CHAPTER III A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW

 "I was worried thinking something had happened to you," said Dorothy as she poured Tavia's tea.

 

"And that was the very time that your worry was properly placed," said Tavia, "for something did happen to me. In the first place, I knew I would have bad luck, for I dropped my comb while I was dressing¹."

 

"Break it?" asked Ned slyly.

 

"Yep," replied Tavia; "and it was a nice one, too—dark, didn't show——"

 

"Tavia!" exclaimed Dorothy warningly, for Tavia usually kept Dorothy busy correcting her possibly impolite speeches.

 

"All right, Doro. It simply was 'a nice one,' and when I dropped it I knew perfectly² well that I would 'bust³' something."

 

"Did you?" asked Roger, not noticing Tavia's slang.

 

"Well, I don't know about the cart, but certainly I nearly strangled yelling at the man with the reins⁴."

 

Dorothy looked annoyed. She did not mind Tavia's usual queer sayings, but she knew perfectly well that her aunt would not like such vulgar expressions. The boys might smile, but even they knew a girl should not forget to be ladylike in an attempt to be funny.

 

Dorothy hastened to relieve the tension.

 

"But when you got out to Gransville, was it dark?" she asked.

 

"Almost," continued Tavia. "The blackness seemed to be coming down in chunks⁵. Well, I finally reached the old shack⁶ and bribed⁷ the man into hitching⁸ up the cart. Of course, it was awfully⁹ cold, and he didn't relish¹⁰ the drive."

 

"Don't blame him," put in Nat.

 

"What?" asked Ned. "Not even with Tavia?"

 

A sofa cushion flew in Ned's direction at that, but Tavia continued:

 

"The strange part of it was we had to pass a haunted house."

 

"Haunted house!" repeated Joe, all eager for the sensational¹¹ part of Tavia's recital¹².

 

"So the man declared. At least, I think he declared, or tried very hard to do so. You see, I could scarcely tell when he was guessing, declaring or swearing——"

 

"What a time you must have had," remarked Mrs. White, with some show of anxiety.

 

"Well, I suppose I am exaggerating," said Tavia apologetically, "but I am so accustomed to tell things as big as I can make them. Brother Johnnie won't listen to any tame stories."

 

"But the haunted house?" questioned Joe.

 

"We are almost there," said Tavia as the dinner things were cleared away. "Did you ever see an old castle off toward Ferndale?"

 

"The Mayberry mansion¹³?" suggested Ned.

 

"Perhaps," replied Tavia. "It is set in a deep woods or some sort of jungle."

 

"Why, that's Tanglewood Park," declared Nat. "How in the world did you get over that way?"

 

"Took a short cut through a lane," replied Tavia, "and when we got right in the thick of it the old man meekly¹⁴ pointed¹⁵ out the haunted house."

 

"Did you see the 'haunt'?" asked Dorothy jokingly.

 

"Saw what my friend declared was the haunt," Tavia replied, "A light running all over the place as if it might have been tied to a cat's tail."

 

"A light in the house?" asked Ned and Nat in one breath.

 

"Certainly. Not on the roof, but behind the big old stone walls. I could see the place was made of stone, although it was almost dark."

 

"Why, that place has been deserted¹⁶ for years," declared Nat.

 

"Then the deserter has returned," answered Tavia, "and the old man told me folks around there are just scared to death to be out after dark."

 

"Folks around there? Why, there isn't a house within half a mile of the park," Ned corrected.

 

"But don't they ever go to sleep in trains and have to take short cuts through the lane?" Tavia asked. "They don't exactly have to live in the park to have occasion to go past it now and then."

 

The boys laughed at Tavia's defense¹⁷, but Joe and Roger were impatient to hear all about the ghost, and they begged Tavia to go on with her story.

 

"What did the light do?" asked Roger, edging up so close to Tavia that his curly head brushed her elbow.

 

"Why, Roger, dear," said Dorothy kindly¹⁸, "you must not believe in such nonsense. There are no such things as ghosts."

 

"But Tavia saw it," he insisted.

 

"No, she only saw a light," corrected his sister. "There are lots of reasons for having lights, even in empty houses. Some one might have gone in there for the night——"

 

"Or the rats might be giving a pink tea," joined in Nat with a sly wink¹⁹ at Joe.

 

"Or some one might be trying to make gas," Joe fired back, "and perhaps they were interrupted by the sound of wheels."

 

"Will you please state, young lady," said Ned, imitating a lawyer questioning a witness, "just what you saw? Confine yourself to the question."

 

"I saw a light—l-i-g-h-t. And I saw it all over the place at the same time."

 

"A flame, like a fire?" asked Nat "Perhaps the place is all up in smoke by this time."

 

"No, no," said Tavia. "It was about as big as a candle and as rapid as a—a——"

 

"Searchlight," suggested Joe.

 

"See here, children," exclaimed Mrs. White, leaving her place on the cushioned leather couch and going toward the library, "if you do not stop telling ghost stories you will have the most dreadful dreams."

 

"Oh, I'm not afraid, Aunt Winnie," said Roger, taking the caution, as intended, entirely²⁰ for his benefit.

 

"But you might walk downstairs," insisted his aunt, "and you know how dreadfully frightened you were the night after the party, when you did walk down in your sleep."

 

"Oh, that wasn't ghosts, auntie, dear. You said, don't you remember, that was cake with frosting on it."

 

"Do you prefer ghost-walks?" asked Nat. "I do believe most fellows like 'the ghost to walk.' That's what they call pay-day, you know."

 

"Well, that will be about all," said Tavia as a finish to the recital of her queer ride. "There is really nothing more to tell."

 

"Oh, pshaw!" exclaimed Roger, "you didn't tell us—about the light. When it——"

 

"Went out——" interrupted Ned, teasing his young cousin.

 

"Didn't wait for that," explained Tavia, "for the old man made the horse go, I tell you, when he saw that light floating 'round."

 

"Well, we will have to go and interview that ghost some day, dear," said Dorothy, putting her arm around her small brother. "Doro is not afraid of ghosts, and neither is her great big brother, Roger."

 

Interview the ghost? How little Dorothy knew that her promise would be fulfilled, and how little she dreamed how the strange interview would be brought about!

 

With the arrival of Tavia at The Cedars²¹ Dorothy felt her Christmas vacation had actually begun, for the days spent in expecting her guest were almost wasted in the little preparations that Dorothy always loved to make to welcome Tavia. But now the real holiday had come, and it was with hearts and heads filled with a joyous²² anticipation²³ that the young folks at The Cedars finally consented to go to bed that night and start out on the morrow to fulfil at least some of the many plans already arranged as part of the Christmas holiday.

 

1 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

2 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。

3 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

4 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

5 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

6 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

7 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 hitching   

搭乘； （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的现在分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上

参考例句：

• The farmer yoked the oxen before hitching them to the wagon. 农夫在将牛套上大车之前先给它们套上轭。
• I saw an old man hitching along on his stick. 我看见一位老人拄着手杖蹒跚而行。

9 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。

10 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

11 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

12 recital   

n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会

参考例句：

• She is going to give a piano recital.她即将举行钢琴独奏会。
• I had their total attention during the thirty-five minutes that my recital took.在我叙述的35分钟内，他们完全被我吸引了。

13 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

14 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

19 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

20 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

21 cedars   

雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The old cedars were badly damaged in the storm. 风暴严重损害了古老的雪松。
• Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 1黎巴嫩哪，开开你的门，任火烧灭你的香柏树。

22 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

23 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。