儿童英语读物 棚车少年 Boxcar Children 3 树林里的新家

III—A New Home in the Woods



AT LAST Jessie opened her eyes. It was morning, but the sun was covered by clouds. She sat up and looked all around her, and then she looked at the sky. It seemed like night, for it was very dark. Suddenly it began to thunder, and she saw that it was really going to rain.



“What shall we do? Where shall we go?” thought Jessie.



The wind was blowing more and more clouds across the sky, and the lightning was very near.



She walked a little way into the woods, looking for a place to go out of the rain.



“Where shall we go?” she thought again.



Then she saw something ahead of her in the woods. It was an old boxcar.



“What a good house that will be in the rain!” she thought.



She ran over to the boxcar. There was no engine, and the track 1 was old and rusty 2. It was covered with grass and bushes 3 because it had not been used for a long time.



“It is a boxcar,” Jessie said. “We can get into it and stay until it stops raining.”



She ran back as fast as she could to the other children. The sky was black, and the wind was blowing very hard.



“Hurry! Hurry!” cried Jessie. “I have found a good place! Hurry as fast as you can!”



Henry took Benny’s hand, and they all ran through the woods after Jessie.



“It’s beginning to rain!” cried Henry.



“We’ll soon be there,” Jessie shouted back. “It is not far. When we get there, you must help me open the door. It is heavy.”



The stump 4 of a big tree stood under the door of the boxcar and was just right for a step. Jessie and Henry jumped up on the old dead stump and rolled back the heavy door of the car. Henry looked in.



“There is nothing in here,” he said. “Come, Benny. We’ll help you up.”



Violet 5 went in next, and, last of all, Jessie and Henry climbed in.



They were just in time. How the wind did blow! They rolled the door shut, and then it really began to rain. Oh, how it did rain! It just rained and rained. The children could hear it on the top of the boxcar, but no rain came in.



“What a good place this is!” said Violet. “It is just like a warm little house with one room.”



After awhile the rain and lightning and thunder stopped, and the wind did not blow so hard. Then Henry opened the door and looked out. All the children looked out into the woods. The sun was shining, but some water still fell from the trees. In front of the boxcar a pretty little brook 6 ran over the rocks, with a waterfall in it.



“What a beautiful place!” said Violet.



“Henry!” cried Jessie. “Let’s live here!”



“Live here?” asked Henry.



“Yes! Why not?” said Jessie. “This boxcar is a fine little house. It is dry and warm in the rain.”



“We could wash in the brook,” said Violet.



“Please, Henry,” begged Jessie. “We could have the nicest little home here, and we could find some dishes, and make four beds and a table, and maybe chairs!”



“No,” said Benny. “I don’t want to live here, Jessie.”



“Oh, dear, why not, Benny?” asked Jessie.



“I’m afraid the engine will come and take us away,” answered Benny.



Henry and Jessie laughed. “Oh, no, Benny,” said Henry. “The engine will never take this car away. It is an old, old car, and grass and bushes are growing all over the track.”



“Then doesn’t the engine use this track any more?” asked Benny.



“No, indeed,” said Henry. He was beginning to want to live in the boxcar, too.



“We’ll stay here today, anyway,”



“Then can I have my dinner here?” asked Benny.



“Yes, you shall have dinner now,” said Henry.



So Jessie took out the last loaf of bread and cut it into four pieces, but it was very dry. Benny ate the bread, but soon he began to cry.



“I want some milk, too, Jessie,” he begged.



“He ought to have milk,” said Henry. “I’ll go to the next town and get some.”



But Henry did not want to start. He looked to see how much money he had. Then he stood thinking.



At last he said, “I don’t want to leave you girls alone.”



“Oh,” said Jessie, “we’ll be all right, Henry. We’ll have a surprise for you when you come back. You just wait and see!”



“Good-by, Henry,” said Benny.



So Henry walked off through the woods.



When he had gone, Jessie said, “Now, children, what do you think we are going to do? What do you think I saw over in the woods? I saw some blueberries!”



“Oh, oh!” cried Benny. “I know what blueberries are. Can we have blueberries and milk, Jessie?”



“Yes,” Jessie was beginning. But she suddenly stopped, for she heard a noise. Crack 7, crack, crack! Something was in the woods.