Chapter 18 DICK GETS AN IDEA!

Chapter 18 DICK GETS AN IDEA!
　　In the greatest surprise and excitement the five children rushed to the kitchen door to follow Mr.
　　Penruthlan. Yan had scrambled¹ out from beneath the table, determined² not to miss anything. But atthe door the farmer turned round.
　　'Not the girls,' he said. 'Nor you, Yan.'
　　'I'll keep the girls here with me,' said Mrs. Penruthlan, who had forgotten her dismay and angercompletely in this new excitement. 'Yan, come here.'
　　But Yan had slipped out with the others. Nothing in the world would keep him from missing this newexcitement! Timmy had gone too, of course, as excited as the rest.
　　'What goings-on in the early hours of the morning!' said Mrs. Penruthlan, sitting down suddenlyagain. 'To think that Mr. Penruthlan never told me he was working to find those smugglers! We 91knew it was going on, around this coast, and to think he was keeping a watch, and never told me!'
　　Julian and Dick had quite forgotten that they felt tired. They hurried over the farm-yard with Mr.
　　Penruthlan, Yan a little way behind, and Timmy leaping round like a mad thing. They came to themachine-shed and went in.
　　'We piled ...' began Julian, and then suddenly stopped. Mr. Penruthlan's powerful torch was shiningon the corner where the trapdoor was fixed³.
　　It was open! Unbelievably open! The sacks and boxes that the children had dragged over it were nowscattered to one side.
　　'Look at that!' said Julian, amazed. 'Who's opened it? Sir, the smugglers have got out, with theirsmuggled goods, and they've gone. We're beaten!'
　　Mr. Penruthlan made a very angry noise, and flung the trapdoor shut with a resounding⁵ bang. He wasabout to say something more when there came the sound of voices not far off. It was the Barniesreturning from their search for the children.
　　They saw the light in the shed and peered in. When they saw Julian and Dick they cried out indelight. 'Where were you? We've searched everywhere for you!'
　　Julian and Dick were so disappointed at finding their high hopes dashed that they could hardlyrespond to the Barnies' delighted greetings. They felt suddenly very tired again, and Mr.
　　Penruthlan seemed all at once in a very bad temper. He answered the Barnies gruffly, said thateverything was all right now, and any talking could be done tomorrow. As for him, he was going tobed!
　　The Barnies dispersed⁶ at once, still talking. Mr. Penruthlan silently led the way back to the farmhousewith Julian and Dick trailing behind. Yan had gone like a shadow. As he was not at the farm-housewhen they walked wearily into the kitchen, Julian guessed that he had scampered⁷ back up the hills toold Grandad.
　　'Five past three in the morning,' said Mr. Penruthlan, looking at the clock. 'I'll sleep down here for anhour or two, wife, then I'll be up to milk the cows. Send these children to bed. I'm too weary to talk.
　　Good-night.'
　　And with that he put his hand to his mouth and quite solemnly took out his false teeth, putting theminto a glass of water on the mantelpiece.
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　　'Oooh - ock,' he said to his wife, and stripped off his wet coat. Mrs. Penruthlan hustled⁸ Julian and therest upstairs. They were almost dropping with exhaustion⁹ now. The girls managed to undress, but thetwo boys flopped¹⁰ on their beds and were asleep in half a second. They didn't stir when the cockscrew, or when the cows lowed, or even when the wagons¹¹ of the Barnies came trundling out into theyard to be packed with their things. They were going off to play in another village barn that night.
　　Julian awoke at last. It took him a few moments to realize why he was still fully¹² dressed. He lay andthought for a while, and a feeling of dejection came over him when he remembered how all theexcitement of the day before had ended in complete failure.
　　If only they knew who had opened that trapdoor! WHO could it be?
　　And then something clicked in his mind, and he knew. Of course! Why hadn't he thought of itbefore? Why hadn't he remembered to tell Mr. Penruthlan about the Guv'nor standing¹³ in the shadows,and his whispered message: 'Here! I'm here!'
　　He must have been waiting for the smugglers to come to him, of course, he probably used localfishermen to row through the rocks to the motor-boat that had slunk over to the Cornish coast, andthose fishermen used the Wreckers' Way so that no one knew what they were doing.
　　The Barnies often came to play at Tremannon Barn, nothing could be easier than for the Guv'nor toarrange for the smuggling¹⁴ to take place then, for the Wreckers' Way actually had an entrance in theshed near the big barn! If a stormy night came, all the better! No one would be about. He could go upon the hills and wait for the signal from the tower which would tell him that at last the boat wascoming.
　　Yes, and he would arrange with the signaller too, to flash out the news that he, the Guv'nor, was atTremannon again, and waiting! Who was the signaller? Probably another of the fishermen,descendants of the old Wreckers, and glad of a bit of excitement, and extra money.
　　Everything fell into place, all the odd bits and pieces of happenings fitted together like a jig-sawpuzzle. Julian saw the clear picture.
　　Who would ever have thought of the owner of the Barnies being involved in smuggling?
　　Smugglers were clever, but the Guv'nor was cleverer than most!
　　Julian heard the noise outside, and got up to see what it was. When he saw the Barnies piling theirfurniture on the wagons, he rushed downstairs, yelling to wake Dick as he went. He must tell Mr.
　　Penruthlan about the Guv'nor! He must get him arrested! He had probably got the 93smuggled goods somewhere in one of the boxes on the wagons. What an easy way of getting it awayunseen! The Guv'nor was cunning, there was no doubt about that.
　　With Dick at his heels, puzzled and surprised, Julian went to find Mr. Penruthlan. There he was,watching the Barnies getting ready to go, looking very dour¹⁵ and grim. Julian ran up to him.
　　'Sir! I've remembered something, something important! Can I speak to you?'
　　They went into a near-by field, and there Julian poured out all he had surmised¹⁶ about the Guv'nor.
　　'He was waiting in the dark last night for the smugglers,' said Julian. 'I'm sure he was. He must haveheard us and thought we were the men. And it must have been he who opened the trapdoor, sir. Whenthey didn't come, he must have gone to the trapdoor and found it shut, with things piled on it. And heopened it, and waited there till the men came and handed him the goods. And now he's got themhidden somewhere in those wagons!'
　　'Why didn't you tell me this last night?' said Mr. Penruthlan. 'We may be too late now! I'll have to getthe police here to search those wagons, but if I try to stop the Barnies going now, the Guv'nor willsuspect something and go off at once!'
　　Julian was relieved to see that Mr. Penruthlan had his teeth in again and could speak properly!
　　The farmer pulled at his black beard and frowned. 'I've searched many times through the Barnies'
　　properties to find the smuggled⁴ goods,' he said. 'Each time they've been here I've gone througheverything in the dead of night.'
　　'Do you know what it is they're smuggling?' asked Julian. The farmer nodded.
　　'Yes. Dangerous drugs. Drugs that are sold at enormously high prices in the black market. The parcelwouldn't need to be very big. I've suspected one or other of the Barnies of being the receivers beforethis, and I've searched and searched. No good.'
　　'If it's a small parcel it could be hidden easily,' said Dick, thoughtfully. 'But it's a dangerous thing tohide. The Guv'nor wouldn't have it on him, would he?'
　　'Oh no, he would be afraid of being searched,' said Mr. Penruthlan. 'Well, I reckon I must let them gothis time, and I must warn the police. If they like to search the wagons on the road, they're welcome. Ican't get the police here in time to stop the wagons going off. We've got no telephone at the farm.'
　　Mr. Binks came up at that moment, carrying Clopper's front and back legs. He grinned at the boys.
　　'You led us a fine dance last night!' he said. 'What happened?'
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　　'Yes,' said Sid, coming up with Clopper's ridiculous head under his arm as usual. 'Clopper was rightworried about you!'
　　'Gosh, you didn't carry old Clopper's head all over the hills last night, did you!' said Dick, astonished.
　　'No. I left it with the Guv'nor,' said Sid. 'He took charge of his precious Clopper while I wentgallivanting over the hills and far away, looking for a pack of tiresome¹⁷ kids!'
　　Dick stared at the horse's head, with its comical rolling eyes. He stared at it very hard indeed.
　　And then he did a most peculiar¹⁸ thing!
　　He snatched the head away from the surprised Sid, and tore across the farm-yard with it! Julianlooked after him in amazement¹⁹.
　　Sid gave an angry yell. 'Now then! What do you think you're doing? Bring that horse back at once!'
　　But Dick didn't. He tore round a corner and disappeared. Sid went after him, and so did somebodyelse!
　　The Guv'nor raced across the yard at top speed, looking furious! He shouted, he yelled, he shook hisfist. But when he and Sid got to the corner, Dick had disappeared!
　　'What's got into him?' said Mr. Penruthlan, amazed. 'What does he want to rush off with Clopper'shead for? The boy must be mad.'
　　Julian suddenly saw light. He knew why Dick had snatched Clopper's head. He knew!
　　'Mr. Penruthlan, why does the Guv'nor always have someone in charge of Clopper's head?' he said.
　　'Maybe he hides something precious there, something he doesn't want anyone to find!
　　Quick, let's go and see!'

1 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》

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

5 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

6 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

7 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

9 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

10 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 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。

14 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

15 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。

16 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

18 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

19 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。