Chapter 1 AT KIRRIN COTTAGE AGAIN

　　Chapter 1 AT KIRRIN COTTAGE AGAIN
　　Georgina was at the station to meet her three cousins. Timmy her dog was with her, his long tailwagging eagerly. He knew quite well they had come to meet Julian, Dick and Anne, and he was glad.
　　It was much more fun when the Five were all together.
　　'Here comes the train, Timmy!' said George. Nobody called her Georgina, because she wouldn'tanswer if they did. She looked like a boy with her short curly hair and her shorts and open-neckedshirt. Her face was covered with freckles¹, and her legs and arms were as brown as a gipsy's.
　　There was the far-off rumble² of a train, and as it came nearer, a short warning hoot³. Timmy whinedand wagged his tail. He didn't like trains, but he wanted this one to come.
　　Nearer and nearer it came, slowing down as it reached Kirrin station. Long before it came to the littleplatform three heads appeared out of one of the windows, and three hands waved wildly.
　　George waved back, her face one big smile.
　　The door swung open almost before the train stopped. Out came a big boy, and helped down a smallgirl. Then came another boy, not quite so tall as the first one, with a bag in each hand. He dragged athird bag out, and then George and Timmy were on him.
　　'Julian! Dick! Anne! Your train's late; we thought you were never coming!'
　　'Hallo, George! Here we are at last. Get down, Timmy, don't eat me.'
　　'Hallo, George! Oh, Timmy, you darling - you're just as licky as ever!'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy joyfully⁴, and bounded all round like a mad thing, getting into everybody's way.
　　'Any trunk or anything?' asked George. 'Only those three bags?'
　　'Well, we haven't come for long this time, worse luck,' said Dick. 'Only a fortnight! Still, it's betterthan nothing.'
　　'You shouldn't have gone off to France all those six weeks,' said George, half-jealously. 'I supposeyou've gone all French now.'
　　Dick laughed, waved his hands in the air and went off into a stream of quick French that sounded justlike gibberish to George, French was not one of her strong subjects.
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　　'Shut up,' she said, giving him a friendly shove. 'You're just the same old idiot. Oh, I'm so glad you'vecome. It's been lonely and dull at Kirrin without you.'
　　A porter came up with a barrow. Dick turned to him, waved his hands again, and addressed theastonished man in fluent French. But the porter knew Dick quite well.
　　'Go on with you,' he said. 'Argy-bargying in double-Dutch like that. Do you want me to wheel theseup to Kirrin Cottage for you?'
　　'Yes, please,' said Anne. 'Stop it, Dick. It isn't funny when you go on so long.'
　　'Oh, let him go on,' said George, and she linked her arms in Anne's and Dick's. 'It's lovely to have youagain. Mother's looking forward to seeing you all.'
　　'I bet Uncle Quentin isn't,' said Julian, as they went along the little platform, Timmy capering⁵ roundthem.
　　'Father's in quite a good temper,' said George. 'You know he's been to America with Mother,lecturing and hearing other scientists lecturing too. Mother says everyone made a great fuss of him,and he liked it.'
　　George's father was a brilliant scientist, well-known all over the world. But he was rather a difficultman at home, impatient, hot-tempered and forgetful. The children were fond of him, but held him ingreat respect. They all heaved a sigh of relief when he went away for a few days, for then they couldmake as much noise as they liked, tear up and down the stairs, play silly jokes and generally be asmad as they pleased.
　　'Will Uncle Quentin be at home all the time we're staying with you?' asked Anne. She was reallyrather afraid of her hot-tempered uncle.
　　'No,' said George. 'Mother and Father are going away for a tour in Spain - so we'll be on our own.'
　　'Wizard!' said Dick. 'We can wear our bathing costumes all day long then if we want to.'
　　'And Timmy can come in at meal-times without being sent out whenever he moves,' said George.
　　'He's been sent out every single meal-time this week, just because he snapped at the flies that camenear him. Father goes absolutely mad if Timmy suddenly snaps at a fly.
　　'Shame!' said Anne, and patted Timmy's rough-haired back. 'You can snap at every single fly youlike, Timmy, when we're on our own.'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, gratefully.
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　　'There won't be time for any adventure these hols,' said Dick, regretfully, as they walked down thelane to Kirrin Cottage. Red poppies danced along the way, and in the distance the sea shone as blueas cornflowers. 'Only two weeks - and back we go to school! Well, let's hope the weather keeps fine. Iwant to bathe six times a day!'
　　Soon they were all sitting round the tea-table at Kirrin Cottage, and their Aunt Fanny was handinground plates of her nicest scones⁶ and tea-cake. She was very pleased to see her nephews and nieceagain.
　　'Now George will be happy,' she said, smiling at the hungry four. 'She's been going about like a bearwith a sore head the last week or two. Have another scone⁷, Dick? Take two while you're about it.'
　　'Good idea,' said Dick, and helped himself. 'Nobody makes scones and cakes like you do, AuntFanny. Where's Uncle Quentin?'
　　'In his study,' said his aunt. 'He knows it's tea-time, and he's heard the bell, but I expect he's buried insomething or other. I'll have to fetch him in a minute. I honestly believe he'd go without food all daylong if I didn't go and drag him into the dining-room!'
　　'Here he is,' said Julian, hearing the familiar impatient footsteps coming down the hall to the dining-room. The door was flung open. Uncle Quentin stood there, a newspaper in his hand, scowling⁸. Hedidn't appear to see the children at all.
　　'Look here, Fanny!' he shouted. 'See what they've put in this paper - the very thing I gave orders wasNOT to be put in! The dolts⁹! The idiots! The...'
　　'Quentin! Whatever's the matter?' said his wife. 'Look - here are the children - they've just arrived.'
　　But Uncle Quentin simply didn't see any of the four children at all. He went on glaring at the paper.
　　He rapped at it with his hand.
　　'Now we'll get the place full of reporters wanting to see me, and wanting to know all about my newideas!' he said, beginning to shout. 'See what they've said! ''This eminent¹⁰ scientist conducts all hisexperiments and works out all his ideas at his home, Kirrin Cottage. Here are his stack of notebooks,to which are now added two more - fruits of his visit to America, and here at his cottage are hisamazing diagrams,'' and so on and so on.
　　'I tell you, Fanny, we'll have hordes¹¹ of reporters down.'
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　　'No, we shan't, dear,' said his wife. 'And, anyway, we are soon off to Spain. Do sit down and havesome tea. And look, can't you say a word to welcome Julian, Dick and Anne?'
　　Uncle Quentin grunted¹² and sat down. 'I didn't know they were coming,' he said, and helped himself toa scone. 'You might have told me, Fanny.'
　　'I told you three times yesterday and twice today,' said his wife.
　　Anne suddenly squeezed her uncle's arm. She was sitting next to him. 'You’re just the same as ever,Uncle Quentin,' she said. 'You never, never remember we're coming! Shall we go away again?'
　　Her uncle looked down at her and smiled. His temper never lasted very long. He grinned at Julianand Dick. 'Well, here you are again!' he said. 'Do you think you can hold the fort for me while I'maway with your aunt?'
　　'Rather!' said all three together.
　　'We'll keep everyone at bay!' said Julian. 'With Timmy's help. I'll put up a notice: ''Beware, veryfierce dog''.'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, sounding delighted. He thumped¹³ his tail on the floor. A fly came by his nose andhe snapped at it. Uncle Quentin frowned.
　　'Have another scone, Father?' said George hurriedly. 'When are you and Mother going to Spain?'
　　'Tomorrow,' said her mother firmly. 'Now don't look like that, Quentin. You know perfectly¹⁴ well it'sbeen arranged for weeks, and you need a holiday, and if we don't go tomorrow all our arrangementswill be upset.'
　　'Well, you might have warned me it was tomorrow,' said her husband, looking indignant. 'I mean- I've all my notebooks to check and put away, and...'
　　'Quentin, I've told you heaps of times that we leave on September the third,' said his wife, still morefirmly. 'I want a holiday, too. The four children will be quite all right here with Timmy -they'll love being on their own. Julian is almost grown-up now and he can cope with anything thatturns up.'
　　Timmy snapped twice at a fly, and Uncle Quentin jumped. 'If that dog does that again,' he began, buthis wife interrupted him at once.
　　'There, you see! You're as touchy¹⁵ and nervy as can be, Quentin, dear. It will do you good to get away- and the children will have a lovely two weeks on their own. Nothing can possibly happen, so makeup¹⁶ your mind to leave tomorrow with an easy mind!'
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　　Nothing can possibly happen? Aunt Fanny was wrong of course. Anything could happen when theFive were left on their own!

1 freckles   

n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时，脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

3 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

4 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

5 capering   

v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳

参考例句：

• The lambs were capering in the fields. 羊羔在地里欢快地跳跃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boy was Capering dersively, with obscene unambiguous gestures, before a party of English tourists. 这个顽童在一群英国旅游客人面前用明显下流的动作可笑地蹦蹦跳跳着。 来自辞典例句

6 scones   

n.烤饼，烤小圆面包( scone的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• scones and jam with clotted cream 夹有凝脂奶油和果酱的烤饼
• She makes scones and cakes for the delectation of visitors. 她烘制了烤饼和蛋糕供客人享用。 来自辞典例句

7 scone   

n.圆饼，甜饼，司康饼

参考例句：

• She eats scone every morning.她每天早上都吃甜饼。
• Scone is said to be origined from Scotland.司康饼据说来源于苏格兰。

8 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）

9 dolts   

n.笨蛋，傻瓜( dolt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

10 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

11 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

13 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

16 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？