Chapter 15 DIGGING FOR THE SECRET TUNNEL

Chapter 15 DIGGING FOR THE SECRET TUNNEL
'How can we get permission to dig?' asked Anne. 'I mean - will we be allowed to?'
'I don't see why not - Mr. Henning has only been given permission to dig in one place,' said Julian. 'Ibet we'd get permission to dig just here - it's a pretty good way from the castle-site, anyway.'
'Why shouldn't we just dig and see if anyone stops us?' said George. 'If Mr. Philpot stops us, we couldtell him what we're really doing. He'd probably let us, then. But whatever happens, we don't want Mr.
Henning to know what we've discovered - or think we've discovered!'
'Well, what shall we say then, if he asks why we're digging?' said Anne.
'Say silly things - joke about it!' said Dick. 'Twins, have you work to do this morning? Can you findus spades, do you think?'
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'Yes - you can have our spades, and Dad's old ones, too!' said Harry¹. 'We wish we could help -but we've tons to do, and we're late already.'
'Oh dear - and I promised that George and I would help in the kitchen!' said Anne. 'And pick peas fordinner and pod them - and get more raspberries! Can you and Dick dig all on your own, Ju?'
'Good heavens, yes!' said Julian. 'It'll be slower with just two of us digging, but we'll soon get deepdown, you'll see! Anyway, we could all take turns this afternoon, perhaps, if the twins finish theirwork.'
'We will! We'll do it at top speed!' said Harry and Harriet together. 'Now we'll get some spades foryou.'
They raced off, with Snippet beside them, and the two girls went down the hill more slowly, feelingvery thrilled. If only, only they could dig down and find the secret passage from the chapel² to thecellars of the old castle! Timmy felt the excitement and wagged his tail happily. He was alwayshappy when George was thrilled about anything.
Harriet soon brought two big spades and two smaller ones to the boys. They were heavy, and shepanted as she carried them up the hill.
'Good girl - or is it good boy?' asked Dick, as he took the spades. 'Wait - it's Harriet, isn't it?
You've no scar on your hand!'
Harriet grinned and ran off swiftly to join her brother in the farm-work that was their task. Juliangazed after her. 'They're good kids,' he said, as he turned to drive his spade into the earth. 'Worth ahundred Juniors! Funny how some children are made of such good stuff, and others aren't worth apenny. Well, Dick - go to it! This earth is pretty hard. I wish we could borrow one of those machinesthe men are using up there!'
They dug hard, and were soon very hot indeed. They stripped themselves to their shorts, but were stillfar too hot. They greeted Anne with joy when she laboured up the slope, carrying a jug³ of coollemonade and some buns.
'I say! You've made quite a hole already!' she said. 'How far down do you think the tunnel will be?'
'Well, not too far down, really,' said Dick, taking a long drink of the lemonade. 'This is super, Anne.
Thanks awfully⁴. We've dug into the burrow⁵, and we're following it at the moment - hoping it willenter the secret tunnel before we're too tired to dig any more!'
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'I say - here comes Junior!' said Anne suddenly, looking up the slope. Sure enough, it was theAmerican boy, feeling quite brave now that neither Timmy nor Snippet were about.
He stopped a little way away and shouted: 'What do you think you're doing, digging in our hill?'
'Go away and lose yourself!' shouted back Dick. 'This isn't your hill! If you can dig, so can we!'
'Copy-cats!' shouted Junior. 'My Pop's laughing his head off about you!'
'Well, tell him to pick it up before it rolls down the hill!' yelled Dick. 'Clear off!'
Junior watched them for a little while, puzzled, and then went off up the hill, presumably to report tohis father. Anne laughed and went back to the farmhouse⁶.
'As his Pop doesn't know a thing about the secret passage, he must think we're off our heads, digginghere,' said Julian, with a chuckle⁷. 'Well, let him think so. He'll be off his head with rage when he findsout what we're really doing - and he won't know that till we're in the cellars!'
Dick laughed, and wiped his forehead again. 'I wish this burrow would come to an end. And I hope togoodness it does lead into the side of the tunnel. I don't want to have to dig up half the hillside. Theground's so hard and dry.'
'Well, thank goodness it's getting sandy here,' said Julian, driving his spade deeper down. Hesuddenly gave a cry. 'I say! My spade went right down by itself, then! I believe I've come to thesecret passage! The burrow must go right through one side of it!'
He was right! The rabbit-hole ran sideways and down - and into a passage! The boys dug feverishlynow, panting, their hair falling over their foreheads, perspiration⁸ dripping off their faces.
Soon they had a deep hole, fairly wide - and at the bottom of it a way into the tunnel beneath!
They lay down and peered into it. 'It's only about four feet below the surface,' said Dick. 'We mighthave had to do much more digging than this! Whew, I'm hot!'
'It must be dinner-time,' said Julian. 'I don't really like to leave our hole, now that we've got down tothe tunnel. And yet we simply MUST have something to eat. I'm ravenous⁹!'
'So am I. But if we leave the hole unguarded, that pest of a Junior might come along and climb downand find the passage!' said Dick. 'Look - here comes George - with old Tim. I wonder if she'd leavehim here to guard the hole.'
George was delighted to hear their news. She gazed down the hole in great excitement. 'How deeplyyou've dug!' she said. 'No wonder you're hot. My word! - If Mr. Henning knew what you've found,he'd be down here in two shakes of a duck's tail!'
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'He certainly would,' said Julian, soberly. 'That's what we're afraid of. Or that snoopy Junior mightclimb down into the hole, if he came along. He's been here already to see what we're doing.'
'We're scared of going in to dinner, in case one of them comes along and investigates the hole whileit's unguarded,' said Dick. 'And we wondered if...'
But George interrupted him, almost as if she knew what he was going to say. 'I'll leave Timmy hereon guard, while you come down to dinner,' she said. 'He won't let anyone come within yards of it!'
'Thanks, old thing,' said the boys, gratefully, and went off down the hill with George, leaving Timmybehind. 'On guard, Timmy,' said George. 'On guard. Don't let anyone come near that hole.'
'Woof,' said Timmy, understanding at once, and looking fiercely all round and about him. He laydown with a small growl¹⁰. Let anyone come near the boys' hole, if they dare!
They did dare - but when they saw Timmy leaping to his feet, the hackles on his neck thick andupright, and heard his deep, continuous growl, Junior and his father thought better of it, and went ondown the hill to have dinner at the farm-house. Poor Mr. Durleston trailed behind them, almostknocked out by the heat of the sun.
'Silly kids,' said Mr. Henning to Junior. 'Thinking it's clever to dig just because we're digging!
What do they suppose they'll find down there? Another kitchen-midden?'
Junior sent a stone scudding¹¹ along towards Timmy - and then fled for his life as the dog camebounding angrily down the slope. Even Mr. Henning hurried. He didn't like Timmy either!
That afternoon the twins, Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Snippet all climbed the hill to the holewhere Tim still lay watching for intruders. They brought him two fine bones, and a jug of water.
He was very pleased indeed. Snippet danced round, hoping for a bite at a bone, and the jackdaw, hiswing apparently¹² quite recovered now, dared to go and peck at the bigger bone, even though Timmygrowled warningly!
The twins were thrilled to see the deep hole. 'Can't we go down now?' they said, eagerly, bothtogether.
'Yes - it would be a jolly good time to let ourselves slide into the tunnel,' said Julian. 'All the menworking on the castle-site have gone off to have dinner at the little village pub, and haven't yet comeback - and the Hennings and Mr. Durleston are safely at the farmhouse.'
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'I'll go first,' said Dick, and lowered himself into the hole. He held on to the grassy¹³ edges, and pokedhard with his feet, to widen the opening into the tunnel. Then he let himself slide down until his legswere out of the rabbit hole, and dangled¹⁴ through the wall of the tunnel.
'Here we go!' he said, and let himself drop. Whoooooosh! He slid right into a dark, musty tunnel, andlanded on soft earth. 'Chuck me down a torch,' he shouted. 'It's pitch-dark in here. Did you rememberto bring our torches, George?'
Yes, George had four! 'Look out!' she said. 'Here comes one!' And she dropped it down the hole.
She had already switched it on, so Dick saw it coming and caught it neatly¹⁵. He shone it into the darkplace around him.
'Yes! It is a tunnel!' he shouted. 'The secret passage, no doubt about it! I say - isn't this great?
Come on down, all of you, let's share in the find together. Let's walk right up to the castle cellars.
Come on, everybody! Come on!'

1 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。

2 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

3 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

4 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。

5 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

6 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

7 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

8 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

9 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

10 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。

11 scudding   

n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clouds were scudding across the sky. 云飞越天空。 来自辞典例句
• China Advertising Photo Market-Like a Rising Wind and Scudding Clouds. 中国广告图片市场：风起云涌。 来自互联网

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

14 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

15 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。