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CHAPTER XX OVERHAULING THE SHIP
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 “Keep together!” shouted the professor. “It will not do to become lost now. We are close to the ship, and will soon be there. Come after me.”
 
It was more by following the sound of the scientist’s voice, than by any sight which the others could get of him, that they managed to trail along behind. They reached the ship in safety, however, and entered. There was no sound as of beasts or insects within, and, though Mark felt a little apprehensive1 on account of what he had seen, he and the others as well, were glad to be again in something that seemed like home.
 
“I wish we had some candles, or some sort of a light to see by,” the professor remarked. “We can do nothing in the dark, and there is no telling how long this night is going to last once it has set in. If I could have a little illumination, I might be able to fix the dynamo, and then we could turn on the incandescents. That portable light we had is broken.”
 
“By cracky!” exclaimed Andy. “I believe I have the very thing!”
 
“You don’t mean to say you have a torch or a candle with you, do you?” asked Mr. Henderson.
 
“No, but I have my patent pipe lighting2 apparatus,” the hunter said. “I always carry it. It gives a little light, but not much, though it may be enough to work by.”
 
Not until after several hours work, handicapped as they were by lack of light, were the repairs to the ship completed.
 
“Now we’ll start the engine and see how we will come out,” the inventor exclaimed, as he wiped his hands on some waste.
 
It did not take long to generate enough power to turn the dynamo. Soon the familiar hum and whirr was heard, and, a few seconds later the filaments3 in the lamps began to glow a dull red, which gradually brightened until they were shining in all their usual brilliancy.
 
“Hurrah!” cried the boys. “Now we can see!”
 
They all felt in better spirits with the restoration of the lights, and, washing off the grease and dirt of their labors4 in the engine room, they prepared to sit down to the meal which Washington prepared.
 
As soon as the dynamo was working well, care had to be taken not to speed it too much on account of a mended belt. The professor turned off part of the lights and switched some of the current into the storage batteries, to provide for emergencies. For there was no telling how long the night might last.
 
Jack5 was the first one to finish the meal—they did not know whether to call it dinner, supper or breakfast. He went into the conning6 tower, and, as soon as he reached it he called out:
 
“Come on up here, professor! There’s something strange going on!”
 
Mr. Henderson, followed by Mark, hurried to the tower. As he reached it and looked out of the forward window, a beautiful white glow illuminated7 the whole scene, and then, from below the horizon, there arose seven luminous8 disks. One was in the centre, while about it circled the other six, like some immense pin-wheel.
 
“It’s the moon!” cried Mark.
 
“It’s seven moons!” Jack exclaimed. “Why it’s almost as light as day!”
 
And so it was, for the seven moons, if that is what they were, gave an illumination not unlike the sun in brilliancy though it was like the beams from the pale moon of the earth.
 
“I guess we need not have worried about the darkness,” the professor remarked. “Still it is a good thing I fixed9 the dynamo.”
 
For some time he and the other adventurers watched the odd sight of the moons, as they rose higher and higher overhead. The scene was a beautiful, if weird10 one, for the whole plain was bathed in the soft light.
 
“I guess we can turn off the incandescents, and use all the power for the storage batteries,” Mr. Henderson went on, as he descended11 into the ship, and opened the port shutters12 which had been closed when they started off on their exploring tour. The interior of the Mermaid13 was almost as light as when the odd colored beams had been playing over the new earth to which they had come.
 
“I think we had better continue with our work of making repairs,” Mr. Henderson said. “We can’t count on these moons remaining here any length of time, and I want to take advantage of them. So though some of us perhaps need sleep, we will forego it and fix up the Mermaid. I want to take a trip and see what other wonders await us.”
 
They all agreed that they would rather work than sleep, and soon the entire force was busy in the engine room. There was much to be done, and the most important things were attended to first. The motive14 power was overhauled15 and found to be in need of several new parts. These were put in and then the gas generator16, and the negative gravity machine, were put in shape.
 
It would have taken something very substantial to have awakened17 any one on board the Mermaid that night. They all slept soundly and awoke to find the strange colored lights shining in through the glass covered port holes.
 
“Well, the sun, or what corresponds to it, is up,” observed Jack, “and I guess we had better do as the little boy in the school reader did, and get up, too, Mark.”
 
Soon all the travelers were aroused, and the sound of Washington bustling18 about in the kitchen, whence came the smell of coffee, bacon and eggs, told the hungry ones that breakfast was under way.
 
After the meal work was again started on repairing the ship, and by noon the professor remarked:
 
“I think we shall try a little flight after dinner. That is, if one thing doesn’t prevent us.”
 
“What is that?” asked Jack.
 
“We may be held down, as were those stones,” was the grave answer.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 apprehensive WNkyw     
adj.担心的,恐惧的,善于领会的
参考例句:
  • She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
  • He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。
2 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
3 filaments 82be78199276cbe86e0e8b6c084015b6     
n.(电灯泡的)灯丝( filament的名词复数 );丝极;细丝;丝状物
参考例句:
  • Instead, sarcomere shortening occurs when the thin filaments'slide\" by the thick filaments. 此外,肌节的缩短发生于细肌丝沿粗肌丝“滑行”之际。 来自辞典例句
  • Wetting-force data on filaments of any diameter and shape can easily obtained. 各种直径和形状的长丝的润湿力数据是易于测量的。 来自辞典例句
4 labors 8e0b4ddc7de5679605be19f4398395e1     
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转
参考例句:
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
  • Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句
5 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
6 conning b97e62086a8bfeb6de9139effa481f58     
v.诈骗,哄骗( con的现在分词 );指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He climbed into the conning tower, his eyes haunted and sickly bright. 他爬上司令塔,两眼象见鬼似的亮得近乎病态。 来自辞典例句
  • As for Mady, she enriched her record by conning you. 对马德琳来说,这次骗了你,又可在她的光荣历史上多了一笔。 来自辞典例句
7 illuminated 98b351e9bc282af85e83e767e5ec76b8     
adj.被照明的;受启迪的
参考例句:
  • Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
  • the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市
8 luminous 98ez5     
adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的
参考例句:
  • There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
  • Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。
9 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
10 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
11 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
12 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
13 mermaid pCbxH     
n.美人鱼
参考例句:
  • How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起,那个女孩会有多受欢迎!
  • The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴,因为她等不及了。
14 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
15 overhauled 6bcaf11e3103ba66ebde6d8eda09e974     
v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 );大修;赶上;超越
参考例句:
  • Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修,换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 generator Kg4xs     
n.发电机,发生器
参考例句:
  • All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
  • This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。
17 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 bustling LxgzEl     
adj.喧闹的
参考例句:
  • The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
  • This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。


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