CHAPTER XXIX THE GIRLS WILL GO

“Where in the world were you boys?”

“We’ve been worried to death about you!”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were going to be out all night?”

“My! They look as though they’d slept in a barn!”

Thus the girls greeted the return of—shall I say our three heroes—a little later that morning. They certainly did not feel like heroes, however, as they rowed up to the little dock, and saw the Camp Fire Girls waiting for them on shore.

“Oh, we’ve been off on a little trip,” said Blake.

“You don’t look as though you enjoyed it much, or as if it did you any good,” said Mrs. Bonnell dryly. “Come on now, ’fess up and we’ll forgive you. But we were worried.”

“Why so?” asked Jack¹, thinking to postpone² the explanation.

“Why, Alice had a letter from home on the last mail, and there was some news in it she wanted to tell Blake. We walked over to your camp, and found it deserted³. Then some of the boys whom you got to help us search for Natalie, that time, came along and invited us out in their launch.”

“Did you go?” asked Phil.

“Certainly,” said his sister. “And we had a fine dance at the Point. All but poor Natalie—she couldn’t on account of her ankle, and I just know that Harry⁴ Morton got up the whole thing on her account.”

“He did not!” protested the blushing Natalie, while Blake looked at her sharply.

“Then, on our way back, we stopped at your camp again,” went on the Guardian⁵, “and you weren’t there. Naturally we were worried. Now—where were you?”

“Oh, just off on a sleuthing expedition,” said Jack airily. “Say, don’t you want to invite us to breakfast?”

“We will if you tell us where you were,” challenged Mabel.

“I think I can guess,” said Natalie.

“Where?”

“In the old mill.”

“How did you—er—guess?” asked Blake.

“He was going to say know—he was going to ask how you knew!” laughed Marie. “Oh, Nat, you hit it!”

“Supposing we were there?” challenged Phil.

“Did you find the ghost?” asked Mrs. Bonnell.

“Phil fell asleep and didn’t keep watch,” said Jack accusingly.

“I didn’t sleep any more than you fellows did. We were all in the same boat,” came from the aggrieved⁶ one.

The girls were laughing.

“Better make a clean breast of it,” suggested Marie. “We won’t tell any one else.”

“Do you promise?” asked Blake.

“Sure!” came in a chorus.

“Then, I’ll tell, to get square with Phil for sleeping while that ghost came down, took what remained of our sandwiches, our best lantern, and my knife and match-box.”

“Did it do that?” cried Mabel.

“It sure did!” cried Jack.

“What—what did it look like?” whispered Natalie. “That face I saw——”

“We didn’t see a thing,” declared Blake, “nor hear a thing. I tell you we slept through it all like innocent little babes. The ghost might have carried us off to its den—that is if ghosts have dens—anyhow it could have carried us all off for all of Phil.”

“Say, you quit!” begged the badgered one. “I’m no worse than either of you two. I’ll tell you something, girls.”

And he proceeded to relate how, taking the first watch, he had slumbered⁷ through it, but how his chums were equally responsible.

“It’s too bad,” said Marie. “All your work gone for nothing!”

“Oh, we had a good time,” said Blake. “But we’re dead tired now. It was harder work than going fishing.”

“Come on in and we’ll give you some coffee,” invited Natalie and the boys eagerly availed themselves of the chance.

At breakfast they talked over again their experiences of the night. The girls were very nice about it, and didn’t laugh any more than they really felt obliged to.

“But it is certainly killing⁸!” cried Alice, “to think of you three big fellows going after one poor, innocent little ghost and then letting yourselves be robbed in that fashion.”

“That’s right,” said Blake, grinning sheepishly. “And it was my best knife, too. Talk about taking candy from a baby!”

“What was the matter with you, Phil?” asked his sister. “Why didn’t you carry an alarm clock? I’ll lend you my little square one if you want to make another try.”

“Say, look here!” burst out Phil. “If you girls think it so easy to stay up all night, why don’t you try a watch meeting in the old mill? Why don’t you try to solve this mystery if you’re so smart?” and he fairly glared at his sister.

“Maybe we will,” she said coolly. “Have some more coffee, Philly; and don’t let your temper get the best of you.”

“Well,” he grumbled⁹. “I guess anybody would.”

“Well, it was a joke on us all right,” assented¹⁰ Blake. “We might as well take our medicine, fellows.”

The boys were in better humor after breakfast, and left for their camp, promising¹¹ to try and get their launch in running order and take the girls out for a ride that afternoon.

“And we want to have another try for our canoe,” said Jack. “It won’t do to let that get away from us.”

“Girls! Will you do it?” cried Natalie with eager, shining eyes when the boys had gone.

“Do what?” asked Mabel.

“Try to find the ghost of the old mill—or whoever is hiding there.”

“Do you think some one is hiding there?” inquired Marie.

“There must be—to take the boys’ things. And they said they made a good search all over the mill this morning, after they discovered their loss. They couldn’t find a trace, though.”

“Then how can we?” asked Alice.

“We have better luck,” went on Natalie. “Look how we found the Gypsy camp. Besides, I have a theory.”

“What about?” Mrs. Bonnell wanted to know.

“About the hiding-place of the ghost. I think there must be a secret room in the old mill. There almost always was, in old colonial houses, you know.”

“And what makes you think some one is hiding there?” asked Mabel.

“Because of the way the boys’ things disappeared. Why, listen! Maybe some criminal is hiding in the old mill, and only dares come out at night.”

“A criminal-ghost or a ghost-criminal?” asked Marie with a laugh.

“Either or both.”

“And you want us to spend a night there? Ugh! Excuse me—never!” declared Alice.

“I don’t mean stay there all night,” explained Natalie. “We could get the other camping boys—the ones who took us over to the Point last night—to run us to the mill in their launch. Then they could go off and leave us—or stay within call, maybe, and we could search all over the place for the secret room. I’m almost sure we can find it—I’m always lucky that way.”

“I wish you’d find mother’s diamond ring then,” said Mabel with a sigh.

“Will you come, girls?” persisted Natalie.

“We’ll come home before dark; won’t we?” asked Alice.

“If you like; but it’s going to be a lovely moonlight night, and it will be grand on the water.”

“Why not ask our own boys to take us over?” suggested Mrs. Bonnell.

“They wouldn’t,” said Mabel. “I think Nat’s plan is good—but I won’t stay in that spooky place after dark.”

“Then we’ll go!” cried Natalie.

“Yes,” came in rather indifferent and hesitating accents from the others.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

3 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 aggrieved   

adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈，她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slumbered   

微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The baby slumbered in his cradle. 婴儿安睡在摇篮中。
• At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition. 就在那时，我的善的一面睡着了，我的邪恶面因野心勃勃而清醒着。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

10 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

11 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。