Chapter 17 OFF IN GEORGE'S BOAT

　　Chapter 17 OFF IN GEORGE'S BOAT
　　Joan was extremely thankful to see them. She had been so worried the night before that if thetelephone wires in the house had been mended, she would most certainly have rung up the police. Asit was, she couldn't telephone, and the night was so dark that she was really afraid of walking all theway down to the village.
　　'I haven't slept all night,' she declared. 'This mustn't happen again, Master Julian. It's worrying me todeath. And now you haven't got George or Timmy. I tell you, if they don't turn up soon I'll takematters into my own hands. I haven't heard from your uncle and aunt either - let's hope they're notlost, too!'
　　She bustled¹ about after this outburst, and was soon frying sausages and tomatoes for them. Theycouldn't wait till they were cooked, and helped themselves to great hunks of bread and butter.
　　'I can't even go and wash till I've had something,' said Anne. 'I'm glad you knew so many short cutsback here, Jo - the way didn't seem nearly so long as when we came by bus.'
　　It had really been amazing to see the deft², confident manner in which Jo had taken them home,through fields and little narrow paths, over stiles and across allotments. She was never once at a loss.
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　　They had arrived not long after Joan had got up, and she had almost cried with surprise and reliefwhen she had seen them walking up the front path.
　　'And a lot of dirty little tatterdemalions you looked,' she said, as she turned their breakfast out on to abig dish. 'And still do, for that matter. I'll get the kitchen fire going for a bath for you. You might allbe sister and brothers to that ragamuffin Jo.'
　　Jo didn't mind remarks of this sort at all. She chewed her bread and grinned. She wolfed the breakfastwith no manners at all - but the others were nearly as bad, they were so hungry!
　　'It's a spade and trowel you want for your food this morning, not a knife and fork,' said Joan,disapprovingly. 'You're just shovelling³ it in. No, I can't cook you any more, Master Julian.
　　There's not a sausage left in the house nor a bit of bacon either. You fill up with toast andmarmalade.'
　　The bath water ran vigorously after breakfast. All four had baths. Jo didn't want to, but Joan ran afterher with a carpet beater, vowing⁴ and declaring she would beat the dust and dirt out of her if she didn'tbath. So Jo bathed, and quite enjoyed it.
　　They had a conference after breakfast. 'About this fellow, Red Tower,' said Julian. 'Who is he, Jo?
　　What do you know about him?'
　　'Not much,' said Jo. 'He's rich, and he talks queer, and I think he's mad. He gets fellows like Dad andJake to do his dirty work for him.'
　　'What dirty work?' asked Dick.
　　'Oh - stealing and such,' said Jo, vaguely⁵. 'I don't really know. Dad doesn't tell me much; I just dowhat I'm told, and don't ask questions. I don't want more slaps than I get!'
　　'Where does he live?' said Anne. 'Far away?'
　　'He's taken a house on the cliff,' said Jo. 'I don't know the way by land. Only by boat. It's a queerplace - like a small castle almost, with very thick stone walls. Just the place for Red, my Dad says.'
　　'Have you been there?' asked Dick, eagerly.
　　Jo nodded. 'Oh, yes,' she said. 'Twice. My Dad took a big iron box there once, and another time hetook something in a sack. I went with him.'
　　'Why?' asked Julian. 'I shouldn't have thought he'd wanted you messing round!'
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　　'I rowed the boat,' said Jo. 'I told you, Red's place is up on the cliff. We got to it by boat; I don't knowthe way by road. There's a sort of cave behind a cove⁶ we landed at, and we went in there.
　　Red met us. He came from his house on the cliff, he said, but I don't know how.'
　　Dick looked at Jo closely. 'I suppose you'll say next that there's a secret way from the cave to thehouse!' he said. 'Go on!'
　　'Must be,' said Jo. She suddenly glared at Dick. 'Don't you believe me? All right, find the placeyourself!'
　　'Well - it does sound like a tale in a book,' said Julian. 'You're sure it is all true, Jo? We don't want togo on a wild-goose chase again, you know.'
　　'There's no wild goose in my story,' said Jo, puzzled. She hadn't the faintest idea what a wild-goosechase was. 'I'm telling you about Red. I'm ready to go when you are. We'll have to have a boat,though.'
　　'We'll take George's,' said Dick, getting up. 'Look, Jo - I think we'd better leave Anne behind thistime. I don't like taking her into something that may be dangerous.
　　'I want to come,' said Anne at once.
　　'No, you stay with me,' said Joan. 'I want company today. 'I'm getting scared of being by myself withall these things happening. You stay with me.'
　　So Anne stayed behind, really rather glad, and watched the other three go off together. Jo slipped intothe hedge to avoid being seen by Jake, in case he was anywhere about. Julian and Dick went down tothe beach and glanced round to make sure the gipsy was nowhere in sight.
　　They beckoned⁷ to Jo, and she came swiftly from hiding, and leapt into George's boat. She lay downin it so that she couldn't be seen. The boys hauled the boat down to the sea. Dick jumped in, andJulian pushed off when a big wave came. Then he jumped in too.
　　'How far up the coast is it?' he asked Jo, who was still at the bottom of the boat.
　　'I don't know,' said Jo, with her usual irritating vagueness. 'Two hours, three hours, maybe.'
　　Time didn't mean the same to Jo as it did to the others. For one thing Jo had no wrist-watch as theyhad, always there to be glanced at. She wouldn't have found one any use if she had, because shecouldn't tell the time. Time was just day and night to her, nothing else.
　　Dick put up the little sail. The wind was in their favour, so he thought he might as well use it.
　　They would get there all the more quickly.
　　'Did you bring the lunch that Joan put up for us?' said Julian to Dick. 'I can't see it anywhere.'
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　　'Jo! You must be lying on it!' said Dick.
　　'It won't hurt it,' said Jo. She sat up as soon as they were well out to sea, and offered to take the tiller.
　　She was very deft with it, and the boys soon saw that they could leave her to guide the boat.
　　Julian unfolded the map he had brought with him.
　　'I wonder whereabouts this place is where Red lives,' he said. 'It's pretty desolate⁸ all the way up to thenext place, Port Limmersley, If there is a castle-like building, it must be a very lonely place to live in.
　　There's not even a little fishing village shown for miles.'
　　The boat went on and on, scudding⁹ at times before a fairly strong wind. Julian took the tiller from Jo.
　　'We've come a long way already,' he said. 'Where is this place? Are you sure you'll know it, Jo?'
　　'Of course,' said Jo, scornfully. 'I think it's round that far-off rocky cliff.'
　　She was right. As they rounded the high cliff, which jutted¹⁰ fiercely with great slanting¹¹ rocks, shepointed in triumph.
　　'There you are! See that place up there? That's Red's place.'
　　The boys looked at it. It was a dour¹², grey stone building, and was, as Jo had said, a little like a smallcastle. It brooded over the sea, with one square tower overlooking the waves.
　　'There's a cove before you come to the place,' said Jo. 'Watch out for it - it's very well hidden.'
　　It certainly was. The boat went right past it before they saw it. 'There it is!' cried Jo, urgently.
　　They took the sail down and then rowed back. The cove lay between two high layers of rock thatjutted out from the cliff. They rowed right into it. It was very quiet and calm there, and their boatmerely rose and fell as the water swelled¹³ and subsided¹⁴ under it.
　　'Can anyone see us from the house above?' asked Dick, as they rowed right to the back of the cove.
　　'I don't know,' said Jo. 'I shouldn't think so. Look - pull the boat up behind that big rock. We don'tknow who else might come here.'
　　They dragged the boat up. Dick draped it with great armfuls of seaweed, and soon it looked almostlike a rock itself.
　　'Now, what next?' said Julian. 'Where's this cave you were talking about?'
　　'Up here,' said Jo, and began to climb up the rocky cliff like a monkey. Both the boys were very goodclimbers, but soon they found it impossible to get any further.
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　　Jo scrambled¹⁵ down to them. 'What's the matter?' she said. 'If my Dad can climb up, surely you can!'
　　'Your Dad was an acrobat,' said Julian, sliding down a few feet, much too suddenly. 'Oooh! I don'tmuch like this. I wish we had a rope.'
　　'There's one in the boat. I'll get it,' said Jo, and slithered down the cliff to the cove below at a mostalarming rate. She climbed up again with the rope. She went on a good bit higher, and tied the rope tosomething. It hung down to where Dick and Julian stood clinging for dear life.
　　It was much easier to climb up with the help of a rope. Both boys were soon standing¹⁶ on a ledge,looking into a curious shaped cave. It was oval-shaped, and very dark.
　　'In here,' said Jo, and led the way. Dick and Julian followed stumblingly. Where in the world werethey going to now?

1 bustled   

闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促

参考例句：

• She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
• The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。

2 deft   

adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手）

参考例句：

• The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
• This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快，能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。

3 shovelling   

v.铲子( shovel的现在分词 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• The workers are shovelling the sand. 工人们正在铲沙子。 来自辞典例句
• They were shovelling coal up. 他们在铲煤。 来自辞典例句

4 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

5 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

6 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。

7 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

9 scudding   

n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clouds were scudding across the sky. 云飞越天空。 来自辞典例句
• China Advertising Photo Market-Like a Rising Wind and Scudding Clouds. 中国广告图片市场：风起云涌。 来自互联网

10 jutted   

v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A row of small windows jutted out from the roof. 有一排小窗户从房顶上突出来。
• His jaw jutted stubbornly forward; he would not be denied. 他固执地扬起下巴，一副不肯罢休的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

12 dour   

adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈

参考例句：

• They were exposed to dour resistance.他们遭受到顽强的抵抗。
• She always pretends to be dour,in fact,she's not.她总表现的不爱讲话，事实却相反。

13 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

14 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》

15 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。