1 Four miserable invalids
1 Four miserable invalids
‘Poor Polly!’ said a small sad voice outside the bedroom door. ‘Poor Polly! Blow your nose, poor
Polly!’
There was the sound of loud sniffs, and after that came a hacking cough. Then there was a
silence, as if the person outside the door was listening to see if there was any answer.
Jack sat up in bed and looked across at Philip in the opposite bed.
‘Philip - do you feel you can bear to let Kiki come in? She sounds so miserable.’
Philip nodded. ‘All right. So long as she doesn’t screech or make too much noise. My head’s
better, thank goodness!’
Jack got out of bed and went rather unsteadily to the door. He and Philip, and the two girls as
well, had had influenza quite badly, and were still feeling rather weak. Philip had had it worst, and
hadn’t been able to bear Kiki the parrot in the bedroom. She imitated their coughs and sneezes and
sniffs, and poor Philip, much as he loved birds and animals, felt as if he could throw slippers and
books and anything handy at the puzzled parrot.
Kiki came sidling in at the door, her crest well down. ‘Poor thing,’ said Jack, and she flew up to
his shoulder at once. ‘You’ve never been kept out before, have you? Well, nobody likes your kind
of noises when their head is splitting, Kiki, old thing. You nearly drove Philip mad when you gave
your imitation of an aeroplane in trouble!’
‘Don’t!’ said Philip, shuddering to think of it. ‘I feel as if I’ll never laugh at Kiki’s noises
again.’ He coughed and felt for his handkerchief under the pillow.
Kiki coughed too, but very discreetly. Jack smiled. ‘It’s no good, Kiki,’ he said. You haven’t
got the flu, so it’s no use pretending you have.’
‘Flue, flue, sweep the flue,’ said Kiki at once, and gave a small cackle of laughter.
‘No, we’re not quite ready yet to laugh at your idiotic remarks, Kiki,’ said Jack, getting back
into bed. ‘Can’t you produce a nice bedside manner - quiet voice, and sympathetic nods and all
that?’
‘Poor Polly’ said Kiki, and nestled as close to Jack’s neck as she could. She gave a tremendous
sigh.
‘Don’t - not down my neck, please,’ said Jack. You are feeling sorry for yourself, Kiki! Cheer
up. We’re all better today and our temperatures are down. We’ll soon be up and about, and I bet
Aunt Allie will be glad. Four wretched invalids must have kept her hands full.’
The door opened cautiously, and Aunt Allie looked in. ‘Ah - you’re both awake,’ she said.
‘How do you feel? Would you like some more lime juice?’
‘No, thanks,’ said Jack. ‘I tell you what I suddenly - quite suddenly - feel like, Aunt Allie - and
that’s a boiled egg with bread-and-butter! It came over me all at once that that was what I wanted
more than anything else in the world!’
Aunt Allie laughed. ‘Oh - you are better then. Do you want an egg too, Philip?’
‘No, thanks,’ said Philip. ‘Nothing for me.’
‘Poor boy, poor boy’ said Kiki, raising her head to look at Philip. She gave a small cackle.
‘Shut up,’ said Philip. ‘I’m not ready to be laughed at yet, Kiki. You’ll be turned out of the
room again if you talk too much.’
‘Silence, Kiki!’ said Jack and gave the parrot a small tap on the beak. She sank down into his
neck at once. She didn’t mind being silent, if only she were allowed to stay with her beloved Jack.
‘How are the two girls?’ asked Jack.
‘Oh, much better,’ said Aunt Allie. ‘Better than you two are. They are playing a game of cards
together. They wanted to know if they could come into your room this evening and talk.’
‘I’d like that,’ said Jack. ‘But Philip wouldn’t, would you, Phil?’
‘I’ll see,’ said Philip grumpily. ‘I still feel awfully bad-tempered. Sorry’
‘It’s all right, Philip,’ said his mother. ‘You’re on the mend - you’ll feel yourself tomorrow!’
She was right. By the evening of the next day Philip was very lively, and Kiki was allowed to
chatter and sing as much as she liked. She was even allowed to make her noise of an express train
racing through a tunnel, which brought Mrs Cunningham up the stairs at once.
‘Oh no ! she said. ‘Not that noise in the house, please, Kiki! I can’t bear it!’
Dinah looked at her mother, and reached out her hand to her. ‘Mother, you’ve had an awful
time looking after the four of us. I’m glad you didn’t get the flu too. You look very pale. You
don’t think you’re going to have it, do you?’
‘No, of course not,’ said her mother. ‘I’m only just a bit tired racing up and down the stairs for
the four of you. But you’ll soon be up and about - and off to school!’
Four groans sounded at once - and then a fifth as Kiki joined in delightedly, adding the biggest
groan of the lot.
‘School!’ said Jack, in disgust. ‘Why did you remind us of that, Aunt Allie? Anyway I hate
going back after the term’s begun - everyone has settled down and knows what’s what, and you
feel almost like a new boy’
You are sorry for yourselves!’ said Mrs Cunningham, with a laugh. ‘Well, go on with your
game - but do NOT let Kiki imitate aeroplanes, trains, cars or lawn-mowers.’
‘Right,’ said Jack, and addressed himself sternly to Kiki. ‘Hear that, old thing? Behave yourself
- if you can.’
‘Mother does look a bit off-colour, doesn’t she?’ said Philip, dealing out the cards. ‘I hope Bill
will take her for a holiday when he comes back from wherever he is.’
‘Where is he? And hasn’t anyone heard from him lately?’ asked Dinah, picking up her cards.
‘Well, you know what old Bill is - always on some secret hush-hush job for the Government,’
said Philip. ‘I think Mother always knows where he is, but nobody else does. He’ll pop up out of
the blue sooner or later.’
Bill was Mrs Cunningham’s husband. He had married her not so very long ago, when she was
the widowed Mrs Mannering, and had taken on Dinah and Philip, her own children, and the other
two, Jack and Lucy-Ann, who had always looked on her as an aunt. They had no parents of their
own. All of them were very fond of the clever, determined Bill, whose job so often took him into
danger of all kinds.
‘I hope Bill will come back before we return to school,’ said Jack. ‘We haven’t seen him for
ages. Let’s see - it’s almost October now - and he went off into the blue at the beginning of
September.’
‘Disguised!’ said Lucy-Ann, remembering. ‘Disguised as an old man, do you remember? I
couldn’t think who the old, bent fellow was who was sitting with Aunt Allie that night he left.
Even his hair was different.’
‘He had a wig,’ said Jack. ‘Buck up, Dinah - it’s your turn. Have you got the king or have you
not?’
Dinah played her card, and then turned to the radio nearby. ‘Let’s have the radio on, shall we?’
she said. ‘I feel as if I’d like to hear it tonight. Philip, can you bear it?’
‘Yes,’ said Philip. ‘Don’t pity me any more. I’m as right as rain now. Gosh - when I think how
miserable I was I really feel ashamed. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d burst into tears at any
time!’
‘You did once,’ said Jack, unfeelingly. ‘I saw you. You looked most peculiar.’
‘Shut up,’ said Philip, in a fierce voice. ‘And don’t tell fibs. Dinah, that set’s not tuned properly.
Here, let me do it - you’re never any good at that sort of thing! Dinah - let me do it, I said. Blow
you!’
‘Aha! Our Philip is quite himself again!’ said Jack, seeing one of the familiar brother-and-sister
quarrels beginning to spring up once more. You’ve got it, now, Philip - it’s bang on the station.
Ah - it’s a skit on a burglary with John Jordans in it. It should be funny. Let’s listen.’
It was funny, and Aunt Allie, having a quiet rest downstairs, was pleased to hear sudden roars of
laughter upstairs. Then she heard a loud and prolonged whistle and frowned. That tiresome parrot!
But it wasn’t Kiki. It was John Jordans in the comical play. He was the policeman, and was
blowing his police whistle - pheeeeeeee! Then someone yelled, ‘Police! Police!’ and the whistle
blew again.
‘Police, police!’ yelled Kiki too, and produced a marvellous imitation of the whistle.
‘PHEEEEEEEE! Police! Police! PHEEEEEEEEEEEE!’
‘Shut up, Kiki! If you shout and whistle as loudly as that you’ll have the real police here!’ said
Jack. ‘Oh, my goodness! - I hope Kiki doesn’t start doing this police-whistle business. She’ll get
us into no end of trouble! Kiki - if you shout “Police” once more, I’ll put you down at the very
bottom of the bed.’
Before Kiki could make any reply, a knock came on the bedroom door - a most imperious
knock that made them all jump. A loud voice came through the door.
‘Who wants the police? They’re here. Open in the name of the law!’
The door opened slowly, and the startled children watched in amazement. What did this mean?
Had the police really come?
A face came round the door, a smiling face, round and ruddy and twinkling, one that the
children knew well and loved.
‘BILL!’ cried four voices, and the children leapt out of bed at once, and ran to the tall, sturdy
man at the door. ‘Oh, Bill - you’ve come back! We never heard you come home. Good old Bill!’
第1章 四个生病的小可怜儿
　　第1章 四个生病的小可怜儿
　　“可怜的小鹦鹉！”卧室门外传来了一声哀叹，“可怜的小鹦鹉！擤鼻涕，小鹦鹉！”
　　响亮的擤鼻涕声响起，随之而来的是一阵干咳。然后就是一阵沉默，好像门外的人在听着门内是否有回应。
　　杰克从床上坐起来，看向对面床上的菲利普。
　　“菲利普，让琪琪进来怎么样？她听起来太可怜了。”
　　菲利普点了点头：“好的，只要她不叫唤，不闹出太大动静就行。我的头好多了，谢天谢地！”
　　杰克下了床，颤颤巍巍地向门口走去。事情是这样的：杰克、菲利普还有两个女孩都得了很严重的流感，身体十分虚弱。其中菲利普的情况最糟糕。他受不了这只叫琪琪的鹦鹉待在卧室里，因为她总是模仿他们咳嗽、打喷嚏和擤鼻涕。可怜的菲利普，虽然他很喜欢小动物，但是也恨不得拿起拖鞋呀书呀，手头上的任何东西向这只迷糊的鹦鹉扔去。
　　琪琪斜着身子挤进了门，冠子耷拉了下来。“可怜的小家伙！”杰克说道。琪琪立马飞上了杰克的肩膀。杰克接着说：“你从来没被关到外面过吧，小家伙！我们感冒头晕的时候谁还会喜欢你模仿的声音哟，你的那些声音像是出了故障的飞机，都快把菲利普给逼疯了！”
　　“不要出声！”菲利普想想就觉得害怕，“我感觉自己再也不会嘲笑琪琪的声音了。”他咳嗽着，在枕头底下找手绢。
　　琪琪也开始咳嗽，但是非常小心。杰克笑了：“行啦，琪琪，这样不好！你又没得流感，干吗要装作这样！”
　　“流感，流感，赶走流感！”琪琪迅速回应道，又咯咯地小声笑了起来。
　　“行啦，琪琪！我们可没心情去笑你的那些蠢话！”杰克说着又回到了床上，“你就不能对病人好点吗？安静点，有点同情心，行吗？”
　　“可怜的小鹦鹉！”琪琪缩成一团贴近杰克的脖子，发出一声哀叹。
　　“别这样，别在我脖子下面缩着，”杰克说道，“你现在是不是为自己感到难过呀，振作一点！我们今天好多啦，体温也降下去了。我们很快就又活蹦乱跳啦，我敢说艾莉阿姨会很高兴的，毕竟这几天我们四个生病的小可怜儿让她忙得不可开交。”
　　这时候，门轻轻地推开了，艾莉阿姨——菲利普和黛娜的妈妈——从门口望了进来：“你们都醒啦，感觉怎么样，想要再来点柠檬汁吗？”
　　“不用啦，谢谢阿姨。”杰克说，“我告诉您我现在突然非常非常想要的，是——水煮蛋和黄油面包！突然，我就想吃了，其他的什么都不想要！”
　　艾莉阿姨笑了：“噢，菲利普，你好多啦，也想要煮蛋吗？”
　　“不啦，我什么都不想吃。”
　　“可怜的小孩！”鹦鹉琪琪说道。她抬起头看看菲利普，咯咯地笑起来。
　　“闭嘴，琪琪！”菲利普说，“我还不想被嘲笑，你要再说话我就把你扔出去！”
　　“安静，琪琪！”杰克轻轻地拍了一下她尖尖的嘴。她又立刻缩进了杰克的脖子——只要能留在亲爱的杰克身边，她才不介意安静一会儿呢！
　　“两个女孩怎么样了？”杰克问道。
　　“好多啦，”艾莉阿姨说，“比你们恢复得好。正在玩牌呢，她们想问今晚可不可以到你们这边来说说话？”
　　“好呀，”杰克说，“但是菲利普好像不太愿意，你觉得行吗，菲利普？”
　　“再说吧，”菲利普有气无力地说道，“抱歉，我现在感觉心情很糟糕。”
　　“没关系，菲利普，”艾莉阿姨安慰道，“你身体正在恢复，明天没准儿就好了。”
　　她说得没错——第二天傍晚菲利普就活蹦乱跳了。鹦鹉琪琪也被允许想唱就唱，想叫就叫，甚至模仿火车飞速穿过隧道的声音都没人管，但是这声音却立马让艾莉阿姨上楼来了。
　　“停下！琪琪，别在屋子里发出这种声音，我受不了！”
　　黛娜看着艾莉阿姨，伸出手摸摸她：“妈妈，你这几天照顾我们四个辛苦啦，你看起来脸色有点苍白，不会也得流感了吧？”
　　“当然没有，”艾莉阿姨说道，“我只是为了照顾你们四个，来来回回上下楼有些累而已。不过你们很快就能恢复，可以去上学了！”
　　“啊！”艾莉阿姨话刚说完，抱怨声便四起，琪琪开心地加入了进来，发出了第五声，就数她的声音最大。
　　“学校啊！”杰克厌恶地说道，“艾莉阿姨，干吗老提醒我们这个？我讨厌现在回学校——所有的人都适应了学习生活，知道了很多知识，而我就好像一个新来的！”
　　“哈哈，你自己不好意思了吧！”艾莉阿姨笑道，“好啦，你们继续玩游戏吧，但是不要再让琪琪模仿飞机、火车、汽车或者割草机的声音了！”
　　“好的。”杰克说道，严肃地警告琪琪，“听到了吗，小鹦鹉，安静一点！”
　　“妈妈是不是看起来脸色不太好，”菲利普边说边发牌，“希望比尔能回来带她去度个假。”
　　“比尔现在在哪儿呢？最近有人知道他的消息吗？”黛娜问道，挑了她的牌。
　　“你知道比尔的工作，总是为政府做些非常秘密的事情，”菲利普说道，“我觉得除了妈妈，没有人知道他在哪里。但是他总是会突然间冒出来，迟早都会出现的。”
　　比尔是艾莉阿姨的丈夫。他们刚结婚不久，那时候艾莉阿姨还是寡妇曼纳林夫人，带着自己的孩子黛娜和菲利普，还有两个一直把她当作阿姨的孤儿杰克和露西安。他们都很喜欢聪明坚强的比尔，尽管比尔的工作常常让他遇到各种危险。
　　“希望比尔能在我们去学校之前回来，”杰克说道，“我们已经很久没看到他了。让我想想——现在快到十月了，他九月初就不知去哪儿了。”
　　“乔装！”露西安想到了，“他乔装成一个老人，你们记得吗？他走的那晚，那个坐在艾莉阿姨旁边的我们不认识的驼背老人！他头发都不一样了！”
　　“他戴了假发！”杰克说道，“快点，黛娜！该你出牌了，你拿到‘王’了吗？”
　　黛娜打出了她的牌，看向旁边的收音机：“我们把收音机打开吧，怎么样？我今晚特别想听，菲利普，你受得了吗？”
　　“当然可以了，”菲利普回答道，“别担心我了，我现在非常健康。天哪——一想到当时我那惨样儿，我就羞愧得没脸见人。如果我当时突然哭出来，我也不会太惊讶的。”
　　“你确实哭过一次，”杰克无情地“揭露”了他，“我看到啦，你那时看起来特别特别——‘奇特’。”
　　“闭嘴，别胡说！”菲利普尖叫道，“黛娜，收音机没调好。让我来，你永远搞不定这种事情的！黛娜，我说啦，让我弄！你让开！”
　　“啊哈，我们的菲利普终于正常了，”杰克看着这对熟悉的兄妹又开始吵架了，说道，“你弄出来啦，菲利普，一下子就调出电台来啦！啊——这是一个关于盗窃的滑稽短剧，约翰•乔丹在里边，应该很有意思的，听吧。”
　　的确非常有意思。艾莉阿姨在楼下安静地休息了一会儿之后，听到了楼上突然传出来的笑声。然后，一声拖得很长的响亮哨声让艾莉阿姨眉头一皱：这只烦人的小鹦鹉！
　　但是这声音并不是琪琪发出的，是剧里的约翰•乔丹。他是个警察，正在吹警哨——呜呜呜呜！有人大喊大叫起来：“警察！警察！”警哨声又响起了。
　　“警察！叫警察！”琪琪跟着叫喊，模仿着发出了一声惟妙惟肖的哨声，“呜呜呜！警察！叫警察！呜呜呜呜！”
　　“闭嘴，琪琪！你如果再这样大声叫唤，吹哨子的话，警察就真的来了！”杰克说道，“我的天哪，希望琪琪再也不要发出这种声音了，她会给我们带来没完没了的麻烦！琪琪，如果你再喊一声‘警察’的话，我就把你扔到床底下！”
　　琪琪还没来得及回应，一阵敲门声突然响了起来——四个孩子被吓得差点儿跳起来。
　　接着，洪亮的声音从门外传来。
　　“谁叫警察呢？他们来了，以法律的名义，开门！”
　　门缓缓地开了，孩子们惊诧地望过去。什么情况？警察真的来了吗？
　　一张脸从门后探出来，一张微笑的脸——圆圆的、红润的、闪烁光芒的，一张孩子们无比熟悉、非常喜爱的脸。
　　“比尔！”孩子们呼喊着，从床上跳了下来，跑向门边这个高大壮实的男人，“比尔，你回来啦！我们一点也不知道你要回来，太好啦！”

2 What a surprise!
　　2 What a surprise!
　　Bill came right into the room and sat down on Jack’s bed. Kiki gave a loud cackle of pleasure andflew to his shoulder, nipping the lobe of his ear gently. Aunt Allie came in too, smiling happily,looking quite different now that Bill had arrived.
　　‘Well, what’s this I hear about four miserable invalids?’ said Bill, putting an arm round each ofthe two girls. ‘You’ll have to get up now I’m back, you know. Can’t have you lazing in bed likethis!’
　　‘We’re getting up tomorrow at teatime,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Bill, where have you been? Tell us!’
　　‘Sorry, old thing. Can’t say a word,’ said Bill.
　　‘Oh - very hush-hush then!’ said Dinah, disappointed. Are you going to stay at home now?’
　　As far as I know,’ said Bill. ‘I sincerely hope so. It looks to me as if somebody ought to lookafter your mother now. She’s gone thin. WHY did you all have to have flu together, so that shecouldn’t have any of you to help her?’
　　‘It was very selfish of us!’ said Jack. ‘And even you were away too, Bill. Never mind -everything seems all right when you’re here - doesn’t it, Aunt Allie?’
　　Mrs Cunningham nodded. ‘Yes. Everything!’ she said. ‘Shall we all have a picnic meal up herein the bedroom, children, so that we can have a good old talk with Bill?’
　　It was a very hilarious meal, with Kiki more ridiculous than usual, blowing her police-whistlewhenever she felt like it. Everyone got tired of this new trick very quickly, even Bill.
　　‘Bill! Bill, pay the bill, silly-billy, silly-bill!’ shouted Kiki. She got a sharp tap on the beak fromJack.
　　‘No rudery’ said Jack. ‘Behave yourself, Kiki.’
　　Kiki flew down to the floor, very hurt. ‘Poor Kiki, poor, poor,’ she muttered to herself anddisappeared under the bed, where she found an old slipper and spent a pleasant half-hour peckingoff a button.
　　Everyone talked, asked questions, laughed and felt happy. The flu was quite forgotten. Butabout half-past nine Lucy-Ann suddenly went pale and flopped down on the bed.
　　‘We’ve overdone it!’ said Bill. ‘I forgot they’d all had a pretty bad time. Come on, Lucy-Ann,I’ll carry you to bed! Dinah, can you walk to your room?’
　　Next day the doctor came as usual, and was pleased with all four. ‘Up to tea today - up afterbreakfast tomorrow,’ he said. ‘Then up the same time as usual.’
　　‘When can they go back to school, Doctor?’ asked Mrs Cunningham.
　　‘Not yet,’ said the doctor, much to the children’s surprise. ‘They must go somewhere forconvalescence - ten days or a fortnight, say. Somewhere warm and sunny. This flu they’ve had isa bad kind - they will feel very down all winter if they don’t go away somewhere. Can youmanage that, Mrs Cunningham?’
　　‘We’ll see about it all right,’ said Bill. ‘But I’m not letting my wife go with them, Doctor. Sheneeds a holiday herself now after so much illness in the house - and it wouldn’t be much of aholiday for her to be with these four live wires. Leave it to me.’
　　‘Right,’ said the doctor. ‘Well, I’ll be in on Saturday, just to see that everything goes well.
　　Goodbye!’
　　‘A holiday!’ said Dinah, as soon as the door had closed. ‘I say! What a bit of luck! I thoughtwe’d have to go straight back to school!’
　　There was a conference about what was best to be done. ‘It’s October tomorrow,’ said Bill, ‘andthe weather forecast isn’t too good. Rain and wind and fog! What a climate we have! It’s a pitythey can’t go abroad, Allie.’
　　‘They can’t go abroad without anyone responsible in charge,’ said his wife. ‘We’ll have to findsomewhere on the south coast, and send them there.’
　　But all the plans were altered very suddenly and dramatically. On Friday night, very late, thetelephone-bell shrilled through the house, and awoke Bill and his wife, and also Kiki, whose earswere sharper than anyone’s. She imitated the bell under her breath, but didn’t wake the boys. Shecocked up her crest and listened. She could hear Bill speaking in a low voice on the telephoneextension in his bedroom along the landing. Then there was a clink, and the little ping thatsounded whenever the telephone receiver was put back into place.
　　‘Ping!’ muttered Kiki. ‘Ping pong! Ping!’ She put her head under her wing again, and went tosleep, perched comfortably on the edge of the mantelpiece. The children all slept peacefully, notguessing what changes in their plans that telephone call was going to mean!
　　In the morning Bill was not at breakfast. All the children were down, and Lucy-Ann had evengot down early enough to help to lay the table. They were pale, and rather languid, but verycheerful, and looking forward now to their holiday, even though the place chosen did not seem atall exciting - a quiet little village by the sea.
　　‘Where’s Bill?’ asked Dinah, in surprise at his empty place. ‘I didn’t hear him whistling whilehe was shaving. Has he gone out for an early-morning walk or something?’
　　‘No, dear - he had to leave hurriedly in the middle of the night,’ said her mother, lookingdepressed. ‘He had a telephone call - didn’t the bell wake you? Something urgent again, and Bill’sadvice badly needed, of course! So he took the car and shot off. He’ll be back about eleven, Iexpect. I only hope it doesn’t mean that he’ll have to race off again somewhere, and disappear forweeks. It would be too bad so soon after he had come back!’
　　Bill returned about half-past eleven, and put the car away. He came whistling in at the side door,to be met by an avalanche of children.
　　‘Bill! Where have you been? You haven’t got to go away again, have you?’ cried Dinah.
　　‘Let me go, you limpets!’ said Bill, shaking them off. ‘Where’s your mother, Dinah?’
　　‘In the sitting-room,’ said Dinah. ‘Hurry up and talk to her. We want to hear your news too.’
　　Bill went into the sitting- room and shut the door firmly. The four children looked at oneanother.
　　‘I bet he’ll be sent off on another hush-hush affair,’ said Jack gloomily. ‘Poor Aunt Allie - justwhen she was looking forward to having him on a little holiday all to herself!’
　　Half an hour went by and the talking was still going on in the sitting-room, very low andearnest. Then the door was flung open and Bill yelled for the children.
　　‘Where are you, kids? Come along in - we’ve finished our talk.’
　　They all trooped in, Kiki on Jack’s shoulder as usual, murmuring something about ‘One-two,buckle my shoe, one-shoe, buckle my two!’
　　‘Shut up, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘No interruptions, now!’
　　‘Listen,’ said Bill, when the children were all in the room and sitting down. ‘I’ve got to go offagain.’
　　Everyone groaned. ‘Oh, Bill !’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘We were afraid of that. And you’ve only justcome back.’
　　‘Where are you going?’ asked Jack.
　　‘That I’m not quite sure about,’ said Bill. ‘But briefly - and in strict confidence, mind - I’ve gotto go and cast an eye on a man our Government are a bit suspicious of - they don’t quite knowwhat he’s up to. It may not be anything, of course - but we just want to be sure. And they want meto fly out and spend a few days round about where he is and glean a few facts.’
　　‘Oh! So you may not be long?’ said Philip.
　　‘I don’t know. Maybe three or four days, maybe a fortnight,’ said Bill. ‘But two things areimportant - one, that nobody suspects I’m out there for any Government purpose - and two, thatas the climate where I’m going is warm and summery, I feel you’d better all come too!’
　　There was a dead silence as this sank in - then a perfect chorus of shrieks and exclamations.
　　Lucy-Ann flung herself on Bill.
　　‘All of us! Aunt Allie too! Oh, how marvellous! But how can you take us as well?’
　　‘Well, as I told you - nobody must suspect I’m a lone investigator snooping about on my own,’
　　said Bill. And therefore if I go as a family man, complete with a string of children recovering fromillness, and a wife who needs a holiday, it will seem quite obvious that I can’t be what I really am- someone sent out on a secret mission.’
　　The children gazed at him in delight. A holiday somewhere abroad - with Bill and his wife!
　　Could anything be better? ‘Wizard!’ thought Lucy-Ann. ‘I hope it’s not a dream!’
　　‘Where did you say it was? Oh, you didn’t say! Do we go to a hotel? What will there be to do?
　　It’s not dangerous, is it, Bill - dangerous for you?
　　Questions poured out, and Bill shook his head and put his hands over his ears.
　　‘It’s no good asking me anything at the moment. I’ve only heard the outline of the affair myself- but I did say that as a kind of camouflage I could take you all with me, and pose as a family man- and it seemed to click, so I left the High-Ups to arrange everything. Honestly, that’s all I know atthe moment. And don’t you dare to talk about this except in whispers.’
　　‘We won’t, Bill,’ Lucy-Ann assured him earnestly. ‘It shall be a dead secret.’
　　‘Secret!’ yelled Kiki, catching the general excitement and dancing up and down on the table.
　　‘Secret! High-up secret! High, high, up in the sky, wipe your feet, blow the secret!’
　　‘Well, if anyone’s going to give it away, it’s Kiki!’ said Bill, laughing. ‘Kiki, can’t you everhold your tongue?’
　　Kiki couldn’t, but the others could, as Bill very well knew! They hurried out of the room and upthe stairs and into a little boxroom. They shut the door, and looked at each other in excitement.
　　‘Whew!’ said Philip, letting out an enormous breath. ‘What a THRILL! Thank goodness for theflu! Now - let’s talk about it - in whispers, please!’
第2章 惊喜
　　第2章 惊喜
　　比尔走进屋子，坐在了杰克的床上。琪琪开心地大声咯咯叫着，飞到了比尔的肩上，轻轻啄着他的耳垂。艾莉阿姨也进来了，幸福地微笑着，因为比尔回来了，艾莉阿姨的气色看起来和之前都不一样了呢。
　　“我怎么听说有四个生病的小可怜儿？”比尔说道，两只手分别搂住两个女孩，“现在我回来了，你们就得起来了，知道吗？不能让你们几个像这样一直赖在床上！”
　　“我们明天下午茶的时候就下床。”露西安说道，“比尔，你最近去哪里了，告诉我们吧！”
　　“对不起啦，小家伙，我一个字都不能说。”
　　“哦，那肯定是非常非常机密的！”黛娜有些失望，“你这一阵儿会待在家里吗？”
　　“我真希望是这样。”比尔说道，“似乎应该有人来照顾你妈妈了，她都瘦了。为什么你们都感冒了呢？这样都没人给艾莉帮忙了。”
　　“是我们太自私了！”杰克说道，“就连你也不在，比尔。不过没关系，你回来了一切就都好了。是不是，艾莉阿姨？”
　　艾莉阿姨点点头。“当然喽，一切都会好的！”她说道，“孩子们，一会儿我们要不要把饭菜端到卧室来吃呀？这样我们就可以和比尔好好聊聊天了。”
　　大家晚饭吃得相当开心。鹦鹉琪琪比往常更滑稽了，随意吹着她的“警哨”。很快，所有的人包括比尔，都对她的新花招感到厌烦了。
　　“比尔，比尔棒棒，快点付账！比尔棒……笨！比尔笨笨！”琪琪大叫着，杰克狠狠地敲了敲她的嘴，“别聒噪了，老实点，琪琪！”
　　琪琪飞到地板上，很是受伤。“可怜的小鹦鹉，小可怜儿。”她小声咕哝着，躲到床底下不见了。因为她在那里发现了一只旧拖鞋，便花了半小时的时间一直开心地啄着鞋上的扣子。
　　大家说着笑着，非常高兴，流感都被忘到脑后了。但是九点半左右的时候，露西安突然脸色苍白，一下子倒在了床上。
　　“我们说得太久了，”比尔说道，“忘了他们都生病这事儿了。来吧，露西安，我把你抱回卧室！黛娜，你自己走回去行吗？”
　　第二天医生像往常一样过来了，对这四个小病号还算满意：“今天下午茶时间下床走动，明天吃完早饭下床，之后就像平时一样。”
　　“他们什么时候可以回学校呢，医生？”艾莉阿姨问道。
　　“还不行，”医生说道，孩子们吃了一惊，“他们必须找个地方疗养，去上十天半个月。
　　找个温暖、晴朗的地方。他们的流感很严重，如果不去找个这样的地方，他们整个冬天都不会好的。您能做到吗，坎宁安太太？”
　　“我们会立刻办这个事情的，”比尔说道，“但是医生，我不能让我太太和孩子们一起去，她一直在家里照顾这么多病号，需要休个假放松一下。要是和这四个小家伙在一起她就没法度假了。这事儿就交给我吧。”
　　“嗯，我周六会再来看看他们的。再见！”医生说道。
　　“度假！”门一关，黛娜就立马叫道，“真是走运！我还以为我们必须直接回学校了呢！”
　　一场关于接下来最好该怎么做的家庭会议开始了。“明天就是十月了，”比尔说道，“天气预报的情况不太妙，有风有雨还有雾！我们这儿的气候还真是糟糕！艾莉，恐怕他们不能出国。”
　　“如果没有监护人的话，他们去不了国外。”艾莉阿姨说道，“我们就得在南部海岸找个地方，送他们去。”
　　但是，所有的计划都被打乱了，令人猝不及防又显得那么戏剧化。周五晚上，夜色已经很深了，尖锐的电话铃声吵醒了比尔夫妇——也吵醒了琪琪，她的耳朵比其他人的都要尖。她压着嗓子模仿电话铃声，却没有吵醒孩子们。琪琪竖起冠毛听着，比尔此时正在卧室里，用低低的声音对着电话分机讲话。然后传来砰的一声，那是电话听筒被放回去的声音。
　　“砰！”琪琪小声嘟囔，“砰！砰！”她又把头缩进了翅膀，舒服地在壁炉台的边沿上睡着了。
　　早餐时比尔没有出现。孩子们都下床了，露西安起得够早，帮忙摆着桌子。四个孩子的脸色都很苍白，身体也很虚弱，但都非常开心地期待着他们的度假，尽管度假的地方听起来并不那么令人激动——一个宁静的海边小村庄。
　　“比尔去哪了？”黛娜问道，吃惊地看着他的位子上空无一人，“他刮胡子的时候通常会吹口哨的，我刚才没有听到。他起了大早出去散步了吗？”
　　“不是的，亲爱的。他半夜里就匆忙离开了，”艾莉阿姨说道，表情很是失落，“他接了个电话，昨晚没吵醒你们吧？又是什么紧急事情，你们懂的，急需比尔的意见！所以他就开车出去了。他大概十一点就会回来。我只希望他不是又要去别的地方执行任务，又要消失好几个星期。他才刚刚回来就立马又要走，如果真是这样的话，那就太糟糕了。”
　　大概十一点半，比尔回来了。他把车停好，吹着口哨从侧门进来。孩子们一窝蜂地迎了上去。
　　“比尔，你去哪儿啦，你不会又要离开了吧？”黛娜大声叫喊。
　　“放开我，你们这些黏人的小家伙！”比尔边说边把孩子们抖了下来，“你妈妈呢，黛娜？”
　　“在客厅，”黛娜说道，“赶快去找她聊聊吧，我们也要听。”
　　比尔走进了客厅，把门关得严严实实的。孩子们面面相觑。
　　“我猜他又要被派去执行什么秘密任务了，”杰克沮丧地说，“可怜的艾莉阿姨，还期待着能和他一起度过一个幸福的小假期呢！”
　　半个小时过去了，客厅里的谈话仍在进行，比尔的声音低沉而认真。接着，门突然被推开，比尔叫孩子们都进来。
　　“孩子们，你们在哪儿呢？进来吧，我们说完话了。”
　　孩子们蜂拥而入，琪琪像平时一样坐在杰克的肩膀上，嘟囔着什么“一二，系鞋带，一只鞋，系两根带儿”。
　　“闭嘴，琪琪，”杰克说道，“现在别打扰我们！”
　　此时孩子们都已经进了客厅坐好，比尔宣布：“听着，孩子们，我又要走了。”
　　所有的人都唉声叹气地抱怨着。“比尔！”露西安说道，“我们就担心这个，你可是刚回来啊！”
　　“你要去哪里？”杰克问。
　　“还不确定，”比尔说，“不过你们要对我说的话严格保密。简单地说，我要去监视一个被政府怀疑的人——政府不太清楚他在干什么。当然，他可能什么也没干，但是我们需要弄清楚。政府想让我去他附近待几天，搜集一些证据。”
　　“所以也不会太久，对吧？”菲利普说道。
　　“不清楚。可能三四天，也可能两星期。”比尔说道，“但是有两件很重要的事。第一，我去那边执行政府任务，不能引起别人的怀疑。第二，我去的地方很温暖，像夏天似的。
　　所以——我觉得你们最好也一起去！”
　　比尔的话刚说完，周围一片沉默——随之而来的是齐声的尖叫和欢呼。露西安一下子扑到了比尔身上。
　　“所有的人！艾莉阿姨也去！哇，太棒了！但是你怎么能把我们也带去呢？”
　　“就像我刚才所说的，不能让人怀疑我是一个前去打探消息的调查员。”比尔解释道，“所以如果我作为一个居家好男人的形象出现，带着一群需要疗养身体的孩子，一个需要度假的妻子，那么别人就不太容易想到我的真实身份了——一个被政府派去执行秘密任务的人。”
　　孩子们开心地望着比尔。一个国外的假期——同比尔和艾莉阿姨一起！还有比这更好的事情吗？“太神奇啦，”露西安心里想，“希望这不是个梦！”
　　“你刚才说去哪儿？哦，你没有说！我们要去酒店住吗？到那儿要做什么？不危险吧，比尔？你会有危险吗？”
　　孩子们的问题一个接一个，比尔摇摇头，用手堵住耳朵。
　　“你们现在问我什么都没用，我自己也只是听到了这个任务的大概——但我的确说了作为一种乔装，我可以把你们都带上——这个计划看起来可行，所以让政府领导们去安排吧。说句实话，这就是我知道的全部了。除了小声咕哝，你们敢大声谈论这件事试试！”
　　“我们不会的，比尔，”露西安认真地向他保证，“我们绝对守口如瓶！”
　　“如瓶！”琪琪又叫唤起来。她仿佛也感受到了孩子们的激动，在桌子上欢快地闹腾着，“如瓶！如瓶！乔装！领导！如瓶！”
　　“如果有谁泄露秘密的话，那肯定是这只小鹦鹉了！”比尔大笑，“琪琪，你就不能保持沉默吗？”
　　琪琪不能，但是孩子们可以，这一点比尔是很清楚的！他们呼啦一下子跑上楼，冲进一个小储藏间里，关上门，你看看我、我看看你，每个人都非常激动。
　　菲利普长长地呼了一口气：“太令人激动啦！谢谢老天让我们得了流感！现在——让我们讨论一下吧——小点声！”
3 Away they go!
　　3
　　Away they go!
　　That weekend was full of excitement. The telephone went continually, and finally a small, discreetcar drew up in the drive on Monday night, and three men got out; they went, as instructed, to thegarden door, where Bill let them in. He called to the boys.
　　‘Philip! Jack! Go and sit in that little car out there and keep watch. I don’t think anyone is likelyto be about, but you never know. These are important visitors, and although we don’t think anyoneknows of their visit here, you may as well keep watch.’
　　The boys were thrilled. They crept out to the car, and sat there, hardly breathing! They kept avery sharp look-out indeed, scrutinizing every moving shadow, and stiffening every time a carcame up the quiet road. The girls watched them enviously from an upstairs window, wishing theywere hidden in the car too.
　　But nothing exciting happened at all. It was very disappointing. In fact, the boys got very tiredof keeping watch, when two or three hours had gone by. They were very thankful indeed whenthey heard the garden door opening quietly and footsteps coming to the car.
　　‘Nothing to report, Bill,’ whispered Jack, and was just about to slip away with Philip when Kikidecided that the time had come to open her beak again. She had not been allowed to make a singlesound in the car, and had sulked. Now she really let herself go!
　　‘Police! Fetch the police! PHEEEEEEEEE!’ She whistled exactly like a real police-whistlebeing blown, and everyone was electrified at once. Bill hadn’t heard Kiki’s newest achievement,and he clutched at one of the three men in alarm. All of them stood stock still and looked round inamazement.
　　Jack’s voice came penitently out of the darkness. ‘Sorry, Bill. It’s only Kiki’s latest. I’mawfully sorry!’
　　He fled indoors with Philip. Kiki, sensing his annoyance, flew off his shoulder and disappeared.
　　She let herself down into the big waste-paper basket in the sitting-room, and sat there very quietlyindeed. Outside there was the sound of an engine being revved up, and the car moved quietly outof the gateway and disappeared into the night. Bill came back indoors.
　　‘Well!’ he said, coming into the sitting-room and blinking at the bright light. ‘What came overKiki to yell for the police like that? It nearly startled us out of our wits! My word, that whistle - itwent clean through my head. Where is she? I’ve a few straight words to say to her!’
　　‘She’s hiding somewhere,’ said Jack. ‘She knows she shouldn’t have done that. She heard it onthe radio the other night, and she keeps on calling for the police and doing that awful whistling.
　　Bill, any news?’
　　‘Yes,’ said Bill, filling his pipe. ‘Quite a lot. Rather nice news too - we’re going to have somefun, children!’
　　‘Really, Bill?’ said his wife. ‘How?’
　　‘Well - the place we are going to - which I am not going to mention at present, in case Kiki isanywhere about, and shouts it all over the place - is quite a long way off, but as we are going byplane that won’t matter. And, my dears, the Powers-That-Be have decided that they will put asmall river-launch at our disposal, so that we can go on a nice little trip and see the country -enabling me to make quite a lot of enquiries on our journey!’
　　‘It sounds great!’ said Philip, his eyes shining. ‘Absolutely tops! A river-launch of our own! Myword, what a super holiday!’
　　‘It does sound good,’ said his mother. ‘When do we go, Bill? I’ll have to look out summerclothes again, you know’
　　‘We have to catch the plane on Wednesday night,’ said Bill. ‘Can you manage to be ready bythen? Everything will be arranged for us at the other end - you won’t have to bother about athing.’
　　Everyone was in a great state of excitement at once, and began to talk nineteen to the dozen, thewords almost falling over themselves. In the midst of a little pause for breath, a loud hiccup washeard.
　　‘That’s Kiki!’ said Jack at once. ‘She always does that when she’s ashamed or embarrassed -and I bet she was horrified at her outburst in the dark garden. Where is she?’
　　A search began, but Kiki was not behind the thick curtains, nor under the chairs or tables.
　　Another hiccup made everyone look about them, puzzled. ‘Where is she? We’ve looked absolutelyeverywhere. Kiki - come out, you fathead. You haven’t got hiccups - you’re putting them on.’
　　A sad and forlorn voice spoke from the depths of the waste-paper basket. ‘Poor Polly! Polly-Wolly-Olly all the day, poor Polly!’ There followed a tremendous sigh.
　　‘She’s in the waste-paper basket!’ cried Lucy-Ann, and ruffled all the papers there. Yes - Kikiwas at the very bottom! She climbed out, her head hanging down, and walked awkwardly over thefloor to Jack, climbed all the way up his foot and leg, up his body, to his shoulder.
　　‘I suppose you’ve forgotten how to fly!’ said Jack, amused. All right, you idiot - put up yourcrest and stop behaving like this. And DON’T shout for the police and blow that whistle anymore!’
　　You’re going on a trip, Kiki,’ said Dinah. But the parrot was still pretending to be very upset,and hid her head in Jack’s collar. Nobody took any more notice of her, so she soon recovered, andbegan to enter into the conversation as usual.
　　After a while Mrs Cunningham gave a horrified exclamation. ‘Do you know what the time is?
　　Almost midnight - and these children only just recovered from being ill! What am I thinking of?
　　They’ll all be in bed again if we’re not careful! Go to bed at once, children.’
　　They went upstairs, laughing. They had quite thrown off the miserable feeling they had had withthe flu - and now that this exciting trip lay in front of them, they all felt on top of the world.
　　‘I wonder where we’re going to,’ said Jack to Philip. ‘Bill didn’t tell us even when he thoughtKiki wasn’t there.’
　　‘Bill’s always cagey about everything till we’re really off,’ said Philip. ‘It’s no use badgeringhim - and anyway, what does it matter? It’s wonderful to go off into the blue like this - literallyinto the blue, because we’re going to fly - instead of straight back to school.’
　　‘Lucy-Ann wouldn’t like to hear me say so - but it’s quite an adventure!’ said Jack. ‘Come on,get into bed. You must have brushed each of your teeth a hundred times.’
　　The next two days were very busy indeed. Summer clothes were taken from drawers and chests,canvas aeroplane-cases were thrown down from the loft by the boys, everyone hunted as usual forlost keys, and there was such a hubbub that Mrs Cunningham nearly went mad.
　　‘Hubbub!’ said Kiki, pleased with the new word, when she heard Bill complaining about it.
　　‘Hubbub, hip-hip-hubbub! Fetch the doctor, Hubbub!’
　　‘Oh, Kiki - I can’t help laughing at you, even though I’m so busy,’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Youand your hubbubs! You’re a hubbub on your own.’
　　By Wednesday night all the bags were more or less neatly packed, the keys put safely in Bill’swallet, and arrangements made for someone to come in and air the house, and dust it each day.
　　Bill went to get the car from the garage, and at last it was time to start.
　　Bill drove to the airport. It was exciting to arrive there at night, for the place was full of lights ofall kinds. A loud amplifier was giving directions.
　　‘Plane now arriving from Rome. Rome plane coming in.’
　　‘The plane for Geneva will leave ten minutes late.’
　　‘Plane arriving from Paris. Two minutes early’
　　The little company, with Kiki on Jack’s shoulder, sat in the waiting-room, for they were early.
　　They began to feel sleepy in the warm room and Lucy-Ann felt her head nodding. Bill suddenlystood up.
　　‘Here’s our plane. Come on. We’ll have to keep together, now. Don’t let Kiki fly off yourshoulder or scream or anything, Jack. Put her under your coat.’
　　Kiki grumbled away under Jack’s coat, but as she felt a little overcome by the constant roar ofarriving and departing planes, she said nothing out loud. Soon all six of them, and Kiki too, weresafely in their plane-seats.
　　They were exceedingly comfortable, and the air hostess plied them with food and drink at once,which pleased the children immensely.
　　There was nothing to be seen outside the plane as it flew steadily through the night. The weatherwas good, the skies were clear and calm. All the children slept soundly in their tipped-back seats.
　　Kiki, rather astonished at everything, settled under Jacks coat and went to sleep too.
　　The plane flew on and on. Stars faded in the sky. Dawn crept in from the east, and the skybecame silver and then golden. The sun showed over the far horizon and the children awoke oneby one, wondering at first where they were.
　　‘Another two or three hours and we’re there,’ said Bill. Anyone want anything to eat? Here’sour kind air hostess again.’
　　‘I wish I lived on an aeroplane,’ said Jack, when the air hostess brought them a tray full of mostdelicious food. ‘Why is food always so super on a plane? Look at these enormous peaches - and Idon’t think I’ve ever tasted such delicious sandwiches!’
　　‘This is fun!’ said Lucy-Ann, taking her fourth sandwich. ‘Jack, stop Kiki - that’s her secondpeach, and she’s spilling juice all over me!’
　　Yes, it was fun! What a bit of luck that Bill had to go on this trip!
第3章 他们出发了
　　第3章 他们出发了
　　这个周末充满了刺激。电话铃一直响个不停。最终，在周一晚上，一辆不起眼的小轿车谨慎地停在街道上。从车上下来三个人，他们按照指示，走到花园门外。比尔让他们进来，然后把男孩们叫了过去。
　　“菲利普！杰克！坐进车里观察一下周围的情况！我觉得周围应该没有人，但是谁知道呢！这几位是重要的客人，虽然我们觉得没有人会知道他们来这儿，但你们最好还是注意一下四周。”
　　菲利普和杰克十分激动，他们爬进车里，坐在那儿，屏住呼吸。他们监视得非常仔细，连影子都不放过，安静的街道上一有车来，他们就绷直了身体。而黛娜和露西安则从楼上窗台边儿羡慕地望着他们，希望自己也能隐藏在车里。
　　真令人失望！什么刺激的事情都没有发生。事实上，两三个小时过去了，男孩们就已经厌烦了这种监视。所以当他们听到花园门轻轻地打开，有脚步声靠近汽车的时候感到十分庆幸。
　　“报告比尔，没有任何情况发生，”杰克小声说着，想和菲利普赶快溜走。此时鹦鹉琪琪觉得又可以开口了。刚才她闷闷不乐的，因为在车里一声都不许吭。现在可好啦，又可以放开嗓子了！
　　“警察！叫警察！呜呜呜呜！”她吹着口哨就像真的警哨一样，所有的人立刻都触电般地呆住了。比尔没有听过琪琪的这个最新“成就”，他惊慌地一把抓住三个人中的一个。他们身体僵直，站着不动，惊诧地望向四周。
　　黑暗中传来杰克懊悔的声音：“比尔，对不起。这是琪琪最近刚学会的，非常对不起！”
　　他和菲利普逃回了屋子里。琪琪感受到了杰克的厌烦，从他肩膀上飞下来，不见了。
　　事实上，她钻进了客厅的废纸篓，安静地坐在里面。屋外响起了引擎发动的声音，那辆车从门前开走了，消失在黑夜中。比尔回到屋子里。
　　他走进了客厅，对着灯光眨了眨眼：“怎么回事？琪琪都要把警察喊来了！我的老天，吓我一大跳！她在哪儿呢？我得教训教训她！”
　　“躲起来了，”杰克说，“她知道错了。琪琪前几天在收音机里听到后就一直模仿吹警哨和叫警察。比尔，有什么新消息吗？”
　　“有，”比尔说道，“特别多。而且是好消息——我们可以一起去度假了，孩子们！”
　　“真的吗，比尔？”艾莉阿姨说道，“怎么去？”
　　“我们要去的地方——我现在不能说，万一琪琪又四处张扬呢！我只能说很远很远——但是没关系，我们坐飞机去。而且，政府决定给我们一艘小艇，让我们自由使用，这样的话我们就可以好好欣赏风景，好好地探索一下那个地方了。旅行肯定会非常好玩的！”
　　“太棒啦！”菲利普说着，两眼放光，“顶级待遇！我们自己的小艇，哇，这个旅行真是太棒了！”
　　“听起来的确不错！”艾莉阿姨说，“但是我们什么时候走呢，比尔？你知道我得把夏天的衣服找出来！”
　　“我们坐周三晚上的飞机走，”比尔说，“那个时候你能准备好衣服吗？那边都安排好了，什么都不用担心。”
　　所有的人立刻都兴奋起来，滔滔不绝地说个不停，每句话都脱口而出。大家刚停下来喘口气，就听到了很响的打嗝声。
　　“是琪琪！”杰克立马叫道，“她觉得羞愧或者尴尬时就会这样做——我猜她肯定还在为自己在花园里犯的错感到害怕呢！她在哪儿呢？”
　　搜索开始了，但是琪琪没在厚厚的窗帘后面，也没在桌子和椅子底下。又传来一声打嗝声，大家都疑惑地面面相觑：“她哪儿去了？几乎所有的地方我们都找了。琪琪，你这个小笨蛋，快出来！你就没打嗝儿——你装的！”
　　这时，一个悲伤的、仿佛被人遗弃了似的声音从废纸篓里传出来：“可怜的小鹦鹉，好可怜啊，小鹦鹉！”接着是一声重重的叹息声。
　　“她在废纸篓里！”露西安喊道，把废纸篓里的纸都翻了出来。的确！琪琪就在最下面。她爬了出来，耷拉着脑袋，笨拙地走向杰克，顺着他的脚和腿爬到他身上，然后又爬上肩膀。
　　“你忘了自己会飞了吧！”杰克被逗乐了，“好啦，你这个小傻瓜，别这样啦，挺胸抬头！记着啊，以后可千万不能再叫警察、吹警哨了！”
　　“你要去度假喽，琪琪。”黛娜说道。但这小鹦鹉仍装作很失落的样子，把头藏进杰克的领子。没有人再去搭理她，她就立马恢复了原状，开始像往常一样，加入大家的谈话。
　　过了一会儿，艾莉阿姨突然叫起来：“你们知道现在几点了吗？快凌晨啦！这些孩子的病才刚好一点了！我在想什么呢！如果不小心一点他们又要生病了！立刻睡觉去，孩子们！”
　　四个孩子笑着跑上楼。他们早把得流感的坏心情抛到九霄云外了！现在有一个这么激动人心的旅行摆在面前，他们简直开心得不得了！
　　“我在想我们究竟要去哪儿？”杰克对菲利普说，“琪琪都不在旁边了，比尔也没告诉我们。”
　　“在我们出发之前，比尔是不会说的，他总是小心得过头！”菲利普说道，“再问他也没用，但是，又有什么关系呢？这样不是很棒吗？我们不用回学校啦，而是去往一个未知的地方！”
　　“露西安肯定不喜欢我这么说，但这绝对是一次‘冒险之旅’！”杰克说道，“好啦，快上床睡觉吧！你已经说了太多话了！”
　　接下来的两天事情非常多。大家把夏天的衣服从柜子里、箱子里翻找了出来，帆布的行李箱也被男孩们从阁楼上扔了下来，大家像往常一样一直在找钥匙。闹腾得艾莉阿姨都快疯了。
　　“闹腾！”琪琪说着。她听比尔抱怨的时候新学了这个词，十分开心：“闹腾！闹闹腾腾！叫医生，闹腾！”
　　“琪琪呀，虽然我很忙，但是也忍不住笑你了，”艾莉阿姨说道，“你和你的‘闹腾’，你自己就很闹腾！”
　　到了周三晚上，所有的箱子都整整齐齐地装好了。钥匙安全地放在了比尔的钱包里，也雇好了人每天过来清扫房子、开窗通风。比尔从车库把车开了出来，是时候出发了。
　　比尔开车到了飞机场。晚上来这儿还是很让人兴奋的，因为机场里闪烁着各种各样的灯光。机场正在广播指令。
　　“从罗马起飞的飞机请进机场跑道。”
　　“飞往日内瓦的飞机延误十分钟。”
　　“从巴黎起飞的飞机提前两分钟起飞。”
　　孩子们都坐在候机室里，琪琪依偎在杰克的肩头，他们来早了。候机室很暖和，大家开始感到困意袭来，露西安都快睡着了。突然，比尔站起身来。
　　“我们的飞机来啦，孩子们。我们现在一起上去。杰克，看好琪琪，别让她离开你乱飞乱叫。用你的衣服把她盖起来。”
　　琪琪在衣服里小声抱怨，但大家都听不到，因为出发和到达的飞机的轰鸣声太响了。
　　很快，他们一行六人，还有鹦鹉琪琪，安稳地在飞机里各自的位子坐下了。
　　他们顿时感觉非常舒服。空姐很快就给他们端上了食物和饮料，这让孩子们都高兴坏了。
　　飞机在夜空中飞得很稳，他们也看不清外面的景色，只知道天气很好，夜空静谧。孩子们在向后倾斜的座位上睡得很香，对这一切都很好奇的琪琪也缩在杰克的衣服下面睡着了。
　　飞机继续飞着。星星开始从天空中退下去了，而黎明从东方爬了出来。天空开始变成了银色，然后又变成了金色。太阳从遥远的地平线上露出头来。孩子们也一个接一个地醒了。他们醒来的第一件事就是想搞清飞机现在到哪儿了。
　　“大概还有两三个小时我们就到了。”比尔说道，“有人想吃东西吗，我们善良美丽的空姐又来喽！”
　　“真希望我能住在飞机上。”杰克说道，此时空姐端上了一盘美味的食物，“为什么飞机上的食物这么好吃呢？看这些大桃子！我从没吃过这么好吃的三明治！”
　　“太开心了！”露西安边说着，边吞下了她的第四个三明治，“杰克，你管管琪琪！她已经吃了两个桃子了，还把果汁溅到了我身上。”
　　是呀，太开心了！比尔这次不得不去执行任务，反而还是一种幸运呢！
4 What part of the world is this?
　　4
　　What part of the world is this?
　　The children spent a good bit of time after that looking out of the windows and seeing the earthbelow. They were flying high, and very often wide stretches of white cloud, looking like fields ofdazzling snow, lay below them. Then came gaps in the clouds and far down they could see hillsand rivers and tiny towns or villages.
　　There was a great bustle when the plane at last landed on a long runway. Many men ran up,steps were wheeled here and there, luggage was unloaded, passengers streamed out of the planeand were soon greeted by friends.
　　A big car was waiting for Bill and his family. They were soon seated comfortably in it, and avery brown-skinned man drove them away.
　　‘Everything laid on, you see,’ said Bill. ‘We are going to a fairly small place called Barira,where there is a very comfortable hotel. I don’t want to stay in a large place, where someone mightpossibly recognize me. In fact, from now on I’m going to wear dark glasses.’
　　The ‘small place’ was a long way away, and it took the car three hours to get there. The roadwas very bumpy in parts, and ran through country that was sometimes very well wooded andsometimes bare and desert-like. But at last they arrived, and the big car stopped outside a ramblinghotel, white-washed from top to bottom.
　　The hotel manager himself came to receive them, small and plump, with a very big nose. Hebowed himself almost to the ground, and then barked out very sharp orders in a language thechildren did not understand. Porters came up and unpacked the luggage from the car, perspiring inthe hot sun.
　　‘You wish to wash, Madame?’ said the hotel manager. ‘Everything is most ready, and we speaka hearty welcome to you.’
　　He bowed them into the hotel and took them to their rooms. These were spacious and airy, andvery simply furnished. The children were delighted to find a shower bath in their rooms. Jackpromptly stripped and stood underneath the tepid shower.
　　‘Any idea where we’ve come to, Philip?’ he called. ‘I know Bill said it was somewhere calledBarira, but I’ve never heard of it in my life.’
　　Bill came into their room just then. ‘Well, everything all right?’ he said. ‘Where are the girls?
　　Oh, is that their room next to yours? Good! Ours is just across the landing if you want us. We’re tohave a meal in about a quarter of an hour’s time. Come and bang on our door when you’re ready.’
　　‘Hey Bill - what part of the world are we in?’ called Jack. ‘The men we’ve seen look likeArabs.’
　　Bill laughed. ‘Don’t you know where we are? Well, we’re some way from the borders of Syria- a very old part of the world indeed! Tell the girls to join you as soon as they can, will you?’
　　The small hotel proved to be extremely comfortable. Even Kiki was made welcome, after themanager had got over the shock of seeing the parrot perched on Jack’s shoulder.
　　‘Ha - what you call him - parrot!’ said the little manager. ‘Pretty Poll, eh?’
　　‘Wipe your feet,’ said Kiki, much to the man’s surprise. ‘Shut the door!’
　　The small man was not sure whether to obey or not. ‘Funny bird!’ he said. ‘He is so muchclever! He spiks good. Polly, polly!’
　　‘Polly put the kettle on,’ said Kiki, and gave a screech that made the man hurry out of the roomat once.
　　There were no other guests at the hotel. The children sat in the shade on a verandah overhungwith clusters of brilliant red flowers. Enormous butterflies fluttered among them. Kiki watchedthese with much interest. She knew butterflies at home, but these didn’t seem at all the same. Shetalked to herself, and the waiters going to and fro regarded her with awe. When one of themcoughed, and Kiki imitated him exactly, he looked very scared and ran off quickly.
　　‘Don’t show off, Kiki,’ said Jack sleepily. ‘And for goodness’ sake keep still. You’ve beendancing about on my shoulder for the last ten minutes.’
　　Next day plans were made for the river-trip, which was to last at least a week. Bill produced amap which showed the winding course of a river, and pointed to various places.
　　‘We start here - that’s where our launch will be. We go here first - see? And then down to thistown - I don’t know how you pronounce it - Ala-ou-iya - something like that. I leave you thereand have a snoop round for my man - though, as I said, I might take you boys with me.’
　　‘What’s his name?’ asked Jack.
　　‘He calls himself Raya Uma,’ said Bill. ‘No one knows whether that is his real name or not, orexactly what nationality he is - but we do know he’s a trouble-maker who wants watching. Whathe’s out here for we simply can’t imagine. It may be something that is perfectly innocent, but,knowing his record, I don’t think so. Anyway, all I have to do is to spot him, find out what he’sdoing and report back. Nothing more - so there’s no danger attached, or I wouldn’t have broughtyou with me.’
　　‘We wouldn’t have minded if there had been!’ said Philip. A spot of danger makes anadventure, you know, Bill!’
　　Bill laughed. ‘You and your adventures! Now listen - this fellow Uma doesn’t know mepersonally, and has never met me - but he may have been warned that his doings are beingenquired about, so he may be on the look-out for a snooper. If anyone questions any of you,answer candidly at once. Say you’ve been ill, and this is a trip to give you sunshine, and so on -which is perfectly true as far as you’re concerned.’
　　‘Right,’ said Jack. ‘What’s this man Uma like?’
　　‘Here are some photographs of him,’ said Bill, and he spread out five or six prints. The childrenlooked at them, astonished.
　　‘But - they’re all of different men,’ said Dinah.
　　‘Looks like it - but they’re all our friend Uma,’ said Bill. ‘He’s a master of disguises, as yousee. The only thing he cannot very well disguise is a long white scar on his right forearm, whichlooks very like a thin curving snake. But it’s easy enough to cover that up, of course, with thesleeve of his shirt or coat, or whatever garment he happens to be wearing.’
　　He gathered up the prints and put them back into his wallet. ‘You’re not likely to recognize himat all,’ he said. ‘So don’t go suspecting everyone you meet - you’ll spoil your holiday! I knowwhere to find people who know him, and I may get word of him. On the other hand, he may not beanywhere about now - he may have flown to America or Australia. He gads about all over theplace - a most extraordinary fellow’
　　Something long and sinuous suddenly glided by Bill, disappearing into the bushes nearby. Hejumped, and then put out a restraining hand as Philip darted by him. ‘No, Philip - that might be apoisonous snake - don’t try any tricks with animals here.’
　　Dinah gave a small shriek. ‘Was that a snake? Oh, how horrible! Bill, you didn’t tell us therewere snakes here. I hate snakes. Philip, don’t you dare to catch one, else I’ll scream the placedown.’
　　‘Fathead,’ said Philip, sitting down again. ‘All right, Bill. I won’t keep a poisonous snake, Ipromise you. That was rather a pretty one. What was it?’
　　‘I don’t know,’ said Bill. ‘I’m not over keen on snakes myself. And be careful of some of theinsects here too, Philip. They can give you nasty nips. Don’t carry too many about in yourpockets!’
　　Dinah was not so happy now that she knew there were snakes about. She kept her eyes on theground wherever she walked, and jumped at the least waving of a leaf. The little hotel managersaw her and came to comfort her.
　　‘Many snakes here, yes - beeg, beeg ones that do not bite - and little, little ones, which aremuch poison. The little bargua snake is the worst. Do not touch him.’
　　‘Oh dear - what’s it like?’ asked poor Dinah.
　　‘He is green with spottings,’ said the manager.
　　‘Oh! What sort of spottings?’ asked Dinah.
　　‘Red and yellow,’ said the little man. And he is fast with his head when he strikes - so!’ Hestruck out with his hand as if it were a snake darting at Dinah, and she gave a small scream anddrew back.
　　‘Ah - I fright you!’ said the plump manager, filled with dismay. ‘No, no, do not be fright. See, Ihave somethings for you!’
　　He scuttled off to fetch the ‘somethings’ and brought back a dish of extremely rich-lookingsweetmeats.
　　‘I give you my apologizings,’ he said. ‘And my beggings for pardon.’
　　Dinah couldn’t help laughing. ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t really frightened - you justmade me jump. But thanks awfully for these sweets.’
　　The little man disappeared and the children tried the sweets. They were very rich, very stickyand very sweet. After one each they all felt slightly sick. Kiki, however, helped herself generously,and then began to hiccup loudly, much to the delight of a passing waiter.
　　‘Shut up, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘That’s enough. Be quiet now.’
　　But this time Kiki really did have hiccups, and was rather astonished to find that she couldn’tstop. ‘Pardon,’ she kept saying, in a surprised tone that sent the children into gales of laughter.
　　‘That’ll teach you not to be so greedy!’ said Jack. ‘I say - we’re starting on the river-triptomorrow! Bags I drive the launch sometimes!’
　　‘Bags I, bags I!’ repeated Kiki at once, dancing up and down. ‘Three bags full! Bags I! Oh -pardon!’
　　Tomorrow! Away on an unknown river to mysterious places in a strange land - what could bemore exciting?
第4章 这是哪里
　　第4章 这是哪里
　　孩子们透过窗户，盯着飞机下面的风景看了很久。飞机飞得很高，下面大片大片的白云如同皑皑的雪地一般。从云层的间隙中，他们可以看到河流与群山，还有小村庄。
　　飞机在跑道上降落时，发出了巨大的轰鸣声。许多人都迅速站起来，拿好了自己的行李挪着步子拥挤着向前走。乘客们从机舱里涌出来，一些人的朋友已经在下面等候接机了。
　　一辆汽车在下面等待着比尔他们一家人的到来。很快，大家都舒舒服服地坐上了车，司机直接把他们接走了。
　　“你们看，一切都安排好了，”比尔说道，“我们现在要去一个非常小的地方，叫‘巴瑞热’，那儿有一家很舒适的旅馆。我不想待在大的地方，那样的话很容易被认出来。事实上，从现在开始我就要戴上墨镜了。”
　　这个所谓的“小地方”非常遥远，开了三个小时的车才到。路上有很多地方十分颠簸，沿途所见的景观有时树林茂密，有时又像沙漠般荒芜。终于，他们到达了目的地，车停在了一家旅馆外边。这旅馆从上到下都刷成了白色，看起来随意而悠闲。
　　旅馆经理亲自出来迎接，他是个长着大鼻子的小个子，微微有些胖。他鞠躬时差点儿鞠到了地上，随后用一种孩子们听不懂的语言大声地吩咐着服务人员。搬运工过来把行李从车上卸下。在炎热的太阳下，所有的人都汗流浃背。
　　“你们想洗漱吗，夫人？”旅馆经理问道，“一切都准备好了，我们真心欢迎你们的到来。”
　　他恭恭敬敬地把比尔一行人请进旅馆，并带他们去各自的房间。房间宽敞、通风，装饰简洁。孩子们非常高兴他们房间里有淋浴室。杰克迅速脱掉了衣服，站在淋浴下面。
　　“菲利普，你知道我们来的地方是哪儿吗？”杰克问道，“我知道比尔说这是叫什么‘巴瑞热’的地方，但我从没听说过。”
　　比尔此时正好走进了他们的房间：“一切都好吧？女孩们呢？她们的房间挨着你们吧？
　　太好了！我和艾莉的房间就在楼梯另一边。一刻钟以后我们去吃饭，你们收拾好了就过来敲门。”
　　“比尔，我们到底在世界上的什么地方？”杰克问道。
　　比尔大笑起来：“你不知道我们在哪儿吗？嗯——我们大概距离叙利亚的边境不远——一个非常古老的地方！告诉女孩们和你们一起赶快过来吃饭！”
　　这个小旅馆确实非常舒服。甚至连琪琪都受到了欢迎——旅馆经理刚从看到一只鹦鹉站在杰克肩膀上的震惊中恢复过来。
　　“你管这只鹦鹉叫什么？”小个子经理问道，“漂亮的小鹦鹉？”
　　“擦脚，关门！”琪琪突然开口，让小个子大吃一惊。
　　小个子不知道该不该遵从它的指令。“这只鸟真是有趣啊！”他说道，“太聪明了，它说话说得很好！小鹦鹉，小鹦鹉！”
　　“小鹦鹉保持安静！”琪琪说着发出了一声尖叫，吓得小个子飞快地逃出了房间。
　　旅馆里没有其他客人。孩子们坐在阳台的阴凉处，上面挂着一簇簇开得很漂亮的红色花朵。个头很大的蝴蝶飞来飞去，琪琪很感兴趣地望着它们。她在家里也看过蝴蝶，但是和这里的很不一样。她自言自语着，来来回回的服务员都对她很是敬畏。其中一个服务员突然咳嗽了，琪琪便惟妙惟肖地模仿了他的声音，那个服务员满脸惊恐地跑开了。
　　“别炫耀啦，琪琪，”杰克困倦地说，“安静点儿吧，看在老天的分儿上。你在我肩膀上都闹腾十分钟了。”
　　接下来的几天里，他们计划着进行一次为期至少一周的河上旅行。比尔制作了一张地图，上面显示着河流的蜿蜒走势，并标注了它流经的地方。
　　“我们从这里开始，这是起程的地方，先去这儿，看到了吗？然后顺流而下，到达这个小镇——就是——我不知道怎么念，‘阿拉欧亚’，大概是这个名字。我会把你们留在那儿，然后去调查一下我的目标人物。当然，我可能会把男孩们一起带上。”
　　“你的‘目标人物’，他叫什么？”杰克问。
　　“他自称是热亚•尤玛，”比尔说道，“没人知道这是不是他的真名，也不清楚他是哪国人——我们只知道他是一个大麻烦，需要对其进行监视。我们也无法想象他到底在这儿做什么。有可能他做的事情是绝对清白的，但了解了他的犯罪记录后，我并不这么认为。总之，我们要做的就是找到他，弄清他在做什么，然后向政府报告。其他的什么也不用做——所以也没有什么危险，否则我就不会把你们也带着了。”
　　“即使有危险我们也不介意！”菲利普说道，“发现危险就是一种激动人心的冒险。你懂的，比尔！”
　　比尔笑了：“你和你的‘冒险’！听着——这个叫尤玛的家伙不知道我，也没见过我，但是可能有人已经提醒过他，他被盯上了，所以他可能也在提防着过来监视他的调查者。如果有人问你们问题，就坦白地回答。就说你们病了，来这里疗养，享受阳光之类的——这也确实是你们来这儿的原因。”
　　“好的，”杰克说，“这个叫热亚•尤玛的家伙长什么样儿？”
　　“这儿有一些他的照片。”比尔说着，发给他们五六张打印的照片。孩子们盯着这些照片，目瞪口呆。
　　“但是，他们是完全不同的人啊！”黛娜说道。
　　“看上去是这样，但是这些确实都是我们的尤玛先生，”比尔说道，“正如你们所见，他可是一个善于伪装的大师！唯一伪装不了的就是他右胳膊上长长的白色疤痕，就像一条细细的蜷曲的蛇。但是这疤痕可以很轻易地被掩饰掉，比如用T恤或外套的袖子，还有大衣。”
　　比尔收起照片，塞进钱包放好。“你们不一定能认出他来，”比尔说道，“所以不要一碰到人就去怀疑——这样就会毁了你们的旅行！我知道哪儿有认识他的人，我打听得到他的消息。但是也有一种可能，他现在就不在附近——可能飞去了美国或者澳大利亚。他经常四处游荡——真是一个很特别的家伙。”
　　突然间，一条长长的弯曲的东西从比尔身旁滑过，消失在了附近的灌木丛。他跳起来，伸手拽住了正要飞奔过去的菲利普：“别去，菲利普——那可能是条毒蛇——别去捉弄这儿的动物。”
　　黛娜尖叫了一声：“那是蛇？噢，太可怕了！比尔，你没告诉我们这地方有蛇啊，我最讨厌蛇了！菲利普，你要是敢去抓，我就大声尖叫，把这个地方给震塌。”
　　“傻瓜！”菲利普说着，又坐下了，“好吧，比尔。我保证不会去招惹毒蛇的。那条蛇倒是挺漂亮的，是吧？”
　　“我不知道，”比尔说道，“我自己也不是很喜欢蛇。你要小心这地方的一些蛇虫之类的东西。要是被它们咬了，会很麻烦的。别把它们放进口袋里。”
　　自从知道这里有蛇，黛娜就不是很开心。她走路的时候眼睛一直盯着地面，一片树叶的摆动都能让她跳起来。小个子经理看到她这个样子，特意跑过来安慰她。
　　“这里蛇确实挺多的——大蛇不会咬人，小蛇是有毒的，尤其是那种小巴尔瓜蛇最毒了。千万别去碰它。”
　　“天哪，那种蛇长什么样儿？”可怜的黛娜问道。
　　“绿的，身上有斑点。”小个子说。
　　“什么样的斑点？”黛娜问道。
　　“有红的，有黄的。”小个子说道，“它攻击的时候脑袋动得特别快——嗖！”他用手模仿着蛇飞速地移向黛娜，黛娜尖叫着退后。
　　“啊，我吓到你了！”小个子的胖经理惊慌地说道，“别，别害怕啊，看，我有好东西给你！”
　　他迅速跑去拿他所谓的“好东西”，很快端来一盘看起来很腻的蜜饯儿。
　　“跟你道个歉，”他说，“我请求你的原谅。”
　　黛娜忍不住笑了起来：“好啦，我也不是那么害怕——谁让你害我跳起来了！但是非常谢谢你的蜜饯儿！”
　　小个子走了之后孩子们尝了尝这些蜜饯儿。太腻太黏太甜了！只吃了一个他们就觉得有些恶心。但是琪琪吃了很多，然后开始打响嗝儿，一个路过的服务员看到了这一幕，觉得很有意思。
　　“闭嘴，琪琪，”杰克说道，“够了，安静一会儿吧！”
　　但是这一次琪琪是真的打嗝儿，她很惊讶地发现自己停不下来了。“原谅我。”她一直用一种很奇怪的语调说着这句话，逗得大家哈哈大笑。
　　“这次你应该得到了教训，以后不要那么贪婪！”杰克说道，“大家听好啦——明天就开始河上旅行了！我们应该准备一下，把行李打包！”
　　“打包！打包！”琪琪立马重复着，上上下下地蹦跶着，“三个包已经满了！打包！噢——原谅我！”
　　明天！他们就会拥有一次在河上的冒险之旅！一条未知的河流，一块陌生土地上的神秘目的地——还有什么能比这更令人激动呢？
5 Away down the river
　　5
　　Away down the river
　　Next day they all drove down to the river. The white road wound here and there, and the peoplethey met ran to the side of the road to keep out of the way of the big car.
　　‘They look like people out of the Bible,’ said Lucy-Ann.
　　‘Well, many of the people in the Bible came from these parts!’ said Bill. ‘And in some ways thepeople and their villages too have not changed a great deal, except for modern amenities that havecrept in - the radio, for instance, and wrist-watches, and modern sanitation some-times. Andcinemas, of course - you find them everywhere.’
　　‘Bill - in the picture-Bible I had years ago Abraham looked exactly like that man!’ said Lucy-Ann, nodding towards a dignified, white-robed man walking by the roadside. And look at thatwoman with a pot on her head - pitcher, I mean. She’s like the picture I had of Rebecca going tothe well.’
　　‘Hey, look - camels!’ shouted Philip, suddenly excited. ‘Oh, there’s a baby one. I’ve never inmy life seen a baby one before. Oh, I wish I had it for a pet.’
　　‘Well, at least you couldn’t keep it in your pocket, like a snake or a mouse,’ said Dinah. ‘Don’tthose camels look cross!’
　　‘Yes,’ said Bill. ‘Camels always look annoyed. That one over there is looking down his nose atus as if he really couldn’t bear the sight of our car.’
　　‘He probably can’t!’ said Dinah. ‘It must smell horrible to him. Yes, he does look down hisnose, doesn’t he? Cheer up, camel!’
　　They saw patient donkeys too, loaded down with such heavy pannier-baskets that it was amarvel they could walk at all. Philip was interested in the birds too, almost as much as Jack was.
　　‘I wish I’d brought my big world-bird book,’ mourned Jack. ‘I’d be able to look up all thesebrilliant birds then. I did put it out to bring, but I left it on my dressing-table.’
　　You wouldn’t have been allowed in the aeroplane with that monster book,’ said Bill. ‘I see youbrought your field-glasses, however. You’ll find plenty to look at with those.’
　　‘Is that the river?’ said Dinah suddenly, as she caught sight of a flash of blue through the trees.
　　Yes, it is! I say - it’s very wide here, isn’t it!’
　　So it was. The farther shore seemed quite a distance away. Their launch was waiting for them, atrim little vessel with a boatman on board looking very spry and neat. He saluted them when theycame over from the car.
　　The launch was beside a little jetty, and Bill looked at it with approval. He nodded to the man.
　　‘I Tala,’ said the man, and bowed. ‘Tala look after ship, and look after you, Sir.’
　　Tala showed them over the launch. It was small but quite big enough for them all. The cabinwas stuffy and hot, but nobody planned to be there very much! The bunks down below lookedstuffy and hot too, but, as Bill said, they could sleep on deck, providing they rigged up a mosquitonet over them. A little breeze blew every now and again, which was very pleasant.
　　‘You start now, this minute, at once?’ enquired Tala, his black eyes taking them all in. He hadremarkably white teeth and a twinkle in his eyes that the children liked immediately. Bill nodded.
　　‘Yes. Off we go. You can show me any gadgets there are, and I’ll take the wheel if I want to.
　　Cast off
　　The launch went off smoothly, her engine making very little noise. At once it seemed cooler, forthe breeze was now in their faces. The children sat on the deck and watched the banks slide by oneither side.
　　Mrs Cunningham went down into the lower part of the launch to see what kind of food wasstored away there. She called to Bill.
　　‘Just look here!’ she said. ‘They’ve done you proud again, Bill - there’s enough for an armyhere - and such nice food too! And there’s a fridge packed with butter and milk. You must bequite an important person, Bill, to have all this done for you!’
　　Bill laughed. ‘You come along up on deck and get some colour into your cheeks!’ he said.
　　‘Hallo, what are the children excited about?’
　　The launch was passing a small village and the village children had come out to watch it go by.
　　They shouted and waved, and Jack and the others waved back.
　　‘What’s this river called, Tala?’ asked Philip.
　　‘It is called River of Abencha,’ answered Tala, his eyes on the water ahead.
　　‘I say, you others!’ called Philip. ‘He says this river’s called the River of Adventure - soundsexciting, doesn’t it?’
　　Abencha, Abencha,’ repeated Tala, but Philip thought he was trying to say Adventure’ and notpronouncing it correctly. Tala found many English words difficult to say!
　　All right, Tala - we heard you,’ said Philip. ‘It’s a lovely name for a river, I think - the River ofAdventure. Well, this is certainly an adventure for us!’
　　It was a quiet, peaceful trip that day, gliding along hour after hour. Bill took the wheel whenTala went down below to prepare a meal. The children wondered what kind of a meal it would be.
　　They were all extremely hungry.
　　Tala came up with a marvellous repast. As Dinah said, it was much too grand to be called just a‘meal’ - it was nothing less than a ‘repast’, or perhaps even a ‘feast’!
　　Tala had apparently opened a good many tins, and concocted some dishes of his own, garnishedwith pickles and sauces of many kinds. There were fresh rolls to go with the meal, and to followthere was fresh or tinned fruit. Lucy-Ann pounced on a big peach and put it to her lips.
　　‘No, don’t eat the skin of that peach, Lucy-Ann,’ said Bill. All fruit eaten out here must bepeeled before being eaten. Don’t forget that, please.’
　　Mrs Cunningham really enjoyed that peaceful day, hearing the lap-lap of the water against thebows of the boat, seeing the villages slip by on the banks, and sometimes meeting other boats onthe blue-green water.
　　The sun and wind tired them all out, and each of them fell asleep at once when they had beddeddown on deck. Tala tied up the boat safely, and went to his own shake-down in the stern.
　　Jack just had time to think that the stars seemed amazingly large and bright before he fell fastasleep. Nobody heard a sound that night, not even the cry of a night-bird, whose voice seemed halfa hoot and half a shriek. Kiki opened one eye and considered whether to answer back in her ownlanguage of squawk-and-scream - but decided that Bill might not like it!
　　The river was beautiful in the early morning. It was a pale milky blue, and Jack was thrilled towatch a whole covey of tiny water-birds swimming round the yacht. ‘What are they?’ he askedTala, pointing to the little blue and yellow things. Tala shrugged his shoulders.
　　‘Tala not know,’ he said. Jack soon found that Tala knew absolutely nothing about birds, insectsor flowers. He could not put a name to a single one. His whole interest was in the launch’s engineand in the care of it.
　　‘We come to big, big place soon,’ said Tala, early that evening. He looked rather excited. ‘Placename Sinny-Town.’
　　‘Sinny-Town?’ said Bill, puzzled. ‘I don’t think so, Tala. There is no big town along this river-side - only small ones. I’ve never heard of Sinny-Town. It isn’t on my map.’
　　Tala nodded his head vigorously up and down. ‘Yes, Sinny-Town. Tala know. Tala been. Halfan hour and we see Sinny-Town.’
　　Bill took out his map, and looked down the river as it was shown there. He shook his headagain, and showed the map to Tala.
　　‘You’re wrong,’ he said. ‘There is no Sinny-Town marked here. See.’
　　Tala put his finger on a place where the river shown on the map curved a little.
　　‘Sinny-Town there,’ he said. You will see, Sir. Tala right. Tala been there. Big, big town. Manypeoples. Big, big towers, tall as the sky.’
　　This was most astonishing. Bill couldn’t understand it. Why wasn’t this ‘big, big place’ shownon the map? Even small places were shown there. In fact, the little place he had planned to go towas marked as being very near the curve of the river where Tala said Sinny-Town was.
　　He shrugged his shoulders. Tala must be mistaken. Towers as tall as the sky - what nonsense!
　　The darkness came suddenly, as it always does in southern countries. Stars shone out, large andmysterious, and very, very bright. The river turned black and silver, and held as many stars aswere in the sky.
　　‘Bend of river, Sir - then Sinny-Town,’ said Tala, in an excited voice. ‘You will see!’
　　The launch glided smoothly round the bend - and then Bill and the others saw a mostastonishing sight!
　　A great city lay there, on the west bank of the river. A city of lights and noise. A city withtowers that went up to the sky, just as Tala had said!
　　Bill stared in the utmost astonishment. He simply could not understand it! Here was a big placenot even marked on the map - and the map was a modern one, not a year old! A city could not bebuilt in a year. Bill was more puzzled than he had ever been in his life. He stood and stared as if hecould not believe his eyes.
　　‘Tala go Sinny-Town tonight?’ said Tala beseechingly. Tala like Sinny-Town. Tala go, Sir?
　　Boat be all right with you, Sir.’
　　‘Yes, yes - you go,’ said Bill, finding his voice. ‘Bless my soul, this is a most extraordinarything. A large, lively town, with great buildings - and it’s not marked on the map, and no one inLondon told me a word about it. What can it mean?’
　　‘Let’s visit it, Bill,’ said Jack.
　　‘Not tonight,’ said Bill. ‘We’ll see what it looks like in the daylight. But what a brilliantlylighted place - and what enormous buildings! I simply don’t understand it. It’s very - very -strange!’
第5章 顺流而下
　　第5章 顺流而下
　　第二天他们开车向那条河流驶去。白色的道路曲折蜿蜒，路上的人们纷纷跑到路边给这辆大汽车让路。
　　“他们好像《圣经》里的人物哦！”露西安说道。
　　“嗯，很多《圣经》里的人物都是来自这里！”比尔说道，“在某些方面，这里的人和他们的村庄都没什么变化，除了一些现代化的便利设备悄悄地进入了他们的生活，比如录音机、手表，还有现代化卫生设施。当然，还有电影院——到处都可以看到。”
　　“比尔，几年前我在绘图本《圣经》里看到的‘亚伯拉罕 [1] ’，就是那个人的样子！”露西安说着，朝路边走过的一位气度不凡的白袍男士扬了扬头，接着视线又落到了一位女士身上，“看，那个头上顶着壶的女人，我是说，顶着水罐。她就像我在绘图本中见过的，去井边的利百加 [2] ！”
　　“嘿，快看！——骆驼！”菲利普突然激动地喊了起来，“哇，这儿有只骆驼宝宝，我还从来没见过骆驼宝宝呢，真希望可以养一只当宠物！”
　　“呵呵，你养只骆驼还好，至少不能像蛇或老鼠一样放进口袋里。”黛娜说道，“我怎么觉得这些骆驼看起来很生气？”
　　“是的，”比尔说道，“骆驼看起来总是显得很烦躁。那边那只正鄙视地看着我们呢，好像它一见到我们的汽车就难以忍受。”
　　“没准儿是！”黛娜说道，“这车闻起来肯定特别糟糕。是的，它都向下看喽，是吧？别这样，开心点儿嘛，骆驼！”
　　他们还看到了很有耐心的驴子。神奇的是，驮着那么重的篮子，驴子们居然还能走得动。菲利普和杰克一样，对鸟类也很感兴趣。
　　“真希望我带了那本关于世界鸟类的大部头，”杰克懊恼着，“那样我就可以查找所有这些奇妙的鸟儿了。我本来把这本书翻了出来准备带上的，但是落在了桌上了。”
　　“你带着那本大部头上飞机肯定是不合适的，”比尔说道，“但是我看到你带了你的望远镜。你用它也可以观察到很多东西的。”
　　“是那条河吗？”黛娜看到一抹蓝色在树丛里闪过，惊喜地叫了起来，“是，真的是。它好宽呀，你们看是不是！”
　　这条河确实很宽。另一边的河岸看起来非常遥远。船已经在等着他们了，是一艘纤细的小艇，甲板上还有一个衣着整洁、看起来身手敏捷的船夫。当他们下车朝甲板走去的时候，船夫恭恭敬敬地向他们打招呼。
　　码头很小，船就停在一旁。比尔看了一眼，非常满意，冲船夫点点头。
　　“我是塔拉，”船夫说着向他们鞠躬致意，“塔拉将会照看这艘船，也会为您服务，先生。”
　　塔拉带着大家参观了一下这艘船。它虽然很小，但是对他们几个来说已经足够了。船舱里又闷又热，没有人想去那里面！下面的床铺看起来也很闷热，但正如比尔所说，只要搭起蚊帐，他们就可以睡在甲板上。想象一下——微风时不时地吹过，那肯定特别舒服。
　　“我们现在起航吗？马上？”塔拉问道，大家都被他那双黑黑的大眼睛吸引了。他的牙齿很白，眼睛闪闪发亮，一下子就俘获了孩子们的心。比尔点了点头。
　　“我是塔拉，”船夫说着向他们鞠躬致意，“塔拉将会照看这艘船，也会为您服务，先生。”
　　“是的，我们起航吧。你可以领我看看船上这些装置，这样我想掌舵的时候就可以自己试试了。出发吧！”
　　船顺利地起航了，引擎并没有太大噪音。微风吹过，拂在大家的脸上，立刻就觉得凉快了。孩子们坐在甲板上，好奇地看着两边的河岸缓缓地向后掠去。
　　艾莉阿姨下到船的底层，想去看看那里储藏着什么食物。她叫着比尔的名字。
　　“看看这儿！”她说道，“他们对你真的很好，肯定会让你感到非常荣幸的，比尔！这儿的食物足够一支军队吃的了，而且看上去都很好吃！冰箱里装满了黄油和牛奶。我猜，你肯定是一个重要人物，比尔，他们为你做了这么多！”
　　比尔大笑了起来。“快点去甲板上吧，那儿感觉会更舒服的！”比尔说道，“看看，孩子们在激动什么呢？”
　　此时，岸上出现了一个小村庄，村里的孩子们都跑了出来，瞅着比尔他们的船慢慢地经过。孩子们叫喊着，挥着手，杰克和其他人也都挥手回应。
　　“这条河叫什么，塔拉？”菲利普问道。
　　“冒响河。”塔拉看着前方的河流回答道。
　　“你们听到了吗，”菲利普喊道，“他说这条河叫‘冒险河’——听起来就令人激动，难道不是吗？”
　　“冒响，冒响。”塔拉重复着，但是菲利普以为他说的是“冒险”，只不过发音有些别扭。塔拉发现很多英语单词都非常难说！
　　“好啦，塔拉——我听到你说啦，”菲利普说道，“‘冒险河’——我觉得这真是个不错的名字，嘿嘿，这对于我们绝对是一场冒险。”
　　时间一点一点地过去了，这一天的旅程安静而平和。塔拉下到船舱里准备晚饭，比尔则接过塔拉的工作，开始掌舵。孩子们很好奇晚饭会是什么样子，每个人都非常饿了。
　　塔拉准备了一顿大餐。就像黛娜说的，这太丰盛了，以至于不能叫一顿饭——它不亚于一顿大餐，或者一场盛宴。
　　很明显，塔拉开了很多罐头，自己一个人做了很多菜，并搭配了各种咸菜和酱。晚餐还有新鲜的香肠、新鲜的水果和水果罐头。露西安猛地抓住一个大桃子，正要放进嘴里。
　　“别吃桃子皮，露西安，”比尔说道，“所有的水果在吃之前必须削皮，大家别忘了！”
　　艾莉阿姨十分享受如此宁静的一天——听着河水拍打着船头，看着岸上掠过的村庄，有时他们的船也会和其他船在这碧蓝的河水里相遇。
　　一天下来，所有的人都很疲惫了。在微风的吹拂下，大家都晕晕乎乎，昏昏欲睡。所以，他们在甲板上整理好床铺后，很快就进入了梦乡。塔拉绑好了船，在确保它安全无虞后，也走到船尾他自己的床铺上睡觉去了。
　　杰克在临睡着的时候还想着星星看起来怎么这么大这么亮，真是令人惊叹。那天晚上，大家没有听到一丝声音，连夜里鸟儿发出的那种半是短促半是尖长的鸣叫声他们都没有听到。倒是鹦鹉琪琪睁开了眼睛，想着是否要用她嘎嘎的鸟类语言去回应一下，但是一想到比尔不喜欢就放弃了。
　　清晨的蓝色河水非常美丽，泛着淡淡的奶白色的光晕。杰克激动地看着一群小水鸟盘旋在小船周围。“那是什么鸟？”他指着这群蓝黄相间的小东西，问塔拉。塔拉耸了耸肩。
　　“塔拉不知道。”他说。杰克很快发现塔拉对鸟儿、虫子还有花儿一无所知，一个都叫不上名字来。他的兴趣都在船的引擎还有如何照看船上。
　　“我们快要到一个很大很大的地方喽！”太阳刚刚落山，塔拉说道。他看起来十分兴奋：“一个叫‘影子城’的地方。”
　　“影子城？”比尔迷惑地说道，“我不认为是这样，塔拉。河那边没有一个很大的城——只有一些小镇。我从没听过‘影子城’，地图上也没有。”
　　塔拉使劲地点着头：“是的，‘影子城’。塔拉知道。塔拉去过，再过半小时我们就能看见‘影子城’了。”
　　比尔掏出地图，看向指示河流的地方。他又摇了摇头，把地图给塔拉看。
　　“你搞错了，”他说，“看，这儿没有标‘影子城’。”
　　塔拉用手指着地图上河流转了一个小弯的地方。
　　“‘影子城’在这儿，”他说，“您会看到的，先生，塔拉是对的。塔拉去过这儿。很大很大的城。人特别多。很大很大的高塔，和天一样高。”
　　这就更令人惊奇了！比尔一时半会儿也搞不明白。为什么这个“很大很大的城”在地图上没有标示？即使是很小的地方上面都有标示。事实上，他原本计划要去的地方就标记在了靠近河流转弯的地方，而塔拉说的“影子城”也在河流转弯处！
　　比尔耸了耸肩——塔拉肯定弄错了。和天一样高的塔楼——真是胡扯！
　　夜幕骤然降临，这在南方的国家很常见。星星出来了，巨大、神秘又闪亮。河水变黑，泛着银光，也闪烁着和天上一样多的星星。
　　“先生，河流一转过弯，就是‘影子城’啦！”塔拉激动地说道，“您会看到的！”
　　小艇平稳地驶过河流拐弯处——一幕令人震惊的景象出现在了比尔和其他人的眼前！
　　一座巨大的城市伫立在河的西岸——满是灯光和噪音的城市，有着高耸入云的塔楼的城市，就像塔拉说的那样！
　　比尔震惊地注视着。他不能理解！一个这么大的地方居然没标记——地图是全新的，绘制出来还不到一年！一座大城是不可能在一年内建好的。比尔从未感到如此困惑过。他站在那里注视着河岸，几乎不敢相信自己的眼睛。
　　“塔拉今晚可以去‘影子城’吗？”塔拉恳求道，“先生，塔拉喜欢这儿，塔拉想去？船会给您停好的。”
　　“当——当然，你去吧，”比尔这才缓过神来，“我的天哪，这真是太不可思议了。一座巨大、真实的城市，还有宏伟的建筑——地图上居然没有标示，伦敦也没人向我提到过它。这究竟是怎么回事呢？”
　　“我们去参观一下吧，比尔。”杰克说道。
　　“今晚不行，”比尔说道，“等明天白天我们再去看看它到底是什么样子吧。但这真是个灯火辉煌的地方——还有那些巨大的建筑！我一点儿都搞不懂，太奇怪，太奇怪了！”
　　[1] 亚伯拉罕，《圣经》人物，原名亚伯兰，是犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教的先知，是上帝从地上众生中所拣选并给予祝福的人。
　　[2] 利百加，《圣经》人物，亚伯拉罕的儿媳。亚伯拉罕打算为他的儿子选一个善良贤能的妻子，就派他的老仆人去他的家乡寻找，老仆人在水井边见到了利百加。
6 Sinny-Town
　　6
　　Sinny-Town
　　Everyone slept very well that night. They had stayed up fairly late looking at the lights of thesurprising Sinny-Town. Tala had gone off in glee, leaping from the launch to the shore with onelithe spring. He had not come back by the time the others had bedded down on the cool deck, andBill was rather uneasy, wondering if he would return.
　　But in the morning the sound of someone tinkering with the engine of the launch awoke Jack -and there was Tala, looking rather the worse for wear after his late night, at work on the plugs. Hegrinned at Jack when the boy stood up and stretched.
　　‘Tala go to Sinny-Town,’ he said, and nodded towards the bank. Jack remembered their surpriseof the night before and ran to the other side of the launch to gaze at the mysterious Sinny-Town.
　　It was so extraordinary that he called to Bill. ‘Bill! I say, Bill - do come and look.’
　　Bill awoke and joined Jack. The two of them looked at the sprawling town. Bill was astonished.
　　‘There’s something odd about it,’ he said. ‘Look at those towers - somehow they don’t lookreal - and what’s that over there - a palace or something? There’s something peculiar about thattoo. Isn’t one side missing? Where are your field-glasses, Jack? Lend them to me.’
　　Jack handed them to him and Bill gazed through them. ‘No - I don’t understand this,’ he said,lowering them. ‘The town is a most peculiar mixture of buildings - there are shacks and sheds,ancient houses, towers, that palace, and something that looks remarkably like an old temple - andhere and there are crowds of people milling round, and droves of camels, and . . . no, I don’tunderstand it.’
　　‘Do let’s go and look at it after breakfast,’ said Jack.
　　‘Yes, we certainly will,’ said Bill. ‘Sinny-Town is no village - it’s quite a big place - but WHYisn’t it marked on my map? I had a look at another map last night, but it’s not shown there either.
　　Wake the others, Jack.’
　　Soon they were all having breakfast. Mrs Cunningham was as surprised as the rest of them tosee such a strange mixture of a town on the bank of the river.
　　That palace looks quite new,’ said Lucy-Ann, staring at it. ‘And yet it must be thousands ofyears old and ought to be in ruins.’
　　After breakfast they all went ashore, leaving Tala in charge of the launch. Kiki was on Jack’sshoulder as usual, and very talkative, much to the amusement of the people they met.
　　‘Shut the door,’ she ordered imperiously. ‘Fetch the doctor, Polly’s got a cold. A- HOO-CHOO!’
　　Her sneeze was so realistic that Lucy-Ann almost offered her a hanky. Soon Jack had to makethe parrot stop talking, for, on looking behind him, he found a group of small, excited childrenfollowing, pointing at Kiki in delight.
　　They came near to the town - and then Bill gave an exclamation. ‘It’s not a real town! It’s afake! All these towers and temples are imitation! Look at this one - it is only a front - there’s noback to it.’
　　They stared in wonder. Bill was right. It was just a flimsy false front, which, from a distance,looked exactly like a real temple - but behind it was nothing but boards and canvas, with joists oftimber holding the whole thing up.
　　They went on, coming to well-built sheds, stored with masses of peculiar things, jerry-builtshacks that served all sorts of purposes - one sold cigarettes, one sold soft drinks and others soldgroceries and so on.
　　The people were a curiously mixed lot. Men and women walked or ran here and there, mostlydressed in sloppy-looking European clothes - and others, dressed in flowing robes, went on theirway too. Small children with hardly anything on darted everywhere.
　　And then, round a corner, they came upon a curious sight. It was a procession of magnificentlydressed men, walking slowly, and chanting as they went. In the midst of the procession was aspace, and here, surrounded by women dressed in the robes of long, long ago, was a kind of bedon which lay a very beautiful woman, carried by four slaves, tall, strong and dark-skinned.
　　Bill and the others stood and stared - and then Bill heard a curious whirring noise. He looked tosee what was making it - and gave an exclamation.
　　The others looked at him. Bill grinned at them. ‘I’ve got it!’ he said. ‘I see it all now, and I can’tthink why it didn’t dawn on me before. The reason why Sinny-Town isn’t shown on the map isbecause it probably wasn’t here when the map was drawn a year ago! See those enormouscameras? They’re cine-cameras - they’re taking pictures for a film, and . . .’
　　Then everyone exclaimed too, and began to talk excitedly.
　　‘Of course! It’s a town specially built for the making of a film of long-ago days!’
　　‘Why didn’t we think of it before! That’s why that temple is only a front and nothing else!’
　　‘And why there is such a mixture of people here!’
　　‘And, of course, it’s Cine-Town, not Sinny-Town as we all imagined!’ said Jack. ‘A town ofcinema cameras taking pictures - Cine-Town.’
　　‘It’s jolly interesting!’ said Philip. ‘Bill, can we wander round on our own? Look, there’s afellow doing acrobatics over there - look at him bending over backwards and catching hold of theback of his ankles with his hands!’
　　Bill laughed. ‘All right. You can go and have a good look round. I expect this place attracts a lotof show-people, who think they can make a bit of money by their tricks. You may see somethinginteresting. But keep together, please. Boys, see that the girls don’t get separated from you. I’ll gooff alone with your mother, Philip - I might pick up some useful information.’
　　The children knew what that meant! Bill hoped to find out something about Mr Raya Uma.
　　Well, it was quite likely that he had come to Cine-Town!
　　They set off by themselves, followed by a little tail of interested noisy children. Beggars calledto them as they passed by, holding out all kinds of wares - trays of sticky sweetmeats, coveredwith flies, that made the two girls shudder in disgust. Fresh fruit in baskets. Little gimcrack objectssuch as might be found in fairs at home. Pictures of the stars who were, presumably, acting in thefilm being made in the town. There were all kinds of goods, none of which the children wished tobuy.
　　Even the babies seemed to speak English - or, rather, English with a pronounced Americanaccent, for the company making the film was one of the biggest ones from America. It was easy topick out the Americans and Europeans, not only by their dress but by their bustling walk and loudvoices.
　　The four children wandered round the false temples and towers, wondering what the film wasthat was being made - it was obviously a story taken from the Old Testament. Then they madetheir way to a large group of huts where a little crowd sat watching a man who was performing amost peculiar trick. He was walking up a ladder of knives!
　　A weird chant went up from two of his attendants as he climbed up the edges of the blades,setting his bare feet on them without flinching. Someone began to play a kind of tom-tom, and thechildren stood there, fascinated.
　　The man leapt down, grinning. He turned up the soles of his feet to show that they were not inthe least cut. He invited the audience to come and test the sharpness of the knife-edges with theirhands, and some of them did.
　　He beckoned to the four children and they went to the strange ladder of knives and felt theedges too - yes, they were certainly sharp! They gazed at the man in respect, and put a littlemoney into his bag. It was English money, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. He could probablychange it into his own coinage at any of the ramshackle shops around.
　　‘What a way to earn your living - climbing up sharp knives with bare feet!’ said Lucy-Ann.
　　‘Oh, look - there’s a juggler!’
　　The juggler was extremely clever. He had six glittering balls and sent them up and down, to andfro, as fast as he could, so that it was almost impossible for the eye to see them. He caught them sodeftly that the children stood lost in admiration. Then he took six plates and juggled with those,throwing them over his shoulder and between his legs, one after the other, without dropping orbreaking a single one.
　　Just as the children were clapping him, Jack felt a hand sliding into his shorts pocket and turnedquickly. He grabbed at a small, skinny boy, but the child wriggled away quickly.
　　‘Hey, you! Don’t you dare to do that again!’ yelled Jack, indignantly, feeling in his pocket. Asfar as he could tell, nothing had been taken - he had been too quick for the little thief. Still, it wasa lesson to him and to all the others too.
　　‘We obviously mustn’t get so engrossed in watching things that we forget to guard our pockets,’
　　said Jack. ‘Why didn’t you see that little monkey of a fellow, Kiki? You could have yelled out“Stop thief!”’
　　‘Stopthief, stopthief, stopthief!’ shouted Kiki immediately, thinking that it was all one word.
　　This astonished all the passers-by so much that they stood and stared. One small girl darted awayat once.
　　‘She thinks Kiki is addressing her,’ said Philip, with a grin. ‘I expect she had just planned topinch your little bag, Lucy-Ann.’
　　Just then a queer, thin music floated over to them, and they stopped. ‘I say - that sounds likesnake-music!’ said Philip, suddenly excited. ‘Come on, quick - I’ve always wanted to see a snake-charmer at work. Quick!’
第6章 影子城
　　第6章 影子城
　　那天晚上大家都睡得很好。他们看着这个神奇的“影子城”的灯光一直到很晚。塔拉开心地离开了，从船上轻轻一跃，就跳到了河岸上。大家去清凉的甲板上准备睡觉的时候他都没回来，比尔十分担心他会一去不回。
　　但是，第二天早上，杰克被有人捣鼓引擎的声音给吵醒了——是塔拉，在引擎旁进行着他的工作。因为在“影子城”玩得很晚，所以他现在看起来衣服又脏又乱。杰克站起来，伸展着胳膊腿儿，塔拉看到了，冲着他咧嘴一笑。
　　“塔拉去‘影子城’了。”他冲着河岸上点了点头，说道。杰克记起了昨晚令他们十分震惊的神奇的“影子城”，立马跑到船的另一端去看。
　　这座城市太不同寻常了，他叫比尔一起过来看：“比尔，比尔，快来看一看。”
　　比尔被叫醒了，也和杰克一起朝着这个分布杂乱的“影子城”看去。比尔感到非常惊奇。
　　“有点不对劲儿，”他说，“看那些高楼——不知道为什么总感觉不是真的——还有那边建的是宫殿还是什么？我觉得也有些奇怪。是不是缺了另一面？杰克，你的望远镜呢？借我用用。”
　　杰克把望远镜递给他，比尔盯着“影子城”看了一会儿。“不明白，真的搞不明白，”比尔放下了望远镜，说道，“这座城市的建筑组合非常奇怪——有一些小棚屋、老房子、高楼，那座宫殿，还有一座看着很像古老的寺庙——人群四处穿梭，还有骆驼群，还有……我真的搞不明白。”
　　“那我们吃完早饭去那儿看看吧。”杰克说道。
　　“当然，我们当然要去了，”比尔说道，“‘影子城’不是一个小村庄——它很大——但为什么我的地图上没有标示？我昨晚又看了另一张地图，也没有。杰克，去把其他人叫醒。”
　　大家很快吃完了早饭。看到河那边如此古怪的城，艾莉阿姨和其他人一样，也非常惊讶。
　　“那座宫殿看起来很新，”露西安盯着岸边的那个地方，说道，“但是照理说，它应该有几千年的历史了，早就应该变成废墟了。”
　　早饭过后，大家都上了岸，留下塔拉一个人照看着船。琪琪像往常一样站在杰克的肩膀上，话很多，路过的人都被她逗乐了。
　　“关门！”琪琪霸气地命令道，“叫医生，小鹦鹉感冒了。阿嚏！”
　　她打喷嚏打得太真实了，露西安几乎要把手帕递过去了。很快，杰克就不得不让这只小鹦鹉闭嘴，因为他发现有一群激动的小孩子跟在他们后面，欢快地指着琪琪。
　　他们走近这座“影子城”——比尔突然惊叫了一声：“这不是一座真正的城市，都是假的！所有的高楼和寺庙都是仿造的！看看这个，只有前头一面，后面没有东西！”
　　他们好奇地盯着看。比尔说得没错，是假的，前头只有薄薄的一面，从远处看就像一个真的寺庙——但是后面除了板子、帆布和撑着的木梁，什么都没有。
　　他们继续往前走，看到一些建得还不错的小屋，里面摆着很多稀奇古怪的物品。还有一些搭建简陋的、卖各种东西的小棚子，一个卖香烟，一个卖饮料，还有卖食品杂货的。
　　令人感到奇怪的是，这里混杂着来自不同国家的人。男男女女或走或跑，穿梭其中，大多数穿着松垮的欧洲服饰——另一些人，穿着柔顺的长袍，也在其中走着。小孩子们几乎不穿衣服，横冲直撞地到处乱跑。
　　接着，在拐角处，他们看到了奇妙的一幕。一支由穿着华丽的男人们组成的队伍！他们缓慢地走着，边走边唱。在队伍里面，一群身穿古代长袍的女人们围着一张床。上面躺着一个非常漂亮的女人，床被四个高大强壮、皮肤黝黑的奴隶抬着。
　　比尔和其他人站在那儿，盯着眼前的景象——然后比尔听到一阵呼呼的奇怪响声。他想去搞明白是什么发出的声音——突然惊叫一声。
　　其他人都看向比尔。他咧开嘴笑了。“我明白了！”比尔说道，“我现在弄明白所有事情了，为什么之前没想到呢！‘影子城’没有在地图上标着，是因为一年前制作地图的时候它还没建起来呢！看到那些大摄像机了吗？那是影视摄像机——他们在拍电影！”
　　所有的人都惊呼了出来，然后开始激动地谈论着。
　　“是的，肯定的，这座城是专门拍古装电影的！”
　　“我们之前怎么没想到呢，这就解释了为什么那个寺庙除了前头的一面，就没别的了！”
　　“这也解释了为什么这里混杂着不同国度的人。”
　　“而且，这儿其实应该叫‘影视城’，不叫‘影子城’！”杰克说道，“一座影视拍摄的城——‘影视城’。”
　　“太有意思啦！”菲利普说道，“比尔，我们能自己逛逛吗？看，那儿有人在练杂技——他往后弯下腰，手居然能抓住脚腕！”
　　比尔大笑起来：“好吧。你们可以去好好逛逛。我猜这个地方肯定吸引了不少前来表演的人，他们觉得可以凭自己的把戏赚点儿钱。你们肯定会看到一些很有意思的表演。但是一定要一起行动。男孩们，照顾好女孩，别让她们和你们分开。菲利普，我和你妈妈就先走了——我去打听一些有用的信息。”
　　孩子们知道这句话的意思——比尔想去打探一些关于热亚•尤玛的消息。他很有可能来过这个“影视城”！
　　孩子们开始自己逛，身后总是跟着几个好奇的、吵闹的当地孩子。乞丐们在他们走过的时候叫住他们，手里拿着各种物品——一盘一盘黏糊糊的蜜饯儿，上面还有苍蝇，让两个女孩恶心得直发颤。篮子里的新鲜水果、在家里集市上也可以看到的花里胡哨的小玩意儿、可能在“影视城”拍过电影的明星的海报……还有各种各样的东西，但是孩子们什么都不想买。
　　在这里，似乎连特别小的孩子都会说英语——确切地说，是美式口音的英语，因为这里的电影制作公司是美国的电影巨头之一。从人群里很容易分辨出美国人和欧洲人，不仅是根据他们的穿着，还因为美国人走路时总是很快，嗓门也很大。
　　四个孩子在假的寺庙和高楼间闲逛，好奇这儿正在拍摄什么电影——很明显，应该是《圣经》里的故事。然后他们继续往前走，看到一大排屋子，那边有一小群人正在围观一场十分特别的表演——一个人正爬上一架用刀子做台阶的梯子！
　　那人赤着双脚，毫不畏缩地踩在刀刃上。随着他爬上刀梯，旁边有两个人唱着怪异的歌曲，还有人开始打鼓。孩子们站在那儿，看得很是着迷。
　　那个表演者跳了下来，咧着嘴笑起来。他向众人展示他的脚底，证明一点儿都没有受伤。他还邀请观众上前用手去检查刀子的锋利程度，有些人的确这样做了。
　　他向四个孩子招手，让他们上前检查这架奇特的刀梯并感受一下刀刃——是的，它们非常锋利！孩子们敬佩地看着这个表演者，在他的袋子里放了一些钱。是英国货币，但是那个人似乎一点儿也不介意。或许他可以在周围任何一家简陋的小商店里把这些换成当地的钱。
　　“这种赚钱方法还真是让我大开眼界——光脚爬刀子！”露西安说道，“哇，看哪，有玩杂耍的人！”
　　那个杂耍的表演者非常聪明。他拿着六个闪闪发光的球，尽可能快地把它们扔上扔下、扔前扔后，围观的人几乎都看不清了！他敏捷地接住球，让孩子们一脸崇拜地站在原地。随后，他拿出六个盘子，又耍起了盘子，一个一个地扔过他的肩膀和腿中间，盘子一个都没掉下来摔碎。
　　就在孩子们为他鼓掌的时候，杰克感觉一只手滑进了他短裤的口袋里，他立马转身，抓住了一个瘦小的男孩，但是被他迅速地挣脱逃走了。
　　“你，小贼！你再偷试试！”杰克生气地大喊，他摸摸口袋，没发现少什么东西——他的反应对这个小贼来说太快了。但对杰克还有其他孩子来说，这仍旧是个教训。
　　“我们真不应该这么入神地看表演，而忘了保护我们的口袋，”杰克说道，“你怎么没有看到他呢，琪琪，你应该大喊‘抓贼’的！”
　　“抓贼，抓贼，抓贼！”琪琪觉得杰克是让她现在喊，就立马大叫起来。这一喊让所有路过的人都停了下来，惊奇地盯着这只小鹦鹉。一个小女孩立马跑开了。
　　“她肯定认为琪琪是在说她，”菲利普咧嘴笑道，“我猜她原本是想掏你的小包，露西安。”
　　就在此时，一种怪异尖锐的音乐飘进他们的耳朵，他们一下子就停住了。“听——这好像是玩蛇的曲子！”菲利普突然兴奋地说道，“快，我们快过去——我一直都想看玩蛇。快点！”
7 A surprising morning
　　7
　　A surprising morning
　　Jack, Philip and Lucy-Ann hurried towards the sound, but Dinah hung back.
　　‘Ugh! Snakes! I don’t want to see them,’ she said. ‘I hate snakes. I’m not coming.’
　　‘Dinah, you’ve got to keep with us,’ said Philip impatiently. ‘Bill said so. You don’t need towatch, you can turn your back. But you must keep with us.’
　　‘All right, all right,’ said Dinah crossly. ‘But why you want to go and gloat over snakes I cannotimagine. Horrible things!’
　　She dawdled behind, but kept within reach, and then, when they came to the little crowdsurrounding the snake-charmer, she turned her back. She felt rather sick, for she had caught sightof a snake rising up from a basket, wavering to and fro. She swallowed once or twice, and feltbetter, but she did not dare to turn round again. She stared out over the strangely mixed crowd.
　　The other three were in the little crowd round the snake-charmer. He was a rather tough-lookingman, with a turban wound round his head, and a wide cloth round his middle. He had only oneeye. The other was closed - but his one eye looked round piercingly, and Lucy-Ann decided thatshe didn’t like it at all. It was as unblinking as a snake’s!
　　Beside the man stood his attendant, a small boy, quite naked except for a cloth round hismiddle. He was painfully thin, and Lucy-Ann could easily count all his bony little ribs. His eyeswere sharp and bright - not like a snake’s, thought Lucy-Ann, but like a robin’s. He was talking attop speed about the snakes in the basket.
　　He spoke a curious mixture of his own language and American. The children could not followhalf of it, but they gathered enough to know that the snakes in the basket were dangerous ones,with a bite so poisonous that it could kill even a grown man in twelve hours.
　　‘He dart like this,’ chanted the little fellow, and made a snake-like movement with his arm, ‘hebite quick, quick, quick . . .’
　　The man sitting by the round basket began to play again the strange, tuneless music that thechildren had heard a few minutes before. The snake that Dinah had seen had disappeared back intoits basket - but now it arose again and everyone gasped at its wicked-looking head.
　　Lucy-Ann whispered to Jack. ‘Jack - it’s the snake that the hotel manager told us about - greenwith red and yellow spots - look! What was its name now?’
　　‘Er - bargua, I think,’ said Jack, watching the snake. ‘My word, it’s a little beauty, but wicked-looking, isn’t it? See it wavering about as if it’s looking round at everyone. My goodness, here’sanother!’
　　A second snake had now uncoiled itself and was rising up slowly, seeming to look round fromside to side. Some of the crowd came a little closer to the snake-charmer, and at once the smallboy cried out sharply, ‘Back, back, back! You want to be bit? He bite quick, quick, quick!’
　　The crowd at once surged back, frightened. The snake-charmer went on with his weird music,blowing interminably on his little flute, his one eye following all the movements of the crowd. Athird snake arose and swayed from side to side as if in time to the music.
　　The small boy tapped it on the head with a stick and it sank down again.
　　‘He very bad snake, he not safe,’ explained the boy earnestly. The other two snakes stillwavered about, and then, quite suddenly, the man changed his music, and it became louder andmore insistent. One of the snakes swayed more quickly, and the little boy held a stick over its headas if to stop it.
　　The snake struck at it, and then, before anyone could stop it, slithered right out of the baskettowards the crowd.
　　At once there were screams and howls, and everyone surged back. The small boy ran at thesnake and picked it up. He threw it back into the basket, and a cry of admiration went up at once.
　　Shouts and claps and cheers filled the air, and the snake-charmer stood up slowly, and patted thesmall boy on the head.
　　‘He save you all!’ he said, and then added a few rapid words in his own language. ‘He brave.
　　Snake might bite him. He brave,’ he finished.
　　‘What a kid!’ said an American voice, warm with admiration. ‘Here, boy - take a hold of this!’
　　and he threw a dollar bill on the ground. The little boy darted on it as quickly as a snake, andnodded his thanks.
　　That was the signal for other people in the crowd to throw down money for the boy too, and hepicked it all up, stuffing it into a fold of his waist-cloth.
　　The snake-charmer took no notice. He was busy putting the lid on the snake-basket, preparingto leave.
　　Jack put his hand into his pocket to throw down a coin, but to his surprise Philip stopped him.
　　‘No, don’t,’ said Philip. ‘It’s all a fake.’
　　Jack looked at him in enormous surprise. ‘A fake? How? That kid’s as brave as can be! Youheard the hotel manager tell us how poisonous those barguas are.’
　　‘I tell you, it’s a fake!’ said Philip, in a low voice. ‘I agree - they are barguas, and dangerous -but not one of those snakes could hurt a fly.’
　　‘What do you mean?’ asked Lucy-Ann, astonished.
　　‘Come away and I’ll tell you,’ said Philip. They joined Dinah and went a little way away. Jacklooked at Philip impatiently.
　　‘Come on then - tell us how it was a fake.’
　　‘Did you notice that when those snakes were swaying about in the basket they kept their mouthsshut all the time?’ said Philip. ‘They didn’t open them at all, or show their forked tongues, noteven when one of them was tapped on the head - which would usually anger a snake and makehim get ready to bite.’
　　‘Yes - now I come to think of it, they did keep their mouths shut,’ said Jack. ‘But what doesthat matter? The one that escaped might easily have opened his to strike if he had had a chance. Iwonder he didn’t pounce at that small boy.’
　　‘Do listen,’ said Philip. ‘I was a bit suspicious when I saw that those snakes didn’t open theirmouths at all - so that when one snake escaped - though it’s my firm opinion that that “escape”
　　was all arranged, part of the trick, you know - well, when that snake escaped and came writhingnear us I took a jolly good look at him. And believe it or not, the poor thing’s mouth was sewnup!’
　　The others gazed at him in horror. ‘Sewn up!’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Oh, how cruel! That means, ofcourse, that the snake-charmer is perfectly safe - he can’t be bitten because the snakes can’t opentheir mouths to strike.’
　　‘Exactly,’ said Philip. ‘I never knew before how the snake-charmer’s trick was done. The snakethat “escaped” had its mouth well and truly sewn up - I saw the stitches. The snake was probablydoped somehow, and then, while it was doped, the man sewed up its mouth.’
　　‘But it can’t eat or drink then,’ said Lucy-Ann, feeling sick. ‘It’s cruel. Why doesn’t someonedo something about it?’
　　That boy wasn’t brave after all then,’ said Jack.
　　‘No. That’s what I told you,’ said Philip. ‘He had been trained to put on that little bit ofspectacular courage. You saw how it pulled in the money, didn’t you? My word, talk about a hard-hearted swindle! To sew up snakes’ mouths and use them for a living - ugh, horrible!’
　　‘I’m jolly glad I didn’t throw down any money,’ said Jack.
　　‘And I’m jolly glad I didn’t watch,’ said Dinah.
　　‘I’m sorry for those snakes,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘I hate to think of them.’
　　‘So do I,’ said Philip. ‘Such pretty things too - that lovely bright green, and those glittering redand yellow spots. I’d like one for a pet.’
　　Dinah stared at him in horror. ‘Philip! Don’t you dare to keep a snake for a pet - especially apoisonous one.’
　　‘Don’t fly off the handle, Di,’ said Jack, amused. ‘You know jolly well that Bill would neverallow him to keep a poisonous bargua. Cheer up!’
　　‘Do you suppose we could buy ice-creams here?’ said Lucy-Ann, suddenly feeling that shecould eat at least three. ‘My mouth feels so hot and dry.’
　　‘We’ll find a decent place,’ said Jack. ‘What about that one over there?’
　　They walked over to it and looked inside. It was clean and bright, and at the little tables satmany Americans and two or three actors and actresses still in costume.
　　‘This should be all right,’ said Philip, and they went in. People stared at the children, andespecially at Jack, who, of course, had Kiki on his shoulder as usual.
　　A little bell was on each table, so that customers could ring if they wanted anything. Jack pickedup the one on his table and rang it.
　　‘Ding dong bell,’ remarked Kiki. ‘Pussy’s in the well. Fetch the doctor!’ She went off into oneof her cackles of laughter, and then began again. ‘Pussy’s in the well, me-ow, me-ow, puss, puss,puss! Ding dong bell!’
　　There was a sudden silence, and everyone stared in amazement at the parrot, who nowproceeded to cough like an old sheep. Jack tapped her on the beak.
　　‘Now then, Kiki - don’t show off!’
　　‘Great snakes!’ drawled an American voice nearby. ‘That’s a reemarkable parrot, young fellow!
　　Like to sell him?’
　　‘Of course not!’ said Jack, quite indignantly. ‘Shut up, Kiki. You’re not giving a concert!’
　　But Kiki was! Delighted at all the sudden attention, she gave a most remarkable performance -and was just in the middle of it when something happened. A man came in and sat down at thechildren’s table!
　　‘Hallo!’ he said. ‘Surely I know you! Don’t you belong to old Bill? Is he here with you?’
第7章 一个令人惊叹的早晨
　　第7章 一个令人惊叹的早晨
　　杰克、菲利普和露西安连忙朝声音传来的地方跑去，黛娜犹豫着要不要跟着去。
　　“啊！蛇！我不想去看，”她说道，“我讨厌蛇，我不去了。”
　　“黛娜，你得和我们在一起。”菲利普有些不耐烦，“比尔吩咐过的！你不需要看，可以转过身。但是你必须得和我们在一起。”
　　“好吧，好吧，”黛娜不太高兴，“真搞不懂你们为什么想去看蛇，还那么开心——明明是那么可怕的东西！”
　　黛娜磨磨蹭蹭地跟在后边，但是一直和大家在一起，没有掉队。很快，他们走进那一小群围着看玩蛇的人当中。此时，黛娜转过身去。她眼睛的余光瞥见蛇从篮子里探出身子，来回晃动，便恶心得直想吐。她咽了一两口唾沫，感觉稍微好一点了，但是再也不敢转过身来。黛娜只好向外注视着周围混杂的人群。
　　其他三个孩子都夹在那一小群围着看玩蛇的人中。玩蛇的人看起来非常沧桑，头上缠着头巾，腰间系着一块宽布。他只睁着一只眼睛，另一只闭着——但是那只睁着的眼睛扫视着四周，目光犀利。露西安觉得自己一点儿都不喜欢他的眼睛——就像蛇的眼睛一样，眨都不眨一下！
　　她眼睛的余光瞥见蛇从篮子里探出身子，来回晃动，便恶心得直想吐。
　　这个男人的身边站着他的助手，一个小男孩，除了身体中间裹着一块布，基本上是裸着的。这个小男孩瘦得让人心疼——露西安都可以很容易地数出他所有的肋骨！他有一双明亮、敏锐的眼睛——和蛇的不太像，更像是知更鸟的眼睛——露西安这么觉得。小男孩开始给大家介绍起篮子里的蛇，他的语速非常快。
　　他讲话时混杂着当地的语言和美式英语，听起来很怪异。孩子们勉强听懂了一半，但是拼拼凑凑大致也能明白——在篮子里的是一种非常危险的蛇，剧毒无比，即便是一个成年人，被咬一口，十二小时内也就没命了。
　　“它这样向前冲，”小男孩反复念叨，并且用胳膊模仿了一个蛇袭击人的动作，“它咬人非常快，非常，非常，非常快……”
　　那个坐在圆竹篮边的玩蛇人再一次演奏起奇怪的、不成调子的曲子，孩子们几分钟之前听到过这支曲子。黛娜看到过的那条之前缩进了篮子里的蛇现在又探出头来，观众们都屏住了呼吸，注视着这个看起来很邪恶的蛇头。
　　露西安悄悄地跟杰克说：“杰克，这个就是旅馆经理告诉过我们的那种蛇——浑身绿色，还有红黄斑点——看呀！它叫什么名儿来着？”
　　“哦，好像是——巴尔瓜蛇，我记得，”杰克说着，观察着那条蛇，“哇，真是一条漂亮的小家伙儿！但是看着很邪恶，难道不是吗？看它来来回回晃动着身子好像在凶狠地盯着大家看。我的天哪，这儿还有一条！”
　　第二条蛇此时也舒展开了原本蜷缩着的身体，慢悠悠地探出头来，从一边望到另一边，似乎在四处打量。
　　观众群里有一些人稍微挪动，离玩蛇的人近了一点儿。旁边那个小男孩助手就立马尖声叫喊起来：“退后，退后，退后！你们想被咬吗？这蛇咬人很快的，非常，非常快！”
　　一群人害怕得立马退后了。玩蛇人继续他那怪异的乐曲，不停地吹着他的短笛，一只眼睛紧紧盯着观众们的反应和举动。此时，第三条蛇也直起了身子，来来回回晃动着，仿佛在和着音乐起舞。
　　小男孩用一根棍子敲了敲蛇的头，它就又一次缩回篮子里了。
　　“这是一条非常邪恶的蛇，非常危险。”小男孩严肃、真诚地解释着。其他两条蛇仍然晃荡着。突然，玩蛇人变了曲调，曲子的声音更大，节奏更快了。其中一条蛇摆动得也更快了，小男孩在它头上举着棍子，仿佛时刻准备着去阻止它。
　　那条蛇一头撞向棍子，就在此时，它迅速地从篮子里滑出来冲向人群，谁都没有来得及阻止。
　　人群中立马响起了尖叫声和惊呼声，所有的人纷纷退后。小男孩飞速地向蛇跑去，把它抓起来，扔进了篮子里。人群中立刻传来了一片赞叹声、掌声和欢呼声。玩蛇的人慢慢地站了起来，拍了拍小男孩的脑袋。
　　“他救了你们所有人！”玩蛇人说道，接着又用当地的语言迅速地加了一些话，“他很勇敢。蛇可能会咬到他的。他真勇敢！”
　　“多好的孩子！”一个美国人的声音响起，满是欣赏，“这儿，孩子——接着这个！”他把一张一美元的钞票扔到地上。小男孩像蛇一样迅速地跑过去捡起来，点头致谢。
　　看到那个美国人这么做，其他人也纷纷把钱扔给小男孩。他把所有的钱都捡了起来，塞进用腰上那块布折成的袋子里。
　　那个玩蛇人对这一切并不在意。他在忙着给装蛇的篮子盖上盖子，准备离开。
　　杰克把手伸进兜里，也打算投个硬币，但令他惊讶的是，菲利普拦住了他。“别，别给，”菲利普说，“这整个就是个骗局。”
　　杰克十分惊讶地望着他：“骗局？怎么会呢？那个男孩多勇敢啊！你不是听到旅馆经理告诉过我们吗，这些巴尔瓜蛇剧毒无比！”
　　“我告诉你，这真的是个骗局！”菲利普压低了声音，说道，“我同意，那些是巴尔瓜蛇，非常危险——但它们现在连只苍蝇都伤害不了。”
　　“你这是什么意思？”露西安问道，一脸震惊。
　　“跟我来，我告诉你们。”菲利普说。他们退出了人群，来到了黛娜旁边。杰克不耐烦地看着菲利普。
　　“快点，告诉我们为什么这是个骗局？”
　　“你们发现了吗？当那些蛇在篮子里晃悠的时候，它们一直是闭着嘴的！”菲利普说道，“它们一直没有张开过嘴，露出分叉的舌头，就连它们被棍子打头的时候都没有——你们知道的，用棍子打蛇头通常会激怒它们，而且会让它们想要咬人！”
　　“是的——现在仔细想想，它们确实是一直闭着嘴的，”杰克说，“但是这有什么关系呢？当时如果有机会的话，那条逃跑的蛇可能会很容易地张开嘴攻击人。我在想为什么它没有攻击那个小男孩。”
　　“大家听我讲，”菲利普说道，“之前看到那些蛇自始至终都没有张嘴，我就有些怀疑。
　　当其中一条‘逃跑’出来的时候——我十分肯定这个‘逃跑’是事先安排好的，也是整个骗局的一部分，你们懂的——所以呢，当那条蛇逃出来，爬到我们附近的时候，我特意看了一眼。你们猜怎么着，那条可怜的小东西被缝住了嘴！”
　　其他三个孩子惊恐地看向他。“缝住了！”露西安喊道，“天哪，太残忍了！这当然也就意味着那个玩蛇的人是绝对安全的——他不可能被咬到，因为那些蛇根本不可能张开嘴咬人。”
　　“当然了，”菲利普说道，“之前我一直搞不明白那个玩蛇人的骗局究竟是什么样的。那条逃跑的蛇被扎扎实实地缝住了嘴——我都看到线了。这些蛇很有可能先是被麻醉了，然后就在它们被麻醉的时候，那个男人把它们的嘴缝了起来。”
　　“但是那样它们就不能吃饭喝水了，”露西安感到一阵恶心，“太残忍了。怎么会有人做这种事情呢？”
　　“这么说来，那个男孩也没那么勇敢。”杰克说道。
　　“是呀，这就是我想告诉你的，”菲利普说道，“那个男孩被训练得有了一丁点儿特殊的勇气。你们也看到了这勇气是怎么用来骗钱的，不是吗？我的老天，这么无情的骗局！把蛇嘴缝住，还用它们来赚钱，真是太可怕了！”
　　“我真高兴刚才没有冲他扔钱。”杰克说道。
　　“我真高兴刚才我没有看这个表演。”黛娜说道。
　　“真为那些蛇感到惋惜，”露西安说道，“一想到它们我就难过。”
　　“我也是，”菲利普说，“那么漂亮的小家伙儿——那可爱的明亮的绿色，还有那些闪闪发光的红黄斑点。真想养一条做宠物。”
　　黛娜恐惧地看向他：“菲利普！养条蛇做宠物——还是条毒蛇，你敢！”
　　“别生气啦，黛娜，”杰克觉得很好笑，“你知道的，比尔是绝不可能允许菲利普养一条巴尔瓜毒蛇的！开心点儿！”
　　“我们在这儿买些冰激凌吃，你们觉得怎么样？”露西安说道，她一下子觉得自己可以吞掉至少三个冰激凌，“我嘴里又干又热。”
　　“我们找个好点儿的地方，”杰克说道，“那儿怎么样？”
　　他们走到了杰克所说的小店门前，往里面看了看。屋里干净明亮，里面摆着的小桌子旁坐了许多美国人，其中还有两三个穿着戏服的演员。
　　“这地儿应该不错。”菲利普说着。他们走了进去，屋里的人都望向他们，尤其望向杰克——当然是因为琪琪这只小鹦鹉了，她像往常一样，站在杰克的肩膀上。
　　每张桌子上都有一个小小的按铃键，顾客要是决定了想要什么东西就可以按下去，服务员就会过来。杰克看了看他的桌子然后按了一下铃。
　　“叮咚叮，叮咚叮，”琪琪听了这个铃声，突然喊道，“猫咪在井底，快找医生！”她突然咯咯地大笑起来，然后又重复起刚才的话来，“猫咪在井底，喵呜喵呜，猫咪在井底，叮咚叮！”
　　周围突然安静了下来，所有的人都惊讶地盯着这只小鹦鹉。这时，琪琪继续发出声响。她咳嗽着，像一只老山羊。杰克在她嘴上敲了敲。
　　“好啦！琪琪，别再显摆啦！”
　　“这真是一只了不起的鹦鹉，小家伙们！”旁边传来了一个故意拉长调子的美国人的声音，“你们想要卖她吗？”
　　“当然不卖！”杰克很是气愤地说道，“闭嘴吧，琪琪，你又不是在开演唱会！”
　　但是琪琪沉浸在自己的表演中，很开心一下子有这么多人关注她。她正得意地进行着那奇妙的表演。突然间，一个男人走了进来，坐在孩子们那一桌的位子上。
　　“你们好呀！”他说，“我肯定认识你们！你们是比尔老兄家的吧？他和你们一起来的吗？”
8 The snake-charmer again
　　8
　　The snake-charmer again
　　The four children stared at the man in surprise. He was dressed well, and his face looked brownand healthy. He smiled at them, showing very fine teeth.
　　Nobody answered for a moment. Then Kiki cocked her head on one side, and spoke to the man.
　　‘Bill! Silly-bill! Pay the bill, silly-billy, pay the billy!’
　　‘What a wonderful parrot!’ said the man, and put out his hand to ruffle Kiki’s crest. She gavehim a quick nip with her beak, and he scowled at once, making his face completely different.
　　‘Well?’ he said, nursing his finger and smiling again at the children. ‘Have you lost yourtongues? I asked you who you were with? Is it old Bill, my good old friend?’
　　Both girls got a quiet kick on the leg from Jack and Philip. Everyone had remembered what Billhad said. They were not to give away any information if they were asked questions!
　　‘We’re here with my mother,’ said Philip. ‘We’ve all been ill, so this is a sort of convalescencetrip. We’re just having a short river-trip on a launch.’
　　‘I see,’ said the man. ‘You don’t know anyone called Bill then?’
　　‘Oh yes,’ said Dinah, to the horror of the two boys. ‘We know Bill Hilton - is he the one youmean?’
　　‘No,’ said the man.
　　‘Then there’s Bill Jordans,’ said Dinah, and by the glint in her eye the boys knew that she wasmaking all this up. They joined in heartily.
　　‘He may mean Bill Ponga - do you, sir?’
　　‘Or Bill Tipps - he’s the fellow who had four big cars and two small ones - is he the Bill youmean?’
　　‘Perhaps he means Bill Kent. You know, Jack, the chimney-sweep Mother always has.’
　　‘Or do you mean Bill Plonk, sir? You might know him - he’s a biscuit-manufacturer, and hisbiscuits are . . .’
　　‘No. I do not mean him - or any of the others!’ said the man shortly. ‘Isn’t anyone called Billwith you?’
　　‘No. As you can see, we’re all alone,’ said Jack.
　　‘Where’s your launch?’ asked the man. This was getting awkward and Jack cast about in hismind for a way to bring the conversation to a natural end. He glanced suddenly at Lucy-Ann andspoke urgently.
　　‘I say, old girl! Do you feel sick? Better go out, if so.’
　　Lucy-Ann took the cue at once and stood up, looking as ill as she could.
　　‘Yes. Take me out,’ she said, in a suitably faint voice. The others led her down the room and outinto the open air.
　　‘Scoot!’ said Philip, as soon as they were outside. ‘I don’t think he’ll come after us - but hemight. Jolly good idea of yours, Jack, to pretend Lucy-Ann felt sick.’
　　They disappeared at top speed round the building and went into an empty shed. There was adirty window there and they peered through it, keeping a watch for the over-friendly man. Lucy-Ann made a peculiar noise.
　　‘I think I am going to be sick, she said. ‘Jack was right!’ But she wasn’t sick after all, and soonbegan to feel better.
　　‘Here comes our friend,’ said Jack, gazing through the dirty window. ‘He’s standing still,looking this way and that. Now he’s got into a car - he’s driving off at top speed. Goodo!’
　　‘Do you think he was Raya Uma himself?’ asked Dinah.
　　‘Shouldn’t think so,’ said Jack. ‘Though he did have very white teeth - did you notice? And Billsaid that Raya Uma had remarkably white teeth. I couldn’t see if he had a scar on his arm, becausehis coat-sleeves were long.’
　　‘We told him about plenty of Bills,’ said Dinah with a laugh.
　　‘Bill! Pay the bill!’ said Kiki, joining in as usual.
　　‘We did, old thing!’ said Jack. ‘We paid for the ice-creams when they were brought to us.
　　Didn’t you notice? You’re as blind as a bat!’
　　‘Batty,’ said Kiki, jigging up and down. ‘Batty, batty, batty!’
　　‘Quite right. You are!’ said Philip, and everyone laughed. They went to the door of the shed. ‘Isit safe to go now, do you think?’ asked Dinah. Jack nodded.
　　‘Oh yes. He won’t try and get anything more out of us. He knows we were fooling with him -but he doesn’t know if it was because we were being cautious, or were just plain rude. We’ll haveto tell Bill about it and see what he says. I think there’s no doubt but that the man has got windthat someone’s coming out to snoop, and has been looking out for newcomers.’
　　They went out of the shed and wandered round. They came to a collection of tumbledownwooden huts, which looked as if they might have been built for years, not merely for the filmoutfit.
　　‘A bit too far,’ said Jack. ‘Let’s go back. I say, though - what’s that?’
　　A sudden cry had come to his sharp ears. He stood still and then the others heard a cry too.
　　They also heard something even worse - the sound of a cane or stick being used as a weapon!
　　Every time that the sound of a blow came, there followed immediately a high-pitched scream ofpain and terror.
　　‘That’s a child yelling!’ said Philip. ‘He sounds as if he’s being half killed. Come on - I can’tbear this. We’ve got to do something about it!’
　　They raced round the huts, and came to a bare space, where old boxes and crates lay about. Atthe back stood a man, thrashing a child with a thick stick. One or two other people were there, butnobody made the slightest attempt to stop the whipping.
　　‘Gosh - it’s that snake-charmer!’ cried Jack. ‘And that’s the little boy who picked up the money- look, the fellow has got him on the ground!’
　　All four of them raced over to the angry man. Philip caught hold of his arm, and Jack wrenchedthe stick from his hand. The man swung round in fury.
　　He shouted something they didn’t understand, and tried to catch at the stick. But Philip put itout of reach. ‘No you don’t! You’re a cruel beast, lashing out at that little kid like that! What’s hedone?’
　　The man shouted again, and his one eye glittered dangerously. The small boy raised his head,and sobbed out a few words.
　　‘He say I keep money. He say I rob. But see, I have none!’
　　He opened his folded waist-cloth and shook it. He pointed at the snake-charmer. ‘I give him all,all! He say I spend some. He beat me. Ai, ai!’
　　The small boy put his thin arms across his face and wept again. The man made a move towardshim as if to strike him with his bare fist, but Philip jumped forward with the stick.
　　‘Don’t you touch him again! You let him be! I shall report you for this!’
　　Philip had no idea to whom he should report the man, but he was determined not to let him hitthe child again. The snake-charmer glared at him in fury out of his one eye. Then he made asudden move towards his snake-basket, which lay on the ground nearby. He kicked off the lid andat once the snakes rose up, scared and angered.
　　‘Run! Run!’ he shouted, in English. ‘I tell my snakes bite, bite, bite!’
　　Dinah turned and ran at once, but the others kept their ground. If Philip was right, and thesnakes’ mouths were sewn up, they were harmless, and there was no need to run. Two of thesnakes came gliding rapidly over the ground towards them. Then Philip did something surprising.
　　He threw the stick to Jack, and then knelt down on the ground. He made a curious hissing noise,the same noise that he used in his own country when he wanted to tame grass snakes.
　　The snakes stopped immediately. They raised their heads and looked towards the boy. Thenthey glided right up to Philip and ran their mouths over his hands. One snake writhed up his armand hung itself round his neck.
　　The snake-charmer stared in the utmost amazement. Why - the snakes had never done that tohim! They had avoided him whenever they could, for they hated him. Never, never had he seenwild snakes go to anyone as they went to this quietly hissing boy! He wasn’t even afraid!
　　‘Snakes bite - bite, bite, bite!’ he said, and stamped on the ground to frighten them and makethem strike with their shut mouths.
　　‘They can’t,’ said Philip scornfully, and ran his hand gently along the sides of their mouths.
　　‘You have sewn them up. In my country you would be sent to prison for such a cruel deed.’
　　The man fell into a rage and yelled loudly in his own language. The small boy ran to Philip.
　　‘Go, go! He call friends, they hurt you. Go!’
　　Philip put down the snakes promptly, thinking of the two girls. They must go at once if therewas any danger of this fellow’s friends coming and making themselves a nuisance. ‘We’d betterscoot,’ he said to Jack. But it was too late!
　　Three youths had come running at the snake- charmer’s call, and they surrounded the fourchildren, pushing Dinah close to the others. Philip put on a bold face. He walked forward.
　　‘Make way!’ he said. ‘Make way, or we’ll get the police.’
　　But the youths closed in even more, and the boys felt their hearts sink. They couldn’t take onthese three and the angry snake-charmer too!
　　But Kiki was not going to stand for this kind of thing. She danced up and down on Jack’sshoulder in anger, and screamed out at the top of her voice.
　　‘Police! Police! Fetch the police!’ she screeched, and then whistled like a police- whistle.
　　‘PHEEEEEEEEE! PHEEEEEEEEEE! PHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!’
第8章 又是那个玩蛇的人
　　第8章 又是那个玩蛇的人
　　四个孩子惊讶地看着这个男人。他穿得很好，脸上是健康的棕褐色。他微笑地望着他们，露出一口整齐的牙齿。
　　一时没有人回答。只有琪琪朝一边耸起脑袋，和这个男人讲话。
　　“比尔！比尔棒棒，快点付账！比尔笨笨！快去开门！”
　　“啊，真是一只神奇的鹦鹉！”这个男人说道，伸出手想去抚摸它的冠毛。琪琪飞快地啄了他一下，男人立马变了脸，表情和刚才完全不一样。
　　“怎么了？”男人摸了摸自己被啄的手指，似乎想要暴怒，但是又忍住了，又一次向孩子们露出一个微笑，“你们怎么都不说话了？我问你们和谁一起来的，是我的老朋友比尔吗？”
　　杰克和菲利普迅速地踢了踢两个女孩的腿。他们都记起比尔说过的话了。如果他们被问问题的话，绝对不能泄露任何信息。
　　“我们是和妈妈一起来这儿的，”菲利普说道，“本来我们都生病了，所以这次旅行其实是为了来疗养身体的。我们刚坐船经历了一次短暂的河上旅行。”
　　“噢，我明白了，”那个人说道，“你们不认识叫比尔的人吗？”
　　“当然认识啦。”黛娜说道，把两个男孩吓了一跳，“我们知道比尔•希尔顿——你指的是他吗？”
　　“不是。”那个人说。
　　“那就是比尔•乔丹喽，”黛娜说。男孩们看到她眼神闪烁着，一下子就明白了这全是她编出来的。于是他们也加入进来，尽情地往下编。
　　“他可能指的是比尔•庞加——是吗，先生？”
　　“或者比尔•提波斯——那个家伙有六辆车呢，四辆大的，两辆小的——他是你说的比尔吗？”
　　“可能他指的是比尔•肯特。你认识的，杰克，妈妈经常叫来扫烟囱的清洁工。”
　　“或者，你指的是比尔•普隆克，先生？你没准儿认识他——他是做饼干的，他的饼干……”
　　“不，不，不是，我不是指他——也不是指所有你们说过的这些人！”那个男人急忙打断他们，“没有一个叫比尔的人跟着你们吗？”
　　“没有。你可以看到的呀，只有我们四个。”杰克说道。
　　“你们的船在哪里？”那人继续问道。情形一下子变得尴尬起来。杰克绞尽脑汁，想着怎么看起来很自然地结束这个对话。他瞟了一眼露西安，突然装作很急切地说道：
　　“哎呀，可怜的露西安，你怎么啦，是不是难受想吐？那我们出去吧，这样会好一些。”
　　露西安立马领会了这个暗示，她站起身来，让她自己看起来很是虚弱。
　　“是的，好难受啊，把我弄出去吧。”她说着，声音听起来非常虚弱。
　　其他三个孩子就扶着露西安走出屋子，来到了店门外。
　　“快溜！”他们一到外面菲利普就立马说道，“我不认为他会跟着我们——但是也有可能。杰克，你这主意怎么想出来的，太棒了，让露西安装病！”
　　孩子们以他们最快的速度离开了这边的建筑，跑进附近一个空无一人的小棚屋里。他们透过一扇脏兮兮的窗户往外看，观察着刚才那个过分友好的男人。露西安此时嘟囔了一声。
　　“我觉得我真的好难受，要吐了，杰克说对了！”她说道。但是过了没一会儿，她就感觉好多了，一点儿都不难受了。
　　“我们的‘朋友’来了，”杰克说道，从脏兮兮的窗户当中望过去，“他站住不动了，正朝四周看呢，现在他上了一辆车——他开车飞速地离开了。太好啦！”
　　“你们觉得他会是比尔说过的热亚•尤玛吗？”黛娜问道。
　　“不敢肯定，”杰克说道，“尽管他确实有一口洁白的牙齿——你们发现了吗？比尔说过热亚•尤玛牙齿很白。但是我不清楚他胳膊上到底有没有疤，因为他衣服袖子太长了，我看不到。”
　　“我们告诉了他好多叫比尔的人呀。”黛娜笑道。
　　“比尔棒棒，快点付账！”琪琪也像往常一样加入了孩子们的聊天。
　　“我们付啦，小家伙！”杰克说道，“店里的服务员把冰激凌拿给我们的时候我们就付账啦。你当时没看到吗？你这眼神怎么跟蝙蝠似的——什么都看不见！”
　　“蝙蝠，小蝙蝠！”琪琪欢快地上蹿下跳，“小蝙蝠，小蝙蝠！”
　　“非常正确，你就像只小蝙蝠！”菲利普说道，大家都哈哈大笑起来。他们走到小棚屋的门口，“你们觉得，现在走安全吗？”黛娜问。杰克点了点头。
　　“安全，那人不会再尝试从我们这儿获得更多的信息了。他知道我们是在耍他——但是他不清楚我们这样做到底是因为对陌生人谨慎，还是因为我们本来就是那样粗鲁无礼。我们得去告诉比尔这件事，看看他怎么说。我觉得那个男人肯定是听到了什么消息，知道政府有人要来这里调查，所以在盯着新来这儿的人们。”
　　接下来，他们走出了小棚屋，继续在四处逛逛。他们看到一群摇摇欲坠的小木房子，看起来好像建了很多年了，应该不只是用来拍电影的。
　　“我们走得有点儿远啦，”杰克说，“我们回去吧——咦，那边是怎么回事？”
　　突然，一声尖叫传入杰克的耳朵里。他一下子站住了，其他人也听到了。他们还听到了更恶劣的——藤条和棍子打人的声音！
　　每一次挥棒的声音传来，总会伴随着充满痛苦和恐惧的尖叫声和哭喊声。
　　“是那个小男孩在喊！”菲利普说道，“他听起来像快被打死了。快点，我受不了了，我们得做点什么！”
　　他们飞快地绕过小木房子，来到一块空地上。空地上胡乱堆着一些破旧的箱子盒子。
　　后面站着一个男人，正用一根粗棍子抽打一个小男孩。旁边也有一两个人路过，但是没人敢上去阻止他的恶行。
　　“天哪，是那个玩蛇的人！”杰克喊道，“那是捡钱的小男孩——看，他都被打倒在地了！”
　　四个孩子向那个怒气冲冲的玩蛇人冲了过去。杰克抓住他的胳膊，菲利普从他手里猛地夺过棍子。那个男人转过身来，勃然大怒。
　　他叫喊着孩子们都听不懂的一些话，打算夺回自己的棍子。但是菲利普将棍子拿到他够不到的地方：“你，你住手！你这个残忍的野兽！竟然把那个小孩打成那样！他到底做错了什么？”
　　男人又大叫了起来，他仅有的一只眼里闪着危险的光。小男孩抬起了头，向他们大声哭诉道：
　　“他说我藏了钱，说我抢钱。但是你们看，我什么都没有！”
　　他打开他腰上折起来的袋子，抖了抖，然后指着那个玩蛇的人：“我把所有的钱都给他了，都给了！他说我偷着花了一些，就打我，好疼，呜呜……”
　　小男孩用瘦弱的胳膊捂住脸，伤心地哭了起来。那个男人又朝他走了过来，想用拳头打他。此时菲利普挥着那根粗棍子跳了出来。
　　“别碰他，你再打他试试！我要举报你！”
　　菲利普并不知道他要向谁去举报这个男人，但是他下定决心一定不能让他再打这个孩子。玩蛇的人狠狠地盯着他，眼里露出了凶光。他迅速地跑向放在旁边装蛇的篮子，一脚踢开盖子，蛇立马从篮子里钻了出来，它们又惊又怒。
　　“跑哇，跑哇，”玩蛇人用英语大叫，“我让我的蛇去咬你们！咬，咬！”
　　黛娜转过身去，撒腿就跑，而其他人则原地不动。如果菲利普说的是对的，这些蛇的嘴被缝住了，它们不会伤害任何人，根本不需要跑！两条蛇顺着地面，飞快地朝孩子们爬了过来。接下来，菲利普的举动很令人吃惊！他把棍子扔给杰克，弯下腿，跪在地上。菲利普用嘴模仿着什么，发出奇怪的咝咝声，这个声响是他之前在自己家那边用来捕青草蛇的！
　　蛇立马停住了，它们抬起头来看向这个男孩。接着它们竟然直接朝菲利普滑了过去，用嘴部碰触他伸出来的手。一条蛇还绕着他的胳膊爬上去，把自己悬挂在菲利普的脖子上！
　　玩蛇的人目瞪口呆地看着这一幕。为什么？这些蛇从来没有对他这样过！它们一直都是躲避着他，因为它们很讨厌他。这些野蛇和发出轻微咝咝声的男孩如此亲近，而他从来，从来都没见到这些蛇和谁这样过！这个男孩居然一点儿也不害怕！
　　一条蛇还绕着他的胳膊爬上去，把自己悬挂在菲利普的脖子上！
　　“蛇！咬他，咬他，咬他！”玩蛇人喊着，脚跺着地面去吓唬这些蛇，让它们去攻击四个孩子。
　　“它们咬不了，”菲利普讥笑着说道，并用手在这些蛇的嘴边轻柔地抚摸着，“你把它们的嘴缝起来了。你在我们国家做出这么残忍的事的话是会进监狱的。”
　　玩蛇人勃然大怒，用他们当地的语言大声喊叫着。那个被打的小男孩跑向了菲利普：“走，快走！他叫了他的同伙，他们会伤害你们的，快走！”
　　菲利普迅速地把蛇放下，想着两个女孩的安全。如果这个人的同伙过来惹麻烦的话，那就危险了，他们必须马上离开。“我们最好赶快溜。”他对杰克说。但是，已经晚了！
　　有三个小青年一听到玩蛇人的呼喊就跑过来了，他们包围了四个孩子，还把黛娜往里面推搡。菲利普脸色很不好，他走上前去。
　　“让开！”他愤怒地喊道，“让开，不然我们就叫警察了！”
　　但是这群小青年把他们围得更紧了。菲利普和杰克的心越来越沉重——他们肯定打不过这三个家伙，还有那个玩蛇的人！
　　但是，勇敢的小鹦鹉琪琪绝对不会允许这种事情发生。她在杰克的肩膀上上蹿下跳，生气地扑腾着，用她最大的声音叫喊。
　　“警察！警察！叫警察！”琪琪尖叫着，然后又模仿着吹起了警哨，“呜呜呜呜！呜呜呜呜！呜呜呜呜呜！”
9 At lunch time
　　9
　　At lunch time
　　Kiki’s shouts for the police and her marvellous imitation of a police whistle terrified all the youths.
　　They stood aghast, staring at this extraordinary parrot. Then, with one accord, they and the snake-charmer took to their heels and fled. The snake-charmer snatched up his basket of snakes as hewent - all three were in it again, which was a pity.
　　The four children stood gazing after the runaways, most relieved. Kiki gave an enormouschuckle, and then such a cackle of laughter that the children couldn’t help joining in.
　　‘Kiki! Thanks very much!’ said Jack, scratching the delighted parrot on her head. ‘I supposeyou heard Philip say the word “police” and that reminded you of your police-whistle performance.
　　Very, very lucky for us!’
　　‘No police came, though,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Good old Kiki! That was the best whistling you’veever done - better even than your train-whistle.’
　　‘We’d better get back to the launch, I think,’ said Philip. ‘I don’t like us getting mixed up inanything like this. Bill would row us like fury if something serious happened.’
　　They were just setting off when a small figure ran out from behind a hut. It was the little boy.
　　He ran to Philip and took his hand. He knelt down before him.
　　‘Take me with you, boss! Bula has gone with snakes, and I have no money. He bad man, I nolike him. Take me with you.’
　　‘I can’t,’ said Philip, gently undoing the boy’s hands from his. ‘I will give you money, though.’
　　‘Not money. Take me with you, take Oola with you!’ said the boy beseechingly.
　　‘No, Oola, we can’t,’ said Philip.
　　‘Yes, boss! Oola be yours, Oola work for you!’ said the boy, clutching at Philip’s hand again.
　　‘You like snakes, boss? Oola bring you some!’
　　‘Listen, Oola - I do like snakes - but not those with their poor mouths sewn up,’ said Philip.
　　‘And it would be dangerous to have one that could bite. Have you no family to look after you?’
　　‘Only Bula, who my uncle is,’ said Oola, still clutching Philip’s hand. The boy felt reallyembarrassed. ‘Bula bad man, Bula hit, see, see!’
　　He showed bruises and weals all over his body. Lucy-Ann gave a sudden little sob.
　　‘Poor little Oola!’ she said. ‘Can’t we take him, Philip?’
　　‘No, Lucy- Ann, we can’t,’ said Philip. ‘We can’t collect all the poor, ill- used animals orchildren we see here - that mangy dog over there, the poor donkey I saw today, with sores all overit - the little baby, so thin and tiny, that we saw lying on an old rug, don’t you remember? Theyeach want help and friends - but we can’t collect them all and take them to the launch. No, Oola -we cannot take you.’
　　‘What I do? What I do?’ said Oola in despair.
　　‘We’ll take you to the First Aid Tent,’ said Philip. ‘I saw one somewhere about. They will lookafter you and help you, Oola. They will bathe your bruises for you.’
　　Oola went with them disconsolately, dragging his bare feet, his head hanging down - but assoon as they came to the immaculately white tent, with its nurse at the door in a starched apron,Oola fled! They heard him wailing as he went, and both Dinah and Lucy-Ann had tears in theireyes as they watched the half-naked little figure running behind a shack.
　　‘Blow!’ said Jack. ‘I feel awful about this. I feel as if we’ve let Oola down very badly - but Idon’t see what else we can do.’
　　‘Come on,’ said Philip. ‘Let’s go back to the launch. We’re supposed to be back by one, and it’salmost that now.’
　　They made their way back to the river, none of them feeling very happy. Philip kept a watch forthe man who had questioned them, but there was no sign of him. They arrived safely at the launch,and were greeted with pleasure by Tala. They all jumped aboard, and heard Bill’s voice calling tothem.
　　‘You’re rather late. We were getting a bit worried about you. Go and wash and we’ll all have ameal.’
　　Over the meal they exchanged news with Bill. ‘Did you find out anything about that fellowRaya Uma?’ asked Philip, dropping his voice so that Tala could not hear.
　　‘Not a thing,’ said Bill. ‘But perhaps I shall when I get to Ala-ou-iya. Your mother and I justwandered about, found out about this film, saw a friend we knew, and came back here. Very dull.
　　What about you? What did you do?’
　　Bill sat up straight when the children began to tell him about the man in the ice-cream shop whohad come up and questioned them. ‘He didn’t say your surname, Bill,’ said Jack. ‘He just kept onsaying “Bill”. Wouldn’t he know your surname?’
　　‘No. But he might know my Christian name,’ said Bill. ‘You didn’t by any chance say what mysurname was, did you?’
　　‘Of course not,’ said both boys indignantly. ‘But we told him a whole lot more Bills, and askedhim if he meant them,’ added Jack, with a chuckle.
　　‘What do you mean?’ said Bill, puzzled.
　　‘Well - we asked him if he meant Bill Hilton - or Bill Jordans - or Bill Ponga - or Bill Tipps,who has four big cars and two small ones,’ said Jack.
　　‘Or Bill Kent the chimney-sweep - or Bill Plonk who makes biscuits,’ went on Dinah.
　　Bill threw back his head and laughed. ‘You little monkeys! All make-believe Bills, I gather.
　　Well, what happened next?’
　　‘Oh - he asked where our launch was - we’d told him about the river- trip for ourconvalescence,’ said Philip, ‘and we realized things might get a bit awkward - so Jack decidedthat Lucy-Ann looked as if she was going to be sick, and we shot out with her, and hid.’
　　Bill roared again. ‘I’d rather have you kids on my side than against me,’ he said. ‘You’re toosmart for words! Well - it rather looks as if that fellow was a spy of Raya Uma’s. What was helike?’
　　They told Bill. ‘It doesn’t somehow sound like Uma,’ said Bill. ‘Except for the teeth. No, Idon’t think it was Uma. If he’s going about openly like that he couldn’t be up to anything serious.
　　He could be too easily watched. Still, it looks as if Uma is out here, if he has a friend who spotsyou and asks you leading questions about someone called Bill. Thanks for keeping my surnamesecret!’
　　‘Any other news?’ asked Mrs Cunningham. ‘What else did you do?’
　　‘Oh - the snakes!’ said Dinah, remembering. ‘You tell about them, Philip.’
　　Philip related the whole story, right down to where Kiki had yelled for the police and whistled.
　　Bill frowned.
　　‘Now this kind of thing won’t do, you know,’ he said. ‘You might have got yourselves intoserious trouble. You must never go wandering about in back streets again.’
　　‘Yes, but Bill - we couldn’t let that fellow go on hitting Oola without doing something about it,surely?’ said Jack.
　　‘You two boys could have gone to stop the man, and have sent the girls away for help - theywould have been quite safe then,’ said Bill. ‘Even if your feelings run away with you, you haveALWAYS got to think of your sisters first. If you want to jump into a brawl, do it when you’realone. Understand?’
　　‘Yes, Sir,’ said both boys, rather red in the face. ‘Sorry, Bill!’
　　‘Sorry, Bill,’ echoed Kiki. ‘Sorry, sorry, Bill.’
　　Everyone laughed, and Bill changed the subject. ‘That’s an extraordinary place,’ he said,nodding his head towards Cine-Town. ‘Scores of all kinds of buildings put up just for six months!
　　Did you see the fair they’ve got there?’
　　‘No,’ said the children, surprised. ‘We missed that.’
　　‘Oh yes - hoopla stalls, gambling games, dancing girls, shooting acts and goodness knowswhat,’ said Bill. ‘I’ve no doubt your snake-charmer came from there. Whether he will ventureback again after Kiki’s alarming call for the police I very much doubt. They’ve even got a fire-eater there.’
　　‘A fire-eater!’ said Philip. ‘I’d like to see him do his act. Take us, Bill!’
　　‘No, I think not,’ said Bill. ‘I’d better be getting on to Ala-ou-iya. That’s where I really hope toget news of Uma. You’ll have to hope to see a fire-eater another time. By the way, did you see thefellow climbing a ladder of knives? We saw him just as we came back.’
　　‘Yes, we saw him too,’ said Jack. ‘I do wish we had more time to spend at Cine-Town - it’sugly and strange, but it’s quite fascinating!’
　　Bill got up, filling his pipe. He called to Tala. ‘We’ve finished, Tala. Start for Ala-ou-iya in anhour’s time, please. We should be there about six o’clock. We’ll spend the night there, off-shore,of course.’
　　‘Good, Sir!’ called back Tala, and came to collect the trays. The children settled down under anawning to read. Bill had given them some books about the countryside nearby, telling them that itwas extremely interesting, and that civilizations thousands of years old had lived in thecountryside they passed on their way down the river.
　　It was a pleasant trip on the water that afternoon. Cine-Town was soon left behind as the launchglided slowly and smoothly along. Tala called to them just before six o’clock.
　　‘We come to Ala-ou-iya!’ he chanted, making the name sing on his tongue. ‘You know oldtown, Sir? It called Ala-ou-iya, Gateway of Kings!’
第9章 午饭时间
　　第9章 午饭时间
　　琪琪呼叫警察的喊声和她奇妙的警哨声把三个小青年都吓坏了。他们惊慌失措地站在那儿，盯着这只不同寻常的鹦鹉。接着，他们和那个玩蛇人一起，迅速地溜走了。可惜的是那个玩蛇人逃走的时候一把抓起他那蛇篮子——三条蛇都在里面。
　　四个孩子看着他们落荒而逃，总算是舒了一口气。琪琪咯咯地笑了起来，孩子们也都情不自禁地一起笑了。
　　“琪琪，太谢谢你啦！”杰克说道，用手抓了抓这只开心得不得了的小鹦鹉的脑袋，“我猜你应该是听到菲利普说‘警察’这个词了，然后就想到了你之前吹警哨的表演。我们真是太幸运啦！”
　　“虽然没有真的警察来，但也把坏人们给吓住了。”露西安说道，“真是我的好琪琪！这是你吹哨吹得最好的一次——比你模仿火车的汽笛吹的哨都好。”
　　“我们该回到船上去了，”菲利普说，“我真不想再像这次一样惹到什么麻烦。如果发生了什么严重的事情，比尔肯定会很生气的。”
　　他们正要离开的时候，一个小小的身影从木屋后面跑了出来，是那个小男孩。他跑到菲利普面前，握住他的手，向他跪了下来。
　　“把我带走吧，老大！布拉带着蛇走了，我身上一分钱都没有。布拉是坏人，我不喜欢他，你把我带走吧。”
　　“我不能带着你。”菲利普说着，轻轻地放下了他的手，“但是我可以给你一些钱。”
　　“我不要钱，让我跟着你吧，让奥拉跟着你吧！”小男孩恳求道。
　　“不行，奥拉，我们真的不能带着你。”菲利普说。
　　“可以的，老大，奥拉就跟着你啦，奥拉可以给你干活。”小男孩说着，又一次紧紧地抓住菲利普的手，“老大，你喜欢蛇，是吗？奥拉可以给你逮蛇！”
　　“听着，奥拉——我确实喜欢蛇——但不是那些嘴被缝住的小可怜儿，”菲利普说道，“如果它们真能咬人的话就会非常危险。你有家人吗？可以照看你的家人？”
　　“只有布拉，他是我叔叔。”奥拉仍然拽着菲利普的手不放，这个男孩感到十分局促不安，“布拉是坏人，他打我，你们看，看！”
　　奥拉露出身上的瘀伤和鞭痕，全身上下都是青一块儿紫一块儿的。这让露西安轻轻地抽泣了起来。
　　“可怜的小奥拉！”她说道，“我们不能带上他吗，菲利普？”
　　“不行，露西安，我们不能，”菲利普很坚决，“我们不能带走我们在这儿看到的所有可怜的、被虐待的动物或孩子——那边那只长疥癣的狗、我今天见到的浑身是疮的可怜毛驴、那个又瘦又小的小婴儿，我们看到躺在旧毯子上的那个，记得吗？——他们都需要朋友和救助，但是我们不能每个都救，都把他们带到船上去。对不起，奥拉，我们真的不能带你走。”
　　“我该怎么办，我该怎么办呢？”奥拉绝望地说着。
　　“我们会把你带到急救帐篷那里去，”菲利普说道，“我看到过一个，就在附近。那儿的人会照顾你、帮助你的，奥拉。他们会给你清洗伤口。”
　　奥拉拖着两只光着的脚丫，低着头，伤心地跟着四个孩子走了。他们朝一顶干净的白色帐篷走去，门口站着一个护士，穿着浆得发硬的工作服。刚一靠近，奥拉就溜走了。孩子们听到奥拉边跑边哭，看着这个半裸的小身影消失在了一个小棚屋的后面，黛娜和露西安也眼泪汪汪的。
　　杰克叹了一口气：“我觉得特别难过。我感觉我们让奥拉很失望——但是我真的不知道我们还能做什么。”
　　“好啦，”菲利普说道，“我们大家回船上吧，我们应该下午一点回去的，现在快到时间了。”
　　孩子们回到了河边，大家都闷闷不乐。菲利普时刻关注着周围的情况，想看看那个刚才盘问他们的男人有没有跟着，但是并没有捕捉到他的踪迹。孩子们安全地到达了船上，塔拉高兴地向他们打招呼。孩子们都跳上了船，这时候听到了比尔的声音，他在喊他们。
　　“你们太晚啦。我们都有点担心你们了。快去洗手，我们一起去吃饭。”
　　在吃饭的时候，孩子们和比尔聊了这一天的所见所闻。“你有没有打听到关于热亚•尤玛那个家伙的消息？”菲利普压低了声音问道，这样塔拉就听不到了。
　　“什么都没有，”比尔说道，“但是到了‘阿拉欧亚’那个地方没准儿我就能发现什么。你妈妈和我就是四处逛了逛，看看这里究竟是在拍什么电影，路上还碰到了我们的一个朋友，后来就回船上来啦。非常无聊。你们呢，你们今天做了些什么？”
　　孩子们就向他说了今天在冰激凌店遇到的那个男人，他接近了他们而且还问了很多问题，比尔立马坐直了身子。“他没有说出你的姓来，比尔，”杰克说道，“他就一直只是说‘比尔’而已。难道他不知道你姓什么吗？”
　　“他应该不知道。但是他可能知道我的教名，”比尔说道，“你们该不会把我姓什么告诉他了吧？”
　　“当然没有啦，”两个男孩愤愤地说道。“但是我们确实告诉了他很多叫比尔的人，还问他指的是不是这些人。”杰克补充道，咯咯地笑了起来。
　　“你们是什么意思？”比尔有点迷惑。
　　“嘿嘿——我们问他指的是比尔•希尔顿吗——或者比尔•乔丹——或者比尔•庞加——或者比尔•提波斯，那个家伙有四辆大车、两辆小车呢！”杰克说道。
　　“或者比尔•肯特，那个清理烟囱的人——或者做饼干的比尔•普隆克。”黛娜继续补充道。
　　比尔仰过头去，哈哈大笑：“你们这群狡猾的小猴子！这都是你们编出来的吧。那么，接下来呢？”
　　“嘿嘿——他问我们的船在哪儿——因为我们之前说了我们是为了养病才来河上旅行的，”菲利普说道，“然后我们觉得这个事情变得有些尴尬了——所以杰克就想了个好招儿，说露西安看起来要生病了，我们就趁机扶着她溜了出去，躲了起来。”
　　比尔又大笑起来。“幸亏我是和你们这群孩子一拨儿的，而不是敌人一拨儿的，”他说道，“你们真是太聪明了！嗯——看起来这个家伙应该是热亚•尤玛的间谍。他长什么样儿？”
　　孩子们向比尔仔细地描述着。“听起来不怎么像热亚•尤玛，”比尔说道，“除了牙齿。我不认为他是热亚•尤玛。如果他像这样四处公开走动的话，他就干不了什么可怕的坏事了，因为很容易就会被盯上。但是，没准儿是热亚•尤玛的手下，看起来热亚•尤玛就在那儿，警醒地盯着来这边的陌生英国人，那个人才会问你们关于比尔的事情。谢谢你们没把我姓什么说出来。”
　　“还有其他消息吗？”艾莉阿姨问道，“你们还做了什么？”
　　“对啦——蛇呀！”黛娜想了起来，“你说说，菲利普。”
　　菲利普就把整个事情详细地讲了一遍，一直讲到琪琪大叫警察和吹警哨的时候。比尔眉头皱了起来。
　　“这种事情你们不该做的，你们知道的，”他说道，“你们很有可能给自己带来大麻烦。
　　你们一定不能再去后街转悠了。”
　　“我们知道，但是比尔——我们也不能什么都不做，就让那个家伙继续殴打奥拉吧！我们肯定不能这样，对吧？”杰克说道。
　　“你们两个男孩可以去阻止那个家伙，派女孩们去寻求帮助——这样一来她们就非常安全了，”比尔说道，“即便你们特别愤怒，控制不了情绪，也要先想想你们的妹妹。即便你们想大吵一架，也要挑自己单独的时候，明白吗？”
　　“明白啦！”两个男孩说道，脸上红红的，“对不起，比尔。”
　　“对不起，比尔，”琪琪也附和道，“对不起，对不起，比尔。”
　　所有的人都笑了。比尔换了一个话题。“这儿真是一个奇妙的地方。”他说，向影视城的方向点了点头，“这里的各种各样的建筑被建起来就只用了六个月。你看到他们这儿的集市了吗？”
　　“没看到，”孩子们吃了一惊，“我们好像错过了。”
　　“非常好玩的集市——有热闹的小摊儿、赌博游戏、射击游戏、跳舞的小姑娘们，还有各种各样你们想都想不到的玩意儿，”比尔说道，“我敢肯定你说的玩蛇的人就是从那个集市上来的。但我不能确定，琪琪呼叫警察之后他是不是还会冒着风险再回集市上去。对啦，在集市上我们还看到一个表演吞火的人。”
　　“吞火的人！”菲利普说道，“我好想去看他的吞火表演呀，带我们去吧，比尔！”
　　“不行，现在不能去。”比尔回答，“我们必须起程去‘阿拉欧亚’了。在那儿，我觉得才能真的获得热亚•尤玛的消息。你们想去看吞火表演的话，只好下次啦。对啦，你们还看到一个爬刀梯的家伙了吗？我们回来的路上看到了他的表演。”
　　“是的，我们也看到他啦，”杰克说道，“真希望我们能在影视城多待一段时间——虽然这里有很多奇奇怪怪的事儿，甚至还有肮脏丑陋的事情发生——但是这里真的很有意思！”
　　比尔站起身来，装满烟斗儿，然后喊着塔拉的名字：“塔拉，我们吃完饭了。大概过一个小时我们就起程去‘阿拉欧亚’吧。我们应该能在六点左右到那儿。我们今晚就在那儿过夜吧，当然啦，我是说在岸上过夜。”
　　“好的，先生！”塔拉一边过来收拾盘子，一边回应道。孩子们洗漱好了，躺在甲板的篷子下面开始读书。比尔给了他们一些关于周围村庄风土人情的书，告诉他们这些书读着非常有意思。他们坐船顺河而下，所经过的那些村子居然有几千年的历史文化！
　　那天下午的河上旅行非常舒服，大家都感到很愉快。随着小船顺畅无阻地向前行驶，影视城立马被落在了后面。塔拉在快六点的时候提醒大家。
　　“我们到‘阿拉欧亚’啦！”塔拉喊道，他的发音仿佛是用舌头唱出来的，“您知道这座古城吗，先生？它叫‘阿拉欧亚’，意思是‘国王的通道’！”
10 That night
　　10
　　That night
　　Tala took the launch deftly to a mooring-post by a small wooden jetty. One or two fishing-boatswere there already. Trees came right down to the water, but beyond them the children could seethe outlines of small houses, low and whitewashed. Smoke rose on the evening air, rising straightup, for there was no breeze away from the river.
　　‘What did Tala mean - that Ala-ou-iya is the Gateway of Kings?’ asked Dinah. ‘It says that tooin the books you gave us to read, Bill - but it doesn’t explain it.’
　　‘I don’t expect it means anything much,’ said Bill. ‘Unless it is a name handed down from oldtimes, when much of this country was the site of civilizations thousands of years old.’
　　‘As old as Ur, the town in the Bible?’ asked Lucy-Ann.
　　‘Yes - as old as Ur - and probably much older!’ said Bill, with a laugh. ‘There must have beengreat palaces and temples here in this country even before the Great Flood, when Noah sailed offin his Ark.’
　　‘Oh, “The Gateway of Kings” might really have meant something then,’ said Dinah. ‘Theremight have been a golden gateway leading to a palace - or to a temple. I wish this book explainedmore. Bill, it’s strange, isn’t it, to think that perhaps seven or eight thousand years ago, if we hadsailed down this river, we might have passed the most wonderful buildings on the way! Alltowering high and glittering in the sun!’
　　‘We might have seen the Tower of Babel, that reached to the sky,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Should we,Bill?’
　　‘Not from this river. Babylon is miles away,’ said Bill. ‘Look - here comes nightfall - and outcome the stars!’
　　‘And we can see the gleam of the fires now, outside the huts, through the trees,’ said Dinah. ‘Ilove the evenings here. That little group of village houses looks most picturesque now - but Iknow if we went and sat near them they wouldn’t look so nice. It’s a pity.’
　　‘Spitty!’ said Kiki, at once. ‘Spitty, spitty, spitty.’
　　‘I didn’t say that, Kiki,’ said Dinah. ‘I said “It’s a pity.” Don’t be rude!’
　　‘Spitty,’ said Kiki, working herself up in a crescendo. ‘Spitty spitty, SPITTY . . .’
　　‘Be quiet,’ said Jack, and tapped her on the head.
　　‘Spitty!’ repeated Kiki at once, and went off into a shriek of laughter. Tala burst into laughtertoo, and his huge guffaw made them all jump. He thought Kiki was the funniest thing he had evermet, and was always bringing her titbits. He brought her one now - a piece of pineapple out of atin. She took it in one foot, and shook the juice from it.
　　‘Don’t!’ said Dinah. ‘I don’t like pineapple juice down my neck, Kiki. Do be good.’
　　‘Good, good, goody good,’ said Kiki, and nibbled daintily at the pineapple. ‘Good boy,goodbye, good morning, good afternoon, good . . .’
　　Tala roared again, and Bill motioned him away. He would have stood all evening watching Kikiif he had been allowed to.
　　‘Are you going ashore tomorrow or tonight, Bill?’ asked Mrs Cunningham.
　　‘Tonight, I think,’ said Bill. ‘The man I want to talk to may be out all day - and anyway I’drather talk to him at night, with no one about.’
　　Bill went off about nine o’clock, slipping like a shadow through the trees. He had been told howto find the man he wanted, and any villager would direct him to the house, which was builtalongside a big store.
　　‘I think I’ll turn in,’ said Mrs Cunningham, after a while. ‘I don’t know why this air makes mefeel so sleepy, but it does. You turn in too, children - and remember your mosquito-nets!’
　　Dinah was already yawning. She and Lucy put up their net not far from Mrs Cunningham,arranging it over their mattress on the deck. The boys were not sleepy and hung over the side ofthe launch, talking in whispers. Tala could be heard snoring at the other end of the boat.
　　‘Wonder how Bill’s getting on,’ said Jack, in a low tone. ‘Shall we wait up for him?’
　　‘No. Better not. He may be pretty late,’ said Philip. ‘Let’s turn in now. It must be about half-past ten. Where’s our net? Oh, you’ve got it. Good. Come on then.’
　　They lay down on their mattress, glad to feel cool after the heat of the day. It was very peacefullying there, hearing the small lappings of the river, and a night-bird calling out suddenly, or a fishjumping in the darkness.
　　Jack went drifting off to sleep, and began to dream of enormous palaces and golden gates, andvast store-houses of treasure. Philip tossed and turned, listening for Bill.
　　Ah! There he was! Philip heard a noise as if someone were creeping on to the launch, trying tokeep as quiet as possible. He listened for Bill to pour a glass of lime-juice for a last drink as healways did. But no sound came. Bill must have decided to turn in at once.
　　Another small sound made him sit up suddenly. Was that Bill? Somehow it didn’t sound likehim. Bill was big and heavy, and no matter how quiet he tried to be, he always made some noise.
　　Surely he would have made more noise than this? If it wasn’t Bill - then who was it?
　　Philip rolled quietly off his mattress and pushed aside the mosquito-net. He sat on the bare floorof the deck and listened again. Yes - someone was creeping about! Someone in bare feet.
　　It couldn’t be Tala. He had bare feet - but Philip could quite well hear his snores at the otherend of the boat. Was it - was it that man who had asked them questions about Bill, come to snoopabout? Or could it possibly be the snake-charmer, come for a revenge of some sort? No - that wasimpossible, surely!
　　Philip listened once more. A small sound came to him again, this time down in the cabin of thelaunch. He crept silently over the deck, only the stars showing him the way.
　　He came to the top of the hatchway steps that led down to the cabin, and listened again. Yes,someone was down there - and it sounded as if the someone was helping himself to food. Anddrink too! There was a noise exactly like someone drinking!
　　Philip thought it was probably some person from the group of houses beyond the trees. Whatshould he do? Wake Tala? That might be a bit of a job, and Tala would probably wake up in afright and yell, which might give the intruder time to get away!
　　Then a bright thought came to Philip. Of course - he could close the hatchway and catch thethief that way! So he tried to shut it down, but it was tightly fastened back, and he couldn’t moveit. He decided to creep back to Jack and wake him. Together they would be a match for any native.
　　He crept back very quietly, stopping every now and again to listen for any other sounds fromthe intruder. He half thought he heard one behind him and listened again. No. Nothing.
　　On he went, and rounded the corner that led to his mattress, coming out of the shadow into thestarlight.
　　And then he saw a black shadow standing in front of him! A shadow that seemed to look at himand recognize him. It flung itself on him, and held him tightly, while he struggled to shake it off.
　　‘Boss!’ said the shadow. ‘Boss, Oola follow you. Oola here, boss. Oola here!’
　　The sound of Oola’s voice woke everyone up - everyone, that is, except the snoring Tala. MrsCunningham sat up at once. Jack leapt off his mattress and found himself entangled in hismosquito-net. The girls sat up with hearts thumping loudly. What was happening?
　　Jack switched on a torch, and Dinah felt about for hers. Mrs Cunningham threw aside her net,and flashed her own torch in the direction of the noise. It lighted up a queer sight!
　　Philip was standing on the deck, and little Oola was kneeling in front of him, his arms claspingPhilip’s knees so tightly that the boy couldn’t move!
　　‘Let go!’ said Philip. ‘You’re waking everyone up. What on earth have you come here for?’
　　‘Oola yours, boss,’ said the small voice. ‘Oola belong you. Not send Oola away.’
　　‘Philip! What is all this?’ called Mrs Cunningham. ‘Where’s Bill? Isn’t he back yet?’
　　‘No, Mother!’ said Philip. ‘This is the kid we rescued from that snake-charmer we told youabout - the one who was beating him. He’s followed us all the way here!’
　　‘Oola follow boat, all way, all way, Oola run,’ said Oola.
　　‘Good gracious! Fancy running all the way down the banks of the river!’ said Jack. ‘Poor littlecreature! He seems determined to be near you, Philip. Oola, are you hungry?’
　　‘Oola eat down there,’ said the little boy, pointing towards the hatchway. ‘Oola no food two,three days.’
　　Mrs Cunningham examined him by the light of her torch, and exclaimed in horror. ‘Why, he’sabsolutely covered in bruises and weals - and he’s as thin as a rake. Poor little thing! Has he reallyrun all the way after the boat to find you, Philip?’
　　‘Seems so,’ said Philip, finding his heart suddenly full of pity and affection for this strange littlecreature. He couldn’t bear to think of him clambering through the bushes by the riverside all daylong, trying to follow the boat - hungry, thirsty, tired and sore. All because Philip had rescued himfrom his hateful uncle! Perhaps nobody had ever been kind to him before.
　　Suddenly a voice came from the bank. ‘Hallo! Are you all still up? I hope you didn’t wait forme.’
　　It was Bill. He leapt on to the launch, saw Oola kneeling on the deck and stopped inamazement.
　　‘Whatever’s all this? What’s happening?’ he demanded. ‘Who’s this come to visit us in themiddle of the night?’
第10章 那天晚上
　　第10章 那天晚上
　　塔拉熟练地停船靠岸，在一个木板建成的小码头上安顿了下来，将船拴到旁边的柱子上。那儿已经有一两只小渔船了。岸边的树枝叶繁茂，几乎伸到了水中，孩子们透过树影可以看到一些低矮的被粉刷成白色的小房子的轮廓。炊烟在傍晚的空气中笔直地上升，周围一点儿风都没有。
　　“‘阿拉欧亚’是‘国王的通道’，塔拉这么说是什么意思？”黛娜问道，“比尔，你给我们的书上也这么说——但是书上并没有讲为什么。”
　　“我没指望这个名字能意味着什么，”比尔说道，“除非这是从古代传下来的名字，这个国家大部分地区都是有几千年文明的遗址。”
　　“就像《圣经》里的‘吾珥城 [1] ’一样历史悠久？”露西安问。
　　“是的，像‘吾珥城’一样历史悠久，甚至可能更久！”比尔笑着说道，“在《圣经》里说的‘大洪水’，也就是诺亚驾驶方舟 [2] 起航之前，这个地方肯定就存在很多壮观的宫殿和庙宇。”
　　“嗯，是的。‘国王的通道’没准儿真的有什么意义，”黛娜说道，“这儿可能有一条金子做的通往某个宫殿或者庙宇的通道，我希望书上能说得更多一点儿。比尔，这种感觉真奇妙啊，是不是？——想象着七八千年前，如果我们从这条河顺流而下，我们可能会路过许多非常宏伟的建筑！所有的建筑都高耸入云，在阳光下闪闪发光！”
　　“我们没准儿还能见到‘巴别塔 [3] ’呢，那个塔通往天上呢！”露西安说，“我们能见到吗，比尔？”
　　“从这条河不行。巴比伦还很远呢，”比尔说，“看哪，夜幕降临了，星星也出来了！”
　　“我们现在可以透过树林，看到在那些小房子外面的火光了，”黛娜说道，“我好喜欢这里的夜晚。村庄里的那群小房子看起来非常漂亮——但是我知道，如果我过去坐在附近，它们看起来就不那么漂亮了。真是可惜啊！”
　　“可气！”小鹦鹉琪琪立马喊道，“可气，可气，可气！”
　　“我没说‘可气’，琪琪，”黛娜说道，“我说的是‘可惜’，别这么没礼貌！”
　　“可气！”琪琪抻直了脖子扯着嗓门喊道，“可气，可气，可气……”
　　“安静一点。”杰克说着，敲了敲这只小鹦鹉的脑袋。
　　“可气！”琪琪又一次叫唤着，接着发出一阵笑声。塔拉也笑了，他突如其来的大笑声让大家都吓了一跳。塔拉觉得琪琪是他见过的最有意思的小东西，他常常会给琪琪送来一些好吃的。他现在就给她送来了一个——一个菠萝罐头。琪琪一只脚抓住罐头，然后把果汁摇晃了出来。
　　“别这样！”黛娜说道，“我可不想让菠萝汁溅到我脖子上，琪琪，你乖一点！”
　　“乖乖，乖乖，小乖乖！”琪琪叫道，轻轻地啄着菠萝罐头，“乖宝宝，乖娃娃，乖孩子，乖鹦鹉，乖……”
　　塔拉又一次大笑起来，比尔打个手势让他走了。如果可以的话，塔拉能站在那儿看这只小鹦鹉看一晚！
　　“你今晚或者明天要上岸吗？”艾莉阿姨问比尔。
　　“可能是今晚，”比尔说道，“我想要去约谈的那个人白天都不在的，无论如何我今晚都要去找他聊聊，当然是在周围没有人的时候。”
　　大约晚上九点，比尔就出发了，像影子一样消失在树林里。他已经被告知怎么找到那个他想见的人，某个村民会领着比尔去那个人的房子，他的房子建在一个大仓库的边儿上。
　　过了一会儿，艾莉阿姨说想要上床睡觉了：“真不知道为什么这儿的空气让我那么困，你们也上床睡觉吧，孩子们——记得挂上蚊帐。”
　　黛娜已经哈欠连连了。她和露西安在离艾莉阿姨不远的地方支起了蚊帐，把它搭在了甲板的床垫上方。男孩们却一点儿都不困，他们两个在船头耷拉着腿，窃窃私语。而塔拉——他的呼噜声在船的另一端都能听得见。
　　“我在想比尔那儿有什么进展，”杰克压低了声音说，“我们要等他吗？”
　　“最好别等了吧。他可能要很晚很晚才回来呢，”菲利普说，“我们也上床睡觉吧。现在都十点半了。我们的蚊帐呢？噢，你已经拿啦。行啦，我们睡吧。”
　　杰克和菲利普在垫子上躺了下来，在燥热的一天过后，他们非常享受此刻的凉爽。他们躺在那儿，感觉四周静悄悄的，只能听到河水拍打船身的轻微的声音，一只夜鸟突然地鸣叫，还有一条鱼在黑暗中跳进水里的声音。
　　啊！比尔回来了！菲利普听到有人悄悄地爬上了船，尽量不弄出声响。他正等着听比尔倒一杯橙汁，在睡觉前喝上最后一杯呢，比尔总是这样做。但是菲利普接下来再也没有听到什么声音了。比尔肯定是决定立马上床睡觉了。
　　突然，另一个轻微的声响让菲利普立马坐了起来。那是比尔吗？怎么听起来感觉不像他？比尔身材高大，又很强壮，不论怎么努力不发出声音，他总会弄出一些声响。要是比尔的话，声音肯定比现在要大！但是如果不是比尔——这人会是谁呢？
　　菲利普不声不响地从垫子上迅速起身，把蚊帐撩到一边。他坐在船的甲板上又仔细地听了听——有人偷偷摸摸地在船上走着，而且还赤着脚！
　　这人肯定不是塔拉。虽然塔拉也赤着脚，但是菲利普可以清晰地听到他从船的另一头传过来的呼噜声。难道是那个向他们打听比尔消息的人，是他过来探路了？或者，是那个玩蛇的人，过来报仇了？不可能，绝对不可能！
　　菲利普又听了听。一个轻微的声音传到他耳朵里，这次是在下面的船舱里。那人正悄悄地往甲板上爬，只有星光给他照着前面的路。
　　菲利普来到船舱的出口旁再次听着，那儿有梯子直通下面的船舱。是的，下面有人——听起来像是有人在翻找吃的，还有喝的！这声音像是有人在喝东西。
　　菲利普觉得这很有可能是岸上树林那边村子里的人。他该怎么做呢？叫醒塔拉？再爬到船那边可能有点费事儿，而且塔拉被惊醒了很有可能会大叫，这样的话就给了那个小偷逃走的时间！
　　突然，菲利普想到一个非常棒的计划。他完全可以关上船舱的门，把这个小偷逮住！
　　于是菲利普使劲儿地想把舱门关上，但是这门被系得非常紧，他推不动。菲利普决定悄悄爬回去，叫醒杰克。他们俩一起的话就可以对付那个人了。
　　他轻轻地爬了回去，时不时地停下来听听那个人又弄出了什么声响。他刚爬到半路就感觉后面有声响，于是又停下来听了听。但是没有，什么声音都没有。
　　他继续往前走，拐个弯儿就可以通向床垫子那边了。突然，一个黑影从角落里走了出来，走到了星光里。
　　菲利普看着这个黑影就直直地站在他面前！那个黑影似乎在看他，而且好像认得他！
　　黑影向菲利普扑了过来，一把紧紧地抱住他，菲利普挣扎着想要摆脱。
　　“老大！”黑影叫道，“老大，奥拉跟着你呢。奥拉在这儿，老大，奥拉在这儿！”
　　奥拉的声音把所有的人都惊醒了——所有的人，除了呼噜打得正响的塔拉。艾莉阿姨立马坐了起来。杰克从垫子上跳了起来，却被蚊帐给缠住了。黛娜和露西安也坐了起来，心跳加速。究竟发生了什么事情？
　　杰克打开了手电筒，黛娜也在找她的手电筒。艾莉阿姨从蚊帐里钻出来，用自己的手电筒照向发出声响的地方。她的手电光照到一幕奇怪的景象。
　　菲利普站在甲板上，瘦小的奥拉在他面前跪了下来，他的胳膊紧紧地抱住了菲利普的膝盖，可怜的菲利普都不能动了。
　　“放开我！”菲利普喊道，“你把所有的人都吵醒了。你到底为什么来这儿？”
　　“奥拉是你的，老大，”一个弱小的声音响起，“奥拉属于你，别赶奥拉走。”
　　“菲利普，这究竟是怎么一回事儿？”艾莉阿姨问道，“比尔在哪儿呢？他还没回来吗？”
　　“没呢，妈妈！”菲利普说道，“这是我们从玩蛇人手里救出来的那个孩子，我告诉过你——那个坏蛋殴打他。他好像一路跟着我们到这儿了。”
　　“奥拉跟着船，一直跟着，一直跟，奥拉跑着。”奥拉说道。
　　“我的天哪！真难以想象他是怎么跟着船一路过来的。”杰克说道，“可怜的孩子！菲利普，他好像下定决心要跟着你了。奥拉，你饿吗？”
　　“奥拉在下面吃了东西。”可怜的小孩子说着，指了指船舱的门，“奥拉两天，三天都没吃东西了。”
　　艾莉阿姨用手电光照着奥拉，突然惊叫了出来：“我的天，他浑身上下都是瘀青和伤痕——他瘦得跟竹竿儿一样。可怜的小家伙！他真的一路跑着跟在我们的船后面吗，菲利普？”
　　“看起来好像是的。”菲利普回答道。他心里一下子对这个小家伙充满了愧疚和怜爱。
　　他真不敢想象奥拉是怎么一路沿着河边艰难地跑过来的，怎么一直紧紧地跟上船的——肯定又饿又渴又累又疼！而这一切仅仅是因为菲利普从他那个可恨的叔叔那儿救了他！可能以前从没有人对他这么好过吧。
　　就在此时，又有一个声音从岸上传来了：“哎哟，你们大家一直都没睡呢？不会是为了等我吧！”
　　是比尔！他跳上船，一下子惊奇地停住了脚步——他发现一个陌生的小男孩跪在甲板上。
　　“这究竟是怎么回事儿？发生了什么？”他问道，“这是谁呀，大半夜的过来探望我们？”
　　[1] 吾珥城，《圣经》中提到的一座古城，是亚伯拉罕（《圣经》中犹太人的始祖）的诞生地，在两河流域的下游。
　　[2] 和前面的“大洪水”都是指《圣经》中诺亚方舟的故事。创造世界万物的上帝见到地上充满败坏、强暴和不法的邪恶行为，于是计划用洪水消灭恶人。同时他也发现，人类之中有一位叫作诺亚的好人。上帝指示诺亚建造一艘方舟，带着他的妻儿。同时神也指示诺亚将牲畜与鸟类等动物带上方舟，且必须包括雌性与雄性。
　　[3] 巴别塔，《圣经》中说，人类联合起来兴建希望能通往天堂的高塔。为了阻止人类的计划，上帝让人类说不同的语言，使人类相互之间不能沟通，计划因此失败，人类从此各散东西。此事件，为世上出现不同语言和种族提供解释。
11 Oola and his present
　　11
　　Oola and his present
　　Oola crouched down at the sound of Bill’s loud voice. Philip felt him trembling against his knees.
　　He pulled him up. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Don’t be frightened. Bill, this is that kid we rescued thismorning from the snake-charmer. He’s followed us all the way here, running along the banks.’
　　Bill stared in astonishment. ‘But - he can’t do this!’ he said. ‘Climbing on board someone else’sboat in the middle of the night! Has he stolen anything? Some small kids are taught to steal assoon as they can walk.’
　　‘He took some food from the cabin. He says he hasn’t had any for two or three days,’ saidLucy-Ann. ‘Bill, he seems to think he wants to be Philip’s servant. Whatever are we to do?’
　　‘He’ll have to go,’ said Bill. ‘It’s just a trick to get on the boat. No doubt his snake-charmeruncle has put him up to this, and is waiting for his share of the goods! Clear off, now, boy! Quick!’
　　Oola was so scared that he could hardly walk. He left Philip and stumbled over the decktowards the jetty. As he passed Mrs Cunningham, she put out her hand to the stumbling boy, andcaught him, so that he came to a standstill. She turned him round gently so that he stood in thelight of her torch, with his back towards Bill.
　　‘Bill - look!’ she said. And Bill looked, and saw the poor thin little body, with the bruises allover it. He gave an exclamation.
　　‘Good heavens! Who did that? Poor little creature, he looks half-starved. Come here, Oola.’
　　Oola came, half reassured by the kinder tone in Bill’s voice. Bill shone his torch on him, and theboy blinked. ‘Why did you come, Oola?’ asked Bill, still stern. ‘Tell me the truth and nothing willharm you.’
　　‘I come to find him,’ said Oola, and pointed to Philip. ‘I make him my boss. Oola his servant.
　　Oola bring present for boss.’
　　Bill looked him over. Except for the dirty cloth round his waist, Oola had nothing to bring!
　　‘You bring no present,’ said Bill. ‘Why do you lie, Oola?’
　　‘Oola spik truth,’ said the boy. ‘My boss, he say he like snake. Very much like snake. So Oolabring one. Bargua snake!’
　　And, to everyone’s horror, Oola slid his hand into his waist-cloth and brought out a slim,wriggling green snake, spotted with bright red and yellow!
　　‘Its mouth isn’t sewn up!’ yelled Jack. ‘Look out, everybody! Look out, Oola, you fathead! It’sa poisonous snake. Its bite will kill you!’
　　Dinah shot to the hatchway, ran down and locked herself into a cupboard, trembling all over. Abargua! One of the most poisonous snakes there were! How COULD Oola wear it round him likea belt! She felt quite sick.
　　Oola still held the snake, which writhed about in his hand, opening its mouth and showing itsforked tongue.
　　‘Throw it overboard, Oola!’ shouted Bill. ‘For goodness’ sake, throw it overboard! Are youmad?’
　　‘Oola bring present for boss,’ said Oola obstinately. He lifted the snake towards Philip, whoretreated at once. He liked snakes. He was not afraid of them. But to take hold of a poisonous onewhich was already frightened and full of anger would be a crazy thing to do!
　　‘THROW IT OVERBOARD!’ yelled Bill, terribly afraid that somebody would get bitten. ‘Yousilly little idiot!’
　　‘Snake not bite,’ said Oola. ‘All poison gone. See!’
　　To everyone’s horror he forced open the snake’s mouth. Philip bent down and looked inside,suddenly feeling that the snake might not be dangerous after all. He looked for the poison-glandand the duct that led down to the hollow tooth out of which poison pours when a snake bites.
　　He looked up again in the midst of a dead silence. ‘The snake’s not poisonous,’ he said, and hecalmly took it from Oola. ‘Someone has cut the ducts that take the poison from the poison-glandsto the teeth. It’s a horrible trick, because it usually means that the snake dies in three or fourweeks’ time. Oola - who did this?’
　　‘Old woman,’ said Oola. ‘Oola tell her my boss wants bargua snake, and she give Oola this one.
　　Safe snake, boss, not like snake-mouth sewn up. You like this one?’
　　Philip was now talking to the snake in his special ‘animal’ voice, and it was attending, lyingquite still in his hands.
　　‘Poor thing!’ said Philip. ‘All because of me you have been injured! You have no poison in younow, but you will die because of that. You shall live with me and be happy till then. Oola, youmust never have such a thing done to snakes again! It’s cruel!’
　　‘Yes, boss,’ said Oola humbly. He looked round fearfully at Bill. ‘Oola stay?’ he enquired.
　　‘Oola boss’s man. Belong him,’ and he pointed at Philip.
　　‘All right - you can stay for the night anyhow,’ said Bill, feeling quite exhausted with all this.
　　‘Come with me. I’ll wake Tala and you can sleep with him.’
　　‘Go, Oola,’ said Philip, seeing the boy hesitate, and Oola went.
　　‘I wanted to put some ointment on his back,’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Poor little mite! Oh, Philip- have we got to have that snake living with us now?’
　　‘I’ll keep it in my pocket,’ said Philip. ‘I won’t let it out unless I’m alone, or with Jack. It’squite harmless, Mother. Mother, can we let Oola stay with us? He can help Tala and I’ll see thathe’s not a nuisance. I can’t imagine why he has attached himself to me.’
　　‘Well, you rescued him from that awful uncle of his, didn’t you!’ said Lucy-Ann.
　　‘We’ll see what Bill says,’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘He’ll do what he can for him, I know.
　　Where’s Dinah?’
　　‘Probably locked in the broom cupboard!’ said Jack. ‘I’ll go and see.’
　　Dinah was still in the cupboard, feeling rather ashamed of herself now, but not daring to comeout till someone fetched her. She was most relieved to see Jack.
　　Jack decided not to tell her yet that Philip had the snake. She might kick up a terrible fuss andhave a violent quarrel with Philip. Better have all that in the morning, not now, when everyonewas tired and upset.
　　‘Come on out, Di,’ he said, opening the door. ‘Don’t worry! The snake wasn’t even poisonous!
　　The poor thing has had its poison-ducts cut, so no poison can run down to the hollow fangs. Wehad all that fright for nothing.’
　　‘I don’t believe it,’ said Dinah. ‘It’s still poisonous. You’re just making that up to get me out!’
　　‘No. It’s true, Dinah!’ said Jack. ‘Do come out. Everybody wants to go to bed now. Oola hasgone to sleep with Tala. He’s absolutely determined to be Philip’s servant, poor little boy!’
　　Dinah imagined that the snake had also gone with Oola, and she consented to come up on deckagain. Soon everyone had settled under their mosquito- nets and were soon asleep. What anextraordinary evening!
　　In about half an hour, when Tala was snoring loudly again, a small figure crept over the launchto where the boys slept. It was Oola. He had come to be near his ‘boss’! He curled himself up onthe bare deck at Philip’s feet, and closed his eyes, perfectly happy and at peace. He was with his‘boss’. He was guarding him! No one could come near Philip without waking Oola.
　　In the morning Tala, as usual, awoke first. He remembered the episodes of the night and lookedfor Oola. The boy was gone. He nodded his head in satisfaction. Had he not told Mister Bill thatboys like that were no good? But Mister Bill had said, ‘He sleeps with you, he will stay here.’ Andnow the boy was gone, and Tala was right.
　　He prepared breakfast, planning what to say to Bill. ‘Sir, Tala right. Tala spoke true. Boy gone.’
　　Tala was therefore extremely surprised and disappointed to see Oola curled up at Philip’s feet.
　　He gave him a push with his foot and Oola was up on his feet at once, ready to defend Philip.
　　‘You go back there,’ said Tala fiercely, in his own language, but under his breath so as not towake anyone. He nodded towards his own quarters. Oola shook his head and sat down by Philipagain. Tala raised his hand as if to strike him and Oola slid away deftly, running to hide.
　　But as soon as Tala went away Oola came back to Philip again, and sat looking down at thesleeping boy with so much pride and admiration in his face that Philip would have been quiteembarrassed to see it.
　　The snake was safely in a little basket beside him. Oola scratched his finger against the basketand whistled very softly. The snake hissed and tried to get out.
　　‘You are my boss’s snake,’ Oola told it, in his own language. ‘You belong him, Oola belonghim!’
　　What a to-do at breakfast when Dinah realized that the snake now belonged to Philip, and hewas going to keep it. She gave such a shriek when its head peeped out of his pocket that everyonejumped. ‘Philip! I won’t have you keep that snake. You know how I hate snakes. Bill, tell him hemustn’t. Bill, I do so hate them. I shan’t stay a minute longer on this boat if you say he can keep it.
　　I’ll go back to the hotel!’
　　‘All right, Dinah,’ said Bill mildly. ‘There’s no need to go up in smoke. I shan’t stop you fromgoing back to the hotel if you are so distressed. I’ll get Tala to run you back with a note to thehotel manager. You should be quite all right there, especially as he has two nice old English ladiescoming to stay at his hotel this week to do some painting. They’ll look after you.’
　　Dinah couldn’t believe her ears. What! Bill would actually let her go back - all alone - insteadof ordering Philip not to keep the snake?
　　‘I’ll call Tala now, shall I?’ said Bill.
　　Dinah went brilliant red, and looked at him with tears in her eyes. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’d - I’drather put up with the snake than leave you all. You know that. You win, Bill.’
　　‘Good girl, Dinah,’ said Bill, with a sudden smile. ‘Now - what are our plans for today? AndWHAT are we going to do with Oola?’
第11章 奥拉和他的礼物
　　第11章 奥拉和他的礼物
　　一听到比尔洪亮的声音，奥拉立刻吓得蜷缩起身子，菲利普能感受到他在颤抖。菲利普把奥拉扶了起来。“好啦，”他说道，“别害怕！比尔，这是我从玩蛇人那儿救出来的孩子。他一路跟着我，在岸上跑，一直跑到了这里。”
　　比尔震惊地盯着奥拉。“但是，他这么做不合适！”比尔说道，“大半夜爬上别人的船！
　　他偷什么东西了吗？这里的一些小孩子刚学会走路就被大人教唆着偷东西。”
　　“他从船舱里拿了一些食物。他说自己已经两三天没吃饭了，”露西安说道，“比尔，他似乎想跟着菲利普。我们接下来该怎么处理这件事儿呢？”
　　“他必须离开，”比尔的语气非常坚定，“这只是一个为了上船的骗局。肯定是他那个玩蛇的叔叔让他这么做的，等着瓜分他偷的东西！你，现在赶快走，快点！”
　　奥拉害怕得几乎走不动路了。他放开了菲利普，磕磕绊绊地在甲板上挪动着，朝码头走去。当他经过艾莉阿姨身边时，她伸出手扶住了这个颤颤巍巍的小男孩。她温柔地转过他的身子，这样奥拉就背对着比尔，站在了她的手电光里。
　　“比尔，你看！”艾莉阿姨说道。比尔看到了令人心酸的一幕——这个可怜的小孩子瘦小的身体上布满了瘀青和伤痕。比尔大声惊呼。
　　“我的老天！谁干的？可怜的小家伙，他看起来真是饿得够呛。过来，奥拉。”
　　奥拉听到比尔的声音稍微温柔了一点儿，感到安心了，他朝比尔走了过去。比尔拿手电筒对着他，奥拉眼睛眨了眨。“你为什么来这里，奥拉？”比尔问道，声音仍然很严厉，“告诉我实话，我不会伤害你的。”
　　“我来找他的。”奥拉说着，指了指菲利普，“我把他当作我的老大，奥拉要跟着他。奥拉给老大带了礼物。”
　　比尔盯着他看了看。除了那块缠在他腰上的脏兮兮的布，奥拉什么都没有拿。
　　“你并没有带礼物，”比尔说道，“你为什么要骗人呢，奥拉？”
　　“奥拉没骗人，”小男孩说道，“我的老大，他说他喜欢蛇。非常非常喜欢蛇。所以奥拉带了一条。巴尔瓜蛇！”
　　接下来的事情让所有的人都吓了一跳，奥拉把手伸进他的腰布里，提溜出一条细长的、蠕动着的绿蛇，浑身遍布明晃晃的红黄斑点！
　　“这蛇的嘴没有被缝住！”杰克叫喊出来，“大家小心！小心！奥拉，你这个笨蛋！这是条毒蛇，被它咬一口你就会死的！”
　　黛娜飞一般地奔向船舱门，然后迅速地跑了下去，把自己锁在橱子里，浑身颤抖。一条巴尔瓜蛇！当地最毒的蛇之一！奥拉是怎么把它像皮带一样绕在自己腰上的呢？黛娜觉得非常恶心。
　　奥拉仍然拿着那条蛇，它在奥拉的手上盘旋着，张开了大嘴露出它分叉的舌头。
　　“把它扔下船去，奥拉！”比尔大声喊叫，“我的天哪，把它扔下船去！你疯了吗？”
　　“奥拉给老大带的礼物。”奥拉非常执着。他举着蛇给菲利普递过去，而菲利普立马往后一缩。他确实喜欢蛇，也不怕它们。但是拿着一条毒蛇，而且是一条受到惊吓、充满愤怒的毒蛇——除非他疯了！
　　“把它扔下船去！你这傻瓜！”比尔大声叫喊着，很怕有人会被咬着。
　　“这蛇不咬人的，”奥拉说道，“所有的毒都没有了，你们看！”
　　接下来，奥拉居然使劲儿掰开了蛇嘴，把大家都吓了一跳。菲利普弯下身子往里看了看，突然觉得这条蛇可能就像奥拉说的那样，一点儿毒都没有。他在寻找蛇的毒腺和那条导向蛇牙的管子——当蛇咬人的时候，毒液就是通过毒腺和导管吐出来的。
　　四周一片静寂。菲利普又检查了一遍。“这条蛇没有毒了，”他说着，并淡定地从奥拉手里接了过来，“有人把蛇从毒腺到牙齿输送毒液的那个管子给切除了。真是一个残忍的花招！因为这样就意味着这蛇三四个星期后就活不了了。奥拉——这是谁干的？”
　　“一个老太婆，”奥拉回答道，“奥拉告诉她我老大想要巴尔瓜蛇，她就给了奥拉这条。
　　安全的蛇，不像被缝住嘴的那种。老大，你喜欢这条蛇吗？”
　　菲利普现在正用他独特的“动物”声音和这条蛇交流。这条蛇在他手上渐渐安静地躺了下来。
　　“可怜的小家伙！”菲利普说道，“都是因为我你才会受伤的！你现在没有毒了，但是你也因此活不了多久了。接下来的日子你就和我在一起吧，我保证你死之前的生活是很快乐的。奥拉，你以后再也不要对蛇做这种事情了，太残忍了！”
　　“是的，老大。”奥拉恭顺地说。他又害怕地朝比尔瞅了瞅。“奥拉可以留下吗？”奥拉乞求道。“奥拉是老大的人，奥拉属于老大。”他指着菲利普诚恳地说道。
　　“好吧——至少你今晚可以留下来了。”比尔说道，对眼前发生的这一切感到筋疲力尽，“跟我过来吧，我叫醒塔拉，你可以和他一起睡。”
　　“去吧，奥拉。”菲利普看着奥拉有些迟疑不定，就冲他说道。奥拉便听话地跟着比尔去了。
　　“我想给他后背上抹点药膏，”艾莉阿姨说道，“可怜的小家伙！噢，菲利普，我们现在必须要和蛇住在一起了吗？”
　　“我会把它放在我口袋里的，”菲利普说道，“我不会让它出来的，除非我自己一个人或者和杰克在一起的时候。它绝对没有危害，妈妈。妈妈，我们能让奥拉留下来和我们在一起吗？他可以帮助塔拉做事儿的，我保证他不会惹大家讨厌的。我真搞不懂他为什么这么黏着我？”
　　“因为你把他从他那个坏蛋叔叔的手里救出来了啊，难道不是吗？”露西安说道。
　　“看看比尔怎么说吧，”艾莉阿姨说道，“我知道，他会尽力帮助奥拉的。咦，黛娜去哪儿了？”
　　“没准儿她把自己锁在橱子里了！”杰克说道，“我过去看看。”
　　黛娜此时还在橱子里待着，她觉得特别羞愧，但是也不敢出来，就一直等着有人能过来找她。这不，一看到杰克，她可算是松了一口气。
　　杰克决定先不告诉她菲利普要收养那条蛇的事情。要是告诉黛娜，她肯定会和菲利普大吵大闹，把这儿掀个底儿朝天的！这件事儿还是明天早上再跟她说吧，现在所有的人都又累又困，肯定不能这个时候告诉她。
　　“出来吧，黛娜，”杰克说着，打开了橱子的门，“别担心，那条蛇没有毒。可怜的小家伙的毒腺和管子都被人切掉了，它的牙上就没有毒液流下来了。我们不需要害怕它。”
　　“我不信，”黛娜说道，“它还是有毒的，肯定是你为了让我出来编的故事！”
　　“我没有编故事，黛娜，是真的！”杰克说道，“快点出来，现在大家都要上床睡觉了。
　　奥拉去和塔拉睡了，他下定决心一定要跟着菲利普，那可怜的小家伙！”
　　黛娜觉得那条蛇肯定跟着奥拉走了，她同意从橱子里出来，再次来到甲板上。所有的人都在蚊帐里面安顿了下来，不一会儿就进入了梦乡。这真是一个不同寻常的夜晚！
　　过了一会儿，塔拉的打呼声又响了起来，一个瘦小的身影挪到了杰克和菲利普睡觉的地方。是奥拉！他想靠近自己的老大！奥拉在菲利普脚边的甲板上蜷缩了起来，闭上了眼睛。奥拉真的非常开心，心里也安稳了。他和老大在一起！他要保护老大！有他在，没有坏人能靠近他的老大——菲利普！
　　早上，塔拉像往常一样第一个醒来。他记起来昨晚发生的小插曲，于是开始找奥拉。
　　这个小子居然离开了！塔拉点点头，非常满意自己的推测——他告诉过比尔先生这种小孩子不是什么好孩子的，但是比尔先生说：“他留下，让他和你一起睡吧。”现在这个小孩逃跑了，塔拉是对的！
　　塔拉准备着早饭，计划着该跟比尔说什么：“先生，塔拉是对的，塔拉说的是实话，那个小孩逃走了！”
　　当看到奥拉蜷缩在菲利普的脚边的时候，塔拉非常惊讶，甚至还有点小失望。他用脚踢了踢奥拉，这时候小奥拉一下子爬了起来，做出要保护菲利普的架势。
　　“你赶快回原来的地方去！”塔拉用他们当地的语言严厉地说道，他把声音压低不想吵到其他人。塔拉朝他自己睡觉的地方点了点头。奥拉摇摇头，在菲利普的边上又坐了下来。塔拉举起手好像要打他，奥拉敏捷地逃开了，找地方躲着他。
　　但是，塔拉一走，奥拉就又回到菲利普旁边了，坐下来看着熟睡的老大。
　　奥拉的脸上充满着骄傲和崇拜，菲利普要是看到这一幕一定尴尬死了。
　　那条蛇被安安稳稳地放在旁边的篮子里。奥拉用手指刮了一下篮子，轻轻地逗弄这条小蛇。这蛇发出咝咝的声响，尝试着逃出来。
　　“你是我老大的蛇了，”奥拉用当地的语言煞有介事地跟蛇说话，“你属于老大，奥拉也属于老大！”
　　一场争吵在早饭的时候爆发了，因为黛娜知道了那条蛇现在是菲利普的了，而且菲利普还要养着它。当蛇从菲利普的袋子里探出头来向外张望的时候，黛娜发出了一声尖叫，所有的人都被惊吓得跳了起来。“菲利普！我不准你养这条蛇。你知道我有多讨厌蛇。比尔，告诉他不许养蛇。比尔，我真的很讨厌蛇。你要是说菲利普可以继续养蛇的话，我就回旅馆去！我一分钟都不想待在船上了。”
　　“好吧，黛娜，”比尔温柔地安慰她，“没有必要那么生气啊。如果你那么难受的话，我不会阻止你回去的。我会让塔拉送你回去，顺便给旅馆经理带个信儿。你在旅馆里肯定没什么问题的，而且听说他们旅馆这周住进了两个非常好的英国老太太，她们是来这里画画的。她们肯定会好好照顾你的。”
　　黛娜几乎不敢相信自己的耳朵。什么！比尔居然会真的让她回去——独自一人——而不是命令菲利普不能养蛇！
　　“那我现在把塔拉叫过来，行吗？”比尔问道。
　　黛娜的小脸儿一下子红通通的，眼里含着泪水望着比尔。“不，”她说道，“不，我宁愿忍受菲利普养蛇，也不要离开你们。你知道的，你赢了，比尔。”
　　“好姑娘，黛娜！”比尔夸赞着，脸上露出了微笑，“现在——让我们想想今天要做些什么呢？还有，我们该怎么处理奥拉的事儿呢？”
12 Good news for Oola
　　12
　　Good news for Oola
　　Oola had been sent to have breakfast with Tala. Tala was very offhand with him, and kept himstrictly in his place. He liked children, but this boy had no business here, on his boat, thought Tala.
　　Oola did his best to please Tala. He listened to all that he had to say, only spoke when he wasspoken to, and put himself at the man’s beck and call, running here and there at top speed for him.
　　When Tala was tinkering with the engine, Oola crept away to see Philip. He sat down in acorner and feasted his eyes on the boy, noting the tuft of hair in front, just like Dinahs, the loud,merry laugh and the way he waited on his mother.
　　Oola nodded in satisfaction. This was his ‘boss’; never before had he met anyone to whom hewanted to give such utter loyalty or love. He had never known his mother, who had died when hewas born, and he had hated his father, who was as cruel as Bula, his uncle. When his father hadgone away he had given the boy to Bula, to be of use to him in his snake-charming.
　　And then had begun a miserable life for Oola, which had become steadily worse. But now - ah,now he had chosen a master, his ‘boss’ Philip, the boy who sat over yonder, listening to big MisterBill. Oola patted his full stomach contentedly, and thought about the present he had given to his‘boss’. Philip had the snake in his pocket - or somewhere about him - yes, under his shirt. Oolacould see the boy put his hand there at times as if he were caressing something.
　　He heard his name being spoken by Bill, who was just then saying, ‘And WHAT are we goingto do with Oola?’
　　Oola’s heart nearly stopped beating. To do with him? What did Big Mister Bill mean? Wouldthey throw him overboard - or give him to the police? He bent forward anxiously to listen - andjust at that moment a strong brown hand came down, and yanked him upright by the neck.
　　It was Tala! ‘What are you doing here?’ he said, in his own language. ‘Sitting here half asleepin the morning! You come and help me, you lazy little son of a tortoise!’
　　Oola gazed at him fiercely, but did not dare to disobey. The words Bill had said rang in his earsstill. ‘What are we to do with Oola?’
　　Bill and the others were discussing everything. Bill was all for putting the boy ashore, givinghim some money and letting him go off to some relative. How could they bother with a boy likethat on the boat?
　　Mrs Cunningham wanted him to have a chance. ‘At least let him stay till we’ve fed him up a bitand put some flesh on him,’ she said. ‘He’s such a miserable little specimen. And when he looksup at me with those big frightened eyes as if all he expects is a blow, I just can’t bear it.’
　　‘He’d be an awful nuisance to Philip,’ said Bill. ‘I know what it is when one of these kids takesa fancy to anyone. Philip would find him underfoot all the time!’
　　‘I could deal with him,’ said Philip quietly. ‘I wouldn’t mind.’
　　‘What do you others think?’ asked Mrs Cunningham, looking round.
　　‘We’d like him,’ said Lucy-Ann, and everyone nodded. ‘We’ll keep him busy - and so willTala! Once Tala has got used to him he’ll like him, I know he will. Don’t send him away, Bill.’
　　Dinah was sitting as far away from Philip as she could, trying not to think of the snake he hadsomewhere about his person. She still felt very upset but she was doing her best to be sensible. Billfelt pleased with her. He turned to her.
　　‘You agree too, Dinah?’
　　She nodded. ‘Yes. I wish he was cleaner and not so skinny, but I like him.’
　　‘Oh, well - we can soon get rid of the dirt and the bones, said Bill. ‘I’ll give him a trial, and tellTala to see that Oola washes himself, and has a clean bit of cloth to wind round his middle. I’ll callOola. OOLA! OOLA!’
　　Oola dropped the piece of wire he had been holding while Tala tinkered with the engine and ranforward immediately, his heart thumping. Was he to be turned away?
　　He stood before Bill, eyes downcast. ‘Oola,’ said Bill, ‘we are going to give you a chance andlet you stay with us while we are on this ship. You will do everything that Tala tells you. I am BigMister Bill, he is Little Mister Tala. Understand?’
　　‘Big Mister kind, Big Mister good!’ said Oola, his eyes shining. ‘Oola glad. Oola be goodworker!’
　　He looked at Philip, his face one big smile. ‘I be with my boss!’ he said to him. ‘Oola boss’sservant! Oola work for him!’
　　Bill called Tala. ‘Tala! Come here a minute!’ Tala came so quickly that it was quite obvious hehad been listening. He saluted and stood waiting, his face rather stern.
　　‘Tala - Oola is to stay with us while we are on the ship. See that he washes himself and eatsproperly. See that he does not steal. Give him work to do. Tell me if he is good or bad.’
　　Tala saluted again but said nothing. He sent a quick look at Oola, who was now standing asclose to Philip as possible, his head bowed, listening.
　　‘That’s all, Tala,’ said Bill. ‘Today we go on down the river, and I will tell you where to stop.’
　　‘Very good, Sir,’ said Tala, and went off, still looking rather grim. He heard his name calledagain.
　　‘Tala! Tala, Tala, Tala!’ He went running back at once. But this time the caller was Kiki, whofelt that she could not keep silent any longer!
　　‘Tala! Wipe your feet! One, two, four, seven, three, quick march! PHEEEEEEEEEEEE!’
　　The police- whistle ending startled everybody, especially Oola, who almost threw himselfoverboard in his fright. Tala forgot his gloom and burst into one of his enormous guffaws,staggering about the deck in delight at the parrot’s ridiculous talk.
　　‘Stop that whistling, Kiki,’ ordered Mrs Cunningham. ‘It goes right through my head. What adin!’
　　‘Din-din-din-dinner!’ chanted Kiki, enjoying the interest she had created. ‘Din-din-din . . .’
　　But a sharp tap on her beak from Jack silenced her, and she flew to a corner and muttered rudethings all to herself.
　　‘Tala, take Oola with you and deal with him,’ said Bill. ‘See that he gets clean from top to toefirst of all. He’s dirty.’
　　This was news to Tala. He hadn’t realized that Oola was dirty from his journey. He looked inhis direction at once and pretended that he could see something horrid. He wrinkled up his nose indisdain.
　　‘Bad,’ he said scornfully. ‘Bad dirt. Pooh!’
　　‘Pooh!’ repeated Kiki in delight, waddling out of her corner. ‘Pooh! Boo! Bad dirt, pooh!’
　　Tala roared, grabbed Oola by the hand and went off with him, Oola protesting all the way.
　　When they were safely out of hearing, Jack turned to Bill.
　　‘Did anything interesting happen last night?’ he asked. ‘At Ala-ou-iya, I mean. You were jollylate back, weren’t you?’
　　‘Yes. I don’t know that I found out much,’ said Bill. ‘The man I had to contact didn’t comehome to his house till fairly late, and I had to wait for him. He knows Raya Uma, of course, and hethinks he is up to something, because he keeps disappearing, but nobody knows where he goes.’
　　‘What is Uma supposed to be doing when he isn’t disappearing?’ asked Mrs Cunningham.
　　‘Well, apparently he is interested in Cine-Town,’ said Bill. ‘He goes there quite a lot - has abedroom in the big hotel they’ve run up there. He says he was an actor himself once, and isextremely interested in films - that may be just a tale, of course, to cover other activities.’
　　‘Yes - but I can quite well believe that he was once an actor,’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Thosephotographs you have of him - they might all be of different men! I am sure he could put ondifferent voices and ways with each change of costume!’
　　‘You’re right,’ said Bill. ‘Well, granted that he was once an actor, and is interested in films,where does he disappear to for a week or ten days every now and again? He’s up to mischief ofsome kind, I’m sure!’
　　There was a pause. ‘What sort of mischief, Bill?’ said Jack.
　　‘Well - here is a list of some of his past activities,’ said Bill, taking out a notebook. ‘Gun-running on a big scale - that means supplying guns illegally to those who will pay a big price forthem. Spying - he’s clever at that, but no Government will use him now, because they can’t trusthim - he’s quite likely to go over to the other side if they offer him a bit more.’
　　‘What a charming fellow!’ said Jack, stroking Kiki, who was now on his knee.
　　‘And smuggling,’ said Bill. ‘That’s another thing he is very successful at. He did it on such abig scale once that he almost made himself a millionaire - then someone gave him away, and inspite of big bribes he offered to others to take the blame, he had to go to prison. Well - those arejust a few things he has done. Now it’s said that he has very little money indeed, not many friendsand is determined to pull off something big.’
　　‘And you think that something big might be hatched out here?’ said Philip. ‘How can you stophim?’
　　‘It isn’t my job to stop him - only to report back to headquarters,’ said Bill. ‘If it’s nothing thatwill harm our own country or its trade, they won’t do anything, but if he’s stirring up troublesomewhere - arming some group or other that will start a small war and plunge us all into dangeronce more, then we shall have something to say.’
　　‘And you found out nothing much last night?’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Well, maybe you’ll trackdown something at the next place - what was its name?’
　　‘A place called Ullabaid,’ said Bill. ‘The man I saw yesterday says that Uma has a small motor-boat himself, and uses this river quite a bit - so it’s clear that the places he goes to are somewhereon or near the river. Well - we’d better start. Go and see if Tala is ready, Jack. Tell him we’ll goslowly - it’s a lovely day, and we’re in no hurry!’
　　Jack hurried off to the other end of the boat.
　　‘Can you start again now, Tala?’ he called. ‘You can? Good! Off we go then!’
第12章 奥拉的好消息
　　第12章 奥拉的好消息
　　奥拉被送去和塔拉一起吃早饭。塔拉对他一点儿都不友好，把他看得死死的。塔拉不是不喜欢孩子，只是他老觉得这个男孩在船上不会有什么好事儿。
　　奥拉竭尽全力地去讨好塔拉——他仔细听着塔拉说的所有的话。当塔拉让他说话的时候，他才说，一切都听从塔拉的命令，而且用他最快的速度为塔拉跑前跑后。
　　当塔拉摆弄引擎的时候，奥拉悄悄地离开去看菲利普了。他坐在角落里，眼睛紧紧地盯住菲利普。奥拉注意到菲利普额头前面有一小簇头发，就跟黛娜的一样，还注意到他的开怀大笑，以及他给他的妈妈，也就是艾莉阿姨帮忙时的样子。
　　奥拉心满意足地点了点头。这就是他的老大，他从来都没有遇到过一个像老大这样让他愿意付出所有忠诚的人。奥拉从来都不知道自己的妈妈是谁，是什么样儿的，他刚生出来她就死了。而他的爸爸——奥拉很恨他，因为他就像布拉，他的坏蛋叔叔一样残忍。当奥拉的爸爸离开的时候，他就把奥拉送给了布拉。从此，这个可怜的孩子就一直被利用着、被使唤着——去帮助他的坏蛋叔叔玩蛇。
　　之后，奥拉便在布拉的手底下，开始了悲惨的生活，而且情况越来越糟。但是现在——哈哈，现在可好啦！他选对了他的主人，他的老大菲利普。而此时，菲利普正坐在不远处，仔细地在听他们的大老大比尔讲话。奥拉心满意足地拍拍吃饱了的肚子，想着他给老大的礼物。菲利普把那条蛇藏到了自己的口袋里——或者他身上其他的地方，是的，在他的衬衫里面！奥拉可以看到菲利普时不时地把手伸进衣服里面，好像在抚摸着什么东西。
　　突然间，奥拉听到比尔先生说到了自己的名字。他说：“我们接下来该拿奥拉怎么办呢？”
　　奥拉的心怦怦地跳个不停。拿他怎么办？比尔先生是什么意思呢？他们会把他扔下船去吗——或者把他交给警察？奥拉身子前倾，迫切地想要听到他们的谈话——就在此时，一只强有力的大手伸了过来，提溜着他的脖子把他猛地往后一扯。
　　是塔拉！“你在这儿干什么呢？”塔拉用当地的语言凶巴巴地说，“一大早儿就懒洋洋地坐在这儿，你这个小懒骨头！快过来帮我做事儿！”
　　奥拉狠狠地瞪了塔拉一眼，但是不敢违抗他的话。比尔刚才说的话还萦绕在奥拉的耳边：“我们接下来该拿奥拉怎么办呢？”
　　比尔和其他人在讨论这个问题。比尔打算把奥拉放到岸上，给他一些钱，然后送他去他的亲戚家。留个孩子在船上怎么行，肯定会给他们带来很多麻烦的！
　　艾莉阿姨倒是想给这个孩子一个机会。“至少让我们把他喂饱一些，喂胖一点儿再让他走呗。”她说道，“奥拉这个小家伙实在是太可怜了。一想到他用那双无辜又害怕的大眼睛看着我，但是他所有的期待到最后只是一个打击，我就不忍心啊。”
　　“他会给菲利普带来麻烦的，”比尔说道，“我知道在他们孩子的世界里，如果有人特别喜欢某人、黏着某人会是怎样。菲利普肯定每天都会被烦死的！”
　　“我可以接受奥拉的，”菲利普说道，“我不介意的。”
　　“你们其他孩子呢？你们怎么想？”艾莉阿姨看了看周围，问道。
　　“我们都很喜欢奥拉。”露西安说道，孩子们都点头表态，“我们会让奥拉帮着做事情的——塔拉也会让他忙起来的！只要塔拉习惯了，他就会喜欢奥拉的，我知道他会的。别把奥拉送走，比尔！求你啦！”
　　黛娜坐得离菲利普很远很远，她努力让自己不去想那条可怕的蛇现在正在菲利普身上。对于这件事情，她仍然感觉非常沮丧，但是她尽量让自己理智一些。比尔对黛娜的表现很是欣慰，他转向了黛娜。
　　“你也同意吗，黛娜？”
　　黛娜点点头：“是的。我希望他能变干净一点儿，还有，不要瘦得那么皮包骨，但是，我挺喜欢奥拉的。”
　　“哦哦，好吧——这个我们倒是可以解决。很快，奥拉就不会那么脏那么瘦啦。”比尔说道，“我会给他一次机会的。我会告诉塔拉让他负责给奥拉洗澡的事情，而且会给他一块干净的围腰布。我现在就把奥拉叫过来。奥拉，奥拉！”
　　这个时候奥拉正在帮塔拉捣鼓引擎，他吓了一跳，连手里拿着的金属丝都给扔掉了。
　　他迅速地朝比尔他们跑过去，心脏怦怦直跳。他要被赶走了吗？
　　他在比尔面前站住，眼角耷拉着不敢看他。“奥拉，”比尔说道，“我们会给你一个机会让你留在船上，塔拉让你做什么你就做什么，明白吗？我是这条船的大老大比尔，塔拉可以算是二老大！”
　　“大老大万岁！大老大你是大好人！”奥拉叫喊着，眼睛里闪闪发光，“奥拉好开心，奥拉一定会做好工作的！”
　　奥拉看看菲利普，脸上露出大大的笑容。“我终于可以留在老大身边啦！”奥拉对菲利普说道，“奥拉跟着老大，奥拉为老大服务！”
　　比尔又把塔拉叫了过来。“塔拉，过来一下！”塔拉立马就到比尔跟前了。很显然，他一直在旁边偷听着他们的谈话。塔拉向比尔行礼，然后站在一边等着比尔的指示，表情很是严肃。
　　“塔拉——奥拉会留在船上，加入我们的河上旅行。你负责照顾他，给他洗洗澡，让他吃饱，确保他不去偷东西，给他点儿事情做。之后再向我报告他表现的好坏。”
　　塔拉再一次向比尔行了礼，没说什么。他瞥了一眼奥拉，这小子此时和菲利普站得很近，正弓着腰，伸着脑袋，听着菲利普在说什么。
　　“就这些，塔拉，”比尔说道，“今天我们就顺流而下，在哪儿停我会告诉你。”
　　“好的，先生。”塔拉说完就离开了，脸上仍旧带着一丝不开心。突然，他听到自己的名字又被叫了。
　　“塔拉，塔拉！塔拉，塔拉！”塔拉又迅速地跑了回来。这次叫他的居然是琪琪！这只小鹦鹉实在是憋不住了，她要说话！
　　“塔拉！稍息，立正！一、二、三、四、五、六、七，前进，前进！呜呜呜呜呜！”
　　琪琪模仿的警哨声让大家吓了一跳，尤其是奥拉，他吓得差点从甲板上掉下去。塔拉一下子忘记了刚才的沮丧，哈哈大笑起来。他在甲板上犹犹豫豫地不肯走，开心地听着这只小鹦鹉滑稽地说着什么。
　　“别吹哨了，琪琪！”艾莉阿姨命令道，“太吵了，这声音在我脑袋旁边一直响！”
　　“吵，吵，吵，炒饭！”琪琪跟着念叨，非常享受自己给大家带来的欢声笑语，“吵，吵，吵……”
　　杰克狠狠地敲了敲她的嘴巴，这只聒噪的小鹦鹉一下子就不敢出声了。她飞到角落里，默默地自言自语。
　　“塔拉，把奥拉带过去吧！”比尔说道，“先把他从头到脚好好清洗清洗，他实在太脏了。”
　　这对塔拉来说倒是个新鲜事儿。他之前没怎么觉得奥拉有什么脏的。他立马朝奥拉那边瞥了一眼，假装自己看到了非常恐怖的东西。他满脸嫌弃地皱起鼻子。
　　“脏，”他鄙视地说道，“太脏了。呸！”
　　“呸！”琪琪开心地重复着，从刚才的角落里摇摇摆摆地走了出来，“呸，呸！脏脏，呸呸！”
　　塔拉又爆发出一阵大笑。他一把拽住奥拉的手，把他拽走了，尽管奥拉一路都很抗拒，想甩开他的手。
　　当他俩走远，听不到大家谈话的时候，杰克转向比尔。
　　“昨天晚上有什么有趣的事情发生吗？”他问道，“我的意思是，在‘阿拉欧亚’，有什么事情发生吗？你昨晚回来得很晚，不是吗？”
　　“是的。但是没发现什么，”比尔回答道，“那个我必须去联系的人昨天很晚才回家，我不得不等他到很晚。当然啦，他认识热亚•尤玛，他觉得他最近肯定在搞什么事情，因为他又不见踪影了，没人知道他去哪儿了。”
　　“这个热亚•尤玛不见了踪影，他会去做什么事情了呢？”艾莉阿姨问道。
　　“很明显的是，他对‘影视城’很感兴趣，”比尔说道，“他经常去那儿——他在那儿的一家豪华酒店里有一间房。听酒店的人说他其实曾经是个演员，对演戏非常感兴趣——当然，这也可能只是个幌子，为了遮掩他的其他行动。”
　　“是的——但是我敢确定他曾经是个演员，”艾莉阿姨说道，“你们看到的他的那些照片——他装扮成了不同的样子！我觉得他肯定每次也会穿着不同服装、装出不同的声音。”
　　“你说得对，”比尔说道，“鉴于他曾经是个演员，对电影感兴趣，那他时不时地消失十天半个月的去哪儿了呢？他绝对是做什么坏事了！我敢肯定！”
　　大家陷入了一阵沉默。“那他做了什么坏事呢？”杰克问道。
　　“我这里有一张单子，记录了他以前做过的一些坏事儿。”比尔说着，掏出了一个笔记本，“大规模走私军火——意思是他非法售卖枪支弹药，提供给那些愿意出高价购买的人。
　　他进行过间谍活动——他很聪明，但是现在没有任何政府愿意用他，因为他们不相信他——如果敌对方给他更多的钱，他就会立刻背叛。”
　　“这个家伙！”杰克说着，摸了摸趴在他膝盖上的琪琪。
　　“除此之外，他还干走私的行当，”比尔说道，“而且他还干得非常成功。大规模的走私曾经让他差点儿成了千万富翁——后来有人出卖了他，尽管他花了大价钱贿赂别人让人顶包，但他最后还是进了监狱。当然了——这些事情都只是他所作所为的一小部分。据说他现在已经没什么钱，也没什么朋友了，接下来他决定要搞个大事情，大干一场！”
　　“你觉得他搞的这个大事情是要在这儿进行的吗？”菲利普问道，“你怎么去阻止他呢？”
　　“阻止他就不在我的工作范围之内了——我的工作只是向政府报告而已，”比尔说道，“如果他所做的事情没有威胁到我们国家或危害经济贸易，政府是不会出手阻止的。但是如果他在这儿非要给我们惹麻烦的话——比如把军火卖给一些恐怖组织企图挑起战争，让我们所有的人都陷入危险之中的话，那我们就不能坐视不管了。”
　　“你昨天晚上没发现什么吗？”艾莉阿姨问道，“查到下一个我们要去的地方了吗？叫什么名字？”
　　“一个叫作‘尤拉拜得’的地方。”比尔说道，“昨晚我去见的那个人说，热亚•尤玛在那儿有艘摩托艇，而且经常会开着摩托艇在这条河里游荡——所以，很明显，他常去的地方应该就在这条河上或者附近的某处。好啦，我们最好现在就出发。杰克，你去看看塔拉准备好了没有，告诉他船可以开慢一些——今天天气不错，我们可以慢悠悠地欣赏一下沿河的风景！”
　　杰克迅速地跑到船的另一端。
　　“现在能开船了吗，塔拉？”杰克喊道，“什么？你可以啦？好的！我们出发喽！”
13 After tea
　　13
　　After tea
　　It was a lovely trip that day. The sun as usual shone all day long, and Tala kept near to the leftbank on which tall trees grew, in order to have a little shade when possible. They passed manyvillages on the banks, and whenever the natives saw the boat gliding along, out they came andshouted and waved.
　　Oola was kept busy by Tala, and Philip saw little of him till the afternoon rest. The sun was sohot then that the boat was run in under the shade of trees, and moored. Everyone puffed and blew,and Bill ordered a general rest.
　　Then it was that Oola crept forward to where the boys lay in a shady corner, and curled up notfar off, his eyes on Philip.
　　Philip saw him and grinned at him, and Oola was happy at once. ‘Boss,’ he whispered, ‘Oola ishere to guard you. Sleep in peace!’
　　And, although everyone else on board, including Tala, slept soundly, Oola was awake, his eyesdarting about at any sound, but always coming back to rest adoringly on Philip’s flushed face.
　　Once he saw the wicked-looking head of the bargua snake peeping out of the boy’s shirt, andsmiled proudly. Ah - his lord had his present safely. He even kept it close to his heart.
　　Tea was a very pleasant meal. Everyone felt refreshed after their sleep, and was ready forbiscuits and something to drink. Mrs Cunningham was the only one who wanted a cup of tea - theothers all demanded lime-juice.
　　Oola had disappeared as soon as he heard Tala calling for him in a fierce whisper. Tala wasactually quite pleased with the small boy - but he was jealous of the way he went to sit near thechildren when he had a chance. Tala would not have dared to do that.
　　Oola had become extremely interested in the launch’s motor. Tala was already amazed at theway the boy grasped all the details. ‘Oola drive boat!’ said the boy, after tea. ‘Oola know how!’
　　‘Oh no you don’t,’ said Tala at once. ‘No monkey tricks from you, Oola, or I go straight to BigMister Bill and say “Throw this boy overboard, he no good, Sir!” You hear, Oola?’
　　‘I hear, Little Master,’ said Oola at once, terrified that Tala might complain of him. ‘Oola cleanup oil for you? Oola polish?’
　　Yes - Oola was welcome to do any of the dirty work, certainly. The only thing that Talaregretted about that was that the boy would become filthy dirty again - and Tala had taken greatpride in getting him spotlessly clean that morning. He had rubbed far too hard, and the boy hadcried out when his bruises had been roughly scrubbed.
　　‘Ah - no filth, now, no dirt!’ said Tala, when he had finished. ‘You had much dirt, Oola, very,very bad.’
　　Oola certainly looked better now - clean, his mass of black hair smoothed back, and a new,brilliant blue cloth round his middle, of which he was extremely proud.
　　They came to Ullabaid, a pleasant-looking village set a little back from the bank of the river.
　　There was quite a fleet of small boats tied to the fairly big jetty.
　　‘I’m going ashore,’ said Bill. ‘Like to come with me? We’ll leave your mother in peace, I think.
　　We’re a noisy lot, you know!’
　　The children leapt to the jetty with Bill and ran ashore, leaving Tala, Oola and Mrs Cunninghambehind. Tala was annoyed, because he would have liked to stretch his legs ashore too, and becausehe could not go he would not let Oola go, either, and set him a long job to do. Oola scowled,determined to slip off as soon as Tala’s back was turned - or, as was most likely, the man fellasleep. He had the unusual gift of being able to sleep at any moment, and in any place, no matterhow uncomfortable.
　　The village of Ullabaid was quite a big one. There were the usual low, whitewashed houses,with sleeping-roofs, and the usual hearths outside for cooking. There were also the crowds ofalmost-naked small village children, first half afraid and shy, then bold and curious.
　　Bill went to the biggest house in the place, which turned out to be a school. The teacher wasfriendly, with a fine face, intelligent and kind. He seemed surprised to see Bill, but when Billshowed him a card, and spoke a few words in a low tone, he asked him in at once.
　　The four were left to wander round. Kiki was quite silent for once in a way, staring round at thebig-eyed children of the village.
　　A boy about twelve came up with a packet of postcards in his hands. He showed one to Jack,and pointed away in the distance, nodding his head vigorously, and saying something over andover again.
　　The four children crowded round to look at the card. It was a picture of a ruin - an old, oldtemple which had apparently been discovered and excavated some years before when a famousarchaeologist had brought along a big digging-party.
　　‘The Temple of the Goddess Hannar,’ read Philip. ‘Looks interesting. Shall we go and see itwhile Bill is busy? Here, boy - how far is it? How - far?’
　　The boy could not speak any English, but he guessed what Philip was saying, and gestured thathe would take them.
　　They followed the boy between the trees and then through some cultivated fields, and werethemselves followed by a rabble of excited children, who could see that a tip would soon beforthcoming.
　　And behind the rabble came a small figure, keeping out of sight - Oola! He had waited till Talahad fallen asleep, and had left the launch immediately. He had asked where his friends had gone,and been told - and now he was keeping them in sight, not daring to join them.
　　The rabble of children began to push close to the four friends, and Jack looked roundimpatiently. ‘Keep back!’ he said. ‘Do you hear me? - keep back!’
　　But after a moment or two the little crowd was on their heels again - and this time Kiki took ahand.
　　‘Back!’ she ordered. ‘Back, back, quack, quack, BACK!’ And then she gave her famousimitation of an aeroplane about to crash, which alarmed the little crowd behind so much that theyat once kept a very long distance away.
　　Philip laughed. ‘Good old Kiki!’ he said. ‘I don’t know what we’d do without you!’
　　They came to the temple at last. It was rather disappointing - much more of a ruin than thepicture appeared to show. ‘It’s like one of those buildings in Cine-Town,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Allfront but not much at the back!’
　　‘Look here,’ said Philip suddenly. ‘See these funny little insects, basking in the sun - I think mysnake would like those. He’s probably hungry by now.’
　　And, to Dinah’s horror, Philip slid the bargua snake from beneath his shirt, and let him loose onthe ground, not far from the insects.
　　Dina screamed, of course, and ran back. Her scream startled the local children - and when theysaw the snake, which they all knew to be deadly poisonous, they too screamed in terror and fled.
　　‘Bargua!’ they shouted. ‘Bargua!’ The big ones dragged along the little ones, and even the bigboy who was the guide fled too, after one look at the gliding snake.
　　‘Good gracious!’ said Philip, quite as startled as the other children. ‘They’ve all gone - justbecause I took my snake out for a meal. What a to-do!’
　　‘I don’t blame them,’ said Dinah, from a distance. ‘We know the snake’s safe - but they don’t!
　　Honestly, Philip, that was a mad thing to do. Anyway, you’ll lose the snake now, thank goodness!
　　It won’t come back to you now you’ve let it loose.’
　　‘Well, if it doesn’t, it can go,’ said Philip. ‘But I bet it’ll come back!’
　　The snake snapped at the insects, and had a very good meal. It also glided into someundergrowth and caught a small frog, which it swallowed whole. Then it came back to Philip! Theothers watched in amazement as it glided over to him, and, without any hesitation at all, wriggledup his leg, made its way between two buttons of his shirt and disappeared.
　　‘Ugh! It makes me feel sick,’ said Dinah, watching in fascinated horror.
　　‘Don’t watch then, silly,’ said Philip. Then he looked round, alarmed.
　　‘I say - I believe it’s going to get dark pretty soon -what’s the time? Whew, yes, we’ve let thetime slip by without noticing it. We must get back to the launch at once. Come on.’
　　But after about ten minutes the children knew they had gone wrong. They stopped and lookedround.
　　‘We didn’t pass that tree struck by lightning before, did we?’ said Jack doubtfully. ‘Anyoneremember it?’
　　Nobody did. ‘Better go back a bit,’ said Philip, feeling anxious. ‘Buck up. Darkness may comeat any moment and none of us has a torch.’
　　They went back for a hundred yards or so, and then took another path. But this one led theminto a wood and they knew that was wrong. They went back again, all of them in rather a panic.
　　‘I’ll shout and see if those local children will come back,’ said Jack. So he called in a stentorianvoice: ‘Hey, you kids! Come back! Come back, I say!’
　　‘Come back, I say!’ echoed Kiki, and ended with a screech that could surely have been heardhalf a mile away.
　　But no little band of local children came running up. Except for a bird that went on and onsinging without a stop, there was hardly a sound to be heard.
　　‘What are we to do?’ said Jack anxiously. ‘There isn’t even a house in sight. Gosh, this is awful,Philip!’
　　‘What I’m afraid of is that darkness will fall suddenly, as it always does here,’ said Philip.
　　And, just as he said that, darkness did fall, like a black curtain! Now they were truly lost, andLucy-Ann caught hold of Jack’s hand in fright.
　　‘What are we to do?’ she said. ‘What are we to do?’
第13章 下午茶之后
　　第13章 下午茶之后
　　这一天的旅程非常美好。太阳像往常一样晒了一整天，塔拉驾船一直沿着河右岸行驶，因为河岸边的高大树木可以在船开过的时候为他们提供些许阴凉。他们一路经过了岸上的很多村庄，当地人只要一看到有船经过，就会跑出来，挥舞着胳膊冲他们大声喊叫。
　　奥拉在塔拉的命令下一直忙这忙那，菲利普直到下午休息的时候才看到他。炽热的阳光让船不得不始终在树荫下行驶，最后塔拉把船停在了树荫下。大家此时都有些呼吸不畅了，于是比尔让大家稍微休息一下。
　　奥拉偷偷摸摸地又挪到菲利普和杰克躺着的有阴凉的角落里，蜷缩在离他们不远的地方。他看向菲利普。
　　菲利普也看到了他，冲他咧嘴一笑。奥拉一下子就变得很开心。“老大，”他小声说道，“奥拉在这儿保护你，你安心休息吧！”
　　尽管其他人都在船上，包括呼呼大睡的塔拉，奥拉却一直醒着，无论听到什么声音，他都会警惕地向四处瞥去，但是他的目光最后总会折回来，落到菲利普睡得红通通的脸上，目光里充满了崇拜和关爱。奥拉一看到那条长得很邪恶的巴尔瓜蛇从菲利普的衬衫里探出头来，他就会很骄傲地微笑起来。啊——他的老大把自己送给他的礼物保存得很好，老大甚至都把这个礼物紧紧地贴在胸前。
　　他们打算度过一段美好的下午茶时光。在午休过后，每个人都神清气爽，想要吃些饼干，喝些东西。艾莉阿姨只要了一杯茶，其他人都要了柠檬汁。
　　塔拉一起来就发现奥拉又不见了，他压低嗓音叫奥拉回来，奥拉一听到塔拉很凶的叫声，吓得立马从菲利普跟前离开，赶紧回去听他差遣了。实际上，塔拉对奥拉这个小男孩非常满意——但是他嫉妒奥拉一有机会就可以坐在孩子们那边。塔拉可不敢这么做。
　　奥拉对船的引擎很感兴趣，他居然能掌握所有的技术细节——塔拉感到非常吃惊。“奥拉想开船！”下午茶过后，奥拉说，“奥拉知道怎么开！”
　　“不行，休想！”塔拉立马回绝，“别再耍什么花招了，奥拉，要不然我就直接去告诉我们的大老大比尔先生，告诉他：‘把这个小坏蛋扔下船吧，他不是什么好人，先生！’你听见了吗，奥拉？”
　　“我听到了，二老大！”奥拉立马回答道，他非常害怕塔拉会去向比尔说自己的坏话，“奥拉给您把这儿的油清理一下，我会擦干净的，您看行吗？”
　　当然行了——塔拉是非常欢迎奥拉为他去做任何脏活累活的！塔拉唯一觉得有些不好的是，这个小男孩又要变得脏兮兮的了。塔拉可是对今天早上的“战绩”非常自豪——他负责给奥拉彻底地洗了一个澡，把这个小脏孩弄得身上没有一丝污点！当他狠狠地搓到奥拉身上瘀青的时候，可怜的小奥拉疼得大喊大叫！
　　“好啦——你看，没有脏东西了，现在！”给奥拉洗完了，塔拉满意地说道，“你身上太多脏东西了，奥拉，太多太多了，真是个小脏孩儿！”
　　奥拉洗完澡后，看起来好多了——干干净净的，他原本乱成一团的乌黑的头发现在顺滑地被梳到了后边，一块崭新的亮蓝色宽布被裹在他的腰间。奥拉站在那儿，非常开心。
　　比尔一行人终于来到了“尤拉拜得”，一个看起来风景很不错的村子。它并不在河边儿，离河岸还有些距离。船停到了一个很大的码头里。他们到那儿的时候已经有一些小船停在那儿了。
　　“我要上岸了，”比尔说道，“孩子们，你们要和我一起去吗？让你们的妈妈清净一会儿，我们这一群人真是挺吵闹的，你们知道的！”
　　于是，孩子们和比尔一起跳上了码头，飞快地向岸上跑去，船上只剩下了塔拉、奥拉还有艾莉阿姨。塔拉觉得非常烦闷，他也很想上到岸上逛一逛。既然他不能去，奥拉也别想去！他给奥拉安排了一个很费时间的活儿。奥拉很生气地瞪着他，决定等到塔拉转过身去不再看着他的时候就开溜，或者，最有可能的是，等塔拉睡着的时候。塔拉有这样一个不同寻常的天赋——他能在任何时候任何地方睡着，无论那地方有多么不舒服。
　　“尤拉拜得”是一个很大的村子。这儿的那些低矮的被粉刷成白色的房子，都有可以让人躺在上面的屋顶，房子外面还摆着村民们平常用来做饭的灶台。一群穿得很少的小孩子看到比尔一群人进了村子，一开始还有些害羞和害怕，后来胆子渐渐大了起来，好奇地打量着这几个陌生人。
　　比尔走进了这个村子里最大的房子——原来是当地的一个学校。这里的老师十分友好，他有一张老好人的脸，感觉十分睿智和亲切。他见到比尔似乎很惊奇，但是当比尔向他出示了一张卡，并且压低了嗓音说了一些什么，他就立马让比尔进去了。
　　杰克他们四个孩子就被留在了外边四处闲逛。鹦鹉琪琪没有像往常一样大喊大叫，她这次出奇地安静，盯着周围这群好奇地瞪大了眼睛的村里的孩子，不断地打量着他们。
　　这时，一个十二岁左右的男孩从人群里走了出来，手里拿着一沓明信片。他把其中一张拿给杰克看，然后指向远处，用力地点着头，不停地说着什么。
　　四个孩子都凑了过来盯着这张明信片。上面的照片是一座非常非常古老的寺庙的废墟。这座寺庙在几年前被发现和挖掘出来，那时有一个著名的考古学家带领着一个考古发掘队来到这里。
　　“这是哈娜尔女神的神庙，”菲利普读着明信片上的字说道，“看起来很有意思。我们要不要去看一看呢？反正现在比尔正忙着，也没时间顾及我们。嘿，你，伙计——这神庙离这里多远？多远呢？”
　　那个男孩不会说英语，但是他猜到了菲利普在说什么，打着手势告诉他们自己可以带他们去那儿。
　　于是四个孩子便跟着这个男孩穿过树林，走过农田。他们的后面也跟着一群人——那些好奇又兴奋的村里的孩子，他们十分确信自己很快就要拿到小费了。
　　而在这群人的后边还有一个小小的身影跟着，他躲在大家都看不到的地方——是奥拉！原来他等塔拉睡着了，就马上离开了船到岸上来找菲利普他们了。他一路打听，问村里人有没有见到他的朋友们，在村里人的帮助下，他现在终于看到老大他们了，但还是不敢加入他们。
　　那群村里孩子开始向前不断地靠近他们四个人，杰克有些不耐烦地看看周围，“退后！”他说道，“退后，你们听到了吗，我说——退后！”
　　但是过了一小会儿，这群村里孩子又推搡着开始往前靠了，这时候琪琪站出来帮了杰克他们一把。
　　“退后！”她命令道，“退后，退后，走开，走开，退后！”接下来，琪琪露了一手她平时的拿手好戏——模仿飞机坠毁的声音！这声音一出，把后面这群村里孩子吓得立马躲得远远的。
　　菲利普大笑起来。“好样的，琪琪！”他赞叹道，“真不知道没有你，我们该怎么办！”
　　最后他们来到了那座神庙前。景色呢，非常令人失望——这里就是个废墟，根本不是明信片上图片显示的那样！“这里就像我们在‘影视城’看到的那些建筑，”露西安说道，“只有前头一面，后面基本什么都没有了。”
　　“你们过来，看看这儿！”菲利普突然叫道，“看看这些有趣的小虫子，在这儿晒太阳呢——我觉得我的蛇肯定喜欢这些虫子，它现在没准儿非常饿呢。”
　　接下来，令黛娜惊恐的一幕发生了，菲利普把那条巴尔瓜蛇从衬衫里拿了出来，把它放到离虫子们不远的地上。
　　黛娜立刻尖叫着往后退。她突然的尖叫声也吓了后面那群村里孩子一跳——后来，当他们看到那条蛇时——那条众所周知的致命的巴尔瓜毒蛇——他们也纷纷惊恐地大叫起来，很快地逃离了现场。
　　“巴尔瓜蛇！”他们尖叫着，“巴尔瓜蛇！”年纪大的孩子拽着年纪小的孩子全都逃走了，甚至那个给菲利普他们做向导的男孩，在看了一眼地上蠕动的巴尔瓜蛇之后，也迅速地溜了。
　　“我的妈呀！”菲利普说道，他反而被那群作鸟兽散的孩子吓了一大跳，“他们都又喊又叫地跑走了——就因为我掏出蛇来让它吃个饭？真是太大惊小怪了！”
　　“这一点儿都不怪他们，”黛娜说道，她也躲得远远的，“我们知道这条蛇是安全的——但是他们不知道！老实讲，菲利普，你做这件事真是疯了！无论如何，你都会失去这条蛇的，谢天谢地！你现在把它放了，它肯定不会再回来找你的。”
　　“巴尔瓜蛇！”他们尖叫着，“巴尔瓜蛇！”年纪大的孩子拽着年纪小的孩子全都逃走了。
　　“如果它不回来，那就随它去吧，”菲利普说道，“但是我敢打赌，它一定会回来的！”
　　那条巴尔瓜蛇一头扑向地上的虫子们，饱餐了一顿！它还钻入那边树下低矮的灌木丛中，抓了一只小青蛙，一下子整个吞了下去。然后，它居然又朝着菲利普爬了回来！其他人都震惊地盯着这眼前的一幕——这条蛇向菲利普滑了过来，没有一丝犹豫！小蛇从菲利普的腿上蠕动着爬了上去，钻进他胸前衬衫的两颗纽扣之间，不见了。
　　“啊，我都有点儿恶心了。”黛娜看着这令人恐惧却又移不开眼睛的一幕，说道。
　　“傻瓜，那你别看了不就得了！”菲利普说。随后，他看了看四周，感到有些担忧。
　　“咦，我怎么觉着天很快就要黑了呢？几点了？哎呀，我们都没有注意，时间就这样过去了。我们现在要赶快回到船上去，快点，大家走吧！”
　　但是过了大概十分钟，孩子们觉得好像有点不太对劲。他们停了下来，仔细地观察着周围的情况。
　　“我们来的时候没有经过这棵被闪电击倒的树吧，我们经过了吗？”杰克有些不确定地问道，“你们有谁记得这棵树？”
　　没有人回答。“我们最好往后退一些，”菲利普有些焦急地说道，“我们要快一点了。这天眼看就要黑了，我们谁都没有带手电筒！”
　　于是孩子们又往回走了一段路，然后从岔道口选了另一条路继续走。但是这条路把他们引向了一片树林。显然，这条路也是错的。他们又一次退了回去，此时此刻，所有的人都陷入了极度的惊慌之中。
　　“我来喊一喊，看看有没有当地的孩子回来找我们。”杰克说道。然后他用洪亮的声音喊了起来：“嘿，村里的孩子们，回来，回来，你们听到了吗？有没有人呀！”
　　“回来，回来，你们听到了吗？”琪琪也随声附和，她的叫声很尖，肯定能让周围半英里内的人听见。
　　但是并没有当地的孩子跑回来。周围静得什么声音都听不到，只有一只小鸟一直不停地唱着歌。
　　“我们该怎么办呢？”杰克焦急地说道，“周围连座房子都看不到。天哪，太糟糕了，菲利普！”
　　“我现在担心的就是这天很快就要黑了，这个地方常常是这样。”菲利普说道。
　　菲利普正说着的时候，天就黑了，简直像一块黑色的幕布！现在他们是真的迷路了，露西安害怕地抓住了杰克的手。
　　“我们该怎么办呢？”露西安说道，“我们该怎么办呢？”
14 Back to the boat
　　14
　　Back to the boat
　　The four children stood in the darkness, hoping to see the stars shine out bright and clear. Thenthey might be able to see a little. But for once in a way it was a cloudy night, and only when theclouds parted could a few stars be seen.
　　Their eyes got used to the darkness in a little while, and they made a few steps forward. ThenJack thought he caught sight of something moving cautiously a short distance away.
　　‘Who’s there?’ he called at once. ‘Don’t come any nearer. Who is it?’
　　The shadow moved quickly forward, and knelt down at Philip’s feet. He felt two hands graspinghis knees. It was Oola!
　　‘Oola here, boss,’ said a voice. ‘Oola follow, follow. Tala say no, not come, but Oola come.
　　Oola guard you, boss.’
　　Such a wave of relief went over all four children that they could hardly speak!
　　‘Oola! Good gracious, you’re the last person we expected,’ said Philip gladly. He patted theboy’s head as he knelt. ‘Get up. We’re VERY glad to see you. We’re lost. Do you know the wayback to the launch?’
　　‘Yes, boss,’ said Oola, delighted at the pat on his head. ‘Oola take you now. Follow Oola.’
　　‘Have you been behind us all the time, Oola?’ asked Lucy-Ann, astonished.
　　‘Yes, Missy, all time Oola follow, follow,’ said Oola, walking on ahead. ‘Oola guard his boss.’
　　Oola seemed to have cat’s eyes. He went forward without any hesitation, taking this path andthat, and at last they came to the village, which now had fires alight, and looked rather mysterious.
　　The band of children came running up when they saw strangers walking through their village -but when they saw that it was the same children who had had the terrible snake, they ran away infear, crying out loudly, ‘Bargua! Bargua!’
　　Philip stopped. He had seen the big boy who had acted as guide. He was standing some distanceaway, peering at them, lighted by the flames from a fire.
　　‘Oola - see that boy over there?’ said Philip, pointing. ‘Go give him this money.’
　　‘No! Boy not good!’ said Oola indignantly.
　　‘Oola, yes!’ said Philip, in a commanding voice, and Oola at once took the money and sped offto the boy. Judging by his angry voice, he was ticking the boy off well and truly - but he gave himthe money all the same. The boy was delighted and ran into his house at once, calling outsomething in an excited voice.
　　‘After all, the kid did take us all the way to the old temple,’ said Philip, and the others agreed.
　　‘Whew! What a stir the snake made! I never dreamed that those kids would be so frightened.’
　　‘We’re going to get into a frightful row with Bill when we get back to the launch,’ said Jackgloomily. ‘He won’t like us being out in the dark like this.’
　　‘Let’s hope he won’t be back,’ said Dinah, who had no wish to make Bill annoyed again.
　　They made their way quickly to the river, and went on board the launch. Mrs Cunningham wassitting reading down in the cabin, for it was unexpectedly cool that evening. She was most relievedto see them.
　　‘Oh - you had Oola with you - that’s all right then,’ she said, as she saw Oola’s face peeringdown the hatch with the others. ‘Bill’s not back yet. Are you hungry? Because if so, tell Tala, andwe’ll have supper.’
　　‘We’re always hungry,’ said Jack. ‘You never really need to ask us that, Aunt Allie. But we’dbetter wait for Bill.’
　　Bill came back ten minutes later. ‘Had supper yet?’ he asked. ‘Good, tell Tala we’ll have it. I’mfamished. Well, what did you four do?’
　　‘Nothing much - just went to see an old temple, but there wasn’t much to look at when we gotthere,’ said Jack.
　　‘There was a lot of digging round about this district some years ago,’ said Bill. ‘I’ve beenhearing about it from that teacher you saw - a very fine and intelligent fellow. Made me wish Icould do a little digging myself!’
　　‘Did you hear anything about Raya Uma?’ asked Jack, very much relieved that Bill had shownso little interest in their own doings that evening. He was determined to keep Bill on some safesubject now.
　　‘Yes. The teacher knows him quite well, and likes him. Says he is a most interesting man andcan talk on any subject under the sun! Even archaeology, which is rather a learned subject - thestudy of old buildings and other remains. He appears to think that Uma is here to study the oldtemples and so on that have already been excavated - but he’s not, of course. That’s just a coverfor something else he’s doing!’
　　Jack suddenly sniffed hard. A most delicious smell was coming from Tala’s quarters. Fried fish!
　　‘Yes,’ said Mrs Cunningham with a laugh. ‘Tala has been fishing - and we’re having his catchfor supper. Doesn’t it smell good!’
　　‘My word, yes,’ said Philip. ‘We’ve been having so many cold meals that I didn’t even guessthat Tala could cook. I bet Oola is pleased - he’ll enjoy a meal like that.’
　　‘That reminds me - Tala was very angry because Oola slipped off this evening, after you had allgone,’ said his mother. ‘He came to me in quite a rage. But as Oola had apparently done all thework Tala had set him to do, I didn’t take much notice. I suppose he went after you, didn’t he?’
　　‘Yes,’ said Jack. ‘He came to guard his lord! He’s cracked about Philip. I simply can’tunderstand it!’ He looked at Philip and grinned.
　　‘I can’t understand it either,’ said Dinah at once. ‘I mean - I could understand him having anadmiration for Jack, because of Kiki - but why Philip?’
　　The conversation was cut short by Oola and Tala bringing trays. The big dish of fried fish,garnished with some strange greenery, and surrounded by most succulent vegetables, was hailedwith enormous enthusiasm, and Tala grinned in pleasure as he saw the smiling faces that greetedhim.
　　Oola was a little subdued. He had been well scolded by Tala, who had threatened to tell Billhow he had left his work and run off.
　　But when Oola had related to Tala how the children had been lost in the darkness, and how he,Oola, had rescued them and brought them safely back, Tala said no more. He did not praise Oola,for secretly he was jealous of what the boy had done, but at least he ceased to scold him.
　　Oola was very much hoping that Tala would let him share in this delicious meal, and so he wasmost attentive and obedient. Tala could not hold his anger for long, and had already made up hismind to give the boy a big helping as soon as he could.
　　Everyone set to and ate heartily, even Mrs Cunningham, who usually had a very small appetite.
　　‘Tala would make his fortune in a restaurant as a chef,’ she remarked. ‘What is this sauce? I’venever tasted anything so delicious in my life.’
　　‘Better not ask,’ said Bill mischievously. ‘It might be a score or so of some peculiar insectsmashed up - or . . .’
　　Dinah gave a small moan, and spat out a mouthful of the sauce at once.
　　‘Don’t, Dinah!’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Do remember your manners. Bill, don’t say things likethat. You’ve rather spoilt the sauce for me too.’
　　‘Sorry,’ said Bill contritely. ‘It was just a bit of fun. I do agree that this sauce is marvellous. Ah,here’s Tala. Tala, this sauce is fine. What is it made of?’
　　Dinah put her hands over her ears at once. She felt sure that it was mashed-up insects, as Billhad said, or water-snails, or something equally horrible.
　　‘Sir, it is milk and onion, and bark of a tree called in our language Mollia,’ said Tala, pleased atthe praise. ‘Also some mashed-up - mashed-up - how you call it? - er . . .’
　　‘Insects,’ supplied Jack helpfully.
　　Tala looked hurt. ‘Tala not use insects. Tala use - yes - it is mashed-up potato - a very, verylittle.’
　　Everyone roared. It seemed so ordinary after what Bill had been suggesting. Tala smiled. Heliked to make people laugh, though he certainly had no idea what the present joke was.
　　‘Take your hands from your ears, Dinah,’ said Jack. ‘It was only mashed-up POTATO - very,very little!’
　　Dinah took down her hands, very much relieved to be told that the sauce was so harmless. Thedish was soon completely empty, and everyone felt much better.
　　Oola was sent with a dish of fresh fruit, bought by Tala at one of the villages that day. It wasabout all that anyone could manage after the very rich fish.
　　When the meal had been cleared away, Tala and Oola sat down to theirs. Oola was very happy.
　　Here he was, with the most marvellous meal in front of him, and the evening’s adventure to gloatover. He had guarded his boss, and brought him safely back to the boat!
　　He began to tell Tala about it all over again, but Tala had no wish to hear such an epic twice. Hetold Oola to take the dishes and scrape them over the side of the launch.
　　‘Fish eat pieces, fish grow fat, Tala catch fish, we eat again,’ he explained to Oola, who saw thepoint at once.
　　Oola went to scrape the dishes, and suddenly caught sight of another boat gliding up through thedarkness, its prow set with a single light. He stared at it. Would it pass by without hailing theirown boat?
　　It slid into the bank, and stopped by the jetty. Bill had heard the motor, and was already lookingover the side.
　　A man jumped out of the motor-boat and walked to where the launch was tied. He called uploudly.
　　‘Anyone there?’
　　‘Yes. Who’s that?’ Bill shouted back.
　　‘Someone to see you!’ came an answering shout. ‘Can I come aboard?’
　　‘What’s your name?’ asked Bill.
　　‘RAYA UMA!’ came the answer, and everyone on board sat up at once. Goodness - RayaUma!
第14章 回到船上
　　第14章 回到船上
　　四个孩子此时正站在黑暗之中，希望星光闪烁照亮四周，这样他们也许就可以看清前面的路了。但不巧的是那天晚上多云，只有当云彩散开的时候，天空才勉强露出几颗星星来。
　　过了一会儿，他们的眼睛稍微适应了周围的黑暗，于是四个孩子往前挪了几步。突然，杰克感觉好像看到什么东西，在不远处小心翼翼地移动着。
　　“谁在那儿？”他立马叫道，“别再靠近了，你是谁？”
　　那个黑暗中的影子快速地向他们靠了过来，一下子扑到了菲利普的脚边。菲利普感觉到他的膝盖被两只手紧紧地抓住了。是奥拉！
　　“奥拉在这儿，老大！”奥拉的声音响了起来，“奥拉一路跟着你们。塔拉说不行，不让我过来，但是我就过来了。奥拉会保护你，老大！”
　　四个孩子都松了一口气，他们几乎说不出话来！
　　“奥拉！我的天哪，我们真没想到居然是你！”菲利普高兴地说道。他拍了拍这个还跪在地上的孩子的脑袋：“快起来。见到你我们真是太开心了。我们迷路了，你知道回船上的路吗？”
　　“我知道，老大，”奥拉说道，老大拍了拍他的头，这让他觉得非常高兴，“奥拉会把你们带回去的。跟着奥拉走吧！”
　　“你一直在我们后面跟着吗，奥拉？”露西安惊讶地问道。
　　“是的，小姐。奥拉一直跟着，跟在后面，”奥拉说着，在前面带路，“奥拉保护着老大。”
　　奥拉似乎有着猫一样的眼睛。他毫不犹豫地在黑暗中前进，选择这条路走，再选择那条路走，最后他们真的回到了村子里！村子此时亮起了灯光，从远处看起来很是神秘。
　　还是那群村里孩子，一看到陌生人进了他们村子就立刻奔跑着围了过来——但是他们看到还是那几个身上带着可怕的巴尔瓜蛇的孩子，刚围过来的村里孩子立刻害怕得四散而逃，边跑边大声叫喊着：“巴尔瓜蛇！巴尔瓜蛇！”
　　菲利普突然停了下来，他看到那个之前给他们当向导的大男孩了。这个男孩站在离他们还有些距离的地方，默默地注视着他们。他的脸被旁边的火焰照得通红。
　　“奥拉——你看到那个男孩了吗？”菲利普指着不远处的一个地方，说道，“你去把这些钱给他。”
　　“不行！老大，这个人不是好人！”奥拉义愤填膺地说。
　　“快去，奥拉！”菲利普说道，带着一种不容置疑的语气。奥拉只好接了钱，拿着它飞快地跑向那个男孩。通过他生气的声音可以判断，奥拉惹恼了那个男孩，确确实实地惹恼了——但是奥拉最后还是把钱给了他。那个男孩一下子就变得非常高兴，他立马跑回自己家里，激动地叫喊着什么。
　　“毕竟，这个男孩一路上给我们做向导，让我们看到了那座古老的神庙呢！”菲利普说道，其他人都表示同意，“我的妈呀，这条巴尔瓜蛇怎么惹了那么大动静呢？我做梦都没想到那些孩子居然这么害怕它！”
　　“等我们回到了船上，比尔肯定会对我们发火的！”杰克沮丧地说道，“他不喜欢我们像这样天黑了还在外边晃荡。”
　　“希望我们到了船上的时候，他还没有回来。”黛娜说道，她可一点儿都不愿意让比尔再次生气。
　　于是，孩子们迅速地回到了河边，踏上甲板回到了船上。艾莉阿姨此时正坐在下边的船舱里看书，那天晚上，船舱里不同以往，竟然非常凉快！看到孩子们回来了，艾莉阿姨总算是松了一口气。
　　“噢——奥拉和你们在一起呀——那就好啦。”看到奥拉的小脸儿和其他四个孩子一样从上面望下来，艾莉阿姨说，“比尔还没有回来呢。你们饿了吗？如果饿了的话，就告诉塔拉，我们就可以吃晚饭了。”
　　“我们什么时候都饿，”杰克说道，“你都不需要问我们，艾莉阿姨，但是我们最好还是等比尔回来一起吃吧。”
　　大概过了十分钟，比尔回来了。“你们吃饭了吗？”他问道，“还没呢？好的，告诉塔拉我们开饭吧。我都快饿死了。咦，你们四个小家伙刚才做什么去啦？”
　　“没什么——我们就是去了一座古老的神庙，但是我们到了那儿发现没什么可看的。”杰克回答道。
　　“这个地方几年前有很多考古发掘的，”比尔说道，“我是听今天你们见到的那个老师说的——那个很好心又很聪明的家伙。真希望我也能亲自去挖掘一回！”
　　“你有打听到关于热亚•尤玛的消息吗？”杰克问道。事实上，看到比尔对他们今天晚上做了什么并不感兴趣，杰克大大地松了一口气。他下定决心一定要让比尔继续现在这个“安全”的话题。
　　“确实有。那个老师对热亚•尤玛很熟悉，而且很喜欢他。他说尤玛真的是一个非常有意思的人，而且知道得很多，天底下就没有他不能聊的话题！甚至是考古——研究古代建筑和遗迹，这么一个很需要学识的话题，他都能侃侃而谈。那个老师似乎觉得热亚•尤玛来这儿是为了研究古老神庙之类的——但是，当然了，他并不是过来考古的。这只是他做其他事情的掩饰！”
　　杰克突然使劲儿地用鼻子吸了吸。一股极其美味的香气从塔拉做饭的地方飘了出来。
　　是炸鱼！
　　“是的，”艾莉阿姨笑着说道，“塔拉今天钓了鱼——我们今天晚上就是享用他钓鱼的成果！闻起来是不是很香？”
　　“我的天，太香了！”菲利普赞叹道，“我们吃了那么多顿冷饭凉菜，我还猜测塔拉不会做饭呢。我敢打赌，奥拉也会非常开心的——他吃着这样的食物，肯定也特别享受。”
　　“你的话倒是提醒我了——奥拉今天傍晚在你们走了之后也溜了，塔拉因为这事儿非常生气。”艾莉阿姨说道，“塔拉来找我的时候正生着气呢。但是很明显，奥拉已经做完了所有塔拉交给他的任务，我就没有太在意。我猜他应该是去找你们了，是吗？”
　　“是的，”杰克说道，“他过来保护他的老大呢！他特别爱黏着菲利普。我真的不明白！”杰克看看菲利普，咧开嘴笑了。
　　“我也不明白，”黛娜也立马应和着，“我是说——如果他崇拜的人是杰克的话，我倒还可以理解，因为琪琪嘛——但是为什么崇拜菲利普呢？”
　　他们的谈话被打断了，奥拉和塔拉端着盘子来上菜了。大盘的炸鱼，上面点缀着一些他们不认识的绿叶菜，周围还有很多汁液丰富的蔬菜——看起来真的十分美味，大家一看到端上来的饭菜就都欢呼了起来。看到大家这么满意这次的饭菜，都向自己微笑着，塔拉也开心地咧嘴笑了。
　　看到这一幕，奥拉心里稍微轻松了一些。他之前被塔拉狠狠地责骂了一顿，而且塔拉还威胁他要告诉比尔先生——他留下了手里的活儿逃走了这件事儿。
　　但是当奥拉告诉了塔拉，杰克他们四个是怎么在黑暗中迷路，他，奥拉，又是怎么救了他们，最后把他们安全地带回来后，塔拉就不再说话了。他也没有表扬奥拉，因为他很嫉妒奥拉这个小孩所做的事情，但是至少他现在不再责骂奥拉了。
　　奥拉非常希望塔拉也能让他尝尝这美味的饭菜，所以他表现得非常专心和顺从。塔拉其实并没有生气太久，他早已下定决心，要给这个孩子留一大份今天做的美食。
　　每个人都吃得很尽兴，包括艾莉阿姨，她平时的胃口很小。“塔拉这手艺，要是在餐厅做厨师一定可以赚很多钱的，”艾莉阿姨评价道，“这是什么酱呀？我从来没有吃过这么好吃的东西！”
　　“最好不要问，”比尔说道，脸上露出一丝坏笑，“可能是某些特殊的虫子被捣碎了——或者……”
　　黛娜发出一小声埋怨，刚舀了一勺的酱立马溅了出来。
　　“不能这样，黛娜！”艾莉阿姨说道，“记得你的餐桌礼仪！比尔，你别说这种事情啦。
　　被你这么一说，我也没有吃这个酱的胃口了。”
　　“抱歉啦，亲爱的。”比尔有点儿后悔，“我就是开个玩笑而已。我和你们一样，也觉得这个酱真的很美味。啊，塔拉在这儿呢。塔拉，这个酱真的很好吃，它是什么做的？”
　　听比尔这么一问，黛娜立马用手捂住了耳朵。她觉得肯定是像比尔说的那样，这是，这是用捣碎的虫子或者蜗牛，或者其他什么同样可怕的东西做的。
　　“先生，这是用牛奶和洋葱制成的，里面还有一种树的树皮，我们当地管这种树叫‘莫里阿’。”塔拉说道，他非常开心自己做的东西能获得大家的夸赞，“噢，对啦，还有一些捣碎的——捣碎的——你们管那个叫什么呢？怎么说来着，呃……”
　　“虫子。”杰克好意地提醒道。
　　塔拉此时看起来非常受伤：“塔拉是不会用虫子的。塔拉用的是——对啦——是捣碎的土豆——非常非常少的土豆。”
　　所有的人都哄堂大笑。比起比尔编造的那种东西，土豆，听起来真的再平常不过啦。
　　塔拉也笑了。他喜欢给大家带来欢笑，尽管他确实不明白现在大家究竟在笑什么。
　　“把手从耳朵上放下来吧，黛娜，”杰克说道，“里面只有一些捣碎的土豆，土豆哦——非常非常少的土豆！”
　　黛娜把手放了下来，听到大家说这个酱没什么恐怖的，她的心情一下子轻松了很多。
　　大家很快就把桌上的饭菜一扫而光，所有的人都感到心满意足。
　　奥拉拿来了一盘新鲜水果，这是塔拉今天在岸边的一个小村庄里买的。这也是大家在吃了一顿美味大餐之后胃里唯一还能塞下的东西。
　　当剩下的盘子被清理干净之后，塔拉和奥拉坐下来开始吃他们的饭。奥拉非常高兴。
　　此时，他面前摆着世间最美味的食物，又想到今晚的那场冒险——他保护了他的老大，还把大家安全地带回了船上——奥拉就得意得仿佛要飘起来。
　　奥拉打算把这次冒险跟塔拉再讲一遍，但是塔拉没有心思听他再讲一遍他的英雄事迹了。他让奥拉一会儿把剩下的一些炸鱼倒进河里。
　　“鱼会吃这些渣滓，然后鱼就长肥，塔拉钓鱼，我们就又能吃到鱼了！”他把这些解释给奥拉听，奥拉立马懂了其中的道理。
　　奥拉走到了船头，打算把剩下的盘子清空。突然，他看见另一艘船在黑暗当中闪耀着，它的船头只有一束灯光。奥拉注视着这艘船。它就这样开过去也不和我们打声招呼吗？
　　这艘小船滑向了岸边，在码头那儿停了下来。比尔也听到摩托艇的声音了，已经朝这边望了过来。一个男人从摩托艇上跳了下来，走到比尔他们停船的地方。他大声叫着：“有人在吗？”
　　“有人，谁呀？”比尔喊道。
　　“来见你的人！”那边回应道，“我能上船吗？”
　　“你叫什么名字？”
　　“热亚•尤玛！”那边回应道。船上所有的人一下子都坐起身来。“我的老天——热亚•尤玛居然来了！”
15 Mr Raya Uma
　　15
　　Mr Raya Uma
　　Bill was enormously surprised. He was so nonplussed that he didn’t say a word.
　　‘Hey - can I come on board or not?’ said the voice impatiently. ‘I heard there was an Englishfamily on the river, and I thought I’d like a chat.’
　　Bill recovered himself. ‘Yes - come on up,’ he shouted back. ‘You took me by surprise. Iwasn’t expecting to hear an English voice here, I must say!’
　　‘Shall we go away, Bill?’ said Jack, in a low voice. Bill shook his head.
　　‘No. Better stay with me. I don’t know if he guesses who I am or not. Anyway, it’s better if hesees a whole family aboard. Here he is!’
　　Tala had gone to light the man up to the launch. Now he was bringing him to where Bill and theothers sat under an awning draped with mosquito-netting, lighted by a big lantern. Everyone gazedat him in interest.
　　They saw a medium-sized man, dressed in ordinary summer clothes - flannel trousers, shirt andthin pullover. He wore a white linen hat, and had a beard and thin little moustache. He wore darkglasses like Bill.
　　He smiled down and the children saw that he had very white teeth. He bowed to MrsCunningham, and, as Tala held back the mosquito-net, he put out his hand. She shook it, and thenhe shook hands with Bill. He nodded at the four children.
　　‘Ah - you’ve got your family with you, I see!’
　　‘Yes - the children all had flu very badly, and the doctor said they should go somewhere warm- abroad if possible - so we decided to come out here,’ said Mrs Cunningham, politely. ‘I mustsay it’s doing them a great deal of good.’
　　‘Ah - and what are the children’s names?’ asked Mr Uma, smiling down and showing a lot ofteeth.
　　Philip answered for all of them. ‘I’m Philip - that’s Jack - Lucy-Ann - and Dinah.’
　　‘And what is the parrot’s name? What an unusual pet!’ said Mr Uma.
　　‘Her name’s Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘Kiki, this is Mr Uma.’
　　‘Wipe your feet, blow your nose, fetch the doctor,’ said Kiki politely, spoiling the whole effectby giving a terrible screech at the end.
　　‘Don’t, Kiki,’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Not when we have visitors!’
　　‘How did you hear of us?’ asked Bill, offering Mr Uma a seat.
　　‘Oh, news soon gets round, you know,’ said Mr Uma. He gave Bill a straight look. ‘I’ve nodoubt you’ve heard my name too,’ he said.
　　‘Er - yes,’ said Bill, frowning as if he were trying to remember where. ‘Someone told me of aMr Uma who was interested in films at Cine-Town.’
　　‘Oh, that’s only a side-show for me,’ said Mr Uma, puffing at his cigarette. ‘My great hobby isarchaeology.’ He looked at the four children and made what they considered to be a very feeblejoke. ‘That’s the study of arks, you know!’
　　The children ha-ha-ed politely. How old did he think they were, making feeble jokes like that?
　　Lucy-Ann tried to see if he had the snake-like scar on his arm, but his shirt-sleeves were long, andshe couldn’t.
　　‘We went to see an old temple outside Ullabaid this afternoon,’ said Jack. ‘Very disappointing.
　　All front and no back - like the one at Cine-Town.’
　　Mr Uma took this as a joke and laughed too much. ‘Ah, yes,’ he said. ‘Well, of course,archaeology is disappointing. Like the story of old Brer Rabbit, you know - “he diggy-diggy-digbut no meat dar”.’
　　‘I suppose it’s very, very expensive to do a lot of excavating for old towns and so on, isn’t it?’
　　asked Mrs Cunningham, seeing that the children did not appreciate Mr Uma very much.
　　‘Yes, Ma’am! You can pay out thousands of pounds doing that!’ said Mr Uma. ‘I’ve given itup; it’s too expensive. You don’t make any money out of it, either - your only reward is theexcitement of - er - uncovering ages-old civilizations. All the same, it’s a wonderful hobby. I’vedecided to combine an interest in films with my hobby - make a bit of money in films, and spendit wandering about this old, old country, making maps and plans of the last excavations and so on.
　　And what about you, Sir - are you interested in that kind of thing?’
　　‘About as much as the average man,’ said Bill, cautiously, knowing that he was being soundedout about his own mysterious work. ‘But any new experience is of interest to me. I write articles,you know, and one of these days I’m going to write a book - plenty of interesting things to putinto it!’
　　The children smiled quietly to themselves. Bill did write articles. That was true - but this wasthe first time they had heard of a book. Bill could write a marvellous book if he were allowed to!
　　The things he had seen and done were quite unbelievable. They felt proud at having shared in somany of his adventures.
　　‘Ah - a writer! A man of leisure,’ said Mr Uma. ‘It’s only you writers and you painters that canafford to dispense with an office and go all over the world to look for material for your brush oryour pen.’
　　The children began to feel bored. It was quite obvious now that Mr Uma did not know forcertain who Bill was, nor whether he had come out merely for a holiday or on some other mission.
　　He and Bill had been ‘crossing swords’ so to speak, testing each other out. They felt that Bill waswinning. He had persuaded Mr Uma that he was a writer, they were sure of it.
　　‘Where are you going to next?’ asked Mr Uma. ‘May I offer you any hospitality? I have a littleshack farther down the river - I’m on my way there now, actually. I would be pleased to give youdinner - such as it is - if you and your wife would care to come?’
　　Bill considered this invitation quickly. Should he accept? It would look odd if he didn’t. Well -he might conceivably find out a little more if he went to Uma’s house. So he nodded and thankedhim.
　　‘Well, thank you, that’s kind of you. We’ll be pleased to come. When? Tomorrow?’
　　‘Certainly,’ said Mr Uma, and got up to go. ‘Tomorrow night at seven o’clock, shall we say?
　　Your man will know the landing jetty at Chaldo, I’m sure. I will be there to meet you and take youto my house.’
　　‘Stay and have a drink,’ said Bill. ‘I’ll call Tala.’
　　But Mr Uma would not stay. He bowed very politely, and raised the mosquito-net. Then healmost fell over somebody crouching on the floor just outside.
　　He kicked out and there was a yell.
　　‘Now then - who’s this? Get out of the way there, lying ready to trip me up!’ roared Mr Uma,losing his temper suddenly and surprisingly. He kicked out again.
　　Philip was up in a trice, guessing it was Oola who had crept up as usual to be near him.
　　‘Mr Uma - it’s only the little boy who helps our man,’ he said angrily, and at once felt Bill’shand pressing his shoulder warningly.
　　‘Sorry, Mr Uma,’ said Bill. ‘I hope you haven’t hurt your foot, kicking out like that.’
　　Mr Uma didn’t quite know how to take that. He recovered himself immediately, said good nightquite heartily and was led off by Tala with a lantern.
　　‘Oola! It serves you right if people fall over you, if you hide in corners like that!’ said Bill.
　　‘Bad man that,’ said Oola. ‘Bad, bad man. Oola come to guard boss from bad man.’
　　‘Don’t be silly,’ said Bill. ‘You don’t know anything about him. Or do you?’
　　Oola shook his head. ‘Oola know he bad man, Oola say so. Oola not seen bad man before.’
　　‘Go behind with Tala,’ said Bill. ‘And don’t come over to us again till we call you.
　　Understand?’
　　Oola disappeared, and Bill went under the mosquito-net to the others. Uma’s motor-boat hadnow been started up, and had gone down the river, disturbing all the stars reflected in the water.
　　‘Well?’ said Bill to his wife. ‘What do you think of our friend Uma?’
　　‘I don’t trust him a scrap,’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘He’s, he’s . . .’
　　‘Slimy,’ said Dinah, and everyone nodded. It was just the right word.
　　‘What do you suppose he is up to?’ said Bill. ‘Anything?’
　　Mrs Cunningham considered. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I think he’s got a bad reputation and knows it,and he’s nervous in case anyone should think he’s up to anything and spy on him. I think he’sprobably hard-up, and making a bit of money in Cine-Town somewhere. He was so insistent onhis love for old buildings that I feel his real interest must be in something else.’
　　‘You mean he may be using this archaeology hobby of his to camouflage the business he’sdoing in Cine-Town?’ asked Bill.
　　‘Yes,’ said Mrs Cunningham.
　　‘Well, I bet whatever he’s doing in Cine-Town is something underhand,’ said Jack. ‘Probablybacking a shady little fair or something - or a string of shops - and having an interest in the filmtoo. Plenty of irons in the fire.’
　　‘Well, if that’s the kind of thing he’s doing, it’s pretty harmless from my point of view,’ saidBill. ‘I am after bigger stuff than that - the kind of things I told you he had done before! If it’s nomore than messing about in Cine-Town, well, he’s of no interest to the High-Ups!’
　　‘Good,’ said Mrs Cunningham, heaving a sigh of relief. ‘I don’t want you mixed up in anythingdangerous, Bill - and I somehow think that Raya Uma could be very dangerous and very ruthless.’
　　‘You’re quite right, my dear!’ said Bill. ‘Now, what about bed? I’ll just go and stand by the rail.
　　The stars are out beautifully now, and I shall enjoy a quiet ten minutes looking down the river.’
　　They all said good night. They were tired, and fell asleep immediately their heads were on thepillows. Bill stood silently gazing out, thinking of the strange Mr Uma. Then he saw a small figurecreeping over the deck and settling down at the foot of Philip’s mattress. Oola had come to guardhis boss!
　　Oola sat up in fright when Bill came over, on his way to his own mattress.
　　‘You may stay, Oola,’ said Bill softly, and Oola sank down again happily. His lord was asleep -and he, Oola, was guarding him!
第15章 热亚·尤玛先生
　　第15章 热亚•尤玛先生
　　比尔非常震惊！他陷入了困惑之中，一句话都说不出来。
　　“嘿，我到底能不能上船呀？”那个声音有些不耐烦，“我听说有一家英国人来到了河上，我很想过来聊一聊。”
　　比尔从刚才的惊愕中恢复了过来。“好的，上来吧，”他喊着回应道，“你真的让我大吃一惊。我必须承认我没有想到在这个地儿能听到英国人的声音！”
　　“我们要离开这儿吗，比尔？”杰克压低了声音说道。比尔摇摇头。
　　“不用。你们最好留在我身边。我不清楚他是不是猜到了我是谁。不管啦，最好还是让他看到一家人在船上吧。他来了！”
　　塔拉走过去，给这个男人照亮了上船的路。塔拉把他领到比尔一家人的跟前，他们一家人正坐在一顶挂着蚊帐的遮篷下，旁边有一盏大灯照着。所有的人都好奇地盯着他看。
　　他们看到了一个个子中等的男人，穿着普通的夏装——法兰绒的裤子和衬衫，紧身套衫。他有络腮胡子，戴着一顶白色的亚麻帽子，还戴着像比尔一样的墨镜。
　　他向大家微笑着，孩子们看到了他的牙齿非常白。他也向艾莉阿姨鞠躬致意。当塔拉把蚊帐收起来的时候，热亚•尤玛向艾莉阿姨伸出了手。他和艾莉阿姨握了握手，又和比尔握了握手。接着，他向四个孩子点了点头。
　　“啊，你把你的一家子都带来了，我看出来了！”
　　“是的，孩子们得了很严重的流感，医生说要去个暖和的地方疗养——如果可能的话就去国外——所以我决定带着他们来这儿玩了，”艾莉阿姨礼貌地说道，“我必须说，来这儿度假确实管用，他们好多了。”
　　“啊——这些孩子都怎么称呼？”热亚•尤玛问道，他又微笑起来，露出了一口白牙。
　　菲利普替大家都回答了：“我是菲利普——这是杰克——露西安——那是黛娜。”
　　“嗯嗯，这只小鹦鹉叫什么名儿？真是一只不同寻常的小鹦鹉！”热亚•尤玛问道。
　　“她叫琪琪，”杰克说，“琪琪，这是尤玛先生。”
　　“擦脚，擤鼻涕，叫医生！”琪琪听起来很有礼貌地说道，但是最后却发出一声尖锐的叫声，把整个气氛都搞坏了。
　　“别这样，琪琪！”艾莉阿姨说道，“我们现在有客人呢！别闹！”
　　“您怎么知道我们来了？”比尔问道，同时请了热亚•尤玛坐下。
　　“噢，消息总是传得很快，你懂的！”热亚•尤玛说道。他直接打量着比尔。“我敢肯定你也听说过我的名字了。”他说道。
　　“呃——是的，”比尔回应道，皱起眉头好像在努力地想在哪儿听到过这个名字，“对啦，在影视城有人告诉过我一个对拍电影很感兴趣的尤玛先生。”
　　“噢，那只是我很小的一面而已。”热亚•尤玛说道，喷出了一口烟。“我最大的爱好是考古。”他看向四个孩子，讲了一个他们其实觉得一点都不好笑的笑话，“就是研究约柜 [1]
　　的，你们懂的！”
　　孩子们十分配合地笑了起来。他觉得他们是谁，开这么无聊的玩笑！露西安尝试着去看他胳膊上到底有没有蛇一样的伤疤，但是他衬衫的袖子太长了，看不到。
　　“我们今天下午去看了一个古代的神庙，在‘尤拉拜得’的外边，”杰克说道，“可失望啦。只有前面一面，没有后面——就像那些我们在影视城看到的建筑。”
　　热亚•尤玛把杰克的话看成是一个笑话，大笑个不停。“啊，是的是的，”他说，“当然了，考古是会令人失望的。就像是‘兔弟弟’的故事，你懂得——‘它挖呀挖呀挖，但是都没有挖到肉’。哈哈！”
　　“我觉得大规模地发掘古城或是其他的一些什么，真的是非常非常费钱的事情，是不是？”看到孩子们都不是很待见热亚•尤玛，艾莉阿姨说道。
　　“是的，夫人！干这个确实要花很多钱！”热亚•尤玛说道，“我放弃了，真的太费钱了。
　　再说了，干这个其实也一点儿钱都赚不了。唯一的报酬就是激动——就是那种发现古老文明的激动。但是无论怎样，它还是一个很棒的爱好。我决定去把拍电影的兴趣和我的这个爱好结合一下——通过拍电影赚些钱，然后用这些钱来这个古老的国家四处游荡，为下一次的发掘制订地图和计划。哥儿们——你是干什么的呢？你对考古那种事情感兴趣吗？”
　　“我觉得我就是一个普通人，”比尔小心翼翼地说道，知道自己现在正在被试探——热亚•尤玛在打听他神秘的工作，“但是任何新的经历都会很吸引我。我是写文章的，你懂的，这一阵子我打算写一本书——把很多有意思的事情都放进去！”
　　听到比尔这么一说，孩子们悄悄地相视一笑。比尔的确在写文章。那是事实——但是这倒是他们第一次听说他要写一本书！比尔要是写的话，肯定能写出一本非常棒的书。他曾经见到过的、做过的事情是那么不可思议。这么一想，孩子们都感到非常自豪，因为比尔和他们分享了那么多他的冒险经历。
　　“啊——一个作家！一个享受休闲时光的人！”热亚•尤玛说道，“只有你们这些作家和画家才敢离开办公室，周游世界去寻找写作或者绘画的素材。”
　　孩子们开始觉得烦闷了。现在形势很明显，这个热亚•尤玛根本就不确定比尔是谁，也不清楚比尔出来仅仅是为了度假还是有别的什么任务。可以说，他和比尔其实一直在“交锋”。孩子们觉得比尔这次赢了，因为他们很确信，比尔让热亚•尤玛相信了他是个作家。
　　“你们接下来要去哪儿呢？”热亚•尤玛问道，“不知道我能否有这个荣幸，可以招待一下你们呢？我有一个小房子，在河流下游那边——实际上，我这次就是要去我的小房子的。
　　我想请你们吃个饭——可能不怎么丰盛——不知道您和夫人是否愿意赏脸光临寒舍？”
　　比尔脑子里迅速地考虑着这个邀请。他应该接受吗？如果不接受的话似乎很奇怪。嗯——如果他去热亚•尤玛那儿的话，没准儿会找到一些更多的线索。于是比尔点了点头，对他表示感谢。
　　“谢谢您啊，您人真的太好啦！我们很高兴去。什么时候呢？明天？”
　　“当然啦，”热亚•尤玛说道，起身打算离开，“明天晚上七点吧，你们觉得怎么样？您的船夫肯定知道查乐多码头吧，我明晚会在那儿等你们，然后接你们去我家。”
　　“留下来，我们一起喝一杯吧！”比尔假装挽留，“我把塔拉叫来。”
　　但是这个热亚•尤玛并不打算留下来，他非常礼貌地鞠躬致意。谁都没想到，他刚刚抬脚要往外走，就差点儿被外边地板上蹲着的人绊倒。
　　他抬脚就踢，一声喊叫响了起来。
　　“谁，谁在这儿呢？你躺在这儿是为了给我使绊子吗？赶紧从我面前滚开！”热亚•尤玛吼着，突然一下子大发雷霆。他又一次抬脚便踢！
　　菲利普立刻站了起来，猜测肯定是奥拉像往常一样蜷缩在他的旁边了。
　　“尤玛先生——他只是给我们船夫帮忙的一个小孩子。”菲利普生气地说道，此刻他立马感觉到比尔的手按了他的肩膀一下，似乎在给他警示。
　　“真是抱歉，尤玛先生，”比尔说道，“您没有伤到脚吧，我看您刚才踢的劲儿很大。”
　　热亚•尤玛一时间竟不知道该如何回答比尔，不过他很快地恢复了过来，看起来非常真诚地和大家说了声“晚安”，然后就离开了，塔拉在旁边用灯照着路送他下了船。
　　“奥拉！如果你总是像这样躲在角落里然后把人绊倒了，你被踢是很正常的！”比尔说道。
　　“他是坏人！”奥拉说道，“坏人，坏人。奥拉要保护老大不受坏人的伤害！”
　　“别傻了，”比尔说道，“你对这个人又不了解。你知道他吗？”奥拉摇了摇头：“奥拉知道他是坏人。奥拉是这么说了，但是奥拉以前也没见过他。”
　　“你去找塔拉吧，”比尔说道，“我们不叫你，你就别过来。听到没有？明白吗？”
　　奥拉默默地离开了，比尔和大家一起重新回到了蚊帐里。热亚•尤玛发动了他的摩托艇，朝着河流的下游驶去，一下子就搅碎了河面上倒映的点点星光。
　　“亲爱的，”比尔和艾莉阿姨说道，“你感觉我们的朋友尤玛先生怎么样呢？”
　　“他说的话我一点儿都不信，”艾莉阿姨说道，“他是，他很……”
　　“狡猾。”黛娜迅速地想到了这个词，大家都点点头。这个词儿真的很适合他。
　　“你觉得他现在在做什么呢？”比尔说道，“就是他说的那些事情吗？”
　　艾莉阿姨想了想。“不，”她说，“我觉得他的名声很差，他自己也知道这一点，别人如果觉得他是在搞什么事情，并且去打探的话，他就会非常紧张。我觉得他很有可能是现在手头儿紧，想在影视城先赚点儿钱。他刚才一直强调他在寻找古迹，反而让我觉得他的真正兴趣应该在别的地方。”
　　“你的意思是他可能是在用考古的兴趣来掩饰他在影视城所做的一些事情？”比尔问道。
　　“是的。”艾莉阿姨说道。
　　“我敢打赌他在影视城所做的事情一定是见不得人的，”杰克说道，“很有可能是在集市上进行一些可疑的小交易，或者经营一些商店，也有可能就是拍电影。可能他同时在做很多事情。”
　　“如果他做的只是这些事情的话，在我看来没有什么大的害处，”比尔说道，“我追踪的是更大的事情——之前我告诉过你们的那些事儿！如果他在搞的事情不过就是在影视城里胡闹，那政府就对他没什么兴趣了。”
　　“那是好事。”艾莉阿姨说道，松了一口气，“比尔，我真的不想让你卷入那些危险的任务中——我总觉得热亚•尤玛这个人可能是个危险的狠角色。”
　　“你说得很对，亲爱的！”比尔说道，“现在很晚了，大家都上床睡觉吧。我去护栏边站会儿，看看外面的夜景。今晚的星星真的非常漂亮。”
　　大家相互道了晚安。他们都很疲惫，脑袋一沾枕头就很快睡着了。比尔沉默地站在船头盯着外面看，他一直在想那个奇怪的热亚•尤玛。接着，他看到一个瘦小的身影从甲板上悄悄地挪了过去，在菲利普他们的垫子那儿停住了。是奥拉去保护他的老大了！
　　当比尔走过去的时候，奥拉害怕地坐了起来，正要默默地回到原本自己的地方。
　　“你可以留在这儿，奥拉。”比尔轻柔地说。奥拉又开心地躺下了。他的老大在睡觉——而他，奥拉，在守护着他！
　　[1] 约柜，又称“法柜”，是古代以色列民族的圣物，“约”是指上帝跟以色列人所订立的契约，而约柜就是放置了上帝与以色列人所立的契约的柜，约柜一直是有极大神秘性的圣殿器具。
16 Next day
　　16
　　Next day
　　Next day Tala took the boat farther on down the river. They went very slowly, for Chaldo wasonly half a day’s run, and they did not want to get there too soon. They passed some desolatecountry on the way, almost desert-like.
　　‘Some of Mr Uma’s beloved excavations must have been going on here!’ said Jack. ‘Bill, itcertainly must cost an awful lot of money to dig over this enormous expanse - look!’
　　‘It does,’ said Bill. ‘But there are rewards, you know. It’s not only old ruined cities that arefound lying beneath the mud and dust of centuries, it’s treasure too.’
　　‘Treasure!’ said Philip, surprised. ‘What treasure?’
　　‘Well, much of this country held age-old buildings that housed the tombs of rich kings,’ saidBill. ‘Don’t ask me their names, I’ve forgotten them.’
　　‘Nebuchadnezzar?’ suggested Lucy-Ann.
　　Bill laughed. ‘You certainly know your Bible, Lucy-Ann. Yes - probably even Nebuchadnezzarmight have lived in a palace not many miles from here, or the great King Sargon! I really don’tknow. Anyway, when they died, they were buried in magnificent tombs, surrounded by theirjewels and their other treasures, such as jewelled shields, wonderful swords, and so on.’
　　‘My word!’ said Jack, thrilled. ‘And do you mean to say that things like that have been dug up -things thousands of years old?’
　　‘Oh yes,’ said Bill. ‘They are in museums all over the world - bought gladly because of theirhistoric value. They are valuable in themselves too, of course. I have seen one beautifully carvedgold bowl, with bulls all the way round it, that must have been worth thousands of pounds. It wasset with wonderful precious stones.’
　　‘Well, then,’ said Jack, ‘I’m not so sure that Mr Uma’s hobby isn’t just the right one for him.
　　Picking up priceless treasures for nothing!’
　　‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ said Bill. ‘They can’t be picked up for nothing - as I told you, adigging outfit, composed perhaps of fifty or so workmen, and a good sprinkling of white experts,may cost thousands of pounds. And we should certainly know if Mr Uma had an outfit like that!’
　　‘Yes - I suppose you would,’ said Jack. ‘I mean - you can’t help seeing wholesale excavationsgoing on, can you? It would be in the papers too, of course.’
　　‘Look - there are some ruins, over there!’ cried Lucy-Ann, pointing to the opposite bank. ‘Theylook fairly recent. Would Tala know about them, do you think?’
　　‘Go and ask him, if you like,’ said Bill. ‘I don’t expect he can tell you much.’
　　The children went off to ask Tala. He nodded his head. ‘Tala know. Tala’s father, he dig there.
　　Dig for treasure, much, much treasure. But no find any. All gone.’
　　That seemed to be all Tala knew. The children went back to Bill and repeated what Tala hadtold them. He nodded.
　　‘Yes - he meant that whatever expert was in charge of the digging probably had a plan showingthat royal tombs were to be found at a certain depth below - tombs possibly with much treasure.
　　But when they got down to them, the graves were probably already despoiled and robbed.’
　　‘But who did that?’ said Lucy-Ann.
　　‘Maybe robbers three or four thousand years ago,’ said Bill, and smiled at Lucy-Ann’s surprisedface. ‘I told you that this is an old, old land, that goes back thousands of years. Under the dustarchaeologists may find ruins of city upon city, one built above the other.’
　　This was almost impossible for Lucy-Ann to grasp - city upon city! She tried to send her mindback through the centuries and to imagine the years passing over the land on which she was nowgazing - cities rising, falling into ruin, other cities rising on the ruins and themselves falling intodust, only to have yet more towns built upon them.
　　She gave a little shiver. ‘I don’t much like thinking about it,’ she said. ‘Let’s talk aboutsomething else, Bill.’
　　Bill gave her a hug. ‘Well - what about lime-juice?’ he said. ‘Shall we talk about that, Lucy-Ann? It seems a very suitable subject for this hot day.’
　　‘Oh, Bill - what you mean is that you want me to fetch you some,’ said Lucy-Ann, who knewBill’s little ways very well. ‘Jack - Philip - do you want some lime-juice?’
　　‘Juice!’ echoed Kiki. ‘Juicy, juicy, juicy! Juicy Lucy! Send for the juice! Blow the juice!’
　　Philip was giving his snake an airing, and it was slithering round and about his feet. Lucy-Anndid not mind it, but Dinah did, so the boys usually chose a moment when Dinah was down below,doing something there.
　　‘Isn’t it a lovely creature?’ said Philip, admiring the bright green of its skin, and the brilliantmarkings, or ‘spottings’ as the hotel manager had called them. ‘It’s a shame it’s had its poison-ducts cut, isn’t it, Jack?’
　　‘Well, personally, at the moment, I’m glad it can’t give me a poisonous bite,’ said Jack.
　　The lime-juice arrived, Oola carrying the tray proudly. He was pleased to see the snake glidinground - his present to his lord! Dinah stopped dead when she saw it, and Philip picked it up atonce.
　　The day went pleasantly enough, especially as, for the first time, they came to a little covewhere the water was clean and clear enough to bathe.
　　‘You come in too, Oola,’ said Jack. ‘Do you good!’
　　But nothing would persuade the small boy to get into the tepid water. He touched it with his toe,yelped loudly and drew it back as if something had bitten him. He gazed in wonder and admirationas all four children swam and dived and kicked about underwater. He had been deputed to hold thebargua while Philip bathed, and he was very proud to hang it round his neck and keep it there.
　　Kiki was not very pleased with the way in which everyone deserted her for the pool. She flew toan overhanging branch and screamed at them.
　　Philip splashed her. ‘Stop that row, Kiki! You sound as if you’re being killed!’
　　Kiki flew high in the air, angry at being splashed. She flew down to the deck and waddled up toOola for sympathy. But when she saw the snake hanging round his neck she backed away, hissingexactly like a snake herself. Mrs Cunningham smiled to see her, and made her come to hershoulder.
　　‘Poor Polly,’ said Kiki, into her ear. ‘Poor, poor Polly. Jolly Polly, jolly Polly.’
　　‘Well, which are you, poor or jolly?’ said Mrs Cunningham, laughing. ‘Now don’t sulk, theothers will soon be out of the water!’
　　‘I wish we hadn’t got to go out to dinner tonight,’ said Bill, a little later. ‘It’s a nuisance, Allie. Iwish I hadn’t said we would. I do so enjoy the quiet evenings on the boat.’
　　‘So do I,’ said his wife. ‘Never mind - we don’t need to stay long - and we might learnsomething; you never know!’
　　The boat glided on down to Chaldo and arrived about half-past six. Bill and his wife got readyand waited for Mr Uma to fetch them. ‘You children have your supper,’ said Mrs Cunningham,‘and then read and go to bed as usual. We shan’t be late. Tala will look after you.’
　　‘Here comes Mr Uma,’ said Jack, spotting someone coming along in the dark, with a lantern.
　　‘Goodbye - and keep your eyes and ears open! Mr Uma may not be as innocent as he seems.’
　　Mr Uma called up to the launch.
　　‘Good evening! If you are ready I will guide you to my house. It is not very far. I am wonderingif the four children would like to watch a dance in the next little village. There has been a weddingthere, and the dancing is amusing to watch. My man here can take them.’
　　‘Oh yes - do let us!’ cried Lucy-Ann, and the others joined in.
　　‘No, I don’t think I want them to go,’ said Bill firmly. ‘I’d rather they stayed on the boat.’
　　‘Oh, blow!’ said Jack. ‘Be a sport, Bill. We’ll be all right, and we won’t do anything silly, Ipromise you.’
　　‘I think not,’ said Bill. ‘I’d rather you didn’t go. Village wedding dances are not always safe towatch - your presence might be resented!’
　　There was no more to be said, but the four children were very disappointed. They called asubdued goodbye, and watched the lantern held by Uma’s servant bobbing away through the trees.
　　‘I wish we could have gone,’ said Dinah. ‘What harm could we come to, with Uma’s manbeside us? Blow!’
　　‘Oh, well - it’s no good thinking about it,’ said Jack. ‘I wonder what’s for supper?’
　　Tala produced a fine meal, and when they were in the middle of it, the children heard himtalking to a man who had come to the side of the launch.
　　‘Who is it, Tala?’ called Philip at once.
　　‘It is Jallie, Mr Uma’s servant,’ said Tala. ‘He say Master send him tell you go watch dancing.
　　He say he change mind, you go.’
　　‘Oh, good, good, good!’ cried Dinah, delighted, and the others exclaimed in pleasure too. Theyfinished their supper hurriedly, and called out to Tala.
　　‘Tell the man we’re ready. We’re just getting our cardigans. It’s a bit chilly tonight.’
　　‘Oola go too?’ said a small voice. But Tala overheard and called him roughly.
　　‘No! You have work to do. Mister Bill send word you not go. You stay with Tala.’
　　Oola was bitterly disappointed. He made up his mind to do his work quickly and then go tomeet the others. He would soon find out where that village was.
　　‘Goodbye!’ called Lucy-Ann to the disappointed boy. ‘We won’t be long. Look after the boat,Oola.’
　　Oola stood looking after them in the darkness. A curious dread had come over his heart.
　　Something was going to happen - something bad, bad, bad! Oola knew!