CHAPTER VIII

 "Mysteries!" Donald pricked¹ up his ears. "Oh, I say, I'd like to hear them," and before Robin² could exactly make up his mind on the matter, the subject was well under way. "There's—well there's a whole heap of mysteries," said Peter eagerly, "little ones and a big one. Brownie's in some of them, at least she certainly knows something about one, and I've an idea that she knows more than she'll own about your noise, Jan, if you ask me. And then there's my noise, and I——"

 

"What on earth!" gasped³ their bewildered cousin, who felt almost suffocated⁴ with mysterious affairs already.

 

"It does seem a bit muddly⁵, I own," Peter grinned, "but we're properly muddled⁶ with them all, I can't tell you. First night we slept out Jan saw a light shining from the Chase windows; thought it was mother, and next morning thanked her politely for her beacon⁷, only to hear that Mother had never thought of such a thing. Of course there might easily be an explanation of a light, but——"

 

"But," interrupted Jan, eager to have something to say in the matter, "I've never seen it again, for I've looked. I wondered why; and besides, I believe it shone from one of the windows of the empty wing."

 

"Some servant looking round last thing?" suggested Donald.

 

"We've only two, and that's why the house is all shut up. They sleep at the back on the other side. Nobody goes round at night, but there might easily be an explanation of the light, I quite think—only, it certainly was there. Go on about your noise, Peter."

 

"My noise happened at midnight or thereabout," said Peter, "I heard it hammering and tinging⁸ away. Thump⁹! thump! Bang! bang! as I'm always telling everybody. Then it was gone. And Robin doesn't believe a word of it."

 

"I don't say that," remarked his elder brother suddenly.

 

"What?" Peter turned like a dart¹⁰, "you're coming round, are you? How's that? You were so positive at first. Perhaps it's because Jan heard a noise last night?"

 

"If you want to know the reason"—Robin stared into the fire,—"well, I happened to have heard it myself. Not the night that you did, Peter, but the next. You were asleep, and I lay and listened: it was a thumping¹¹ and a banging and a tinging, as you say, and——"

 

"Why in all the world didn't you tell us then?" demanded his younger brother.

 

"I wanted to think," said Robin, "and—well I didn't hear it again. But, of course, Jan did, last night."

 

"Was she sleeping out, then?" inquired their cousin, wrinkling his brows in thought. "I imagined that you said it was wet."

 

"No, she never does. It's against orders. And that makes the whole thing queerer. Our noise was heard when we were camping, and didn't sound far off. It seemed to me to come through the ground, but, perhaps, that would be vibration¹², for a noise carries a long way if one puts one ear to the ground to listen," added Peter wisely. "Jan's noise, you know, was by her bed in the Cottage."

 

"I never said so," remarked Jan eagerly; "from the wall or the floor, or both, I couldn't tell which—that's what I said!"

 

"Noises are queer things sometimes," was all the remark that Donald had to contribute apparently¹³, a rather disappointing fact from the point of view of the three cousins, who had hoped for help from this distinguished¹⁴ Scout¹⁵. "But, what other mysteries are there? They're most frightfully interesting, you know."

 

"Yes, aren't they? Well, there's Brownie's queer way of going on. First asking Mother if we'd be 'fr——'; the word was stuck in her throat by Mother's look, as I twigged¹⁶, but she meant 'frightened'—frightened to sleep in the attic¹⁷! Robin and me, you know, and we're Scouts¹⁸. Why, for a minute I thought the place was haunted, and I felt inclined to give up the camp even, just to have a go at hunting the spooks, but Scouts don't believe in ghosts; and it wasn't that, it was something else!"

 

"What?" inquired his cousin with interest.

 

"Well, that's what we want to find out. The attic-place hadn't been swept out for years, and it's crammed¹⁹ with lumber²⁰, old bits of machinery²¹ and what not. There's some mystery about the former tenant²² of the Cottage, I'm almost sure; gamekeeper to Grandfather he was, you know. Dismissed, too, and gone somewhere that Brownie knows well enough, only she won't tell. Also, who's this?" Peter suddenly produced something out of his pocket and handed it across.

 

"I say, Peter, I didn't think you'd hung on to that," interrupted Robin, "it's not yours. Besides, I don't know if——"

 

"It's not anybody's except Hooker's! And I'll give it to him smart enough when I find him," answered his younger brother. "Brownie didn't ask for it, and it's not hers anyway, any more than it's mine. And, after all, Donald's a relation; he's not a stranger, is he? although we've never seen him before to-day; and——" he broke off as Donald turned.

 

"There's no mystery exactly about this, as far as I can see," he said; "I've seen the picture before."

 

"What! who is it then?" inquired the three.

 

"Uncle Derrick—he's yours as well as ours, he's uncle to all of us, of course. Your father's brother, and my mother's brother"—there was rather a strange sound in Donald's voice.

 

"But we've never heard about him, never in all our lives," moaned Peter, "and he looks so jolly sporting. Is he dead?"

 

"No," Donald was beginning awkwardly, when Robin interrupted with authority. "Look here, Peter, you're to stow it. We'll ask Mother to-morrow, and if she's willing we'll go on. I'm Captain of this camp, and you're to obey orders, d'you understand?"

 

1 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

2 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

5 muddly   

不由得想搂抱的，可爱的； 令人想拥抱的

参考例句：

• So cuddly. The beautiful crib from Mom and Dad. 抱起来真舒服。爸爸妈妈送的漂亮婴儿床。
• I'm sweet and I'm cuddly -- I'm gonna kill that green dog! 我既甜美又令人想拥抱──而且我要杀了那只绿毛犬！

6 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

8 tinging   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的现在分词 )

参考例句：

9 thump   

v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声

参考例句：

• The thief hit him a thump on the head.贼在他的头上重击一下。
• The excitement made her heart thump.她兴奋得心怦怦地跳。

10 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

11 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

15 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

16 twigged   

有细枝的，有嫩枝的

参考例句：

• Haven't you twigged yet? 难道你还不明白？
• Then I twigged that they were illegal immigrants. 然后我突然意识到他们是非法移民。

17 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

18 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

19 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

20 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

21 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

22 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。