'HURRY, Anne, do hurry!' shouted Dick, who was just behind.
Poor Anne was finding it very difficult to get along quickly. Pulled by Julian and pushed by Dick, shealmost fell two or three times. Her breath came in loud pants, and she felt as if she would burst.
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'Let me have a rest!' she panted. But there was no time for that, with the two men hurrying afterthem! They came to the piece that was widened out, where the rocky bench was, and Anne lookedlongingly at it. But the boys hurried her on.
Suddenly the little girl caught her foot on a stone and fell heavily, almost dragging Julian down withher. She tried to get up, and began to cry.
'I've hurt my foot! I've twisted it! Oh, Julian, it hurts me to walk.'
'Well, you've just got to come along, darling,' said Julian, sorry for his little sister, but knowing thatthey would all be caught if he was not firm. 'Hurry as much as you can.'
But now it was impossible for Anne to go fast. She cried with pain as her foot hurt her, and hobbledalong so slowly that Dick almost fell over her. Dick cast a look behind him and saw the light of themen's torches coming nearer and nearer. Whatever were they to do?
'I'll stay here with Tim and keep them off,' said George, suddenly. 'Here, take these papers, Dick!
I believe they're the ones we want, but I'm not sure till we get a good light to see them. I found themin a pocket of one of the coats in the cupboard.'
'Golly!' said Dick, surprised. He took the sheaf of papers and stuffed them up his jersey2, just asGeorge had stuffed them up hers. They were too big to go into his trousers pockets. 'I'll stay with you,George, and let the other two go on ahead.'
'No. I want the papers taken to safety, in case they are my father's,' said George. 'Go on, Dick! I'll beall right here with Tim. I shall stay here just where the passage curves round this rocky bit. I'll makeTim bark like mad.'
'Suppose the men have got revolvers?' said Dick, doubtfully. 'They might shoot him.'
'I bet they haven't,' said George. 'Do go, Dick! The men are almost here. There's the light of theirtorch.'
Dick sped after the stumbling Anne. He told Julian what George had suggested. 'Good for George!'
said Julian. 'She really is marvellous - not afraid of anything! She will keep the men off till I get poorold Anne back.'
George was crouching3 behind the rocky bit, her hand on Tim's collar, waiting. 'Now, Tim!' shewhispered. 'Bark your loudest. Now!'
Timothy had been growling4 up till now, but at George's command he opened his big mouth andbarked. How he barked! He had a simply enormous voice, and the barks went echoing all down 90the dark and narrow passage. The hurrying men, who were near the rocky piece of the passage,stopped.
'If you come round this bend, I'll set my dog on you!' cried George.
'It's a child shouting,' said one man to another. 'Only a child! Come on!'
Timothy barked again, and pulled at his collar, He was longing1 to get at the men. The light of theirtorch shone round the bend. George let Tim go, and the big dog sprang joyfully5 round the curve tomeet his enemies.
They suddenly saw him by the light of their torch, and he was a very terrifying sight! To begin with,he was a big dog, and now that he was angry all the hairs on the back of his neck had risen up,making him look even more enormous. His teeth were bared and glinted in the torch-light.
The men did not like the look of him at all. 'If you move one step nearer I'll tell my dog to fly at you!'
shouted George. 'Wait, Tim, wait! Stand there till I give the word.'
The dog stood in the light of the torch, growling deeply. He looked an extremely fierce animal.
The men looked at him doubtfully. One man took a step forward and George heard him. At once sheshouted to Tim.
'Go for him, Tim, go for him!'
Tim leapt at the man's throat. He took him completely by surprise and the man fell to the ground witha thud, trying to beat off the dog. The other man helped.
'Call off your dog or we'll hurt him!' cried the second man.
'It's much more likely he'll hurt you!' said George, coming out from behind the rock and enjoying thefun. 'Tim, come off.'
Tim came away from the man he was worrying, looking up at his mistress as if to say 'I was havingsuch a good time! Why did you spoil it?'
'Who are you?' said the man on the ground.
I'm not answering any of your questions,' said George. 'Go back to Kirrin Farmhouse6, that's myadvice to you. If you dare to come along this passage I'll set my dog on to you again - and next timehe'll do a little more damage.'
The men turned and went back the way they had come. They neither of them wanted to face Timagain. George waited until she could no longer see the light of their torch, then she bent7 down andpatted Timothy.
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'Brave, good dog!' she said. 'I love you, darling Tim, and you don't know how proud I am of you!
Come along - we'll hurry after the others now. I expect those two men will explore this passage sometime tonight, and won't they get a shock when they find out where it leads to, and see who is waitingfor them!'
George hurried along the rest of the long passage, with Tim running beside her. She had Dick's torch,and it did not take her long to catch the others up. She panted out to them what had happened, andeven poor Anne chuckled8 in delight when she heard how Tim had flung Mr.
Wilton to the ground.
'Here we are,' said Julian, as the passage came to a stop below the hole in the study floor, 'Hallo -what's this?'
A bright light was shining down the hole, and the rug and carpet, so carefully pulled over the hole byJulian, were now pulled back again. The children gazed up in surprise.
Uncle Quentin was there, and Aunt Fanny, and when they saw the children's faces looking up at themfrom the hole, they were so astonished that they very nearly fell down the hole too!
'Julian! Anne! What in the wide world are you doing down there?' cried Uncle Quentin. He gavethem each a hand up, and the four children and Timothy were at last safe in the warm study.
How good it was to feel warm again! They got as near the fire as they could.
'Children - what is the meaning of this?' asked Aunt Fanny. She looked white and worried. 'I cameinto the study to do some dusting, and when I stood on that bit of the rug, it seemed to give waybeneath me. When I pulled it up and turned back the carpet, I saw that hole - and the hole in thepanelling too! And then I found that all of you had disappeared, and went to fetch your uncle.
What has been happening - and where does that hole lead to?'
Dick took the sheaf of papers from under his jersey and gave them to George. She took them andhanded them to her father. 'Are these the missing pages?' she asked.
Her father fell on them as if they had been worth more than a hundred times their weight in gold.
'Yes! Yes! They're the pages - all three of them! Thank goodness they're back. They took me threeyears to bring to perfection, and contained the heart of my secret formula. George, where did you getthem?'
'It's a very long story,' said George. 'You tell it all, Julian, I feel tired.'
Julian began to tell the tale. He left out nothing. He told how George had found Mr. Roland snoopingabout the study - how she had felt sure that the tutor had not wanted Timmy in the 92house because the dog gave warning of his movements at night - how George had seen him talking tothe two artists, although he had said he did not know them. As the tale went on, Uncle Quentin andAunt Fanny looked more and more amazed. They simply could not believe it all.
But after all, there were the missing papers, safely back. That was marvellous. Uncle Quentin huggedthe papers as if they were a precious baby. He would not put them down for a moment.
George told the bit about Timmy keeping the men off the escaping children. 'So you see, althoughyou made poor Tim live out in the cold, away from me, he really saved us all, and your papers too,'
she said to her father, fixing her brilliant blue eyes on him.
Her father looked most uncomfortable. He felt very guilty for having punished George and Timothy.
They had been right about Mr. Roland and he had been wrong.
'Poor George,' he said, 'and poor Timmy. I'm sorry about all that.'
George did not bear malice9 once anyone had owned themselves to be in the wrong. She smiled at herfather.
'It's all right,' she said. 'But don't you think that as I was punished unfairly, Mr. Roland might bepunished well and truly? He deserves it!'
'Oh, he shall be, certainly he shall be,' promised her father. 'He's up in bed with a cold, as you know. Ihope he doesn't hear any of this, or he may try to escape.'
'He can't,' said George. 'We're snowed up. You could ring up the police, and arrange for them tocome here as soon as ever they can manage it, when the snow has cleared. And I rather think thoseother two men will try to explore the secret way as soon as possible, to get the papers back.
Could we catch them when they arrive, do you think?'
'Rather!' said Uncle Quentin, though Aunt Fanny looked as if she didn't want any more excitingthings to happen! 'Now look here, you seem really frozen all of you, and you must be hungry too,because it's almost dinner-time. Go into the dining-room and sit by the fire, and Joanna shall bring usall a hot lunch. Then we'll talk about what to do.'
Nobody said a word to Mr. Roland, of course. He lay in bed, coughing now and then. George hadslipped up and locked his door. She wasn't going to have him wandering out and overhearinganything!
They all enjoyed their hot dinner, and became warm and cosy10. It was nice to sit there together,talking over their adventure, and planning what to do.
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'I will telephone to the police, of course,' said Uncle Quentin. 'And tonight we will put Timmy intothe study to give the two artists a good welcome if they arrive!'
Mr. Roland was most annoyed to find his door locked that afternoon when he took it into his head todress and go downstairs. He banged on it indignantly. George grinned and went upstairs.
She had told the other children how she had locked the door.
'What's the matter, Mr. Roland?' she asked, in a polite voice.
'Oh, it's you, George, is it?' said the tutor. 'Well, see what's the matter with my door, will you? I can'topen it.'
George had pocketed the key when she had locked the door. She answered Mr. Roland in a cheerfulvoice.
'Oh Mr. Roland, there's no key in your door, so I can't unlock it. I'll see if I can find it!'
Mr. Roland was angry and puzzled. He couldn't understand why his door was locked and the keygone. He did not guess that everyone knew about him now. Uncle Quentin laughed when Georgewent down and told him about the locked door.
'He may as well be kept a prisoner,' he said. 'He can't escape now.'
That night, everyone went to bed early, and Timmy was left in the study, guarding the hole. Mr.
Roland had become more and more angry and puzzled when his door was not unlocked. He hadshouted for Uncle Quentin, but only George had come. He could not understand it. George, of course,was enjoying herself. She made Timothy bark outside Mr. Roland's door, and this puzzled him too,for he knew that George was not supposed to see Timmy for three days. Wild thoughts raced throughhis head. Had that fierce, impossible child locked up her father and mother and Joanna, as well ashimself? He could not imagine what had happened.
In the middle of the night Timmy awoke everyone by barking madly. Uncle Quentin and the childrenhurried downstairs, followed by Aunt Fanny, and the amazed Joanna. A fine sight met their eyes!
Mr. Wilton and Mr. Thomas were in the study crouching behind the sofa, terrified of Timothy, whowas barking for all he was worth! Timmy was standing11 by the hole in the stone floor, so that the twomen could not escape down there. Artful Timmy! He had waited in silence until the men had crept upthe hole into the study, and were exploring it, wondering where they were - and then the dog hadleapt to the hole to guard it, preventing the men from escaping.
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'Good evening, Mr. Wilton, good evening, Mr. Thomas', said George, in a polite voice. 'Have youcome to see our tutor Mr. Roland?'
'So this is where he lives!' said Mr. Wilton. 'Was it you in the passage today?’
'Yes - and my cousins,' said George. 'Have you come to look for the papers you stole from myfather?'
The two men were silent. They knew they were caught. Mr. Wilton spoke12 after a moment.
'Where's Roland?'
'Shall we take these men to Mr. Roland, Uncle?' asked Julian, winking13 at George. 'Although it's in themiddle of the night I'm sure he would love to see them.'
'Yes,' said his uncle, jumping at once to what the boy meant to do. 'Take them up. Timmy, you gotoo.'
The men followed Julian upstairs, Timmy close at their heels. George followed too, grinning.
She handed Julian the key. He unlocked the door and the men went in, just as Julian switched on thelight. Mr. Roland was wide awake and gave an exclamation14 of complete amazement15 when he saw hisfriends.
Before they had time to say a word Julian locked the door again and threw the key to George.
'A nice little bag of prisoners,' he said. 'We will leave old Tim outside the door to guard them. It'simpossible to get out of that window, and anyway, we're snowed up if they could escape that way.'
Everyone went to bed again, but the children found it difficult to sleep after such an exciting time.
Anne and George whispered together and so did Julian and Dick. There was such a lot to talk about.
Next day there was a surprise for everyone. The police did arrive after all! The snow did not stopthem, for somewhere or other they had got skis and had come skimming along valiantly16 to see theprisoners! It was a great excitement for everyone.
'We won't take the men away, sir, till the snow has gone,' said the Inspector17. 'We'll just put thehandcuffs on them, so that they don't try any funny tricks. You keep the door locked too, and that dogoutside. They'll be safe there for a day or two. We've taken them enough food till we come backagain. If they go a bit short, it will serve them right!'
The snow melted two days later, and the police took away Mr. Roland and the others. The childrenwatched them go.
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'No more lessons these holls!' said Anne gleefully.
'No more shutting Timothy out of the house,' said George.
'You were right and we were wrong, George,' said Julian. 'You were fierce, weren't you? - but it's ajolly good thing you were!'
'She is fierce, isn't she?' said Dick, giving the girl a sudden hug. 'But I rather like her when she'sfierce, don't you, Julian? Oh George, we do have marvellous adventures with you! I wonder if we'llhave any more?'
They will - there isn't a doubt of that!
THE END
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1
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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cosy
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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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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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winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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