Chapter Eighteen HALF PAST FOUR IN THE MORNING

　　Chapter Eighteen HALF PAST FOUR IN THE MORNING
　　As soon as the men were out of earshot, George's father spoke¹ in a low voice.
　　'It's no good. I'll have to let them have my book of notes. I can't risk having you buried downhere, George. I don't mind anything for myself - workers of my sort have to be ready to take risksall their lives -- but it's different now you're here!'
　　'Father, I haven't got the book of notes,' whispered George, thankfully. 'I gave them to Timmy. I'did manage to get that stone away from the entrance to his little prison - though the men think Ididn't! I gave the book to Timmy and told him to go and hide till I fetched him.'
　　'Fine work, George!' said her father. 'Well - perhaps if you got Timmy now and brought him here-- he could deal with these two men before they suspect he is free! He is quite capable of gettingthem both down on the ground at once.'
　　'Oh yes! It's our only chance,' said George. 'I'll go and get him now. I'll go a little way along thepassage and whistle. Father -- why didn't you go and try and rescue Timmy?'
　　'I didn't want to leave my book,' said her father. 'I dared not take it with me, in case the mencame after me and found it. They've been looking in all the caves for it. I couldn't bear to leave ithere, and go and look for the dog. I was sure he was all right, when I saw the men taking biscuits78
　　out of the bag. Now do go, George, and whistle to Timmy. The men may be back at anymoment.'
　　George took her torch and went into the passage that led to the little cave where Timmy hadbeen. She whistled loudly, and then waited. But no Timmy came. She whistled again, and thenwent further along the passage. Still no Timmy.
　　She called him loudly. 'TIMMY! TIMMY! COME HERE!' But Timmy did not come. There wasno sound of scampering² feet, no joyful³ bark.
　　'Oh bother!' thought George. 'I hope he hasn't gone so far away that he can't hear me. I'll go alittle further.' So she made her way along the tunnel, past the cave where Timmy had been, andthen on down the tunnel again. Still no Timmy.
　　George rounded a corner and then saw that the tunnel split into three. Three different passages,all dark, silent and cold. Oh dear! She didn't in the least know which to take. She took the one onthe left.
　　But that also split into three a little way on! George stopped. 'I shall get absolutely lost in thismaze of passages under the sea if I go on,' she thought. 'I simply daren't. It's too frightening.
　　TIMMY! TIMMY!' Her voice went echoing along the passage and sounded very queer indeed.
　　She retraced⁴ her steps and went right back to her father's cave, feeling miserable⁵.
　　'Father, there's no sign of Timmy at all. He must have gone along one of the passages and gotlost! Oh dear, this is awful. There are lots of tunnels beyond this cave, it seems as if the wholerocky bed of the sea is mined with tunnels!' George sat down and looked, very downhearted.
　　'Quite likely,' said her father. 'Well - that's a perfectly⁶ good plan gone wrong. We must try andthink of another.'
　　'I do wonder what Julian and the others will think when they wake up and find me gone,' saidGeorge, suddenly. 'They might even come and try to find me 'here.'
　　'That wouldn't be much good,' said her father. Then we'll simply come down here and wait, andnobody will know where we are. The others don't know of the entrance in the little stone room,do they?'
　　'No,' said George. 'If they came over here I'm sure they'd never find it! We've looked before. Andthat would mean they'd be blown up with the island. Father, this is simply dreadful.'
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　　'If only we knew where Timmy was!' said her father. Or if we could get a message to Julian totell him not to come. What's the time? My word, it's half past three in, the early morning! Isuppose Julian and the others are still asleep.'
　　Julian was fast asleep. So was Anne. Dick was in a deep sleep as well, so nobody guessed thatGeorge's bed was empty.
　　But, about half past four Anne awoke, feeling very hot, really must open the window!' shethought. 'I'm boiling!' She got up and went to the window. She opened it, and stood looking out.
　　The stars were out and the bay one faintly.
　　'George,' whispered Anne. 'Are you awake?' She listened for a reply. But none came. Then shelistened more intently. Why, she couldn't even hear George's' breathing! Surely George wasthere?
　　She felt over George's bed. It was flat and empty. She switched on the light and looked at it.
　　George's pyjamas⁷ were still on the bed. Her clothes were gone.
　　'George has gone to the island!' said Anne, in a fright, in the dark by herself!'
　　She went to the boys' room. She felt about Julian's bed for his shoulder, and shook him hard. Hewoke up with a jump. 'What is it? What's up?'
　　'Julian! George is gone. Her bed's not been slept in,' whispered Anne. Her whisper awoke Dick,and soon both boys were sitting up wide awake.
　　'Blow! I might have guessed she'd do a fool thing like that,' said Julian. 'In the middle of thenight too -- and all those dangerous rocks to row round. Now what are we going to do about it? Itold her she wasn't to go to the island -- Timmy would be quite all right! I expect Uncle Quentinforgot to take him up to the tower with him yesterday, that's all. She might have waited till halfpast ten this morning then she would probably have seen him.'
　　'Well - we can't do anything now, I suppose, can we?' said Anne, anxiously.
　　'Not a thing,' said Julian. 'I've no doubt she's safely on Kirrin Island by now, making a fuss ofTimmy, and having a good old row with Uncle Quentin. Really… George is the limit!'
　　They talked for half an hour and then Julian looked at his watch. 'Five o'clock. We'd better tryand get a bit more sleep. Aunt Fanny will be worried in the morning when she hears of George'slatest escapade!'
　　Anne went back to her room. She got into bed and fell asleep. Julian could not sleep - he keptthinking of George and wondering where exactly she was. Wouldn't he give her a talking-to80
　　when she came back! He suddenly heard a peculiar⁸ noise downstairs. Whatever could it be? Itsounded like someone climbing in, at a window. Was there one open? Yes, the window of thelittle wash-place might be open. Crash! What in the world was that? It couldn't be a burglar - noburglar would be foolish enough to make such a noise. There was a sound on the stairs, and thenthe bedroom door was pushed open. In alarm Julian put out his hand to switch on the light, butbefore he could do so something heavy jumped right on top of him! He yelled and Dick woke upwith a jump. He put on the light -- and then Julian saw what was on his bed - Timmy!
　　'Timmy! How did you get here? Where's George! Timmy, is it really you?', said Julian.
　　'Timmy!' echoed Dick, amazed. 'Has George brought him back then? Is she here too?'
　　Anne came in, wakened by the noise. 'Why, Timmy! Oh Julian, is George back too, then?'
　　'No, apparently⁹ not,' said Julian, puzzled. 'I say, Tim, 'what's this you've got in your mouth? Dropit, old chap, drop it!'
　　Timmy dropped it. Julian picked it up from the bed. 'It's a book of notes - all in Uncle'shandwriting! What does this mean? How did Timmy get hold of it - and why did he bring ithere? It's most extraordinary!'
　　Nobody could imagine why Timmy had suddenly appeared with the book of notes - and noGeorge.
　　'It's very queer,' said Julian. 'There's something I don't understand here. Let's go and wake AuntFanny.' So they went and woke her up, telling her all they knew. She was very worried indeed tohear that George was gone. She picked up the book of notes and knew at once that it was veryimportant.
　　'I must put this into the safe,' she said. 'I know this is valuable. How did Timmy get hold of it?'
　　Timmy was acting¹⁰ queerly. He kept pawing at Julian and whining¹¹. He had been very pleased tosee everyone, but he seemed to have something on his mind.
　　'What is it, old boy?' asked Dick. 'How did you get here? You didn't swim, because you're notwet. If you came in a boat, it must have been with George -- and yet you've left her behind!'
　　'I think something's happened to George,' said Anne, suddenly. 'I think Timmy keeps pawing youto tell you to go with him and find her. Perhaps she brought him back in the boat, and then wasterribly tired and fell asleep on the beach or something. We ought to go and see.'
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　　'Yes, I think we ought,' said Julian. 'Aunt Fanny, would you like to wake Joanna and getsomething hot ready, in case we find George is tired out and cold? We'll go down to the beachand look. It will soon be daylight now. The eastern sky is just beginning to show its first light.'
　　'Well, go and dress then,' said Aunt Fanny, still looking very worried indeed. 'Oh, what adreadful family I've got - always in some scrape or other!'
　　The three children began to dress. Timmy watched them, waiting patiently till they were ready.
　　Then they all went downstairs and out of doors. Julian turned towards the beach, but Timmystood still. He pawed at Dick and then ran a few steps in the opposite direction.
　　'Why - he doesn't want us to go to the beach! He wants us to go another way!' cried Julian, insurprise. 'All right, Timmy - you lead the way and we'll follow!'

1 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 scampering   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A cat miaowed, then was heard scampering away. 马上起了猫叫，接着又听见猫逃走的声音。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• A grey squirrel is scampering from limb to limb. 一只灰色的松鼠在树枝间跳来跳去。 来自辞典例句

3 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

4 retraced   

v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返，想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 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。

7 pyjamas   

n.（宽大的）睡衣裤

参考例句：

• This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
• Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。

8 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。