“Come right on board, lads,” he called from his position on the deck. “Where is Victor? Gone off on a jaunt2 with that stout3 boy, eh? Oh, well, it’s all right. He has lots of time to enjoy himself before we leave.”
Uncle Ralph had a great deal to talk about. His exciting sea tales found attentive4 listeners, and the captain seemed equally interested in hearing about some of the adventures of the Rambler Club.
For an instant Uncle Ralph made no reply. Then he said, slowly:
“Come down in the cabin, boys. I have a few things you may enjoy looking over.”
On reaching the saloon the captain walked[170] to a bookcase, opened it and brought out a large album.
“My own snap-shots,” he explained, with a touch of pride.
“Some dandy views here,” said Bob, turning the leaves. “What! Are you going to leave us already, captain?”
“Just a few minutes, Bob. When you get through you’ll find another volume on the shelf.”
Bob and Charlie soon became so deeply absorbed in their pleasant task of following the captain on some of his foreign voyages by the aid of pictures that various sounds of activity in the engine room, besides numerous noises on deck, failed to make more than a vague impression on their minds.
The sudden starting of a gasoline motor, together with an unmistakable gliding6 movement on the part of the “Fearless,” however, caused both to look up with exclamations7 of surprise.
“Great Scott!” cried Bob.
“That we’re leaving it yards behind us, I[171] suppose,” chuckled9 Bob. “Hello, captain; giving us a surprise, eh?”
Uncle Ralph was coming down the companionway.
“I thought you boys might like to see a motor yacht in action,” he laughed. “Bob, in your future accounts of adventures, you may add a description of a short trip on Lake Michigan.”
His face flushed slightly. Naturally he did not wish to be thought lacking in courage, but the prospect11 certainly failed to arouse his enthusiasm.
“How about the time, though?” asked Blake, rather weakly.
“Don’t worry about that,” answered Uncle Ralph, “but come up on deck.”
As they sat beneath the awning13 a constantly changing scene of factories, of various craft, and those picturesque14 jumbles15 of buildings which are so often seen along water-fronts, passed before their eyes.
While the “Fearless” cut swiftly through[172] the gray, choppy water, churning it into creamy foam16, and the wind tore past in heavy gusts17 Blake’s peace of mind didn’t improve. Presently he rose to his feet.
“Guess I’ll stroll around a bit,” he remarked.
“All right, Charlie,” said Bob.
The senior at the Kingswood High soon observed Phil Malone industriously18 polishing a brass19 rail at the bow. Phil’s manner as he approached strongly suggested that of a hare taken by surprise.
“Hello, Phil!” greeted Charlie, pleasantly.
“How’s the world treating you?”
Phil’s views on the subject seemed to be rather indefinite. Blake understood, however, that he had no general complaint to make.
“Say, Phil, we’re bound for the lake. Rather dangerous out there at times, I suppose?”
Charlie tried to speak in a very careless tone indeed.
“Yep—awful,” answered Phil, not very reassuringly21, as he kept on polishing.
[173]“But, of course, in weather like this it’s all safe enough, eh?”
“A feller ain’t never safe on the water,” commented Phil, with amazing volubility, for him.
“I suppose you have plenty of life preservers on board?” said Charlie, with a forced grin.
Phil thought they had.
“Well, I hope we shan’t need ’em.”
“Can’t never tell,” mumbled22 the “first mate,” giving an obstinate23 place on the brass an extra hard rub.
“Ever been in any tight fixes, Phil?”
“Sure.”
“Where?”
“On the lake.”
“In what boat?”
“This un.”
The conversation was not taking the cheery turn for which Charlie had hoped.
“I guess I’ll get back, Phil,” he remarked, turning away.
“Not the slightest objection,” came from Phil.
In fifteen minutes the “Fearless” was racing24 through the turbulent water of the lake.[174] Battery after battery of surging waves swept against the hull25, often sending showers of shining drops spattering over the deck.
Gripped by the full force of wind and wave the motor yacht began to careen. Each instant Charlie Blake could see the city of Kenosha becoming more and more obscured behind the dull gray atmosphere.
“I call this perfectly stunning—one of the greatest of sports!” cried Bob.
“Certainly wish I was out of it,” murmured Charlie, steadying himself by the rail.
Bob Somers raised a pair of marine27 glasses, which the skipper handed him, to his eyes. The vessel28 was apparently29 swept across the intervening space with lightning speed. He saw her spread of canvas bellying30 out in the wind, dingy31 masses of white slowly moving forth32 and back against the sky. The instrument shifted from point to point brought into view a network of rigging, spars, cabins, several sailors lounging near the forepeak and the line of water breaking crisply against the length of her hull.
“She’s plowing33 along bravely,” said Bob, bracing34 himself to resist the wind. “Hello!” Swinging the glass toward the faint line of the horizon, he had suddenly picked out from the gloom a thin wisp of smoke. “Steamer coming,” he announced.
“Very probably a whaleback bound for Chicago,” explained Uncle Ralph. He smiled quizzically. “A cat may look at the king, they say, so we’ll make an inspection35 of the monster at close range. Then we can race her back to Kenosha. Is she in range yet, Bob?”
“Yes, sir; and looks like a whopper to me. I can see that the sides of the hull are curved over at the top, which means it’s a whaleback, all right.”
The skipper shouted several directions to the helmsman. Martin Ricks thereupon changed the course of the “Fearless,” heading her directly toward the steamer, now distinctly visible to the naked eye.
The long stretch of water which separated them was being cut down with remarkable36 rapidity. Bob Somers, his eye to the glass, saw the three decks of the big white steamer crowded with passengers. Moving swiftly[176] through the turbulent water, apparently unaffected by the continual onslaughts of wind and waves, she presented a majestic37 appearance.
The powerful glass brought every detail into view with extraordinary clearness. As Bob slowly swept the craft from stem to stern it seemed as though she was but a few yards distant. For an instant his gaze rested on the pilot house; then he lowered the glass, giving him the range of the upper deck.
A man leaning over the rail near the forward end, with a megaphone in his hand and surrounded by a group, immediately attracted Bob Somers’ attention. Their faces, sharply revealed in the circle of light, were all turned toward the motor yacht with an interest which seemed to him unusual.
“Looks as though the man is going to hail us,” he murmured.
He removed the glass, and, instantly, the whaleback seemed to be shot far back on the waste of water.
When the two craft were within a short distance of each other, Captain Bunderley, considerably38 surprised to notice that the steamer[177] had stopped her screw, gave orders to shut off power.
“The ‘Fearless’ ahoy!” yelled a voice through the megaphone.
“That’s Captain Phillips,” declared Skipper Bunderley. “A good friend of mine, too. He wouldn’t stop out here unless he had something important to say.” He raised his voice in a sonorous39 yell. “What’s that, Phillips?”
“I want to ask if you can do me a great favor?” came from the captain of the whaleback.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
jaunt
|
|
| v.短程旅游；n.游览 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
attentive
|
|
| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
thriller
|
|
| n.惊险片，恐怖片 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
gliding
|
|
| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
exclamations
|
|
| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
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： |
|
|
|
|
11
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
awning
|
|
| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
jumbles
|
|
| 混杂( jumble的名词复数 )； （使）混乱； 使混乱； 使杂乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
gusts
|
|
| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
industriously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
brass
|
|
| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
grunted
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
reassuringly
|
|
| ad.安心，可靠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
obstinate
|
|
| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
hull
|
|
| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
schooner
|
|
| n.纵帆船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
marine
|
|
| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
bellying
|
|
| 鼓出部；鼓鼓囊囊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
31
dingy
|
|
| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
plowing
|
|
| v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
bracing
|
|
| adj.令人振奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
sonorous
|
|
| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |