Chapter 20 A THRILLING TIME

Chapter 20 A THRILLING TIME
The two boys went back to the gates. Dick turned round and looked behind him two or three times. 'Ido hope nobody is shadowing us!' he said. 'I keep on feeling somebody's watching us all the time.'
'Oh, stuff!' said Julian, impatiently. 'Look - here are the gates. Give me a leg-up and I'll be over in ajiffy.'
Dick gave him a shove, and Julian climbed over the gates without much difficulty. They were bolted,not locked. He slid the great bolts carefully, and opened one gate a little for Dick and Timmy.
'Timmy can't be left behind!' he said. 'And he certainly couldn't climb this gate!'
They kept to the shadowed side of the drive as they walked up towards the house. The small mooncame out from behind a cloud as they came near. It was an old house, with high chimneys, an uglyhouse with narrow windows that seemed like watching eyes.
Dick glanced behind him suddenly and Julian saw him. 'Got the jitters¹ again?' he said, impatiently.
'Dick, don't be an ass². You know perfectly³ well that if anyone was shadowing us, Timmy would hearthem and go for them at once.'
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'Yes, I know,' said Dick. 'I'm an idiot - but I've just got that feeling tonight - the feeling that someoneelse is there!'
They came right up to the house. 'How shall we get in?' whispered Julian. 'The doors are all sure to belocked. We'll have to try the windows.'
They tiptoed silently round the big house. As Julian had said, the doors were all locked. The windowswere all fastened too - well and truly fastened. Not one was open or could be opened.
'If this is a house belonging to Gringo he must be able to hide plenty of things in absolute safety -bolted gates, high walls, locked doors, fastened windows!' said Dick. 'No burglar could possibly getin.'
'And neither can we,' said Julian, desperately⁴. 'We've been all round the house three times now!
There's no door, no window we can get in. No balcony to climb up to - no ivy⁵ to hang on to -nothing!'
'Let's go round once more,' said Dick. 'We might have missed something.'
So once more they went round - and discovered something curious when they got to the kitchenquarters. The moon came out, and showed them a round black hole in the ground! Whatever could itbe?
They tiptoed to it just as the moon went in again. They shone their torches on it briefly⁶.
'It's a coal-hole!' said Dick, astonished. 'Why didn't we see it before? Look, there's the lid just besideit. It's been left open. I suppose the moon was in last time we came by this part of the house. I can'tthink how we didn't notice it.'
Julian was uneasy. 'I didn't see it before, certainly. It's queer. Could it be a trap, do you think?'
'I don't see how it could be,' said Dick. 'Come on - let's get down. At least it's a way in.' He shone historch into the hole. 'Yes, look - there's a whole lot of coke down there - we can easily jump on to it.
Tim, you go first and spy out the land.'
Timmy jumped down at once, the coke slithering away from beneath his four paws. 'He's down allright,' said Julian. 'I'll go next.'
Down he jumped, and the coke slithered away again, making what seemed to be a very loud noise inthe silent night. Julian shone his torch around.
They were standing⁷ on a very large heap of coke in the middle of a big cellar. At the end was a door.
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'Hope it's not locked,' said Dick, in a whisper. 'Now, Tim, keep to heel, for goodness' sake, and don'tmake a sound!'
They went to the door, treading on gritty bits of coke. Julian turned the dirty handle - and the dooropened inwards! 'It's not locked!' said Julian, thankfully.
They crept through it, Timmy treading on their heels, and found themselves in another cellar, set withstone shelves on which were piled tins and boxes and crates⁸. 'Enough food here to stand a siege!'
whispered Dick. 'Where are the cellar-steps? We've got to get out.'
'Over there,' said Julian. Then he stopped and put out his torch. He had heard something.
'Did you hear that?' he whispered. 'It sounded like somebody treading on the coke in the coal-cellar!
Gosh, I hope nobody is shadowing us. We'll soon be prisoners if so.'
They listened but heard nothing further. Up the stone steps they went and undid⁹ the door at the top. Abig kitchen lay beyond, lighted by the dim moon. A shadow rose suddenly in front of them andTimmy growled¹⁰. Dick's heart almost stopped beating. What in the world was that, crawling silentlyover the floor and disappearing in the shadows? He clutched at Julian and made him jump.
'Don't do that, ass! That was only the kitchen cat you saw,' whispered Julian. 'Gosh, you made mejump. Wasn't it a good thing that Timmy didn't go for the cat? There would have been an awfulyowling!'
'Where do you suppose George will be?' asked Dick. 'Somewhere at the top of the house?'
'I've no idea. We'll just have to look into every room,' said Julian. So they looked into every room onthe ground floor, but they were empty. They were huge rooms, ugly and over-furnished.
'Come on - up the stairs!' said Dick, and up they went. They came to an enormous landing, hung withtapestry curtains at the windows. Timmy suddenly gave a small growl¹¹ and in a trice both boys hadhidden themselves in the folds of the long window- curtains. Timmy went with them, feelingsurprised. Dick peeped out after a minute.
'I think it was that cat again,' he whispered. 'Look, there it is, up on that chest. It's following us,wondering what on earth we're doing, I expect!'
'Blow it!' said Julian. 'I'm getting the jitters now, being watched by a shadowy cat. I suppose it isreal?'
'Timmy thinks so!' said Dick. 'Come on - there are any amount of bedroom doors on this landing.'
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They tiptoed into the ones whose doors were open, but no one was sleeping in the beds there.
They came to a closed door and listened. Someone was snoring inside!
'That's not George,' said Dick. 'Anyway, she'd be locked in, and the key is in this door.'
They went to the next door, which was also shut. They listened and could hear someone breathingheavily.
'Not George,' said Dick, and they went on up to the next flight of stairs. There were four more roomsthere, two of them not even furnished. The doors of the other two were ajar, and it was clear thatpeople were sleeping in them, because once more there was loud breathing to be heard.
'There don't seem to be any more rooms,' said Dick, in dismay, as they flashed their torches carefullyround the top landing. 'Blow! Where's George then?'
'Look - there's a little wooden door there,' said Julian, in Dick's ear. 'A door leading into the cisternroom, I should think.'
'She wouldn't be there,' said Dick. 'But wait - look, there's a strong bolt on the door! And cisternrooms don't have bolts on their doors, or even locks. This one hasn't a lock, but it has a bolt.'
'Sh! Not so loud!' said Julian. 'Yes, that's funny, I must say. How can we get the door open withoutwaking the people in those other two rooms?'
'We'll shut their doors very quietly, and we'll lock them!' said Dick, excited. 'I'll go and do it.'
He drew the doors gently to, and then locked first one and then the other, having taken the keys fromthe other side of the doors to do so. Except that one made a slight click as he locked it, there was nonoise. Nobody stirred in the two rooms, and the boys breathed freely again.
They went to the little wooden door opposite. They pulled gently at the bolt, afraid that it mightsqueak. But it didn't. It was obviously quite new, and ran easily. The door opened outwards¹³ with asmall creak. There was pitch darkness inside, and the sound of trickling¹⁴ water from the cistern¹².
Dick flashed his torch on and off quickly. In that second he saw something that made his heart jump!
There was a small mattress¹⁵ on the floor of the little cistern room, and someone was lying on it, rolledso completely in blankets that even the head was covered! Julian had seen it too, and he put his armon Dick's, afraid that it might not be George, afraid that it might be someone who would give thealarm, perhaps another prisoner.
But Timmy knew who it was! Timmy ran straight in with a small, loving whimper and flung himselfon the sleeping figure!
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Dick shut the cistern room door at once, afraid of the noise being heard. Timmy might bark with joyin a moment, or George might shout!
The figure gave a grunt¹⁶ and sat up. The blanket fell away from the head - and there was George'scurly nob, and her startled face.
'Sh!' said Dick, raising his finger warningly. 'SH!' Timmy was licking George from head to foot, wildwith delight, but extraordinarily¹⁷ silent - clever old Timmy knew that this was one of the times whenjoy must be dumb!
'Oh!' said George, hugging Timmy anywhere she could. 'Oh, Timmy! I missed you so! Darling,darling, Tim! Oh Timmy!'
Dick stood by the closed door, listening to find out if anyone was stirring in the other rooms. Heheard nothing at all. Julian went to George.
'Are you all right, George?' he asked. 'Have you been treated well?'
'Not very,' said George. 'But then I didn't behave very well! I did quite a lot of kicking and biting- so they locked me in here!'
'Poor old George!' said Julian. 'Well, we'll hear everything when we've got out of here. So far, we'vebeen jolly lucky. Can you come now?'
'Yes,' said George and got off the mattress. She was dressed in an odd selection of clothes, and lookedrather peculiar¹⁸. 'That awful old woman - Gringo's mother - found these for me when I was taken tothe caravan,' she said. 'Gosh, I've got a lot to tell you!'
'Sh!' said Dick, at the door. 'Not a sound, now! I'm going to open the door!'
He opened it slowly. All was quiet. 'Now we'll go down the stairs,' he said. 'Not a sound!'
They went down the first flight of stairs and on to the enormous landing. Then, just as Dick put hisfoot on to the next stair down, he trod on something soft that yowled, spat¹⁹ and scratched. It was thatcat!
Dick fell half-way down the stairs, and Timmy could not stop himself from chasing the cat up thelanding and up the top stairs to the cistern room. Nor could he stop himself from barking!
Shouts came from two of the near-by bedrooms and two men appeared in pyjamas²⁰. One switched onthe landing light, and then both of them tore down the stairs after the three children. Dick pickedhimself up, but he had ricked his ankle and could not even walk!
'Run, George - I'll see to Dick!' yelled Julian. Rut George stopped too - and in a trice the two menwere on to them, catching²¹ hold of Dick and Julian, and jerking them into a near-by room.
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'Tim! TIM!' shouted George. 'Help, Timmy!'
But before Timmy could come pelting²² down the stairs from the attic²³ George was shoved into theroom too, and the door locked.
'Look out for the dog!' shouted one of the men. 'He's dangerous!'
Timmy certainly was! He came tearing towards the men, snarling²⁴, his eyes blazing, showing all histeeth.
The men darted²⁵ into the room next to the one into which they had locked the children, and banged thedoor. Timmy flung himself against it in rage, snarling and growling²⁶ in a most terrifying manner. Ifonly he could get at those men! If only he could!

1 jitters   

n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the)

参考例句：

• I always get the jitters before exams. 我考试前总是很紧张。
• The whole city had the jitters from the bombing. 全城居民都为轰炸而心神不宁。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 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。

8 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

9 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

10 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

12 cistern   

n.贮水池

参考例句：

• The cistern is empty but soon fills again.蓄水池里现在没水，但不久就会储满水的。
• The lavatory cistern overflowed.厕所水箱的水溢出来了

13 outwards   

adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形

参考例句：

• Does this door open inwards or outwards?这门朝里开还是朝外开？
• In lapping up a fur,they always put the inner side outwards.卷毛皮时，他们总是让内层朝外。

14 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

16 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

17 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

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 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

20 pyjamas   

n.（宽大的）睡衣裤

参考例句：

• This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
• Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。

21 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

22 pelting   

微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的

参考例句：

• The rain came pelting down. 倾盆大雨劈头盖脸地浇了下来。
• Hailstones of abuse were pelting him. 阵阵辱骂冰雹般地向他袭来。

23 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

24 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

25 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。