Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven: The River That Flows to the Sea

Tom wrote Peter: "I wanted to ask Hatty about the garden, but somehow forgot." He always forgot to ask. During the day, he only thought about the garden, and his mind was full of various question marks: How did this garden exist?What happened to everything you saw in the garden?He thought of some very ingenious questions to ask Hattie, so that she had to answer honestly and not make up.However, whenever he walked into the garden, he completely forgot about this investigative task.All he remembered was that he was a boy, that the garden was for children, and that Hattie was his little friend.

They have so much to do in the garden.They planned to build a little house in the yew tree when Hattie got the planks.They also wanted to make bows and arrows. Hatty remarked enviously that Hubert, James, and Edgar used to play Robbers of the Woods in the garden, and make bows and arrows. "Why don't you play with them?" asked Tom. "At first they said I was too young to play, and then, when I grew up, they said, they grew up and didn't want to play anymore." "Then why don't you play by yourself? You can make a bow and arrow yourself!" "I can't do it, I can't do it. But at least I can make an arrow. James taught me. It's not too difficult. But I can't do a bow."

So Tom told Hatty to get a sharp knife.She hopped home, got a kitchen knife, hid it under her apron, and went back to the garden.Under Tom's direction she cut down a yew branch suitable for a bow.The branches were not dried in the sun, so they had to make do with it.Hatty trimmed it roughly, and carved two grooves into the ends of the branches for the ropes.She was so clumsy at first that Tom had to tell her to peel from the inside out so as not to hurt her hands. At last the yew branch was cut, but Hatty had not the strength to bend the branch over and tie the rope.Tom can't help.She had to go to Abel.

Abel looked carefully at the branch she had cut with a knife: "Miss Hardy, did you do this?" "Yes. I really did." "Oh, who taught you?" "Someone taught it." "Well, whoever taught it, be careful not to let him teach you to use this to get into trouble." "court disaster?" "Get yourself into trouble, Miss Hatty," said Abel, looking at her for a long time.Tom was far away, and he didn't understand what Abel's eyes expressed. Abel tied a bow at Hatty's request.Arrows were easier to make, Hatty said she could do it herself.She found some straight, unknotted branches near the hazel stump, trimmed one end, and made a small groove in it for the bowstring; .Looks like Hattie's cousins ​​used to make arrows out of elderberries.Just sharpen one end of the branch, insert it into the pith of the elderberry, and insert it firmly.

Tom wanted to add some feathers to the nocks.But Hatty couldn't wait, and Tom had to let her play with it.The only thing that makes him sad is that he can't ejaculate himself.However, he can teach Hatty how to use a bow and arrow.He asked Hatty to shoot birds, and tried to convince her that Hatty would not be in danger of shooting birds, but she would not do it.She likes archery very much.She squinted her eyes, facing the dazzling blue sky of summer, "suddenly" released an arrow, and flew towards the eternal sky. Hatty shot one arrow east and one arrow west, and four arrows landed on the tree.An arrow landed on the glass roof of the greenhouse, breaking a piece of glass.

Luckily only Abel saw this, and he quietly picked up a broom and swept away the broken glass.Then he moved a ladder, brought a piece of glass and putty, and repaired the roof of the flower house. When Abel came down the ladder, Hattie breathed a sigh of relief, like a stone fell to the ground.She said to Abel, "Thank you so my aunt won't know." "She won't know," said Abel again solemnly, "but do you remember what I said to you?" It was neither a question nor an order, but a serious warning. "You mean..." Hatty thought for a moment, "You mean don't learn to cause trouble?"

Abel just nodded and walked away. Hatty's second trouble was beyond Abel's help.They were worried that shooting arrows in the garden would cause trouble, so Hattie shot over the fence and sent the arrow into the pasture, and then she and Tom climbed out through the passage in the middle of the fence and retrieved it.It didn't matter that they trampled on the grass, the pasture was almost enough for the cattle anyway.Finding arrows will delay archery.But Tom liked the adventure of finding arrows, and so did Hatty.When they were looking for arrows, they found a river beside the pasture, and that river seemed to attract Hatty a little bit.Hatty walked towards the river, not even photographing the geese that came across the river.

The big goose led a group of goslings, and followed them vigorously to protect them.Tom and Hatty didn't want to chase them away.Their purpose is to play by the river.Hatty followed Tom slowly forward.The gosling quacked and turned and ran towards the creek; the two big mother gooses followed suit;It swayed and quacked angrily.The feathers on the long neck stood up one after another; its head turned left and right, always with one eye on the enemy behind it.It turned suddenly from time to time, with its chest straight and neck stretched out, ready to deal with unexpected events.Suddenly, stretching its long neck forward, it swooped down, almost touching the ground with its head, and hissed like a snake.It attacked Tom.Tom was always the target of his attack, because in such a situation, Hattie had already moved away from Tom, hiding behind Tom, so that the goose could not see it.

The gander came up to Tom and stopped.After a while, it finally turned around.He wobbled to catch up with the mother goose and goslings, and followed them, still paying attention to the surrounding movements as before. In this way, the geese came to the river, jumped into the river one by one, and swam in the water.The big goose was still making protesting noises, but the little goose had already forgotten the so-called danger just now and swam happily in the river.Tom and Hatty sat by the river for a while, and stood up and walked along the river.Hatty liked the river, but Tom thought it was nothing, for he had seen bigger rivers than this, and Hatty had only seen this little one.

"It's not a big river," Tom commented. "It seems that the river is very shallow, and there are still aquatic plants growing in the river." But, looking downstream, Hatty said, "You should go downstream of it." "Have you been there?" Tom asked. "No, but I've heard of it. The boys swim a little way downriver, and there's a swimming area there. And they fish in the river! The river gets wider as you go down. It goes down to Castle Ford, and then Erie, and it ends up in the ocean. That's what they all say." "All rivers flow into the sea," Tom said.

Hatty knew only the river, and it was the river that interested her.She looked longingly at the river flowing down the river, envious of the endless flow of the river. "Tom, the river is sometimes quite heavy even here. There are sometimes floods in the winter and spring, and the river fills the banks and goes down to the pastures." "Harty," Tom asked curiously, "if you like this river, why don't you go down and swim, wade, and play in it like other locals do? You can also build a boat and sit on it Come down and see where the river goes." Hatty looked at Tom in amazement, and she told Tom that her aunt would not let her come to the pasture, lest she should go play in the river and be drowned if she fell into it. Thinking of her aunt, Hatty jumped up, and said she must go back at once, and Tom couldn't keep her.She galloped across the pasture to the passage between the hedges, Tom following. As soon as they left the river, a flock of geese and goslings came ashore.The three geese, especially the gander, stared fiercely at Tom and Hatty.They saw every time Tom and Hatty climbed in and out of the secret passage, which they also entered into the garden.