Chapter Fifteen IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

　　Chapter Fifteen IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
　　GEORGE did not moan any more about her worries. She went about with an anxious look in herblue eyes, but she had the sense not to 'tell her mother how worried she was at not seeing Timmyin the glass room, when her father signalled.
　　She mentioned it, of course, but her mother took the same view as Julian did. 'There! I knew he'dforget to take Timmy up! He's so very forgetful when he's at work.' The children decided¹ to go tothe quarry² that afternoon and explore the tunnel under the shelf of rock. So they set off after theirlunch. But when they came to the quarry, they did not dare to climb down the steep sides. Theheavy rain of the day before had made them far too dangerous.
　　'Look,' said Julian, pointing to' where the bushes and smaller plants were ripped up and crushed.
　　'I bet that's where old Martin fell down yesterday! He might have broken his neck!'
　　'Yes. I vote we don't attempt to go down till it's as dry as it was the other day,' said Dick.
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　　It was disappointing. They had brought torches, and a rope; and had looked forward to a littleexcitement.
　　'Well, what shall we do?' asked Julian.
　　'I'm going back home,' said George, unexpectedly. 'I'm tired. You others go for a walk.'
　　Anne looked at George. She did seem rather pale. 'I'll come back with you, George,' said Anne,slipping her hand through her cousin's arm. But George shook it off.
　　'No thanks, Anne, I want to be alone?
　　'Well - we'll go over the cliff then,' said Julian. 'It'll be nice and blowy up there, See you later,George!'
　　They went off. George turned and sped back to Kirrin cottage. Her mother was out. Joanna wasupstairs in her bedroom. George went to the larder³ and took several things from it. She bundledthem into a bag and then fled out of the house.
　　She found James the fisher-boy. 'James! You're not to tell a soul. I'm going over to Kirrin Islandtonight because I'm worried about Timmy. We left him there. Have my boat ready at ten o'clock.'
　　James was always ready to do anything in the world for George. He nodded and asked noquestions at all.
　　'Right, Miss. It'll be ready. Anything you want put in it?'
　　'Yes, this bag,' said George. 'Now don't split, on me, James. I'll be back tomorrow if I find Tim'sall right?
　　She fled back to the house. She hoped Joanna would not notice the things she had taken from thelarder shelf. 'I can't help it if what I'm doing is wrong,' she kept whispering to herself. 'I knowsomething isn't right with Timmy. And I'm not at all sure about Father, either. He wouldn't haveforgotten his solemn promise to me about taking Timmy up with him. I'll have to go across to theisland. I can't help it if it's wrong!'
　　The others wondered what was up with George when they came back from their walk. She wasso fidgety and restless. They had tea and then did some gardening for Aunt Fanny. George didsome too, but her thoughts were far away, and twice her mother had to stop her pulling upseedlings instead of weeds.
　　Bedtime came. The girls got into bed at about a quarter to ten. Anne was tired and fell asleep atonce. As soon as George heard her regular breathing she crept quietly out of bed and dressed65
　　again. She pulled on her warmest jersey⁴, got her raincoat, rubber boots and a thick rug, andtiptoed downstairs.
　　Out of the side door she went and into the night. There was a bit of a moon in the sky, so it wasnot as dark as usual. George was glad. She would be able to see her way through the rocks a littlenow -- though she was sure she could guide the boat even in the dark! James was waiting for her.
　　Her boat was ready.
　　'Everything's in,' said James. 'I'll push off. Now you be careful, Miss -- and if you do scrape arock, row like anything in case she fills and sinks. Ready?'
　　Off went George, hearing the lap-lap of the water against the sides of the boat. She heaved a sighof relief, and began to row strongly away from the shore. She frowned as she rowed. Had shebrought everything she might want? Two torches. Plenty of food. A tin-opener. Something todrink. A rug to wrap herself in tonight.
　　Back at Kirrin Cottage Julian lay in bed watching for his uncle's signal. Half past ten. Now forthe signal. Ah, here they were! One -- two -- three -- four -- five -- six! Good. Six and no more!
　　He wondered why George hadn't come into his and Dick's room to watch for them. She had lastnight. He got up, padded to the door of George's room and put his head in 'George!' he saidsoftly. 'It's O.K. Your father's signals have just come again.' There was no reply. Julian heardregular breathing and turned to go back to bed. The girls must be asleep already! Well, Georgecouldn't really be worrying much about Timmy now, then! Julian got into his bed and soon fellasleep himself. He had no idea that George's bed was empty, no idea that even now George wasbattling with the waves that guarded Kirrin Island! It was more difficult than she had expected,for the moon did not really give very much light, and had an annoying way of going behind acloud just when she badly needed every scrap⁵ of light she could get. But, deftly⁶ and cleverly, shemanaged to make her way through the passage between the hidden rocks. Thank goodness thetide was high so that most of them were well below the surface! At last she swung her boat intothe little cove⁷. Here the water was perfectly⁸ calm. Panting a little, George pulled her boat up asfar as she could. Then she stood in the darkness and thought hard.
　　What was she going to do? She did not know where her father's hiding-place was, but she feltcertain the entrance to it must be somewhere in or near the little stone room. Should she makeher way to that?
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　　Yes, she would. It would be the only place to shelter in for the night, anyway. She would put onher torch when she got there, and hunt round for any likely entrance to the hiding-place. If shefound it, she would go in and what a surprise she would give her father! If old Timmy was therehe would go mad with delight. She took the heavy bag, draped the rug over her arm, and set off.
　　She did not dare to put on her torch yet, in case the unknown enemy was lurking⁹ near. After all,her father had heard him cough at night! George was not frightened. She did not even think aboutbeing frightened. All her thoughts were set on finding Timmy and making sure he was safe.
　　She came to the little stone room. It was pitch-dark in there, of course - not even the faint light ofthe moon pierced into its blackness. George had to put on her torch. She put down her bundle atthe back of the wall, near the old fireplace recess¹⁰. She draped the rug over it and sat down tohave a rest, switching off her torch.
　　After a while she got up cautiously and switched on her torch again. She began to search for thehiding-place. Where could the entrance be? She flashed her torch on to every flagstone in thefloor of the room. But not one looked as if it had been moved or lifted. There was nothing toshow where there might be an entrance underground.
　　She moved round the walls, examining those too in the light of her torch. No - there was no signthat a hidden way lay behind any of those stones either. It was most tantalizing¹¹. If she onlyknew! She went to wrap the rug round her, and to sit and think. It was cold now. She wasshivering, as she sat there in the dark, trying to puzzle out where the hidden entrance could be.
　　And then she heard a sound. She jumped and then stiffened¹² all over, holding her breath painfully.
　　What was it?
　　There was a curious grating noise. Then a slight thud. It came from the recess where people longago had built their big log fires! George sat perfectly still, straining her eyes and ears.
　　She saw a beam of light in the fireplace recess. Then she heard a man's cough! Was it her father?
　　He had a cough at times. She listened hard. The beam of light grew brighter. Then she heardanother noise - it sounded as if someone had jumped down from somewhere! And then -- avoice! 'Come on!' It was not her father's voice! George grew cold with fear then. Not her father'svoice! Then what had happened to him -- and to Timmy?
　　Someone else jumped down into the recess, grumbling¹³. 'I'm not used to this crawling about!'
　　That wasn't her father's voice either. So there were two unknown enemies! Not one. And they67
　　knew her father's secret workroom. George felt almost faint with horror. Whatever had happenedto him and Timmy?
　　The men walked out of the little stone room without seeing George at all. She guessed they weregoing to the tower. How long would they be? Long enough for her to search for the place theyhad appeared from?
　　She strained her ears again. She heard their footsteps going into the great yard. She tiptoed to thedoorway and looked out. Yes -- there was the light of their torch near the, tower! If they weregoing up, there would be plenty of time to look round.
　　She went back into the little stone room. Her hands were trembling and she found it difficult toswitch on her torch. She went to the fireplace recess and flashed the light in it. She gave a gasp¹⁴!
　　Half-way up the recess at the back was a black opening! She flashed the light up there. Evidentlythere was a movable stone half-way up that swung back and revealed an entrance behind. Anentrance to what? Were there steps, such as were shown in the old map? Feeling quite breathless,George stood on tip-toe and flashed her light into the hole. Yes -- there were steps! They wentdown into the wall at the back. She remembered that the little stone room backed on to one of theimmensely thick old walls still left.
　　She stood there, uncertain what to do. Had she better go down and see if she could find Timmyand her father? But if she did, she might be made a prisoner too. On the other hand, if she stayedoutside, and the men came back and shut up the entrance, she might not be able to open it. Shewould be worse off than ever! 'I'll go down!' she suddenly decided. 'But I'd better take my bagand the rug, in case the 'men come back and see them. I don't want them to know I'm on theisland if I can help it! I could hide them somewhere down there, I expect. I wonder if thisentrance leads to the dungeons¹⁵.' She lifted up the rug and the bag and pushed them into the hole.
　　She heard the bag roll down the steps, the tins inside making a muffled¹⁶ noise. Then she climbedup herself. Gracious, what a long dark flight of steps! Wherever did they lead to?

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

3 larder   

n.食物贮藏室，食品橱

参考例句：

• Please put the food into the larder.请将您地食物放进食物柜内。
• They promised never to raid the larder again.他们答应不再随便开食橱拿东西吃了。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

6 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。

8 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。

9 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

11 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

12 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

13 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

14 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

15 dungeons   

n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The captured rebels were consigned to the dungeons. 抓到的叛乱分子被送进了地牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He saw a boy in fetters in the dungeons. 他在地牢里看见一个戴着脚镣的男孩。 来自辞典例句

16 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》