Chapter 22 MR. EPPY AGAIN

　　Chapter 22 MR. EPPY AGAIN
　　YES, Jack¹ did know why Mr. Eppy had bought the island. He stared at the man miserably², his heartsinking. If the island was Mr. Eppy's, then the treasure would be his too. Once again it looked as ifthe adventure had come to a sudden end.
　　"You know why I have bought it?" repeated Mr. Eppy. "Tell me, boy.""Well — I suppose you wanted to look for treasure on it," said Jack, in a sulky tone. "But you won'tfind it. You only saw two pieces of the map, remember!""Then you will tell me what was on the other pieces," said Mr. Eppy, in a dangerous tone.
　　Lucian was by now looking distinctly frightened. "Here, I say, Uncle," he began. "I don't think youought to talk to old Jack like that, you know. I mean to say . . ."Mr. Eppy took a step backwards³, and slapped Lucian neatly⁴ across the mouth. His hand made a noiselike a whip-crack and Kiki immediately imitated it. Then she scolded Mr. Eppy. "Naughty boy,naughty boy, nit-wit, mistersir!"
　　Lucian burst into howls. He put his hand up to his mouth, and stumbled away to a corner. The threemen didn't turn a hair.
　　"That is how I treat foolish boys," said Mr. Eppy, turning back to Jack. "Are you going to be foolishtoo?"
　　Jack said nothing. Mr. Eppy put his face close to him, and hissed⁵ at him so startlingly that Jack took asudden step back, and trod on the foot of one of the three men.
　　"Where are the others?" demanded Mr. Eppy, with his face close to Jack's. "They must be here too. Isent away your boat yesterday. I threatened the man with prison for daring to land people on myisland!"
　　"Oh — so that's why Andros ran away," said Jack, in disgust. "What a fool thing to do, Mr. Eppy!
　　Don't you know he'll come back again, probably with help?""He won't," said Mr. Eppy. "He knows I shall put him in prison if he opens his mouth. No, no — Iknew what I was doing. When I saw the boat there I guessed you and that big friend of yours wereinterfering here. I have heard of him! This is my island! Everything on it is mine.""All right, all right," said Jack. "But why send the boat away without us? Why not send us off too? Ifwe had been told by you it was yours — and I know you do buy and sell islands — we wouldn't havetrespassed without permission."
　　"I wanted you here," said Mr. Eppy. "You have the plan — have you not? You did not leave it behindyou? Ah, no — you would bring such a precious thing with you!"Jack was silent. Of course — that was why Mr. Eppy had sent the boat away without them — hemeant to get the plan! And as he thought of that, Jack also thought of something else — somethingabsolutely maddening.
　　He had the plan on him — the redrawn one. He had looked at it with Bill, underground, and hadn'tgiven it back! Suppose Mr. Eppy searched him? He would most certainly find it! How could hedestroy it before he was searched?
　　"It was you, I suppose, who met the farm-boy yesterday, and today too, and took the food I had sentfor," said Mr. Eppy. "A most extraordinary thing to do! I am not pleased with things like that — theymake trouble for me."
　　"Well — goodness gracious — how in the world were we to know that the food was for you, whenwe didn't know you were here, and couldn't understand a word the boy said?" cried Jack. "Your boatwasn't in the creek⁷. We didn't know anyone else war visiting the island.""I came to the other creek," said Mr. Eppy. "But I shall not tell you where it is. No — not till you tellme where the others are — and then, when I have the plan, maybe, I say maybe, I will set you freefrom this island — all of you, who have come to interfere⁸ with my plans.""You're mad," said Jack, in disgust. "We haven't come to interfere. Bill would be the first to say we'dall go, if he knew you had bought the island.""Where are the others?" barked Mr. Eppy suddenly.
　　"Somewhere about," said Jack indifferently. "Why don't you look for them? And don't shout at melike that. I'm not Lucian."
　　"Has this Bill the plan?" asked Mr. Eppy, his voice getting sharper.
　　"Why don't you find him and ask him?" said Jack. "Call him! See if he answers! If I'm here whyshouldn't he be?"
　　Mr. Eppy gave Jack such a sudden box on the ears that the boy had no time to dodge⁹ it. Kiki almostgot the slap too, but rose into the air in time. She pounced¹⁰ down on the angry man, and gave his earsuch a vicious nip that he yelled in agony.
　　Jack suppressed a smile. Serve him right! Good old Kiki! The parrot sailed to a high branch andperched there, scolding hard.
　　"Bad boy, naughty boy! Gr-r-r-r-r! Go to bed, go to the doctor, go to the weasel!"Mr. Eppy said a sharp sentence to the three silent men behind Jack. In a thrice they had him pinionedby the arms, laid flat on the ground. Then with a practised hand one of the men searched him. Hedrew out the plan at once.
　　Mr. Eppy took it. Jack could imagine how his eyes gleamed behind the dark glasses!
　　"And so! You had it," said Mr. Eppy. He unfolded it, and saw that it was not the original plan. Helooked at it closely. "What is this? It is drawn⁶ by someone who has seen the other — drawn for you— it has been deciphered and translated?""Find out for yourself," said Jack, still lying on the ground. He expected a kick or a blow, but Mr.
　　Eppy was so intent on the redrawn plan that he did nothing. Jack remembered that the man had seenonly two parts of the map before — enough to tell him which island to come to, and that there wastreasure there — he must now be studying the other parts with eager interest.
　　" 'Two-Fingers,' " he muttered. Then he looked at Jack. " 'Two-Fingers,' " he said. "That showed onthe piece I saw before — and I found the two-fingered rock. But there is no way through.""Oh — so that was your old battery we found in the hole, I suppose," said Jack, sitting up. "Wewondered whose it was."
　　Mr. Eppy did not answer, or seem even to hear him. He was studying the map again. He wasmuttering something to himself. " 'Two-Fingers' — 'Goddess'-'Tomb' — 'Bird' — 'Bell' — 'Labyrinth¹¹'
　　— 'Catacomb' — that is the route they took. The whole of it!" Then he began to mutter in Greek, andJack could no longer understand him.
　　Lucian was still holding his hand up to his mouth, and his face was tear-stained. Kiki was down byhim, pecking at his shoe-lace. "Oh, I say!" she was repeating. "Oh, I say!""Have you found the way at all?" demanded Mr. Eppy.
　　"What way?" said Jack innocently.
　　"Pah! The way to the treasure-chamber!" spat¹² Mr. Eppy.
　　"Pah!" spat Kiki at once. "Pah!"
　　"I'll wring¹³ that bird's neck," threatened Mr. Eppy. "Answer my question, boy.""No. We haven't found the way," said Jack, truthfully, feeling quite glad that they had gone thewrong way and not the right one, in their following of the route! All the same, he wondered if Billand the others had managed to find the way by now, without him. But surely they would have waitedfor him? They must be wondering what in the wide world had happened to him! Jack hoped ferventlythat they wouldn't all come climbing out of the broken column. If they did they'd be taken prisoner byMr. Eppy and his men, and Bill would find it extremely difficult to keep his secret. In fact it wouldn'tbe any good his trying, now Mr. Eppy had the map.
　　"Once Mr. Eppy knows the way down the broken column, the treasure is as good as his!" thoughtJack. "What a good thing Lucian didn't spot me getting out of it! I only hope the others don't make asudden appearance. I'm sure they will soon!"But they didn't, for the very simple reason that they had lost their way in the labyrinth! They werestill wandering about the passages, getting more and more anxious. They had lost Jack, and had losttheir way too.
　　"This awful maze¹⁴!" said Dinah, in despair. "Look, Bill — I'm sure we've been in this passage before.
　　I remember the way this horrid¹⁵ piece juts¹⁶ out — it knocked my elbow last time, and this time too. I'msure it's the same."
　　"We're going round and round and in and out and goodness knows whether we're near the vault¹⁷ ornear the catacomb!" groaned¹⁸ Philip.
　　Bill was very worried. He stood and thought for a moment, trying in vain to get a sense of direction.
　　It was so difficult underground! He set off again, and soon came to a fork.
　　"Well," he said, "I vote we go right here. It may be one of the places where we're supposed to goright. So we'll hope for the best! Come on!"They trailed after him, Lucy-Ann getting very weary of it all. They reached another fork, and turnedright once more. Then they came to where the passages branched into four ways. Again they took theright-hand fork. Bill was feeling a little more cheerful. Perhaps they were on the right road now. Theyno longer came to blind ends and had to turn back as they had been doing before. Ah — here wasanother fork. Well, to the right again!
　　The passage ended abruptly¹⁹ in a downward flight of steep steps. Bill swung the lantern up high andpeered down the steps.
　　"We've come the right way at last!" he said. "These must be the catacombs — underground caves andpassages all joined together that were once used as hiding-places, burial-places and goodness knowswhat!"
　　"Oh, Bill — have we really come right?" said Lucy-Ann, in joy. "I thought we were lost for ever andever! Do we go down the steps?"
　　"We do," said Bill. "I'll go first. Come on."Down he went and the others followed carefully. There were about thirty steps, and it seemed to thechildren as if they really were going down into the bowels²⁰ of the earth. At the end was a queer place,stretching out into the darkness. Lining²¹ its walls were stone shelves, rocky niches²², hollowed-outplaces that looked as if they had been used for storing things in, or for people to hide in and sleep.
　　They came to a hole in the floor of this queer place. Bill shone his torch down it. It was a shaftleading downwards²⁴, and there were footholds in the rock. "I'm going down," said Bill. "I've got ahunch this is the place!"
　　He disappeared down the shaft²³ with his torch. And soon his voice came back, excited and loud.
　　"This is it! This is the treasure-chamber — the TREASURE'S STILL HERE!"

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 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

4 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

8 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

9 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

10 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

12 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。

13 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

14 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

15 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。

16 juts   

v.（使）突出( jut的第三人称单数 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A small section of rock juts out into the harbour. 山岩的一小角突入港湾。 来自辞典例句
• The balcony juts out over the swimming pool. 阳台伸出在游泳池上方。 来自辞典例句

17 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

18 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》

19 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

20 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

22 niches   

壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位）

参考例句：

• Some larvae extend the galleries to form niches. 许多幼虫将坑道延伸扩大成壁龛。
• In his view differences in adaptation are insufficient to create niches commensurate in number and kind. 按照他的观点，适应的差异不足以在数量上和种类上形成同量的小生境。

23 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

24 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。