Chapter XIX - Lost 第十九章 迷子

Grace burst out crying. Grace scoppiò a piangere. She said she knew it was silly, and not at all what an outdoor girl should do, and, very contritely afterward, she told the others how sorry she was that she had given way. Disse che sapeva che era una sciocchezza e che non era affatto quello che una ragazza all'aperto avrebbe dovuto fare e, molto contrita, disse agli altri quanto le dispiaceva aver ceduto. But she just could not seem to help it. Ma non riusciva a farne a meno. Without reserve she sobbed on Amy's shoulder. For a moment Mollie and Betty, looking at one another, feared that Amy, too, would give way to her feelings, and that they would have two hysterical ones on their hands. Per un attimo Mollie e Betty, guardandosi l'un l'altra, temettero che anche Amy avrebbe ceduto ai suoi sentimenti e che avrebbero avuto per le mani due isteriche. But the little outburst of Grace seemed to act as a sort of tonic to Amy, who put her arms about her chum, murmuring comforting words. Ma il piccolo sfogo di Grace sembrò agire come una sorta di tonico per Amy, che strinse le braccia alla sua amica, mormorando parole di conforto.

"Oh, what—what are we going to do?" sobbed Grace.

"We're not going to cry—at any rate!" "Non piangeremo, in ogni caso!". snapped Mollie. scattò Mollie. "At least I'm not." "Almeno io non lo sono". There was an incisiveness—a sharpness—to her voice that made Grace look up a bit angrily. C'era un'incisività, un'asprezza nella sua voce che fece alzare a Grace un po' di rabbia.

"I—I'm not crying!" she said, and there was more energy in her voice than had been noticeable for some time. disse, e nella sua voce c'era più energia di quanta se ne notasse da tempo.

"Well, it's a very good imitation of it then," went on Mollie. "Beh, allora è un'ottima imitazione", continuò Mollie. "Crying isn't going to do any good, and it gets on the nerves of all of us." "Piangere non serve a nulla e dà sui nervi a tutti noi". "I'm sorry—I couldn't seem to help it," spoke Grace, in a low voice. "Mi dispiace... non sono riuscita a trattenermi", disse Grace a bassa voce. "I—I won't do it again. But oh, what are we going to do?" No one knew what to answer. Certainly they were in a situation that needed help to enable them to escape from it. They could not approach the alligators—at least they did not think they could, though perhaps the creatures would have fled when the girls came near. Non potevano avvicinarsi agli alligatori, almeno non pensavano di poterlo fare, anche se forse le creature sarebbero fuggite quando le ragazze si fossero avvicinate. And the snakes, while not aggressive, seemed to be numerous in the water that offered the only ford to shore. E i serpenti, pur non essendo aggressivi, sembravano essere numerosi nell'acqua che offriva l'unico guado verso la riva. And moccasins, the girls had been told, were deadly poisonous. E i mocassini, avevano detto le ragazze, erano mortalmente velenosi.

"If Tom would only come!" "Se solo Tom venisse!" muttered Betty. "I can't see what keeps him," and she looked anxiously toward where the luncheon was spread. "Non riesco a capire cosa lo trattenga", e guardò ansiosamente verso il punto in cui era stato preparato il pranzo. But there was no sign of the young man.

"Maybe we could drive the snakes away by throwing more stones," suggested Grace, who seemed to have gotten over her little hysterical outburst. "Forse potremmo allontanare i serpenti lanciando altre pietre", suggerì Grace, che sembrava aver superato il suo piccolo sfogo isterico. "Let's try it." "It's worth trying," admitted Betty. "At least I don't believe the snakes would come out to attack us, and we might be able to drive them away." The girls, glad of the chance to do something, collected a pile of stones and showered them into the water. Le ragazze, felici di poter fare qualcosa, raccolsero un mucchio di pietre e le gettarono nell'acqua. Then when the ripples had cleared they peered anxiously at the sand bar. Poi, quando le increspature si furono attenuate, scrutarono ansiosi il banco di sabbia.

"They're gone!" cried Amy joyously. "Now we can wade to shore." "Ora possiamo guadare la riva". "Better wait," advised Mollie. There was an anxious pause, and then Betty said in a hopeless sort of tone:

"No, there they come back again," and she pointed to where the writhing serpents could be seen. "No, ecco che tornano di nuovo", e indicò il punto in cui si vedevano i serpenti che si contorcevano. Evidently the sand bar was a sort of feeding place for them, and though they might disappear for the moment at some disturbance, they returned.

Hopelessly the girls looked at one another. Then they glanced into the water, that seemed fairly swarming with the snakes. Poi lanciarono un'occhiata all'acqua, che sembrava brulicare di serpenti. There appeared to be more than ever of them. Sembravano essere più numerosi che mai. Then Amy looked toward the neck of land and gave a cry of surprise—of joy. Poi Amy guardò verso il collo della terra e lanciò un grido di sorpresa e di gioia.

"Look!" she exclaimed. "They're going—the alligators. "Se ne vanno gli alligatori. At least they're—moving!" Almeno si muovono!". "I hope they don't move toward us!" gasped Grace.

The saurians indeed seemed waked into life. I sauri sembravano effettivamente risvegliati alla vita. Whether they had completed their sun bath, or whether the call of their appetites moved them, it was impossible to say. È impossibile dire se avessero terminato il bagno di sole o se il richiamo dell'appetito li avesse spinti. But they were walking about, dragging their ponderous, fat, squatty bodies, and their big tails. Ma camminavano trascinando i loro corpi ponderosi, grassi e tozzi e le loro grandi code.

"Let's tell 'em we're in a hurry," suggested Betty, as she caught up a stone. "Diciamo loro che abbiamo fretta", suggerì Betty, mentre raccoglieva una pietra. Running forward she threw it with such good aim that it struck one of the saurians on the head. Correndo in avanti lo lanciò con una mira così buona che colpì uno dei sauri in testa. With a sort of surprised grunt the creature slid off the narrow neck of sand into the water. Con una specie di grugnito sorpreso, la creatura scivolò dallo stretto collo di sabbia verso l'acqua. The other followed with a splash. L'altro lo seguì con uno schizzo.

"There they go!" "Eccoli!" cried Mollie.

"Come on now, before they take a notion to come back. "Andiamo ora, prima che prendano l'idea di tornare indietro. Oh girls! I'm nearly starved!" Sto quasi morendo di fame!". Betty laughed at this—it was characteristic of Mollie, once the immediate stress was removed, to revert to the matter that had previously claimed her attention, and this had been their luncheon. Betty rise di questo: era caratteristico di Mollie, una volta rimosso lo stress immediato, tornare alla questione che aveva precedentemente attirato la sua attenzione, e questo era stato il loro pranzo.

"Come on!" she cried, and ran toward the main shore.

Betty said afterward that they had never run so fast, not even at the school games, where the outdoor girls had made records for themselves on the cinder track. Betty disse in seguito che non avevano mai corso così veloce, nemmeno ai giochi scolastici, dove le ragazze all'aperto avevano fatto dei record sulla pista di cemento. Just who reached shore first is a matter of no moment—in fact it must have[158] been a "dead heat," as Tom Osborne said afterward. Chi raggiunse per primo la riva non è un problema, anzi deve essere stato un "testa a testa", come disse Tom Osborne in seguito. As the girls passed the place where the alligators had been sunning themselves they gave one look each into the water where the saurians had disappeared. One look only, and they did not pause to do that. But they saw no signs of the ugly creatures.

"Safe!" cried Betty, and the girls, breathless from their run, were safe. They gathered about the eatables on the grass. Si sono riuniti intorno ai cibi sull'erba.

"Oh, where can Tom be?" cried Betty anxiously. "I—I hope nothing has happened to him!" "Now who is making direful suggestions, I'd like to know?" "Ora, chi è che dà suggerimenti terribili, vorrei sapere?". asked Grace.

"Well, it is queer to have him disappear that way," voiced Mollie. "È strano che sia scomparso in quel modo", disse Mollie. "But I'm going to be impolite and—eat." "Ma sarò scortese e mangerò". She approached the "table," an example followed by the others. Certainly Tom had done his work exceedingly well. The spread was very inviting.

Betty looked all around the little glade on the edge of the river, where the table was set. Betty guardò tutto intorno alla piccola radura sul bordo del fiume, dove era stata apparecchiata la tavola. There was no sign of their escort. The Gem floated lazily where she was moored, and the scene was quiet and peaceful enough. La Gemma galleggiava pigramente dove era ormeggiata e la scena era abbastanza tranquilla e silenziosa. But there was a cer[159]tain mystery about the disappearance of Tom Osborne.

"Well, we may as well eat," sighed Betty. "Beh, tanto vale mangiare", sospirò Betty. "Then we can look about a bit. There won't be any alligators inland, I guess." Non ci saranno alligatori nell'entroterra, credo". Even the fright the girls had experienced had not taken away their appetites, and soon they were making merry over the meal, which was a bountiful one—they could well trust Aunt Hannah for that. Anche lo spavento che le ragazze avevano provato non aveva tolto loro l'appetito, e ben presto si rallegrarono per il pasto, che fu abbondante: potevano fidarsi della zia Hannah per questo.

But "between bites," as it were, Betty and the others looked about for a sign of the young man. Ma "tra un boccone e l'altro", per così dire, Betty e gli altri si guardarono intorno alla ricerca di un segno del giovane. He did not appear, however, nor were there any sounds of his approach. Tuttavia, non è apparso, né si sono sentiti rumori di avvicinamento. The woods back from the river teemed with bird and animal life. I boschi a ridosso del fiume pullulano di uccelli e animali. The latter was not so visible as the former, for the feathered creatures flitted here and there amid the branches, bursting into various melodious notes. Quest'ultimo non era così visibile come il primo, perché le creature piumate svolazzavano qua e là tra i rami, emettendo varie note melodiose.

The meal went on; it was finished. The girls packed up with a little sense of disappointment. Le ragazze hanno fatto le valigie con un po' di delusione. They felt that their outing had been rather spoiled. Si sono sentiti un po' rovinati nella loro gita. They saved enough for Tom in case he should come back hungry, which would very likely be the case. Ne avevano conservato abbastanza per Tom, nel caso in cui fosse tornato affamato, cosa molto probabile.

"Well, we may as well put things on board," said Betty, at length. "Beh, tanto vale mettere le cose a bordo", disse Betty, alla fine. "We can't stay here much longer. It's getting late." "But can we—ought we—go back without Tom?" asked Mollie.

"I don't see what else we can do—if he doesn't come," said Betty. "Non vedo cos'altro possiamo fare se non viene", disse Betty. "We can't stay here all night." The Gem was made ready for the trip back. Then came a time of anxious waiting as the shadows lengthened. Poi venne un periodo di attesa ansiosa, mentre le ombre si allungavano. Betty, as well as the others, was getting nervous.

"We simply must go," said the Little Captain, at length. "Dobbiamo proprio andare", disse il Piccolo Capitano, alla fine. "He will have to come back as best he can. "Dovrà tornare al meglio delle sue possibilità. I don't see what made him go away. I am quite sure Mr. Hammond will not like it." "But if we go, can Tom find his way back?" asked Grace.

"He'll have to. But of course we'll tell Mr. Hammond, and he, and some of the men, can come for Tom, if they think it necessary." There seemed nothing else to do, and presently the girls went aboard, taking the remains of the lunch with them. Non sembrava esserci altro da fare e di lì a poco le ragazze salirono a bordo, portando con sé i resti del pranzo.

"We ought to leave some sort of note for Tom, telling him what happened, and that we couldn't wait any longer," suggested Mollie, as Betty was about to start. "Dovremmo lasciare una specie di biglietto a Tom, dicendogli cosa è successo e che non possiamo più aspettare", suggerì Mollie, mentre Betty stava per partire. "That's so. I didn't think of that. We'll do it." "And leave him some lunch, too," voiced Amy. "Good!" cried Betty. "Tom has one friend, at least." "Tom ha almeno un amico". A goodly packet of lunch was done up, and placed in a tree, well wrapped, where it would be sure to be seen. Un bel pacchetto di pranzo fu preparato e messo su un albero, ben incartato, dove sarebbe stato sicuramente visto. Then a note was left, with a brief account of what had happened, and the information that the girls had gone back to Orangeade.

"He ought to see that!" "Dovrebbe vederlo!" remarked Betty, stepping back to inspect her handiwork. osservò Betty, facendo un passo indietro per ispezionare il suo lavoro. She had pinned a small square of white paper, containing the writing, to a sheet of light brown manila, so that it was visible for some distance. Aveva appuntato un quadratino di carta bianca, contenente la scritta, su un foglio di manila marrone chiaro, in modo che fosse visibile a una certa distanza.

"It looks like a whole book—instead of a note," laughed Mollie. "Sembra un libro intero, invece di un biglietto", rise Mollie. The Gem was started and began dropping down the branch stream toward the main river. La Gemma è stata avviata e ha iniziato a scendere lungo il ramo del torrente verso il fiume principale. At least the girls hoped it was the main river when they turned into a larger body of water. But as they puffed on, amid the lengthening shadows, an annoying doubt began to manifest itself in Betty's mind. Ma mentre sbuffavano, tra le ombre che si allungavano, un dubbio fastidioso cominciò a manifestarsi nella mente di Betty. She glanced at the shores from time to time.

"Girls," she said finally, "does everything look right?" "Ragazze", disse infine, "vi sembra tutto a posto?". "Do you mean—your hair?" asked Amy.

"No, I mean the scenery. Is it familiar? Have we been here before? Did we come this way?" They all stared at Betty.

"What—what do you mean?" faltered Grace. vacillò Grace.

"Well, I don't seem to remember this place," went on Betty. "I'm afraid we've taken the wrong turn in the river, and that——" "You don't mean to say that we're lost; do you?" cried Mollie.

"I'm afraid so," was Betty's low-voiced reply. "Temo di sì", fu la risposta a bassa voce di Betty.