20 The way out

　　20
　　The way out
　　A man’s face suddenly appeared in the hole. Jack¹ would not have been able to recognize it but forone thing – the man wore an eyeglass in one eye!
　　‘The Count!’ thought Jack. ‘My word – what’s he doing, popping up in secret places in themiddle of the night?’
　　The man jumped down to the floor. A door at once opened near him and a woman came out.
　　Jack recognized her, too. Madame Tatiosa, the pretty woman who had pretended to be ill atQuarry Cottage – the wife of the Prime Minister!
　　This was evidently a secret meeting between her and her brother. Where had he come from?
　　Why was he so excited? The two of them spoke² rapidly together and Madame Tatiosa seemedvery pleased. She kissed her brother on both cheeks and patted him on the back.
　　‘Her plans seem to be going well, whatever they are!’ thought Jack. ‘I bet it’s something to dowith the King. They’ve probably arranged to capture him soon. That means that Gussy will behauled out of that room and made to sit on the throne. I don’t like the look of Count Paritolen.
　　He’s a nasty bit of work – and it’s quite plain he’s been up to something tonight!’
　　The brother and sister, still talking excitedly, went into the room from which Madame Tatiosahad appeared. The door shut. Jack heard the clink of glasses. They were going to celebratesomething, perhaps? Things were obviously moving.
　　Jack wished fervently³ that Bill was there with him. But Bill probably didn’t even guess that thefive of them were in Tauri-Hessia. He had no means of knowing that they had come over by plane.
　　He was probably hunting for them all over the place in England!
　　Jack looked at the hole in the wall. Where did it lead to? He felt impelled⁴ to go and look at it.
　　He could still hear clinking and talking in the room nearby. He ran across to the hole, clamberedon a chair and looked inside. He could see nothing, so he felt for his torch.
　　Then he saw the door of the room opening! There was only one thing to do – he must tumbleinside that hole and hope for the best!
　　So in went Jack, almost falling over himself in his hurry. He found that there were steps there,and he slid down them, landing with a bump at the bottom. He sat there and listened, full of alarm.
　　But it seemed as if the Count and his sister hadn’t heard anything. He heard their voices in thedistance. And then he heard something else! He heard a slight scraping noise, and the light thatcame into the hole where he was hiding was abruptly⁵ cut off.
　　‘Gosh – the picture’s gone back into place. I’m trapped!’ said Jack, in alarm. He went up thesteps and felt about at the back of the picture. The back was of stout wood, and fitted tightly overthe hole. It wouldn’t move even when he pushed it. He didn’t like to do anything violent in casethe Count heard him.
　　He put on his torch. He looked down the steps and saw a passage at the bottom. Well – it mustlead to somewhere! It might even lead out of the castle! The only thing to do was to try it and see.
　　So Jack went down the steps again, and into a narrow little passage. He came to the conclusionthat the passage must run just inside the walls of the room, at a little below the level of the floor. Itwent round at right angles quite suddenly – then there were more steps, very steep indeed.
　　Down them climbed Jack, thankful for his torch. It was very musty in the passage. He came to aplace where there seemed to be a little light shining behind the left-hand wall. What was it?
　　Jack soon discovered! It was a small hole made in the wooden panelling there, and through it hecould see into a dimly lit room – a room where people apparently⁶ met to discuss things, for therewas a round table with chairs pulled up to it, and blotting⁷ pads and papers were set out neatly⁸.
　　‘Hm – a nice little spy hole,’ thought Jack. ‘Well – on we go. Wherever does this lead to, Kiki?’
　　Kiki didn’t know – she only knew she was getting rather tired of this trip. She clung to Jack’sshoulder and grumbled⁹ in his ear.
　　The passage went downwards¹⁰ again, not by steps this time, but in a steep slope. Jack foundhimself in a much narrower, lower passage now – he had to bend his head down. Two peoplewould have found it difficult to pass one another. Kiki protested, because the ceiling kept brushingthe top of her head.
　　‘I wish I knew where this is all leading to, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘I don’t like it any more than youdo! Hallo – here’s a cellar, or something!’
　　The passage suddenly ended in a round cellar-like place, full of old junk. The entrance to thiswas only a round hole, through which Jack climbed, glad he wasn’t as fat as the old ‘Boss’ of thecircus.
　　‘Now where do we go from here?’ he thought. He flashed his torch all round. Nothing much tosee but junk. Then he flashed his torch on the ceiling above his head – it was only about twoinches higher than he was.
　　‘A trap door! Surely that’s a trap door! If only I can open it!’ thought Jack.
　　He pushed hard – and it opened! It swung right back and landed flat with a tremendous crash. Itstartled Jack horribly and made Kiki screech¹¹ like a barn owl¹²!
　　Nobody came rushing up. Nobody shouted ‘Who’s there?’ Jack waited a minute and thenclambered out. Where was he now? He began to feel he must be in a kind of nightmare, wherenothing really led anywhere – only just on and on, steps, passages, holes, cellars, trapdoors – whatnext?
　　Again he shone his torch round. He was in a very tall, very narrow building of stone. Greatropes hung round him. He turned his torch upwards¹³, and then he knew where he was!
　　‘The bell tower! The tower that is just opposite Philip’s room! That passage I’ve come downmust be a secret way into the castle. Well – what a discovery!’
　　He went to the doorway¹⁴ of the bell tower. There was no door there, merely an archway. Theplace was apparently built just to hold the great bell and nothing else.
　　And then Jack discovered something that filled him with relief and joy. The bell tower was builtoutside the castle wall and not inside! He could run down the slope of the hill to the circus withnothing to prevent him – no walls to climb – no windows to jump from – there he was, outside thecastle, walls and all.
　　‘That’s a bit of luck!’ thought the boy. ‘Come on, Kiki. We’re out. Now we’ll go back and get abit of sleep!’
　　It wasn’t long before Jack was creeping into Pedro’s caravan¹⁵. The floor creaked loudly, butPedro did not awake. Jack stripped off his things, thinking hard.
　　He felt pleased. Lucy-Ann and the others were safe. They had come to no harm. They were safeas long as Gussy wasn’t King – then they might be held as hostages if the British Governmentsided with the present King, and demanded that he be put back on the throne. Jack could quitewell imagine that Count Paritolen and Madame Tatiosa would delight in threatening all kinds ofdreadful things where the children were concerned, if the British Government made things toouncomfortable for them.
　　‘The thing to do is to rescue them quickly before Gussy’s uncle is captured and Gussy’s put onthe throne,’ thought Jack. ‘I really must try and get in touch with Bill. But it will be difficult,because probably the people in this part of the country are on the side of the Count – and if I try toget news through to Bill, I’ll be captured myself!’
　　He fell asleep thinking of it all. He had had a night of real adventure and he was tired out. Hedidn’t even wake when Mr Fank’s bears created a great disturbance¹⁶ in the early morning, and triedto break their cage down!
　　Pedro told him about it at breakfast time. ‘Nobody dares to go near them,’ he said. ‘Theyhaven’t come to fighting each other yet, but they will. And then they won’t be any use in thecircus.’
　　‘Isn’t Mr Fank better then?’ asked Jack.
　　‘No. Worse,’ said Pedro. ‘The Boss is really worried. Pity that friend of yours you told meabout isn’t anywhere near here. If he’s as clever as you say, he might be able to quieten the bearsand manage them!’
　　Pedro was joking, of course – but Jack sat up straight, and began considering the matter at once.
　　He was sure that Philip could manage the bears, of course. Could he possibly tell Pedro wherePhilip was – and say that if Pedro would help him to rescue the children, Philip would try to do hisbest for the bears?
　　‘What’s the matter?’ said Pedro, looking at him curiously¹⁷. ‘You seem excited about something.’
　　‘Well – I could get hold of my friend, but only with help,’ said Jack. ‘He’s – well, he’s notreally very far away.’
　　‘Really? Why didn’t you tell me?’ said Pedro. ‘Where is he?’
　　Jack hesitated. Could he trust Pedro? He asked him a question. ‘Pedro – tell me truthfully – areyou on anybody’s side in this business about the King and the Prince Aloysius? I mean – what doyou think about it?’
　　‘Nothing,’ said Pedro, promptly¹⁸. ‘I don’t care which of them is King. Let them get on with it!
　　The only thing I don’t want is civil war here – we’d have to clear out of the country quickly then.
　　Circuses and war don’t go together! Why do you ask me that?’
　　‘I might tell you later on,’ said Jack, suddenly feeling that he had told Pedro too much. ‘But I’lljust say this – if I could get my friend here – with his friends too – we’d prevent civil war – Fank’sbears would soon be under control and . . .’
　　‘What rubbish you talk!’ said Pedro, looking astonished. ‘Stop pulling my leg. I don’t believe aword of it.’
　　Jack said no more. But, as the day wore on, and Fank got no better, and the bears’ behaviour gotmuch worse, he felt inclined to tell Pedro a good deal more. It would be really marvellous if hecould get Philip and the rest into the circus – what a wonderful hiding place for them all! Gussywould be too noticeable, of course. How could they disguise him?
　　‘Of course! With that long hair of his and those thick eyelashes and big eyes, he could bedressed as a girl!’ thought Jack. ‘What a brainwave! I think I will tell Pedro everything. I’ll tellhim after the show tonight.’
　　The circus gave its first show at Borken that evening. It opened with the usual fanfare¹⁹ oftrumpets and drums and the people of the town streamed up excitedly.
　　The bears, of course, were not on show, but otherwise everything went well. There was a gooddeal of grumbling²⁰ from the townsfolk about the bears, because they had been well advertised, andsome people demanded their money back.
　　‘We must get those bears going somehow,’ grumbled the Boss. ‘We must pull Fank out of bed!
　　We must get somebody else in. We must do this, we must do that! Where is Fank? Those bearswill maul each other to death soon!’
　　After supper Jack spoke to Pedro. ‘I want to tell you a lot of things,’ he said. ‘I want to get yourhelp, Pedro. Will you listen? It is very important – very important indeed!’
　　‘I am listening,’ said Pedro, looking startled. ‘Tell me all you want to. I will help you, Jack – Ipromise you that!’

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 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。

3 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 impelled   

v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He felt impelled to investigate further. 他觉得有必要作进一步调查。
• I feel impelled to express grave doubts about the project. 我觉得不得不对这项计划深表怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 blotting   

吸墨水纸

参考例句：

• Water will permeate blotting paper. 水能渗透吸水纸。
• One dab with blotting-paper and the ink was dry. 用吸墨纸轻轻按了一下，墨水就乾了。

8 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。

9 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

10 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。

11 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。

12 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

13 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

14 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

15 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

16 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

17 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

18 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

19 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

20 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。