Chapter 16 AGGIE - AND HUNCHY

　　Chapter 16 AGGIE¹ - AND HUNCHY
　　'I feel as if I want some exercise,' said George, when Aggie had gone. 'Let's explore the grounds.
　　You never know what we might find!'
　　They got up, glad of something to do to take their minds off their surprising problems. Really, whowould have thought yesterday, when they were happily cycling along sunny country roads, 69that they would be held prisoner like this today? You just never knew what would happen. It madelife exciting, of course - but it did spoil a cycling tour!
　　They found absolutely nothing of interest in the grounds except a couple of cows, a large number ofhens, and a brood of young ducklings. Evidently even the milkman didn't need to call at Owl's Dene!
　　It was quite self-contained.
　　'I expect that black Bentley goes down each day to some town or other, to collect letters, and to buymeat, or fish,' said George. 'Otherwise Owl's Dene could keep itself going for months on end ifnecessary without any contact with the outside world. I expect they've got stacks and stacks of tinnedfood.'
　　'It's weird² to find a place like this, tucked away on a deserted³ hill, forgotten by everyone -guarding goodness knows what secrets,' said Dick. 'I'd love to know who that man was you saw in thesecret room, Julian - the snorer!'
　　'Someone who doesn't want to be seen even by Hunchy or Aggie,' said Julian. 'Someone the policewould dearly love to see, I expect!'
　　'I wish we could get out of here,' said George, longingly⁴. 'I hate the place. It's got such a nasty"feel" about it. And I hate the thought of somebody trying to poison Timmy.'
　　'Don't worry - he won't be poisoned,' said Dick. 'We won't let him be. He can have half our food, can'tyou, Timmy, old fellow?'
　　Timmy agreed. He woofed and wagged his tail. He wouldn't leave George's side that morning, butstuck to her like a leech⁵.
　　'Well, we've been all round the grounds and there's nothing much to see,' said Julian, when they hadcome back near the house. 'I suppose Hunchy sees to the milking and feeds the poultry⁶ and brings inthe vegetables. Aggie has to manage the house. I say - look - there's Hunchy now. He's putting downfood for Timmy!
　　Hunchy was making signs to them. 'Here's the dog's dinner!' he yelled.
　　'Don't say a word, George,' said Julian in a low voice. 'We'll pretend to let Timmy eat it, but we'llreally throw it away somewhere - and he'll be frightfully astonished when Timmy is still all-alive-otomorrow morning!'
　　Hunchy disappeared in the direction of the cow-shed, carrying a pail. Anne gave a little giggle⁷.
　　'I know what we'll pretend! We'll pretend that Timmy ate half and didn't like the rest - so we gave itto the hens and ducks!'
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　　'And Hunchy will be frightfully upset because he'll think they'll die and he'll get into a row,' saidGeorge. 'Serve him right! Come on - let's get the food now.'
　　She ran to pick up the big bowl of food. Timmy sniffed⁸ at it and turned away. It was obvious that hewouldn't have fancied it much even if George had allowed him to have it. Timmy was a very sensibledog.
　　'Quick, get that spade, Ju, and dig a hole before Hunchy comes back,' said George, and Julian set towork grinning. It didn't take him more than a minute to dig a large hole in the soft earth of a bed.
　　George emptied all the food into the hole, wiped the bowl round with a handful of leaves andwatched Julian filling in the earth. Now no animals could get at the poisoned food.
　　'Let's go to the hen-run now, and when we see Hunchy we'll wave to him,' said Julian. 'He'll ask uswhat we've been doing. Come on. He deserves to have a shock.'
　　They went to the hen-house, and stood looking through the wire surrounding the hen-run. As Hunchycame along they turned and waved to him. George pretended to scrape some scraps⁹ out of the dog'sbowl into the run. Hunchy stared hard. Then he ran towards her, shouting.
　　'Don't do that, don't do that!'
　　'What's the matter?' asked George, innocently, pretending to push some scraps through the wire.
　　'Can't I give the hens some scraps?'
　　'Is that the bowl I put the dog's food down in?' asked Hunchy, sharply.
　　'Yes,' said George.
　　'And he didn't eat all the food - so you're giving it to my hens!' shouted Hunchy in a rage, andsnatched the bowl out of George's hands. She pretended to be very angry.
　　'Don't! Why shouldn't your hens have scraps from the dog's bowl? The food you gave Timmy lookedvery nice - can't the hens have some?'
　　Hunchy looked into the hen-run with a groan¹⁰. The hens were pecking about near the children for allthe world as if they were eating something just thrown to them. Hunchy felt sure they would all bedead by the next day - and then, what trouble he would get into!
　　He glared at George. 'Idiot of a boy! Giving my hens that food! You deserve a good whipping.'
　　He thought George was a boy, of course. The others looked on with interest. It served Hunchy rightto get into a panic over his hens, after trying to poison dear old Timmy.
　　Hunchy didn't seem to know what to do. Eventually he took a stiff brush from a nearby shed andwent into the hen-run. He had evidently decided¹¹ to sweep the whole place in case any poisoned 71bits of food were still left about. He swept laboriously¹² and the children watched him, pleased that heshould punish himself in this way.
　　'I've never seen anyone bother to sweep a hen-run before,' said Dick, in a loud and interested voice.
　　'Nor have I,' said George at once. 'He must be very anxious to bring his hens up properly.'
　　'It's jolly hard work, I should think,' said Julian. 'Glad I haven't got to do it. Pity to sweep up all thebits of food, though. An awful waste.'
　　Everyone agreed heartily¹³ to this.
　　'Funny he should be so upset about my giving the hens any scraps of the food he put down forTimmy,' said George. 'I mean - it seems a bit suspicious.'
　　'It does rather,' agreed Dick. 'But then perhaps he's a suspicious character.'
　　Hunchy could hear all this quite plainly. The children meant him to, of course. He stopped hissweeping and scowled¹⁴ evilly at them.
　　'Clear off, you little pests,' he said, and raised his broom as if to rush at the children with it.
　　'He looks like an angry hen,' said Anne, joining in.
　　'He's just going to cluck,' put in Richard, and the others laughed. Hunchy ran to open the gate of thehen-run, red with anger.
　　'Of course - it's just struck me - he might have put poison into Timmy's bowl of food,' said Julian,loudly. 'That's why he's so upset about his hens. Dear, dear - how true the old proverb is -he that digs a pit shall fall into it himself!'
　　The mention of poison stopped Hunchy's rush at once. He flung the broom into the shed, and madeoff for the house without another word.
　　'Well - we gave him a bit more than he bargained for,' said Julian.
　　'And you needn't worry, hens,' said Anne, putting her face to the wire-netting of the run. 'You're notpoisoned - and we wouldn't dream of harming you!'
　　'Aggie's calling us,' said Richard. 'Look - perhaps she's got some food for us.'
　　'I hope so,' said Dick. 'I'm getting very hungry. It's funny that grown-ups never seem to get as hungryas children. I do pity them.'
　　'Why? Do you like being hungry?' said Anne as they walked over to the house.
　　'Yes, if I know there's a good meal in the offing,' said Dick. 'Otherwise it wouldn't be at all funny. Ohgoodness - is this all that Aggie has provided?'
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　　On the window-sill was a loaf of stale-looking bread and a piece of very hard yellow cheese.
　　Nothing else at all. Hunchy was there, grinning.
　　'Aggie says that's your dinner,' he said, and sat himself down at the table to spoon out enormoushelpings of a very savoury stew¹⁵.
　　'A little revenge for our behaviour by the hen-run,' murmured Julian softly. 'Well, well - I thoughtbetter than this of Aggie. I wonder where she is.'
　　She came out of the kitchen door at that moment, carrying a washing-basket that appeared to be fullof clothes. 'I'll just hang these out, Hunchy, and I'll be back,' she called to him. She turned to thechildren and gave them a broad wink¹⁶.
　　'There's your dinner on the window-sill,' she said. 'Get it and take it somewhere to eat. Hunchy andme don't want you round the kitchen.'
　　She suddenly smiled and nodded her head down towards the washing- basket. The childrenunderstood immediately. Their real dinner was in there!
　　They snatched the bread and cheese from the sill and followed her. She set down the basket under atree, where it was well-hidden from the house. A clothes-line stretched there. 'I'll be out afterwards tohang my washing,' she said, and with another smile that changed her whole face, she went back to thehouse.
　　'Good old Aggie,' said Julian, lifting up the top cloth in the basket. 'My word - just look here!'

1 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。”

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 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。

4 longingly   

adv. 渴望地 热望地

参考例句：

• He looked longingly at the food on the table. 他眼巴巴地盯着桌上的食物。
• Over drinks,he speaks longingly of his trip to Latin America. 他带着留恋的心情，一边喝酒一边叙述他的拉丁美洲之行。

5 leech   

n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人

参考例句：

• A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫，通常生活在水中。
• One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭，吸走了我的时间和欢笑。

6 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

7 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

8 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》

9 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

10 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 laboriously   

adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

13 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

14 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

15 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

16 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。