Chapter 15 PRISONERS

　　Chapter 15 PRISONERS
　　They all flung themselves down on the grass verge¹ and groaned².
　　'What have they done that for, just as we were going out?' said Dick. 'Was it a mistake, do you think?
　　I mean - did they think we'd had time to go out, or what?'
　　'Well - if it was a mistake, it's easy to put right,' said Julian. 'I'll just cycle back to the house and tellthem they shut the gates too soon.'
　　'Yes - you do that,' said George. 'We'll wait here.'
　　But before Julian could even mount his bicycle there came the sound of the car purring down thelong drive. All the children jumped to their feet. Richard ran behind a bush in panic. He was terrifiedof having to face Rooky again.
　　The car drew up by the children and stopped. 'Yes, they're still here,' said Mr. Perton's voice, as hegot out of the car. Rooky got out too. They came over to the children.
　　Rooky ran his eyes over them. 'Where's that other boy?' he asked quickly.
　　'I can't imagine,' said Julian, coolly. 'Dear me - I wonder if he had time to cycle out of the gateway³.
　　Why did you shut the gates so soon, Mr. Perton?'
　　Rooky had caught sight of Richard's shivering figure behind the bush. He strode over to him andyanked him out. He looked at him closely. Then he pulled him over to Mr. Perton.
　　'Yes - I thought so - this is the boy we want! He's sooted⁵ his hair or something, and that's why I didn'trecognize him. But when he'd gone I felt sure there was something familiar about him -that's why I wanted another look.' He shook poor Richard like a dog shaking a rat.
　　'Well - what do you want to do about it?' asked Mr. Perton, rather gloomily.
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　　'Hold him, of course,' said Rooky. 'I'll get back at his father now - he'll have to pay a very large sumof money for his horrible son! That'll be useful, won't it? And I can pay this kid out for some of thelies he told his father about me. Nasty little rat.'
　　He shook Richard again. Julian stepped forward, white and furious.
　　'Now you stop that,' he said. 'Let the boy go. Haven't you done enough already - keeping my brotherlocked up for nothing - holding us all for the night - and now you talk about kidnapping!
　　Haven't you just come out of prison? Do you want to go back there?'
　　Rooky dropped Richard and lunged out at Julian. With a snarl⁶ Timmy flung himself between themand bit the man's hand. Rooky let out a howl of rage and nursed his injured hand. He yelled at Julian.
　　'Call that dog to heel. Do you hear?'
　　'I'll call him to heel all right - if you talk sense,' said Julian, still white with rage. 'You're going to letus all go, here and now. Go back and open these gates.'
　　Timmy growled⁷ terrifyingly, and both Rooky and Mr. Perton took some hurried steps backwards⁸.
　　Rooky picked up a very big stone.
　　'If you dare to throw that I'll set my dog on you again!' shouted George, in sudden fear. Mr.
　　Perton knocked the stone out of Rooky's hand.
　　'Don't be a fool,' he said. 'That dog could make mincemeat of us - great ugly brute⁹. Look at his teeth.
　　For goodness' sake let the kids go, Rooky.'
　　'Not till we've finished our plans,' said Rooky fiercely, still nursing his hand. 'Keep 'em all prisonershere! We shan't be long before our jobs are done. And what's more I'm going to take that little ratthere off with me when I go! Ha! I'll teach him a few things - and his father too.'
　　Timmy growled again. He was straining at George's hand. She had him firmly by the collar.
　　Richard trembled when he heard Rooky's threats about him. Tears ran down his face.
　　'Yes - you can howl all you like,' said Rooky, scowling¹⁰ at him. 'You wait till I get you! Miserablelittle coward - you never did have any spunk¹² - you just ran round telling tales and misbehavingyourself whenever you could.'
　　'Look, Rooky - you'd better come up to the house and have that hand seen to,' said Mr. Perton.
　　'It's bleeding badly. You ought to wash it and put some stuff on it - you know a dog's bite isdangerous. Come on. You can deal with these kids afterwards.'
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　　Rooky allowed himself to be led back to the car. He shook his unhurt fist at the children as theywatched silently.
　　'Interfering brats¹³! Little . . .'
　　But the rest of his pleasant words were lost in the purring of the car's engine. Mr. Perton backed alittle, turned the car, and it disappeared up the drive. The five children sat themselves down on thegrass verge. Richard began to sob¹⁴ out loud.
　　'Do shut up, Richard,' said George. 'Rooky was right when he said you were a little coward, with nospunk. So you are. Anne's much pluckier than you are. I wish to goodness we had never met you.'
　　Richard rubbed his hands over his eyes. They were sooty, and made his face look most peculiar¹⁵ withstreaks of black soot⁴ mixed with his tears. He looked very woebegone indeed.
　　'I'm sorry,' he sniffed¹⁶. 'I know you don't believe me - but I really am. I've always been a bit of acoward - I can't help it.'
　　'Yes you can,' said Julian, scornfully. 'Anybody can help being a coward. Cowardice¹⁷ is just thinkingof your own miserable¹¹ skin instead of somebody else's. Why, even little Anne is more worried aboutus than she is about herself - and that makes her brave. She couldn't be a coward if she tried.'
　　This was a completely new idea to Richard. He tried to wipe his face dry. 'I'll try to be like you,'
　　he said, in a muffled¹⁸ voice. 'You're all so decent. I've never had friends like you before.
　　Honestly, I won't let you down again.'
　　'Well, we'll see,' said Julian, doubtfully. 'It would certainly be a surprise if you turned into a hero allof a sudden - a very nice surprise, of course - but in the meantime it would be a help if you stoppedhowling for a bit and let us talk.'
　　Richard subsided¹⁹. He really looked very peculiar with his soot-streaked face. Julian turned to theothers.
　　'This is maddening!' he said. 'Just as we so nearly got out. I suppose they'll shut us up in some roomand keep us there till they've finished whatever this "job" is. I imagine the "job" consists of gettingthat hidden fellow away in safety - the one I saw in the secret room.'
　　'Won't Richard's people report his disappearance²⁰ to the police?' said George, fondling Timmy, whowouldn't stop licking her now he had got her again.
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　　'Yes, they will. But what good will that do? The police won't have the faintest notion where he is,'
　　said Julian. 'Nobody knows where we are, either, come to that - but Aunt Fanny won't worry yet,because she knows we're off on a cycling tour, and wouldn't be writing to her anyway.'
　　'Do you think those men will really take me off with them when they go?' asked Richard.
　　'Well, we'll hope we shall have managed to escape before that,' said Julian, not liking²¹ to say yes,certainly Richard would be whisked away!
　　'How can we escape?' asked Anne. 'We'd never get over those high walls. And I don't expect anyoneever comes by here - right at the top of this deserted²² hill. No tradesman would ever call.'
　　'What about the postman?' asked Anne.
　　'They probably arrange to fetch their post each day,' said Julian. 'I don't expect they want anyonecoming here at all. Or - there may be a letter-box outside the gate. I never thought of that!'
　　They went to see. But although they craned their necks to see each side, there didn't seem to be anyletter-box at all for the postman to slip letters in. So the faint hope that had risen in their minds, thatthey might catch the postman and give him a message, vanished at once.
　　'Hallo - here's the woman - Aggie²³, or whatever her name is,' said George, suddenly, as Timmygrowled. They all turned their heads. Yes, Aggie was coming down the drive in a hurry - could shebe going out? Would the gates open for her?
　　Their hopes died as she came near. 'Oh, there you are! I've come with a message. You can do one oftwo things - you can stay out in the grounds all day, and not put foot into the house at all - or you cancome into the house and be locked up in one of the rooms.'
　　She looked round cautiously and lowered her voice. 'I'm sorry you didn't get out; right down upset Iam. It's bad enough for an old woman like me, being cooped up here with Hunchy - but it's not rightto keep children in this place. You're nice children too.'
　　'Thanks,' said Julian. 'Now, seeing that you think we're so nice - tell us, is there any way we can getout besides going through these gates?'
　　'No. No way at all,' said the woman. 'It's like a prison, once those gates are shut. Nobody's allowed in,and you're only allowed out if it suits Mr. Perton and the others. So don't try to escape - it's hopeless.'
　　Nobody said anything to that. Aggie glanced over her shoulder as if she feared somebody might belistening - Hunchy perhaps - and went on in a low voice.
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　　'Mr. Perton said I wasn't to give you much food. And he said Hunchy's to put down food for the dogwith poison in it - so don't you let him eat any but what I give you myself.'
　　The brute,' cried George, and she held Timmy close against her. 'Did you hear that, Timmy? It's apity you didn't bite Mr. Perton too!'
　　'Sh!' said the woman, afraid. 'I didn't ought to tell you all this, you know that - but you're kind, andyou gave me all that money. Right down nice you are. Now you listen to me - you'd better say you'drather keep out here in the grounds - because if you're locked up I wouldn't dare to bring you muchfood in case Rooky came in and saw it. But if you stay out here it's easier. I can give you plenty.'
　　'Thank you very much,' said Julian, and the others nodded too. 'In any case we'd rather be out here. Isuppose Mr. Perton is afraid we'd stumble on some of his queer secrets in the house if we had the freerun there! All right - tell him we'll be in the grounds. What about our food? How shall we manageabout that? We don't want to get you into trouble - but we're very hungry for our meals, and we reallycould do with a good dinner today.'
　　'I'll manage it for you,' said Aggie, and she actually smiled. 'But mind what I say now - don't you letthat dog eat anything Hunchy puts down for him! It'll be poisoned.'
　　A voice shouted from the house. Aggie jerked her head up and listened. 'That's Hunchy,' she said. 'Imust go.'
　　She hurried back up the drive. 'Well, well, well,' said Julian, 'so they thought they'd poison oldTimmy, did they? They'll have to think again, old fellow, won't they?'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, gravely, and didn't even wag his tail!

1 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

2 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

4 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

5 sooted   

v.煤烟，烟灰( soot的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The flue has become sooted up. 烟道里都是黑灰。 来自辞典例句

6 snarl   

v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮

参考例句：

• At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
• The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。

7 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》

8 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

9 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

10 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 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。

12 spunk   

n.勇气，胆量

参考例句：

• After his death,the soldier was cited for spunk.那位士兵死后因作战勇敢而受到表彰。
• I admired her independence and her spunk.我敬佩她的独立精神和勇气。

13 brats   

n.调皮捣蛋的孩子( brat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I've been waiting to get my hands on you brats. 我等着干你们这些小毛头已经很久了。 来自电影对白
• The charming family had turned into a parcel of brats. 那个可爱的家庭一下子变成了一窝臭小子。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 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。

16 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

18 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

21 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

22 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

23 aggie   

n.农校，农科大学生

参考例句：

• Maybe I will buy a Aggie ring next year when I have money.也许明年等我有了钱，我也会订一枚毕业生戒指吧。
• The Aggie replied,"sir,I believe that would be giddy-up."这个大学生慢条斯理的说，“先生，我相信是昏死过去。”