Chapter 6 STORM IN THE NIGHT

Chapter 6 STORM IN THE NIGHT
It was fun to go back to their little camping-place again. It was growing dark, as they had stayed tohave a good meal at Kirrin Cottage, and Timmy had eaten a most enormous plate of meat, vegetablesand gravy¹. Then he had sat down and sighed as if to say 'That was jolly good! I could do with somemore!'
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However, nobody took any notice of this, so he trotted² off to have a good look round the garden tomake sure it was just the same as when he had left it a day or two before. Then it was time to startback to the camping-place, and Timmy heard George's whistle.
'Well, nobody laughed at Timmy this evening!' said Anne. 'Not even your father!'
'Oh, I expect Mother had told him not to,' said George. 'Anyway, I said I would stay away till Tim'sear is better, and I mean to.'
'Well, I'm quite willing,' said Anne. 'The only thing I'm a bit worried about is - do you suppose therewill be anyone snooping about in that old cottage again!'
'You dreamed it all!' said George. 'You admitted you did!'
'Well, yes, I did wonder if I had dreamed it,' said Anne, as they walked up the long Carters Lane tothe moor³. 'But now that it will soon be dark, I'm beginning to think I didn't dream it - and it isn't avery nice feeling.'
'Oh, don't be silly!' said George impatiently. 'You can't chop and change about like that. Anyway,we've got Timmy - no one would dare to upset Timmy! Would they, Tim?'
But Timmy was ahead, hoping against hope that he might for once in a way catch a rabbit. Therewere so many about on the common at this time of the evening, peeping at him here, making fun ofhim there, and showing their little white bobtails as soon as he moved in their direction.
The two girls got safely back to their camp. The tent was still up, their heather-bed out in the open,covered with the old rug. They put down their loads thankfully, and went to the little spring for adrink.
George yawned. 'I'm tired. Let's get to bed at once, shall we? Or wait - perhaps it would be a goodidea to have a look in at that cottage to make sure no one is there to disturb us tonight.'
'Oh no - I don't want to look,' said Anne. 'It's getting dark now.'
'All right - I'll go with Timmy,' said George, and off she went. She came back in about five minutes,her little torch shining in front of her, for it was now almost dark.
'Nothing to report,' she said. 'Nothing whatever - except one bat flying round that big room.
Timmy nearly went mad when it flew down and almost touched his nose.'
'Oh. That's when he barked, I suppose,' said Anne, who was now curled up on the heather-bed. 'Iheard him. Come on, George - I'm sleepy.'
'I must just look at Timmy's ear once more,' said George and shone her torch on it.
'Well, buck⁴ up, then,' said Anne. 'That's about the thousandth time today you've examined it.'
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'It does seem much better,' said George, and she patted Timmy. 'I shall be glad when I can take thisawful collar off him. I'm sure he hates it.'
'I don't believe he even notices it now,' said Anne. 'George, are you coming or not? I really can't keepawake one minute more.'
'I'm coming,' said George. 'No, Tim - you are not sleeping on our bed. I told you that last night.
There's hardly enough room for Anne and me.'
She climbed carefully on to the heather-bed, and lay looking up at the twinkling stars. 'I feel happytonight,' she said, 'because Julian and Dick are coming. I was down in the dumps when I thought theymight not be coming at all these hols. When do you suppose they'll be here, Anne?'
There was no answer. Anne was asleep. George sighed. She would have liked to plan what they weregoing to do when the boys came. Timmy's ear would surely be all right in a day or two -and the boys could carry everything back from this little camp to Kirrin Cottage - and then long daysof swimming and boating and fishing and all kinds of fun could begin - begin - begin - be...
And now George was asleep too! She didn't feel a small spider running over her hand, wonderingwhether or not to spin a web between her finger and thumb. She didn't hear the scramble⁵ of ahedgehog not far off - though Timmy did and pricked⁶ one ear. It was a very peaceful night indeed.
Next day the girls were very cheerful. They made a good breakfast of some of the food they hadbrought, and then spent some time getting more heather for their bed, which, under the weight oftheir two bodies, was now rather flat and uncomfortable.
'Now for a swim!' said George. They put on their swim-suits, threw cardigans over their shouldersand set off to the little pool. On the way they saw Jet, the little mongrel dog, in the distance, and theboy with him. Jet tore up to them and danced round Timmy excitedly.
The boy called to them. 'It's all right, don't worry, I'm not going near your place! I'm still keeping mypromise! Jet - come here!'
The girls took no notice of the grinning boy, but couldn't resist patting the little one-eyed mongrel. Jetreally was like a piece of quicksilver, darting⁷ in and out and round about. He shot back to the boy atonce.
The girls went on to the pool - and stopped in dismay when they came near. Someone was alreadythere, swimming vigorously!
'Who is it?' said Anne. 'Dear me, this lonely common seems absolutely crowded with people!'
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George was staring at the swimmer in utmost amazement⁸. 'Anne - it's that boy!' she said. 'Look -tousled hair and everything! But-but...'
'But we've just met him going in the opposite direction!' said Anne, also amazed. 'How extraordinary!
No, it can't be the boy!'
They went a little nearer. Yes - it was the boy. He called out to them. 'I'm just going out. I shan't be aminute!'
'How did you get here?' shouted George. 'We never saw you turn back and run.'
'I've been here for about ten minutes,' shouted back the boy.
'Fibber!' yelled back George at once.
'Ah - barmy as usual!' yelled the boy. 'Same as yesterday!'
He got out and walked off, dripping wet, in the direction of the trenches⁹ and pits which he wasdigging. George looked about for Jet, but she couldn't see him. 'Perhaps he's in the pool too,' she said.
'Come on, Anne - let's swim. I must say that that boy is extraordinary! I suppose he thinks it's funnyto meet people, then double back and appear again!'
'He was nicer the first time of all that we saw him,' said Anne. 'I liked him then. I just don'tunderstand him now. Ooooh - isn't this water lovely and warm!'
They had a long swim, got out and basked¹⁰ in the sun, lying on the heather, and then swam again.
Then they began to feel hungry and went back to their little camping place.
The day passed quickly. They saw no more of the puzzling boy, or of Jet. They occasionally heardthe sharp noise of metal on stone, or of chipping, from the place where the boy was presumably stilldigging in the old Roman camp.
'Or what he hopes is an old Roman camp,' said George. 'Personally I think he's so mad that I don'tsuppose he would know the difference between a Roman camp and a Boy Scout's camp!'
They settled down on their heather-bed that night, but saw no stars twinkling above them this time.
Instead there were rather heavy clouds, and it was not nearly so warm.
'Gosh - I hope it's not going to rain!' said George. 'Our tent wouldn't be much good against a realdownpour! We could squeeze into it all right, but it's not a proper waterproof¹¹ tent. Do you think it'sgoing to rain, Anne?'
'No,' said Anne, sleepily. 'Anyway, I'm not getting up till I have to! I'm tired.'
She went to sleep, and so did George. Timmy didn't, though. He had heard the far-off growl¹² ofthunder, and he was uneasy. Timmy was not afraid of thunderstorms, but he didn't like them.
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They were things that growled¹³ like enormous dogs in the sky, and flashed angrily - but he nevercould get at them, or frighten them!
He closed both eyes, and put down one ear, leaving the other one up, listening.
Another thunder growl came, and one large and heavy drop of rain fell on Timmy's black nose.
Then another fell on his cardboard collar and made a very loud noise indeed, startling him. He sat up,growling.
The rain came closer, and soon large drops, the size of half-crowns, peppered the faces of the twosleeping girls. Then came such a crash of thunder that they both awoke in a fright.
'Blow! It's a thunderstorm!' said George. 'And thunder rain too. We shall be soaked.'
'Better get into the tent,' said Anne, as a flash of lightning forked down the sky and lighted upeverything with a quick brilliance¹⁴.
'No good,' said George. 'It's soaked already. There's nothing for it but to get into the cottage, Anne. Atleast we'll have a roof over our heads or rather, a ceiling, for the roof's gone. Come on.'
Anne didn't in the least want to shelter in the old cottage, but there was absolutely nothing else to do.
The girls grabbed their rug and ran through the rain, George flashing her torch to guide them.
Timmy ran too, barking.
They came to the doorway¹⁵ of the cottage and went inside. What a relief to get out of the rain!
The two girls huddled¹⁶ down into a corner, the rug round them - but soon they were too hot and threwit off.
The storm passed overhead with a few terrific crashes and much lightning. Gradually the rain grewless and soon stopped. One star came out, and then others followed as the thunder-clouds swept awayin the wind.
'We can't go back to the tent - we'll have to stay here,' said George. 'I'll go and get our bags forpillows. We can lie on the rug.'
Anne went with her, and carried a bag back too. Soon the girls were lying in a corner on the rug, theirheads on the bags, and Timmy close beside them.
'Good night,' said Anne. 'We'll try to go to sleep again! Blow that storm!'
Soon they were both asleep - but Timmy wasn't. Timmy was uneasy. Very uneasy! And quitesuddenly he broke into a volley of such loud barks that both girls woke up in a panic.
'Timmy! What's the matter? Oh Tim, what is it?' cried George. She clutched his leather collar andheld on to him.
'Don't leave us! Timmy, what's scared you?'

1 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

6 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。

7 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

10 basked   

v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽

参考例句：

• She basked in the reflected glory of her daughter's success. 她尽情地享受她女儿的成功带给她的荣耀。
• She basked in the reflected glory of her daughter's success. 她享受着女儿的成功所带给她的荣耀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

12 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。

13 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》

14 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

15 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。

16 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。