CHAPTER XIX IN THE CAVE

For a moment Frank and Andy were so surprised that neither one of them could think of anything to say. It seemed almost impossible that their search should be rewarded just at the time when they had given it up. Yet there was no mistake. There was the man they wanted. At least they assumed so, for they could not make out his features at that distance. At any rate, there was the wrecked¹ motor boat, and the tall man was critically inspecting it.

“Look! Look!” was all Andy could whisper.

“Yes,” assented³ Frank. “Now if he’ll only let us get within talking distance, and not run as he always does, we may learn something. I wish we could steal up on him quietly.”

“No chance of that, I’m afraid. He knows we’re here. It was he who was walking around our boat.”

“Sure; and he knows it’s the one from the Gull⁴. Well, the only thing to do is to go right up to him. I wonder what he wants with that boat, anyhow? See, he’s poking⁵ into it as if there were gold or diamonds concealed⁶ in it.”

“Perhaps there are. Maybe that’s the mystery,” said the younger Racer lad eagerly.

“Oh, you got that out of some of the books you read. But I can’t understand how we could have missed him.”

Andy did not answer. Instead he grabbed his brother and pulled him down on the sand behind the boat. It was only just in time, for the man had turned and was gazing back toward the overturned craft.

“I hope he didn’t see us,” whispered Andy. “We must lay low until we think of some plan. Maybe he’ll get down inside the motor boat and then we can get up to him before he knows it. But I tell you what I think, Frank,” he went on, “either that man was hiding in some cave farther back than we looked, or he has just arrived.”

“The motor boat has just arrived, anyhow, or at least since night before last,” assented the elder lad. “We couldn’t have overlooked that. Say, Andy, he is getting inside! Now’s our chance!”

They saw, by peering over the edge of their craft, that the mysterious man had climbed over the half-burned rail of the damaged motor boat. His back was toward them, and they could not see his head. He appeared to be tearing the interior of the craft apart.

Cautiously the two brothers crept out from behind their shelter and made their way softly over the sand toward where the man was. What they intended to do when they confronted him they hardly knew. Frank was sure that he wanted to ask the queer stranger certain questions, and he hoped to be able to plead with him to tell what he knew of Paul Gale⁷. The question was, whether or not the man would answer.

It was lucky that their footsteps made no sound on the soft sand, for they were thus enabled to approach to within a short distance of the wreck² as it rested on the beach. The man was still in it, and they could hear him pounding and splitting wood in the interior. Evidently he was not aware of their presence.

For the first time since they had begun their surprising series of adventures, the boys were able to make out the name of the strange craft. It was the Swallow, and as they had a chance to look at her graceful⁸ lines they realized that, before the fire, wreck, and explosion the boat had been a powerful one.

“I think we have him this time,” whispered Andy, as they came nearer and nearer, and the man was still bending over with his back toward them.

Frank laid his finger across his lips as a sign of caution. At that moment an unfortunate thing happened. Andy stepped on a shell, not seeing it, and it broke under his weight with a sharp, crackling sound.

Like a flash the man leaped up, and fairly sprang out of the boat. He stood confronting the Racer boys.

“Who are you? What do you want?” he demanded sharply. Then, as he recognized them, he added: “Oh, it’s you two again. Didn’t I warn you to stop following me?”

“We didn’t choose to,” retorted Frank calmly. “We’ve found you after a good deal of trouble, and we intend to end this mystery now. A boy’s life—the life of Paul Gale—hangs in the balance.”

“As if I cared,” sneered⁹ the man. “You have had your trouble for your pains. I shall tell you nothing, and I order you off this island.”

“We’re not going!” exclaimed Andy firmly. “This is a public place, and we have as much right here as you have. Besides, you haven’t any cannon¹⁰ now, and we’re two to one.”

“Oh, you are; eh?” demanded the man in an ugly voice. “We’ll see about that. Once more I order you to stop following me; do you hear?”

“We’re not going to let you get away until you answer our questions!” declared Frank. “We demand to know what you are doing with Paul’s boat, and we want to know what his full name is, so that we can communicate with his friends.”

“You’ll never know from me!” fairly shouted the man. “And I defy you to get anything out of me. I’m not going to be bothered with you. Come on, men, here are these two bothersome boys! Let’s get rid of them!” he suddenly cried, waving his hand as if at someone approaching Andy and Frank from the rear.

Involuntarily they turned, but the next instant they heard a triumphant¹¹ laugh, and when they turned back, having seen no one, they beheld¹² the mysterious man racing¹³ across the sands toward the interior of the island.

“Quick! After him!” cried Frank.

“Yes, we mustn’t let him get away again!” added his brother.

They set off after the stranger at full speed. He was running rapidly, now and then glancing over his shoulder at them.

All at once he changed his course, and darted¹⁵ around a small rocky promontory¹⁶. The tide was rising and he had to step into the water to make the turn.

“After him!” yelled Frank again.

The two brothers made the turn, and just far enough behind the man to see him dart¹⁴ into the black entrance of a small cave. It was one they had looked into, but into which they had not penetrated¹⁷ far.

“Now we’ve got him!” yelled Andy. “There’s no way out of that! Come on, Frank!”

Together the two brothers entered the dark cavern¹⁸. The change from the glaring sunlight on the sands to intense gloom made them pause for a moment, and they heard from somewhere in the blackness of the rear a sinister¹⁹ chuckle²⁰.

“He’s in here,” declared Andy. “We have him now.”

The two pressed forward resolutely²¹ in the darkness. Of what lay before them—the danger from a desperate man and the danger of the cavern they knew not—they only resolved to end the mystery if possible.

1 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

2 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

3 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！

4 gull   

n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈

参考例句：

• The ivory gull often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of seal kills.象牙海鸥经常跟在北极熊的后面吃剩下的海豹尸体。
• You are not supposed to gull your friends.你不应该欺骗你的朋友。

5 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

6 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

7 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

8 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

9 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

10 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

11 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

12 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

13 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

14 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。

15 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 promontory   

n.海角；岬

参考例句：

• Genius is a promontory jutting out of the infinite.天才是茫茫大地突出的岬角。
• On the map that promontory looks like a nose,naughtily turned up.从地图上面，那个海角就像一只调皮地翘起来的鼻子。

17 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

18 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

19 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

20 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

21 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。