CHAPTER XIV THE TERROR

 CHAPTER XIV

THE TERROR

In the midst of the clearing, the paper tablecloth¹ still lay on the ground, a great shining rectangle of white. Scattered² about, crumpled³, soiled, or torn were the paper napkins. Everything else, even the ice cream from the freezer, had disappeared.

 

“Why, who took it?” Arthur demanded in a dazed voice. “Who could have taken it?” he went on in a puzzled one. “Is any one of you playing a joke?” he asked suddenly of the others.

 

Everybody protested his innocence⁴.

 

“We haven’t been gone more than fifteen minutes,” Arthur went on. “Let’s look about. It doesn’t seem to me anybody could have carried all that stuff far and we not get a glimpse of it. It might be tramps.”

 

“One thing is certain,” Maida protested, “tramps didn’t do it. There are never any tramps in Satuit.”

 

The children started their search. They[Pg 151] looked behind trees and under bushes; but they showed a tendency to keep together. They talked the matter over, but instinctively⁵ their voices lowered. They kept glancing over their shoulders. They found nothing.

 

“It’s like Magic,” Maida commented in a still voice. “You were saying, Rosie, that you wished you could see some fairies or goblins. It looks to me as though the goblins had stolen our lunch.”

 

Arthur alone did not leave the clearing. He stood in the center pivoting⁶ about, watching every vista⁷ and gnawing⁸ his under lip. His face was more perplexed⁹ that any of them had ever seen it.

 

“Well if we don’t find our lunch pretty soon,” he said after a while, “we’ve got to go back home to get something to eat.”

 

“Perhaps somebody’s playing a joke on us,” Rosie suggested, “and if we wait for a while, they’ll bring the lunch back.”

 

There seemed nothing else to do. So, rather sobered by this mysterious event, the children seated themselves in a group by the brook¹⁰.

 

“I can’t wait very much longer,” Laura admitted dolefully. “I’m nearly starved. I was so excited about the picnic that I hardly ate any breakfast.”

 

[Pg 152]

 

“Just a few minutes more,” Arthur begged. “Maida, please tell us a story.”

 

“Once upon a time,” Maida began obligingly, “six boys and girls were cast away on a great forest with nothing to eat. It was a forest filled with gob—Hark!” she interrupted herself, “What’s that?”

 

From somewhere—not the forest about them, nor the sky above: it seemed actually to issue from the earth under them—came a strange moaning cry. The children jumped to their feet. The boys started apart. The girls clung together. The cry grew louder and louder. It was joined by a second voice even more strange; and then a third entered the chorus.

 

It was too much.

 

The little group, white-faced and trembling, broke and made for the trail. The girls started first. The boys staid still, irresolute¹¹; but as the uncanny sound grew louder and louder, soared higher and higher, they became panic-stricken too. They ran. Arthur, ending the file, walked at first. But finally even his walk grew into a run. The others leaped forward. They bounded over the trail, gaining in terror as they went. In some way, they got into the canoes but half a dozen times their[Pg 153] trembling and fumbling¹² nearly spilled them out. It was not until they were well out into the middle of the Magic Mirror that their composure came back.

 

“What do you suppose it was?” Maida asked, white faced.

 

“It couldn’t have been a ghost could it?” dropped from Laura’s shaking lips.

 

“No.” Arthur dismissed this theory with complete contempt.

 

“I should think it was a crazy person,” Harold declared. “Is there a lunatic asylum¹³ around here, Maida?”

 

“No,” Maida replied.

 

“Is there any crazy person about here?”

 

Maida shook her head.

 

“I think it was a tramp who first stole our lunch,” Arthur guessed shrewdly, “and then decided¹⁴ to frighten us away.”

 

“I think the wood is haunted.” Rosie shivered.

 

“Nonsense!” Maida exclaimed.

 

“Well I wish I hadn’t run away,” Arthur burst out impatiently. “I wish I’d stayed.”

 

“So do I, Arthur,” Maida agreed vigorously. “That’s the first time I ever ran away from anything in my life.”

 

“Let’s go back,” Arthur suggested.

 

 

 

Laura burst into tears. “Oh, please don’t,” she begged. “I’m frightened to death.”

 

“We won’t go, Laura dear,” Maida reassured¹⁵ her, “don’t worry.” She continued after an interval¹⁶ of thought, “And don’t let’s tell Granny Flynn and Mrs. Dore about that screaming. Let’s say that our lunch was stolen while we were away. If I tell them all of it, they won’t let us go on another picnic.”

 

“Well, believe me, I don’t want to go on another picnic,” Laura said, her eyes streaming still.

 

However, by the time they had reached the jetty and had tethered the canoes, they were more composed. When they reached the Little House even Laura had begun to smile, to admit that the tramp theory was probably the correct one.

 

Granny Flynn and Mrs. Dore looked very much concerned when they heard the story. They asked many questions. Finally they decided with Arthur that tramps were the answer to the strange happening. Maida persisted though that tramps were never permitted in Satuit.

 

The next morning Arthur strolled down to the lake alone. In a little while, he came [Pg 155]running back white with rage. “What do you suppose has happened?” he called while still running up the trail. “We didn’t lock the canoes in the boathouse last night and somebody has made a great hole in all four of them.”

 

The Big Six rushed down to the Magic Mirror. It was only too true. Four of their canoes were ruined. The children stood staring at them, horrified¹⁷.

 

“I don’t think tramps would do this,” Arthur said slowly. “They’d steal them, but there’d be no sense in destroying them.”

 

“No,” Maida said slowly. “This looks as though we had an enemy who is determined¹⁸ to make us as unhappy as possible.”

1 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

2 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

4 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

5 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 pivoting   

n.绕轴旋转，绕公共法线旋转v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的现在分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开

参考例句：

• Here is a neat YouTube video showing the Gyro's pivoting mechanism. 这里是一个整洁的YouTube视频显示陀螺仪的旋转机制。 来自互联网
• Dart pivoting is widely used in the gannent pattern design. 省道转移的原理在服装纸样设计中应用十分广泛。 来自互联网

7 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

8 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

9 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

10 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

11 irresolute   

adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的

参考例句：

• Irresolute persons make poor victors.优柔寡断的人不会成为胜利者。
• His opponents were too irresolute to call his bluff.他的对手太优柔寡断,不敢接受挑战。

12 fumbling   

n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理

参考例句：

• If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。
• If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。

13 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

14 decided   

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。

15 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

17 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。