II.—BECALMED

 "Well," said Dahlia, giving up the tiller with a sigh, "if this is all that you and Joe can do in the way of a breeze, you needn't have worried."

 

"Don't blame the crew," said Archie nobly, "he did his best. He sat up all night whistling."

 

"ARE we moving?" asked Myra, from a horizontal position on the shady side of the mainsail.

 

"We are not," I said, from a similar position on the sunny side.

"Let's get out."

Simpson took off his yachting cap and fanned himself with a nautical¹ almanac. "How far are we from anywhere?" he asked cheerfully.

 

"Miles," said Archie. "To be more accurate, we are five miles from a public-house, six from a church, four from a post-office, and three from the spacious² walled-in kitchen-garden and tennis-court. On the other hand, we are quite close to the sea."

 

"You will never see your friends again, Simpson. They will miss you … at first … perhaps; but they will soon forget. The circulation of the papers that you wrote for will go up, the brindled³ bull-pup will be fed by another and a smaller hand, but otherwise all will be as it was before."

 

My voice choked, and at the same moment something whizzed past me into the sea.

 

"Yachting cap overboard! Help!" cried Myra.

 

"You aren't in The Spectator office now, Simpson," said Archie severely⁴, as he fished with the boat-hook. "There is a time for ballyragging. By the way, I suppose you do want it back again?"

 

"It's my fault," I confessed remorsefully⁵; "I told him yesterday I didn't like it."

 

"Myra and I do like it, Mr Simpson. Please save it, Archie."

 

Archie let it drip from the end of the boat-hook for a minute, and then brought it in.

 

"Morning, Sir Thomas," I said, saluting⁶ it as it came on board. "Lovely day for a sail. We've got the new topmast up, but Her Grace had the last of the potted-meat for lunch yesterday."

 

Simpson took his cap and stroked it tenderly. "Thirteen and ninepence in the Buckingham Palace Road," he murmured. "Thanks, old chap."

 

Quiet settled down upon the good ship Armadillo again. There was no cloud in the sky, no ripple⁷ on the water, no sound along the deck. The land was hazy⁸ in the distance; hazy in the distance was public-house, church, post-office, walled-in kitchen-garden and tennis-court. But in the little cabin Joe was making a pleasant noise with plates….

 

"Splendid," said Archie, putting down his glass and taking out his pipe. "Now what shall we do? I feel full of energy."

 

"Then you and Simpson can get the dinghy out and tow," I suggested.

"I'll coach from the Armadillo."

"We might go for a long bicycle ride," said Myra; "or call on the

Vicarage girls."

"There isn't really very much to do, is there?" said Dahlia, gently.

"I'm sorry."

Simpson leapt excitedly into the breach⁹.

 

"I'll tell you what I'll do—I'll teach you all the different knots and things. I learnt them coming down in the train. Everybody ought to know them. Archie, old man, can you let me have a piece of rope?"

 

"Certainly. Take any piece you like. Only spare the main-sheet."

 

Simpson went forward to consult Joe, and came back with enough to hang himself with. He sat down opposite to us, wrapped the rope once round his waist, and then beamed at us over his spectacles.

 

"Now supposing you had fallen down a well," he began, "and I let this rope down to you, what would you do with YOUR end?"

 

We thought deeply for a moment.

 

"I should wait until you were looking over the edge, and then give it a sharp jerk," said Archie.

 

"One MUST have company in a well," I agreed.

 

"They're being silly again," apologized Myra. "Tell ME, Mr Simpson!

I should love to know—I'm always falling down wells."

"Well, you tie it round you like this. Through there—and over there—and then back under there. You see, it simply CAN'T slip. Then I should pull you up."

 

"But how nice of you. Let me try. … Oh, yes, that's easy."

 

"Well, then there's the hangman's knot."

 

Archie and I looked at each other.

 

"The predicaments in which Simpson finds himself are extraordinarily¹⁰ varied," I said.

 

"One of these days he'll be in a well, and we shall let down a rope to him, and he'll hang himself by mistake."

 

"That would look very determined¹¹. On the other hand there must be annoying occasions when he starts out to strangle somebody and finds that he's pulling him out of the cistern¹²."

 

"Why, how delightful¹³, Mr Simpson," said Myra. "Do show us some more."

 

"Those are the most important ones. Then there are one or two fancy ones. Do you know the Monkey's Claw?"

 

"Don't touch it," said Archie solemnly. "It's poison."

 

"Oh, I must show you that."

 

Joe showed me the Monkey's Claw afterwards, and it is a beautiful thing, but it was not a bit like Simpson's. Simpson must have started badly, and I think he used too much rope. After about twenty minutes there was hardly any of him visible at all.

 

"Take your time, Houdini," said Archie, "take your time. Just let us know when you're ready to be put into the safe, that's all."

 

"You would hardly think, to look at him now," I said a minute later, "that one day he'll be a dear little butterfly."

 

"Where's the sealing-wax, Maria? You know, I'm certain he'll never go for threepence."

 

"What I say is, it's simply hypnotic suggestion. There's no rope there at all, really."

 

An anxious silence followed.

 

"No," said Simpson suddenly, "I'm doing it wrong."

 

"From to-night," said Archie, after tea, "you will be put on rations¹⁴. One cobnut and a thimbleful of sherry wine per diem. I hope somebody's brought a thimble."

 

"There really isn't so very much left," said Dahlia.

 

"Then we shall have to draw lots who is to be eaten."

 

"Don't we eat our boots and things first?" asked Myra.

 

"The doctor says I mustn't have anything more solid than a lightly-boiled shoe-lace the last thing at night."

 

"After all, there's always the dinghy," said Archie. "If we put in a tin of corned beef and a compass and a keg of gunpowder¹⁵, somebody might easily row in and post the letters. Personally, as captain, I must stick to my ship."

 

"There's another way I've just thought of," I said. "Let's sail in."

 

I pointed¹⁶ out to sea, and there, unmistakably, was the least little breeze coming over the waters. A minute later and our pennant¹⁷ napped once Simpson moistened a finger and held it up.

 

The sprint¹⁸ for home had begun.

1 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

2 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

3 brindled   

adj.有斑纹的

参考例句：

• I saw his brindled cow feeding on fish remnants.我看见他的用鱼杂碎喂养的斑纹奶牛。
• He had one brindled eye that sometimes made him look like a clown.他一只眼睛上有块花斑，这使得他有时看上去活象个小丑。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 remorsefully   

adv.极为懊悔地

参考例句：

• "My poor wife!" he said, remorsefully. “我可怜的妻子！”他悔恨地说。 来自柯林斯例句

6 saluting   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• 'Thank you kindly, sir,' replied Long John, again saluting. “万分感谢，先生。”高个子约翰说着又行了个礼。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• He approached the young woman and, without saluting, began at once to converse with her. 他走近那年青女郎，马上就和她攀谈起来了，连招呼都不打。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

9 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

10 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 cistern   

n.贮水池

参考例句：

• The cistern is empty but soon fills again.蓄水池里现在没水，但不久就会储满水的。
• The lavatory cistern overflowed.厕所水箱的水溢出来了

13 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

14 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

15 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 pennant   

n.三角旗；锦标旗

参考例句：

• The second car was flying the Ghanaian pennant.第二辆车插着加纳的三角旗。
• The revitalized team came from the cellar to win the pennant.该队重整旗鼓，从最后一名一跃而赢得冠军奖旗。

18 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。