Nineteen（2）

II
“Come on, sonny,” said Superintendent¹ Huish encouragingly. “Let’s hearall about it.”
Master Cyril Green took a deep breath. Before he could speak, hismother interposed.
“As you might say, Mr. Huish, I didn’t take much notice at the time. Youknow what these children are. Always talking and thinking about spaceships and things. And he comes home to me and he says, ‘Mum, I’ve seen asputnik, it’s come down.’ Well, I mean, before that it was flying saucers.
It’s always something. It’s these Russians that go putting things into theirheads.”
Superintendent Huish sighed and thought how much easier it would beif mothers would not insist on accompanying their sons and talking forthem.
“Come on, Cyril,” he said, “you went home and told your Mum—that’sright, isn’t it?—that you’d seen this Russian sputnik—whatever it was.”
“Didn’t know no better then,” said Cyril. “I was only a kid then. That’stwo years ago. Course, I know better now.”
“Them bubble cars,” his mother put in, “was quite new at the time.
There hadn’t been one about locally, so naturally when he saw it—andbright red too—he didn’t realize as it was just an ordinary car. And whenwe heard the next morning as Mrs. Argyle had been done in, Cyril he saysto me, ‘Mum,’ he says, ‘it’s them Russians,’ he says, ‘they come down inthat sputnik of theirs and they must have got in and killed her.’ ‘Don’t talksuch nonsense,’ I said. And then of course later in the day we hear herown son has been arrested for having done it.”
Superintendent Huish addressed himself patiently once more to Cyril.
“It was in the evening, I understand? What time, do you remember?”
“I’d had me tea,” said Cyril, breathing hard in the effort of remem-brance, “and Mum was out at the Institute, so I went out again a bit withthe boys and we larked² around a bit up that way down the new road.”
“And what was you doing there, I’d like to know,” his mother put in.
PC Good, who’d brought in this promising³ piece of evidence, interposed.
He knew well enough what Cyril and the boys had been doing down thenew road. The disappearance⁴ of chrysanthemums⁵ had been angrily repor-ted from several householders there, and he knew well enough that thebad characters of the village surreptitiously encouraged the younger gen-eration to supply them with flowers which they themselves took to mar-ket. This was not the moment, PC Good knew, to go into past cases of delin-quency. He said heavily:
“Boys is boys, Mrs. Green, they gets larking⁶ around.”
“Yes,” said Cyril, “just having a game or two, we were. And that’s whereI saw it. ‘Coo,’ I said, ‘what’s this?’ O’ course I know now. I’m not a silly kidany longer. It was just one o’ them bubble cars. Bright red, it was.”
“And the time?” said Superintendent Huish patiently.
“Well, as I say, I’d had me tea an’ we’d gone out there and larked. Iheard the clock strike and ‘Coo,’ I thought, ‘Mum’ll be home and won’t shecreate if I’m not there.’ So I went home. I told her that I thought I’d seenthat Russian satellite come down. Mum said it were all lies, but it wasn’t.
Only o’ course, I knows better now. I was just a kid then, see.”
Superintendent Huish said that he saw. After a few more questions hedismissed Mrs. Green and her offspring⁷. PC Good, remaining behind, puton the gratified expression of a junior member of the force who hasshown intelligence and hopes that it will count in his favour.
“It just come to me,” said PC Good, “what that boy’d been around sayingabout Russians doing Mrs. Argyle in. I thought to meself, ‘Well, that maymean something.’”
“It does mean something,” said the superintendent. “Miss Tina Argylehas a red bubble car, and it looks as though I’d have to ask her a few morequestions.”

1 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

2 larked   

v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的过去式和过去分词 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了

参考例句：

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

5 chrysanthemums   

n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The cold weather had most deleterious consequences among the chrysanthemums. 寒冷的天气对菊花产生了极有害的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The chrysanthemums are in bloom; some are red and some yellow. 菊花开了， 有红的，有黄的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 larking   

v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的现在分词 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了

参考例句：

• Stop larking about and get on with your work. 不要只贪玩，去做你的工作。 来自辞典例句
• The boys are larking about behind the house. 男孩们在屋子后面嬉耍。 来自辞典例句

7 offspring   

n.子女，子孙，后代，（动物的）崽

参考例句：

• Jack is her only offspring.杰克是她唯一的后代。
• This device is the offspring of his inventive mind.这一装置是他那长于发明的头脑的产儿。