The boys and George were full of talk about the farm. 'It's a nice little place,' said Julian, sittingdown while Anne began to cook breakfast for Mr. Luffy. 'Pretty farmhouse1, nice little dairy,well-kept sheds. And even a grand piano in the drawing-room.'
'Gracious! You wouldn't think they'd make enough money to buy a thing like that, would you?'
said Anne, turning over the bacon in the pan.
'The farmer's got a fine car,' went on Julian. 'Brand new. Must have cost him a pretty penny. Hisboy showed it to us. And he showed us some jolly good new farm machinery2 too.'
'Very interesting,' said Mr. Luffy. 'I wonder how they make their money, farming that bit ofland? The last people were hard-working folk, but they certainly couldn't have afforded a newcar or a grand piano.'
'And you should have seen the lorries they've got!' said Dick. 'Beauties! Old army ones, I shouldthink. The boy said his father's going to use them for carting things from the farm to the market.'
'What things?' said Mr. Luffy, looking across at the little farmhouse. 'I shouldn't have thoughtthey needed an army of lorries for that! An old farm wagon3 would carry all their produce.'
'Well, that's what he told us,' said Dick. 'Everything certainly looked very prosperous, I must say.
He must be a jolly good farmer.'
'We got eggs and butter and fruit, and even some bacon,' said George. 'The boy's mother didn'tseem worried about how much we had, and she hardly charged us anything. We didn't see thefarmer.'
17
Mr. Luffy was now eating his breakfast. He was certainly very hungry. He brushed away theflies that hung round his head, and when one settled on his right ear he waggled it violently. Thefly flew off in surprise.
'Oh, do that again!' begged Anne. 'How do you do it? Do you think if I practised hard for weeks Icould make my ear move?'
'No, I don't think so,' said Mr. Luffy, finishing his breakfast. 'Well, I've got some writing to donow. What are you going to do? Go for a walk?'
'We might as well take a picnic lunch and go off somewhere,' said Julian. 'How about it?'
'Yes,' said Dick. 'Can you pack us dinner and tea, Anne? We'll help. What about hard-boiledeggs?'
It wasn't long before they had a picnic meal packed in greaseproof paper.
'You won't get lost, will you?' said Mr. Luffy.
'Oh no, sir,' said Julian, with a laugh. 'I've got a compass, anyway, and a jolly good bump oflocality, too. I usually know the way to go. We'll see you this evening, when we get back.'
'You won't get lost, Mr. Luffy, will you?' asked Anne, looking worried.
'Don't be cheeky, Anne,' said Dick, rather horrified4 at Anne's question. But she really meant it.
Mr. Luffy was so absent-minded that she could quite well picture him wandering off and notbeing able to find his way back.
He smiled at her. 'No,' he said. 'I know my way about here all right - I know every stream andpath and er - volcano!'
Anne giggled5. The others stared at Mr. Luffy, wondering what in the world he meant, but neitherhe nor Anne told them. They said good-bye and set off.
'It's heavenly walking today,' said Anne. 'Shall we follow a path if we find one or not?'
'Might as well,' said Julian. 'It'll be a bit tiring scrambling6 through heather all the day.'
So when they did unexpectedly come across a path they followed it. 'It's just a shepherd's path, Iexpect,' said Dick. 'I bet it's a lonely job, looking after sheep up on these desolate7 heathery hills.'
They went on for some way, enjoying the stretches of bright heather, the lizards8 that dartedquickly away from their feet and the hosts of butterflies of all kinds that hovered9 and fluttered.
Anne loved the little blue ones best and made up her mind to ask Mr. Luffy what all their nameswere.
18
They had their lunch on a hill-top overlooking a vast stretch of heather, with grey-white blobs init here and there - the sheep that wandered everywhere.
And, in the very middle of the meal, Anne heard the same rumbling10 she had heard before, andthen, not far off, out spouted11 some white smoke from the ground. George went quite pale.
Timmy leapt to his feet, growling12 and barking, his tail down. The boys roared with laughter.
'It's all right, Anne and George. It's only the trains underground here. We knew they ran underthe moors13 and we thought we'd see what you did when you first heard them rumbling, and sawthe smoke.'
'I'm not a bit frightened,' said Anne, and the boys looked at her, astonished. It was George whowas the scared one! Usually it was quite the other way round.
George got back her colour and laughed. She called Timmy. 'It's all right, Tim. Come here. Youknow what trains are, don't you?'
The children discussed the trains. It really did seem strange to think of trains in those hollowed-out tunnels down below the moors - the people in them, reading their newspapers and talking -down in tunnels where the sun never shone at all.
'Come on,' said Julian, at last. 'Let's go on. We'll walk to the top of the next slope, and then Ithink we ought to turn back.'
They found a little path that Julian said must be a rabbit-path, because it was so narrow, and setoff, chattering14 and laughing. They climbed through the heather to the top of the next slope. Andat the top they got quite a surprise.
Down in the valley below was a silent and deserted15 stretch of railway lines! They appeared outof the black hole of a tunnel-mouth, ran for about half a mile, and then ended in what seemed tobe a kind of railway yard.
'Look at that,' said Julian- 'Old derelict lines - not used any more, I should think. I suppose thattunnel's out of date, too.'
'Let's go down and have a squint,' said Dick. 'Come on! We've got plenty of time, and we caneasily go back a shorter way.'
They set off down the hill to the lines. They arrived some way from the tunnel-mouth, andfollowed the lines to the deserted railway yard. There seemed to be nobody about at all.
'Look,' said Dick, 'there are some old wagons16 on that set of lines over there. They look as if theyhaven't been used for a hundred years. Let's give them a shove and set them going!'
19
'Oh, no!' said Anne, afraid. But the two boys and George, who had always longed to play aboutwith real railway trucks, ran over to where three or four stood on the lines. Dick and Julianshoved hard at one. It moved. It ran a little way and crashed into the buffers17 of another. It made aterrific noise in the silent yard.
A door flew open in a tiny hut at the side of the yard, and a terrifying figure came out. It was aone-legged man, with a wooden peg18 for his other leg, two great arms that might quite wellbelong to a gorilla19, and a face as red as a tomato, except where grey whiskers grew.
He opened his mouth and the children expected a loud and angry yell. Instead out came a husky,hoarse whisper:
'What you doing? Ain't it bad enough to hear spook-trains a - running at night, without hearingthem in the daytime, too?'
The four children stared at him. They thought he must be quite mad. He came nearer to them,and his wooden leg tip-tapped oddly. He swung his great arms loosely. He peered at the childrenas if he could hardly see them.
'I've broken me glasses,' he said, and to their astonishment20 and dismay two tears ran down hischeeks. 'Poor old Wooden-Leg Sam, he's broken his glasses. Nobody cares about Wooden-LegSam now, nobody at all.'
There didn't seem anything to say to all this. Anne felt sorry for the funny old man, but she keptwell behind Julian.
Sam peered at them again. 'Haven't you got tongues in your heads? Am I seeing things again, orare you there?'
'We're here and we're real,' said Julian. 'We happened to see this old railway yard and we camedown to have a look at it. Who are you?'
'I told you - I'm Wooden-Leg Sam,' said the old man impatiently. 'The watchman, see? Thoughwhat there is to watch here, beats me. Do they think I'm going to watch for these spook-trains?
Well, I'm not. Not me, Sam Wooden-Leg. I've seen many strange things in my life, yes, and beenscared by them too, and I'm not watching for any more spook-trains.'
The children listened curiously21. 'What spook-trains?' asked Julian.
Wooden-Leg Sam came closer. He looked all round as if he thought there might be someonelistening, and then spoke22 in a hoarser23 whisper than usual.
20
'Spook-trains, I tell you. Trains that come out of that tunnel at night all by themselves, and goback all by themselves. Nobody in them. One night they'll come for old Sam Wooden-Leg - but,see, I'm smart, I am. I lock myself into my hut and get under the bed. And I blow my candle outso those spook-trains don't know I'm there.'
Anne shivered. She pulled at Julian's hand. 'Julian! Let's go. I don't like it. It sounds all peculiarand horrid24. What does he mean?'
The old man seemed suddenly to change his mood. He picked up a large cinder25 and threw it atDick, hitting him on the head. 'You clear out! I'm watchman here. And what did they tell me?
They told me to chase away anyone that came. Clear out, I tell you!'
In terror Anne fled away. Timmy growled26 and would have leapt at the strange old watchman, butGeorge had her hand on his collar. Dick rubbed his head where the cinder had hit him.
'We're going,' he said, soothingly27 to Sam. It was plain that the old fellow was a bit funny in thehead. 'We didn't mean to trespass28. You look after your spook-trains. We won't interfere29 withyou!'
The boys and George turned away, and caught up with Anne. 'What did he mean?' she asked,scared. 'What are spook-trains? Trains that aren't real? Does he really see them at night?'
'He just imagines them,' said Julian. 'I expect being there all alone in that deserted old railwayyard has made him think strange things. Don't worry, Anne. There are no such things as spook-trains.'
'But he spoke as if there were,' said Anne, 'he really did. I'd hate to see a spook-train. Wouldn'tyou Ju?'
'No. I'd love to see one," said Julian, and he turned to Dick. 'Wouldn't you, Dick? Shall we comeone night and watch? Just to see?'
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1
farmhouse
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n.农场住宅(尤指主要住房) | |
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2
machinery
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n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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3
wagon
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n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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4
horrified
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a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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giggled
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v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
scrambling
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v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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7
desolate
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adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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lizards
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n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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9
hovered
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鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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10
rumbling
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n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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11
spouted
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adj.装有嘴的v.(指液体)喷出( spout的过去式和过去分词 );滔滔不绝地讲;喋喋不休地说;喷水 | |
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12
growling
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n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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13
moors
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v.停泊,系泊(船只)( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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14
chattering
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n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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15
deserted
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adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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16
wagons
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n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车 | |
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buffers
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起缓冲作用的人(或物)( buffer的名词复数 ); 缓冲器; 减震器; 愚蠢老头 | |
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18
peg
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n.木栓,木钉;vt.用木钉钉,用短桩固定 | |
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19
gorilla
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n.大猩猩,暴徒,打手 | |
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20
astonishment
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n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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21
curiously
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adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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22
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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23
hoarser
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(指声音)粗哑的,嘶哑的( hoarse的比较级 ) | |
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24
horrid
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adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
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25
cinder
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n.余烬,矿渣 | |
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26
growled
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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 | |
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soothingly
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adv.抚慰地,安慰地;镇痛地 | |
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28
trespass
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n./v.侵犯,闯入私人领地 | |
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29
interfere
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v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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