CHAPTER II ROPE JUMPING, AND WHAT FOLLOWED

 "Oh, mamma, what have you brought?" Such was the cry from all of the Bobbsey twins, as they gathered around Mrs. Bobbsey in the hallway. She had several small packages in her hands, and one looked very much like a box of candy.

 

Mrs. Bobbsey kissed them all before speaking. "Have you been good while I was gone?" she asked.

 

"I guess we tried to be good," answered Bert meekly¹.

 

"Freddie's boiler² got broke, that's all," said Flossie. "Dinah swept up the dirt."

 

Before anything more could be said all were in the dining room and Mrs. Bobbsey was called upon to admire the row of houses. Then the box of candy was opened and each received a share.

 

"Now you had better go out and play," said the mother. "Dinah must set the table for dinner. But be sure and put on your thick coats. It is very cold and feels like snow."

 

"Oh, if only it would snow!" said Bert. He was anxious to try a sled he had received the Christmas before.

 

It was Saturday, with no school, so all of the boys and girls of the neighborhood were out. Some of the girls were skipping rope, and Nan joined these, while Bert went off to join a crowd of boys in a game of football.

 

"Let us play horse," suggested Freddie to Flossie. They had reins³ of red leather, with bells, and Freddie was the horse while his twin sister was the driver.

 

"I'm a bad horse, I'll run away if you don't watch me," cautioned Freddie, and began to prance⁴ around wildly, against the grape arbor⁵ and then up against the side fence.

 

"Whoa! whoa!" screamed Flossie, jerking on the reins. "Whoa, you naughty horse! If I had a whip, I'd beat you!"

 

"If you did that, I'd kick," answered Freddie, and began to kick real hard into the air. But at last he settled down and ran around the house just as nicely as any horse could. Then he snorted and ran up to the water bucket near the barn and Flossie pretended to give him a drink and some hay, and unharnessed him just as if he was a real steed.

 

Nan was counting while another girl named Grace Lavine jumped, Grace was a great jumper and had already passed forty when her mother called to her from the window.

 

"Grace, don't jump so much. You'll get sick."

 

"Oh, no, I won't," returned Grace. She was a headstrong girl and always wanted her own way.

 

"But jumping gave you a headache only last week," continued Mrs. Lavine. "Now, don't do too much of it," and then the lady closed the window and went back to her interrupted work.

 

"Oh, dear, mamma made me trip," sighed Grace. "I don't think that was fair."

 

"But your mamma doesn't want you to jump any more," put in another girl, Nellie Parks by name.

 

"Oh, she didn't say that. She said not to jump too much."

 

It was now Nan's turn to jump and she went up to twenty-seven and then tripped. Nellie followed and reached thirty-five. Then came another girl who jumped to fifty-six.

 

"I'm going a hundred this time," said Grace, as she skipped into place.

 

"Oh, Grace, you had better not!" cried Nan.

 

"You're afraid I'll beat you," declared Grace.

 

"No, I'm not. But your mamma said——"

 

"I don't care what she said. She didn't forbid my jumping," cut in the obstinate⁶ girl. "Are you going to turn or not?"

 

"Yes, I'll turn," replied Nan, and at once the jumping started. Soon Grace had reached forty. Then came fifty, and then sixty.

 

"I do believe she will reach a hundred after all," declared Nellie Parks, a little enviously⁷.

 

"I will, if you turn steadily," answered Grace, in a panting voice. Her face was strangely pale.

 

"Oh, Grace, hadn't you better stop?" questioned Nan. She was a little frightened, but, nevertheless, kept on turning the rope.

 

"No!" puffed⁸ Grace. "Go—go on!"

 

She had now reached eighty-five. Nellie Parks was counting:

 

"Eighty-six, eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety!" she went on. "Ninety-one-, ninety-two——"

 

"No—not so—so fast!" panted Grace. "I—I—oh!"

 

And then, just as Nellie was counting "Ninety-seven," she sank down in a heap, with her eyes closed and her face as white as a sheet.

 

For a moment the other girls looked on in blank wonder, not knowing what to make of it. Then Nan gave a scream.

 

"Oh, girls, she has fainted!"

 

"Perhaps she is dead!" burst out Nellie Parks. "And if she is, we killed her, for we turned the rope!"

 

"Oh, Nellie, please don't say that!" said Nan. She could scarcely speak the words.

 

"Shall I go and tell Mrs. Lavine?" asked another girl who stood near.

 

"No—yes," answered Nan. She was so bewildered she scarcely knew what to say. "Oh, isn't it awful!"

 

They gathered close around the fallen girl, but nobody dared to touch her. While they were there, and one had gone to tell Mrs. Lavine, a gentleman came up. It was Mr. Bobbsey, coming home from the lumber⁹ yard for lunch.

 

"What is the trouble?" he asked, and then saw Grace. "What happened to her?"

 

"She was—was jumping rope, and couldn't jump any more," sobbed¹⁰ Nan. "Oh, papa, she—isn't de—dead, is she?"

 

Mr. Bobbsey was startled and with good reason, for he had heard of more than one little girl dying from too much jumping. He took the limp form up in his arms and hurried to the Lavine house with it. "Run and tell Doctor Briskett," he called back to Nan.

 

The physician mentioned lived but a short block away, and Nan ran as fast as her feet could carry her. The doctor had just come in from making his morning calls and had his hat and overcoat still on.

 

"Oh, Doctor Briskett, do come at once!" she sobbed. "Grace Lavine is dead, and we did it, turning the rope for her!"

 

"Grace Lavine dead?" repeated the dumfounded doctor.

 

"Yes! yes!"

 

"Where is she?"

 

"Papa just carried her into her house."

 

Without waiting to hear more, Doctor Briskett ran toward the Lavine residence, around which quite a crowd had now collected. In the crowd was Bert.

 

"Is Grace really dead?" he asked.

 

"I—I—guess so," answered Nan. "Oh, Bert, it's dreadful! I was turning the rope and she had reached ninety-seven, when all at once she sank down, and——" Nan could not go on, but leaned on her twin brother's arm for support.

 

"You girls are crazy to jump rope so much," put in a big boy, Danny Rugg by name. Danny was something of a bully¹¹ and very few of the girls liked him.

 

"It's no worse than playing football," said a big girl.

 

"Yes, it is, much worse," retorted Danny. "Rope jumping brings on heart disease. I heard father tell about it."

 

"I hope Grace didn't get heart disease," sobbed Nan.

 

"You turned the rope," went on Danny maliciously¹². "If she dies, they'll put you in prison, Nan Bobbsey."

 

"They shan't do it!" cried Bert, coming to his sister's rescue. "I won't let them."

 

"Much you can stop 'em, Bert Bobbsey."

 

"Can't I?"

 

"No, you can't."

 

"I'll see if I can't," answered Bert, and he gave Danny such a look that the latter edged away, thinking he was going to be attacked.

 

Doctor Briskett had gone into the house and the crowd hung around impatiently, waiting for news. The excitement increased, and Mrs. Bobbsey came forth¹³, followed by Freddie and Flossie, who had just finished playing horse.

 

"Nan, Nan! what can it mean?" said Mrs. Bobbsey.

 

"Oh, mamma!" murmured Nan, and sank, limp and helpless, into her mother's arms.

 

Just then Mr. Bobbsey came forth from the Lavine residence. Seeing his wife supporting their daughter, he hurried in that direction.

 

"Grace is not dead," he announced. "She had a fainting spell, that is all. But I think after this she had better leave rope skipping alone."

 

1 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 boiler   

n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等)

参考例句：

• That boiler will not hold up under pressure.那种锅炉受不住压力。
• This new boiler generates more heat than the old one.这个新锅炉产生的热量比旧锅炉多。

3 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

4 prance   

v.（马）腾跃，(人)神气活现地走

参考例句：

• Their horses pranced and whinnied.他们的马奔腾着、嘶鸣着。
• He was horrified at the thought of his son prancing about on a stage in tights.一想到儿子身穿紧身衣在舞台上神气活现地走来走去，他就感到震惊。

5 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

6 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

7 enviously   

adv.满怀嫉妒地

参考例句：

• Yet again, they were looking for their way home blindly, enviously. 然而，它们又一次盲目地、忌妒地寻找着归途。 来自辞典例句
• Tanya thought enviously, he must go a long way south. 坦妮亚歆羡不置，心里在想，他准是去那遥远的南方的。 来自辞典例句

8 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

10 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

11 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

12 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。