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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Five Hundred Dollars or, Jacob Marlowe's Secret » CHAPTER XXI. THE MIDNIGHT VISIT TO THE PANTRY.
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CHAPTER XXI. THE MIDNIGHT VISIT TO THE PANTRY.
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 "Suppose Mrs. Wilson sees me?" thought Bert uncomfortably. "She will take me for a thief."
 
He was actuated by the kindest motives1, but he heartily2 wished his errand were done. As he stepped into the kitchen he heard the deep breathing of Mrs. Wilson and the noisy snore of her husband, and rightly judged that it would not be easy to rouse either of them. He opened the pantry door, and by the light of the moon was able to inspect the shelves. There was a half loaf of bread on one shelf, half a dozen doughnuts on a plate on the shelf below, and a few cold beans close beside them. Then there was a small pitcher3 half-full of milk.
 
"I don't think the beans or doughnuts will set well on an empty stomach," Bert reflected.147 "I'd better take the milk and two or three slices of bread."
 
Here the cat, who had been asleep on the hearth4, roused herself, perhaps at the sight of the milk pitcher, and, mewing loudly, rubbed herself against Bert's legs.
 
"Scat!" cried Bert, in a low voice, anxiously looking toward the door of the bed chamber5 in which the farmer and his wife lay asleep.
 
The cat got between his legs and nearly tripped him up, but he managed to get out of the room and upstairs. Phineas looked at him eagerly.
 
"I have some bread and milk here," said Bert. "I couldn't find any butter. There were some cold beans and doughnuts, but—"
 
"The bread and milk are better. Give them to me. I am almost famished6."
 
The bread was dry and stale, but Phineas was not in the mood to be particular. He ate like one famished, and drained the pitcher to the last drop.
 
"I feel better," he said then, with a sigh of relief.
 
"I suppose I had better take the pitcher back to the kitchen. It will be missed," reflected Bert, and he started downstairs again in his bare feet. He paused at the kitchen148 door, and heard the farmer talking in his sleep. This alarmed him. He decided7 that it would not do to replace the pitcher in the pantry, as he would be likely to be heard. He waited where he was for five minutes, and then ventured into the kitchen. This time he was successful, and with mind relieved returned to his chamber.
 
Phineas was dozing8 in his chair.
 
"You had better get into the bed, Mr. Wilson," said Bert, filled with compassion9 for the weary wayfarer10. "I'll lie on the floor."
 
"If you don't mind. I am fagged out."
 
Bert made a pillow of his coat and trousers, and stretched himself on the floor. He found that there was an inside bolt, with which he fastened the door, to guard against any unexpected visit from Mr. or Mrs. Wilson.
 
He fell asleep again, and was only roused by a loud voice at the foot of the back stairs.
 
"Time to get up!" called the farmer.
 
"All right!" responded Bert in a loud tone.
 
Fortunately Silas Wilson did not think it necessary to come up. Had he done so it would have been embarrassing, for Phineas was sound asleep on the bed. Bert thought it best to rouse him before he went down stairs.149
 
"Are you not afraid some one will come upstairs and find you here?" he asked.
 
"No; mother never comes up till after she has got breakfast out of the way and the dishes washed."
 
"I suppose you know best," said Bert doubtfully.
 
"If necessary I shall tell her who I am."
 
Bert went below, and sat down at the breakfast table. It was clear from the expression on Mrs. Wilson's face that she had something on her mind.
 
"Silas," she said solemnly, "something mysterious has happened during the night."
 
"What is it?" asked the farmer in a tone of surprise.
 
"We have been robbed!"
 
"What of?" he asked, turning pale. "Do you miss any of the spoons?"
 
"No."
 
"Or—or money?" and he pulled out his wallet hurriedly.
 
"No, no, it isn't that."
 
"What is it, then?"
 
"I left that pitcher half full of milk when I went to bed last night. This morning there wasn't a drop in it, and the pantry door was open."
 
"Cats are fond of milk," suggested Silas,150 with a glance at Tabby, who was lying near the fire-place.
 
"It wasn't the cat. She couldn't get her head inside the pitcher. Besides, there are three slices of bread missing."
 
"Won't cats eat bread?"
 
"It was a two-legged cat!" replied Mrs. Wilson significantly.
 
Bert reddened in spite of himself, and tried to look unconscious. He saw that Mrs. Wilson was on the point of making a discovery, and that suspicion was likely to fall upon him. This he could clear up, but it would be at the expense of the poor fellow who was asleep upstairs.
 
"But how could anybody get into the house?" asked Silas. "The doors were locked, weren't they?"
 
"Yes, Silas. In forty years I have never failed to lock the door before I went to bed."
 
"Then I don't see——"
 
"Nor I—yet!" said Mrs. Wilson significantly, and Bert thought—but he may have been mistaken—that her eyes turned for a moment in his direction.
 
"At any rate it isn't much of a loss. Was there anything else in the closet?"
 
"There were some doughnuts and beans."
 
"Were any of them taken?"151
 
"No, not that I can see."
 
"Cats don't care for them."
 
"Don't be a fool, Silas! That poor cat had no more to do with the robbery than I have."
 
"Mebbe you're right; but cats have been known to steal. I like dogs better myself."
 
"I don't!" cried Mrs. Wilson with emphasis. "I'm not going to have any dog trapesing over my floors with his muddy feet."
 
"Just as you like, Sophia. You'd better lock the pantry door in future."
 
"I'm not sure that that will answer, unless I hide the key."
 
"Do you seriously think a human being took the things?"
 
"Yes, I do—in the middle of the night."
 
"By gracious! that's serious, He might have come into our room and taken my wallet and watch."
 
"And maybe murdered us in our beds!" added Mrs. Wilson grimly.
 
"Did you hear anybody walking round the house last night, Bert?" asked the farmer, who was by this time worked up into a state of agitation11.
 
"No," answered Bert.
 
"I am glad he did not ask me whether I saw anybody," thought he. "I don't want to tell a lie."152
 
"I usually sleep pretty sound," he added, a little ashamed of his duplicity, yet not knowing how else to avert12 suspicions.
 
"So we all do!" said the farmer's wife. "We might be all murdered in our beds without knowing anything about it."
 
"I shouldn't want to know anything about it if that was going to happen," observed Silas, not without reason. "I don't think it could have been a very desperate ruffian, if he contented13 himself with taking bread and milk."
 
"He may come again to-night," suggested Mrs. Wilson.
 
"I hope not," said Silas fervently14. "I—I couldn't sleep if I thought so."
 
"We must get to the bottom of this," went on his wife resolutely15. "I am not willing to have such goings on in my house."
 
"How are you going to do it, Sophia? Probably the thief's miles off by this time."
 
"He may be, or he may not be!" said Mrs. Wilson in an oracular tone.
 
"I've heard of folks walking in their sleep," she added, after a pause.
 
"You don't mean me?" asked Silas.
 
"No; if you did it I'd have had a chance to find out in forty years. Do you ever walk in153 your sleep?" she asked, turning suddenly to Bert.
 
The question was so unexpected that he could not help changing color, and this served to increase Mrs. Wilson's dawning suspicions.
 
"Not that I ever heard of," Bert answered, after a pause.
 
"I knew a boy once that did—it was a second cousin of my brother's first wife."
 
"I am sure I never get up in my sleep."
 
The door leading into the entry from which the back-stairs ascended16 was open, and through this, just at this moment, was heard a sound that startled all three who were sitting at the breakfast table.
 
It was a loud, unmistakeable sneeze, and it came from the chamber which Bert had occupied.
 
The farmer and his wife started as if the house had been shaken by an exploding bombshell. Both turned as pale as death, looked fearfully at each other, and clutched tightly at the edges of the table.
 
"Silas!" said Mrs. Wilson, in a hollow voice, "the burglar is upstairs!"

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 motives 6c25d038886898b20441190abe240957     
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
  • His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。
2 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
3 pitcher S2Gz7     
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手
参考例句:
  • He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
  • Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。
4 hearth n5by9     
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面
参考例句:
  • She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来,在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
  • She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里,打开电灯。
5 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
6 famished 0laxB     
adj.饥饿的
参考例句:
  • When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭?我饿得要死了!
  • My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽,我绝对是极饿了。
7 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
8 dozing dozing     
v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡
参考例句:
  • The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
  • He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。
9 compassion 3q2zZ     
n.同情,怜悯
参考例句:
  • He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
  • Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。
10 wayfarer 6eEzeA     
n.旅人
参考例句:
  • You are the solitary wayfarer in this deserted street.在这冷寂的街上,你是孤独的行人。
  • The thirsty wayfarer was glad to find a fresh spring near the road.口渴的徒步旅行者很高兴在路边找到新鲜的泉水。
11 agitation TN0zi     
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动
参考例句:
  • Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
  • These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。
12 avert 7u4zj     
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等)
参考例句:
  • He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
  • I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。
13 contented Gvxzof     
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的
参考例句:
  • He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
  • The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。
14 fervently 8tmzPw     
adv.热烈地,热情地,强烈地
参考例句:
  • "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦,我真高兴!”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊,我亲爱的,亲爱的,你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
15 resolutely WW2xh     
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。
16 ascended ea3eb8c332a31fe6393293199b82c425     
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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