兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》第十七冊 Tonight On The Titanic 02 The Unsinkable Ship
Jack opened his eyes. He shivered. Wherever theywere now, it was cold-very cold. Teddy barked again.
"Shhh, " said Jack.
Annie shined the flashlight on her clothes. "Wow,we're dressed like old-fashioned kids!" she said.
, Instead of pajamas and a poncho, she wore a sailordress and a long wool cloak.
Jack had on an overcoat and knee-length pants withlong socks. His backpack had turned to leather. Healso had on a shirt and tie.
"Where are we?" he wondered aloud.
Jack and Annie looked out the window.
The moonless sky glittered with stars. There was asoft wind and the sound of water lapping.
The tree house seemed to be resting on a woodendeck between two giant columns. Jack looked up andsaw smoke coming out of the columns.
"We must have landed on the ship between the'smokestacks," he said.
Then Jack looked straight ahead and saw a boxhigh in the air, near the front of the ship. "That mustbe the lookouts' nest," he said.
Jack sat back in the tree house and opened theirbook. Annie handed him the flashlight.
"Let's find out where we are," he said.
He turned to a picture of a huge ocean liner. By thelight of the flashlight, he read:
Late at night, on April 14, 1912, anEnglish ocean liner was making her first voyageacross the Atlantic Ocean. She was going to NewYork City. Carrying 2,200 passengers, the ship wasfour city blocks long. Most people believed the shipwas unsinkable.
"Oh, man, we're in 1912, " said Jack. He pulled outhis notebook and wrote:
April 14 1912-..
"This ship is huge," said Annie. "How will we everfind the gift to help free Teddy?""You can't go looking for a gift," said Jack. "Youhave to wait until someone gives it to you.
"Right," said Annie with a sigh. "Well, I guess wejust have to be ourselves, like Morgan said. Andmaybe we'll get lucky.""This is hard, " said Jack. The little dog whined.
"Don't worry, Teddy," said Annie. "We'll free youfrom your spell."Just then, a shout came from the lookouts' nest:
"Iceberg ahead!"Jack and Annie turned back to the windowjust in time to see a huge iceberg looming out of thesea.
The iceberg was dark with a fringe of white at thetop. And it was right in front of the ship!
Jack felt a jolt. Then he heard a grinding sound. Theship was scraping against the mountain of ice.
"Arf Arf" Teddy barked.
"Shhh, don't be scared," said Annie. She picked thedog up and hugged him. The scraping sound stopped.
The ship slid past the iceberg until they lost sight ofit. The night was calm again.
"See?" Annie said to Teddy. "It was just a littlebump. This ship is unsinkable."But Jack was worried. "Wait. I have to read moreabout this," he said.
"Don't read now, Jack," said Annie. "It's time to getthe gift. Come on, Teddy."She picked up the little dog and the flashlight. Andshe climbed out the tree house window.
"Hey, don't take the flashlight!" said Jack.
But Annie was gone. "Annie!" called Jack.
He heard a soft "Yikes."Annie stuck her head back in the tree house.
"Bad news,"she said in a whisper. "I think you'd better see this."Jack threw his stuff into his knapsack. He put it onand climbed out the window.
Annie was standing by the ship's railing, holdingTeddy.
Without a word, she shined the flashlight on a lifepreserver hanging from the railing. In big black letterswere the words:
R.M.S. TITANIC
