Chapter Fourteen THE SECRET WAY AT LAST!

Chapter Fourteen THE SECRET WAY AT LAST!
　　THE four children crept downstairs through the dark and silent night. Nobody made a sound at all.
　　They made their way to the study. George softly closed the door and then switched on the light.
　　The children stared at the eight panels over the mantelpiece. Yes - there were exactly eight, four inone row and four in the row above. Julian spread the linen¹ roll out on the table, and the childrenpored over it.
　　'The cross is in the middle of the second panel in the top row,' said Julian, in a low voice. I’ll trypressing it. Watch, all of you!'
　　He went to the fireplace. The others followed him, their hearts beating fast with excitement.
　　Julian stood on tiptoe and began to press hard in the middle of the second panel. Nothing happened.
　　'Press harder! Tap it!' said Dick.
　　'I daren't make too much noise,' said Julian, feeling all over the panel to see if there was anyroughness that might tell of a hidden spring or lever.
　　Suddenly, under his hands, the panel slid silently back, just as the one had done at Kirrin Farmhousein the hall! The children stared at the space behind, thrilled.
　　'It's not big enough to get into,' said George. 'It can't be the entrance to the Secret Way.'
　　Julian got out his torch from his dressing-gown pocket. He put it inside the opening, and gave a lowexclamation.
　　74
　　'There's a sort of handle here - with strong wire or something attached to it. I'll pull it and see whathappens.'
　　He pulled - but he was not strong enough to move the handle that seemed to be embedded³ in the wall.
　　Dick put his hand in and the two boys then pulled together.
　　'It's moving - it's giving way a bit,' panted Julian. 'Go on, Dick, pull hard!'
　　The handle suddenly came away from the wall, and behind it came thick wire, rusty⁴ and old. At thesame time a curious grating noise came from below the hearthrug in front of the fireplace, and Annealmost fell.
　　'Julian! Something is moving under the rug!' she said, frightened. 'I felt it. Under the rug, quick!'
　　The handle could not be pulled out any farther. The boys let go, and looked down. To the right of thefireplace, under the rug, something had moved. There was no doubt of that. The rug sagged⁵ downinstead of being flat and straight.
　　'A stone has moved in the floor,' said Julian, his voice shaking with excitement. 'This handle works alever, which is attached to this wire. Quick - pull up the rug, and roll back the carpet.'
　　With trembling hands the children pulled back the rug and the carpet - and then stood staring at avery strange thing. A big flat stone laid in the floor had slipped downwards⁶, pulled in some mannerby the wire attached to the handle hidden behind the panel! There was now a black space where thestone had been.
　　'Look at that!' said George, in a thrilling whisper. 'The entrance to the Secret Way!'
　　'It's here after all!' said Julian.
　　'Let's go down!' said Dick.
　　'No!' said Anne, shivering at the thought of disappearing into the black hole.
　　Julian flashed his torch into the black space. The stone had slid down and then sideways. Below wasa space just big enough to take a man, bending down.
　　'I expect there's a passage or something leading from here, under the house, and out,' said Julian.
　　'Golly, I wonder where it leads to?'
　　'We simply must find out,' said George.
　　'Not now,' said Dick. 'It's dark and cold. I don't fancy going along the Secret Way at midnight. I don'tmind just hopping⁷ down to see what it's like - but don't let's go along any passage till tomorrow.'
　　'Uncle Quentin will be working here tomorrow,' said Julian.
　　75
　　'He said he was going to sweep the snow away from the front door in the morning,' said George.
　　'We could slip into the study then. It's Saturday. There may be no lessons.'
　　'All right,' said Julian, who badly wanted to explore everything then and there. 'But for goodness sakelet's have a look and see if there is a passage down there. At present all we can see is a hole!'
　　I’ll help you down,' said Dick. So he gave his brother a hand and the boy dropped lightly down intothe black space, holding his torch. He gave a loud exclamation².
　　'It's the entrance to the Secret Way all right! There's a passage leading from here under the house- awfully⁸ low and narrow - but I can see it's a passage. I do wonder where it leads to!'
　　He shivered. It was cold and damp down there. 'Give me a hand up, Dick,' he said. He was soon outof the hole and in the warm study again.
　　The children looked at one another in the greatest joy and excitement. This was an Adventure, a realAdventure. It was a pity they couldn't go on with it now.
　　'We'll try and take Timmy with us tomorrow,' said George. 'Oh, I say - how are we going to shut theentrance up?’
　　'We can't leave the rug and carpet sagging⁹ over that hole,' said Dick. 'Nor can we leave the panelopen.'
　　'We'll see if we can get the stone back,' said Julian. He stood on tiptoe and felt about inside the panel.
　　His hand closed on a kind of knob, set deep in a stone. He pulled it, and at once the handle slid back,pulled by the wire. At the same time the sunk stone glided¹⁰ to the surface of the floor again, making aslight grating sound as it did so.
　　'Well, it's like magic!' said Dick. 'It really is! Fancy the mechanism¹¹ working so smoothly¹² after yearsof not being used. This is the most exciting thing I've ever seen!'
　　There was a noise in the bedroom above. The children stood still and listened.
　　'It's Mr. Roland!' whispered Dick. 'He's heard us. Quick, slip upstairs before he comes down.'
　　They switched out the light and opened the study door softly. Up the stairs they fled, as quietly asIndians, their hearts thumping¹³ so loudly that it seemed as if everyone in the house must hear the beat.
　　The girls got safely to their rooms and Dick was able to slip into his. But Julian was seen by Mr.
　　Roland as he came out of his room with a torch.
　　76
　　'What are you doing, Julian?' asked the tutor, in surprise. 'Did you hear a noise downstairs? I thoughtI did.'
　　'Yes - I heard quite a lot of noise downstairs,' said Julian, truthfully. 'But perhaps it's snow falling offthe roof, landing with a plop on the ground, sir. Do you think that's it?'
　　'I don't know,' said the tutor doubtfully. 'We'll go down and see.'
　　They went down, but of course, there was nothing to be seen. Julian was glad they had been able toshut the panel and make the stone come back to its proper place again. Mr. Roland was the very lastperson he wanted to tell his secret to.
　　They went upstairs and Julian slipped into his room. 'Is it all right?' whispered Dick.
　　'Yes,' said Julian. 'Don't let's talk. Mr. Roland's awake, and I don't want him to suspect anything.'
　　The boys fell asleep. When they awoke in the morning, there was a completely white world outside.
　　Snow covered everything and covered it deeply. Timothy's kennel¹⁴ could not be seen!
　　But there were footmarks round about it.
　　George gave a squeal¹⁵ when she saw how deep the snow was. 'Poor Timothy! I'm going to get him in.
　　I don't care what anyone says! I won't let him be buried in the snow!'
　　She dressed and tore downstairs. She went out to the kennel, floundering knee deep in the snow.
　　But there was no Timmy there!
　　A loud bark from the kitchen made her jump. Joanna the cook knocked on the kitchen window.
　　'It's all right! I couldn't bear the dog out there in the snow, so I fetched him in, poor thing. Yourmother says I can have him in the kitchen but you're not to come and see him.'
　　'Oh, good - Timmy's in the warmth!' said George, gladly. She yelled to Joanna, 'Thanks awfully!
　　You are kind!'
　　She went indoors and told the others. They were very glad. 'And I've got a bit of news for you'
　　said Dick. 'Mr. Roland is in bed with a bad cold, so there are to be no lessons today. Cheers!'
　　'Golly, that is good news,' said George, cheering up tremendously. 'Timmy in the warm kitchen andMr. Roland kept in bed. I do feel pleased!'
　　'We shall be able to explore the Secret Way safely now,' said Julian. 'Aunt Fanny is going to dosomething in the kitchen this morning with Joanna, and Uncle is going to tackle the snow. I vote wesay we'll do lessons by ourselves in the sitting-room¹⁶, and then, when everything is safe, we'll explorethe Secret Way!'
　　'But why must we do lessons?' asked George in dismay.
　　77
　　'Because if we don't, silly, we'll have to help your father dig away the snow,' said Julian.
　　So, to his uncle's surprise, Julian suggested that the four children should do lessons by themselves inthe sitting-room. 'Well, I thought you'd like to come and help dig away the snow,'
　　said Uncle Quentin. 'But perhaps you had better get on with your work.'
　　The children sat themselves down as good as gold in the sitting-room, their books before them.
　　They heard Mr. Roland coughing in his room. They heard their aunt go into the kitchen and talk toJoanna. They heard Timmy scratching at the kitchen door - then paws pattering down the passage -then a big, inquiring nose came round the door, and there was old Timmy, looking anxiously for hisbeloved mistress!
　　'Timmy!' squealed¹⁷ George, and ran to him. She flung her arms round his neck and hugged him.
　　'You act as if you hadn't seen Tim for a year,' said Julian.
　　'It seems like a year,' said George. 'I say, there's my father digging away like mad. Can't we go to thestudy now? We ought to be safe for a good while.'
　　They left the sitting-room and went to the study. Julian was soon pulling the handle behind the secretpanel. George had already turned back the rug and the carpet. The stone slid downward andsideways. The Secret Way was open!
　　'Come on!' said Julian. 'Hurry!'
　　He jumped down into the hole. Dick followed, then Anne, then George. Julian pushed them all intothe narrow, low passage. Then he looked up. Perhaps he had better pull the carpet and rug over thehole, in case anyone came into the room and looked around. It took him a few seconds to do it. Thenhe bent¹⁸ down and joined the others in the passage. They were going to explore the Secret Way at last!

1 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

2 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

5 sagged   

下垂的

参考例句：

• The black reticule sagged under the weight of shapeless objects. 黑色的拎包由于装了各种形状的东西而中间下陷。
• He sagged wearily back in his chair. 他疲倦地瘫坐到椅子上。

6 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。

7 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

8 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。

9 sagging   

下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
• We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

10 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

12 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。

13 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 kennel   

n.狗舍，狗窝

参考例句：

• Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
• Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

15 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

16 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。

17 squealed   

v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squealed the words out. 他吼叫着说出那些话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The brakes of the car squealed. 汽车的刹车发出吱吱声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。