NEXT morning the sun was out, all the sea-mist that had hung about for the last two days haddisappeared, and Kirrin Island showed plainly at the mouth of Kirrin Bay. The children staredlongingly at the ruined castle on it.
'I do wish we could get over to the castle,' said Dick. 'It looks quite calm enough, George.'
'It's very rough by the island,' said George. 'It always is at this time of year. I know Mother wouldn'tlet us go.'
'It's a lovely island, and it's all our own!' said Anne. 'You said you would share it with us for ever andever didn't you, George?'
'Yes, I did,' said George. 'And so I will, dungeons1 and all. Come on - we must get the trap out.
We shall be late meeting the train if we stand here all day looking at the island.'
They got the pony2 and trap and set off down the hard lanes. Kirrin Island disappeared behind thecliffs as they turned inland to the station.
'Did all this land round about belong to your family once upon a time?' asked Julian.
'Yes, all of it,' said George. 'Now we don't own anything except Kirrin Island, our own house -and that farm away over there - Kirrin Farm.'
She pointed3 with her whip. The children saw a fine old farm-house standing4 on a hill a good way off,over the heather-clad common.
'Who lives there?' asked Julian.
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'Oh, an old farmer and his wife,' said George. 'They were nice to me when I was smaller. We'll goover there one day if you like. Mother says they don't make the farm pay any more, and in thesummer-time they take in people who want a holiday.'
'Hark! That's the train whistling in the tunnel!' said Julian, suddenly. 'Buck5 up, for goodness'
sake, George. We shan't be there in time!'
The four children and Timothy looked at the train coming out of the tunnel and drawing in at thestation. The pony cantered along swiftly. They would be just in time.'
'Who's going on to the platform to meet him?' asked George, as they drew into the little station yard.
I’m not. I must look after Tim and the pony.'
'I don't want to,' said Anne. I’ll stay with George.'
'Well, we'd better go, then,' said Julian, and he and Dick leapt out of the trap. They ran on to theplatform just as the train pulled up.
Not many people got out. A woman clambered out with a basket. A young man leapt out, whistling,the son of the baker6 in the village. An old man climbed down with difficulty. The tutor could be noneof those!
Then, right at the front of the train, rather a queer-looking man got out. He was short and burly, andhe had a beard rather like a sailor. His eyes were piercingly blue, and his thick hair was sprinkledwith grey. He glanced up and down the platform, and then beckoned7 to the porter.
'That must be Mr. Roland', said Julian to Dick. 'Come on - let's ask him. There's no one else it couldbe.'
The boys went up to the bearded man. Julian raised his cap politely. 'Are you Mr. Roland, sir?'
he asked.
'I am,' said the man. 'I suppose you are Julian and Dick?'
'Yes, sir,' answered the boys together. 'We brought the pony-trap for your luggage.'
'Oh, fine,' said Mr. Roland. His bright blue eyes looked the boys up and down, and he smiled.
Julian and Dick liked him. He seemed sensible and jolly.
'Are the other two here as well?' said Mr. Roland, walking down the platform, with the porter trailingbehind with his luggage.
'Yes - George and Anne are outside with the trap,' said Julian.
'George and Anne,' said Mr. Roland, in a puzzled voice. 'I thought the others were girls. I didn't knowthere was a third boy.'
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'Oh, George is a girl,' said Dick, with a laugh. 'Her real name is Georgina.'
'And a very nice name too,' said Mr. Roland.
'George doesn't think so,' said Julian. 'She won't answer if she's called Georgina. You'd better call herGeorge, sir!'
'Really?' said Mr. Roland, in rather a chilly8 tone. Julian took a glance at him.
'Not quite so jolly as he looks!' thought the boy.
'Tim's out there too,' said Dick.
'Oh - and is Tim a boy or a girl?' inquired Mr. Roland, cautiously.
'A dog, sir!' said Dick, with a grin.
Mr. Roland seemed rather taken-aback. 'A dog?' he said. 'I didn't know there was a dog in thehousehold. Your uncle said nothing to me about a dog.'
'Don't you like dogs?' asked Julian, in surprise.
'No,' said Mr. Roland, shortly. 'But I daresay your dog won't worry me much. Hallo, hallo - so hereare the little girls! How do you do?'
George was not very pleased at being called a little girl. For one thing she hated to be spoken of aslittle, and for another thing she always tried to be a boy. She held out her hand to Mr. Roland andsaid nothing. Anne smiled at him, and Mr. Roland thought she was much the nicer of the two.
'Tim! Shake hands with Mr. Roland!' said Julian to Timothy. This was one of Tim's really goodtricks. He could hold out his right paw in a very polite manner. Mr. Roland looked down at the bigdog, and Tim looked back at him.
Then, very slowly and deliberately10, Timothy turned his back on Mr. Roland and climbed up into thepony- trap! Usually he put out his paw at once when told to, and the children stared at him inamazement.
'Timothy! What's come over you?' cried Dick. Tim put his ears down and did not move.
'He doesn't like you,' said George, looking at Mr. Roland. 'That's very queer. He usually likes people.
But perhaps you don't like dogs?'
'No, I don't, as a matter of fact,' said Mr. Roland.
'I was once very badly bitten as a boy, and somehow or other I've never managed to like dogs since.
But I daresay your Tim will take to me sooner or later.'
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They all got into the trap. It was a tight squeeze. Timothy looked at Mr. Roland's ankles as if hewould rather like to nibble11 them. Anne laughed.
'Tim is behaving queerly!' she said. 'It's a good thing you haven't come to teach him, Mr.
Roland!' She smiled up at the tutor, and he smiled back, showing very white teeth. His eyes were asbrilliant a blue as George's.
Anne liked him. He joked with the boys as they drove him, and both of them began to feel that theirUncle Quentin hadn't made such a bad choice after all.
Only George said nothing. She sensed that the tutor disliked Timothy, and George was not preparedto like anyone who didn't take to Timothy at first sight. She thought it was very queer too, that Timwould not shake paws with the tutor. 'He's a clever dog,' she thought. 'He knows Mr. Roland doesn'tlike him, so he won't shake hands. I don't blame you, Tim darling. I wouldn't shake hands withanyone who didn't like me!'
Mr. Roland was shown up to his room when he arrived. Aunt Fanny came down and spoke9 to thechildren. 'Well! He seems very nice and jolly - though it's funny to see a youngish man with a beard.'
'Youngish!' exclaimed Julian. 'Why, he's awfully12 old! Must be forty at the very least!'
Aunt Fanny laughed. 'Does he seem so old to you?' she said. 'Well, old or not, he'll be quite nice toyou, I'm sure.'
'Aunt Fanny, we shan't begin lessons until after Christmas, shall we?' asked Julian, anxiously.
'Of course you will!' said his aunt. 'It is almost a week till Christmas - you don't suppose we haveasked Mr. Roland to come and do nothing till Christmas is over, do you?'
The children groaned13. 'We wanted to do some Christmas shopping,' said Anne.
'Well, you can do that in the afternoons,' said her aunt. 'You will only do lessons in the morning, forthree hours. That won't hurt any of you!'
The new tutor came downstairs at that moment, and Aunt Fanny took him to see Uncle Quentin.
She came out after a while, looking very pleased.
'Mr. Roland will be nice company for your uncle,' she said to Julian. 'I think they will get on verywell together. Mr. Roland seems to understand quite a bit about your uncle's work.'
'Let's hope he spends most of his time with him then!' said George, in a low voice.
'Come on out for a walk,' said Dick. 'It's so fine today. We shan't have lessons this morning, shall we,Aunt Fanny?'
15
'Oh, no,' said his aunt. 'You'll begin tomorrow. Go for a walk now, all of you - we shan't often getsunny days like this!'
'Let's go over to Kirrin Farm,' said Julian. 'It looks such a nice place. Show us the way, George.'
'Right!' said George. She whistled to Timothy, and he came bounding up. The five of them set offtogether, going down the lane, and then on to a rough road over the common that led to the farm onthe distant hill.
It was lovely walking in the December sun. Their feet rang on the frosty path, and Tim's blunt clawsmade quite a noise as he pattered up and down, overjoyed at being with his four friends again.
After a good long walk across the common the children came to the farm-house. It was built of whitestone, and stood strong and lovely on the hillside. George opened the farm-gate and went into thefarm-yard. She kept her hand on Tim's collar for there were two farm-dogs somewhere about.
Someone clattered14 round the barn near by. It was an old man, and George hailed him loudly.
'Hallo, Mr. Sanders! How are you?'
'Why, if it isn't Master George!' said the old fellow with a grin. George grinned too. She loved beingcalled Master instead of Miss.
'These are my cousins,' shouted George. She turned to the others. 'He's deaf,' she said. 'You'll have toshout to make him hear.'
I’m Julian,' said Julian in a loud voice and the others said their names too. The farmer beamed atthem.
'You come along in and see the Missis,' he said. 'She'll be rare pleased to see you all. We've knownMaster George since she was a baby, and we knew her mother when she was a baby too, and weknew her granny as well.'
'You must be very, very old,' said Anne.
The farmer smiled down at her.
'As old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth!' he said, chuckling15. 'Come away in now.'
They all went into the big, warm farm-house kitchen, where a little old woman, as lively as a bantamhen, was bustling16 about. She was just as pleased to see the four children as her husband was.
16
'Well, there now!' she said. 'I haven't seen you for months, Master George. I did hear that you'd goneaway to school.'
'Yes, I did,' said George. 'But I'm home for the holidays now. Does it matter if I let Timothy loose,Mrs. Sanders? I think he'll be friendly if your dogs are, too.'
'Yes, you let him loose,' said the old lady. 'He'll have a fine time in the farm-yard with Ben andRikky. Now what would you like to drink? Hot milk? Cocoa? Coffee? And I've some new shortbreadbaked yesterday. You shall have some of that.'
'Ah, the wife's very busy this week, cooking up all sorts of things,' said the old farmer, as his wifebustled off to the larder18. 'We've company this Christmas!'
'Have you?' said George, surprised, for she knew that the old pair had never had any children of theirown. 'Who is coming? Anyone I know?'
'Two artists from London Town!' said the old farmer. 'Wrote and asked us to take them for threeweeks over Christmas - and offered us good money too. So the old wife's as busy as a bee.'
'Are they going to paint pictures?' asked Julian, who rather fancied himself as an artist, too. 'I wonderif I could come and talk to them some day. I'm rather good at pictures myself. They might give me afew hints.'
'You come along whenever you like,' said old Mrs. Sanders, making cocoa in a big jug19. She set out aplate of most delicious-looking shortbreads, and the children ate them hungrily.
'I should think the two artists will be rather lonely down here, in the depths of the country atChristmas time,' said George. 'Do they know anyone?'
'They say they don't know a soul,' said Mrs. Sanders. 'But there - artists are queer folk. I've had somehere before. They seemed to like mooning about all alone. These two will be happy enough, I'll bebound.'
'They should be, with all the good things you're cooking up for them,' said her old husband.
'Well, I must be out after the sheep. Good-day to you, youngsters. Come again and see us sometimes.'
He went out. Old Mrs. Sanders chattered20 on to the children as she bustled17 about the big kitchen.
Timothy ran in and settled down on the rug by the fire.
He suddenly saw a tabby cat slinking along by the wall, all her hairs on end with fear of the strangedog. He gave a delighted wuff and sprang at the cat. She fled out of the kitchen into the old panelledhall. Tim flew after her, taking no notice at all of George's stern shout.
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The cat tried to leap on top of an old grandfather clock in the hall. With a joyous21 bark Tim sprangtoo. He flung himself against a polished panel - and then a most extraordinary thing happened!
The panel disappeared - and a dark hole showed in the old wall! George, who had followed Tim outinto the hall, gave a loud cry of surprise. 'Look! Mrs. Sanders, come and look!'
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1
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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nibble
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| n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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