Chapter 1 A Grand Holiday Plan

　　Chapter 1 A Grand Holiday Plan
　　"MOTHER'S got something up her sleeve," said Philip Mannering. "I know she has. She's gone allmysterious."
　　"Yes," said his sister, Dinah. "And whenever I ask what we're going to do this summer holidays shejust says 'Wait and see!' As if we were about ten years old!""Where's Jack¹?" said Philip. "We'll see if he knows what's up with Mother.""He's gone out with Lucy-Ann," said Dinah. "Ah — I can hear old Kiki screeching². They're coming!"Jack and Lucy-Ann Trent came in together, looking very much alike with their red hair, green eyesand dozens of freckles⁴. Jack grinned.
　　"Hallo! You ought to have been with us just now. A dog barked at Kiki, and she sat on a fence andmewed like a cat at him. You never saw such a surprised dog in your life!""He put his tail down and ran for his life," said Lucy-Ann, scratching Kiki on the head. The parrotbegan to mew again, knowing that the children were talking about her. Then she hissed⁵ and spat⁶ likean angry cat. The children laughed.
　　"If you'd done that to the dog he'd have died of astonishment," said Jack. "Good old Kiki. Nobodycan be dull when you're about."
　　Kiki began to sway herself from side to side, and made a crooning noise. Then she went off into oneof her tremendous cackles.
　　"Now you're showing off," said Philip. "Don't let's take any notice of her. She'll get noisy and Motherwill come rushing in."
　　"That reminds me — what's Mother gone all mysterious about?" said Dinah. "Lucy-Ann, haven't younoticed it?"
　　"Well — Aunt Alison does act rather as if she's got something up her sleeve," said Lucy-Ann,considering the matter. "Rather like she does before somebody's birthday. I think she's got a plan forthe summer holidays."
　　Jack groaned⁷. "Blow! I've got a perfectly⁸ good plan too. Simply wizard. I'd better get mine in beforeAunt Allie gets her."
　　"What's yours?" asked Dinah, with interest. Jack always had wonderful plans, though not many ofthem came to anything.
　　"Well — I thought we could all go off together on our bikes, taking a tent with us — and camp out ina different place each night," said Jack. "It would be super."The others looked at him scornfully. "You suggested that last hols and the hols before," said Dinah.
　　"Mother said no then, and she's not likely to say yes now. It is a good plan, going off absolutely onour own like that — but ever since we've had so many adventures Mother simply won't hear of it.""Couldn't your mother come with us?" suggested Lucy-Ann hopefully.
　　"Now you're being silly," said Dinah. "Mother's a dear — but grown-ups are so frightfully particularabout things. We'd have to put our macks on at the first spot of rain, and coats if the sun went in, andI wouldn't be surprised if we didn't each have to have an umbrella strapped¹⁰ to our bike-handles."The others laughed. "I suppose it wouldn't do to ask Aunt Allie too, then," said Lucy-Ann. "What apity!"
　　"What a pity, what a pity," agreed Kiki at once. "Wipe your feet and shut the door, where's yourhanky, naughty boy!"
　　"Kiki's got the idea all right!" said Philip. "That's the kind of thing that even the nicest grown-upssay, isn't it, Kiki, old bird?"
　　"Bill isn't like that," said Lucy-Ann at once. "Bill's fine."Everyone agreed at once. Bill Cunningham, or Bill Smugs as he had first called himself to them, wastheir very firm friend, and had shared all their adventures with them. Sometimes they had draggedhim into them, and sometimes it was the other way round — he had got into one and they hadfollowed. It really did seem sometimes, as Mrs. Mannering said, that adventures cropped up whereverBill and the children were.
　　"I had an idea for these hols too," said Philip. "I thought it would be pretty good fun to camp down bythe river, and look for otters¹². I've never had an otter¹¹ for a pet. Lovely things they are. I thought . . .""You would think of a thing like that," said Dinah, half crossly. "Just because you're mad on all kindsof creatures from fleas¹³ to — to . . ."
　　"Elephants," said Jack obligingly.
　　"From fleas to elephants, you think everyone else is," said Dinah. "What a frightful⁹ holiday —looking for wet, slimy otters — and having them in the tent at night, I suppose — and all kinds ofother horrible things too."
　　"Shut up, Dinah," said Philip. "Otters aren't horrible. They're lovely. You should just see themswimming under the water. And by the way, I'm not mad on fleas. Or mosquitoes. Or horse-flies. Ithink they're interesting, but you can't say I've ever had things like that for pets.""What about those earwigs you had once — that escaped out of the silly cage you made for them?
　　Ugh! And that stag-beetle that did tricks? And that . . .""Oh gosh! Now we're off!" said Jack, seeing one of the familiar quarrels breaking out between Philipand hotheaded Dinah. "I suppose we're going to listen to a long list of Philip's pets now! Anyway,here comes Aunt Allie. We can ask her what she thinks of our holiday ideas. Get yours in first,Philip."
　　Mrs. Mannering came in, with a booklet in her hand. She smiled round at the four children, and Kikiput up her crest¹⁴ in delighted welcome.
　　"Wipe your feet and shut the door," she said, in a friendly tone. "One, two, three, GO!" She made anoise like a pistol shot after the word "GO!" and Mrs. Mannering jumped in fright.
　　"It's all right, Mother — she keeps doing that ever since she came to our school sports, and heard thestarter yelling to us, and letting off his pistol," grinned Philip. "Once she made that pistol-shot noisejust when we were all in a line, ready to start — and off we went long before time! You should haveheard her cackle. Bad bird!"
　　"Naughty Polly, poor Polly, what a pity, what a pity," said Kiki. Jack tapped her on the beak¹⁵.
　　"Be quiet. Parrots should be seen and not heard. Aunt Allie, we've just been talking about holidayplans. I thought it would be a super idea if you'd let us all go off on our bikes — ride where we likedand camp out each night. I know you've said we couldn't when I asked you before, but . . .""I say no again," said Mrs. Mannering very firmly.
　　"Well, Mother, could we go off to the river and camp there, because I want to find out more about theotters?" said Philip, not taking any notice of Dinah's scowl¹⁶. "You see . . .""No, Philip," said his mother, just as firmly as before. "And you know why I won't let you go onexpeditions like that. I should have thought you would have given up asking me by now.""But why won't you let us go?" wailed¹⁷ Lucy-Ann. "We shall be quite safe.""Now, Lucy-Ann, you know perfectly well that as soon as I let you four out of my sight whenholidays come, you immediately — yes, immediately — fall into the most frightful adventuresimaginable." Mrs. Mannering sounded quite fierce. "And I am quite determined¹⁸ that these holidaysyou are not going off anywhere on your own, so it's just no good your asking me.""But, Mother — that's just silly," said Philip, in dismay. "You speak as if we go out looking foradventures. We don't. And I ask you — what possible adventure could we fall into if we just wentdown to the river to camp? Why, you could come and see us for yourself every evening if youwanted to."
　　"Yes — and the very first evening I came I should find you all spirited away somewhere, and mixedup with robbers or spies or rogues¹⁹ of some kind," said his mother. "Think of some of your holidays— first you got lost down an old copper²⁰ mine on a deserted²¹ island . . . then another time you got shutup in the dungeons²² of an old castle, mixed up with spies. . . .""Oooh yes — and another time we got into the wrong aeroplane and were whisked off to the Valleyof Adventure," said Lucy- Ann, remembering. "That was when we. found all those queer stolenstatues hidden in caves — how their eyes gleamed when we saw them! I thought they were alive, butthey weren't."
　　"And the next time we went off with Bill to the bird islands," said Jack. "That was grand. We had twotame puffins, do you remember, Philip?"
　　"Huffin and Puffin," put in Kiki at once.
　　"Quite right, old bird," said Philip. "Huffin and Puffin they were. I loved them.""You may have gone to look for birds — but you found a whole nest of rogues," said his mother.
　　"Gun-runners! Terribly dangerous."
　　"Well, Mother, what about last summer hols?" said Dinah. "You nearly got caught up in thatadventure!"
　　"Horrible!" said Mrs. Mannering, with a shiver. "That awful mountain with its queer secrets and themad King of the Mountain — you nearly didn't escape from there. No — I tell you quite definitelythat you can never again go off anywhere by yourselves. I'm always coming with you!"There was a silence at this. All four children were very fond of Mrs. Mannering — but they did likebeing on their own for some part of each holiday.
　　"Well — Aunt Allie — suppose Bill came with us — wouldn't that be all right?" asked Lucy-Ann. "Ido always feel safe with Bill."
　　"Bill can't be trusted to keep out of adventures either," said Mrs. Mannering." He's grand, I know, andI'd trust him more than anyone else in the world. But when you and he get together there's just noknowing what will happen. So, these holidays, I've made a very safe plan — and dear old Bill isn't init, so perhaps we shall keep away from danger and extraordinary happenings.""What's your plan, Mother?" said Dinah nervously²³. "Don't say we're going to a seaside hotel oranything like that. They'd never take Kiki.""I'm taking you all for a cruise on a big ship," said Mrs. Mannering, and she smiled. "I know you'lllike that. It's tremendous fun. We shall call at all sorts of places, and see all kinds of strange andexciting things. And I shall have you under my eye, in one place all the time — the ship will be ourhome for some time, and if we get off at various ports we shall all go in a party together. There won'tbe a chance of any strange adventure."
　　The four children looked at one another. Kiki watched them. Philip spoke²⁴ first.
　　"It does sound rather exciting, Mother! Yes, it really does. We've never been on a really big shipbefore. Of course, I shall miss having any animals. . . .""Oh, Philip — surely you can go without your everlasting²⁵ menagerie of creatures?" cried Dinah. "Imust say it'll be a great relief to me to know you haven't got mice somewhere about you, or lizards²⁶, orslow- worms! Mother, it sounds super, I think. Thanks awfully²⁷ for thinking up something soexciting."
　　"Yes — it sounds smashing," said Jack. "We'll see no end of birds I've never seen before.""Jack's happy so long as he's somewhere that will provide him with birds," said Lucy-Ann with alaugh. "What with Philip with his craze for all kinds of creatures, and Jack with his passion for birds,it's a good thing we two girls haven't got crazes for anything as well. Aunt Allie, it's a wizard plan ofyours. When do we go?"
　　"Next week," said Mrs. Mannering. "That will give us plenty of time to get our things ready andpacked. It will be very warm on the cruise, so we must get plenty of thin clothes to wear. White's thebest thing — it doesn't hold the heat so much. And you must all have sun-hats the whole time, sodon't begin to moan about wearing hats."
　　"Isn't Bill coming?" asked Philip.
　　"No," said his mother firmly. "I feel rather mean about it, because he's just finished the job he's on,and he wants a holiday. But this time he's not coming with us. I want a nice peaceful holiday with noadventure at all."
　　"Poor Bill," said Lucy-Ann. "Still — I daresay he'll be glad to have a holiday without us for a change.
　　I say — it's going to be fun, isn't it?""Fun!" said Kiki, joining in, and let off a screech³ of excitement. "Fun, fun, fun!"

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 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

3 screech   

n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音

参考例句：

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

4 freckles   

n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时，脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

6 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

7 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

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

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

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

9 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

10 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

12 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

13 fleas   

n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求）

参考例句：

• The dog has fleas. 这条狗有跳蚤。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

15 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。

16 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

17 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

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 rogues   

n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽

参考例句：

• 'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

20 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

21 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

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

22 dungeons   

n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The captured rebels were consigned to the dungeons. 抓到的叛乱分子被送进了地牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He saw a boy in fetters in the dungeons. 他在地牢里看见一个戴着脚镣的男孩。 来自辞典例句

23 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

24 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。

25 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

26 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

27 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

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