Chapter Sixteen THE CHILDREN ARE DISCOVERED

Chapter Sixteen THE CHILDREN ARE DISCOVERED
　　'WHAT shall we do?' whispered George. They had all tiptoed to the first room, and were standingtogether, listening.
　　'We'd better go down the Secret Way again,' said Julian.
　　'Oh no, we ...' began George, when she heard the handle of the door being turned. Whoever wastrying to get in, could not open the door. There was an angry exclamation², and then the childrenheard Mr. Wilton's voice. "Thomas! My door seems to have stuck. Do you mind if I come throughyour bedroom and see what's the matter with this handle?'
　　'Come right along!' came the voice of Mr. Thomas. There was the sound of footsteps going to theouter door of the second room. Then there was the noise of a handle being turned and shaken.
　　'What's this!' said Mr. Wilton, in exasperation³. 'This won't open, either. Can the doors be locked?'
　　'It looks like it!' said Mr. Thomas.
　　There was a pause. Then the children distinctly heard a few words uttered in a low voice. 'Are thepapers safe? Is anyone after them?'
　　'They're in your room, aren't they?' said Mr. Thomas. There was another pause. The children lookedat one another. So the men had got the papers - and what was more, they were in the room! The veryroom the children stood in! They looked round it eagerly, racking their brains to think of some placethey had not yet explored.
　　'Quick! Hunt round again whilst we've time,’ whispered Julian. 'Don't make a noise.'
　　On tiptoe the children began a thorough hunt once more. How they searched! They even opened thepages of the books on the table, thinking that the papers might have been slipped in there. But theycould find nothing.
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　　'Hi, Mrs. Sanders!' came Mr. Wilton's voice. 'Have you by any chance locked these two doors?
　　We can't get in!'
　　'Dear me!' said the voice of Mrs. Sanders from the stairs. 'I'll come along and see. I certainly haven'tlocked any doors!'
　　Once again the handles were turned, but the doors would not open. The men began to get veryimpatient.
　　'Do you suppose anyone is in our rooms?' Mr. Wilton asked Mrs. Sanders.
　　She laughed.
　　'Well now, sir, who would be in your rooms? There's only me and Mr. Sanders in the house, and youknow as well as I do that no one can come in from outside, for we're quite snowed up. I don'tunderstand it - the locks of the doors must have slipped.'
　　Anne was lifting up the wash-stand jug⁴ to look underneath⁵, at that moment. It was heavier than shethought, and she had to let it down again suddenly. It struck the marble wash-stand with a crash, andwater slopped out all over the place!
　　Everyone outside the door heard the noise. Mr. Wilton banged on the door and rattled⁶ the handle.
　　'Who's there? Let us in or you'll be sorry! What are you doing in there?'
　　'Idiot, Anne!' said Dick. 'Now they'll break the door down!'
　　That was exactly what the two men intended to do! Afraid that someone was mysteriously in theirroom, trying to find the stolen papers, they went quite mad, and began to put their shoulders to thedoor, and heave hard. The door shook and creaked.
　　'Now you be careful what you're doing!' cried the indignant voice of Mrs. Sanders. The men took nonotice. There came a crash as they both tried out their double strength on the door.
　　'Quick! We must go!' said Julian. 'We mustn't let the men know how we got here, or we shan't be ableto come and hunt another time. Anne, George, Dick - get back to the cupboard quickly!'
　　The children raced for the clothes cupboard. I’ll go first and help you down,' said Julian. He got outon to the narrow ledge⁷ and found the iron foot-holds with his feet. Down he went, torch held betweenhis teeth as usual.
　　'Anne, come next,' he called, 'And Dick, you come third, and give a hand to Anne if she wants it.
　　George is a good climber - she can easily get down herself.'
　　Anne was slow at climbing down. She was terribly excited, rather frightened, and so afraid of fallingthat she hardly dared to feel for each iron staple⁸ as she went down.
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　　'Buck up, Anne!' whispered Dick, above her. 'The men have almost got the door down!'
　　There were tremendous sounds coming from the bedroom door. At any moment now it might breakdown⁹, and the men would come racing¹⁰ in. Dick was thankful when he could begin to climb down thewall! Once they were all out, George could shut the big oak door, and they would be safe.
　　George was hidden among the clothes in the cupboard, waiting her turn to climb down. As she stoodthere, trying in vain to go over any likely hiding-place in her mind, her hands felt something rustly inthe pocket of a coat, she was standing¹ against. It was a mackintosh coat, with big pockets. The littlegirl's heart gave a leap.
　　Suppose the papers had been left in the pocket of the coat the man had on when he took them fromMr. Roland? That was the only place the children had not searched - the pockets of the coats in thecupboard! With trembling fingers the girl felt in the pocket where the rustling¹¹ was.
　　She drew out a sheaf of papers. It was dark in the cupboard, and she could not see if they were theones she was hunting for, or not - but how she hoped they were! She stuffed them up the front of herjersey, for she had no big pocket, and whispered to Dick:
　　'Can I come now?'
　　CRASH! The door fell in with a terrific noise, and the two men leapt into the room. They lookedround. It was empty! But there was the water spilt on the wash-stand and on the floor. Someone mustbe there somewhere!
　　'Look in the cupboard!' said Mr. Thomas.
　　George crept out of the clothes and on to the narrow ledge, beyond the place where the false back ofthe cupboard used to be. It was still hidden sideways in the wall. The girl climbed down the hole afew steps and then shut the oak door which was now above her head. She had not enough strength toclose it completely, but she hoped that now she was safe!
　　The men went to the cupboard and felt about in the clothes for anyone who might possibly be hidingthere. Mr. Wilton gave a loud cry.
　　'The papers are gone! They were in this pocket! There's not a sign of them. Quick, Thomas, we mustfind the thief and get them back!'
　　The men did not notice that the cupboard seemed to go farther back than usual. They stepped awayfrom it now that they were sure no one was there, and began to hunt round the room.
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　　By now all the children except George were at the bottom of the hole, standing in the Secret Way,waiting impatiently for George to come down. Poor George was in such a hurry to get down that shecaught her skirt on one of the staples¹², and had to stand in a very dangerous position trying todisentangle it.
　　'Come on, George, for goodness sake!' said Julian.
　　Timothy jumped up at the wall. He could feel the fear and excitement of the waiting children, and itupset him. He wanted George. Why didn't she come? Why was she up that dark hole? Tim wasunhappy about her.
　　He threw back his head and gave such a loud and mournful howl that all the children jumpedviolently.
　　'Shut up, Tim!' said Julian.
　　Tim howled again, and the weird¹³ sound echoed round and about in a queer manner. Anne wasterrified, and she began to cry. Timothy howled again and again. Once he began to howl it wasdifficult to stop him.
　　The men in the bedroom above heard the extraordinary noise, and stopped in amazement¹⁴.
　　'Whatever's that ?' said one.
　　'Sounds like a dog howling in the depths of the earth,’ said the other.
　　Funny!' said Mr. Wilton. 'It seems to be coming from the direction of that cupboard.'
　　He went over to it and opened the door. Tim chose that moment to give a specially¹⁵ mournful howl,and Mr. Wilton jumped. He got into the cupboard and felt about at the back. The oak door there gaveway beneath his hand, and he felt it open.
　　'Thomas! There's something queer here,' called Mr. Wilton. 'Bring my torch off the table.'
　　Tim howled again and the noise made Mr. Wilton shiver! Tim had a peculiarly horrible howl. It cameechoing up the hole, and burst out into the cupboard.
　　Mr. Thomas got the torch. The men shone it at the back of the cupboard, and gave an exclamation.
　　'Look at that! There's a door here! Where does it lead to?'
　　Mrs. Sanders, who had been watching everything in surprise and indignation, angry that her doorshould have been broken down, came up to the cupboard.
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　　'My!' she said. 'I knew there was a false back to that cupboard - but I didn't know there was anotherdoor behind it too! That must be the entrance to the Secret Way that people used in the old days.'
　　'Where does it lead to?' rapped out Mr. Wilton.
　　'Goodness knows!' said Mrs. Sanders. 'I never took much interest in such things.'
　　'Come on, Thomas - we must go down,' said Mr. Wilton, shining his torch into the square black hole,and seeing the iron foot-holds set in the stone. 'This is where the thief went. He can't have got far.
　　We'll go after him. We've got to get those papers back!'
　　It was not long before the two men had swung themselves over the narrow ledge and down into thehole, feeling with their feet for the iron staples. Down they went and down, wondering where theywere coming to. There was no sound below them. Clearly the thief had got away!
　　George had got down at last. Tim almost knocked her over in his joy. She put her hand on his head.
　　'You old silly!' she said. 'I believe you've given our secret away! Quick, Ju - we must go, becausethose men will be after us in a minute. They could easily hear Tim's howling!'
　　Julian took Anne's hand. 'Come along, Anne,' he said. 'You must run as fast as you can. Hurry now!
　　Dick, keep with George.'
　　The four of them hurried down the dark, narrow passage. What a long way they had to go home!
　　If only the passage wasn't such a long one! The children's hearts were beating painfully as they madehaste, stumbling as they went.
　　Julian shone his light steadily¹⁶ in front of him, and Dick shone his at the back. Half-leading half-dragging Anne, Julian hurried along. Behind them they heard a shout.
　　'Look! There's a light ahead! That's the thief! Come on, we'll soon get him!'

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

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 exasperation   

n.愤慨

参考例句：

• He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
• She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。

4 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

5 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

6 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

7 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

8 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

9 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

10 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

11 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

12 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

13 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

14 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

15 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

16 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。