“Oh, not so bad as all that; only rather tired of feasting on air-puffs,” came the laughing answer. “Joy-sticks and air-puffs! My companion had some of the former in his pocket--meaning chocolate bars!”
“Joy--fiddlesticks! We’ll get you something more substantial right away. Supper--supper will be ready in a winged hurry!”
Wing-footed, indeed, one-half the army of girls started for a united drive upon the bungalow1 and its seashore resources.
“Oh, not so many! ‘Too many cooks,’ you know!” The Guardian’s voice arrested them. “Four will be plenty--those who are housekeepers2 for to-day, with Olive and Sara. Well! you’re on your mettle3, girls; it’s something to entertain aviators4 unawares.”
“Lucky loopers of the clouds, who certainly have tumbled into a bed of roses!” chuckled7 the youthful pilot, throwing off his leather “togs,” examining his a?rial ship all over by the light of an electric torch, whose luminous8 ring belted his own adventurous9 figure in its greenish-brown trick-suit fashioned like the farming overalls10 which his girl-hostesses had worn that day in their battle with weeds and pests upon Squawk Hill.
“Well! aren’t you glad now, ‘Goggle Eyes,’ now that we’ve landed in clover--hit it lucky--that I decided11 to nose her down and make a landing here--bunk12 out on our wings to-night?”
Thus he challenged the observer, with his dangling13 binoculars14.
“Well! I do admit it’s ‘low tide’ inside me, Ned; every little creek15 bare as a sand-pocket; I shan’t object to being filled up,” acknowledged the older air-man. “Only I feel rather”--he smiled through the flash-light’s luminous ring upon the picturesque17 maidens18 in ceremonial dress--“rather as if we had been sailing by the star-chart and landed upon some more romantic planet than old Mother Earth, which hits some of us such hard knocks at times. I--I’ll have to rub my eyes to make sure I’m awake--not having an air-dream,” blinkingly.
“Oh-h, what a pretty compliment to the Council Fire!” Sybil purred happily. “Now! won’t you--can’t you--tell us something about the a?roplane--the big, strong battle-plane--about its different parts, and what it is made of?”
“Humph! Let the pilot explain his own ship. Go ahead, ‘Tailspin Ned’!” laughed the observer, challenging the younger aviator5, Lieutenant19 Edwin Mortimer Fenn, R. M. A.
“Well! Well, as you see, ours is the tractor type of a?roplane, having the propeller20 in front, drawing it through the air,” explained the latter, flashing his electric light upon that mahogany propeller which shone like a silver paddle--if not a silver piece--in a gasping21 fish’s mouth.
“These are the a?rofoils--wings--which support it in flight, having a spread of thirty-six feet from tip to tip, on each plane. And----”
“You have--oh! excuse my interrupting!--you have some wings on your breast, too.” Little Owl16 pointed22 shyly to those four-inch mirror-wings, the army insignia, reflecting the young air-man’s flying achievements, gleaming against their velvet23 setting upon his rough gabardine overalls.
“Yes! I wouldn’t swap24 them for a General’s stars.” His white teeth flashed boyishly. “They represent my commission as an R. M. A.--Reserve Military Aviator. When I was a humble25 cadet my breast-wings were stiffer,” laughingly.
“How--how do you mean?” came from a dozen enthralled26 girls.
“Why! they were of metal--silver--three inches across; not limply wrought27 upon black velvet; that was when I was in training on the flying-fields, where I went, from Aviation Ground School, where--where the dinners--were--so good,” na?vely.
“Mercy! I’m just dying to fly,” came breathlessly from one fluttering feminine throat--Little Owl’s. “According to my symbolic28 name, I’m a bird, anyway!”
“Well, don’t die--flying. Probably after the war is over--no doubt before very many years have flown ahead of you--your Camp Fire Group will have a Bird Corps29 of its own,” encouragingly.
“And win honor-beads for parading in the air--sky-blue and cloud-barred, I suppose!” burst ecstatically from one or two of the other girls whose symbolic names were also derived30 from the feathered tribe, with which, in a dazzling skyscape vision, they saw themselves competing.
“Now, perhaps, you’d like to know a little more about the wings that will support you.” The R. M. A., otherwise Tailspin Ned--a nickname he had acquired upon the training-fields--flashed his torch again over the a?roplane--the mammoth31 gaping32 red fish. “Well, the wing-ribs--spars--are of light wood, covered with fine linen33, doped with a preparation to make it durable34; so is the fuselage, body of the machine. The props35 connecting the two planes are the struts36 whose flying wires sang their jolly little earth-song--whistled, you know--as we came down. When we land for the night on a lonely spot, we have to guard the a?roplane, so we bunk out on our wings; if it rains, we bunk under them.”
“Tuck your little head under your wing, like a real bird-man,” laughed Sybil.
“While the Witch watches over your slumbers,” supplemented Sul-sul-sul-i--Victoria Glenn, the Victory girl. “Mercy! What a bloodthirsty red-eyed old witch!... Girls, do look! She’s stenciled37 on cloth, broomstick and all, just as we have our Camp Fire emblem38 stenciled upon our dresses.” Victoria, a Fire Maker39, glanced down at the dusky crossed logs and tongue of flame upon the skirt of her own ceremonial gown.
“She’s the emblem of our flying squadron; we chose her as soldiers choose a mascot,” answered the R. M. A. “The cloth on which she rides rampant40 is glued to the side of the fuselage, just beneath my cock-pit. This is the stabilizer which preserves our equilibrium41 in the air; all this rear part is the tail mechanism42.”
“What--what are the dials--radio-dials? Oh, see how they light up when the flash-light moves off!” cried one or two voices.
“Those that face me in my little cock-pit! Why, clock, compass, altimeter, inclinator--and a few more to guide us on the sky-trail.”
“If--if you just stroll down to the water’s edge, you’ll see a radio freak!” laughed Sybil. “A shining figurehead on a dory! She’s camouflaged43 too, that wooden bead-eye! I had the prettiest little Milky45 Way on my own arm last night,”--holding up that round member--“six tiny stars; I washed them off this morning.”
“So you’re no longer a Camp Fire galaxy46!” Now, it was the aviator’s turn to chuckle6, as compliantly47 he strode towards the murmuring tide, extinguishing his torch.
“But--but why the camouflage44?” he demanded. “Rather a rub-in joke, eh, on a humble little rowboat that’s as innocent as a lamb; she’ll never chase anything--dodge anything....”
“Hold on--hold on there, you Cavalry48 Man of the Skies, as my soldier-brother would say! How do you know?” suddenly challenged the piquant49 voice of the dory’s owner, bristling50 with “pep” behind him.
“When--when aviators drop from a height of ten thousand feet.... Oh! don’t say you weren’t as high as that----” Sara bit her lip comically.
“Higher, part of the time,” was the amused reply. “I saw a double sunset this evening. Just after witnessing the first we ‘zoomed’ up, soared for the fun of the thing, outside the earth’s shadow, saw Old Sol rise again, blood-red, in the West--like a tricked rooster with a flaming comb--and set for the second time. Jove! Some sight that!”
“There! I told you anything--anything is possible these times. Well! What I’d like to know is, where the cavalry of the sky would like to sup--indoors or out?” questioned Sara, waving her fringed arms towards that violet night-sky, no longer locked to man.
“Outdoors, by all means, I should say, by that corking51 bonfire!” The aviator glanced backward over his shoulder at the blazing pile of driftwood whose shading smoke-reek, floating high over the dunes52, had guided him to earth.
“And what would the air-scouts choose to drink?”
“Oh-h, I know!” flashed forth53 Sybil. “They’re just crazy about milk--mild milk. Don’t they--don’t they always drop down on a farmer if they get a chance? My cousin, Atwood, who’s working in the shipbuilding yards, not a dozen miles from here--leading a blind horse hitched54 to a great yellow ship’s timber and not enjoying it--he told me that when he visited a friend in training at the flying-fields, the chum said that after a long fly he was just like a baby, crying for milk.”
“Zooms! We’ve got gallons of that--nearly one gallon, anyway. We brought it home from the nearest farmhouse55 this evening--a mile away, across the dunes.”
Sara, much concerned over this novel entertainment of angels--winged beings--unprepared, swung round on her moccasined sole for an inspired rush back to camp.
“Hurrah for the home fires!” The aviator gleefully shrugged56 his shoulders. “Oh! I felt it in my bones, all afternoon, that before night we’d land--somewhere--in clover:
“‘Oh, a wonderful thing is a flying cadet,
He lives on a promise--and--hope!’”
he chanted boyishly.
Then, from the darkling tide’s edge, his “zooming” glance soared upward to his parade-ground, the night sky; to Atawessu, the evening star, the Creature Far Above, as softly--half-wistfully--he finished the quotation57, reminiscent of his training days above the flying-fields:
“But--but the twinkling stars are as far as his bars,
And he never--quite--figures the dope!”
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1
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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housekeepers
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| n.（女）管家( housekeeper的名词复数 ) | |
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mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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aviators
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| 飞机驾驶员，飞行员( aviator的名词复数 ) | |
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aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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swap
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| n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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mammoth
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| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
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gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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props
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| 小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋 | |
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struts
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| （框架的）支杆( strut的名词复数 )； 支柱； 趾高气扬的步态； （尤指跳舞或表演时）卖弄 | |
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stenciled
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| v.用模板印（文字或图案）( stencil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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41
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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42
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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43
camouflaged
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| v.隐蔽( camouflage的过去式和过去分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰 | |
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44
camouflage
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| n./v.掩饰，伪装 | |
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45
milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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46
galaxy
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| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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compliantly
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| adv.顺从地，应允地 | |
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48
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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49
piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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50
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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51
corking
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| adj.很好的adv.非常地v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的现在分词 ) | |
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52
dunes
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| 沙丘( dune的名词复数 ) | |
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53
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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54
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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55
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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56
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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