14 Jack gets a shock

　　14 Jack¹ gets a shock
　　After he had had his breakfast Jack went to his hide. It was a lovely day. He could take some finepictures if only the eagles were there.
　　He wrapped the thickest rug round him and crawled in through the prickly stems of the gorse.
　　Kiki remained outside this time.
　　When he was in the hollow centre of the bush Jack examined his camera to make sure that itwas all right. It was. He looked through the shutter² to see if he had it trained exactly on the nest.
　　‘Perfect!’ he thought. ‘That young eagle appears to be asleep. I might get a good picture when itwakes up. I suppose the other birds are soaring miles high into the sky.’
　　It was boring, waiting for the eagle to wake up. But Jack didn’t mind. Both he and Philip knewthat the ability to keep absolutely still and silent for a long time on end was essential to the studyof birds and animals in their natural surroundings. So Jack settled back in the gorse bush, andwaited.
　　Kiki went off on errands of her own. She flew to the top of the nearest tower and looked downon the countryside. She flew down to the courtyard and looked inside a paper bag there, hoping tofind a forgotten biscuit. She sat on the branch of a birch tree, practising quietly to herself thebarking noise that Button the fox cub³ made. So long as Jack was somewhere near she was happy.
　　He was safe in that gorse bush. Kiki didn’t know why he had chosen such a peculiar⁴ resting place,but Jack was always wise in her eyes.
　　The young eagle suddenly awoke and stretched out first one wing and then another. It climbedto the edge of the nest and looked out over the ledge⁵, waiting for its parents to come back.
　　‘Fine!’ whispered Jack, and pressed the trigger of the camera to take the eagle’s picture. Theyoung bird heard the click and cowered⁶ down at once – but the snap had been taken!
　　Soon the bird recovered from its fright and climbed up again. Then, with yelps⁷, the two growneagles came gliding⁸ down on outspread wings, and the young one greeted them gladly, spreadingout its wings and quivering them.
　　One of the eagles had a young hare clutched in its claws. It dropped it into the nest. At once theyoungster covered the food with its big wings, cowered over it, and began to pull at it hungrilywith its powerful beak⁹.
　　Jack snapped it. All three birds heard the click and looked towards the gorse bush suspiciously.
　　The male eagle glared and Jack felt uncomfortable. He hoped the bird wouldn’t pounce¹⁰ at thegleaming camera lens and ambush¹¹ it.
　　But Kiki saved the situation by flying down in a most comradely manner to the eagles, andsaluting them in their own yelping¹² language.
　　They appeared to be quite pleased to see her again although the young eagle covered the deadhare threateningly with its wings as if to keep Kiki off.
　　‘Open your books at page six,’ said Kiki pleasantly. The eagles looked startled. They had notyet got used to the parrot talking in human language. She barked like Button, and they lookedrather alarmed.
　　The female eagle bent¹³ herself forward, opened her cruel beak, and made a curious snarlingnoise, warning Kiki to be careful. She at once spoke¹⁴ in eagle language again, and gave such a finescream that both eagles were satisfied. The young one fell upon its meal and ate till it could eat nomore. Then it sank back into the big nest.
　　The female eagle finished the dead hare in a very short while. Jack got another wonderful snapwhilst it was tearing up its food.
　　This time, except for an enquiring¹⁵ look in the direction of the click, the eagles took no notice.
　　‘Good,’ thought Jack. ‘They won’t mind the click soon or the gleaming eye of the camera!’
　　He spent a pleasant morning, using up the rest of his film, delighted to think of the wonderfulpictures he could develop. He imagined them in nature magazines, with his name under them asphotographer. How proud he would feel!
　　Kiki suddenly gave a most excited squawk, making the two grown eagles rise in the air inalarm. She flew into the air, and made for the wall that ran round the courtyard. Jack, peeringthrough the back of his hiding-place, saw her fly right over the wall, and disappear.
　　‘Now where’s she gone?’ he thought. ‘I was just going to take a picture of her and the twoeagles together.’
　　Kiki was gone for about half an hour before Jack saw her again. Then she came into thecourtyard on Tassie’s shoulder! She had heard the other children coming up the hillside and hadflown to meet them. They had got into the castle in the usual way, and were now looking for Jack.
　　The eagles soared into the air when they heard the children coming towards their crag. Jackgave a hail from the inside of his hide.
　　‘I’m here! Hallo, it’s good to see you. Wait a sec and I’ll be out.’
　　He crawled out with the rug round him and went down to the others. Lucy-Ann eyed himanxiously, and was relieved to see him looking cheerful and well. So he hadn’t minded his lonelynight at the castle after all.
　　‘We’ve brought a fine dinner,’ said Philip. ‘Mother managed to get some cooked ham and a bigfruit cake in the village.’
　　‘Good!’ said Jack, realising that he was terribly hungry. ‘I’ve only had biscuits and fruit for mybreakfast, washed down with ginger¹⁶ beer.’
　　‘We’ve got some more ginger beer too,’ said Dinah. ‘Where shall we have our dinner? On thetop of the tower again or where?’
　　‘Here, I think,’ said Jack, ‘because the light is perfect for taking pictures this morning, and ifthose eagles come back I want a few more snaps of them. I’ve an idea they are going to make thatyoung one fly soon. The female eagle tried to tip it off the edge of the nest this morning.’
　　‘Kiki came to meet us,’ said Tassie. ‘Did you see how Button came in this morning, Jack? Weleft him outside, but he’s here again.’
　　‘No, I didn’t,’ said Jack. ‘I can’t see much from the inside of that gorse bush, you know. Weshall never find out how Button gets in – bet it’s down an old rabbit-hole. He won’t be able to dothat when he gets a bit bigger. Has he been good?’
　　‘Not very,’ said Philip. ‘He somehow got into the larder¹⁷ and gobbled up all Mother’s sausages.
　　She wasn’t at all pleased. I can’t imagine how he can eat anything else at the moment. He musthave eaten a pound and a half of sausages.’
　　‘Greedy pig,’ said Jack, giving Button half his ham sandwich. ‘You don’t deserve this butyou’re so sweet I can’t help spoiling you.’
　　‘It’s a pity he smells so strong,’ said Dinah, wrinkling up her nose. ‘You won’t be able to keephim when he’s grown a bit more, Philip – he’ll smell too much.’
　　‘That’s all you know!’ said Philip. ‘I shall probably keep him till he dies of old age.’
　　‘Well, you’ll have to wear a gas mask then,’ said Jack, grinning. ‘Another sandwich, please,Dinah. Golly, these are good.’
　　‘What sort of a night did you have, Jack?’ asked Lucy-Ann, who was sitting as close to Jack asshe could.
　　‘Oh, very good,’ said Jack airily. ‘I woke up once and took some time to go to sleep again.’
　　He was determined¹⁸ not to say anything about his alarms and fears in the night. They seemed sosilly now, in the full sunshine with people all round him.
　　‘You should have seen the rabbits in the late evening,’ he said to Philip. ‘You’d have lovedthem. They wouldn’t come to me of course, but I daresay you’d have got them all over you! Theyseemed as tame as anything.’
　　The four children stayed with Jack till after tea. Each crept into his hide to watch the eagles.
　　They went up to the tower again, and Jack cautiously looked round to see if there was anythingdifferent about the tower – a cigarette end, a scrap¹⁹ of paper – but there was nothing at all.
　　‘Won’t you come back with us tonight, Jack?’ asked Lucy-Ann.
　　‘Of course not,’ said Jack, though secretly he felt that he would rather like to. ‘Is it likely, just asI’m certain that young eagle is going to learn to fly?’
　　‘All right,’ said Lucy-Ann, with a sigh, ‘I don’t know why I hate you being here alone in thishorrid old castle, but I just do.’
　　‘It’s not a horrid²⁰ castle,’ said Jack. ‘It’s just old and forgotten, but it’s not horrid.’
　　‘Well, I think it is,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘I think horrid, wicked things have been done here in thepast – and I think they might be done again in the future.’
　　‘You’re just dreaming,’ said Jack, ‘and you’re frightening poor Tassie. It’s only an old emptyplace, forgotten for years, with nobody in it at all except me and the eagles, bats and rabbits.’
　　‘It’s time to go,’ said Philip, getting up. ‘We brought you another rug, Jack, in case you feltcold. Coming to see us off at the window?’
　　‘Yes, of course,’ said Jack, and they all went inside the castle, their footsteps echoing on thestone floor. They went to the room where the plank²¹ reached to the windowsill, and one by onethey got across.
　　Lucy-Ann called a farewell to Jack.
　　‘Thank you for waving your shirt to me last night!’ she called. ‘And oh, Jack, I saw you flashingyour torch from the tower later on, too! I was in bed, but I was awake and I saw the flash of thetorch three or four times. It was nice of you to do that. I was glad to see it and to know you wereawake too!’
　　‘Come on, Lucy-Ann, for goodness’ sake!’ called Dinah. ‘You know Mother said we weren’t tobe late tonight.’
　　‘All right, I’m coming,’ said Lucy-Ann, and slid down the creepers to the ground. Everyonecalled goodbye and then they were gone.
　　But Jack was left feeling most puzzled and uncomfortable! So there had been someone in thetower last night flashing a torch! He hadn’t dreamt it or imagined it. It was true.
　　‘Lucy-Ann saw it, so that proves I wasn’t mistaken as I thought,’ said the boy to himself as hewent back to the courtyard. ‘It’s terribly mysterious. That clanking I heard and the splashing musthave been real too. There is someone else here – but who – and why?’
　　He wished now that he had told the others the happenings in the night. But it was too late, theywere gone. Jack now longed to be gone with them! Suppose he heard noises again and sawflashes? He didn’t like it. It was weird²² and eerie²³ and altogether unpleasant.
　　‘Shall I go after the others and join them?’ he thought. ‘No, I won’t. I’ll wait and try and findout who’s here. Fancy Lucy-Ann seeing those flashes! I am glad she told me!’

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

3 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

5 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

6 cowered   

v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 )

参考例句：

• A gun went off and people cowered behind walls and under tables. 一声枪响，人们缩到墙后或桌子底下躲起来。
• He cowered in the corner, gibbering with terror. 他蜷缩在角落里，吓得语无伦次。

7 yelps   

n.（因痛苦、气愤、兴奋等的）短而尖的叫声( yelp的名词复数 )v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The woman emitted queer regular little snores that sounded like yelps. 她那跟怪叫差不多的鼾声一股一股地从被里冒出来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• As the moments passed the yelps grew closer and louder. 一会儿，呼叫声越来越近、越来越响了。 来自互联网

8 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

9 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

10 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

11 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

12 yelping   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping. 在桌子中间有一只小狗坐在那儿，抖着它的爪子，汪汪地叫。 来自辞典例句
• He saved men from drowning and you shake at a cur's yelping. 他搭救了快要溺死的人们，你呢，听到一条野狗叫唤也瑟瑟发抖。 来自互联网

13 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 enquiring   

a.爱打听的，显得好奇的

参考例句：

• a child with an enquiring mind 有好奇心的孩子
• Paul darted at her sharp enquiring glances. 她的目光敏锐好奇，保罗飞快地朝她瞥了一眼。

16 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

17 larder   

n.食物贮藏室，食品橱

参考例句：

• Please put the food into the larder.请将您地食物放进食物柜内。
• They promised never to raid the larder again.他们答应不再随便开食橱拿东西吃了。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

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

19 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

20 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

21 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

22 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

23 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。