Chapter 1 A LETTER FROM JULIAN

Chapter 1 A LETTER FROM JULIAN
　　'Anne!' shouted George, running after her cousin as she went along to her classroom. 'Anne! I've justbeen down to the letter board and there's a letter from your brother Julian, I've brought it for you.'
　　Anne stopped. 'Oh thanks,' she said. 'What can Julian want? He only wrote a few days ago - it's mostextraordinary for him to write again so soon. It must be something important.'
　　'Well, open it and see,' said George. 'Hurry up - I've got a maths class to go to.'
　　Anne ripped open the envelope. She pulled out a sheet of notepaper and read it quickly. She lookedup at George, her eyes shining.
　　'George! Julian and Dick have got a few days off at our half-term week-end! Somebody's won awonderful scholarship or something, and the boys have got two days tacked¹ on to a week-end tocelebrate! They want us to join them in a hike, and all go off together.'
　　'What a glorious idea!' said George, 'Good old Julian. I bet he thought of that. Let's read the letter,Anne.'
　　But before she could read it a mistress came along. 'Georgina! You should be in class - and you too,Anne.'
　　George scowled². She hated to be called by her full name. She went off without a word. Anne tuckedthe letter into her pocket and rushed off joyfully³. Half-term with her brothers, Julian and Dick - andwith George and Timmy the dog. Could anything be better?
　　She and George talked about it again after morning school. 'We get from Friday morning tillTuesday,' said George. 'The boys are getting the same. What luck! They don't usually have a half-term in the winter term.'
　　'They can't go home because the painters are in our house,' said Anne. 'That's why I was going homewith you, of course. But I'm sure your mother won't mind if we go off with the boys. Your fathernever likes us in the middle of the term.'
　　'No, he doesn't,' said George, 'He's always deep in the middle of some wonderful idea, and he hates tobe disturbed. It will suit everyone if we go off on a hike.'
　　'Julian says he will telephone to us tonight and arrange everything,' said Anne. 'I hope it will be a nicefine week-end. It will still be October, so there's a chance of a bit of warm sunshine.'
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　　'The woods will be beautiful,' said George. 'And won't Timmy enjoy himself, Let's go and tell himthe news.'
　　The boarding-school that the two girls were at was one that allowed the children to bring their ownpets to school. There were kennels⁵ down in the yard for various dogs, and Timmy lived there duringterm-time. The two girls went to get him.
　　He heard their footsteps at once and began to bark excitedly. He scraped at the gate of the kennelyard, wishing for the thousandth time that he could find out how to open it.
　　He flung himself on the two girls, licking and pawing and barking.
　　'Silly dog. Mad dog!' said George, and thumped⁶ his back affectionately. 'Listen, Tim - we're going offfor the week-end with Julian and Dick! What do you think of that? We're going on a hike, so you'lllove it. All through the woods and up the hills and goodness knows where!'
　　Timmy seemed to understand every word. He cocked up his ears, put his head on one side andlistened intently while George was speaking.
　　'Woof,' he said, at the end, as if he approved thoroughly⁷. Then off he went with the girls for his walk,his plumy tail wagging happily. He didn't like term-time nearly as much as the holidays -but he was quite prepared to put up with kennel⁴ life so long as he could be near his beloved George.
　　Julian rang up that night as he had promised. He had got everything planned already. Anne listened,thrilled.
　　'It sounds super,' she said. 'Yes - we can meet where you say, and we'll be there as near as we can ontime. Anyway, we can wait about if you others aren't there. Yes - we'll bring the things you say. OhJulian, won't it be fun?'
　　'What's he say?' asked George impatiently when at last Anne put the receiver down. 'You might havelet me have a word with Julian. I wanted to tell him all about Timmy.'
　　'He doesn't want to waste an expensive telephone call listening to you raving⁸ about Timmy,' saidAnne. 'He asked how he was and I said ''fine'', and that's all he wanted to know about Tim. He's madeall the arrangements. I'll tell you what they are.'
　　The girls went off to a corner of their common-room and sat down. Timmy was there too. He wasallowed in at certain times, and so were three other dogs belonging to the girls. Each dog behavedwell - he knew that if he didn't he would be taken back to the kennels at once!
　　'Julian says that he and Dick can get off immediately after breakfast,' said Anne. 'So can we, so 3that's all right. He says we've got to take very little with us - just night-things, tooth-brush, hairbrushand flannel⁹ and a rolled-up mac. And any biscuits or chocolate we can buy. Have you any moneyleft?'
　　'A bit,' said George. 'Not much. Enough to buy a few bars of chocolate, I think. Anyway, you've gotall the biscuits your mother sent last week. We can take some of those.'
　　'Yes. And the barley¹⁰ sugar one of my aunts sent,' said Anne. 'But Julian says we're not to take muchbecause this is to be a proper hike, and we'll get tired if we have to carry a heavy load. Oh, he saidput in two pairs of extra socks.'
　　'Right,' said George, and she patted Timmy who was lying close beside her. 'There's going to be along walky-walk, Tim. Won't you love that!'
　　Timmy grunted¹¹ comfortably. He wondered if there would be any rabbits on the walk. A walk wasn'treally exciting unless there were rabbits all over the place. Timmy thought it was a pity that rabbitswere allowed to live down holes. They always disappeared most unfairly just when he had nearlycaught one!
　　Anne and George went to see their house-mistress to tell her that they were not going to KirrinCottage after all, but were going walking.
　　'My brother says he has written to you,' said Anne. 'So you'll know all about it tomorrow, MissPeters. And George's mother will be writing too. We can go, can't we?'
　　'Oh, yes - it will be a lovely half-term for you!' said Miss Peters. 'Especially if this sunny weatherlasts. Where are you going?'
　　'Over the moors,' said Anne. 'In the very loneliest, most deserted¹² parts that Julian can find! We mightsee deer and wild ponies¹³ and perhaps even a few badgers¹⁴. We shall walk and walk.'
　　'But where will you sleep if the parts you are going to are so very lonely?' asked Miss Peters.
　　'Oh Julian is arranging all that,' said George. 'He's been looking up little inns and farm- houses on themap, and we shall make for those at night. It will be too cold to sleep out of doors.'
　　'It certainly will!' said Miss Peters. 'Well don't get into trouble, that's all I know what you five arewhen you get together. I imagine Timmy is going with you too?'
　　'Of course!' said George. 'I wouldn't go if he didn't go! I couldn't leave him here alone.'
　　The two girls got their things ready as Friday came near. The biscuits were taken out of the tin andput into paper bags. The barley sugar was put into a bag too, and the bars of chocolate.
　　Both girls had rucksacks with straps¹⁵ for their shoulders. They packed and repacked them several 4times. One by one more and more things were added. Anne felt she must take a book to read.
　　George said they must each take a torch with a new battery.
　　'And what about biscuits for Timmy?' she said. 'I simply must take something for him. He'd like abone too - a big one that he can chew and chew and that I can put back into the bag for another time.'
　　'Well, let me carry all the biscuits and chocolate then if you're going to put a smelly old bone intoyour bag,' said Anne. 'I don't see why you want to take anything for Timmy - he can always havesomething to eat when we do - wherever we have a meal.'
　　George decided¹⁶ not to take the bone. She had fetched one from his kennel, and it certainly was bigand heavy, and equally certainly it was smelly. She took it back to the kennel again, Timmyfollowing her rather puzzled. Why keep carrying his bone here and there? He didn't approve at all.
　　It seemed a long time till Friday, but at last it came. Both girls woke up very early indeed.
　　George was out in the kennels before breakfast, brushing and combing Timmy to make him lookspruce and tidy for Julian and Dick. He knew it was the day they were to set off and he was as excitedas the two girls.
　　'We'd better eat a good breakfast,' said Anne. 'We might have to wait some time before our next meal.
　　Let's slip off immediately after breakfast. It's lovely to feel free of school and bells and timetables -but I shan't feel really free till I'm outside the school grounds!'
　　They ate an enormous breakfast though really they were too excited to want much. Then they gottheir rucksacks, ready- packed the night before, said goodbye to Miss Peters, and went to fetchTimmy.
　　He was waiting impatiently for them, and barked madly when they came near. In a trice he was out ofhis kennel-yard and capering¹⁷ round them, almost tripping them up.
　　'Good-bye, Anne and George!' yelled one of their friends. 'Have a good time on your hike - and it'sno good coming back on Tuesday and telling us you've had one of your usual hair-raising adventures,because we just shan't believe it!'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, 'Woof, woof!' Which meant that he was going to have adventures with hundredsof rabbits, anyway!

1 tacked   

用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝

参考例句：

• He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
• The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。

2 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。

3 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。

4 kennel   

n.狗舍，狗窝

参考例句：

• Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
• Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

5 kennels   

n.主人外出时的小动物寄养处，养狗场；狗窝( kennel的名词复数 )；养狗场

参考例句：

• We put the dog in kennels when we go away. 我们外出时把狗寄养在养狗场。
• He left his dog in a kennels when he went on holiday. 他外出度假时把狗交给养狗场照管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

8 raving   

adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地

参考例句：

• The man's a raving lunatic. 那个男子是个语无伦次的疯子。
• When I told her I'd crashed her car, she went stark raving bonkers. 我告诉她我把她的车撞坏了时，她暴跳如雷。

9 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

10 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

11 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。

12 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。

13 ponies   

矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑

参考例句：

• They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
• She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。

14 badgers   

n.獾( badger的名词复数 )；獾皮；（大写）獾州人（美国威斯康星州人的别称）；毛鼻袋熊

参考例句：

• Badgers had undermined the foundations of the church. 獾在这座教堂的地基处打了洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• And rams ' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood. 5染红的公羊皮，海狗皮，皂荚木。 来自互联网

15 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

16 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。

17 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