Chapter XX - The Loon Capitolo XX - Il loon

Onward chugged the Gem and the sudden acceleration in the heart-beats of the girls seemed to keep time with the staccato exhaust of the motor. La Gemma procedeva a strattoni e l'improvvisa accelerazione dei battiti cardiaci delle ragazze sembrava tenere il tempo dello scarico staccato del motore.

"Lost!" faltered Grace.

"And night coming on," echoed Amy. "E la notte che si avvicina", gli fece eco Amy. "Oh, you two!" cried Mollie. "I wish I were a boy!" "Why?" asked Betty, as she guided her craft to the center of the stream. chiese Betty, mentre guidava la sua imbarcazione verso il centro del torrente. It was lighter there, for they were not so much under the overhanging trees with their festoons of moss. Lì era più leggero, perché non erano tanto sotto gli alberi sporgenti con i loro festoni di muschio. "Why, Mollie, dear?" "Then I could use slang, such as—oh, well, what's the use? "Allora potrei usare un linguaggio gergale, come... oh, beh, a che serve? I don't suppose it would do any good." Non credo che servirebbe a qualcosa". "But are you sure we are lost?" asked Amy. "What makes you say so, Betty?" "Because this place doesn't look at all like any part of the river we came down before. The trouble was that we let Tom steer, and we didn't[164] notice the course very much, as we should have done on coming in a new channel. Il problema fu che lasciammo Tom al timone e non facemmo molta attenzione alla rotta, come avremmo dovuto fare entrando in un nuovo canale. But I'm sure we are lost." "It isn't a very pleasant thing to be sure about," said Mollie grimly, "but we may as well face the worst. "Non è una cosa molto piacevole di cui essere sicuri", disse Mollie cupamente, "ma tanto vale affrontare il peggio. Grace, let's you and I look to our stock of provisions." Grace, guardiamo alle nostre scorte di provviste". "What for?" asked Grace, who had found a few stray pieces of candy in a box, and was contentedly eating them. chiese Grace, che aveva trovato alcune caramelle vaganti in una scatola e le stava mangiando con soddisfazione.

"Well, if we're lost that doesn't mean we're not going to eat, and if we have enough for supper and breakfast——" "Breakfast!" cried Grace. "Are we going to be here for breakfast?" "And stay out all night?" "E stare fuori tutta la notte?". added Amy.

"There may be no help for it," said Betty as calmly as she could. "Potrebbe essere inutile", disse Betty con la massima calma possibile. "We have slept aboard before this, and we can do it again." "But you're not going to give up without trying to get back to the grove; are you?" "Ma non hai intenzione di arrenderti senza provare a tornare al boschetto; vero?". asked Mollie, who, after the first shock, was her own brave self again, as was Betty. chiese Mollie, che dopo il primo shock era tornata ad essere coraggiosa, così come Betty.

"Of course I'm going to try," replied Betty. "Certo che ci proverò", rispose Betty. "But that doesn't mean we'll get there. "Ma questo non significa che ci arriveremo. Often, after you're lost, trying to find your way back again only makes you lost the more—especially with night coming on." Spesso, dopo essersi persi, cercare di ritrovare la strada non fa altro che smarrirsi ancora di più, soprattutto con l'arrivo della notte". "But what are we going to do?" queried Grace blankly. domandò Grace con aria assente. She had ceased eating candy now.

"Well, it's very evident that we're not going the right way," went on Betty. "The farther we go the more sure I am that we were never on this part of the stream before. So I think we had better turn back, and, if necessary, start over again from where we had lunch.

"We may be able to see the right turn by starting over once more. Then we will be all right. Once I am started on the right track I think I can follow it. We have a compass, and I noticed, in a general way, which direction we came, though I was not as careful as I should have been." Abbiamo una bussola e ho notato, in linea di massima, in che direzione siamo arrivati, anche se non sono stato attento come avrei dovuto". "But it will be very dark," objected Amy. "Ma sarà molto buio", obiettò Amy. "It is getting darker all the while." "La situazione si fa sempre più cupa". "That will be the worst of it," admitted Betty frankly, "and if we find we can't go on, we shall have to tie up for the night. "Questo sarà il peggio", ammise Betty con franchezza, "e se ci accorgiamo di non poter proseguire, dovremo fermarci per la notte. We might do worse." Potremmo fare di peggio". "But anchor far enough from shore so that nothing can—get us," pleaded Grace. "Ma ancorate abbastanza lontano dalla riva, in modo che nulla possa prenderci", supplicò Grace. "No alligators, I mean." "Don't worry—they won't come aboard," declared Betty. "These rivers are split up into a lot of side brooks, bayous and such things," said Mollie. "Questi fiumi sono suddivisi in molti ruscelli laterali, bayous e cose del genere", ha detto Mollie. "Tom mentioned that, and he said that often one could wander about in them being close to the right route all the while, and yet not know a thing about it." "Tom ne ha parlato, e ha detto che spesso si può vagare in mezzo a loro essendo sempre vicini alla strada giusta, eppure senza saperne nulla". "Cheerful prospect," remarked Grace. "Prospettiva allegra", osservò Grace. "Oh, I'm sure we'll get on the right stream—sometime," spoke Mollie cheerfully. "Sono sicura che prima o poi troveremo la strada giusta", disse allegramente Mollie. "What do you say—had we not better turn back?" "Che ne dici, non sarebbe meglio tornare indietro?". They all agreed that this was best, and soon, in the fast gathering dusk, the Gem was swung about and was breasting the rather sluggish current. Tutti furono d'accordo che era meglio così e presto, nel crepuscolo che si avvicinava rapidamente, la Gemma fu fatta roteare e si mise a navigare nella corrente piuttosto fiacca.

To the credit of the outdoor girls be it said that even in this nerve-racking emergency they did not altogether lose heart and courage. A merito delle ragazze dell'outdoor va detto che anche in questa snervante emergenza non si sono perse d'animo e di coraggio. Of course there was that first instinctive fear, and something like a gasping for breath, as when one plunges into cold water. Naturalmente c'era la prima paura istintiva e qualcosa come un respiro affannoso, come quando ci si immerge nell'acqua fredda. But the reaction came, and the girls were themselves once more—brave and self-reliant. Ma la reazione arrivò e le ragazze tornarono a essere se stesse, coraggiose e autonome.

"I only hope we don't pass the stream up which we went to have our lunch," spoke Mollie as they went on. She and the others were peering from side to side in the gloom. Lei e gli altri scrutavano da una parte all'altra nella penombra.

"Oh, I'm sure we can find that," declared Betty. "There is a big, dead cypress tree, with a lot of moss on it, just at the turn. "C'è un grande cipresso morto, con molto muschio sopra, proprio alla curva. We must watch for that." There were one or two false alarms before they saw it, but finally they were all sure of the turn, and Betty made it.

"Oh, are you going all the way back to where we ate?" "Oh, stai tornando indietro fino a dove abbiamo mangiato?". asked Grace, as Betty guided her craft into the branch stream. chiese Grace, mentre Betty guidava la sua imbarcazione nella corrente del ramo.

"I think so," answered the Little Captain. "It will not take much longer, and we may find Tom there. "Non ci vorrà molto e forse troveremo Tom lì. If we do, all our troubles will be over. I think we had better go up." Credo sia meglio salire". "But it's getting dark so fast," objected Grace. "Ma si sta facendo buio così in fretta", obiettò Grace. "Then a little more dark won't make much difference," returned Mollie with a shrug. "Allora un po' più di buio non farà molta differenza", rispose Mollie con un'alzata di spalle. "Go on, Betty." The Gem chugged her way up "Alligator Brook," as the girls had named it. La Gemma risalì il "ruscello dell'alligatore", come lo avevano chiamato le ragazze. Eagerly they looked for some sign of their missing escort, and listened for any sound that would indicate he was coming to meet them. Cercarono con impazienza qualche segno del loro accompagnatore scomparso e ascoltarono qualsiasi suono che indicasse che stava venendo loro incontro. But the forest was silent. Night was settling down, and birds and beasts were seeking their resting places.

They reached the place where the boat had been tied, and could see where they had eaten their lunch. Over in the gloom there fluttered the paper Betty had fastened to a tree to indicate to Tom the fact that his charges had left. Nel buio svolazzò il foglio che Betty aveva attaccato a un albero per indicare a Tom che le sue cariche erano partite.

"He hasn't been here," said Mollie in a low voice. "No, there's the packet of lunch," went on Grace pointing to it. "We may need it ourselves." "Potremmo averne bisogno anche noi". Betty said nothing, but in the semi-darkness her chums could see the worried look on her face.

Suddenly there was a crashing through the underbrush, announcing the approach of someone. All'improvviso si udì uno schianto nel sottobosco, che annunciava l'avvicinarsi di qualcuno.

"Here he comes!" exclaimed Amy.

"Let's call!" suggested Grace.

"Wait a minute," advised Betty. The figure of a young man came into view. He looked about him nervously, turning his head from side to side like a timid bird. Si guardò intorno nervosamente, girando la testa da una parte all'altra come un uccello timido.

"That isn't Tom!" said Mollie.

Low as her voice was the youth heard. La sua voce era bassa e il giovane la sentì. He fairly leaped forward, and Betty, as she had a better glimpse of him, spoke: Fece un balzo in avanti e Betty, quando lo vide meglio, parlò:

"It's The Loon! The one who saved our boat for us!" Quello che ha salvato la nostra barca per noi!".