Chapter 24

Jenny came to school on the back of her father's motorcycle¹. She was late. Wayside School began at nine o'clock. It was almost nine-thirty. She kissed her father good-bye and raced up the thirty flights of stairs to Mrs. Jewls's room.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mrs. Jewls, but my father's motorcycle lost a. . . ." There was nobody there. The room was empty.

"Hello, hello," she cried. "Mrs. Jewls, Dana, Todd, anyone?"

There was no one in the room.
94"Maybe I'm early," Jenny thought. She looked up at the clock. It was exactly nine-thirty.
"Oh, I hope they didn't go on a field trip without me." She looked out the window. Nobody was there, not even Louis.

Jenny didn't know what to do. She sat down at her desk. She watched the second hand go around on the clock. "I might as well catch up on my spelling," she thought. She opened her desk and took out her speller.

M-U-D spellsmud.

"Where is everybody?"

B-L-O-O-D spellsblood.

"I hope nothing happened to them."

B-L-A-C-K spellsblack.

Jenny heard footsteps² coming down the hall. She began to work very fast.

H-A-C-K spellshack.S-M-A-C-K spellssmack.Someone opened the door. Jenny turned around. "Ack!" she gasped³.

He was a man Jenny had never seen before. He had a black mustache and a matching attach⁴ case.

Jenny jumped out of her seat.

"Get back in your seat," the man said.

Jenny slowly sat down.

The man walked over and sat down in Dana's seat, facing Jenny. He opened his attach case and removed some papers⁵.

"What is your name?" he asked her.

"Jenny," Jenny whispered⁶.

"Jenny?" the man repeated as if he didn't believe her.
95"Well, it is actually Jennifer, Jenny for short," said Jenny.
"I see," said the man. He took the speller from Jenny's desk. Jenny's name was written across the top. He put the speller in his attach case.

"What are you doing here, Jennifer?" he asked.

"This is my classroom," said Jenny.

"Are you sure?" the man asked.

"Yes, I think so. I mean-"

"Where is the rest of your class?" the man asked.

"I don't know," said Jenny, "maybe they went on a field trip."

"No," said the man. "They didn't go on a field trip."

"Well, I don't know where they are!" Jenny cried. "I was half an hour late today, and when I got here everybody was gone. Really! Did something happen to them?"

The man didn't answer her. He wrote something on a piece of paper. "Tell me something, Jennifer. When you came to school today and saw that nobody was here, weren't you somewhat⁷ puzzled⁸?"

"Yes. Yes," said Jenny. "What happened to them?"

"If you were really so concerned and so puzzled," said the man, "why did you work on spelling?"

"I don't know," said Jenny.

"It would seem to me," the man said, "that if a child came to school and nobody was there, she might play games, or walk around, or go home, but certainly not work on spelling."

Jenny started to cry. "I didn't know what to do. I was late and had to ride on a motorcycle and nobodywas here and now you are asking me all kinds of questions and I'm afraid of what has happened to Dana and Mrs. Jewls and Rondi and Allison."
96The man didn't understand a word she said.
Jenny heard more footsteps. The man got up and opened the door. Two more men came in. One had a black mustache like the first man. The other man was bald⁹.

Jenny was frightened by them.

"Does she know?" asked the newcomer with the mustache.

"She claims she knows nothing," the first man answered. "She says she was late today, and when she got here everybody was gone."

"Do you believe her?" asked the man with the bald head.

"I'm not sure. She was working on her speller when I walked in." He reached into his attach case and took out Jenny's speller. He handed it to the man with the bald head.

The bald man read Jenny's name across the top of it. "Tell me, Jenny," he said, "why are you the only one here?"

"I don't know," said Jenny.

"Has this ever happened before?" he asked.

"No, never," said Jenny.

He gave Jenny her speller. "Put this inside your desk."

Jenny put it away.

"I'm satisfied," said the man with the bald head.

"Okay, Jennifer," said the first man, "you may go now."
97Jenny got out of her seat.
"Jenny," the bald man called.

Jenny turned slowly around. "Yes?" she whispered.

"Next time, don't come to school on a Saturday."

1 motorcycle   

n.摩托车，机车

参考例句：

• Tom went there by motorcycle.汤姆乘摩托车去的那儿。
• He was also the first person in town to buy a motorcycle.他也是镇里第一个买摩托车的人。

2 footsteps   

n.脚步（声），一步的距离，足迹；脚步（声）( footstep的名词复数 )；一步的距离；足迹

参考例句：

• the sound of footsteps on the stairs 楼梯上的脚步声
• Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。

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 attach   

v.附上，使依恋，爱慕

参考例句：

• I do not attach much weight to the theory.我不十分重视这学说。
• I advise you not to attach yourself to the party.我劝你不要参加这个党。

5 papers   

n.文件，纸币，论文

参考例句：

• I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前，我要与我的秘书商议。
• The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。

6 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

8 puzzled   

adj.迷惑的；困惑的

参考例句：

• The student was puzzled about what to do next.这个学生对下一步做什么伤透了脑筋。
• I was somewhat puzzled at his unwillingness to help.他不愿意帮忙让我有点困惑。

9 bald   

adj.秃头的；无发的或少发的

参考例句：

• He shaved his head bald.他把头发剃光了。
• The mountain is bald.这座山光秃秃的。