Old Jeremiah was as excited as the others, but he said very little. He was angry to think that Ebenezershould have been there to see the find. He didn't trust that Ebby - nor that Jacob either! They'd beferreting after that treasure as sure as nuts were nuts, and monkeys were monkeys! Ha - wouldn't theylike to know where it was! He stumped1 on, up the old tunnels, thinking hard, and at last they cameout into the welcome daylight again!
'Here, Jeremiah - buy yourself some more baccy,' said Julian, putting twenty pence into the old man'shand. 'And don't count too much on that treasure! I expect it's just an odd coin that Mischief2 found ina dry corner somewhere!'
'Thank you, young sir,' said the old man. 'I'm not wanting the treasure myself - I'm just hoping thatEbby and Jacob don't find it. They'll be hunting all the time for it now!'
They were glad to be out in the open again. The sun had gone now, and the wind had whipped up. Itwas raining hard.
'I say - we'd better buck3 up, else we shan't be able to walk back to the light-house over the rocks!' saidJulian, worried. But fortunately the wind was against the tide and they just had time to wade4 over tothe light-house steps.
'There's our little boat bobbing-about,' said Tinker. 'And hark - I can hear old Timmy barking!
He's heard us coming!'
So he had. He had been lying on the door-mat, his ears glued to the crack under the door, listening,listening. Nobody had come near the light-house and not a sound did old Timmy hear but the windand the sea, and a few gulls6 gliding7 by.
'We're back, Timmy!' yelled George, and she pushed at the door. It opened, and Timmy leapt out,almost knocking her over. Mischief sprang on to the dog's back, and chattered8 at him withoutstopping.
'He's telling him about the gold coin he found,' said Tinker, with a laugh. 'Oh, I wish you'd been withus, Timmy. It was grand!'
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'It feels as if we've been away for ages,' said George. 'But it isn't very late after all - unless my watchis slow! I'm hungry. Let's have something to eat and talk about everything - and what we're going todo!'
So, over biscuits and sandwiches and coffee, they talked and talked. 'We must get down to the cavesagain as soon as possible!' said George. 'I'm absolutely certain that Jacob and Ebby will be downthere, hunting for coins, as soon as the tide's out again.'
'Well, we can't do anything today, that's certain,' said Dick. 'For one thing the tide's in now - and foranother thing it's blowing up for a storm. Just hark at the wind!'
Timmy was sitting as close to George as he possibly could. He hadn't liked her going out withouthim. She sat with her arm round him, eating her biscuits, occasionally giving him half of one. Tinkerwas doing the same with Mischief!
The children talked and talked. Where could Mischief have found that coin? Was it one on it's own,that the sea had swept into the tunnel? Or was it part of a whole lot of coins? Had it come from anironbound box, whose wooden sides had rotted away? They talked endlessly, their eyes bright, theround gold coin on the table in front of them.
'I suppose it would be treasure-trove if we found it?' said Dick. 'I mean - it would be so old that itwould belong to the Crown, and not to anyone in particular.'
'I expect we'd be allowed to keep a few coins ourselves,' said George. 'If only we could gostraightaway now and hunt in that tunnel! I feel as if I can't wait!'
'Woof,' said Timmy, agreeing though he really hadn't much idea of what they were talking about!
'I say - LISTEN to the sea crashing over the rocks between us and the jetty!' said Julian, startled at thesudden booming. 'The wind must be working up to a gale9!'
'Well, bad weather's been forecast for some time,' said Dick gloomily. 'Blow! It'll be jolly difficultrowing to and fro in that little Bob-About boat. I doubt if we'd be able to walk across the rocks evenat low tide, with a big sea running before the wind.'
'Oh don't be so gloomy!' said Anne.
'Well, do you want us to be prisoners here in the light-house?' demanded Dick. 'It wouldn't matter -there's plenty of food,' said Anne.
'No there isn't! Remember there are five of us - and Timmy and Mischief as well,' said Dick.
'Shut up, Dick,' said Julian. 'You're scaring Anne and Tinker. This storm will soon blow over -73
we'll be able to pop out and do some shopping tomorrow.'
But the storm grew fiercer, and the sky became so dark that Anne lighted the lamps. Rain slashedagainst the light-house, and the wind made a loud howling noise that made Timmy growl10 deep downin his throat.
Anne went to look out of the window. She felt frightened when she saw the great waves that camesurging over the rocks below. Some of them broke on the rocks, and the spray flew so high that itspattered the window out of which she was looking! She drew back in alarm.
'Do you know what hit the window then? It was spray from a great wave!'
'Whew!' said Julian, and went to the window himself. What a wonderful sight! The sea was greynow, not blue, and it raced along towards the shore, great waves curling over into white manes, sprayflying. Out to sea there were angry waves too, topped with white, which turned into spray as thestrong wind caught them. Only a few gulls were out, screaming in excitement, allowing the wind totake them along on their great white wings.
'Well, I certainly wouldn't mind being a gull5 today,' said Dick. 'It must be a wonderful feeling to rideon a storm - no wonder they are screaming in joy!'
'Ee-oo, Ee-oo, EE-OOO, EE-OOOOO!' cried the gulls, sounding like cats mewing in hunger.
'I'm sorry for the strips out in this,' said Julian. 'Goodness - think of the sailing-ships in the oldendays, caught on this rocky coast in a wind like this - it's almost a hurricane!'
'And think of that wicked old One-Ear Bill, gloating when he saw a ship sailing nearer and nearer therocks!' said George. 'And even taking the warning-lamp out of its place on the cliff, and bringing itnear here to make sure that any ships out that night would make straight for the rocks - CRASH!'
'Don't,' said Anne. 'I hate to think of things like that.'
'Let's have a game,' said Julian. 'Where are the cards? Move that lamp a bit closer to the table, Dick.
It's getting so jolly dark. Now no more talk of wrecks11! Think of something cheerful - tea-sup, forinstance - the treasure - and...'
'You know, I think it would be quite easy to find the treasure,' said Dick, bringing the lamp close tothe table. 'Mischief is a very clever little thing. I'm sure he would remember where he found that coin,and lead us straight to the place.'
'It might have been just an odd coin, dropped by the man who hid the hoard12,' said Anne.
'It might - but wherever it was found I think we can safely say that the main hoard wouldn't be 74very far away,' said Dick.
'Well, if we do go hunting we'll have to go when the tide is well out,' said Julian. 'I don't really fancyscrabbling about in those caves and tunnels under the rocky sea-bed, when I know that somehow orother when the tide is coming in the water gets under the sea-bed, as well as on it.'
Dick sat frowning, thinking out something. 'Ju,' he said at last, 'you remember the direction we wentin, as soon as we were underground this morning? We went left-ish all the way, didn't we?'
'Yes, we did,' said Tinker, at once. 'I had my little compass with me - look - it clips to my wristwatch- and we went sharp west all the time.'
'Towards the light-house, that would be,' said Julian, and drew a quick plan. 'See - here's the light-house, say - and just here is the entrance into the cliff, where we first went - here's the path we took,curving right back to the sea again, under the rocky beach - here it goes - and that's a cave, see, thenmore tunnel, and caves - the way always curving sharply to the left...'
'A bit farther on and we'd have been almost under the light-house!' said Dick, in amazement13.
'That's right,' said Julian. 'And maybe in the old days, before this light-house was built, and shipswere sent crashing on the rocks on which it now stands, there was a tunnel down from those light-house rocks that joined up with the tunnel we were in this morning - so that the wreckers would findit very easy to stow away anything valuable they found in a wrecked14 ship without being seen!'
'Whew! You mean they waited till the ship smashed up, then waded15 over the rocks, as we do, tookwhat they could find, and disappeared down a tunnel there to hide it!'
'And came out the other end!' said Anne.
George stared at Julian, and her eyes were bright. 'Maybe the tunnel is still somewhere in theserocks!' she said. 'Somewhere down at the edge of them, because we know the sea gets into the tunnel.
Julian, let's look for it tomorrow. I think you're right. There may be a hole in the rocks heresomewhere, that drops down into the tunnel we were in.'
Nobody wanted to play a game after that! They felt much too excited. They studied Julian's planagain and again, glad that Tinker's little compass had shown him so clearly that morning that theunder-sea passages had led due west to the light-house rocks.
'Do you suppose that everyone has forgotten the old hole?' said Dick. 'Nobody has told us anythingabout it, not even Jeremiah. Do you think it may have been blocked up?'
Julian frowned, thinking hard.
'Well, yes - it may have been,' he said. 'It is queer that Jeremiah didn't say anything about it.
Anyway we'll have a good hunt tomorrow.'
'And if we find it, we'll drop down and hunt for the treasure!' said Tinker, his eyes shining.
'WHAT a shock for Ebenezer and Jacob if we find it first!'
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收听单词发音
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1
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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gull
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| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
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gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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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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11
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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12
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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13
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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