Chapter Seventeen TIMMY AT LAST

　　Chapter Seventeen TIMMY AT LAST
　　'No, George!' called her father sharply. 'Come back. There is something very important I want tosay. Come here!'
　　George went over to him, filled with impatience¹ to get to Timmy, wherever he was. She mustfind him!
　　'Now listen,' said her father. 'I have a book in which I have made all my notes of this greatexperiment. The men haven't found it! I want you to take it safely to the mainland, George. Don'tlet it out of your sight! If the men get hold of it they would have all the information they needed!'
　　'But don't they know everything just by looking at your wires and machines and things?' askedGeorge.
　　'They know a very great deal,' said her father, 'and they've found out a lot more since they'vebeen here - but not quite enough. I daren't destroy my book of notes, because if anything shouldhappen to me, my great idea would be completely lost. So, George, I must entrust² it to you andyou must take it to an address I will give you, and hand it to the person there.'
　　'It's an awful responsibility,' said George, a little scared of handling a book which meant somuch, not only to her father, but possibly to the whole of the world. 'But I'll do my best, Father.
　　I'll hide, in one of the caves till the men come back, and then I'll slip back up the passage to thehidden entrance, get out, go to my boat and row back to the mainland. Then I'll deliver your bookof notes without fail, and get help sent over here to you.'
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　　'Good girl,' said her father, and gave her a hug. 'Honestly, George, you do behave as bravely asany boy. I'm proud of you.'
　　George thought that was the nicest thing her father had ever said to her. She smiled at him. 'Well,Father, I'll go and see if I can find Timmy now. I simply must see that he's all right before I go tohide in one of the other caves.'
　　'Very well,' said her father. 'The man who took the biscuits went in that direction still furtherunder the sea, George. Oh by the way - how is it you're here, in the middle of the night?' Itseemed to strike her father for the first time that George also might have a story to tell. ButGeorge felt that she really couldn't waste any more time - she must find Timmy!
　　'I'll tell you later, Father,' she said. 'Oh where's that book of notes?'
　　Her father rose and went to the back of the cave. He took a box and stood on it. He ran his handalong a dark ridge³ of rock, and felt about until he had found what he wanted.
　　He brought down a slim book, whose pages were of very thin paper. He opened the book andGeorge saw many beautifully drawn⁴ diagrams, and pages of notes in her father's small neathandwriting.
　　'Here you are,' said her father; handing her the book, 'do the best you can. If anything happens tome, this book will still enable my fellow-workers to give my idea to the world. If I come throughthis all right, I shall be glad to have the book, because it will mean I shall not have to work Outall my experiments again.'
　　George took the precious book. She stuffed it into her macintosh pocket, which was a big one.
　　'I'll keep it safe, Father. Now I must go and find Timmy, or those two men will be back before Ican hide in one of the other caves.' She left her father's cave and went into the next one. Therewas nothing there at all. Then on she went down a passage that twisted and turned in the rock.
　　And then she heard a sound she longed to hear. A whine⁵! Yes, really a whine!
　　'Timmy!' shouted George, eagerly. 'Oh Timmy! I'm coming!'
　　Timmy's whine stopped suddenly. Then he barked joyously⁶. 'Woof, woof, woof, woof!'
　　George almost fell as she tried to run down the narrow tunnel. Her torch showed her a bigboulder that seemed to be blocking up a small cave in the side of the tunnel. Behind the boulderTimmy barked, and scraped frantically⁸! George tugged⁹ at the stone with all her strength.
　　'Timmy!' she panted. 'Timmy! I'll get you out! I'm coming! Oh, Timmy!'
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　　The stone moved a little. George tugged again. It was almost too heavy for her to move at all, butdespair made her stronger than she had ever been in her life. The stone quite suddenly swung toone side, and George just got one of her feet out of its way in time, or it would have beencrushed.
　　Timmy squeezed out of the space left. He flung himself on George; who fell on the ground withher arms tight round him. He licked her face and whined¹⁰, and she buried her nose in his thick furin joy.
　　'Timmy! What have they done to you? Timmy, I came as soon as I could!'
　　Timmy whined again and again in joy, and tried to paw and lick George as if he couldn't haveenough of her. It would have been difficult to say which of the two was the happier. At lastGeorge pushed Timmy away firmly.
　　'Timmy, we've got work to do! We've got to escape from here and get across to the mainland andbring help.'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy. George stood up and flashed her torch into the tiny cave where Timmy hadbeen. She saw that there was a bowl of water there and some biscuits. The men had not ill-treatedhim, then, except to lasso him and half-choke him when they caught him. She felt round his necktenderly, but except for a swollen¹¹ ridge there, he seemed none the worse.
　　'Now hurry up - we'll go back to Father's cave -- and then find another cave beyond his to hide intill the two men come back from the tower. Then we'll creep out into the little stone room androw back to the mainland,' said George. 'I've got a very, very important book here in my pocket,Timmy.'
　　Timmy growled¹² suddenly, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose up. George stiffened¹³, andstood listening. A stern voice came down the passage.
　　'I don't know who you are or where you've come from -- but if you have dared to let that dogloose he'll be shot! And, to show you that I mean what I say, here's something to let you knowI've a revolver!'
　　Then there came a deafening¹⁴ crash, as the man pulled the trigger, and a bullet hit the roofsomewhere in the passage. Timmy and George almost jumped out of their skins. Timmy wouldhave leapt up the passage at once, but George had her hand on his collar. She was veryfrightened, and tried hard to think' what was best to do. The echoes of the shot went on and on. Itwas horrid¹⁵. Timmy stopped growling¹⁶, and George stayed absolutely still.
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　　'Well?' said the voice, 'Did you hear what I said? If that dog is loose, he'll be shot. I'm not havingmy plans spoilt now. And you, whoever you are, will please come up the tunnel and let me seeyou. But I warn you - if the dog's with you, that's the end of him!'
　　'Timmy! Timmy, run away and hide somewhere!' whispered George suddenly. And then sheremembered something else that filled her with despair. She had her father's precious book ofnotes with her - in her pocket! Suppose the man found it on her? It would break her father's heartto know that his wonderful secret had been stolen from him after all.
　　George hurriedly took the thin, flat little book from her pocket. She pushed it at Timmy. 'Put it inyour mouth. Take it with you, Tim. And go and hide till it's safe to come. Quick! Go, Timmy,go! I'll be all right.' To her great relief Timmy, with the book in his mouth, turned anddisappeared down the tunnel that led further, under the sea. How, she hoped he would find a safehiding place! The tunnel must end soon - but maybe before it did, Timmy would settle down insome dark corner and wait for her to call him again.
　　'Will you come up the passage or not?' shouted the voice, angrily. 'You'll be sorry if I have tocome and fetch you - because I shall shoot all the way along!'
　　'I'm coming!' called George, in a small voice, 'and she went up the passage. She soon saw a beamof light, and in a moment she was in the flash of a powerful torch. There was a surprisedexclamation.
　　'Good heavens! A boy! What are you doing here, and where did you come from?' George's shortcurly hair made the man with the torch think she was a boy, and George did not tell him he waswrong. The man held a revolver, but he let it drop as he saw George.
　　'I only came to rescue my dog, and to find my father,' said George, in a meek¹⁷ voice.
　　'Well, you can't move that heavy stone!' said the man. 'A kid like you wouldn't have the strength.
　　And you can't rescue your father either! We've got him prisoner, as you no doubt saw.'
　　'Yes,' said George, delighted to think that the man was sure she had not been strong enough tomove the big stone. She wasn't going to say a word about Timmy! If the man thought he was stillshut up in that tiny cave, well and good! Then she heard her father's voice, anxiously callingfrom somewhere beyond the man.
　　'George! Is that you? Are you all right?'
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　　'Yes, Father!' shouted back George, hoping that he would not ask anything about Timmy. Theman beckoned¹⁸ her to come to him. Then he pushed her in front of him and they walked to herfather's cave.
　　'I've brought your boy back,' said the man. 'Silly little idiot -- thinking he could set that savagedog free! We've got him penned up in a cave with a big boulder⁷ in front!'
　　Another man came in from the opposite end of the cave. He was amazed to see George. Theother man explained.
　　'When I got down here, I heard a noise out beyond this cave, the dog barking and someonetalking to him and found this kid there, trying to set the dog free. I'd have shot the dog, of course,if he had been freed.'
　　'But - how did this boy get here?' asked the other man, still amazed.
　　'Maybe he can tell us that!' said the other. And then, for the first time, George's father heard howGeorge had got there and why.
　　She told them how she had watched for Timmy in the glass room of the tower and hadn't seenhim - and that had worried her and made her suspicious. So she had come across to the island inher boat at night, and had seen where the men came from. She had gone down the tunnel, andkept on till she came to the cave, where she had found her father.
　　The three men listened in silence. 'Well, you're a tiresome¹⁹ nuisance,' one of the men said toGeorge, 'but my word, you're a son to be proud of. It's not many boys would have been braveenough to run so much risk for anyone.'
　　'Yes. I'm really proud of you, George,' said her father. He looked at her anxiously. She knewwhat he was thinking about his precious book? Had she been sensible enough to hide it? She didnot dare to let him know anything while the men were there.
　　'Now, this complicates²⁰ matters,' said the other man, looking at George. 'If you don't go backhome you'll soon be missed, and there will be all kinds of search parties going on - and maybesomeone will send over to the island here to tell your father you have disappeared! We don'twant anyone here at present - not till we know what we want to know!' He turned to George'sfather. 'If you will tell us what we want to know, and give us all your notes, we will set you free,give you whatever sum of money you ask us for, and disappear ourselves.'
　　'And if I still say I won't?' said George's father.
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　　'Then I am afraid we shall blow up the whole of your machines and the tower - and possibly youwill never be found again because you will be buried down here,' said the man, in a voice thatwas suddenly very hard.
　　There was a dead silence. George looked at her father. 'You couldn't do a thing like that,' he saidat last. 'You would gain nothing by it at all!'
　　'It's all or nothing with us,' said the man. 'All or nothing. Make up your mind. We'll give you tillhalf past ten tomorrow morning about seven hours. Then either you tell us everything, or weblow the island sky-high!'
　　They went out of the cave and left George and her father together. Only seven hours! And then,perhaps -- the end of Kirrin Island!

1 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

2 entrust   

v.信赖，信托，交托

参考例句：

• I couldn't entrust my children to strangers.我不能把孩子交给陌生人照看。
• They can be entrusted to solve major national problems.可以委托他们解决重大国家问题。

3 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

6 joyously   

ad.快乐地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
• They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊，那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分

7 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

8 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

9 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

11 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

12 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

15 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。

16 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

17 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

18 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

20 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。