Chapter 5 GEORGE GETS A HEADACHE!

Chapter 5 GEORGE GETS A HEADACHE!
　　The man got up sullenly². His ear-rings shone in the light of the torch. 'I came to get Clip,' he said.
　　'He's my horse, isn't he?'
　　'You were told he wasn't fit to walk yet,' said Julian. 'Do you want him to go lame³ for life? You oughtto know enough about horses to know when one can be worked or not!'
　　'I've got my orders,' said the man. 'I've got to take my caravan⁴ with the others.'
　　'Who said so?' said Dick, scornfully.
　　'Barney Boswell,' said the man. 'He's boss of our lot here. We've got to start off together tomorrow.'
　　'But why?' said Julian, puzzled. 'What's so urgent about all this? What's the mystery?'
　　'There ain't no mystery,' said the man, still sullen¹. 'We're just going to the moor⁵.'
　　'What are you going to do there?' asked Dick, curiously⁶. 'It doesn't seem to me to be the place to takea lot of caravans⁷ to. There's nothing there at all, is there? Or so I've heard.'
　　The man shrugged⁸ his shoulders and said nothing. He turned to Clip as if to get him up. But Julianrapped out at him at once.
　　'Oh no, you don't! If you don't care about injuring a horse, I do! You've only got to be patient for aday or two more, and he'll be quite all right. You're not to take him tonight. Dick, go and wakeCaptain Johnson. He'll know what to do.'
　　'No,' said the man, scowling¹⁰. 'Don't go waking anybody. I'll go. But just you see that Clip is given toSniffer as soon as it's possible, or I'll know the reason why! See?'
　　He looked at Julian in a threatening way.
　　'Take that scowl⁹ off your face,' said Julian. 'I'm glad you've seen sense. Clear out now. Go off withthe others tomorrow and I'll see that Sniffer has the horse in a short time.'
　　21
　　The man moved to the door and slid out like a shadow. Julian went to watch him across the yard,wondering whether, out of spite, the man might try to steal a hen, or one of the ducks sleeping besidethe pond.
　　But there was no sudden clucking, no loud quack¹¹. The man had gone as silently as he had come.
　　'Most peculiar¹², all this!' said Julian, latching¹³ the door again. He tied a piece of thick string over it hisside, so that it could not be lifted from outside. 'There! Now if the gypsy comes again, he'll find hecan't get in. What a nerve, coming here in the middle of the night like that!'
　　He got back into the straw. 'He must have fallen right over my foot,' he said, snuggling down.
　　'He woke me up with an awful jump. Good thing for Clip that we were sleeping out here tonight, orhe'd be dragging along a heavy cart tomorrow, and going lame again. I don't like that fellow!'
　　He fell asleep again and so did Dick. Clip slept too, his leg feeling easier. How glad he had been thatday not to have to drag along the heavy caravan!
　　The boys told Captain Johnson next morning about the gypsy's midnight visit. He nodded. 'Yes, Iought to have warned you that he might come. They're not always very good to their horses.
　　Well, I'm glad you sent him off. I don't reckon Clip's leg will be ready for walking on till the day aftertomorrow. There's no harm in giving the poor creature a few days' rest. Sniffer can easily take thecaravan on after the others.'
　　It looked as if that day was going to be fun. After all the horses had been seen to, and many odd jobsdone, the four, with Timmy, planned to set out for a day's ride. Captain Johnson said he would letJulian ride his own sturdy cob and Dick took a bonny chestnut¹⁴ horse with four white socks. The girlshad the horses they usually rode.
　　Henry hung about, looking very mournful. The boys felt quite uncomfortable. 'We really ought to tellher to come along too,' said Dick to Julian. 'It seems jolly mean to leave her behind with those littlekids.'
　　'Yes, I know. I agree with you,' said Julian. 'Anne, come here! Can't you suggest to George that wetake Henry too? She's longing¹⁵ to come, I know.'
　　'Yes. She is,' said Anne. 'I feel awful about it. But George will be mad if we ask Henry. They reallydo get across one another. I simply daren't ask George to let Henry come, Ju.'
　　'But this is silly!' said Julian. 'To think we don't dare to ask George to let somebody come!
　　George will have to learn sense. I like Henry. She's boastful, and I don't believe half the tales shetells, but she's a sport and good fun. Hey, Henry!'
　　22
　　'Coming!' yelled Henry, and came running, looking very hopeful.
　　'Would you like to come with us?' said Julian. 'We're all going off for the day. Have you got any jobsto do, or can you come?'
　　'Can I come! Rather,' said Henry, joyfully¹⁶. 'But - does George know?'
　　'I'll soon tell her,' said Julian, and went in search of George. She was helping¹⁷ Mrs. Johnson to getsaddle-bags ready, full of food.
　　'George,' said Julian, boldly. 'Henry is coming too. Will there be enough food for everyone?'
　　'Oh! How nice of you to ask her!' said Mrs. Johnson, sounding very pleased. 'She's dying to come.
　　She's been so good this week, too, while we've been shorthanded. She deserves a treat.
　　Isn't that nice, George?'
　　George muttered something peculiar and went out of the room, her face scarlet¹⁸. Julian stared afterher, his eyebrows¹⁹ cocked in a comical manner.
　　'I don't somehow feel that George thinks it's nice,' he said. 'I feel as if we are in for an awkward day,Mrs. Johnson.'
　　'Oh, don't take any notice of George when she's silly,' said Mrs. Johnson, comfortably, filling anotherpaper bag with delicious-looking sandwiches. 'And don't take any notice of Henry, either, when she'sidiotic. There! If you get through all this food, I shall be surprised!'
　　William, one of the younger ones, came in just then. 'What a lot of food you've given them,' he said.
　　'Will there be enough left for us to have today?'
　　'Good gracious, yes!' said Mrs. Johnson. 'You think of nothing but your tummy, William! Go and findGeorge and tell her the food is ready for her to put into the saddle-bags.'
　　William disappeared and then came back. 'George says she's got a headache and doesn't think she'llgo on the ride,' he announced.
　　Julian looked startled and upset. 'Now you listen to me, Julian,' said Mrs. Johnson, beginning to insertthe parcels of food carefully into the saddle-bags, 'just you leave her to her imaginary headache.
　　Don't go fussing round her, and begging her to come and saying you won't have Henry. Just believequite firmly in her headache, and go off by yourselves. It's the quickest way to make George seesense, believe me!'
　　'Yes. I think you're right,' said Julian, frowning. To think that George should behave like a sulky littlegirl, after all the adventures they had been through together! Just because of Henry. It really wasabsurd.
　　23
　　'Where is George!' he said to William.
　　'Up in her room,' said William, who had been engrossed²⁰ in picking up and eating all the crumbs²¹ hecould. Julian went out of the room and into the yard. He knew which window belonged to the roomwhere George and Anne slept. He yelled up.
　　'I say, George! Sorry about your headache, old thing! Sure you don't feel like coming?'
　　'No!' came back an answering shout, and the window was shut down with a slam.
　　'Righto! Awfully²² disappointed and all that!' shouted Julian. 'Do hope your head will soon be better!
　　See you later!'
　　No other reply came from the window, but, as Julian went across the yard to the stables, a verysurprised face watched him go, from behind the bedroom curtains. George was extremely astonishedto have been taken at her word, shocked at being left behind after all, and angry with Henry andeveryone else for putting her into this fix!
　　Julian told the others that George had a headache and wasn't coming. Anne was most concerned andwanted to go and comfort her but Julian forbade her to.
　　'No. She's up in her room. Leave her alone, Anne. That's an order - see?'
　　'All right,' said Anne, half-relieved. She felt sure that George's headache was mostly temper, and shedidn't at all want to go and argue with her for half an hour. Henry hadn't said a word. She had flushedwith surprise when Julian had announced that George was not coming, and she knew at once thatthere was no real headache! She was George's headache, she knew that!
　　She went up to Julian. 'Look, I guess it's because you've asked me to come, that Georgina won't comewith us. I don't want to spoil things. You go and tell her I'm not going after all.'
　　Julian looked at Henry gratefully. 'That's jolly nice of you,' he said. 'But we're taking George at herword. Anyway, we didn't ask you out of politeness. We wanted you to come!'
　　'Thanks,' said Henry. 'Well, let's go before anything else happens! Our horses are ready. I'll fix thesaddle-bags.'
　　Soon all four were on their horses, and were walking over the yard to the gate. George heard theclippity-clop-clippity-clop of the hooves and peeped out of the window again. They were going afterall! She hadn't thought they really would go without her. She was horrified²³.
　　Why did I behave like that? I've put myself in the wrong! thought poor George. Now Henrietta willbe with them all day and will be as nice as possible, just to show me up. What an ass²⁴ I am!
　　'Timmy, I'm an ass and an idiot, and a great big fathead! Aren't I?'
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　　Timmy didn't think so. He had been puzzled to hear the others going off without him and George, andhad gone to the door and whined²⁵. Now he came back to George and put his head on her knee. Heknew George was not happy.
　　'You don't care how I behave, do you, Tim?' said George, stroking the soft, furry²⁶ head. 'That's thebest of a dog! You don't care if I'm in the wrong or not, you just love me all the same, don't you?
　　Well, you shouldn't love me today, Tim. I've been an idiot!'
　　There was a knock at her door. It was William again. 'George! Mrs. Johnson says, if your headache isbad, undress and get into bed. But if it's better, come down and help with Clip, the gypsy's horse.'
　　'I'll come down,' said George, flinging away her sulks at one go. 'Tell Mrs. Johnson I'll go to thestable at once.'
　　'All right,' said the stolid²⁷ William, and trotted²⁸ off like a reliable little pony²⁹.
　　George went downstairs with Timmy, and into the yard. She wondered how far the others had gone.
　　She couldn't see them in the distance. Would they have a good day together, with that horrid³⁰ Henry?
　　Ugh!
　　The others were almost a mile away, cantering easily. What fun! A whole day before them, onMystery Moor!

1 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

2 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

3 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

4 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

5 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

6 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

7 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

8 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

10 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

12 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。

13 latching   

n.闭塞；闭锁；关闭；闭塞装置v.理解( latch的现在分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• They have a reputation for latching onto all the latest crazes. 大家都知道他们对所有的最新时尚都有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes we should tolerate people's mistakes instead of latching on to them. 有的时候我们要能够容错，不要揪着对方的失误不放。 来自互联网

14 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

15 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

16 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。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

19 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

20 engrossed   

adj.全神贯注的

参考例句：

• The student is engrossed in his book.这名学生正在专心致志地看书。
• No one had ever been quite so engrossed in an evening paper.没人会对一份晚报如此全神贯注。

21 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

22 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

23 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

24 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

25 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

26 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

27 stolid   

adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的

参考例句：

• Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference.她的脸上毫无表情，只有麻木的无动于衷。
• He conceals his feelings behind a rather stolid manner.他装作无动于衷的样子以掩盖自己的感情。

28 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

29 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

30 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。