THE SECOND NIGHT

 The roosters crowed and the hens clucked; the farmer's wife began to get breakfast, and the four children slept on. Dinner time came and went, and still they slept, for it must be remembered that they had been awake and walking during the whole night. In fact, it was nearly seven o'clock in the evening when they awoke. Luckily, all the others awoke before Benny.

 

"Can you hear me, Jess?" said Henry, speaking very low through the wall of hay.

 

"Yes," answered Jess softly. "Let's make one big room of our nests."

 

No sooner said than done. The boy and girl worked quickly and quietly until they could see each other. They pressed the hay back firmly until they had made their way into Violet's little room. And then she in turn groped until she found Benny.

 

"Hello, little Cinnamon!" whispered Violet playfully.

 

And Benny at once made up his mind to laugh instead of cry. But laughing out loud was almost as bad, so Henry took his little brother on the hay beside him and talked to him seriously.

 

"You're old enough now, Benny, to understand what I say to you. Now, listen! When I tell you to keep still after this, that means you're to stop crying if you're crying, or stop laughing if you're laughing, and be just as still as you possibly can. If you don't mind, you will be in danger. Do you understand?"

 

"Don't I have to mind Jess and Violet too?" asked Benny.

 

"Absolutely!" said Henry. "You have to mind us all, every one of us!"

 

Benny thought a minute. "Can't I ask for what I want any more?" he said.

 

"Indeed you can!" cried Jess and Henry together. "What is it you want?"

 

"I'm awful hungry," said Benny anxiously.

 

Henry's brow cleared. "Good old Benny," he said. "We're just going to have supper—or is it breakfast?"

 

Jess drew out the fragrant¹ loaf of bread. She cut it with Henry's jackknife into four quarters, and she and Henry took the two crusty ends themselves.

 

"That's because we have to be the strongest, and crusts make you strong," explained Jess.

 

Violet looked at her older sister. She thought she knew why Jess took the crust, but she did not speak.

 

"We will stay here till dark, and then we'll go on with our journey," said Henry cheerfully.

 

"I want a drink," announced Benny.

 

"A drink you shall have," Henry promised, "but you'll have to wait till it's really dark. If we should creep out to the brook² now, and any one saw us—" He did not finish his sentence, but Benny realized that he must wait.

 

He was much refreshed from his long sleep, and felt very lively. Violet had all she could do to keep him amused, even with Cinnamon Bear and his five brothers.

 

At last Henry peeped out. It was after nine o'clock. There were lights in the farmhouse³ still, but they were all upstairs.

 

"We can at least get a drink now," he said. And the children crept quietly to the noisy little brook not far from the haystack.

 

"Cup," said Benny.

 

"No, you'll have to lie down and drink with your mouth," Jess explained. And so they did. Never did water taste so cool and delicious as it did that night to the thirsty children.

 

When they had finished drinking they jumped the brook, ran quickly over the fields to the wall, and once more found themselves on the road.

 

"If we meet any one," said Jess, "we must all crouch⁴ behind bushes until he has gone by."

 

They walked along in the darkness with light hearts. They were no longer tired or hungry. Their one thought was to get away from their grandfather, if possible.

 

"If we can find a big town," said Violet, "won't it be better to stay in than a little town?"

 

"Why?" asked Henry, puffing⁵ up the hill.

 

"Well, you see, there are so many people in a big town, nobody will notice us—"

 

"And in a little village everyone would be talking about us," finished Henry admiringly. "You've got brains, Violet!"

 

He had hardly said this, when a wagon⁶ was heard behind them in the distance. It was coming from Middlesex. Without a word, the four children sank down behind the bushes like frightened rabbits. They could plainly hear their hearts beat. The horse trotted⁷ nearer, and then began to walk up the hill.

 

"If we hear nothing in Townsend," they heard a man say, "we have plainly done our duty."

 

It was the baker⁸'s voice!

 

"More than our duty," said the baker's wife, "tiring out a horse with going a full day, from morning until night!"

 

There was silence as the horse pulled the creaky wagon.

 

"At least we will go on to Townsend tonight," continued the baker, "and tell them to watch out. We need not go to Intervale, for they never could walk so far."

 

"We are well rid of them, I should say," replied his wife. "They may not have come this way. The milkman did not see them, did he?"

 

The baker's reply was lost, for the horse had reached the hilltop, where he broke into a canter.

 

It was some minutes before the children dared to creep out of the bushes again.

 

"One thing is sure," said Henry, when he got his breath. "We will not go to Townsend."

 

"And we will go to Intervale," said Jess.

 

With a definite goal in mind at last, the children set out again with a better spirit. They walked until two o'clock in the morning, stopping often this time to rest and to drink from the horses' watering troughs. And then they came upon a fork in the road with a white signpost shining in the moonlight.

 

"Townsend, four miles; Intervale, six miles," read Henry aloud. "Any one feel able to walk six more miles?"

 

He grinned. No one had the least idea how far they had already walked.

 

"We'll go that way at least," said Jess finally.

 

"That we will," agreed Henry, picking up his brother for a change, and carrying him "pig-back."

 

Violet went ahead. The new road was a pleasant woody one, with grass growing in the middle. The children could not see the grass, but they could feel it as they walked. "Not many people pass this way, I guess," remarked Violet. Just then she caught her toe in something and almost fell, but Jess caught her.

 

The two girls stooped down to examine the obstruction⁹.

 

"Hay!" said Jess.

 

"Hay!" repeated Violet.

 

"Hey!" cried Henry, coming up. "What did you say?"

 

"It must have fallen off somebody's load," said Jess.

 

"We'll take it with us," Henry decided¹⁰ wisely. "Load on all you can carry, Jess."

 

"For Benny," thought Violet to herself. So the odd little party trudged¹¹ on for nearly three hours, laden¹² with hay, until they found that the road ended in a cart path through the woods.

 

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Jess, almost ready to cry with disappointment.

 

"What's the matter?" demanded Henry in astonishment¹³. "Isn't the woods a good place to sleep? We can't sleep in the road, you know."

 

"It does seem nice and far away from people," admitted Jess, "and it's almost morning."

 

As they stood still at the entrance to the woods, they heard the rumble¹⁴ of a train. It roared down the valley at a great rate and passed them on the other side of the woods, thundering along toward the city.

 

"Never mind the train, either," remarked Henry. "It isn't so awfully¹⁵ near; and even if it were, it couldn't see us."

 

He set his brother down and peered into the woods. It was very warm.

 

"Lizzen!" said Benny.

 

"Listen!" echoed Violet.

 

"More water!" Benny cried, catching¹⁶ his big brother by the hand.

 

"It is only another brook," said Henry with a thankful heart. "He wants a drink." The trickle¹⁷ of water sounded very pleasant to all the children as they lay down once more to drink.

 

Benny was too sleepy to eat. Jess quickly found a dry spot thick with moss¹⁸ between two stones. Upon this moss the three older children spread the hay in the shape of an oval bed. Benny tumbled into it with a great sigh of satisfaction, while his sisters tucked the hay around him.

 

"Pine needles up here, Jess," called Henry from the slope. Each of them quickly scraped together a fragrant pile for a pillow and once more lay down to sleep, with hardly a thought of fear.

 

"I only hope we won't have a thunderstorm," said Jess to herself, as she shut her tired eyes.

 

And she did not open them for a long time, although the dark gray clouds piled higher and more thickly over the sleeping children.

1 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

2 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

3 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

4 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

5 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

7 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

8 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。

9 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

13 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

14 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

15 awfully   

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。

16 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。

17 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

18 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。