Chapter 15 DISCOVERIES IN THE WOOD

Chapter 15 DISCOVERIES IN THE WOOD
The sergeant¹ had come and also a constable². Anne felt comforted when she saw the big, solid,responsible- looking men. Julian took them into the sitting- room, and began to tell all that hadhappened.
In the middle of it there came the sound of footsteps racing³ down the stairs, and up the hall.
'We're just off!' shouted Joan's voice. 'Can't stop to say good-bye, or we shall miss the bus!'
Down the garden path rushed Joan, carrying a small suitcase of her own, which she had lent Berta,because Berta's was too grand. In it she had packed the very simplest of Berta's clothes, but secretlyshe had thought that she would tell her cousin to dress Berta in some of Jo's things.
Berta ran behind her - a different Berta now, dressed in a frock instead of jeans and jersey⁴. She wavedto the others as she went, trying to smile.
'Good old Berta!' said Dick. 'She's got quite a lot in her, that kid.'
'In fact, she's quite a honey!' said Julian, trying to make Anne smile.
'What's all that?' said the sergeant, in surprise, nodding his head towards the front path, down whichJoan and Berta had just rushed.
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Julian explained. The sergeant frowned. 'You shouldn't have arranged about that till you'd consultedus,' he said. Julian was quite taken aback.
'Well, you see,' he said, 'it seemed to me that I must get Berta out of the house and hidden away atonce in case the kidnappers⁵ realised quickly that they'd got the wrong girl.'
'That's so,' said the sergeant. 'Still, you should have consulted us. It seems quite a good idea to put herin that quiet village, with Jo to see to her - she's sharp, that Jo. I wouldn't put it past her to hoodwinkthe kidnappers any day! But this is a very serious business, you realise, Master Julian -it can't be dealt with by children.'
'Can you get George back?' asked Anne, breaking in with the question she had been longing⁶ to askever since the police came.
'May be,' said the sergeant. 'Now I'll get in touch with your aunt and uncle, Master Julian, and withMr. Elbur Wright, and...'
The telephone rang just then and Anne answered it. 'It's for you, Sergeant,' she said, and he took thereceiver from her.
'Ha. Hm. Just so. Yes, yes. Right. Ha. Hm.' The sergeant replaced the receiver and went back toJulian and the others. 'News has just come in that the kidnappers have contacted Mr. Elbur Wright,and told him they've got his daughter Berta,' he said.
'Oh! And have they demanded that he shall tell them the secret figures he knows?' asked Julian.
The sergeant nodded. 'Yes. He's almost off his head with shock! He's promised to give them all theywant. Very foolish!'
'Gosh - you'd better tell him it's not Berta they've got, but George,' said Dick. 'Then he'll sit tight!'
The sergeant frowned. 'Now, you leave this to us,' he said, ponderously⁷. 'You'll only hinder us if youinterfere or try meddling⁸ on your own. You just sit back and take things easy.'
'What! With George kidnapped and in danger?' exploded Dick. 'What are you going to do to get herback?'
'Now, now!' said the sergeant, annoyed. 'She is in no danger - she's not the person they want.
They will free her as soon as they realise that.'
'They won't,' said Dick. 'They'll get on to her father and make him give up a few secrets!'
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'Well, that will give us a little more time to find these men,' said the irritating sergeant, and he stoodup, big and burly in his navy blue uniform. 'Let me know at once if you have any other news, andplease do not try to meddle⁹. I assure you that we know the right things to do.'
He went out with the constable. Julian groaned¹¹. 'He doesn't see that this is urgent. It's so complicatedtoo - the wrong girl kidnapped, the wrong father informed, the right one not at all inclined to give uppowerful secrets - and poor old George not knowing what is happening!'
'Well, thank goodness we got Berta out of the way,' said Dick. 'Anne, you look queer - are you allright?'
'Yes. I think I'm just shocked - and oh dear, I feel awfully¹² empty!' said Anne, pressing her tummy.
'Gosh - we forgot all about breakfast!' said Dick staring at the clock. 'And it's almost ten o'clock now!
What have we been doing all this time? Come on, Anne - get us some food, there's a dear.
We shall all feel better then.'
'I'm so sorry for poor old Timmy and little Sally,' said Anne, going into the kitchen. 'Timmy, darling,don't look at me like that! I don't know where your beloved George is, or I'd take you to her straightaway! And Sally, you will have to put up with me for a little while, because although I do knowwhere Berta is, I can't possibly take you there!'
They were soon sitting down to a plain breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and butter. It seemed queeronly to be three. Dick tried to make conversation, but the other two were very quiet. Timmy sat underthe table with his head on Anne's foot, and Sally stood beside her, paws on her knee. Anne comfortedboth the mournful dogs as best she could!
After breakfast Anne went to wash up and make the beds, and the boys went outside to have anotherlook at the place where George's dressing-gown girdle had been found. Sally and Timmy came withthem.
Timmy sniffed¹³ around a good bit, and then, nose to ground, went down the garden path to the frontgate, and then pushed it open and went through it. Nose to ground he went down the lane and turnedoff into a little path.
'Dick - he's following some kind of trail,' said Julian. 'I'm certain it's George's. Even if somebodycarried her away, Timmy is clever enough to know George might be with him - he might just get awhiff of her.'
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'Come on then - let's follow Timmy,' said Dick, and the boys and Sally went along the little path, hoton Timmy's track. Timmy began to run, and Dick called to him.
'Not so fast, old boy! We're coming too.'
But Timmy did not slow down. Whatever it was he smelt¹⁴, the scent¹⁵ was quite strong. The boys ranafter him, beginning to feel excited.
But soon Timmy came to a full stop, in a little clearing in the wood. Dick and Julian panted up towhere he was nosing round. He looked up at them forlornly. Evidently the scent came to an endthere.
'Car-tracks!' said Dick, pointing down to where the dampish grass under a great oak tree had beenrutted with big tyre-marks. 'See? The men brought a car here and hid it, then crept through the woodsto Kirrin Cottage, and waited for a chance to get Berta. They got George instead - but they wouldn'thave got anyone if only George hadn't been ass¹⁰ enough to take Sally to the kennel¹⁶!
The house was well and truly locked and bolted!'
Julian was looking at the wheel-tracks. 'These tracks were made by very big tyres,' he said. 'It was acar - and I rather think these are American tyre-marks. I can check that when I get back -I'll go and ask Jim, at the local garage - he'll know. I'll just sketch¹⁷ one quickly.'
He took out a notebook and pencil and began to sketch. Dick bent¹⁸ down and looked more carefully atthe tracks. 'There is quite a lot of criss-crossing of tracks,' he said. 'I think the men came here andwaited. Then, when they got George, they must have pushed her into the car, and turned it to go backthe way they came - see, the tracks lead down that wide path over there.
They made a mess of the turning, though - bumped into this tree, look - there's a mark right across it.'
'Where?' said Julian at once. 'Yes - a bright blue mark - the car was that colour - or the wings were, atany rate. Well, that's something we've learnt! A big blue car, probably American. Surely the policecould trace that?'
'Timmy's still nosing round, the picture of misery,' said Dick. 'Poor old Tim. I expect he knowsGeorge was pushed into a car just there. Hallo - he's scraping at something!'
They ran to see what it was. Timmy was trying to get at some small object embedded¹⁹ in a car-rut.
Evidently, in turning, the car had run over whatever it was.
Dick saw something broken in half - something green. He picked up the halves. 'A comb! Did Georgehave a little green comb like this?'
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'Yes. She did,' said Julian. 'She must have thrown it down when she got near to the car - to show usshe was taken here - hoping we would find it. And look, what's that?'
It was a handkerchief hanging on a gorse bush. Julian ran to it. It had the initial G on it in blue.
'Yes, it's George's,' he said. 'She's got six of these, all with different-coloured initials. She must havethrown this out too. Quick, Dick, look for anything else she might have thrown out of the car, whilethey were trying to turn it. They would probably put her in the back, and she would just have had achance to throw out anything she had in her dressing-gown pocket, to let us know she was here if wecame along this way.'
They searched for a long time. Timmy found one more thing, again embedded in a car-rut - a boiledsweet wrapped in cellophane paper.
'Look!' said Dick, picking it up. 'One of the sweets we all had the other night! George must have hadone in her dressing-gown pocket! If only she had had a pencil and bit of paper - she might have hadtime to write a note too!'
'That's an idea!' said Julian. 'We'll hunt even more carefully'
But although they searched every bit of ground and every bush, there was no note to be found. It wastoo much to hope for!
'Let's just follow the car-tracks and make sure they reached the road,' said Julian. So they followedthem down the wide woodland path.
At the side, a little way along, a piece of paper blew in the wind, hopping²⁰ an inch or two each timethe breeze flapped it. Dick picked it up - and then looked at Julian excitedly.
'She did have time to write a note! This is her writing. But there's only one word, look - whateverdoes it mean?'
Julian and Dick frowned over the piece of paper. Yes, it was George's writing - the G was exactlylike the way she always wrote the big G at the beginning of her signature.
'Gringo,' read Julian. 'Just that one word. Gringo! What does it mean? It's something she heard themsay, I suppose - and she just had time to write it and throw out the paper. Gringo! Timmy, what doesGringo mean?'

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 ponderously   

参考例句：

• He turns and marches away ponderously to the right. 他转过身，迈着沉重的步子向右边行进。 来自互联网
• The play was staged with ponderously realistic sets. 演出的舞台以现实环境为背景，很没意思。 来自互联网

8 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

9 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。

10 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。

11 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 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》

14 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。

15 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

16 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。

17 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

18 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

19 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

20 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。