Chapter 18 A GREAT STORY TO TELL!

Chapter 18 A GREAT STORY TO TELL!
The twins tore down to the farm-house, and saw their mother, still looking for them. They flungthemselves on her, and she gave them a loving shake.
'Where have you been? You're an hour late for tea, all of you. I've been so worried. Mr. Henning toldme some story about you digging up on the hillside!'
'Mother! We're ravenous¹, so let's have tea and we'll tell you some Great News,' said the twins, bothtogether. 'Mother, you will be astonished. Where's Dad - and Great-Grand-dad too?'
'They're still at the tea-table - they were late too,' said Mrs. Philpot. 'They've been out looking for youall! Great-Grand-dad isn't very pleased. What in the world have you brought with you?
Surely those are not swords?'
'Mother, let's have tea first and we'll tell you EVERYTHING!' said the twins. 'Must we wash?
Oh blow - all right, come on, everyone, let's wash. And we'll put our treasures down in the darkestcorner, so that Dad and Great-Grand-dad won't see them till we're ready to show them!'
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Soon they were all sitting down at the tea-table, glad to see a wonderful spread! Great slices ofthickly buttered bread, home-made jam, home-made cheese, a fat ginger² cake, a fruit cake, a dish ofripe plums, and even a home-cooked ham if anyone wanted something more substantial!
Mr. Philpot and old Great-Grand-dad were still at the table, drinking a last cup of tea. Mrs.
Philpot had told them that the children had to wash, but would tell all that had happened when theycame to their tea.
'Ho!' said Great-Grand-dad, frowning till his great bushy eyebrows³ almost covered his nose.
'When I was a boy I dursent come in one minute late for my meals! You twins have worried yourmother - that's bad!'
'We're awfully⁴ sorry, Great-Grand-dad,' said the twins, in unison⁵. 'But just wait till you hear ourstory. Julian - you tell it!'
And so, between great munches⁶ of bread and butter, ham sandwiches, and slices of cake, the storywas told, all the children joining in now and again.
Great-Grand-dad already knew that Mr. Henning had been given permission to excavate⁷, and that acheque for ?250 had been given to Mr. Philpot. He had flown into a terrible temper, and only whenMrs. Philpot had sobbed⁸ and said that she would give it back, though she could hardly bear to partwith it, had Great- Grand- dad given in. Now ready to fly into another rage, he listened to thechildren's story. He forgot to drink his cooling tea. He forgot to fill his pipe. He even forgot to ask asingle question! Never had he heard such a wonderful, glorious tale in his life!
Julian told the story well, and the others filled in any bits he left out. Mrs. Philpot's eyes almost fellout of her head when she heard how Snippet and Nosey had gone into the rabbit-burrow and comeout with a broken sword and a ring!
'But - but where did ...' she began, and listened again, to hear how Dick and Julian had enlarged theburrow, crawled right through it, and slid down into the long-lost secret tunnel!
'HA!' said Great-Grand-dad, getting out his great red handkerchief, and dabbing⁹ his forehead with it.
'HA! Wish I'd been there. Go on, go on!'
Julian had stopped to drink his tea. He laughed and went on, describing how they had all gone up thetunnel with their torches, the dogs with them. 'It was dark and smelly, and suddenly we heard aterrific noise!' he said.
'It got right inside our heads!' put in Anne.
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'What was it, what was it?' said Great-Grand-dad, his eyes almost as big as the saucer in front of him.
'The noise of the men drilling up on the old castle-site,' said Julian, and Great-Grand-dad exploded inwrath. He pointed¹⁰ his pipe at his grandson, the farmer.
'Didn't I tell you I wouldn't have those men on my farm?' he began, and then calmed down as Mrs.
Philpot patted his arm, shushing him. 'Go on, Julian,' she said.
And then came the really exciting part, the story of how they came into the actual cellars of the castle- the stone archways - the age-old dust...
'And the echoes!' said Anne. 'When we whispered, a hundred other whispers came back!'
When Julian described their finds - the old armour¹¹, still good, but black with age - the rack of swordsand knives and daggers¹² - the chest of gold...
'GOLD! I don't believe you!' shouted Great-Grand-dad. 'You're making that up, young man.
Don't you pile up your tale too much, now. Stick to the truth.'
The twins promptly¹³ took some of the gold coins out of their pockets, still brilliant and shining.
They laid them on the table in front of the three amazed grown-ups.
'There you are! They will tell you if we are making up all this or not - these gold coins! They willspeak more loudly than words!'
In awe¹⁴ Mr. Philpot picked them up, and passed them one by one to the old man, and to his wife.
Great-Grand-dad was dumbfounded and dumbstruck. He simply could not say a single word. Hecould only grunt¹⁵ and puff¹⁶ as he turned the coins over in his great horny hand.
'Are they really gold?' said Mrs. Philpot, quite overcome at the sudden appearance of the shiningcoins. 'Trevor - will they belong to us? Does it mean - does it mean that we'll be well enough off tobuy a new tractor for you - and...'
'Depends how much of this stuff there is, up in those old cellars,' said Mr. Philpot, trying to keepcalm. 'And depends on how much we're allowed to keep, of course. Might belong to the Crown bynow.'
'THE CROWN!' roared Great-Grand-dad, standing¹⁷ up suddenly. 'The CROWN! NO, SIR! It's mine!
Ours! Found on my land, put there by our ancestors. Yes - and I'll give old Mr. Finniston down in thevillage a share, so I will. He's been a good friend of mine for years!'
The children thought that was quite a good idea! They then showed the jewellery they had brought,and Mrs. Philpot marvelled¹⁸ at it, tarnished¹⁹ though it was.
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But the swords and daggers brought the greatest excitement to old Great- Grand- dad and hisgrandson, Mr. Philpot! As soon as they heard that the children had actually brought back some of theold weapons, the two men got up and went to get them. Great-Grand-dad picked up the biggest andheaviest of the swords, and swung it dangerously round his head, looking like a reincarnation ofsome fearsome old warrior²⁰, with his great beard and blazing eyes.
'No, no, Grand-dad!' said Mrs. Philpot in fright. 'Oh, you'll knock down the things on the dresser- there, I knew you would! Bang goes my meat-dish!'
And down it went, CRASH! Timmy and Snippet almost jumped out of their skins, and began to barkfrantically.
'Sit DOWN, all of you!' cried Mrs. Philpot to the excited dogs and the men. 'Let Julian finish hisstory! Great-Grand-dad, SIT DOWN!'
'Ha,' said Great-Grand-dad, a broad smile on his face, sitting down in his chair. 'HA! Did me good toswing that sword. Where's that American? I might try it out on him!'
The children roared with delight. It was great to see the old man so delighted. 'Go on with that tale ofyours,' he said to Julian. 'You tell it well, boy. Go on! Now, Ma, don't you take my sword away. I'mkeeping it here, between my legs, in case I want to use it. HA!'
Julian quickly finished his tale, and told how they had walked back down the passage and found theirburrow entrance fallen in - and then gone right down the rest of the tunnel and come at last into thelittle stone-walled room.
'And we couldn't get out,' said Julian. 'There was a great wooden trap-door over our heads, and on itlay a dozen or so sacks - heavy as lead! We couldn't lift it. So we yelled!'
'So that's where the secret passage led to!' said Mr. Philpot. 'How did you get out?'
'We yelled and hammered, and Bill and Jamie heard us, and pulled off the sacks, and lifted up the oldtrap-door,' said Julian. 'Gosh, we were glad to see them! We thought we might be lost for ever! Jamieknew about the little stone vault²¹ down under the chapel²² floor - but he thought it was just an old store-room!'
'I've never heard of it before,' said Mrs. Philpot, and old Great- Grand- dad nodded his head inagreement.
'No more have I,' he said. 'For as long as I can remember the floor of that old chapel has been piledwith sacks, and what bits I could see of the floor were covered with thick dust. Yes, even when I wasa boy, playing hide and seek in the old place, it was full of sacks - and that's every bit 80of eighty-five years ago now! Well, well - seems like yesterday I was playing in there with a cat andher kittens!'
'There's a cat and her kittens there now,' said Anne.
'Ay, little lass - and there'll be a cat and her kittens there when you're an old, old woman!' said Great-Grand-dad. 'There's some things never change, thanks be to the Lord. Well, well - I can sleep easy ofnights now - I reckon you and the farm will be all right Trevor, with the money you'll make out ofthose old finds - and I'll live to see the twins growing up and handling the finest farm in Dorset, so Ishall - with everything new-fangled they want, bless their bonny faces!
And now I'll just have one more swing with that sword!'
The children fled! Great- Grand- dad looked years younger already - and goodness knows whatdamage he would do with that great sword! What an afternoon it had been - one they would neverforget!

1 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。

2 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

3 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

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 unison   

n.步调一致，行动一致

参考例句：

• The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
• My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。

6 munches   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He tried to talk between munches on the sandwich. 他试图在吃三明治的当间儿讲话。 来自互联网
• A flying squirrel munches a meal on terra firma. 一只鼯鼠在地上贪婪的咀嚼着它的食物。 来自互联网

7 excavate   

vt.挖掘，挖出

参考例句：

• They plan to excavate a large hole.他们计划挖个大洞。
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs.一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。

8 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

9 dabbing   

石面凿毛，灰泥抛毛

参考例句：

• She was crying and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 她一边哭一边用手绢轻按眼睛。
• Huei-fang was leaning against a willow, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 四小姐蕙芳正靠在一棵杨柳树上用手帕揉眼睛。 来自子夜部分

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

12 daggers   

匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I will speak daggers to her, but use none. 我要用利剑一样的话刺痛她的心，但绝不是真用利剑。
• The world lives at daggers drawn in a cold war. 世界在冷战中剑拨弩张。

13 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。

14 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

15 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

16 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

17 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

18 marvelled   

v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I marvelled that he suddenly left college. 我对他突然离开大学感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I marvelled at your boldness. 我对你的大胆感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

20 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

21 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

22 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。