CHAPTER II

 Tessie and Teddy skated along smoothly¹ on their errand for mother. The roller skates behaved very well, and did not try to race with each other, so that neither little messenger had a fall, or even a bump against anybody on the sidewalk who did not get out of the way in time.

 

The fat grocer man said good morning very pleasantly, and gave them each a little animal cracker². Tessie told him what she wanted, and while he was counting out the eggs and putting them in the bag, she stroked his big tiger cat, who lay half asleep on the top of the sugar barrel.

 

"Here you are, Miss," said the grocer man, handing the package to Tessie, "and be careful, little man," he added, turning to Teddy, "that you don't run into sister and upset her—you won't have any eggs if you do!"

 

"Of course not," replied Teddy, biting off the hind³ legs of his buffalo⁴ cracker. "I'll take care," and both children wabbled over the floor and through the doorway⁵ out onto the sidewalk.

 

Everything went along beautifully. Teddy kept well behind so that Tessie would have plenty of room, and the distance was half over, when something happened. About a block from the house, the sidewalk ran down a small hill. Although Tessie had time and again coasted down without the slightest trouble, today it seemed as if she were going very much faster than usual. Perhaps she was a little worried over the bag of eggs. At any rate, all of a sudden her feet behaved very badly, and before she could help it, one foot went off to one side and Tessie did, too. Down she went in a heap. Crash! smash! mash⁶! there were scrambled⁷ eggs all over the walk!

Tessie turned a frightened glance towards Teddy who just came up.

 

"O dear me! How shall I ever explain to mother?" cried poor little Tessie.

 

 

1 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

2 cracker   

n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干

参考例句：

• Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
• There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。

3 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

6 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

7 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》