3.Two letters – and a plan

　　3
　　Two letters – and a plan
　　The next day Philip had a letter from Dinah. He showed it to the others.
　　‘Old Dinah’s having a rough time,’ he said. ‘It’s a good thing I leave heresoon. It’s better for her when I’m there.’
　　Dear Phil [said Dinah in her letter],
　　Aren’t you ever coming back? Not that you’re much good for anythingexcept quarrelling with, but still it’s pretty lonely here with nobody butUncle and Aunt and Joe, who’s even more strange than before. He told meyesterday not to go out at night down the cliff, because there are ‘things’
　　wandering about. He’s quite mad. The only ‘things’ wandering aboutbesides me are the sea-birds. There are thousands of them here this year.
　　Don’t, for goodness’ sake, bring any creatures home these holidays. Youknow how I hate them. I shall die if you bring a bat again, and if you dare totry and train earwigs like you did last year, I’ll throw a chair at your head!
　　Aunt Polly is making me work awfully¹ hard. We wash and scrub andclean all day, goodness knows what for, because nobody ever comes. I shallbe glad when it’s time to go off to school again. When do you come back? Iwish we could earn some money somehow. Aunt Polly is worrying herselfto death because she can’t pay some bill or other, and Uncle swears hehasn’t got the money, and wouldn’t give it to her if he had. I supposeMother would send more money if we asked her, but it’s pretty awful tohave her slaving away as she does, anyhow. Tell me more about Frecklesand Lucy-Ann. I like the sound of them.
　　Your loving sister,
　　Dinah
　　Dinah sounded rather fun, Jack² thought, as he read the letter and gave itback to Philip. ‘Here you are, Tufty,’ he said. ‘Dinah sounds lonely. Hallo –there’s Mr Roy beckoning³ me. I’ll see what he wants. More work, Isuppose.’
　　By the same post had come a letter for Mr Roy, from the housekeeperwho looked after Jack’s Uncle Geoffrey. It was short and to the point.
　　Mr Roy had read it with dismay, and then called Jack in to show him theletter. Jack read it, also filled with dismay.
　　Dear Mr Roy [said the letter],
　　Mr Trent has broken his leg, and he doesn’t want the children back theseholidays. He wants to know if you will keep them with you, and he sends acheque to cover the rest of the time. They can come back two days beforeschool begins, to help me to sort out their clothes.
　　Yours faithfully,
　　Elspeth Miggles
　　‘Oh, Mr Roy!’ groaned⁴ Jack who, much as he disliked his home, dislikedthe thought of staying on with Mr Roy, and with the peevish⁵ Oliver, whowas also staying on, even more than the thought of returning to his irritableuncle. ‘I don’t see why Lucy-Ann and I can’t go back – we shan’t go nearUncle.’
　　Mr Roy did not want Jack to stay on any more than the boy himself did.
　　The thought of having that parrot for one day longer than he needed tofilled him with horror. He had never in his life disliked anything so much ashe disliked Kiki. Rude boys he could deal with, and did – but rude parrotswere beyond him.
　　‘Well,’ said Mr Roy, pursing up his lips and looking at Kiki with dislike,‘well – I’m sure I don’t want to keep you any longer, because it’s a purewaste of your time to be here – you haven’t learnt a thing – but I don’t seewhat else to do. It’s quite plain that your uncle doesn’t want you back – youcan see he has sent quite a generous cheque to cover the rest of your stayhere – but I had other plans. With only Oliver here, I intended to do a littlevisiting. I wish we could find some place for you to go to, you and Lucy?Ann.’
　　Jack went back to his sister and to Philip, looking so dismayed that Lucy?Ann slipped her arm into his at once.
　　‘What is it? What’s the matter?’
　　‘Uncle doesn’t want us back,’ said Jack, and explained about the letter.
　　And Mr Roy doesn’t want us here – so it looks as if nobody loves us at themoment, Lucy-Ann.’
　　The three children looked at one another. And then Philip had his brain?wave. He clutched at Jack, almost knocking Kiki off her balance.
　　‘Jack! Come back home with me! You and Lucy-Ann can come toCraggy-Tops! Dinah would be thrilled. You could have a fine time with thesea-birds. What about it?’
　　Jack and Lucy-Ann stared in excitement and delight. Go to Craggy-Tops?
　　Live in an old half-ruined house, with a learned uncle, an impatient aunt, astrange handyman and the sound of the sea all the time? Now that reallywould be thrilling!
　　Jack sighed and shook his head. He knew that the plans of childrenseldom came to anything when grownups had to be consulted about them.
　　‘It’s no good,’ he said. ‘Uncle Geoffrey would probably say no – and MrRoy would anyway – and your uncle and aunt would just hate to have extrachildren on their hands.’
　　They wouldn’t,’ said Philip. ‘You could give them the cheque that yourUncle Geoffrey sent to Mr Roy, and I bet my aunt would be thrilled. Itwould pay that bill Dinah talked about in her letter.’
　　‘Oh, Philip – oh, Jack – do let’s go to Craggy-Tops!’ begged Lucy-Ann,her green eyes shining. ‘I’d like it more than anything in the world. We’ll bein the way here, Jack, if we stay on, you know we will – and I’m sure MrRoy will kill Kiki one day if she says any more rude things to him.’
　　Kiki gave a hideous⁶ screech⁷ and stuck her head hard into Jack’s neck.
　　‘It’s all right, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘I won’t let anyone hurt you. Lucy-Ann,honestly it’s no good asking Mr Roy to see if we can go to Craggy-Tops. Hethinks it’s his duty to have us here, and we’ll have to stay.’
　　‘Well, let’s go without asking him, then,’ said Lucy-Ann recklessly. Theboys stared at her without speaking. That was an idea. Go without asking!
　　Well – why not?
　　‘It would be all right if we all turned up at Craggy-Tops together, really itwould,’ said Philip, though he was by no means certain that it would be allright at all. ‘You see, once you were there, my uncle and aunt couldn’t verywell turn you out, and I could get Aunt Polly to telephone to Mr Roy andexplain things to him, and get him to send her the cheque your UncleGeoffrey sent for you.’
　　‘Mr Roy would be glad to think we had gone,’ said Lucy-Ann, thinkingwhat fun it would be to know Dinah. ‘Uncle Geoff wouldn’t care anyhow.
　　So let’s, Jack, do let’s.’
　　‘All right,’ said Jack, giving way suddenly. ‘We’ll all go off together.
　　When is your train, Tufty? We’ll go down to the station saying that we’llsee you off – and we’ll hop⁸ into the carriage at the last minute and go withyou.’
　　‘Oooh!’ said Lucy-Ann, thrilled.
　　‘Where’s your handkerchief? said Kiki sensing the excitement, androcking herself to and fro on Jack’s shoulder. Nobody took any notice ofher. ‘Poor old Kiki,’ said the parrot sorrowfully. ‘Poor old Kiki.’
　　Jack put up a hand and fondled the parrot, thinking out ways and meansof escape. ‘We could wheel my trunk and Lucy-Ann’s down to the stationthe night before, when we take yours,’ he said. ‘Nobody would notice ourswere gone out of the loft⁹. We could buy our tickets then too. Has anyoneany money?’
　　The three of them put their money together. It would probably just buythe tickets. They simply must go off together! Now that they had made uptheir minds, it was quite unthinkable that anything should be allowed toprevent it.
　　So they made their plans. The day before Philip was due to leave, histrunk was taken from the loft, and Jack managed to get his downunobserved too. He pushed it into a big cupboard in his room, and Lucy?Ann helped him pack it when no one was about.
　　‘I’ll wheel my trunk down to the station on the barrow, sir,’ said Philip toMr Roy. It was the custom to do this, and the master nodded, not takingmuch notice. He wished Jack and that parrot were going too.
　　The boys managed to get both trunks on to the barrow without beingseen, and set off to the station in great spirits. Escape seemed quite easy,after all. Sam and Oliver did not seem to notice anything. Sam was tooexcited at leaving for home himself, and Oliver too miserable¹⁰ at the idea ofbeing left behind to bother about anyone else.
　　The next morning Philip said a polite goodbye to Mr Roy. ‘Thank you forall your help and coaching, sir,’ he said. ‘I think I shall get on well nextterm now. Goodbye, sir.’
　　‘Goodbye, Philip. You’ve not done badly,’ said Mr Roy.
　　Philip shook hands with Mr Roy, who drew back a little as a mouse ranout of the boy’s sleeve. Philip tucked it back again.
　　‘How can you have those creatures running about you like that?’ said MrRoy, and sniffed¹¹ loudly.
　　‘Where’s your handkerchief?’ said the parrot at once, and Mr Roy glaredat it. As usual it was on Jack’s shoulder.
　　‘Could I go down to the station with Lucy-Ann and see Philip off?’ askedJack. Kiki gave a squawk of laughter, and Jack gave her a little slap. ‘Bequiet! There’s nothing to laugh at.’
　　‘Naughty boy!’ said Kiki, just as if she knew what mischief¹² was in Jack’smind.
　　‘Yes, you can go down and see Philip off,’ said Mr Roy, thinking that itwould be nice to get rid of the parrot for a little while. So the children wentoff together, grinning secretly at each other. Kiki had the last word with MrRoy.
　　‘Can’t you shut the door?’ she bawled¹³. Mr Roy gave an exasperatedclick, and banged the door. He heard the parrot’s cackle of laughter as thechildren went down the road.
　　‘If only I need never see that bird again,’ he thought to himself, littleknowing that his wish was about to come true.
　　Jack, Lucy-Ann and Philip arrived at the station in plenty of time. Theyfound their luggage and gave it to the porter to put on the train. When theengine steamed in they found an empty carriage and got in. No one stoppedthem. No one guessed that two of the children were running away. They allfelt thrilled and rather nervous.
　　‘I do hope your uncle and aunt won’t send us back,’ said Jack, strokingKiki to quieten her. She did not like the noise of the trains, and had alreadytold one to stop whistling. An old lady looked as if she were about to getinto their carriage, but when Kiki gave one of her appalling¹⁴ screeches¹⁵, shethought again and hurried a good way up the train.
　　At last the train moved off, with many snorts that caused the excitedparrot to tell it to use its handkerchief, much to the children’s amusement. Itsteamed out of the station, and, in the distance, the children saw the housewhere they had lived for the past few weeks, sitting at the bottom of the hill.
　　‘Well – we’re off,’ said Philip, pleased. ‘And it was perfectly¹⁶ easy foryou to escape, wasn’t it? Golly, what fun it will be to have you and Lucy-Ann at Craggy-Tops! Dinah will be thrilled to bits when we arrive.’
　　‘Off to Craggy-Tops!’ sang Lucy-Ann. ‘Off to the sea and the wind andthe waves! Off to Craggy-Tops!’
　　Yes – off to Craggy-Tops – and to a wild and astonishing time that notone of the children could possibly have imagined. Off to Craggy-Tops – andoff to Adventure.

1 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

2 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。

3 beckoning   

adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• An even more beautiful future is beckoning us on. 一个更加美好的未来在召唤我们继续前进。 来自辞典例句
• He saw a youth of great radiance beckoning to him. 他看见一个丰神飘逸的少年向他招手。 来自辞典例句

4 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 peevish   

adj.易怒的，坏脾气的

参考例句：

• A peevish child is unhappy and makes others unhappy.一个脾气暴躁的孩子自己不高兴也使别人不高兴。
• She glared down at me with a peevish expression on her face.她低头瞪着我，一脸怒气。

6 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

7 screech   

n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• He heard a screech of brakes and then fell down. 他听到汽车刹车发出的尖锐的声音,然后就摔倒了。
• The screech of jet planes violated the peace of the afternoon. 喷射机的尖啸声侵犯了下午的平静。

8 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

9 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

10 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

11 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

13 bawled   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• She bawled at him in front of everyone. 她当着大家的面冲他大喊大叫。
• My boss bawled me out for being late. 我迟到，给老板训斥了一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

15 screeches   

n.尖锐的声音( screech的名词复数 )v.发出尖叫声( screech的第三人称单数 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• The boy's screeches brought his mother. 男孩的尖叫声招来了他母亲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The woman's screeches brought the police. 这个妇女的尖叫声招来了警察。 来自辞典例句

16 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。