“So!” he sneered2 as the three kept their hands level with their ears. “A boy and two half-grown men. Master Evans, and a pair of aviators4, eh? The one, we miss the first time. The others descend5 on us like manna out of heaven,—I don’t think! Three more mouths to feed and no money in it for anyone. Donnerwetter, noch ein Mahl!”
43
“Nichts kom heraus, mahogany bedstead,” piped Charlie. The added danger seemed to revive his waning6 spirits with a vengeance7. “The same to you and many of ’em, Dutchy. I know some more, too,” he went on proudly. “Schweitzerkäse, frankfurters and getthe-Houtofhere! That last is the longest word in the Heinie dictionary!”
“What’s the shortest?” inquired Bill, who was enjoying this byplay.
“Oh, I don’t know—but the one they say the quickest is ‘camerad.’”
“Halts ’maul! Shut up, I mean!” thundered the blond stranger. The whites around the pupils of his light blue eyes became bloodshot with anger. “I am master here,” he roared. “Silence! I will have it!”
Two sailors appeared in the doorway8 behind him. He wheeled about. “Adolph, you will keep the prisoners covered. Hans, take their weapons from them. And now,” he continued, when the three lowered their hands after they had been searched, “you will tell me what names you go by.”
44
Charlie sprang to his feet and made a stiff, military bow. “The dark gentleman over yonder,” he said solemnly, “is traveling incognito9. So that you will not be confused by false appearances, I will breathe his secret. He is no less a personage than His Majesty10, George the Fifth! Beside me on this couch is Mary, the Four-Fifths, and I am Herbert Hoover!—Oh, Doctor, why so angry? You may call me Herbie if you’re good!” He finished in falsetto, with rolling eyes toward Bill and Osceola.
“Ruhig! Silence!” shouted the exasperated11 officer, while Bill and Osceola were convulsed with laughter at his fury. “Hans—take this devil-child on deck and keep him there until I come. If he offers more insolence12, give him a taste of your belt!”
“Gosh, you can’t please the Doctor,” protested Charlie with an air of injured innocence13 as he was led forth14. “He asked for the go-by, so I gave it to him.”
45
The stranger waved him away. “Now, you two will tell me who you are,” he commanded. “From American children one expects insolence—with you, it is different. Your names at once, if you please.”
“My name is Bolton.” Bill saw no reason for hiding his identity.
“And I,” said his friend, “am Osceola, Chief of the Seminoles.”
“So,” mused15 their captor. “The two young fellows that were mixed up in the Shell Island business. So!” He pronounced the last word as though it were spelled with a Z. Then for a minute or so he appeared lost in thought. Neither Bill nor Osceola uttered a word.
“So——It shall be done.” Apparently16 the blond man had arrived at an important decision. “I am the Baron17 von Hiemskirk. And remember, both of you—my word is the law. I am in command. You will earn your keep. Ja, you will be put to work and it will be well to remember that my discipline is that of the Imperial Navy. You will obey all orders—on the jump!”
46
“And the alternative?” Bill rose to his feet.
The baron stuck a single eyeglass in his eye and stared at Bill with an evil smile on his lips.
“We are now about sixty miles off the coast of North America,” he said coldly. “It is a long swim, my young friend. Come now—we will go on deck.”
He strode out of the room, and Bill and Osceola followed him, with a look of mutual18 understanding. The sailor brought up the rear.
Charlie called to them from the rail. “Say, look what I’ve found! That’s what took Mother and Dad and everybody off of here while I was in the trunk room. Hans says they’re going to take us too. I don’t care what happens now, I’ll be with Dad and Mother—but it’s pretty tough on you fellows! Say, you wouldn’t think these Heinies had brains enough to run one of those things, would you?”
He waved excitedly overside, and the two friends saw the long gray hull19 and conning20 tower of a submarine moored21 beside the yacht.
47
The baron, who had stopped to speak to a young officer, walked over to the boy and caught him roughly by the shoulder.
“Devil-child!” he roared in his deep bass22. “I spoke23 to you regarding insolence for the last time a short while ago!” He turned to the officer. “Herr Lieutenant24!” he commanded. “Take this boy forward and see that he is well punished.”
“The whip, Herr Baron?”
“Ten lashes—yes—and at once.”
“Zum befehl, Herr Baron!” He grabbed Charlie’s arm and yanked the struggling youngster along the deck.
Like a flash Bill darted25 after them. He caught up with the pair at the gangway, and gripping the young officer by the collar, he jerked him backward on to the deck. Then, as Charlie made a dash for Osceola, he bent26 down and deliberately27 slapped the lieutenant’s face with the palm of his open hand.
48
“Before you try to maltreat that boy, perhaps it would be as well to settle with me,” he said calmly, while along the deck came the click of the sailors’ rifles. “That is,” he added, “if you’ve got the guts28 to do it.”
“Schweinhund!” cried the enraged29 officer, as he sprang to his feet. Without an instant’s hesitation30, he swung for Bill’s head.
The useful art of self-defense is well taught at the Naval31 Academy, and Bill had ever been a proficient32 pupil. He jerked back his head, dodging33 the man’s fist by a hair’s breadth. Then as the other overbalanced, he stepped in with a short-arm jab to his opponent’s kidneys. This he followed up immediately with a powerful left hook to the point of the jaw34, and the Herr Lieutenant went crashing overside, through the ropes of the gangway. There came the dull thud of his head as it struck the metal side of the submarine, and he disappeared down the narrow strip of water between the vessels36. Immediately Bill dived after him.
49
His lithe37 body cut the surface with hardly a splash, and he shot into the cool green depths from his twenty foot dive with eyes wide open. To right and to left dark blurs38 of the vessels’ hulls39 shadowed the translucent40 green. No other objects met his searching gaze, so using a powerful breast stroke, he forged further downward. All at once he saw something grayish white below. His lungs were bursting with lack of air and the heavy water pressure at this depth. It grew icy cold, but he continued to strain onward41, backing his muscles with an indomitable force of will.
The white spot beneath him was taking shape now—surely the linen42 uniform of the unlucky lieutenant. Yes, there he was, sinking face down, arms and legs spread-eagled and useless, the wind knocked out of him by the double blow of Bill’s fists and the crash against the submarine side.
50
Bill caught the sprawling43, inert44 figure, with a cupped hand beneath the chin. Instantly his legs and free arm got into action again, but heading this time in the opposite direction. Up shot the drowning man and his rescuer. Bill’s head was whirling, his faculties45 were leaving him. The man would sink again if he lost his hold. Slipping the crook46 of his elbow beneath the unconscious lieutenant’s chin, he held his head close to his side. Would they never reach the surface—and air? What if his own unprotected skull47 should strike the bulging48 curve of a vessel35’s hull? Sharp pain stabbed him between the eyes—he knew no more.
Far away—fathoms above him—Bill heard a voice calling his name. He seemed to be floating upward in a sea-green haze49, but there was air at last—heaven-sent air.
“He’s coming round now,” said the voice, which sounded like Osceola’s, and much nearer than before. “No wonder he went out—under water nearly two minutes and a half! How’s the other fellow, Baron?”
51
“Poor Fritz!” Surely this was the blond commander speaking and his voice seemed much louder and closer at hand than that of the young chief. And as the words grew more distinct, their meaning impressed itself on Bill’s dawning consciousness. “Poor Fritz!” repeated the baron. “We’ve got the water out of him now and he will live—but it will be a touch and go for some time. The poor lad has a bad case of concussion50. I can’t tell whether his skull is fractured, but I don’t think so.”
“He got an awful crack on the back of his head, but you can’t hold that up against Bill Bolton,” returned Osceola.
Something has happened, thought Bill, to alter Osceola’s status with the Baron.
“I wish you to know, my dear Chief, that both Fritz and I are sportsmen. Blows were struck in fair fight. When Fritz hit the submarine, I could have killed young Bolton without hesitation. But when he dived after my cousin—I loved the lad. It was splendid—colossal!”
52
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Osceola remarked. “Things were getting a bit strained, I thought.”
“Yes, yes, I know that. But I have had a terrible day, my friend. That devil-child put my temper on edge. And a dozen wildcats are as nothing to the boy’s mother when she found we’d left him behind. God be thanked, that is over. I cannot let you and Bolton continue your journey at present, but at least you will live well, and have an interesting time. In saving the life of Fritz, you two have rendered me a service. Karl von Hiemskirk does not forget such favors.”
“Thanks for dragging me in,” laughed Osceola. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Hah! You dived in after them while my men looked on like half-wits!” bridled52 the Baron. “You brought these two unconscious fellows to the surface! I call that a very great deal.”
53
Bill heard him sigh, but although he was now fully53 awake, he kept his eyes closed and listened attentively54 to the Baron’s next words.
“The thing of great importance that is worrying me is that Fritz was first pilot of my command. I, myself, am an aviator3, a combat flyer, who had the great honor to be a member of what you call the circus of the unsurpassed Graf von Richthofen, of glorious memory.”
Bill opened his eyes to find himself on the Merrymaid’s deck. He sat up and began to speak rapidly. “Richthofen was undoubtedly55 the greatest air strategean who ever flew,” he declared, “they tell me that his combat formations and the battle manoeuvers of his famous circus have never been improved upon. Sorry I wasn’t old enough then to take a crack at you myself—you must be a humdinger, Baron, when it comes to this flying game! If you want to use my bus and friend Fritz is temporarily out of the picture—why not fly her yourself?”
Osceola put his arm about Bill’s shoulders, and the Baron bowed from the waist.
54
“Thank you, indeed, my dear young friend,” he said formally, “both for your eulogy56 of my long-time-dead friend von Richthofen, and because, after stunning57 my cousin, you had the courage and graciousness to save his life at risk of your own.”
“Oh, please don’t.” Bill colored a dusky red. “Or I shall have to pass out a second time.” With the chief’s help he rose and held out his hand. The Baron shook it heartily58.
“We will let our has-beens be never-wases.”
“I couldn’t help overhearing what you said to Osceola when I was regaining59 consciousness,” went on Bill. “So as long as you can’t see your way clear to letting us go, I’ll do my best to be peaceable in the future.”
“Say nothing more about it, my boy.” The Baron fairly oozed60 urbanity. “Es tut mer sehr leid, I mean, it makes me very sorry to have to detail you chaps, but it is the fate of war.”
Bill and Osceola looked their surprise. “War?”
55
“I have to inform you that my command is at war with society. I can not allow my liking61 for individuals to deter62 me from my aim.”
“And what is that?” inquired Osceola.
“We will talk of that later. Now, there is work to be done. Too much time has been wasted already. I need an airplane pilot, Bolton, because with my multitudinous duties, it is impossible for me always to handle the controls. I will make you two what you Americans call a proposition. You will fly where and when I tell you, Bolton. You will give me your word of honor to do that and no more. The chief here will also be given congenial duties. Obey my commands and you need not give your parole—there is no escape except by air and that will be circumnavigated by your word!”
“And you can sure use big words, Baron,” observed a much subdued63 Charlie, who had been silently taking in the conversation.
56
“Perhaps,” the Baron smiled, “but if you will take my advice, such things are better left unsaid. Your tongue has already got you and a number of others into trouble today.” He turned again to Bill. “I am awaiting your decision,” he said.
“And—the alternative in this case?”
Bill looked at Osceola, who nodded slightly. “All right, then, Baron, I promise to fly your planes as you dictate65, but I suspect that your war is nothing more than hijacking66 on a big scale. And I’m hanged if I have anything to do with that!”
The Baron bowed. “It is a bargain. I will now conclude my work on this vessel. Fritz has already been taken aboard the other craft, and when I am through here, Chief Osceola will go in her with me and my men. You, Bolton, will follow us with Charlie, in your amphibian67.”
57
“Aye, aye, sir,” returned Bill with Naval Academy crispness, now that he had recognized the baron as his superior officer. “You will keep above surface, I suppose, otherwise, I am likely to loose your ship.”
“Oh, no, we won’t,” broke in Charlie the irrepressible. “He’s going in the air!”
“The air? Don’t be silly, kid—”
“I’m not the silly one—” retorted the youngster. “I’m right, ain’t I, Baron?”
“That submarine is an invention of my own,” declared the commander. “The boy speaks correctly. I shall fly her.”
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收听单词发音
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1
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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2
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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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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5
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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6
waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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7
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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8
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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9
incognito
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| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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11
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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12
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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13
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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14
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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15
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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16
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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18
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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19
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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conning
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| v.诈骗，哄骗( con的现在分词 )；指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 ) | |
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21
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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22
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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23
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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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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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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26
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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28
guts
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| v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠 | |
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29
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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30
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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proficient
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| adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家 | |
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33
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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37
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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38
blurs
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| n.模糊( blur的名词复数 )；模糊之物；（移动的）模糊形状；模糊的记忆v.（使）变模糊( blur的第三人称单数 )；（使）难以区分 | |
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39
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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40
translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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41
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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42
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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43
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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44
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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45
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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46
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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47
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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48
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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49
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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50
concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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51
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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52
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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53
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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55
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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56
eulogy
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| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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57
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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58
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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59
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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60
oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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61
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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62
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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63
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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64
ransoms
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| 付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 ) | |
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65
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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66
hijacking
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| n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式 | |
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amphibian
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| n.两栖动物；水陆两用飞机和车辆 | |
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