Mr. Luffy was not a good driver. He went too fast, especially round the corners, and many timesJulian looked behind at the trailer in alarm, afraid that everything would suddenly leap off it atsome sharp bend.
He saw the bundle of sleeping-bags jump high into the air, but fortunately they remained on thetrailer. He touched Mr. Luffy on the shoulder.
7
'Sir! Could you go a bit slower, please! The trailer will be empty by the time we arrive, if theluggage leaps about on it much more.'
'My word! I forgot we had a trailer,' said Mr. Luffy, slowing down at once. 'Remind me if I goover thirty-five miles an hour, will you? Last time I took the trailer with me, I arrived with onlyhalf the goods on it. I don't want that to happen again.'
Julian certainly hoped it wouldn't. He kept a sharp eye on the speedometer, and when it veeredtowards forty he tapped Mr. Luffy on the arm.
Mr. Luffy looked supremely3 happy. He didn't like term time, but he loved holidays. Term timeinterfered with the study of his beloved insect-world. Now he was off with four nice children heliked, for a holiday on a moorland he knew was alive with bees, beetles5, butterflies and everyother kind of insect he wanted. He looked forward to teaching the four children quite a lot. Theywould have been horrified6 if they guessed this, but they didn't.
He was an odd-looking fellow. He had very untidy, shaggy eyebrows7 over kind and gentle browneyes that always reminded Dick of a monkey's. He had a rather large nose, which looked fiercerthan it was because, unexpectedly, it had quite a forest of hairs growing out of the nostrils8. Hehad an untidy moustache, and a round chin with a surprising dimple in the middle of it.
His ears always fascinated Anne. They were large and turned rather forward, and Mr. Luffycould waggle the right one if he wanted to. To his great sorrow he had never been able to wagglethe left one. His hair was thick and untidy, and his clothes always looked loose, comfortable andrather too big for him.
The children liked him. They couldn't help it. He was so odd and gentle and untidy and forgetful- and yet sometimes unexpectedly fierce. Julian had often told them the story of Tom Killin thebully.
Mr. Luffy had once found Tom bullying10 a small new boy in the cloakroom, dragging him roundand round it by his belt. With a roar like an angry bull Mr. Luffy had pounced11 on the big bully9,got him by the belt, lifted him up and stuck him firmly on a peg12 in the cloakroom.
'There you stay till you get someone to lift you down!' Mr. Luffy had thundered. I can get hold ofa belt too, as you can see!'
And then he had stalked out of the cloakroom with the small, terrified boy beside him, leavingthe bully hung up high on the peg, quite unable to free himself. And there he had to stay, becausenot one of the boys who came pouring in from a game of football would lift him down.
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'And, if the peg hadn't given way under his weight, he'd be stuck up there still,' Julian had saidwith a grin.
'Good old Luffy! You'd never think he could be fierce like that, would you?'
Anne loved that story. Mr. Luffy became quite a hero to her after that. She was pleased to sitnext to him in the car, and chatter13 about all kinds of things. The other three were squashed at theback with Timmy on their feet. George firmly prevented him from climbing up on her kneebecause it was so hot. So he contented14 himself with trying to stand up with his paws on thewindow-ledge and his nose over the side.
They stopped about half past twelve for lunch. Mr. Luffy had indeed provided sandwiches foreveryone. And remarkably15 fine ones they were too, made the evening before by Mrs. Luffy.
'Cucumber, - dipped in vinegar! Ham and lettuce16! Egg! Sardine17! Oooh, Mr. Luffy, yoursandwiches are much nicer than ours,' said Anne, beginning on two together, one cucumber andthe other ham and lettuce.
They were all very hungry. Timmy had a bit from everyone, usually the last bite, and watchedeach sandwich eagerly till his turn came. Mr. Luffy didn't seem to understand that Timmy had tohave the last bite of any sandwich, so Timmy simply took it out of his hand, much to his surprise.
'A clever dog,' he said, and patted him. 'Knows what he wants and takes it. Very clever.'
That pleased George, of course. She thought that Timmy was the cleverest dog in the world, andindeed it did seem like it at times. He understood every word she said to him, every pat, everystroke, every gesture. He would be much, much better at keeping an eye on the four children andguarding them than forgetful Mr. Luffy.
They drank ginger18 beer and then ate some ripe plums. Timmy wouldn't have any plums, but helicked up some spilt ginger beer. Then he snuffed up a few odd crumbs19 and went to drink at alittle stream nearby.
The party set off again in the car. Anne fell asleep. Dick gave an enormous yawn and fell asleeptoo. George wasn't sleepy, nor was Timmy, but Julian was. He didn't dare to take his eye off thespeedometer, though, because Mr. Luffy seemed to be very much inclined to speed along too fastagain, after his good lunch.
'We won't stop for tea till we get there,' said Mr. Luffy suddenly, and Dick woke up with a jumpat the sound of his booming voice. 'We should be there about half past five. Look, you can seethe20 moorland in the distance now - all ablaze21 with heather!'
9
Everybody looked ahead, except Anne, who was still fast asleep. Rising up to the left for milesupon miles was the heather-covered moorland, a lovely sight to see. It looked wild and lonelyand beautiful, blazing with heather, and shading off into a purple-blue in the distance.
'We take this road to the left, and then we're on the moors,' said Mr. Luffy, swinging violently tothe left, and making the luggage in the trailer jump high again. 'Here we go.'
The car climbed the high moorland road steadily22. It passed one or two small houses, and in thedistance the children could see little farms in clearings. Sheep dotted the moorland, and some ofthem stood staring at the car as it drove by.
'We've got about twenty miles to go, I should think,' said Mr. Luffy, jamming on his brakessuddenly to avoid two large sheep in the middle of the road. 'I wish these creatures wouldn'tchoose the centre of the road to gossip in. Hi, get on there! Let me pass!'
Timmy yelped23 and tried to get out of the car. The sheep hurriedly decided24 to move, and the carwent on. Anne was thoroughly25 awake by now, having been almost jerked out of her seat by thesudden stop.
'What a shame to wake you!' said Mr. Luffy, gazing down at her kindly26, and almost running intoa ditch by the side of the road. 'We're nearly there, Anne.'
They climbed steadily, and the wind grew a little cold. All around the children the moorsstretched for mile upon mile, never-ending. Little streams sometimes splashed right down to theroadway, and ran beside it.
'We can drink the water in these streams,' said Mr. Luffy. 'Crystal clear, and cold as ice! There'sone quite near where we're going to camp.'
That was good news. Julian thought of the big canvas buckets they had brought. He didn'tparticularly want to carry those for miles. If there was a stream near their camping place it wouldbe easy to get the buckets filled with washing-water.
The road forked into two. To the right was a good road, leading on and on. To the left it becamenot much more than a cart-track. 'That's the one we take,' said Mr. Luffy, and the car jerked andjolted over it. He was forced to go slowly, and the children had time to see every little thing theypassed.
'I shall leave the car here,' said Mr. Luffy, bringing it to a standstill beside a great rock that stoodup bare and grey out of the moor2. 'It will be sheltered from the worst winds and rain. I thoughtwe'd camp over yonder.'
10
There was a little slope just there, backed by some enormous gorse bushes. Thick heather greweverywhere. Julian nodded. It was a good place for camping. Those thick gorse bushes wouldprovide fine shelter from the winds.
'Right, sir,' he said. 'Shall we have tea first, or unpack27 now?'
'Tea first,' said Mr. Luffy. 'I've brought a very good little stove for boiling and cooking things.
Better than a wood fire. That makes kettles and saucepans so black.'
'We've got a stove, too,' said Anne. She scrambled28 out of the car and looked all round. 'It's lovelyhere - all heather and wind and sun! Is that the farm over there - the one we shall go to for eggsand things?'
She pointed29 to a tiny farmhouse30 on the hill opposite. It stood in a small clearing. In a field behindit were three or four cows and a horse. A small orchard31 stood at the side, and a vegetable gardenlay in front. It seemed odd to see such a trim little place in the midst of the moorland.
'That's Olly's Farm,' said Mr. Luffy. 'It's changed hands, I believe, since I was here three yearsago. I hope the new people are nice. Now - did we leave something to eat for our tea?'
They had, because Anne had wisely put away a good many sandwiches and bits of cake for tea-time. They sat in the heather, with bees humming all round them, and munched32 solidly for fifteenminutes. Timmy waited patiently for his bits, watching the bees that hummed round him. Therewere thousands of them.
'And now I suppose we'd better put up our tents,' said Julian. 'Come on, Dick - let's unpack thetrailer. Mr. Luffy, we don't intend to camp on top of you, sir, because you won't want four noisychildren too near. Where would you like your tent put?' Mr. Luffy was about to say that hewould like to have the four children and Timmy quite close, when it suddenly occurred to himthat perhaps they might not want him too near. They might want to make a noise, or play sillygames, and if he were near it would stop them enjoying themselves in their own way.
So he made up his mind not to be too close. I'll pitch my tent down there, where that old gorsebush is,' he said. 'And if you'd like to put yours up here, where there's a half-circle of gorsebushes keeping off the wind, you'd be well sheltered. And we shan't interfere4 with one another atall.'
'Right, sir,' said Julian, and he and Dick began to tackle the tents. It was fun. Timmy got undereveryone's feet as usual, and ran off with an important rope, but nobody minded.
11
By the time that dusk came creeping up the heather-covered moorland, all three tents were up,the ground-sheets were put down, and the sleeping-bags unrolled on them, two in each of thechildren's tents, and one in Mr. Luffy's.
'I'm going to turn in,' said Mr. Luffy. 'My eyes are almost shut. Good night all of you. Sleepwell!'
He disappeared into the dusk. Anne yawned widely, and that set the others off too. 'Come on -let's turn in, too,' said Julian. 'We'll have a bar of chocolate each, and a few biscuits. We can eatthose in our sleeping-bags. Good night, girls. Won't it be grand to wake up tomorrow morning?'
He and Dick disappeared into their tent. The girls crawled into theirs with Timmy. Theyundressed, and got into their warm, soft sleeping-bags.
'This is super!' said George, pushing Timmy to one side. 'I never felt so cosy33 in my life. Don't dothat, Timmy. Don't you know the difference between my feet and my middle? That's better.'
'Good night,' said Anne, sleepily. 'Look, George, you can see the stars shining through theopening of the tent. Don't they look enormous?'
But George didn't care whether they were enormous or not. She was fast asleep, tired out withthe day's run. Timmy cocked one ear when he heard Anne's voice, and gave a little grunt34. Thatwas his way of saying good night. Then he put his head down and slept.
'Our first night of camping,' thought Anne, happily. 'I shan't go to sleep. I shall lie awake andlook at the stars and smell that heathery smell.'
But she didn't. In half a second she was sound asleep, too!
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收听单词发音
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1
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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supremely
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| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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beetles
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| n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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lettuce
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| n.莴苣；生菜 | |
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sardine
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| n.[C]沙丁鱼 | |
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ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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seethe
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| vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动 | |
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ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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unpack
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| vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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munched
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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