Chapter 19 GOOD OLD TIM!

Chapter 19 GOOD OLD TIM!
　　Henry had been fast asleep and snoring. She awoke with a tremendous jump when she felt Timmy'spaw on her arm and heard his sharp little bark.
　　'Oooh! What is it?' she said, sitting up straight in bed and fumbling¹ for her torch. She was quitepanic-stricken. She switched on the torch with trembling fingers and then saw Timmy, his big browneyes looking at her beseechingly².
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　　'Why, Timmy!' said Henry, in amazement³, 'Timmy! Whatever are you doing here? Have the otherscome back? No, they couldn't have, not in the middle of the night! Why have you come then,Timmy?'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, trying to make her understand that he was bringing a message. Henry put out herhand to pat his head, and suddenly caught sight of the paper tied to his collar at the back.
　　'What's this on your collar?' she said, and reached out for it. 'Why, it's paper. Tied on, too. It must bea message!'
　　She untied⁵ the piece of paper and unrolled it. She read it.
　　'We are prisoners. Follow Timmy and he will bring you to us and you can save us.
　　Georgina.'
　　Henry was astounded⁶. She looked at Timmy and he looked back, wagging his tail. He pawed at herarm impatiently. Henry read the note again. Then she pinched herself to make sure she was notdreaming.
　　'We are prisoners. Follow Timmy and he will bring you to us and you can save us.
　　Georgina.'
　　'Oooh, no, I'm awake all right,' she said. 'Timmy, is this note true? Are they prisoners? And who does'we' mean? George and Anne, or the whole four? Oh, Timmy, I do wish you could speak!'
　　Timmy wished the same! He pawed energetically at Henry. She suddenly saw the cut on his head andwas horrified⁷.
　　'You're hurt, Timmy! Oh, you poor, poor thing. Who did that to you? You ought to have that woundseen to!'
　　Timmy certainly had a very outsize headache, but he couldn't bother to think about that. He gave alittle whine⁸ and ran to the door and back.
　　'Yes, I know you want me to follow you, but I've got to think,' said Henry. 'If Captain Johnson washere I'd go and fetch him. But he's away for the night, Timmy. And I'm sure Mrs. Johnson wouldhave the fright of her life if I fetched her. I simply don't know what to do.'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, scornfully.
　　'It's all very well to say 'Woof' like that,' said Henry, 'but I'm not as brave as you are. I pretend I am,Timmy, but I'm not really. I'm afraid of following you! I'm afraid of going to find the others.
　　I might be caught too. And there's a terrible mist, Timmy, you know.'
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　　Henry slid out of bed, and Timmy looked suddenly hopeful. Was this silly girl going to make up hermind at last?
　　'Timmy, there's no grown-up here tonight except Mrs. Johnson, and I really can't wake her,' saidHenry. 'She's had such a very hard, busy day. I'm going to dress, and then get William. He's onlyeleven, I know, but he's very sensible, and he's a boy. He'll know what to do. I only pretend to be aboy.'
　　She dressed quickly in her riding things and then set off to William's room. He slept by himselfacross the landing. Henry walked in and switched on her torch.
　　William awoke at once. 'Who's there?' he demanded, sitting up at once. 'What do you want?'
　　'It's me. Henry,' said Henry. 'William, a most extraordinary thing has happened. Timmy has arrived inmy room with a note on his collar. Read it!'
　　William took the note and read it. He was most astonished. 'Look,' he said, 'George has signed herselfGeorgina. She wouldn't do that unless things were very urgent. She never, never lets herself be calledanything but George. We'll have to follow Tim and go, at once, too'
　　'But I can't walk miles in a mist over the moor⁹,' said Henry, in a panic.
　　'We don't need to. We'll saddle our horses and go on those,' said William, beginning to dress, andsounding very sensible indeed. 'Timmy will lead the way. You go and get the horses out. Do buck¹⁰ up,Henry. The others may be in danger. You're acting¹¹ like a Henrietta!'
　　That made Henry cross. She went out of the room at once and down into the yard. What a pityCaptain Johnson happened to be away just that night. He would have decided¹² everything at once.
　　Courage came to her when she got the horses. They were surprised but quite willing to go for anighttime ride, even in this thick mist! William came up in a very short time with Timmy behind him.
　　Timmy was delighted to have William with him. He liked him, but he was not very fond of Henry.
　　He ran forward, just in front of the horses, and they followed behind. Both Henry and William hadexcellent torches, and kept them shining downwards¹³, so that they should not miss Timmy.
　　He did go out of sight once or twice, but came back immediately, when he heard the horses stopping.
　　Over the moor they rode. They didn't follow the railway, of course. Timmy didn't need to. He knewthe way perfectly¹⁴!
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　　Once he stopped and sniffed¹⁵ the air. What had he smelt¹⁶? Henry and William had no idea, but Timmywas puzzled by what he had smelt on the misty¹⁷ air.
　　Surely he had smelt the smell of the two boys, Julian and Dick? It had come on the air for a momentor two, and Timmy was half-inclined to follow it and see if the smell was right. Then he rememberedGeorge and Anne and went on through the swirling¹⁸ mist.
　　The boys were actually not very far away when Timmy smelt them. They were still in the middle ofthe bush, trying to keep warm, and sleep. If only they had known that Timmy was near, with Henryand William! But they didn't.
　　Timmy led the way. Soon they came to the quarry¹⁹, but did not see it because of the mist. They wentround it, led by Timmy, and rode towards the gypsy camp. Timmy slowed down, and they tookwarning.
　　'He's getting near wherever he wants to take us,' whispered William. 'Had we better dismount and tiethe horses up, do you think? Their hooves may give a warning that we are near.'
　　'Yes. Yes, William,' said Henry, thinking that the boy was really very sensible. They dismountedquietly and tied the horses to a nearby birch tree.
　　They were quite near the hill in front of which was the gypsy camp. The mist was not so thick here,and the two suddenly caught sight of a dark, shadowy caravan²⁰, outlined against a campfire, leftburning nearby.
　　'We'll have to be very quiet,' whispered William. 'Timmy's brought us to the gypsy camp on themoor. I had an idea that he would. The others must be held prisoner somewhere near - be as quiet asyou can.'
　　Timmy watched them dismount. He hung his head, panting, his tail down. His head was hurting himvery much, and he felt decidedly queer and giddy. But he must get to George, he must!
　　He led the way to the opening in the hill. William and Henry were most astonished. They followedTimmy through the maze⁴ of passages, wondering how he knew the way so surely. But Timmy didn'tfalter. He only needed to go somewhere once, and after that he never forgot the way!
　　He was going very slowly now, and his legs felt queer and shaky. He wanted to lie down and put hisaching head on his paws. But no, he must find George. He must find George.
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　　George and Anne were lying in the little cave, asleep. They were uncomfortable, and the cave washot, so they were restless, waking up every few minutes. But both were asleep when Timmy walkedslowly into the cave, and flopped²¹ down beside George.
　　George awoke when she heard William and Henry come into the cave. She thought it might beSniffer's father coming back, and she hastily put the ropes round her waist so that she would look asif she were still tied up. Then she heard Timmy panting, and switched on her torch eagerly.
　　It showed her Timmy, and Henry and William! Henry was full of amazement when she saw Georgeand Anne with ropes round their waists. She gaped²² at them.
　　'Oh Timmy darling, you fetched help!' said George, putting her arms round his neck. 'Oh Henry, I'mso glad you've come. But didn't you bring Captain Johnson too?'
　　'No. He's away,' said Henry. 'But William's here. We rode, and Timmy guided us. Whatever'shappened, George?'
　　Anne awoke just then, and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the visitors! There was a hastydiscussion, and then William spoke²³ firmly.
　　'If you want to escape, you'd better come now, while the gypsy camp is asleep. Timmy can guide usout of this rabbit-warren of a hill. We'd never be able to find our way out alone. Come on!'
　　'Come on, Tim,' said George, shaking him gently. But poor old Timmy was feeling very peculiar²⁴.
　　He couldn't see things properly. George's voice sounded blurred²⁵ to him. His head felt as heavy aslead, and somehow his legs wouldn't carry him. The blow on his head was taking real effect now, andthe hurried journey over the moor and back was making it worse.
　　'He's ill!' said George, in a panic. 'He can't get up! Oh Timmy, what's the matter?'
　　'It's that cut on his head,' said William. 'It's pretty bad, and he's worn out with coming to fetch us andrunning all the way back again. He can't possibly guide us back, George. We'll have to do the best wecan by ourselves.'
　　'Oh, poor, poor Timmy!' said Anne, horrified at seeing the dog stretched out quite limp, on the floorof the cave. 'George, can you carry him?'
　　'I think so,' said George, and she lugged²⁶ him up in her arms. 'He's awfully²⁷ heavy, but I think I can justmanage him. Perhaps the fresh air will revive him when we get outside.'
　　'But George, we don't know our way out of here,' said Anne, fearfully. 'If Timmy can't lead us, we'relost! We'd end up by wandering miles and miles inside this hill and never getting out!'
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　　'Well, we'll simply have to make a shot at it,' said William. 'Come on, I'll lead the way. We reallyMUST go!'
　　He went out of the cave and down a passage; the others followed. George carrying the limp Timmy.
　　But very soon William came to a fork and stopped.
　　'Oh dear - do we go to the left or the right?' he wondered.
　　Nobody knew. George shone her torch here and there, trying to remember. The beam of light pickedup something on the ground nearby.
　　It was two sticks, one short and one long, in the shape of a cross! George gave an exclamation²⁸.
　　'Look - a patrin! Left by Sniffer to show us the way out. We have to take the passage that the longstick points to! Oh, I hope that Sniffer has left patrins at every corner and every fork!'
　　They took the right-hand way and went on, their torches making long beams in the darkness, and atevery place where they might go wrong, they saw a patrin, a message left by Sniffer to show them theright way to go.
　　'Another cross, we go this way,' said Anne.
　　'Here's a patrin again, we take this fork!' said George. And so it went on until they came safely to theentrance of the hill. How thankful they were to see the mist. At least it meant that they were in theopen air!
　　'Now to get to the horses,' said William. 'They will each have to carry two of us at once, I'm afraid.'
　　And then, just as they were making their way to where they had left the horses, the gypsies' dogsbegan to bark the place down!
　　'They've heard us!' said William, desperately²⁹. 'Buck up! We'll be stopped if we don't get off at once!'
　　Then a voice shouted loudly. 'I can see you over there, with your torches! Stop at once! Do you hearme? STOP!'

1 fumbling   

n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理

参考例句：

• If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。
• If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。

2 beseechingly   

adv. 恳求地

参考例句：

• She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来，几乎是恳求似地问丈夫：“我们现在就走吧？”
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来，乞求地盯着斯内普。

3 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。

4 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

5 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

6 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

7 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。

8 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

9 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。

10 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 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。

13 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

17 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

18 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

19 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

20 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。

21 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》

22 gaped   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞，屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句

23 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

24 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。

25 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 lugged   

vt.用力拖拉（lug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• She lugged the heavy case up the stairs. 她把那只沉甸甸的箱子拖上了楼梯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They used to yell that at football when you lugged the ball. 踢足球的时候，逢着你抢到球，人们总是对你这样嚷嚷。 来自辞典例句

27 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。

28 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

29 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。