.
And then Anna told all her sad story again, even to the words she had overheard Mrs. Lyon say.
“Don’t worry, Danna! I’d rather have my Dan than a dozen of their Melvinas,” said Mr. Weston quickly.
When London had come the previous night52 with the brief message from the minister that Anna was safe at his house and would stay the night there, the Westons had been vexed27 and troubled, and Mrs. Weston had declared that Anna should be punished for running off in such a tempest to the minister’s house. But as Mr. Weston listened to his little daughter’s story, and looked at her troubled and tear-stained face, he decided28 that Anna had had a lesson that she would remember, and needed comforting more than punishment; and a few whispered words to Mrs. Weston, as he set Anna down in the big wooden rocker, made Anna’s mother put her arms tenderly about her little daughter and say kindly26:
“Mother’s glad enough to have her Danna home again. And now let’s look at those feet.”
Rebby came running with a bowl of hot porridge, and the little girl was made as comfortable as possible. But all that morning she sat in the big chair with her feet on a cushion in a smaller chair, and she told her mother and Rebby all the story of her adventures; and when Rebby laughed at Melvina’s not knowing an alder8 from a pine Danna smiled a little. But Mrs. Weston was very sober, although she said no word of53 blame. If Melvina Lyon’s things had been lost it would be but right that Anna’s parents should replace them to the best of their ability, and this would be a serious expense for the little household.
After dinner Rebby went to the Fosters’, and came home with the story of Melvina’s return home. It seemed that the moment Anna left her she became frightened and had followed her up the slope; and then, while Mr. Lyon and London were searching for her, she had made her way home, told her story, and had been put to bed. Luretta had carried Melvina’s things and Anna’s shoes and stockings well up the shore, and had put them under the curving roots of the oak tree; so, although they were well soaked, they were not blown away, and early that morning Luretta had hastened to carry the things to the parsonage.
“You were brave, Dan, to go through all that storm last night to tell the minister,” said Rebby, as she drew a footstool near her sister’s chair and sat down. Rebby was not so troubled to-day; for her father had postponed29 his trip to the forest after the liberty tree, and Rebby hoped that perhaps it would not be necessary that one should be set up in Machias. So she was ready to keep54 her little sister company, and try to make her forget the troubles of her adventures.
“Of course I had to go, Rebby,” Anna responded seriously, “but none of it, not even my feet, hurt so bad as what Mrs. Lyon said about me. For I do not think I am what she said,” and Anna began to cry.
“Father says you are the bravest child in the settlement; and Mother is proud that you went straight there and took all the blame. And I am sure that no other girl is so dear as my Danna,” declared Rebby loyally. “After all, what harm did you do?”
But Anna was not so easily comforted. “I tried to make fun of Melly for not knowing anything. I tried to show off,” she said, “and now probably she will never want to see me again; and oh, Rebby! the worst of it all is that Melvina is just as brave as she can be, and I like her!” And Anna’s brown eyes brightened at the remembrance of Melvina’s enjoyment30 of their sport together.
“Don’t you worry, Danna; Father will make it all right,” Rebecca assured her; for Rebecca thought that her father could smooth out all the difficult places.55
Anna did not speak of the excursion to the forest; she did not even think of it until that evening, when her father came home with a roll of fine birch-bark, soft and smooth as paper, on whose smooth surface she and Rebecca with bits of charcoal31 could trace crude pictures of trees and Indians, of birds and mice, and sometimes write letters to Lucia Horton or Luretta Foster.
“You must take good care of your feet, Dan, for I must start after the liberty tree in a few days,” said Mr. Weston, “and I want your company.”
Anna’s face brightened, but Rebecca looked troubled.
“Why must we have a liberty pole, Father?” she asked fretfully.
“We have good reasons, daughter. And to-day tidings have come that the brave men of Lexington and Concord32, in Massachusetts, drove the British back to Boston on the nineteenth of April. ’Tis great news for all the colonies. I wish some British craft would give Machias men a chance to show their mettle,” said Mr. Weston, his face flushing at the thought of the patriotic33 action of the men of Massachusetts.
Rebecca sighed. She, too, wished that her56 home town might do its part to win a victory for America; but, remembering what Lucia Horton had told her, the very mention of a liberty pole made her tremble.
When Anna hobbled up-stairs that night she was in a much happier frame of mind.
“My father is the best father in all the world, and my mother is the best mother, and my sister is the best sister,” she announced to the little group as she said good-night. But the shadow of Mrs. Lyon’s disapproval34 was not forgotten; Anna wondered to herself if there was not some way by which she could win the approval of Mr. and Mrs. Lyon, and so be allowed to become Melvina’s friend.
“Mrs. Lyon doesn’t like me because my hair is short, for one reason,” thought Anna. “I’ll let it grow; but ’twill take years and years,” and with this discouraging thought her eyes closed, and she forgot her troubles in sleep.
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收听单词发音
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1
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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2
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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3
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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4
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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6
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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7
alders
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| n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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alder
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| n.赤杨树 | |
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9
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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10
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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11
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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12
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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13
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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14
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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15
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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16
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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prank
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| n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己 | |
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18
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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19
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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20
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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21
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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22
robins
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| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
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23
maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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24
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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26
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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27
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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28
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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29
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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30
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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31
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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32
concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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33
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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34
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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