'Jo,' said Simmy. 'Well, of all the... well... Jo!' Jake recovered first. 'What's all this?' he said, roughly,to Simmy. 'What's Jo doing here? How did she get here? Where's the other kid, the one we caught?'
'How do I know?' said Simmy, still staring at Jo. 'Look here, Jo - what are you doing here? Go on, tellus. And where's the other kid?'
'Hunt round the room and see if you can find her!' said Jo, brightly, keeping on her toes in case herfather or Jake was going to pounce1 on her. The two men looked hurriedly round the room.
Jake went to a big cupboard.
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'Yes - she might be in there,' said Jo, enjoying herself. 'You have a good look.'
The two bewildered men didn't know what to think. They had come to get George - and had onlyfound Jo!
But how - why - what had happened? They didn't know what to do. Neither of them wanted to goback and tell Red. So they began to search the room feverishly2, looking into likely and unlikelyplaces, with Jo jeering3 at them all the time.
'Better take the drawers out of that chest and see if she's here. And don't forget to look under the rug.
That's right, Jake, poke4 your head up the chimney. Mind George doesn't kick soot5 down into youreyes.'
'I'll lam you in a minute!' growled6 Jake, furiously, opening a small cupboard door.
An angry voice came up the stairway. 'Jake! What are you doing up there? Bring that kid down.'
'She's not here!' yelled back Jake, suddenly losing his temper. 'What have you done with her?
She's gone!'
Red came tearing up, two steps at a time, his eyes narrow with anger. The first thing he saw in theroom was Jo - and, of course, he thought she was George.
'What do you mean - saying she's not here!' he raged. 'Are you mad?'
'Nope,' said Jake, his eyes narrow too. 'Not so mad as you are, anyway, Red. This kid isn't thatfellow's daughter - the scientist chap we took the papers from - this is Simmy's kid - Jo.'
Red looked at Jake as if he had gone off his head. Then he looked at Jo. He could see no differencebetween Jo and the absent George at all - short hair, freckles7, turned-up nose - he couldn't believe thatshe was Simmy's daughter.
In fact, he didn't believe it. He thought Jake and Simmy were suddenly deceiving him for somestrange reason.
But Jo had a word to say, too. 'Yes, I'm Jo,' she said. 'I'm not Georgina. She's gone. I'm just Jo, andSimmy's my Dad. You've come to save me, haven't you, Dad?'
Simmy hadn't come to do anything of the sort, of course. He stared helplessly at Jo, completelybewildered.
Red completely lost his temper. As soon as he heard Jo's voice he realized she was not George.
Somehow or other he had been deceived - and seeing that this was Simmy's daughter, then it must beSimmy who had had a hand in the deception8!
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He went suddenly over to Simmy and struck him hard, his eyes blazing. 'Have you double-crossedme?' he shouted.
Simmy was sent flying to the floor. Jake came up immediately to help him. He tripped up Red, andleapt on him.
Jo looked at the three struggling, shouting men, and shrugged9 her shoulders. Let them fight!
They had forgotten all about her, and that suited her very well. She ran to the door and was just goingdown the stairs, when an idea came into her sharp little mind. With an impish grin she turned back.
She pulled the door to quietly - and then she turned the key in the lock, and shot the bolt.
The three men inside heard the key turn, and in a trice Jake was at the door, pulling at the handle.
'She's locked us in!' he raged. 'And shot the bolt, too.'
'Yell for Markhoff!' shouted Red, trembling with fury. And Markhoff, left down in the room at thebottom of the stairs, suddenly heard yells and shouts and tremendous hammerings at the door! Hetore up at once, wondering what in the world had happened.
Jo was hiding in the next room. As soon as Markhoff went to the door and shot back the bolt sheslipped out and was down the spiral stairway in a trice, unseen by Markhoff. She grinned to herselfand hugged something to her thin little chest.
It was the big key belonging to the door upstairs. Nobody could unlock that door now - the key wasmissing. Jo had it!
'Unlock the door!' shouted Red. 'That kid's gone.'
'There's no key!' yelled back Markhoff. 'She must have taken it. I'll go after her.'
But it was one thing to go after Jo and quite another to find her. She seemed to have disappeared intothin air.
Markhoff raged through every room, but she was nowhere to be seen. He went out into the courtyardand looked round there.
Actually she had made her way to the kitchen and found the larder10. She was very hungry and wantedsomething to eat. There was nobody in the kitchen at all, though a fine fire burned in the big rangethere.
She slipped into the larder, took the key from the outer side of the door and locked herself in.
She saw that there was a small window, and she carefully unfastened it so that she could make herescape if anyone discovered that she was locked in the larder.
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Then she tucked in. Three sausage rolls, a large piece of cheese, a hunk of bread, half a meat pie andtwo jam tarts11 went the same way. After that Jo felt a lot better. She remembered the others andthought how hungry they must be feeling, too.
She found a rush bag hanging on a nail and slipped some food into it - more sausage rolls, some rock-buns, some cheese and bread. Now, if only she could find the others, how they would welcome her!
Jo put the big key at the bottom of the rush basket. She was feeling very, very pleased with herself.
Red and Simmy and Jake were all nicely locked up and out of the way. She didn't fear Markhoff asmuch as Red. She was sure she could get away from him.
She wasn't even sorry for her father, Simmy.
She had no love for him and no respect, because he was everything that a father shouldn't be.
She heard Markhoff come raging into the kitchen and she clambered quickly up on the larder shelf,ready to drop out of the window if he tried the door. But he didn't. He raged out again, and she heardhim no more.
Jo unlocked the door very cautiously. There was now an old woman in the kitchen, standing12 by thetable, folding some clothes she had brought in from the clothes line in the yard. She stared in thegreatest surprise at Jo peeping out of the larder.
'What...?' she began, indignantly; but Jo was out of the room before she had even got out the nextword. The old dame13 waddled14 over to the larder and began to wail15 as she saw all the empty plates anddishes.
Jo went cautiously into the front hall. She could hear Markhoff upstairs, still tearing about. Shesmiled delightedly and slipped over to the door.
She undid16 it and pulled it open. Then, keeping to the wall, she sidled like a weasel to the door that ledunderground. She opened it and went through, shutting it softly behind her.
Now to find the others. She felt sure they must be down in the caves. How pleased they would bewith the food in her bag!
She half-fell down the steep steps, and made her way as quickly as she could down the slantingpassage. She had no torch and had to feel her way in the dark. She wasn't in the least afraid. Onlywhen she trod on a sharp stone with her bare foot did she make a sound.
The other three - Julian, Dick and George - were still sitting crouched17 together with Timmy in thecentre. Julian had been once up to the door that led into the yard and had cautiously peered 89out to see what was to be seen - but had seen nothing at all except for an old woman hanging outsome clothes on a line.
The three had decided18 to wait till night before they did anything. They thought maybe Timmy mighthave recovered a little then, and would be of some help in protecting them against Red or Markhoff.
They half-dozed, sitting together for warmth, enjoying the heat of Timmy's big body.
Timmy growled! Yes, he actually growled - a thing he hadn't done at all so far. George put a warninghand on him. They all sat up, listening. A voice came to them.
'Julian! Dick! Where are you? I've lost my way!'
'It's Jo!' cried Dick, and switched on his torch at once. 'Here we are, Jo! How did you escape?
What's happened?'
'Heaps,' said Jo, and came gladly over to them. 'My, it was dark up in those passages without a torch.
Somehow I went the wrong way. That's why I yelled. But I hadn't gone far wrong. Have a sausageroll?'
'What?' cried three hungry voices, and even Timmy lifted his head and began to sniff19 at the rushbasket that Jo carried.
Jo laughed and opened the basket. She handed out all the food and the three of them fell on it likewolves. 'Jo, you're the eighth wonder of the world,' said Dick. 'Is there anything left in the basket?'
'Yes,' said Jo, and took out the enormous key. 'This, look! I locked Red and Jake and Simmy into thattower room, and here's the key. What do you think of that?'
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收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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2
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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4
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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6
growled
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| 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 | |
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7
freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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8
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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9
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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10
larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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11
tarts
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| n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞 | |
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12
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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13
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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14
waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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16
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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17
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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19
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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