CHAPTER XXI SUNSHINE AGAIN

 A sense of suppressed excitement greeted Dorothy as she entered the classroom. Edna and Molly managed to greet her personally with a pleasant little nod, and even Miss Higley raised her eyes to say good morning.

 

Certainly Dorothy felt heroic—and she had good reason. Having suffered so long from a mysterious insult, she now had fortified¹ herself against its stigma².

 

At the same time she was conscious of an awful weight hanging over her head—like the gloom of those who suffer without hope.

 

"She just looks like a sweet nun³," whispered Ned to Amy.

 

"Doesn't she," agreed Amy. "I wish we could make her smile."

 

But Dorothy buried herself in her studies, with a determination born of perfect self-control.

 

The morning wore into mid-day, then the recreation hour brought relaxation⁴ from all mental effort. A number of the girls who had been at first conspicuous⁵ figures in the Rebs made a particular effort to speak to Dorothy. She met their advances pleasantly, but with some hesitancy—they might only mean to make an opportunity for further trouble, Dorothy thought.

 

"See here!" called Edna, running along the walk after Dorothy. "Have you taken the black veil? Not that such a vocation⁶ is to be made light of," seeing a frown come over Dorothy's face, "but you know we cannot spare you just yet. You may be the dear little nun of Glenwood, but you will have to keep up with the Glens and the Nicks. We are planning a reunion, you know."

 

"Yes, and we are going to give a play on our own account," said Molly, coming up at that moment. "Mrs. Pangborn has granted permission and we are about to select the operetta—it will be a musical affair this time."

 

"That ought to be lovely," responded Dorothy. "There are so many fine players among the girls."

 

"Yes, and you can sing," declared Molly. "We are counting on you for our prima donna."

 

"Oh, and we might have Viola accompany her on the violin! Wouldn't that be divine!" enthused a girl from Portland.

 

A hush⁷ followed this suggestion. It was the awkward kind that actually sounds louder than a yell of surprise.

 

"What is it?" asked Rose-Mary, joining the group and giving Dorothy a hug "on the half shell," which in the parlance⁸ of schoolgirls means a spontaneous fling of the arms around the one on the defensive⁹.

 

"Cologne will be sure to suggest something from English Lit." predicted Molly. "She being a star in that line herself thinks the stuff equally pie for all of us. We might try French—I said 'try,' Ned Ebony; you need not strangle yourself with that gasp¹⁰!"

 

"Came near it," admitted the one with her mouth open. "Fancy us doing French!"

 

"Then suppose we go back to the woods—try Red Riding Hood¹¹?"

 

"Fine and dandy!" exclaimed Nita Brant. "I'll be the wolf."

 

"Because he was the only party who got in on the eating," remarked Edna. "Let me be the squire—and don't all speak at once for the grandmother's fate."

 

"Think it over girls; think it over!" advised Nita. "Back to the woods might not suit some of our rural friends. For my part I prefer—ahem! Something tragic¹²!"

 

"Beat Red Riding Hood for tragedy then," challenged one of the group. "Of all the atrocities—"

 

"And desperate deals—"

 

"To say nothing of the grandmother's night cap going in the mix up—"

 

And so they laughed it all off, and marveled that the mere¹³ mention of the old story should awaken¹⁴ such comment.

 

Dorothy seemed to enjoy the innocent sallies. It was pleasant to be with the jolly crowd again, and to feel something akin¹⁵ to the old happiness.

 

"What happened to Fiddle¹⁶?" asked Amy Brook¹⁷. "I thought she would come back to class when her pout¹⁸ wore off."

 

"Pout?" repeated Dorothy. "I met her in the hall and she seemed to be in great distress¹⁹."

 

"Shouldn't wonder," remarked Nita. "Any one who crosses swords with Miss Higley is bound to come to grief sooner or later. If I had been Fiddle I should have apologized at once—easiest way out of it with Higley."

 

Dorothy was confused. She had no idea of the scene that had taken place in the schoolroom that morning between Miss Higley and Viola. But as it was impossible for her to keep up with the run of school events lately, she ventured no more questions.

 

"When's Chrissy coming back?" asked Edna. "I'm almost dead without her. Haven't had a single scrap²⁰ since she went. And I've got the greatest lot corked²¹ up ready to explode from spontaneous combustion²²."

 

"I hope she'll be back before the end of this term," answered Dorothy. "I heard to-day her mother is entirely²³ recovered."

 

"Good for the mother! Also more power to her. I think I'll crawl up the skylight and do perfectly²⁴ reckless stunts²⁵ on the roof when Chrissy returns just to celebrate," and suiting her words with the jubilant mood the girl waltzed away down the path, making queer "jabs" at the inoffensive air that was doing its best to make life bright and pleasant for the girls at Glenwood.

1 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

2 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

3 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

4 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

5 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

6 vocation   

n.职业，行业

参考例句：

• She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
• She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。

7 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

8 parlance   

n.说法；语调

参考例句：

• The term "meta directory" came into industry parlance two years ago.两年前，商业界开始用“元目录”这个术语。
• The phrase is common diplomatic parlance for spying.这种说法是指代间谍行为的常用外交辞令。

9 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

10 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

11 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

12 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

13 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

14 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

15 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

16 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

17 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

18 pout   

v.撅嘴；绷脸；n.撅嘴；生气，不高兴

参考例句：

• She looked at her lover with a pretentious pout.她看着恋人，故作不悦地撅着嘴。
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted.他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。

19 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

20 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

21 corked   

adj.带木塞气味的，塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Our army completely surrounded and corked up the enemy stronghold. 我军把敌人的堡垒完全包围并封锁起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He kept his emotions corked up inside him. 他把感情深藏于内心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

23 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

24 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

25 stunts   

n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
• The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》