Chapter 8 WHAT'S THE BEST THING TO DO?

　　Chapter 8 WHAT'S THE BEST THING TO DO?
　　Stumbling through the dark wood, Julian and George hurried as best they could. Timmy hurried too,knowing that something was worrying both his friends. Richard followed behind, half-crying again.
　　He really had been very much afraid.
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　　They came at last to the little dell where they had planned to spend the night. It was quite dark.
　　Julian called loudly:
　　'Dick! Anne! Where are you?'
　　George had made her way to where she had hidden her bicycle. She fumbled¹ for the lamp andswitched it on. She took it off and flashed it round the dell. There was Dick's bicycle, with thepuncture repair outfit³ on the ground beside it - but no Dick, and no Anne! What had happened?
　　'Anne!' yelled Julian, in alarm. 'Dick! Come here! We're back!'
　　And then a small trembling voice came down from the tree-top overhead.
　　'Oh Julian! Oh Julian! I'm here.'
　　'It's Anne!' yelled Julian, his heart leaping in relief. 'Anne - where are you?'
　　'Up in this tree,' called back Anne, in a stronger voice. 'Oh Ju - I've been so frightened, I didn't dareclimb down in case I fell. Dick . . .'
　　'Where is Dick?' demanded Julian.
　　A sob⁴ came down to him. 'Two horrible men came - and they've taken him away. They thought hewas Richard!'
　　Anne's voice became a wail⁵. Julian felt that he must get her down the tree so that she could be withthem and be comforted. He spoke⁶ to George.
　　'Shine that lamp up here. I'm going up to fetch Anne.'
　　George silently shone the light of the lamp on the tree. Julian went up like a cat. He came to Annewho was still clinging tightly to a branch.
　　'Anne, I'll help you down. Come on, now - you can't fall. I'm just below you. I'll guide your feet tothe right branches.'
　　Anne was only too glad to be helped down. She was cold and miserable⁷, and she longed to be withthe others. Slowly she came down, with Julian's help, and he lifted her to the ground.
　　She clung to him, and he put his arm round his young sister. 'It's all right, Anne. I'm with you now.
　　And here's George too - and old Timmy.'
　　'Who's that? said Anne, suddenly seeing Richard in the shadows.
　　'Only Richard. He's behaved badly,' said Julian, grimly. 'It's all because of him and his idioticbehaviour that this has happened. Now - tell us slowly and carefully about Dick and the two men,Anne.'
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　　Anne told him, not missing out anything at all. Timmy stood near her, licking her hand all the time.
　　That was very comforting indeed! Timmy always knew when anyone was in trouble. Anne felt verymuch better when she had Julian's arm round her, and Timmy's tongue licking her!
　　'It's quite clear what's happened,' said Julian, when Anne had finished her alarming tale. 'This manRooky recognized Richard, and he and the other two came after him, seeing a chance to kidnap him,and so get even with his father. Rooky was the only one who knew Richard, and he wasn't the manwho caught Dick. The others got him - and they didn't know he wasn't Richard -and of course, hearing that his name was Dick they jumped to the conclusion that he was Richard- because Dick is short for Richard.'
　　'But Dick told them he wasn't Richard Kent,' said Anne, earnestly.
　　'Of course - but they thought he wasn't telling the truth,' said Julian. 'And they've taken him off.
　　What did you say was the name of the place they were going to?'
　　'It sounded like Owl's Dene,' said Anne. 'Can we go there, Julian - if you told the men Dick was Dickand not Richard, they'd let him go, wouldn't they?'
　　'Oh yes,' said Julian. 'In any case, as soon as that fellow Rooky sets eyes on him he'll know there's amistake been made. I think we can get old Dick away all right.'
　　A voice came out of the shadows nearby. 'What about me? Will you take me home first? I don't wantto run into Rooky again.'
　　'I'm certainly not going to waste time taking you home,' said Julian, coldly. 'If it hadn't been for youand your tomfoolery we wouldn't have run into this trouble. You'll have to come with us. I'm going tofind Dick first.'
　　'But I can't come with you - I'm afraid of Rooky!' wailed⁹ Richard.
　　'Well, stay here then,' said Julian, determined¹⁰ to teach Richard a lesson.
　　That was even worse. Richard howled loudly. 'Don't leave me here! Don't!'
　　'Now look here - if you come with us, you can always be dropped at a house somewhere, or at apolice-station - and get yourself taken home somehow,' said Julian, exasperated¹¹. 'You're old enoughto look after yourself. I'm fed up with you.'
　　Anne was sorry for Richard, although he had brought all this trouble on them. She knew howdreadful it was to feel really frightened. She put out a hand and touched him kindly¹².
　　'Richard! Don't be a baby. Julian will see that you're all right. He's just feeling cross with you now,but he'll soon get over it.'
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　　'Don't you be too sure about that!' said Julian to Anne, pretending to be sterner than he really felt.
　　'What Richard wants is a jolly good hiding. He's untruthful and deceitful and an absolute baby!'
　　'Give me another chance,' almost wept poor Richard, who had never in his life been spoken to likethis before. He tried to hate Julian for saying such things to him - but oddly enough he couldn't. Heonly respected and admired him all the more.
　　Julian said no more to Richard. He really thought the boy was too feeble for words. It was a nuisancethat they had him with them. He would be no help at all - simply a tiresome¹³ nuisance.
　　'What are we going to do, Julian?' asked George, who had been very silent. She was fond of Dick,and was very worried about him. Where was Owl's Dene? How could they possibly find it in thenight? And what about those awful men? How would they treat Julian if he demanded Dick back atonce? Julian was fearless and straightforward¹⁴ - but the men wouldn't like him any the better for that.
　　'Well now - what are we going to do?' repeated Julian, and he fell silent.
　　'It's no good going back to that farm, and asking for help, is it?' said George, after a pause.
　　'Not a bit of good,' said Julian, at once. 'That old man wouldn't help anyone! And there's no telephonelaid on, as we saw. No - that farm's no good. What a pity!'
　　'Where's the map?' said George, a sudden idea coming into her head. 'Would Owl's Dene be namedon it, do you think?'
　　'Not if it's a house,' said Julian. 'Only places are named there. You'd want a frightfully big map toshow every house.'
　　'Well, anyway - let's look at the map and see if it shows any more farms or villages,' said George,who felt as if she must do something, even if it was only looking at a map. Julian produced the mapand unfolded it. He and the girls bent¹⁶ over it, by the light of the bicycle lamp, and Richard peeredover their shoulders. Even Timmy tried to look, forcing his head under their arms.
　　'Get away, Tim,' said Julian. 'Look, here's where we are - Middlecombe Woods - see? My word, weare in a lonely spot! There's not a village for miles!'
　　Certainly no village was marked. The countryside was shown, hilly and wooded, with a stream hereand there, and third-class roads now and again - but no village, no church, no bridge even wasmarked anywhere.
　　Anne gave a sudden exclamation¹⁷ and pointed¹⁸ to the contour of a hill on the map. 'Look - see whatthat hill's called?'
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　　'Owl's Hill,' read out Julian. 'Yes - I see what you're getting at, Anne. If a house was built on that hillit might be called Owl's Dene, because of the name of the hill. What's more - a building is markedthere! It hasn't a name, of course. It might be a farm-house, an old ruin - or a big house of some kind.'
　　'I think it's very likely that's where Owl's Dene is,' said George. 'I bet it's that very house. Let's takeour bikes and go.'
　　A huge sigh from Richard attracted their attention. 'Now what's the matter with you?' said Julian.
　　'Nothing. I'm hungry, that's all,' said Richard.
　　The others suddenly realized that they too were hungry. In fact, terribly hungry! It was a long, longtime since tea.
　　Julian remembered the food he and George had brought from the farm. Should they have it now -or should they eat some on their way to Owl's Hill?
　　'Better eat as we go,' said Julian. 'Every minute we waste means a minute of worry for Dick.'
　　'I wonder what they'd do with him, if Rooky sees him and says he's not me, not the boy they want,'
　　said Richard, suddenly.
　　'Set him free, I should think,' said George. 'Ruffians like that would probably turn him loose in adeserted countryside and not care tuppence if he found his way home or not. We've absolutely got tofind out what's happened - whether he's at Owl's Dene, or been set free, or what.'
　　'I can't come with you,' suddenly wailed Richard.
　　'Why?' demanded Julian.
　　'Because I haven't got my bike,' said Richard, dolefully. 'I chucked it away, you remember - andgoodness knows where it is. I'd never find it again.'
　　'He can have Dick's,' said Anne. 'There it is, over there - with the puncture² mended too.'
　　'Oh yes,' said Richard, relieved. 'For one frightful¹⁵ moment I thought I'd have to be left behind.'
　　Julian secretly wished he could be left behind. Richard was more trouble than he was worth!
　　'Yes - you can take Dick's bike,' he said. 'But no idiotic⁸ behaviour with it, mind - no riding withouthandlebars, or any errand boy tricks like that. It's Dick's bike, not yours.'
　　Richard said nothing. Julian was always ticking him off. He supposed he deserved it - but it wasn't atall pleasant. He pulled at Dick's bike, and found the lamp was missing. Dick, of course, had taken itoff. He hunted round for it and found it on the ground. Dick had let it fall, and the 36switch had turned itself off when the lamp hit the ground. When Richard pressed the switch down thelamp lighted again. Good!
　　'Now, come on,' said Julian, fetching his bicycle too. 'I'll hand out food to eat as we go. We must tryto find our way to Owl's Hill as quick as ever we can!'

1 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

2 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

3 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

4 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

5 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

6 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。

7 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。

8 idiotic   

adj.白痴的

参考例句：

• It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
• The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。

9 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

12 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

13 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。

14 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

15 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

16 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

17 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

18 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。