“他年纪这么小！”姑娘叫道。
“He ’s old e nough for - ”Alan struck his fingerson the back of his neck. He meant I could lose myhead.
“他已经够--”艾伦用手指在脖子后面比划了一下，意思是说有被杀头的危险。
“Tha t is a bla ck shame ！”she cried.
“那可太可惜了。”她大声说。
“It will ha ppe n，”Alan said,“if we ca nnot c ros sthe rive r .”
“我们要是过不了河，他会掉脑袋的。”艾伦说。
She turned and ran out of the house. Alan’strick pleased him. but I did not like it.
她转身跑出客店。艾伦对自己的计策很得意，可我并不喜欢他这样做，便说道：
“Ala n . ”I said,“I c a n’t b e a r this .”
“艾伦，我不能忍受这一套。”
“Yo u mus t，”he replied.“If you don ’t，you yourse lf ma y e s ca pe . I sha ll be a de a d ma n.”
他回答说：“你非忍受不可。要不，你自己也许可以逃之夭夭，可我会一命呜呼。”
“It’s true ！”I cried.
“是这样！”我大声说。
Even my cry helped us. The girl came backwith food and a bottle of strong beer. She told us wemust eat and pay nothing. Her father was the landlordof the inn，and he had gone away for that day.
She sat at the next table and watched us.
连我的呻吟声也帮了我的忙。
姑娘带回一些吃的东西和一瓶烈性啤酒，让我们吃、喝，不让我们付钱。
他父亲是客店的老板，那天出去了。
她坐在我们旁边那张桌子上，望着我们。
“I think you ta lk too mu ch，”she said to Alan.
“我觉得你有点贫嘴。”她对艾伦说。
“Ye s ，”Alan said,“but I only ta lk to g ood pe ople .”
“是的。不过，我只在好人而前才话多”艾伦说。
“I won ’t te ll your s e cre t，”she said.
“我是不会泄露你们的秘密的。”她说。
“No，”he said,“I know tha t. But you c ould he lpus .”
“我知道你不会的。可是，你可以帮我们的忙。”艾伦说。
“I couldn ’t，”she said，and shook her head.
“我帮不上忙。”她摇了摇头，说。
“Lis te n，”Alan said.“If we c ould ha ve a bo a t toc ros s the rive r tonight，a nd a goo d s e cre t ma n tobring the boa t ba ck a ga in，it would s a ve us both. If wec a n’t ha ve tha t boa t，we ha ve only thre e shillings inthe world. Whe re ca n we g o？Wha t s ha ll we do？Wes ha ll ne ve r be s a fe . The y will ha ng us ，I promis e you！
You will he in your wa rm be d，whe n we a re out in the
艾伦说：“你听我讲，我们要是今天晚上能弄到一条船过河，再有一个秘密可靠的人把船划回来，我们两个人就得救了。要是搞不到船，我们身上总共有三个先令，够到哪儿去呢？该怎么办呢？我们永远也不能脱险。你要知道，他们会绞
ra in . You will e a t your me a t by a re d fire ，whe n thispoor s ic k la d is trembling in the c old .”
死我们的。你会躺在你那温暖的床上，而我们却要在外面淋雨； 你在红通通的炉火旁边吃肉的时候，这个可怜的病孩子却在冻得发抖。”
This idea troubled the girl. Ought she to helpus？Perhaps we were guilty of some crime.
这番话使姑娘进退两难。她该不该帮我们的忙呢？也许我们真的是犯了罪的。
I thought I could tell her a little of the truth.
我觉得不妨给她讲明一点事实真相。
“Do you know Mr Ra nke illor of Que e ns fe rry？”Iasked.
“你认识皇后渡口的兰基勒先生吗?”我问道。
“Ra nke illor the lawye r？”she said.“I do.”
“兰基勒律师吗？我认识。”她说。
“We ll，”I said,“I mus t cros s th e rive r to s e ehim. I am no t guilty of a ny crime . I am in da nge r，but itis a n a ccide nt. And I am a Whig，a nd fa ithful to KingGe orge .”
“是这样，我必须过河去找他。
我并没有犯罪，只是遇到一点意外的事，有生命危险。而且，我是个辉格派，是忠于乔治国王的。”我说。
Alan did not like my last words，but the girlwas pleased.
艾 伦不喜欢我最后说的那句话，可是姑娘高兴了。她说：
“It’s a ll right. ”she said.“Mr Ra nke illor ha s agood name .”
“那没关系，兰基勒先生是有名的好人。”
She told us we must hide in the wood.“I willfind some wa y to fe rry you a cros s ，”she said.
她 让我们务必到树林里藏起来，说；“我一定想办法把你们渡过河。”
We stayed is the wood all day. A piper camealong and talked to us. He asked us a lot of questions.
He wanted to know our business there. Wethought be was going to talk about us. We were
我们在树林里待了一整天。一位风笛手走到我们面前，问这问那。
他想知道我们待在那里要干什么。
我们以为他会把我们藏在树林的事
anxious when he went away.
讲出去的，所以他走了以后，我们感到忐忑不安。
When night came，lights shone out in housesand villages. The hours passed. One by one thelights went out. lt was eleven o’clock，and we feltvery anxious，At last we heard the sound of oars.
夜幕降临后，附近几个村子里各家各户的灯亮了。几个钟头后，各户的灯又一个个地熄灭了。到了深夜十一点钟，我们心焦得不得了，但是终于听到了划桨声。
We looked out and saw the girl coming in aboat. She had told our business to no one. She hadleft the house by a window when her father was asleep.
She had taken a neighbour’s boat，and comealone to help us.
我们抬头望去，只见那位姑娘划了一条小船，向我们驶来。我们的事她对谁也没有讲。她父亲睡熟后，她从窗子溜了出来，划了邻居家的一条小船，独自前来帮助我们。
She did not want any thanks. She told us wemust hurry. We must not talk. She rowed us acrossin silence，and put us ashore，Then she shookbands with us，and rowed away.
她不让我们感谢她，叫我们快一点，不要说话。她默默地把我们送到对岸。我们上岸后，她和我们握了握手，就划回去了。
Alan stood on the tore.
艾伦站在河岸上，说：
“Th a t is a ve ry fine girl，Da vid，”he said,“a ve ryfine girl”
“她可真是一位好姑娘，大卫，非常好的姑娘。”
I thought she was simple and good. I was sorrythat we had tricked her with a story. I hoped shewas not going to get into trouble for her kind act.
我觉得她既纯朴又善良。我们编造谎话，她信以为真，我感到对不起她。我希望她不至于做了这件好事而受到牵连。
