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CHAPTER XV TROUBLE AGAIN
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 However, they were allowed to go with Ralph to the movies the next Saturday. Ralph himself explained to Daddy Morrison that he had promised to take them and then found he had a previous engagement. He thought, and Daddy Morrison did, too, that having to stay in the yard for a whole week was punishment enough even if one exception was permitted.
 
So Brother and Sister went down to the "big" theatre with Ralph the next Saturday afternoon, and then they had to stay in their yard all day Sunday and all day Monday, and after that they might again go where they pleased.
 
"Let's go see if Norman Crane's aunt sent him a birthday present," suggested Sister the first morning they were free to leave the yard.
 
Norman Crane was a little friend who lived several blocks away, and whose aunt in New York City sent him wonderful presents at Christmas time and on his birthday. He had had a party a few days before, and of course Brother and Sister could not go—all because they would go to those unlucky movies!
 
Brother was willing to stop at Norman's house, but when they reached there they found Norman had gone to the city with his mother for a day's shopping.
 
"I smell tar1," declared Brother, as they came down the steps and turned into the street where Miss Putnam lived in the haunted house—only it wasn't called that any longer. "Oh, look, Betty, they're mending something."
 
There was a little group of children about a big pot of boiling tar and workmen were mending the roofs of three or four houses that were built exactly alike and were owned by the same man. These houses were always repaired and painted at the same time every year.
 
Nearest to the boiling pot—indeed, with his red head almost in the hot steam—was the little boy Brother and Sister had noticed walking on Miss Putnam's picket2 fence. A puddle3 of tar had splashed over on the ground and the red-headed boy was stirring it with a stick held between his bare toes.
 
"Now don't hang around here all day," said one of the workmen, kindly4 enough. "Run away before you get burned. Hey, there, Red! Do you want to blister5 your foot?"
 
The red-haired lad grinned mischievously6.
 
"I'd hate to spoil my shoes," he jeered7, "but you watch and I'll kick over your old pot! I can, just as easy."
 
The other children drew nearer, half-believing the boy would tip over the pot of boiling tar.
 
"Here," said another and younger workman, "if we give each of you a little on a stick will you promise to go off and leave us in peace?"
 
There was an eager chorus of promises, and the good-natured young roofer actually stuck a little ball of the soft tar on each stick thrust at him and watched the small army of boys and girls march up the street, smiling.
 
"That Mickey Gaffney thinks he's smart," said Nellie Yarrow, who had found Brother and Sister in the crowd, as the red-headed boy dashed past them, waving his stick of tar wildly and shouting like an Indian.
 
"Do you know him?" asked Sister. "Doesn't he ever wear shoes?"
 
"I guess so—I don't know. I don't like him," replied Nellie indifferently.
 
"I don't believe he has any shoes, not even for Sunday," Brother said to himself. "His coat was all torn and his mother sewed his pants up with another kind of cloth so that it shows. I wonder where 'bouts8 he lives?"
 
He opened his mouth to ask Nellie, when Miss Putnam swooped9 down to the fence as they were passing her house.
 
"Go way!" she called, leaving her weeding to wave a rake at them. "Go 'long with you! Don't you drop any of that messy tar on my sidewalk!"
 
"What lovely flowers!" whispered Sister as they obediently hurried past.
 
Indeed, Miss Putnam had made a beautiful garden and lawn of her small yard, and she did all the work of taking care of it herself.
 
Sister and Brother carried their tar home with them and left it in the sand heap. Jimmie had six boys playing in the gymnasium with him and they all stayed to lunch. Molly and Mother Morrison were used to having unexpected guests, and no matter how many there were, in some mysterious manner plenty of good things to eat appeared on the table.
 
"Can we come out and watch you?" asked Brother when the boys were going back to the barn.
 
"We're going swimming," answered Jimmie.
 
"Can't we go swimming?" inquired Sister hopefully.
 
"You can NOT!" retorted Jimmie. "Why don't you take a nap, or—something?"
 
"Come on out to the barn, Roddy," Sister urged Brother when Jimmie and his friends had gone whistling on their way to the river.
 
"Now don't you be meddling10 with any of those things out there," warned Molly, clearing the table. "Your brother doesn't like you to touch his exercises, you know."
 
Molly called all the apparatus11 the boys used "exercises."
 
"We're not going to touch 'em!" declared Sister. "We're only going to look."
 
Jimmie seldom snapped his padlock, for lately the children had not bothered the gymnasium in the barn. They found the door open this afternoon.
 
"Bet you can't jump off that!" said Sister, pointing to a home-made "horse" that Jimmie had ingeniously contrived12.
 
(If you don't know the kind of "horse" they use in a gymnasium, ask your big brother or sister.)
 
"Bet I can!" challenged Brother.
 
They took turns jumping until they were tired, and they went about poking13 their little fingers and noses into whatever they could find to examine. Sister's investigations14 ended sadly enough, for she succeeded in pulling down a tray of butterflies that Jimmie was mounting (he had thought the gymnasium a safe place to keep them out of everyone's way), and now broken glass and crumbled15 butterflies were scattered16 all over the floor.
 
"Now you've done it!" cried Brother. "Jimmie will be just as mad!"
 
They found an old broom and swept the broken glass under one of the heavy floor pads. Then, very much subdued17, they went into the house and were so quiet for the rest of the afternoon and through supper that Mother Morrison wondered if they were sick.
 
They were having dessert when the doorbell rang and Molly went to the door. She came back in a moment, her eyes round with wonder and looking rather frightened.
 
"It's Mr. Dougherty, sir," she said to Daddy Morrison. "He wants to see you."
 
Mr. Dougherty was Ridgeway's one and only policeman.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tar 1qOwD     
n.柏油,焦油;vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于
参考例句:
  • The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
  • We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。
2 picket B2kzl     
n.纠察队;警戒哨;v.设置纠察线;布置警卫
参考例句:
  • They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
  • Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。
3 puddle otNy9     
n.(雨)水坑,泥潭
参考例句:
  • The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑,沿着人行道跑了。
  • She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下,跌在水坑里。
4 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
5 blister otwz3     
n.水疱;(油漆等的)气泡;v.(使)起泡
参考例句:
  • I got a huge blister on my foot and I couldn't run any farther.我脚上长了一个大水泡,没办法继续跑。
  • I have a blister on my heel because my shoe is too tight.鞋子太紧了,我脚后跟起了个泡。
6 mischievously 23cd35e8c65a34bd7a6d7ecbff03b336     
adv.有害地;淘气地
参考例句:
  • He mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister. 他淘气地寻找机会让他的姐姐难堪。 来自互联网
  • Also has many a dream kindheartedness, is loves mischievously small lovable. 又有着多啦a梦的好心肠,是爱调皮的小可爱。 来自互联网
7 jeered c6b854b3d0a6d00c4c5a3e1372813b7d     
v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The police were jeered at by the waiting crowd. 警察受到在等待的人群的嘲弄。
  • The crowd jeered when the boxer was knocked down. 当那个拳击手被打倒时,人们开始嘲笑他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 bouts 2abe9936190c45115a3f6a38efb27c43     
n.拳击(或摔跤)比赛( bout的名词复数 );一段(工作);(尤指坏事的)一通;(疾病的)发作
参考例句:
  • For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
9 swooped 33b84cab2ba3813062b6e35dccf6ee5b     
俯冲,猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
  • The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
10 meddling meddling     
v.干涉,干预(他人事务)( meddle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
  • They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野,因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句
11 apparatus ivTzx     
n.装置,器械;器具,设备
参考例句:
  • The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
  • They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。
12 contrived ivBzmO     
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的
参考例句:
  • There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
  • The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。
13 poking poking     
n. 刺,戳,袋 vt. 拨开,刺,戳 vi. 戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢
参考例句:
  • He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
  • He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。
14 investigations 02de25420938593f7db7bd4052010b32     
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究
参考例句:
  • His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查,但没有发现什么。
  • He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
15 crumbled 32aad1ed72782925f55b2641d6bf1516     
(把…)弄碎, (使)碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 衰落; 坍塌; 损坏
参考例句:
  • He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
  • Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了,我们的希望也破灭了。
16 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
17 subdued 76419335ce506a486af8913f13b8981d     
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
  • I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候,我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。


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