Chapter 17 FULL OF SURPRISES

Chapter 17 FULL OF SURPRISES
'Its locked - we can't open the bag,' said Julian, and shook it vigorously as if that might make it flyopen and spill whatever contents it had!
'We don't know if it's got anything of value in it or not,' said Dick, in deep disappointment. 'I mean -it might be some trick on that fellow Paul's part - he might have taken the blue-prints, or whateverthey were he hid, for himself, and left the bag just to trick the others.'
'Can we cut it open?' asked George.
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'No. I don't think so. It's made of really strong leather. We would need a special knife to cut throughit - an ordinary pen-knife wouldn't be any use,' said Julian. 'I think we'll just have to assume thatwe've got the goods, and hope for the best. If they're not in here, it's just bad luck.
Someone else has got them, if so.'
They all looked at the tantalizing² bag.
Now they would have to wait for ages before they found out whether their efforts had been successfulor not!
'Well - what do we do now?' said George, feeling suddenly flat. 'Go back all through that long tunnelonce more? I'll be glad to be in the open air again, won't you?'
'Rather!' said Julian. 'Well - I suppose we'd better get down through that hole again.'
'Wait!' said Anne, her sharp eyes catching³ sight of something. 'Look - what does all this mean?'
She shone her torch on to various signs on the wall.
Again there were arrows drawn⁴ in white chalk - but, very oddly, a line of them ran downwards⁵ acrossthe wall of the little rocky room, right to the edge of the hole - and another line of arrows pointing theother way, ran horizontally across the wall!
'Well - do you suppose that's just meant to muddle⁶ people?' said Dick, puzzled. 'We know jolly wellthat the way out of this room is down that hole, because that's the way we came into it.'
'Perhaps the other line of arrows means that there's a second way out,' suggested George. They alllooked round the little rocky room. There didn't seem any way out at all.
'Where's Timmy?' said Anne, suddenly, flashing her torch round. 'He's not here! Has he fallen downthe hole? I never heard him yelp⁷!'
At once there was a great to-do. 'Timmy, Timmy, Timmy! TIMMY! Where are you?'
George whistled shrilly⁸, and the noise echoed round and round the little room. Then, fromsomewhere, there was a bark. How relieved everyone was.
'Where is he? Where did that bark come from?' said Dick. 'It didn't sound as if it came from below,down that hole!'
There came another welcome bark, and the sound of Timmy's feet. Then to everyone's amazement,he appeared in the little rocky room as if by magic - appearing straight out of the wall, it seemed!
'Timmy! Where were you? Where have you come from!' cried George, and ran to see. She came to astandstill and exclaimed loudly.
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'Oh! What idiots we are! Why, just behind this big jutting-out piece of rock, there's another passage!'
So there was! A very, very narrow one, it is true - and completely hidden from the children becauseof the enormous slab⁹ of rock that jutted¹⁰ out from the wall and hid it! They stood and stared at it,shining their torches on the narrow way. The arrows ran round the wall to it.
'We never even looked properly!' said Dick. 'Still - it's a passage that would be extremely dificult tospot - hidden round the corner of that rock - and very narrow at that. Well, I do know one thing forcertain about that man called Paul!'
'What?' asked Anne.
'He's thin - thin as a rake!' said Dick. 'No one but a skinny fellow could squeeze through this opening!
I doubt if you can, Julian - you're the biggest of us.'
'Well, what about trying?' said George. 'What does everyone say? This might be an easier, shorterway out - or it might be a harder, longer one.'
'It won't be longer,' said Harry¹¹. 'By my reckoning we must be pretty well near the Camp now. It'slikely that the way leads straight there - though where it comes out I can't imagine. Guy and I haveexplored the Camp pretty thoroughly¹².'
Dick suddenly thought of something he had noticed at the Camp - the big hole behind the slab ofstone, where he had seen the baby rabbit a day or two before! What had Guy said about that? He hadsaid there was a great hole underground, which had been explored - but that it was probably just anancient storage place for food or for loot! He turned eagerly to Harry.
'Harry - would this lead to that enormous hole underground - the one that Guy once told me had beenexplored, but was of no interest - probably just an old store-place?'
'Let me see,' said Harry. 'Yes - yes, it might lead to that. Most of these underground ways arethroughways - ways that lead from one place to another. They don't as a rule stop suddenly, but haveusually been of use as secret escape-routes or something of that kind. I think you may be right, Dick -we're fairly near the Camp, I'm sure, and we may quite well find that if we go on, instead of goingback, we shall come into the Camp itself - probably through that great hole!'
'Then come on,' said Julian. 'It will certainly be a shorter way!'
They tried to squeeze through the narrow opening that led out of the little rocky room. Dick gotthrough all right, and so did the others - but poor Julian found it very very dificult and almost gaveup.
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'You shouldn't eat so much,' said Dick, unkindly. 'Go on - one more try, Ju - I'll haul on your arm atthe same time!'
Julian got through, groaning¹³. 'I'm squashed flat!' he said. 'Now, if anyone makes any more jokesabout too much breakfast, I'll pull his nose!'
The passage grew wider immediately, and everyone was thankful. It ran fairly straight, and then wentsteeply downwards, so that the five slithered about, and Timmy found himself suddenly running.
Then it came to a stop - a complete stop! This time it was not a blank wall of rock that faced them - itwas something else.
'A roof-fall!' groaned¹⁴ Dick. 'Look at that! Now we're done!'
It certainly looked most formidable. Earth, rocks and stones had fallen from the roof and blocked upthe whole passage-way. There was no use in going on - they would just have to turn and go back!
'Blow it!' said Dick, and kicked at the mass of earth. 'Well - there's no use staying here - we'd betterturn back. My torch isn't too good now, and neither is yours, George. We don't want to lose any time- if our torches give out, we shall find things very difficult.'
They turned to go back, feeling very despondent¹⁵. 'Come on, Timmy!' said George. But Timmy didn'tcome. He stood beside the roof-fall, looking very puzzled, his ears cocked and his head on one side.
Then he suddenly gave a sharp bark.
It made everyone jump almost out of their skins, for the sound echoed round and about in a veryqueer way.
'Don't, Timmy!' said George, almost angrily. 'Whatever's the matter? Come along!'
But Timmy didn't come. He began to paw at the pile of earth and rocks in front of him, and barkedwithout stopping. Wuff-wuff-wuff-wuff-wuff-WUFF!
'What's up?' said Julian, startled. 'Timmy, what on earth's the matter?'
Timmy took absolutely no notice, but went on feverishly¹⁶ scraping at the roof-fall, sending earth andstones flying all over the others.
'There's something he wants to get at - something behind this roof-fall,' said Dick. 'Or perhapssomebody - make him stop barking, George, and we'll listen ourselves and see if we can hearanything.'
George silenced Timmy with difficulty, and made him stand quiet and still. Then they all listenedintently - and a sound came at once to their ears.
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'Yap-yap-wuff-wuff-wuff!'
'It's Jet!' yelled Harry, making everyone jump violently again. 'Jet! Then Guy must be with him.
He never leaves Guy! What's Guy doing here? He may be hurt. GUY! GUY! Jet!'
Timmy began to bark wildly again and to scrape more furiously than ever. Julian shouted to theothers above the barking.
'If we can hear Jet barking, this roof-fall can't be very big. We'd better try and get through it.
Two of us can work in turn with Timmy. We can't all work at once, the passage is too narrow.'
Then began some very hard work - but it didn't last as long as Julian feared, because, quite suddenly,the mass of rubble¹⁷ and rock shifted as they worked, and a gap appeared at the top of the heap,between it and the roof.
Dick began to scramble¹⁸ up, but Julian called to him at once. 'Be careful, ass¹! The roof can't be toogood here - it may come down again, and you'll be buried. Go carefully!'
But before Dick could go any further, a little figure appeared on the top of the rubble above theirheads, and slid down to them yapping loudly, and waving a long wiry tail!
'Jet! Oh, Jet! Where's Guy?' cried Harry, as the little dog leapt into his arms and licked his facelavishly, barking joyfully¹⁹ in between the licks.
'GUY!' yelled Julian. 'Are you there?'
A weak voice came back. 'Yes! Who's that?' An absolute volley of voices anwered him.
'It's us! And Harry! We're coming to you, we shan't be long!'
And it wasn't long, either, before the roof-fall was slowly and carefully climbed by each one -though Timmy, of course, scrambled²⁰ up, over and down at top speed!
On the other side of the roof-fall was a passage, of course, the continuation of the one the childrenhad come along. Guy was there, sitting down, looking very pale. Jet flung himself on him and lickedhim as if he hadn't seen him for a month, instead of just a minute or two before!
'Hallo!' said Guy, in a small voice. 'I'm all right. It's just my ankle, that's all. I'm jolly glad to...'
But before he could say a word more, Harry was beside him, his arms round him, his voice choking.
'Guy! Oh, Guy! I've been a beast, I wouldn't be friends! What happened to you? Are you really allright? Oh Guy, we are friends again, aren't we?'
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'Look out Harry, old son,' said Julian gently. 'He's fainted. Now just let's be sensible and everythingwill come all right. Flap your hanky at him, Dick, and give him a little air. It's only the excitement!'
In half a minute Guy opened his eyes and smiled weakly. 'Sorry!' he said. 'I'm all right now. I onlyhope this isn't a dream, and that you really are here!'
'You bet we are!' said Dick. 'Have a bit of chocolate, then you'll know we're real!'
'Good idea!' said Julian. 'We'll all have some - and I've some biscuits in my pocket too. We'll eat andtalk - and we'll make plans at the same time. Catch, Guy - here's a biscuit!'

1 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。

2 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

3 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。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 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。

6 muddle   

n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱

参考例句：

• Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
• Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

7 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

8 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。

9 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

10 jutted   

v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A row of small windows jutted out from the roof. 有一排小窗户从房顶上突出来。
• His jaw jutted stubbornly forward; he would not be denied. 他固执地扬起下巴，一副不肯罢休的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 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。

13 groaning   

adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。
• The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

14 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》

15 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

16 feverishly   

adv. 兴奋地

参考例句：

• Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
• The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。

17 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

18 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。

19 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

20 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》