JO came to the end of the spiral stairway at last. She found herself on the level once more, andremembered the little straight passage that led to the secret room from the stairway. Good, good,good! Now she would soon be in the room and could lie down on the bench.
She went through the doorway1 of the secret room without knowing it, because it was so dark.
She groped her way along, and suddenly felt the edge of the bench.
'Here at last,' she said thankfully, out loud.
And then poor Jo got a dreadful shock! A pair of strong arms went round her and held her fast!
She screamed and struggled, her heart beating in wild alarm. Who was it? Oh, if only she had a light!
And then a torch was switched on, and held to her face. 'Oho! You must be Jo, I suppose,' saidPottersham's voice. 'I wondered who you were when one of those kids yelled out for you! I thoughtyou must be wandering somewhere about. I guessed you'd come this way, and I sat on the bench andwaited for you.'
'Let me go,' said Jo fiercely and struggled like a wild cat. The man only held her all the more tightly.
He was very strong.
Jo suddenly put down her face and bit his hand. He gave a shout and loosened his hold. Jo wasalmost free when he caught her again, and shook her like a rat. 'You little wild cat! Don't you do thatagain!'
Jo did it again, even more fiercely, and the man dropped her on to the ground, nursing his hand.
77
Jo made for the entrance of the room, but again the man was too quick and she found herself heldagain.
'I'll tie you up,' said the man, furiously. 'I'll rope you so that you won't be able to move! And I'll leaveyou here in the dark till I come back again.'
He took a rope from round his waist and proceeded to tie Jo up so thoroughly2 that she could hardlymove. Her hands were behind her back, her legs were tied at knees and ankles. She rolled about thefloor, calling the man all the names she knew.
'Well, you're safe for the time being,' said Pottersham, sucking his bitten hand. 'Now I'm going. Iwish you joy of the hard cold floor and the darkness, you savage3 little wild cat!'
Jo heard his footsteps going in the distance. She could have kicked herself for not having guessed hemight have been lying in wait for her. Now she couldn't get help for the others. In fact, she was muchworse off than they were because she was tied up, and they weren't.
Poor Jo! She dozed5 off, exhausted6 by the night's excitement and her fierce struggle. She lay againstthe wall, so uncomfortable that she kept waking from her doze4 every few minutes.
And then a thought came into her head. She remembered the rope-man, all tied up in length afterlength of knotted rope. She had watched him set himself free so many times. Could any of his trickshelp her now?
'The rope-man would be able to get himself free of this rope in two minutes!' she thought, and beganto wriggle7 and struggle again. But she was not the rope-man, and after about an hour she was soexhausted again that she went into a doze once more.
When she awoke, she felt better. She forced herself into a sitting position, and made herself thinkclearly and slowly.
'Work one knot free first,' she said to herself, remembering what the rope-man had told her. 'At firstyou won't know which knot is best. When you know that you will always be able to free yourself intwo minutes. But find that one knot first!'
She said all this to herself as she tried to find a knot that might be worked loose. At last one seemed alittle looser than the others. It was one that bound her left wrist to her right. She twisted her wristround and got her thumb to the knot. She picked and pulled and at last it loosened a little. She hadmore control over that hand now. If only she had a knife somewhere! She could manage to get itbetween her finger and thumb now and perhaps use it to cut another knot.
She suddenly lost her patience and flung her head back on the bench, straining and pulling at the 78rope. She knocked against something and it fell to the stone floor with a clatter8. Jo wondered what itwas - and then she knew.
'That dagger9! That old, rusty10 dagger! Oh, if I could find it I might do something with it!'
She swung herself round on the floor till she felt the dagger under her. She rolled over on her backand tried to pick it up with her free finger and thumb, and at last she managed to hold it.
She sat up, bent11 forward and did her best to force the rusty dagger up and down a little on the ropethat tied her hands behind her. She could hardly move it at all because her hands were still so tightlytied. But she persevered12.
She grew so tired that she had to give it up for a long while. Then she tried again, then had anotherlong rest. The third time she was lucky! The rope suddenly frayed13 and broke! She pulled her handshard, found them looser and picked at a knot.
It took Jo a long long time to free her hands, but she did it at last. She couldn't manage to undo14 herlegs at first, because her hands were trembling so much. But after another long rest she undid15 the tightknots, and shook her legs free. 'Well, thank goodness I learnt a few hints from the ropeman,' she said,out loud. 'I'd never have got free if I hadn't!'
She wondered what the time was. It was pitch dark in the little room, of course. She stood up and wassurprised to find that her legs were shaky. She staggered a few steps and then sat down again. But herlegs soon felt better and she stood up once more. 'Now to find my way out,' she said. 'How I wish Ihad a torch!'
She went carefully down the flight of stone steps that led down from the room, and then came to thewide passage that ran under the courtyard. She went along it, glad it was level, and then came onceagain to stone steps that led upwards16. Up she climbed, knowing that she was going the right way,although she was in the dark.
Now she came to the small passage where she had to bend almost double, the one that ran through thecentre of the thick outer walls. Jo heaved a sigh of relief. Surely she would soon come to where thestone had fallen out and would be able to see daylight!
She saw daylight before she came to the place where the stone was missing. She saw it some way infront of her, a misty17 little patch that made her wonder what it was at first. Then she knew.
'Daylight! Oh, thank goodness!' She stumbled along to it and climbed up to the hole from which thestone had fallen. She sat there, drinking in the sunlight. It was bright and warm and very comforting.
79
After the darkness of the passages Jo felt quite dazed. Then she suddenly realized how very high thesun was in the sky! Goodness, it must be afternoon!
She looked cautiously out of the hole in the wall. Now that she was so near freedom she didn't wantto be caught by anyone watching out for her! There was nobody. Jo leapt down from the hole and randown the steep hillside. She went as sure-footed as a goat, leaping along till she came to the lane. Shecrossed it and made her way to the caravan18-field.
She was just about to go over the stile when she stopped. Julian had said she was to go to the police.
But Jo, like the other gypsy folk, was afraid of the police. No gypsy ever asked the police for help. Jofelt herself shrivelling up inside when she thought of talking to big policemen.
'No. I'll go to Uncle Fredo,' she thought. 'He will know what to do. I will tell him all about it.'
She was going up the field when she saw someone strange there! Who was it? Could it be that horridman who had tied her up? She had not seen him at all clearly, and she was afraid it might be. She sawthat he was talking urgently to some of the fair-folk. They were listening politely, but Jo could seethat they thought he was rather mad.
She went a bit nearer, and found that he was asking where Julian and the rest were. He was becomingvery angry with the fair-people because they assured him that they did not know where the childrenhad gone.
'It's the man they call Pottersham,' said Jo to herself, and dived under a caravan. 'He's come to findout how much we've told anyone about that Face.'
She hid till he had gone away down the hillside to the lane, very red in the face, and shouting out thathe would get the police.
Jo crawled out, and the fair-folk crowded round her at once. 'Where have you been? Where are theothers? That man wanted to know all about you. He sounds quite mad!'
'He's a bad man,' said Jo. 'I'll tell you all about him - and where the others are. We've got to rescuethem!'
Whereupon Jo launched into her story with the greatest zest19, beginning in the middle, then goingback to the beginning, putting in things she had forgotten, and thoroughly muddling20 everyone.
When she ended they all stared at her in excitement. They didn't really know what it was all about butthey had certainly gathered a few things.
'You mean to say that those kids are locked up in that tower over there?' said Alfredo, amazed.
'And a spy is with them!'
80
'No - he's not a spy - he's a good man,' explained Jo. 'What they call a scientist, very, very clever.'
'That man who left just now, he said he was a - a scientitist,' said Skippy, stumbling over theunfamiliar word.
'Well, he's a bad man,' said Jo, firmly. 'He is probably a spy. He kidnapped the good man, up in thetower there, to take him away to another country. And he tied me up too, like I told you. See mywrists and ankles?'
She displayed them, cut and bruised21. The fair-folk looked at them in silence. Then Bufflo cracked hiswhip and made everyone jump.
'We will rescue them!' he said. 'This is no police job. It is our job.'
'I say, look - that scientitist comes back,' said Skippy suddenly. And sure enough, there he was,coming hurriedly up the field to ask some more questions!
'We will get him,' muttered Bufflo. All the fair-folk waited in silence for the man to come up.
Then they closed round him solidly and began to walk up the hill. The man was taken with them.
He couldn't help himself! He was walked behind a caravan, and before the crowd had come apartagain he was on the ground, neatly22 roped by the rope-man!
'Well, we've got you,' said the rope-man. 'And now we'll get on to the next bit of business!'
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
doze
|
|
| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
dozed
|
|
| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
wriggle
|
|
| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
clatter
|
|
| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
dagger
|
|
| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
rusty
|
|
| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
persevered
|
|
| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
frayed
|
|
| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
undo
|
|
| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
Undid
|
|
| v. 解开, 复原 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
caravan
|
|
| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
zest
|
|
| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
muddling
|
|
| v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的现在分词 )；使糊涂；对付，混日子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
bruised
|
|
| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |