Part II

That was a pretty sight. Among the boys there was a little fellow who could dive wonderfully, much better than the other boys. He could make the swallow-dive more beautifully than I had ever seen it. He dived again and again. We all watched him with delight, especially Miss Caruthers. He was not older than twelve or thirteen, but he was certainly the cleverest among the boys. He was their favourite and leader, though some of them were older than he. He was a beautiful boy, active and brave. He was so healthy, fresh and young, so full of life, that it was a pleasure to look at him.

"This was the boy. And it was he who gave alarm in the middle of the sport.

All the boys hurried to get out of the water. They were all frightened and swam towards the ship as quickly as they could.

They hurriedly climbed onto the deck. Now all of them were standing near the rail and looking down into the water.

"What's the matter?" asked Miss Caruthers.

"A shark, I think," Captain Bentley answered.

"Are they afraid of sharks?" she asked.

"Aren't you?" he asked back.

She shuddered, looked down into the water.

"Not for the world would I risk to dive if there was a shark nearby," she said and shuddered again. "They are terrible! Terrible!"

"Captain Bentley made a sign to the boys to go away. But Miss Caruthers stopped him.

"One moment, please, Captain."

"And then she turned to us and asked: "Who will lend me a half-crown and a sovereign?"

"Immediately all of us were holding out the coins to her.

"She held up the halfcrown so that the boys could see it. But none of them moved. She offered the coin to each of the boys, and each of them shook his head and smiled. Then she threw the coin into the sea. With sad faces they watched its silver flight through the air, but not one moved to follow it.

"Don't do it with the sovereign," Dennitson said to her in a low voice.

"But she held up the gold coin before the eyes of the boy who had made the swallow-dive.

"Don't do it," Dennitson said. If s a fortune to him. He may risk his life to get it."

"Wouldn't you?" she asked.

"Dennitson shook his head.

"She was silent for a moment. She had forgotten the boy, and was thinking of Dennitson.

"For me?" she said in a low voice.

"To save your life — yes. But not to get the coin."

"She turned back to the boy. Again she held the coin before his eyes.

"It is difficult to say why she did it. It was unexpected for all of us. Suddenly the gold coin flashed in the sunshine. Before a hand could stop him, the boy was over the rail and making a beautiful swallowdive after the coin.

"In the clear water from the high deck, we saw everything. The shark was very big and in an instant it cut the boy in half.

"There was a murmur among us and then there was silence. Miss Caruthers was the first to speak. Her face was very white.

"I ... never thought," she said, and laughed a short, hysterical laugh.

"She turned to Dennitson, and then from one to another of us. Her lips were trembling. But nobody moved. "Mr Dennitson," she said, "please take me to my cabin."

"He did not even change the direction of his look. His face was dark. Captain Bentley made a strange sound in his throat. That was all, that and the silence.

"She turned away and began to walk slowly down the deck."

Treloar had finished his story. He turned his head, looked at the little man and asked coldly.

"Well, what can you say to that?"

The little man opened his mouth and then closed it.

"I have nothing to say," he said.

"Absolutely nothing."

(After J. London)

1 a pretty sight красивое зрелище

2 could make the swallow-dive мог нырять "ласточкой"

3 it was he who gave alarm in the middle of the sport и именно он дал сигнал тревоги в самом

разгаре игры

4 he asked back ответил он вопросом на вопрос

5 Not for the world would I risk to dive, if there was a shark nearby Ни за что на свете я бы не

рискнула нырнуть, если бы поблизости была акула

6 Who will lend me a half-crown and a sovereign fsovrin]? Кто мне одолжит полкроны и соверен?

(полкроны — серебряная монета достоинствам в 2,5 шиллинга; соверен — золотая монета

достоинством в 1 фунт стерлингов; обе монеты вышли из употребления)

7 shook his head отрицательно покачал головой

8 watched its silver flight следили за полетом серебряной монеты

9 in a low voice тихо

10 It's a fortune ['fo:tjan] to him. Для него это целое состояние.

11 Wouldn't you? ... А вы бы рискнули? ...

12 cut the boy in half перекусила мальчика пополам

13 was the first to speak заговорила первой

HOW WE KEPT MOTHER'S DAY

We decided to have a special celebration of Mother's Day. We thought it a fine idea. It made us realise how much Mother had done for us for years, and all the efforts and sacrifices that she had made for our sake.

So we decided that we'd make it a great day, a holiday for all the family, and do everything we could to make Mother happy. Father decided to take a holiday from his office, so as to help in celebrating the day, and my sister Ann and I stayed home from college classes, and Mary and my brother Will stayed home from High School.

It was our plan to make it a day just like Christmas or any big holiday, and so we decided to decorate the house with flowers. We asked Mother to do it, because she always does it.

The two girls thought it would be a nice thing to dress in our best for such a big occasion, and so they both got new hats. Father had bought silk ties for himself and us boys. We were going to get

Mother a new hat too, but it turned out that she liked her old hat better than a new one.

After breakfast we decided that we would hire a motor car and take Mother for a beautiful drive away into the country.

But on the very morning of the day we changed the plan a little bit. We all felt that it would be nicer to have a definite purpose. It turned out that Father had just got a new rod the day before, and he said that Mother could use it if she wanted to: in fact, he said it was practically for her, only Mother said she would rather watch him fish than fish herself.

So we got everything arranged for the trip. Mother cut up some sandwiches and packed all up in a basket for us.

When the car came to the door, it turned out that we couldn't all get in.

Father said that he could stay at home and work in the garden. The girls said that Mother had only to say the word and they'd gladly stay at home and work.

In the end it was decided that Mother would stay at home and have a lovely restful day round the house. It turned out anyway that Mother didn't care for fishing and also it was just a little bit cold and fresh out-of-doors, though it was lovely and sunny, and Father was afraid that Mother might take cold if she came.

We had the loveliest day. Father and the boys fished, the girls met quite a lot of people. We all had a splendid time.

It was quite late when we got back. We sat down to dinner. It was grand. When it was over all of us wanted to help clear the things up and wash the dishes, only Mother said that she would really much rather do it. When we all kissed Mother before going to bed, she said it had been the most wonderful day in her life and I think there were tears in her eyes.

(After S. Leacock)

1 to keep Mother's Day отмечать (праздновать) День Матери

2 for our sake ради нас

3 it turned out... оказалось, что

4 we got everything arranged for the trip мы все подготовили к поездке