Chapter 3 THE OLD COTTAGE - AND A SURPRISE

Chapter 3 THE OLD COTTAGE - AND A SURPRISE
The two girls, with Timmy at their heels, left their camping-place and set off in the hot sun.
Anne caught sight of the ruined cottage and stopped.
'Let's have a look at it,' she said. 'It must be awfully¹ old, George.'
They went in at the wide doorway². There was no door left, only the stone archway. Inside was a bigroom, whose floor had once been paved with slabs³ of white stone. Now grass and other weeds hadgrown between the cracks, and had actually lifted up some of the slabs so that the whole floor wasuneven.
Here and there parts of the walls had fallen away, and the daylight came through. One window wasstill more or less intact, but the others had fallen out. A small crooked⁵ stairway of stone led upwardsin one corner.
'To rooms above, I suppose,' said Anne. 'Oh, here's another doorway, leading into a second room- a small one. It's got an old sink in it, look - and this must be the remains⁶ of a pump.'
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'There's not much to see, really,' said George, looking round. 'The top rooms must be quite ruined,because half the roof is off. Hallo, here's another door - a back door. It's actually a door too, not just adoorway.'
She gave a push at the stout wood - and the old door promptly⁷ fell off its hinges and crashed outwardsinto an over-grown yard.
'Goodness!' said George, startled. 'I didn't know it was quite so rotten. It made poor Tim jump almostout of his skin!'
'There are out-houses here - or the remains of them,' said Anne, exploring the back-yard. 'They musthave kept pigs and hens and ducks. Here's a dried-up pond, look.'
Everything was falling to pieces. The best preserved corner of the old place was what must have beena small stable. Rusted⁸ mangers were still there and the floor was of stone. An old, old piece ofharness hung on a big nail.
'It's got quite a nice 'feel' about it, this old place,' said Anne. 'Sometimes I don't like the feel of places- they give me an uneasy feeling, a feeling that horrid⁹ things may have happened there.
But this is quite different. I think people have been happy here, and led peaceful lives. I can almosthear hens clucking and ducks quacking¹¹, and pigs gr...'
'Quack¹⁰, quack, quack! Quack!'
'Cuck-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk! Cuck-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk!'
Anne clutched George and the two girls looked extremely startled to hear the sudden loud noise ofquacking and clucking. They stood and listened.
'What was it?' said Anne. 'It sounded like hens and ducks - though I'm not quite sure. But there aren'tany here, surely. We shall hear a horse whinnying next!'
They didn't hear a whinny - but they heard the snorting of a horse at once. 'Hmrr-umph! Hrrrrr-umph!'
Both girls were now quite alarmed. They looked for Timmy. He was nowhere to be seen!
Wherever could he have got to?
'Cuck-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk!'
'This is silly,' said George. 'Are we imagining things? Anne, there must be hens near. Come round theback of these stables and look. Timmy, where are you? TIMMY!'
She whistled shrilly¹² - and immediately an echo came - or so it seemed!
'Phee-phee-phee-phee-phee!'
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'TIMMY!' yelled George, beginning to feel as if she was in a dream.
Timmy appeared, looking rather sheepish. He wagged his tail - and to the girls' enormousamazement, they saw that he had a ribbon tied on it. A ribbon - a bright blue one at that!
'Timmy! Your tail - the ribbon - Timmy, what's all this about?' said George, really startled.
Timmy went to her, still looking sheepish, George tore the ribbon off his tail. 'Who tied it there?'
she demanded. 'Who's here? Timmy, where have you been?'
The two girls searched the old buildings thoroughly¹⁴, and found nothing and nobody. Not a hen, not aduck, not a pig - and certainly not a horse. Then - what was the explanation? They stared at oneanother in bewilderment.
'And where did Timmy get that silly ribbon?' said George, exasperated¹⁵. 'Someone must have tied iton.'
'Perhaps it was a hiker passing by - perhaps he heard us here and saw Timmy and played a joke,'
said Anne. 'But it's strange that old Tim let him tie on the ribbon. I mean - Timmy's not overfriendlywith strangers, is he?'
The girls gave up the idea of exploring any further and went back to their little camp. Timmy wentwith them. He lay down - and then suddenly got up again, making for a thick gorse bush.
He tried to squirm underneath¹⁶.
'Note what's he after?' said George. 'Really, I think Timmy's gone mad. Timmy, you can't get underthere with that great collar on. TIMMY, do you hear me!'
Timmy backed out reluctantly, the collar all crooked. After him came a peculiar¹⁷ little mongrel dogwith one blind eye and one exceedingly bright and lively one. He was half-white and half-black, andhad a ridiculously long thin tail, which he waved about merrily.
'Well!' said George, amazed. 'What's that dog doing there? And how did Timmy get so friendly withhim? Timmy, I can't make you out.'
'Woof,' said Timmy, and brought the mongrel dog over to Anne and George. He then proceeded todig up the smelly bone he had buried, and actually offered it to the little dog, who looked away andtook no interest in it at all.
'This is all very peculiar,' said Anne. 'I shall expect to see Timmy bring a cat to us next!'
At once there came a pathetic mewing.
'Mee-ew! Mee-ew-ee-ew-ee-ew!'
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Both dogs pricked¹⁸ up their ears, and rushed to the bush. Timmy was once again kept back by his bigcollar and barked furiously.
George got up and marched to the bush. 'If there's a cat there, it won't have much chance against twodogs,' she called to Anne. Come away, Tim. Hey, you little dog, come away, too.'
Timmy backed out, and George pulled out the small dog very firmly indeed. 'Hold him, Anne!'
she called. 'He's quite friendly. He won't bite. I'm going to find that cat.'
Anne held on to the small mongrel, who gazed at her excitedly with his one good eye and wagged histail violently. He was a most friendly little fellow. George began to crawl into the bare hollow spaceunder the big gorse bush.
She looked into it, not able to see anything at first, because it was dark there after the bright sunlight.
Then she got a tremendous shock.
A round, grinning face stared back at her, a face with very bright eyes and tousled hair falling on tothe forehead. The mouth was set in a wide smile, showing very white teeth.
'Mee-ew-ee-ew-ee-ew!' said the face.
George scrambled¹⁹ back at top speed, her heart thumping²⁰. 'What is it?' called Anne.
'There's somebody hiding there,' said George. 'Not a cat. A fathead of a boy who is doing themewing.'
'Mew-ee-ew-ee-ew!'
'Come out!' called Anne. 'Come out and let's see you. You must be crazy!'
There was a scrambling²¹ noise and a boy came headforemost from the hollow space under the bush.
He was about twelve or thirteen, short, studily built, and with the cheekiest face Anne had ever seen.
Timmy rushed at him and licked him lovingly. George stared in amazement¹³.
'How does my dog know you?' she demanded.
'Well, he came growling²² at me yesterday when I was in my own camp,' said the boy. 'And I offeredhim a nice meaty bone. Then he saw my little dog Jet - short for jet-propelled, you know- and made friends with him - and with me too.'
'I see,' said George, still not at all friendly. 'Well, I don't like my dog to take food from strangers.'
'Oh, I couldn't agree more,' said the boy. 'But I thought I'd rather he ate the bone than ate me.
He's a nice dog, yours. He feels a bit of an idiot wearing that collar, doesn't he? You should haveheard Jet laugh when he first saw it!'
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George frowned. 'I came here to be alone so that Timmy shouldn't be jeered²³ at,' she said. 'He's got abad ear. I suppose you were the fathead who tied a blue ribbon on his tail?'
'Just for a joke,' said the boy. 'You like frowning and glaring, I can see. Well, I like joking andtricking! Your Timmy didn't mind a bit. He took to my dog right away. But everyone likes Jet! Iwanted to find out who owned Timmy - because, like you, I don't like strangers messing about whenI'm camping out. So I came along.'
'I see. And you did all the clucking and quacking and hrrr-umphing?' said Anne. She liked this idiotof a boy, with his broad friendly grin. 'What are you doing - just camping - or hiking - or botanizing?'
'I'm digging,' said the boy. 'My father's an archaeologist - he loves old buildings more than anythingelse in the world. I take after him, I suppose. There was once an old Roman camp on this common,you know - and I've found a place where part of it must have been, so I'm digging for anything I canfind - pottery²⁴, weapons, anything like that. See, I found this yesterday - look at the date on it!'
He suddenly thrust an old coin at them - a queer, uneven⁴ one, rather heavy to hold.
'Its date is 292,' he said. 'At least, as far as I can make out. So the camp's pretty old, isn't it?'
'We'll come and see it,' said Anne, excited.
'No, don't,' said the boy. 'I don't like people messing round me when I'm doing something serious.
Please don't come. I won't bother you again. I promise.'
'All right. We won't come,' said Anne, quite understanding. 'But don't you play any more silly trickson us, see?'
'I promise,' said the boy. 'I tell you, I won't come near you again. I only wanted to see whose dog thiswas. Well, I'm off. So long!'
And, whistling to Jet, he set off at a furious pace. George turned to Anne.
'What a peculiar boy!' she said. 'Actually - I'd rather like to see him again. Wouldn't you?'

1 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。

2 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

3 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

4 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

5 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

8 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 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。

11 quacking   

v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• For the rest it was just a noise, a quack-quack-quacking. 除此之外，便是一片噪声，一片嘎嘎嘎的叫嚣。 来自英汉文学
• The eyeless creature with the quacking voice would never be vaporized. 那没眼睛的鸭子嗓也不会给蒸发。 来自英汉文学

12 shrilly   

尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的

参考例句：

• The librarian threw back his head and laughed shrilly. 图书管理员把头往后面一仰，尖着嗓子哈哈大笑。
• He half rose in his seat, whistling shrilly between his teeth, waving his hand. 他从车座上半欠起身子，低声打了一个尖锐的唿哨，一面挥挥手。

13 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。

14 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

15 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

16 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

17 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。

18 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

19 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》

20 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 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。

23 jeered   

v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police were jeered at by the waiting crowd. 警察受到在等待的人群的嘲弄。
• The crowd jeered when the boxer was knocked down. 当那个拳击手被打倒时，人们开始嘲笑他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。