Things then happened so quickly that, to their utter amazement1, the three boys found themselvescaptives, quite unable to escape.
Big Will Janes had hold of both Dick and Toby - and he was so strong, and held them in such a vice-like grip, one in each hand, that it was hopeless to try to get away.
Julian had run straight into Mr. Gringle and Mr. Brent, and the men had captured him between them.
They were very angry.
'What do you mean by coming here and snooping round, smashing our glass-houses!' yelled Mr.
Gringle, shaking Julian in his rage. 'We shall lose all our butterflies through that broken pane2!'
'Let me go. We didn't break your glass,' shouted Julian.
'He did! I saw him!' shouted Will Janes.
'You didn't!' cried Toby. 'Let me go, Will. I'm Toby Thomas, from Billycock Farm. You let me go ormy father will have something to say!'
'Oho - so it's Toby Thomas, is it?' said Will in a sneering3 voice. 'Toby Thomas, whose father won'temploy Will Janes now because he turns his nose up at him. You wait till I tell the police tomorrowwhat I've caught you doing - I'll say you're the kids that have been taking our hens!'
Will dragged the angry boys over to a shed, calling out to the other two men. 'Bring them here.
Chuck them in and we'll lock the door and let them cool off till tomorrow morning!'
Julian struggled valiantly4 against the two men, but short of kicking them viciously there was nothinghe could do to escape - and he didn't really want to harm them. It was all a mistake!
And then - oh, joy - there came a sound that made Julian's heart leap - the bark of a dog!
'Timmy! It's Timmy!' yelled Julian to the others. 'Call him! He'll soon make Janes drop you!'
'Tim, Tim!' shouted Dick, and Timmy ran to him at once, and began to growl5 so ferociously6 that WillJanes stopped dragging the boys to the shed.
'Set us free or he'll spring at you,' warned Dick. Timmy growled7 again, and nipped Will's ankle just tolet him know he had teeth. Will let both boys go, and they staggered away from him in 68relief. Then Tirnmy ran to Julian - but Mr. Gringle and Mr. Brent had already heard his fierce growlsand did not wait for any more! They gave Julian a shove away from them, and retreated into thecottage.
Will Janes also went into the cottage and lumbered8 up the stairs. The boys saw his figure outlinedagainst the candle-light.
'Well, thank goodness he didn't go and scare his poor old mother,' said Julian, shaking his clothesstraight. They had been twisted and pulled in the struggle. 'We'd better go and see if Will knockedthose two men out - gracious, what a night! Good old Timmy - you just came in time!'
'I bet the girls sent him after us when twelve o'clock came,' said Dick. 'He'd smell our tracks easily.
Dear Old Tim. Now, go carefully - it's about here that Will floored those two men, whoever theywere.'
But there was no sign of the men at all. They must have got up from the ground very quickly andmade themselves scarce. 'They went while the going was good!' said Toby grimly. 'What do we donext?'
'Get back to the camp,' said Julian. 'We're really not much wiser now than when we came -except that we know that Gringle and Brent are Butterfly Men, and that Janes was a bad lot and inwith those two fellows he knocked out...'
'And that he helped them in some way, and hid them here - and hasn't been paid,' finished Dick.
'But how did he help them and why?'
'I've no idea,' said Julian. 'I can't think any more tonight - my mind just won't work. Go back home,Toby. We'll talk it all out tomorrow.'
Toby went off to the farm, puzzled and excited. What an evening! What would Cousin Jeff say whenhe told him - but no, he couldn't tell him, People said he had gone off in that plane, and that he wasnow at the bottom of the sea.
'But I won't believe it,' thought the tired boy, stoutly9. 'I will - not - believe it!'
The girls were most relieved to hear the boys and Timmy coming back. 'What happened? Why areyou so late?' said George. 'Timmy found you all right, of course?'
'Couldn't have come at a better moment,' said Julian, grinning in the light of George's torch. 'Isuppose you sent him after us?'
'We did,' said George. 'He wanted to go, anyway. He kept whining10 and whining as if you needed help- so we sent him off.'
69
'And we did need help!' said Dick, flinging himself down in the heather. 'Listen to our tale!'
He and Julian told it, and the girls listened, astonished. 'What has been going on down there?'
said George, puzzled. 'What has Will Janes been up to with those fellows? How can we find out?'
'He won't talk,' said Julian. 'Nobody can make him, either. But I think may be if we went downtomorrow morning and found that he'd gone out, we might persuade old Mrs. Janes to tell us a fewsecrets.'
'Yes - that's a good idea,' said George. 'She must know what her son has been up to - especially if hehas been hiding people there. She would have to feed them, of course. Yes - old Mrs. Janes could tellyou - if she would!'
'But now,' said Julian, snuggling down in the heather on his rug, now, you two gabblers, I want to goto sleep. Good night!'
'Well! Who's been doing the gabbling!' said George. 'We have hardly been able to get a word in!
Come on, Anne - we can go to sleep all right now. I wonder if Toby's home safely, and fast asleep inbed!'
Yes, Toby was home, but he wasn't asleep! He was still brooding over his Cousin Jeff. If only hecould do something - but he couldn't. Cousin Jeff had disappeared, and he, and he only, could clearhimself of the hateful charge of traitor11 ... but people said he was drowned.
Next morning the Five awoke late, even Timmy. There wasn't a great deal left in the larder12, andJulian hoped that Toby would bring up some more food. If not, they must certainly go down toBillycock Farm and get some. They breakfasted on bread and butter and cheese, with water to wash itdown and a humbug13 from the tin to follow!
'We'll go straight down to the Butterfly Farm, I think,' said Julian, taking the leadership as he alwaysdid when there was any quick decision to be made. 'Dick, you'd better take on the asking of questions- the old lady was so touched when you gave her that five shillings! She's probably got a soft spot foryou now.'
'Right,' said Dick. 'Well, are we ready?'
They set off to the Butterfly Farm, Timmy at their heels. When they came near, they slowed theirsteps, not wanting to run into Will Janes. But there did not seem to be anybody about at all, not eventhe Butterfly Men themselves.
'They've probably gone off butterfly-hunting, I should think,' said Dick. 'Look - there's poor old Mrs.
Janes trying to peg14 up her washing - dropping half of it on the ground. Go and help her, 70Anne.'
Anne ran over to the little woman. 'I'll peg up the things for you,' she said. 'Here, let me have them.'
Mrs. Janes turned to her and Anne was shocked to see that her right eye was black and bruised15.
'However did you get that black eye?' she began. 'Here, give me the whole basket. Gracious, what alot of washing!'
Mrs. Janes seemed a little dazed. She let Anne peg up the things without a word - she just stood andwatched her. 'Where are Mr. Gringle and Mr. Brent?' asked Anne as she pegged16.
Mrs. Janes mumbled17 something. Anne made out with some difficulty that they had gone butterfly-hunting. 'And where is your son, Will?' she asked, having been prompted to ask this by signs fromJulian.
To her dismay Mrs. Janes began to sob18. The old woman lifted her dirty apron19 and covered her headwith it, and then, half-blinded by it, she stumbled towards the kitchen door, her arms stretched out infront of her.
'Gracious - whatever's the matter with her this morning?' said Anne to the others. Dick ran to thekitchen door and guided the old lady in, sitting her down in her rocking-chair. Her apron slid downfrom her head and she looked at him.
'You're the one that give me five shillin',' she mumbled, and patted his hand. 'Kind, you are.
Nobody's kind to me now. My son, he's cruel. He hits me.'
'Did he give you that black eye?' asked Dick, gently. 'When? Today?'
'Yes. He wanted money - he always wants money,' wept Mrs. Janes. 'And I weren't going to give himthat five shillin'. And he hit me. And then the police came and took him away.'
'What! The police took him - this morning do you mean?' asked Dick, astonished. The others came alittle closer, astonished, too. Why - it was only last night that Will Janes had captured two of them!
'They do say he thieved,' sobbed20 Mrs. Janes. 'Robbed old Farmer Darvil of his ducks. But it's thosebad men that changed my son. He was a good son once.'
'What men?' asked Dick, patting the skinny old hand. 'You tell us everything. We understand.
We'll help you.'
'You're the one that give me five shillin', aren't you?' she said once more. 'You'll help a poor oldwoman, won't you? It was those men, I tell you, that changed my son.'
71
'Where are they now? Did he hide them here?' asked Dick. Mrs. Janes clung to his hand and pulledhim closer.
'There were four men,' she mumbled, in such a low voice that Dick could hardly hear. 'And my son,he was promised money if he hid them here, on Billycock Hill. They all had a secret, see?
And they only talked about it when they were hid up in my bedroom there - but I listened and Iheard.'
'What was the secret?' asked Dick, his heart beating fast. Now perhaps he would hear what all thismystery was about.
'They were watching something,' whispered Mrs. Janes. 'Watching something out on the hills.
Sometimes day-time, sometimes night-time, always watching. And they hid up there in my little oldroom, and cook for them I did, and got nothing for it. Bad men they were.'
She sobbed again, and the four children felt sad and embarrassed. 'Don't worry her any more,'
said Anne.
Then there came the sound of feet outside and Mr. Gringle walked by the window. He looked in andwas astounded21 to see such a crowd in the little kitchen.
'What! You again!' he cried, as he saw Julian and Dick. 'You just look out! I told the police about youwhen they fetched Will Janes this morning. They'll be after you next, and you'll be punished forprowling round here at night and smashing my glass-house! How dare you come here again?'
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1
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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4
valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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growled
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| 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 | |
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8
lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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10
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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11
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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12
larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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14
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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pegged
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| v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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