THE THREE B's

 The Three B's Club had only one rule—each member was to try every day to be all three of the B's.

 

Usually it was quite easy to be one B. Often it was not so very difficult to be two B's. But to be three B's was many times very, very hard indeed.

 

The Saturday Ned Brown's father gave him the new catching¹ glove was one of those times. Ned wanted to go out and try the glove. Just as he was starting, however, Mrs. Brown called him.

 

"Ned," she said, "the wood box is empty!"

 

Ned knew what that meant, but he remembered B Number Two in time to keep from frowning.

 

"All right," he called back cheerily, and went out, whistling, to the barn.

 

Thwack! went the ax into the wood. Ned was strong, and every blow told. His mother, hearing the chopping, smiled to herself. She knew about the B's.

 

"Whew!" said Ned presently, stopping for breath. "This is being B Number One, all right. Two B's in one morning aren't so bad!"

 

"Hi, Ned!" came over the fence as he started for the house with an armful of wood. "Why don't you come over? You said you had a new glove."

 

"Have," answered Ned as two other members of the Three B's climbed into sight. "Wait a minute."

 

He dumped his wood into the box in the kitchen, and then ran proudly back with the precious glove. "Here it is."

 

The boys felt of it, pinched it, tried it on. "It's a dandy. Come on and catch!" they urged.

 

"Can't just yet. You can use it till I come." And Ned returned to his work, while the boys ran off with the glove.

 

The Three B's met at Ned's house that afternoon. The club always reported once a week on their success as B's.

 

"I don't have any chance to be B Number Three," complained Ned, when his turn came to talk.

 

Mrs. Brown was just coming in with a pitcher² of lemonade. "I know better, Ned," she said. "How about chopping wood when you wanted to play ball? That made all three B's this morning—Busy, Bright, and Brave."

 

"And I know another B Number Three, too," cried Ned Baker³. "How about loaning us your catching glove when you hadn't used it yourself?"

 

Ned smiled shyly, and B Number Two was written all over his face as he slowly sipped⁴ his lemonade.

 

1 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

2 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

3 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

4 sipped   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
• I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句