Chapter Eleven STOLEN PAPERS

Chapter Eleven STOLEN PAPERS
　　'GEORGE, don't behave fiercely today, will you?' said Julian, after breakfast. 'It won't do you orTimothy any good at all.'
　　'Do you suppose I'm going to behave well when I know perfectly¹ well that Mr. Roland will never letme have Tim indoors all these holidays?' said George.
　　'Well - they said a week,' said Dick. 'Can't you try for a week?'
　　'No. At the end of a week Mr. Roland will say I must try for another week,' said George. 'He's got areal dislike for poor Tim. And for me too. I'm not surprised at that, because I know that when I try tobe horrid², I really am horrid. But he shouldn't hate poor Timmy.'
　　'Oh George - you'll spoil the whole holls if you are silly, and keep getting into trouble,' said Anne.
　　'Well, I'll spoil them then,' said George, the sulky look coming back on her face.
　　'I don't see why you have to spoil them for us, as well as for yourself,' said Julian.
　　'They don't need to be spoilt for you,' said George. 'You can have all the fun you want - go for walkswith your dear Mr. Roland, play games with him in the evening, and laugh and talk as much as youlike. You don't need to take any notice of me.'
　　'You are a funny girl, George,' said Julian, with a sigh. 'We like you, and we hate you to be unhappy -so how can we have fun if we know you are miserable³ - and Timmy too?'
　　'Don't worry about me' said George, in rather a choky voice. I’m going out to Tim. I'm not coming into lessons today.'
　　'George! But you must!' said Dick and Julian together.
　　'There's no "must" about it,' said George. I’m just not coming. I won't work with Mr. Roland till hesays I can have Timothy indoors again.'
　　'But you know you can't do things like that - you'll be spanked⁴ or something,' said Dick.
　　'I shall run away if things get too bad,' said George, in a shaky voice. 'I shall run away with Tim.'
　　She went out of the room and shut the door with a bang. The others stared after her. What could youdo with a person like George? Anyone could rule her with kindness and understanding - but as soonas she came up against anyone who disliked her, or whom she disliked, she shied away like afrightened horse - and kicked like a frightened horse, too!
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　　Mr. Roland came into the sitting-room⁵, his books in his hand. He smiled at the three children.
　　'Well? All ready for me, I see. Where's George?'
　　Nobody answered. Nobody was going to give George away!
　　'Don't you know where she is?' asked Mr. Roland in surprise. He looked at Julian.
　　'No, sir,' said Julian, truthfully. 'I've no idea where she is.'
　　'Well - perhaps she will come along in a few minutes,' said Mr. Roland. 'Gone to feed that dog ofhers, I suppose.'
　　They all settled down to work. The time went on and George did not come in. Mr. Roland glanced atthe clock and made an impatient clicking noise with his tongue.
　　'Really, it's too bad of George to be so late! Anne, go and see if you can find her.'
　　Anne went. She looked in the bedroom. There was no George there. She looked in the kitchen.
　　Joanna was there, making cakes. She gave the little girl a hot piece to eat. She had no idea whereGeorge was.
　　Anne couldn't find her anywhere. She went back and told Mr. Roland. He looked angry.
　　'I shall have to report this to her father,' he said. 'I have never had to deal with such a rebellious⁶ childbefore. She seems to do everything she possibly can to get herself into trouble.'
　　Lessons went on. Break came, and still George did not appear. Julian slipped out and saw that theyard-kennel was empty. So George had gone out with Timmy! What a row she would get into whenshe got back!
　　No sooner had the children settled down after Break to do the rest of the morning's lessons, than a bigdisturbance came.
　　Uncle Quentin burst into the room, looking upset and worried.
　　'Have any of you children been into my study?' he asked.
　　'No, Uncle Quentin,' they all answered.
　　'You said we weren't to,' said Julian.
　　'Why, sir? Has something been broken?' asked Mr. Roland.
　　'Yes - the test-tubes I set yesterday for an experiment have been broken - and what is worse, threemost important pages of my book have gone,' said Uncle Quentin. 'I can write them out again, butonly after a great deal of work. I can't understand it. Are you sure, children, that none of you has beenmeddling with things in my study?'
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　　'Quite sure,' they answered. Anne went very red - she suddenly remembered what George had toldher. George said she had taken Timmy into Uncle Quentin's study last night, and rubbed his chestwith oil! But George couldn't possibly have broken the test-tubes, and taken pages from her father'sbook!
　　Mr. Roland noticed that Anne had gone red.
　　'Do you know anything about this, Anne?' he asked.
　　'No, Mr. Roland,' said Anne, blushing even redder, and looking very uncomfortable indeed.
　　'Where's George?' suddenly said Uncle Quentin.
　　The children said nothing, and it was Mr. Roland who answered:
　　'We don't know. She didn't come to lessons this morning.'
　　'Didn't come to lessons! Why not?' demanded Uncle Quentin, beginning to frown.
　　'She didn't say,' said Mr. Roland dryly. 'I imagine she was upset because we were firm about Timothylast night, sir - and this is her way of being defiant⁷.'
　　'The naughty girl!' said George's father, angrily. 'I don't know what's come over her lately.
　　Fanny! Come here! Did you know that George hasn't been in to her lessons today?'
　　Aunt Fanny came into the room. She looked very worried. She held a little bottle in her hand.
　　The children wondered what it was.
　　'Didn't come in to lessons!' repeated Aunt Fanny. 'How extraordinary! Then where is she?'
　　'I don't think you need to worry about her,' said Mr. Roland, smoothly⁸. 'She's probably gone off withTimothy in a fit of temper. What is very much more important, sir, is the fact that your work appearsto have been spoilt by someone. I only hope it is not George, who has been spiteful enough to payyou out for not allowing her to have her dog in the house.'
　　'Of course it wasn't George!' cried Dick, angry that anyone should even think such a thing of hiscousin.
　　'George would never, never do a thing like that,' said Julian.
　　'No, she never would,' said Anne, sticking up valiantly⁹ for her cousin, although a horrid doubt was inher mind. After all - George had been in the study last night!
　　'Quentin, I am sure George would not even think of such a thing,' said Aunt Fanny. 'You will findthose pages somewhere - and as for the test-tubes that were broken, well, perhaps the wind blew thecurtain against them, or something! When did you last see those pages?'
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　　'Last night,' said Uncle Quentin. 'I read them over again, and checked my figures to make sure theywere right. These pages contain the very heart of my formula! If they got into anyone else's hands,they could use my secret. This is a terrible thing for me! I must know what has happened to them.'
　　'I found this in your study, Quentin,' said Aunt Fanny, and she held up the little bottle she carried.
　　'Did you put it there? It was in the fender.'
　　Uncle Quentin took the bottle and stared at it. 'Camphorated oil!' he said. 'Of course I didn't take itthere. Why should I?'
　　'Well - who took it there, then?' asked Aunt Fanny, puzzled. 'None of the children has a cold -and anyway, they wouldn't think of the camphorated oil, and take it into the study to use! It's mostextraordinary!'
　　Everyone was astonished. Why should a bottle of camphorated oil appear in the study fender?
　　Only one person could think why. It suddenly came into Anne's mind in a flash. George had said shehad taken Timmy into the study, and rubbed him with oil! He had had a cough, that was why.
　　And she had left the oil in the study. Oh dear, oh dear - now what would happen? What a pity Georgehad forgotten the oil!
　　Anne went very red again as she looked at the oil. Mr. Roland, whose eyes seemed very sharp thismorning, looked hard at the little girl.
　　'Anne! You know something about that oil!' he said suddenly. 'What do you know? Did you put itthere?'
　　'No,' said Anne. 'I haven't been into the study. I said I hadn't.'
　　'Do you know anything about the oil?' said Mr. Roland, again. 'You do know something.'
　　Everyone stared at Anne. She stared back. This was simply dreadful. She could not give Georgeaway. She could not. George was in quite enough trouble as it was, without getting into any more.
　　She pursed up her little mouth and did not answer.
　　'Anne!' said Mr. Roland, sternly. 'Answer when you are spoken to.'
　　Anne said nothing. The two boys stared at her, guessing that it was something to do with George.
　　They did not know that George had brought Timothy in the night before.
　　'Anne, dear,' said her aunt, gently. 'Tell us if you know something. It might help us to find out whathas happened to Uncle Quentin's papers. It is very, very, important.'
　　Still Anne said nothing. Her eyes filled with tears. Julian squeezed her arm.
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　　'Don't bother Anne,' he said to the grown-ups. 'If she thinks she can't tell you, she's got some verygood reason.'
　　'I think she's shielding George,' said Mr. Roland. 'Is that it, Anne?'
　　Anne burst into tears. Julian put his arms round his little sister, and spoke¹⁰ again to the three grown-ups.
　　'Don't bother Anne! Can't you see she's upset?'
　　'We'll let George speak for herself, when she thinks she will come in,' said Mr. Roland. 'I'm sure sheknows how that bottle got there - and if she put it there herself must have been into the study- and she's the only person that has been there.'
　　The boys could not think for one moment that George would do such a thing as spoil her father'swork. Anne feared it, and it upset her. She sobbed¹¹ in Julian's arms.
　　'When George comes in, send her to me in my study,' said Uncle Quentin, irritably¹². 'How can a manwork when these upsets go on? I was always against having children in the house.'
　　He stamped out, tall, cross and frowning. The children were glad to see him go. Mr. Roland shut thebooks on the table with a snap.
　　'We can't do any more lessons this morning,' he said. Put on your things and go out for a walk tilldinner-time.'
　　'Yes, do,' said Aunt Fanny, looking white and worried. 'That's a good idea.'
　　Mr. Roland and their aunt went out of the room. 'I don't know if Mr. Roland thinks he's coming outwith us,' said Julian, in a low voice, 'but we've got to get out first and give him the slip.
　　We've got to find George and warn her what's up.'
　　'Right!' said Dick. 'Dry your eyes, Anne darling. Hurry and get your things. We'll slip out of thegarden door before Mr. Roland comes down. I bet George has gone for her favourite walk over thecliffs. We'll meet her!' The three children threw on their outdoor things and crept out of the gardendoor quietly. They raced down the garden path, and out of the gate before Mr. Roland even knewthey were gone! They made their way to the cliffs, and looked to see if George was coming.
　　'There she is - and Timothy, too!' cried Julian, pointing. 'George! George! Quick, we've gotsomething to tell you!'

1 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。

2 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。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 spanked   

v.用手掌打( spank的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We spanked along in his new car. 我们坐在他的新车里兜风。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse spanked the naughty child. 保育员打了一下那个淘气的孩子的屁股。 来自辞典例句

5 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

6 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

7 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

8 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

9 valiantly   

adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳

参考例句：

• He faced the enemy valiantly, shuned no difficulties and dangers and would not hesitate to lay down his life if need be. 他英勇对敌，不避艰险，赴汤蹈火在所不计。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Murcertach strove valiantly to meet the new order of things. 面对这个新事态，默克塔克英勇奋斗。 来自辞典例句

10 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。

11 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

12 irritably   

ad.易生气地

参考例句：

• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。
• On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事，他妻子大声斥责，令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹