Chapter 16 Chapter 15 Lookout from the Wall

In order to follow Tom's process of researching history and analyzing reasoning, our narrative sequence of what happened in the garden is slightly ahead of what Tom saw.The tree house that had caused his and Hattie's quarrel hadn't been built immediately after the geese had entered the lawn and the little girl was crying in mourning.In fact, when Tom went into the garden after these events, he thought for a while that he would never see Hatty again.The garden was deserted, and there seemed to be no one there. He called out loudly, and searched all the places where he usually hid.Round and round the trunk of the fir tree he ran, and he seemed to hear Hatty's slip-on feet moving nimbly across the dry earth on the other side of the trunk, always hiding from him.If Hattie was hiding, she was hiding more than ever, and the whole garden looked empty and green.

He saw a thin puff of smoke rising from the south wall, straight up into the soft, silent summer sky, and it occurred to him that Abel might be lighting something. Tom stopped at the orchard gate, hesitating, wondering whether to squeeze through the door again.If Abel was inside the door, he might have some clues as to Hattie's whereabouts. Suddenly, the orchard door opened and Hattie ran out.Instantly, all Tom's worries turned into complaints—especially Hattie's face was not at all anxious—but excited, even happy.She was flushed, with a lump of soot on one cheek, and something in the pocket of her apron.

"Why don't you answer?" asked Tom gruffly. "Didn't you hear me call you? I did it over and over again." "I'm helping Abel burn something." "You should come and open the orchard door and let me in. I like watching fires be made, too." "You wouldn't like this fire—you wouldn't like us burning things like that," she said, looking at him defiantly. "Oh, what are you burning?" She lost her nerve suddenly again, and lowered her eyes, but said at last, "Those bows and arrows. Oh, Tom, it's Abe who's going to burn them!"

Tom didn't speak, wondering why Abel did this.Abel always said that bows and arrows would bring trouble to Hatty, and now he really caused trouble. Hatty went on: "Also, he wanted me to promise never to take the kitchen knives again because they were too sharp and I would cut myself. If I promised to let him burn the bow and arrows, if I promised not to If I used the knife in the kitchen again, he said he would give me a small knife for my own use." "What kind of knife?" She took her hand out of her apron pocket and spread it out: a gaudy, cheap pocketknife decorated with blue concentric butterflies. "He bought it for Susan at the fair, but Susan wouldn't take it because it's bad luck to accept a knife from a loved one. So Abel gave it to me. How lovely A little knife." She turned and admired the knife lovingly.

"Open it," Tom ordered.Hatty opened the knife and held it up in front of him so he could see the blade--only one. "That's right!" Tom chuckled. "You're sure you won't cut yourself with it! You'll probably only be able to cut butter with it!" Still admiring the brightly colored decorations on the handle, Hatty said, "I've used it for more than butter. Here, I'll show you." With some air of mystery and triumph, she led Tom up to the yew tree called "Bighorn," and showed him the trunk, which was not so much engraved as engraved. Press out two initial letters: H_M. ①.

Tom wondered what the M-name was, but he didn't want to ask when Hattie said, "It means: 'Harty Melbourne climbed the tree'. I ran my knife through all the The yew trees are all carved with my initials - except for 'The Narrow', of course." "It's very wrong for you to write on a tree," said Tom, suddenly thinking that it should be stricter. "It's like throwing rubbish everywhere." Hattie's eyes widened as if she'd never heard of littering Tom. You could tell from her expression that she didn't think there was anything wrong with her engraving on her own tree, and if she liked, She was going to keep doing it, just not telling him.

"And," Tom analyzed to her, "if anyone sees these trunks, you'll get yourself in trouble. They'll see H_M., they'll know it's your initials, they'll know it's You did it. If I wanted to carve my mark on the tree - of course I would never do it - but if I wanted to I would carve a secret mark," he told Hatty The long-bodied male cat designed by myself to replace "Tom Lange". Hattie was envious. "The name Melbourne means nothing at all." "And Hatty," said Tom, "you can draw a hat." Hatty's eyes lit up. "Of course, you mustn't do that—I've told you why not. Now," he broke off suddenly, "let's do something."

"Okay." Hattie agreed.So they immediately started playing in the garden again.They played as hard as they could, as if the garden and their games would never end. ① Hatty Melbourne's English is: Hatty Melbourne. ② The English word for hat is hat, which is similar to Hatty. They're off to climb trees again - they've always been obsessed with climbing trees.Since Hattie mentions that she failed to climb up the Squirrel, Tom teaches her to climb up the tree trunk by rubbing her body against it.She had a hard time studying—mainly out of fear of getting her clothes too dirty and punishing her for being seen by her aunt.But after a while, she learned how to move her arms and legs on the tree trunk, and then move her body up.Finally, she finally climbed up the "Smooth Ghost": she was not to mention how proud she was.

They also played some new games.Hatty found some wild barley stalks in the grass and pulled them up.She taught Tom to cut off the tips of the wheat shoots and put them back together, and then she held the wheat shoots with one fist and beat them with the other, saying, "Grandma—granny—jump up from the bed." When she said the word "jump", she tapped it hard suddenly, and the wheat shoot jumped out of her hand and jumped into the air. Hattie laughed happily, and Tom laughed happily. Together they looked for little frogs under the leaves in the strawberry field ("Abel said they sucked the juice of strawberries") and drove them to jump elsewhere; once, they saw a toad in the cracks in the stone slabs at the door of the greenhouse-it It is also like a stone, gray and dull, squatting there motionless, but the sides of the body rise and fall slightly with breathing.

They also teased the birds in the garden—Tom was especially good at disturbing them, and he was good at teasing the wary jays.However, they also protect the bird from other aggressions.Hattie let the birds out from under the nets in the gooseberry orchard and the strawberry cages, and—when she was sure Abel was not around—she opened the door of the cage where Abel had caught the sparrows.Sometimes, when one of the cousins ​​came into the garden with a gun, Tom would run ahead, waving his arms and shouting to warn the birds.When the wild pigeons grazing in the pea field heard the noise, they flapped their wings and flew back to the woods, where they hid safely.The gun went off and hit nothing--unless you count Tom, who got a shot in the middle of the body.Hatty turned white with fright, but Tom just laughed--the shotgun tickled him.

One day Tom and Hatty were looking at the sundial on the south wall, trying to figure out what time it was showing, when suddenly they saw a wren land on a ray of sunlight carved in stone on the sundial, and then disappear over the top of the wall. "Won't there be a wren's nest there, you say?" whispered Hatty.Tom thought it was quite possible, but, of course, it was impossible to see from the path below. "James walked up the top of the wall of the sundial once," Hatty said. "Oh, I don't want to do that," said Tom. "That's not bravery, it's foolishness. The walls are so high, and the top is so narrow, that it's no joke to fall off." "Oh, Tom, I didn't tell you to go up there!" said Hatty, horrified. "James did it on a spur. Cousin Edgar asked him if he dared it, and James accepted the challenge. He walked all the way up the top of the wall, then came down, and asked Edgar if he dared, and Edgar was frightened. Cousin Hubert heard about it later, and was very angry, because He said James was going to fall and break his neck." Tom didn't speak, his mind was turning over what Hatty had just said.He had begun to change his mind about climbing the wall, for he saw that what seemed dangerous to James was not dangerous to him.He could have fallen off the wall, but even from such a height he couldn't have scraped flesh and broken bones. He said to Hatty, "I'm going to see if there's a bird's nest behind the sundial. I'm going to walk on top of that wall." "Oh, Tom!" The way Hattie said "Oh, Tom!" made Tom feel very warm and moved.He patted her hand. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." The branches of a trellised pear tree served him as a ladder, and he climbed to the top of the wall in two or three strokes.Even though he had told himself not to be afraid, when he straightened up on it, he felt a wave of panic.The tops of the walls were too narrow--nine inches, and in places disrepaired, the bricks crumbling, and the feet were even narrower.Thick vegetation was still growing on the top of the wall, and Tom had to step over them.On both sides of the narrow and treacherous path there were vertical and steep walls: on one side was the orchard, and on the other side was the garden, where Hattie stood looking up at him with her pale little face.But Tom knew he couldn't look down if he wanted to keep his composure and make his way across. Soon he was past the entrance to the orchard, past the vines planted against the wall, and then past the coronet, and he saw dead leaves and other garden debris floating in the air, blown up by the wind, piling up Between the sunlight of the stone carvings and the top of the wall, there is one place that seems to be denser than the other places.Kneeling on the top of the wall with his hands on his hands, Tom took a closer look and found that it was indeed a wren's nest. The moss on it was still green and brown, as if it had just arrived.Tom also saw a small hole in the entrance. "There's a wren's nest," he whispered to Hatty, "but I daren't touch it—I mean, for fear of startling the wren." "Then turn around and come down, Tom!" Tom straightened up again, intending to turn back as Hatty had said, but now he stood on the top of the wall, looking around freely, with a sudden joy in him.He began to saunter over the wall like a king.Hattie followed him below, looking up and talking softly to him, but he paid no attention, he was now so far above her and the garden.He used to feel tall when he climbed to the top of the yew tree, and he was even taller now.As soon as he glanced around, he could see the layout of the whole garden, with the walls and hedges around it.He could also see the big house: Susan was leaning out of an upper window and blowing a kiss to someone in the garden—Abel, he guessed.He could also see a courtyard of the house—a courtyard he had never known existed before.He saw Edgar bathing the pincers in the yard.The tongs looked clean in the tin tub of soapy water, but they looked like a wretch, with its neck stretched forward, its ears flopped back, and its tail drooping down.Excited, Tom called out to it, "Cheer up, Pliers!" and Pliers heard him, or saw him, or even smelled him—it was hard to say which, Although it was covered in soap scum, the hair on the nape of its neck stood on end, and it jumped out of the tub with such a sudden effort that Edgar had to chase him all over the yard to catch him.Edgar was so angry that he was splashed with water and soap scum. Tom saw beyond the garden and the house, and he saw a path, with a horse drawing a cart slowly along the road.Beyond the path was a meadow, and then a winding curve which Tom knew must be the creek.The small river flows through the grassland, flows into the village, and flows out of the village.It flows to a small white bridge with handrails, passes under it, and continues on.And to what pools and mills and locks and piers Hatty and Tom didn't know about?So quietly the river flowed away, towards Castleford, Ely and King's Lynn, towards the vast sea. "Tom, what do you see over there in the garden?" Hatty asked him in a low voice, her curiosity overcoming her fear. "If you could come up here and see for yourself..." said Tom.His words echoed over the entire garden. He couldn't tell her—she hadn't seen it herself, and it was impossible for him to make her understand how far that distance was.In the flat countryside, as long as you stand at a slightly higher place, your view will be as wide and unobstructed as on the top of a mountain.Tom had known only the garden and a little of its periphery, and now standing on top of the wall he seemed to see the whole world. "Tell me what you saw," Hatty begged. "Well, you can see the river from the top of the wall," said Tom, "and if you keep your eyes on the river—" "Really? Really?" Hatty whispered. Tom didn't finish, because just then Abel came round the corner of the bush.He ran all the way, heading straight for Hattie.He put both hands on her shoulders, and pressed down hard, and Tom saw Hattie sinking down to her knees.Then, Abel stuffed something into her hand, stood in front of her himself, and began to speak quickly in a low voice.Tom heard Hatty's voice answering: her voice trembled.But he couldn't hear what the two of them were saying. Tom turned back the same way in three steps at a time, climbed down from the top of the wall and entered the garden.By this time Hattie was alone. "What's the matter?" Tom asked. "Abe thought I was going to walk on the wall like James did," Hatty said. "He wanted to stop me because it was too dangerous." "I thought he was going to hit you." "He made me kneel in the path, and swear by his Bible--swear never to go for a walk on top of the sundial wall." "Is he angry?" Tom asked. Hatty said slowly, "No. I think—he seemed—frightened." "Afraid?" Tom frowned. "You mean you're afraid. He's angry." "No. I was a little frightened because he was moving so fast and violently. But I daresay he was frightened too, and much more frightened than I was. When he thrust the Bible into my hand, his His hands were cold and wet, and they kept shaking." "Why did he suddenly think you were going to climb the wall?" asked Tom. "I suppose because he saw me looking up at the wall like that." "No, it can't be because of that," said Tom. "When he came around the corner in the bush... he was running. He must have come running with the Bible before he saw you." "Maybe he heard me talking to you on the wall." "No, your voice is very low, and he can't possibly hear me." What Tom meant: not that he spoke softly, because he didn't lower his voice; No, Abel would never have heard his voice. "Then," said Hatty, "perhaps Susan saw me from a bedroom window and went to tell Abel."