介绍:
Chapter 7
Later on in the evening, a traveler’s horse was brought in by the second stable(马厩) keeper.
While he was cleaning him, a young man, with a pipe in his mouth, slowly walked into the stable(马厩).
“Towler,” said the stable(马厩) keeper, “lay down your pipe, and put some hay(干草) down for this horse, will you?”
“All right,” said Towler, and he went up to the area overhead where the hay(干草) was stored.
I heard him step across the floor overhead and put down the hay(干草).
James came to look at us before he slept.
Then the door was locked for the day.
I cannot say how long I had slept, nor what time in the night it was.
But I woke up very uncomfortable. I got up, for the air seemed all thick and choking(令人窒息的).
I heard Ginger coughing and one of the other horses seemed very worried and kept moving.
It was quite dark, and I could see nothing.
The stable(马厩) seemed full of smoke, and I could hardly breathe.
The entrance to the hay(干草) store had been left open, and I thought that was the place the smoke came from.
I listened, and heard a breaking sound.
I did not know what it was, but there was something in the sound so strange that it made me frightened.
The other horses were all awake.
Some were pulling at their reins(缰绳), and others, putting down their feet heavily on the ground.
Then I heard a cry of “Fire!” outside, and the old stable(马厩) keeper quietly and quickly came in.
He got one horse out, and went to another.
The flames were playing round the entrance to the hay(干草) store, and the loud sound overhead was dreadful(可怕的).
The next thing I heard was James’ voice, quiet and happy, as it always was.
“Come, Beauty, it’s time for us to be off. We’ll soon be out of this smoke.”
He took the scarf off his neck, and tied it lightly over my eyes.
With patting(轻拍) and persuasion, he led me out of the stable(马厩).
Safe in the yard, he slipped(松开) the scarf off my eyes, and shouted, “Here somebody! Take this horse while I go back for the other.”
A tall, large man stepped forward and took me, and James ran back into the stable(马厩).
I made a loud cry as I saw him go.
Ginger told me afterward that my cry was the best thing I had done for her.
She would never have had courage to come out if she had not heard me outside.
There was much confusion(混乱) in the yard, and I could see flashes of red light.
At that moment, I heard a loud, clear voice, which I knew was master’s, “James! James! Are you there?”
There was no answer, but I heard something falling in the stable(马厩). We were all nervous!
A few minutes later, I gave a loud, happy cry when I saw James coming through the smoke, leading Ginger with him.
She was coughing violently, and he was not able to speak.
“My brave young man!” said master, laying his hand on his shoulder, “Are you hurt?”
James shook his head, for he could not yet speak.
“And now,” said master, “when you have got your breath, we’ll get out of this place as quickly as we can.”
We got out as fast as we could into the quiet open space.
There, we heard a dreadful(可怕的) sound—it was the cries of those poor horses that were burning to death in the stable(马厩).
It was terrible! It made both Ginger and me feel very bad.
However, we were safe now.
Then the master led the way to a large hotel on the other side, and as soon as the stable(马厩) keeper came, he said,
“James, I must now hurry to my wife as quickly as possible.
I trust the horses entirely to you, order whatever you think is needed,” and with that he was gone.
The next morning, the master came to see how we were and to speak to James.
I did not hear much, for the stable(马厩) keeper was cleaning me.
I could see that James looked very happy, and I thought the master was proud of him.
The master’s wife had been so much alarmed in the night that the journey was put off till the afternoon.
Therefore, James had the morning free, and went first to the hotel to see about our harness(马具) and the carriage, and then to hear more about the fire.
When he came back, we heard him tell the stable(马厩) keeper about it.
At first, no one could guess how the fire had been caused.
But finally, a man said he saw Towler go into the stable(马厩) with a pipe in his mouth.
When he came out, he no longer had one, and went for another.
Then the stable(马厩) keeper also said he had asked Towler to go up the ladder to put down some hay(干草), but told him to lay down his pipe first.
Towler denied(否认) taking the pipe with him, but no one believed him.
The whole thing reminded me of our John’s rule—never to allow a pipe in the stable(马厩).
I thought it ought to be the rule everywhere.
The rest of our journey was very easy, and a little after sunset we reached the house of my master’s friend.
We were taken into a clean, warm stable(马厩).
And there was a kind carriage driver, who made us very comfortable.
We stopped two or three days at this place and then returned home.
读完了，去做题 ❯
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