Chapter 17 FULL OF SURPRISES
'Its locked - we can't open the bag,' said Julian, and shook it vigorously as if that might make it flyopen and spill whatever contents it had!
'We don't know if it's got anything of value in it or not,' said Dick, in deep disappointment. 'I mean -it might be some trick on that fellow Paul's part - he might have taken the blue-prints, or whateverthey were he hid, for himself, and left the bag just to trick the others.'
'Can we cut it open?' asked George.
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'No. I don't think so. It's made of really strong leather. We would need a special knife to cut throughit - an ordinary pen-knife wouldn't be any use,' said Julian. 'I think we'll just have to assume thatwe've got the goods, and hope for the best. If they're not in here, it's just bad luck.
Someone else has got them, if so.'
They all looked at the tantalizing² bag.
Now they would have to wait for ages before they found out whether their efforts had been successfulor not!
'Well - what do we do now?' said George, feeling suddenly flat. 'Go back all through that long tunnelonce more? I'll be glad to be in the open air again, won't you?'
'Rather!' said Julian. 'Well - I suppose we'd better get down through that hole again.'
'Wait!' said Anne, her sharp eyes catching³ sight of something. 'Look - what does all this mean?'
She shone her torch on to various signs on the wall.
Again there were arrows drawn⁴ in white chalk - but, very oddly, a line of them ran downwards⁵ acrossthe wall of the little rocky room, right to the edge of the hole - and another line of arrows pointing theother way, ran horizontally across the wall!
'Well - do you suppose that's just meant to muddle⁶ people?' said Dick, puzzled. 'We know jolly wellthat the way out of this room is down that hole, because that's the way we came into it.'
'Perhaps the other line of arrows means that there's a second way out,' suggested George. They alllooked round the little rocky room. There didn't seem any way out at all.
'Where's Timmy?' said Anne, suddenly, flashing her torch round. 'He's not here! Has he fallen downthe hole? I never heard him yelp

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1 ass
n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人
参考例句：
He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。 An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

2 tantalizing
adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )
参考例句：
This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》 We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

3 catching
adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住
参考例句：
There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。 Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 drawn
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。 Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 downwards
adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）
参考例句：
He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。 As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

6 muddle
n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱
参考例句：
Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。 Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

7 yelp
vi.狗吠
参考例句：
The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。 The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

8 shrilly
尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的
参考例句：
The librarian threw back his head and laughed shrilly. 图书管理员把头往后面一仰，尖着嗓子哈哈大笑。 He half rose in his seat, whistling shrilly between his teeth, waving his hand. 他从车座上半欠起身子，低声打了一个尖锐的唿哨，一面挥挥手。

9 slab
n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上
参考例句：
This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。 The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

10 jutted
v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出
参考例句：
A row of small windows jutted out from the roof. 有一排小窗户从房顶上突出来。 His jaw jutted stubbornly forward; he would not be denied. 他固执地扬起下巴，一副不肯罢休的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 harry
vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼
参考例句：
Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。 Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 thoroughly
adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地
参考例句：
The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。 The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

13 groaning
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式
参考例句：
She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。 The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

14 groaned
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦
参考例句：
He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。 The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 despondent
adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的
参考例句：
He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。 I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

16 feverishly
adv. 兴奋地
参考例句：
Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。 The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。

17 rubble
n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾
参考例句：
After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。 After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

18 scramble
v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料
参考例句：
He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。 It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

19 joyfully
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句：
She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。 During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

20 scrambled
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞
参考例句：
Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》