Chapter 2 A VISITOR TO TEA

Chapter 2 A VISITOR TO TEA
George and Timmy were waiting for Julian, Dick and Anne, when they arrived home. Timmy wasstanding in the road, ears pricked¹, long tail waving. He went quite mad when he saw their bicyclesrounding the corner, and galloped² towards them at top speed, barking madly, much to the horror of abaker's boy with a large basket.
5The boy disappeared into the nearest garden at top speed, yelling 'Mad dog, mad dog!' Timmy torepast, and forced the three to dismount, for they were afraid of knocking him over.
'Dear Timmy!' said Anne, patting the excited dog. 'Do put your tongue in - I'm sure it will fall outsome day!'
Timmy ran to each of them in turn, woofing in delight, licking everyone, and altogether behaving asif he hadn't seen them for a year!
'Now that's enough, old boy,' said Dick, pushing him away, and trying to mount his bicycle oncemore. 'After all, we did see you yesterday. Where's George?'
George had heard Timmy barking, and had now run out into the road too. The three cycled up to her,and she grinned happily at them.
'Hallo! You've been shopping, I see. Shut up barking, Timmy, you talk too much. Sorry you couldn'tcome over to Kirrin Cottage - but I'm jolly glad you asked me to come to you - my father still hasn'tfound the papers he's lost, and honestly our place is like a mad-house -cupboards being turned out - even the kitchen store-cupboard! and I left poor Mother up in the loft,looking there - though why Father should think they might be there, I don't know!'
'Poor old George - I can just see your father tearing his hair, and shouting - and all the time he'sprobably put the papers into the waste-paper basket by mistake!' said Dick, with a chuckle³.
'Gracious - we never thought of that!' said George. 'I'd better phone Mother at once, and tell her tolook. Bright idea of yours, Dick.'
'Well, you go and phone, and we'll put our bikes away,' said Julian. 'Take your nose away from thatbag of sausages, Timmy. You're in disgrace over sausages, let me tell you. You're suspected of eatingtoo many last night!'
'He did eat rather a lot,' said George. 'I took my eye off him, and he wolfed quite a few. I say, who'sthis Mrs. Layman⁴ who's coming to tea? Have we got to stay in and have tea with her? I hoped wemight be going off for a picnic this afternoon.'
'Nothing doing, old thing,' said Dick, 'Mrs. Layman is apparently⁵ coming to talk to us aboutsomething. So we have to be in - with clean hands, nice manners, and everything. So behaveyourself, George!'
George gave him a friendly punch. 'That's unfair,' said Dick. 'You know I can't punch you back.
My word, you should have seen Anne this morning, George - yelled at me like a tiger howling, andshowed her teeth, and...'
6'Don't be an idiot, Dick,' said Anne. 'He called me a mouse, George - he said we'd one tiger - you- and that was enough in the family. So I went for him - put out my claws for a moment, and gavehim such a surprise. I rather liked it!'
'Good old Anne!' said George, amused. 'But you're not really cut out to be a tiger, and rage and roar,you know.'
'I could be, if I had to,' said Anne, obstinately⁶. 'One of these days I'll surprise you all. You just wait!'
'All right. We will,' said Julian, putting his arm round his sister. 'Come on, now - we'd better getindoors before Timmy gets some of the cakes out of the bags. Stop licking that bag, Tim - you'llmake a hole in it.'
'He can smell the cherry buns inside,' said Anne. 'Shall I give him one?'
'NO!' said Julian. 'Cherry buns are wasted on him, you know that. Don't you remember how he chewsthe bun part and spits out the cherries?'
'Woof,' said Timmy, exactly as if he agreed. He went to sniff⁷ at the bag with his bone inside.
'That's your dinner, Tim,' said Anne. 'Plenty of meat on it, too. Look there's Mother at the window,beckoning. I expect she wants the sausages. NO, Timmy - the sausages are NOT for you. Get down!
Good gracious, I never in my life knew such a hungry dog. Anybody would think you starved him,George.'
'Well, they'd think wrong, then,' said George. 'Timmy, come to heel.'
Timmy came, still looking round longingly⁸ at the various bags that the others were now taking fromtheir saddle-bags.
They all went indoors, and deposited the goods on the kitchen table. The cook opened the bags andlooked inside, keeping a sharp eye on Timmy.
'Better take that dog of yours out of my kitchen,' she said. 'Funny how sausages always disappearwhen he's around. Get down, now - take your paws off my clean table!'
Timmy trotted¹⁰ out of the kitchen. He thought it was a pity that cooks didn't like him. He liked themvery much indeed - they always smelt¹¹ so deliciously of cooking, and there were always so manytitbits around which he longed for, but was seldom offered. Ah well - he'd trot⁹ into the kitchen againwhen Cookie had gone upstairs for something! He might perhaps find a few bits and pieces on thefloor then!
7'Hallo, Georgina dear!' said her aunt, coming into the kitchen, Timmy following her in delight.
'Timmy, go out of the kitchen. I don't trust you within a mile of sausages. Go on - shoo!'
Timmy 'shooed'. He liked Anne's mother, but knew that when she said 'Shoo!' she meant it. He laydown on a rug in the living-room, with a heavy sigh, wondering how long it would be before he hadthat lovely meaty bone. He put his head on his paws, and kept his ears pricked for George. Hethought it most unfair that George shouldn't be shooed out of the kitchen too.
'Now for goodness sake, keep out of my way while I cook the lunch,' said Cook, to the childrenmilling round her kitchen. 'And shut the door, please. I don't want that great hungry dog sniffinground me all the time, making out he's starving, when he's as fat as butter!'
'He's NOT!' said George, indignantly. 'Timmy has never been fat in his life. He's not that kind of dog.
He's never greedy!'
'Well, he must be the first dog ever born that wasn't greedy,' said Cookie. 'Can't trust any of them!
There was that pug-dog of Mrs. Lane's - crunched¹³ up lumps of sugar whenever it could reach a sugar-bowl - and that fat poodle next door - came and knocked over the cream that the milkman left outsidethe back door - deliberated knocked it over, mark you - and then licked up every drop. Ha - hismistress tried to make out he didn't like cream - but you should have seen his nose - covered in creamup to his eyes!'
Timmy looked in at the kitchen door, his nose in the air, for all the world as if he were deeplyoffended at Cookie's remarks. Julian laughed. 'You've wounded his pride, Cookie!' he said.
'I'll wound him somewhere else, too, if he comes sniffing¹² round me when I'm cooking,' said Cookie.
That made George give one of her scowls¹⁴, but the others couldn't help laughing!
The morning went very pleasantly. The five went down to the beach, and walked round the highcliffs, enjoying the stiff breeze that blew in their faces. Timmy raced after every seagull that dared tosit on the smooth sand, annoyed that each one rose up lazily on great wings, as soon as he almostreached it.
They were all hungry for their dinner, and not one single morsel¹⁵ was left when they had finished!
Cookie had made a tremendous steamed pudding, with lashings of treacle¹⁶, which was, as usual, ahuge success.
'Wish I had a tongue like Timmy's and could lick up the lovely treacle left on the bottom of the dish,'
said George. 'Such a waste!'
8'You certainly won't be able to eat any tea, I'm sure of that!' said her aunt. But, of course, she waswrong. When tea time came, they all felt quite ready for it, and were most impatient when Mrs.
Layman was late!
The tea looked lovely, laid on a big table, over a white lace cloth. The children sat and looked at itlongingly. When would Mrs. Layman arrive?
'I begin to feel I'm not going to like Mrs. Layman,' said George, at last. 'I can't bear looking at thosecream cakes when I'm hungry.'
The front door bell rang. Hurrah¹⁷! Then in came a cheerful, smiling old lady, nodding to everyone,very pleased to see such a nice little party waiting for her.
'This is Mrs. Layman, children,' said Julian's mother. 'Sit down, Mrs. Layman. We're delighted tohave you.'
'Well, I've come to ask the children something,' said Mrs. Layman. 'But we'll have tea first, and thenI'll say what I've come to say. My, my - what a wonderful tea! I'm glad I feel hungry!'
Everyone else was hungry too, and soon the bread and butter, the sandwiches, the buns, the cakes andeverything else disappeared. Timmy sat quietly by George, who slipped him a titbit now and again,when no one was looking. Mrs. Layman chatted away. She was a most interesting person, and thechildren liked her very much.
'Well now,' she said, when tea was finished, 'I'm sure you must be wanting to know why I asked tocome to tea today. I wanted to ask your mother, Julian, if there was any chance of you three -and this other boy here - what's his name - George? would you like to help me out of a difficulty.'
Nobody pointed¹⁸ out that George was a girl, not a boy, and that George was short for Georgina.
George, as usual, was pleased to be taken for a boy. They all looked at Mrs. Layman, listening to herwith interest.
'It's like this,' she said. 'I've a dear little house up on the hills, overlooking the harbour - and I've agrandson staying with me there - Wilfrid. Well, I have to go to look after a cousin of mine, who's ill -and Wilfrid can't bear to be left alone. I just wondered if your mother would allow you children toshare the little house with Wilfrid - and well - keep him company. He feels a bit scary being on hisown. I've a good woman there, who comes in to cook and clean - but poor Wilfrid's really scared ofbeing in such a lonely place, high up on the hill.'
'You mean that lovely little house with the wonderful view?' said Julian's mother.
9'Yes. It's rather primitive¹⁹ in some ways - no water laid on, only just a well to use - and no electricityor gas - just candles, or an oil lamp. Maybe it sounds too old-fashioned for words - but honestly theview makes up for it! Perhaps the children would like to come over and see it, before they decide?'
Mrs. Layman looked earnestly round at everyone, and nobody knew quite what to say.
'Well - we'll certainly come and see it,' said Julian's mother. 'And if the children feel like it, well, theycan stay there. They do like being on their own, of course.'
'Yes,' said Julian. 'We'll come and see it, Mrs. Layman. Mother's going to be busy with a bazaar²⁰ soon- she'll be glad to get us out of the way - and, of course, we do like being on our own!'
Mrs. Layman looked extremely pleased. 'Tomorrow, then?' she said. 'About ten o'clock. You'll lovethe view. Wonderful, wonderful! You can see right over the great harbour, and for miles around.
Well - I must be going now. I'll tell Wilfrid you children may be keeping him company.
He's such a nice lad - so helpful. You'll love him.'
Julian had his doubts about the nice helpful Wilfrid. He even wondered if Mrs. Layman wanted to getaway from Wilfrid, and leave him to himself! No - that was too silly. Anyway, they'd soon see whatthe place was like, tomorrow.
'It would be fun to be on our own again,' said George, when Mrs. Layman had gone. 'I don't expectthis Wilfrid would be any bother. He's probably just a silly kid, scared of being left alone- though apparently there is a woman there! Well - we'll go tomorrow! Maybe the view will make upfor dear Wilfrid!'

1 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

2 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

3 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。

4 layman   

n.俗人，门外汉，凡人

参考例句：

• These technical terms are difficult for the layman to understand.这些专门术语是外行人难以理解的。
• He is a layman in politics.他对政治是个门外汉。

5 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。

6 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

7 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

8 longingly   

adv. 渴望地 热望地

参考例句：

• He looked longingly at the food on the table. 他眼巴巴地盯着桌上的食物。
• Over drinks,he speaks longingly of his trip to Latin America. 他带着留恋的心情，一边喝酒一边叙述他的拉丁美洲之行。

9 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

10 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

11 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

12 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 crunched   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头，使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命

14 scowls   

不悦之色，怒容( scowl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All my attempts to amuse the children were met with sullen scowls. 我想尽办法哄这些孩子玩儿，但是他们总是满脸不高兴。
• Frowns, scowls and grimaces all push people away -- but a smile draws them in. 1. 愁眉苦脸只会把人推开，而微笑却把人吸引过来。

15 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。

16 treacle   

n.糖蜜

参考例句：

• Blend a little milk with two tablespoons of treacle.将少许牛奶和两大汤匙糖浆混合。
• The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweet.啜饮蜜糖的苍蝇在甜蜜中丧生。

17 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

18 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。

19 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

20 bazaar   

n.集市，商店集中区

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• We bargained for a beautiful rug in the bazaar.我们在集市通过讨价还价买到了一条很漂亮的地毯。