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CHAPTER XXVI GOOD-BY
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All that morning and all that day Schumer kept the hands busy at work bringing the shell across the lagoon1 and storing it aboard the Southern Cross. Some of it was rafted over and some brought in the whaleboat. Schumer superintended everything himself, and now that speed was urgent he proved what he could do as a driver.

Never did a Yankee stevedore2 work a set of hands harder. His voice acted as a whiplash, and his energy infected everybody.

Next day it was the same, so that at sundown the last of the shell was on board, the locking bars secured, and nothing remained but to take on the water.

"We can do that to-night," said Schumer, "and if this wind holds, though there is not much of it, you will be able to start at sunup. It will be slack tide about then. Now, if you will come up to the house, I will give you the last details of what you have to do in Sydney. There is nothing like having everything cut and dried."

They went up to the house, and Schumer at once plunged3 into accounts. He had tabulated4 a list of all the stores required, and he had written down the main points in Floyd's program, even to the address of a house where he could stay.

[Pg 215]Hakluyt looked on while the two men talked, and, when they had finished, the three went out, Hakluyt and Schumer to see to the watering of the vessel5 and Floyd to find Isbel.

It was a night of the full moon, a hot, almost windless, night filled with the scent6 of flowers and the song of the reef.

The moon hung almost in the zenith, the apex7 of a pyramid of light, and under the silent whiteness of the moon the island lay clipping the vast pond of the lagoon in its arms as a mistress holds her lover.

Hakluyt and Schumer had taken the boat to fetch the water casks, and from away out over the water came the sound of the oars8. The fellows over at the fishing camp were singing, untired by their day's work, and now and then on a stronger puff9 of wind a snatch of their song came over the lagoon water, and, just for a moment, as Floyd stood by the water edge, all his trouble of mind lifted from him—for a moment. The brilliant light, the beauty of the scene before him, the snatch of song from the fishing camp, and the perfume of the flower-scented wind seemed to open doors in his mind through which from some remote past came happiness. The moonlight for a moment caught some magic from the morning of the world. Then he turned and went toward the outer reef edge, where Isbel was waiting for him.

An hour before dawn the beach before the house was astir. The moon had sunk, but the stars gave enough light to work by. The water was all aboard, and now some coconuts10, breadfruit, and taro11 roots[Pg 216] were being taken off. Floyd was directing operations. He had said good-by to Isbel, who was nowhere to be seen. He sat in the stern sheets of the fruit boat, steering12, and when the stuff was transshipped he boarded the Southern Cross and sent the empty boat back for Schumer and Hakluyt.

Schumer came on board, and stood chatting while the hands were at the capstan bars getting the slack of the anchor chain in. Then when the mainsail was being set and the hands were at the halyards, Schumer slipped over the side into the boat and pushed off for shore.

As the anchor came up, Floyd, who was forward superintending the men, left Joe to see to the securing of it and came aft to where Hakluyt was standing13 by the wheel.

The dawn was now bright in a sky that showed scarcely a trace of morning bank. It came over the reef and between the palms, whose trunks stood like bars against the brightening east. It flooded the lagoon as the schooner14 gathered way, and the great trapezium of the mainsail showed a tip of rose gold as they passed the pierheads of the reef. On the pierhead to port something showed white against the coral. It was Isbel.

The Southern Cross rose to the swell15 at the break of the reef just as a horse rises to a low fence, the foam16 roared in her wake, and the noise of it mixed with the clatter17 of the rudder chain as the fellow at the wheel twirled the spokes18. Floyd raised his hand, and Isbel signaled in reply as the wind, now gaining its morning strength, pressed the schooner over to the tune19 of straining cordage and creaking blocks.

[Pg 217]Floyd, leaning on the after rail, looked backward. The little figure of Isbel was no longer to be seen, blotted20 out by distance. Then distance took the reef, leaving only a trace of palm tops above the blazing water, and in an hour the Island of Pearls had vanished like a dream beyond the edge of the sea.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 lagoon b3Uyb     
n.泻湖,咸水湖
参考例句:
  • The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
  • This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。
2 stevedore 8hIz8h     
n.码头工人;v.装载货物
参考例句:
  • The stevedores'work is to load and unload ships.装卸工人的工作是装卸船只。
  • The stevedores are reluctant to be ordered around by the employers.装卸工人们不愿被雇主们差来遣去地随便使唤。
3 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
4 tabulated cb52faa26d48a2b1eb53a125f5fad3c3     
把(数字、事实)列成表( tabulate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Results for the test program haven't been tabulated. 试验的结果还没有制成表格。
  • A large number of substances were investigated and the relevant properties tabulated. 已经研究了多种物质,并将有关性质列成了表。
5 vessel 4L1zi     
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管
参考例句:
  • The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
  • You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。
6 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
7 apex mwrzX     
n.顶点,最高点
参考例句:
  • He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
  • His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。
8 oars c589a112a1b341db7277ea65b5ec7bf7     
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
  • The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 puff y0cz8     
n.一口(气);一阵(风);v.喷气,喘气
参考例句:
  • He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
  • They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。
10 coconuts wwozOr     
n.椰子( coconut的名词复数 );椰肉,椰果
参考例句:
  • We found a bountiful supply of coconuts on the island. 我们发现岛上有充足的椰子供应。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Coconuts provide "meat", drink, oil, soap and fiber for fishing line. 椰子提供“肉类”,饮料、油脂、肥皂和做钓(鱼)丝的纤维。 来自百科语句
11 taro TgVzm3     
n.芋,芋头
参考例句:
  • Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
  • You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。
12 steering 3hRzbi     
n.操舵装置
参考例句:
  • He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
  • Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵,口吻也马上变得温和了。
13 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
14 schooner mDoyU     
n.纵帆船
参考例句:
  • The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。
  • The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。
15 swell IHnzB     
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强
参考例句:
  • The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
  • His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。
16 foam LjOxI     
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
参考例句:
  • The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
  • The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
17 clatter 3bay7     
v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声
参考例句:
  • The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
  • Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。
18 spokes 6eff3c46e9c3a82f787a7c99669b9bfb     
n.(车轮的)辐条( spoke的名词复数 );轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动
参考例句:
  • Her baby caught his fingers in the spokes of the pram wheel. 她宝宝的手指被婴儿车轮的辐条卡住了。 来自辞典例句
  • The new edges are called the spokes of the wheel. 新的边称为轮的辐。 来自辞典例句
19 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
20 blotted 06046c4f802cf2d785ce6e085eb5f0d7     
涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 ); (用吸墨纸)吸干
参考例句:
  • She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
  • The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。


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