CHAPTER IV THE FIRST ENCAMPMENT

“You made your landings rather well,” remarked Miss Phillips, as the girls pulled their canoes up on the shore. “I think you won’t have much difficulty in passing that part of the Sailor test.”

“Now, Captain, where do we go from here?” asked Ethel.

Miss Phillips looked about her, and seeing a small clearing about twenty-five yards from the landing place, she said,

“Let’s go over there in that open place; that looks like a good camping ground.”

“Then we won’t have to chop any trees down?” remarked Ruth, lightly. “Well, that’s a relief.”

“It surely is,” laughed Alice; “my arms are stiff already.”

They commenced unloading the canoes, and when they had everything out they pulled them higher upon the bank and turned them upside down. Then, shouldering the luggage, they carried it to the clearing, making several trips.

“Phew, what a load!” gasped¹ Ruth, as she dropped the last of her equipment to the ground.

38 “And yet you know that we have only the necessities,” said Miss Phillips, who overheard the exclamation². “Now you can understand why I warned you not to bring any superfluous³ things.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t,” answered Ruth. “When do we eat? Where’s the cook?”

“We’ll put up the tents first, while it’s light; that’s the reason I wanted to make camp early today,” said the captain. “The tents are new to you. Then Frieda will start to prepare the supper, and Ruth, since you are in such a hurry, you may be her assistant for tonight, and gather wood, keep up the fire, and help her in any way you can. Now everyone put the bundles of food and general supplies in one pile over there, so that I can cover it all with a rubber tarpaulin⁴ which I brought along for that purpose. We’ll put up the tents in a line over here, facing the east. Get out your tents, girls.”

“They look awfully⁵ small,” commented Doris, weighing hers in her hand.

“That is because they are so light,” answered the captain. “They’re made of a kind of a silk; but they will turn water, and really afford adequate protection on a trip like ours. An experienced canoeist recommended them, and when they are up, you will find them more roomy than you think.”

With Frieda’s help, she proceeded to raise her own tent, and then Frieda’s next to it. The girls watched the process with intense interest; then, without39 difficulty, each pair of canoe-mates erected⁶ their own. Each tent had a floor covering of the same material as the tent, which was sewed on for protection against mosquitos and other insects. Miss Phillips showed them how to put up their mosquito nettings most conveniently, and how to arrange their equipment so as to leave in the tent a maximum of space for them to move about in. And around each tent they dug shallow gutters⁷ or trenches⁸, to drain off the water if it rained.

“Now that the tents are up, the hardest part of the work is over,” said Miss Phillips. “It took comparatively long this time, but after you become used to it, and know just how to proceed, you’ll find that you can put one up and take it down in half the time. I think we’ll get our beds ready. We won’t have any difficulty in filling our bed-sacks here.”

The bed-sacks consisted of flat canvas bags, open at one end, and long and wide enough for one person to lie on. The girls wandered about, gathered dry leaves with which to fill them, and then arranged their beds for the night. Although they had been camping before, they had experienced nothing so primitive⁹ as this. Before, they had found their tents already set up, provided with wooden floors and folding cots, and they had prepared their meals on a camp stove. But they liked the primitiveness¹⁰ of this new experience; to many of them the prospect¹¹ of the evenings seemed best of all.

40 Frieda busied herself in the preparation of supper, with Ruth as assistant; but she also found many other willing hands to help. The scouts¹² enjoyed the well-cooked, substantial meal, which they literally¹³ devoured¹⁴, they were so ravenous¹⁵. Then, after the things were cleared away, the fire was built up to a blaze, and they established themselves comfortably around it.

“If anybody gets homesick,” remarked Ethel, “I’m going to shake them.”

“Oh, nobody will,” said Marjorie. “We’re too happy for that.”

“No, I promise I won’t either,” said Alice Endicott. “Remember how homesick I was last year at school?”

“I certainly do remember,” replied Marjorie. “It was all our fault too. But there won’t be any homesick girls next year!”

“No, I mean to do my share, too,” added Alice.

“Girls,” began Miss Phillips, interrupting the conversation and changing the subject, “I have a new lieutenant¹⁶ for you.”

“Good! Who is she?”

“Maybe not so good,” said Ruth. “Tell us quick!”

“Guess!”

“A teacher?” asked Marjorie.

“No.”

41 “Not Edith Evans back again?” suggested Lily, hopefully.

“No. I won’t keep you in suspense¹⁷ any longer. Frances Wright has successfully passed the lieutenant’s test and since she was eighteen the first of this month, she has received the commission. The day that we stop to take the Sailor test, I thought we would have a formal meeting in the evening, and install her in office.”

The congratulations that followed assured the captain that she had not made a mistake in her choice.

It was around nine o’clock when the fire died down and the conversation commenced to lag, and they all voted that they were ready to go to bed. The strange croaking¹⁸ of the frogs, and hum of the insects, the distant ripple¹⁹ of the flowing water, and the breeze now and then moving the branches of the trees were the only sounds that broke the stillness of the woods. Tired, happy, and at peace with the world, the girls crept into their tents, and with their blankets wrapped around them, soon fell asleep.

1 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

3 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

4 tarpaulin   

n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽

参考例句：

• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。
• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。

5 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。

6 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

7 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

8 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

9 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

10 primitiveness   

原始，原始性

参考例句：

• Recently attained characters are generally indicative of primitiveness. 新近获得的性状普遍显示出原始性的分类群。

11 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

12 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

14 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

15 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

16 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

17 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

18 croaking   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• the croaking of frogs 蛙鸣
• I could hear croaking of the frogs. 我能听到青蛙呱呱的叫声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。