WHEN we had got that four shillings by digging for treasure we ought, by rights, to have tried Dicky’s idea of answering the advertisement about ladies and gentlemen and spare time and two pounds a week, but there were several things we rather wanted.

Dora wanted a new pair of scissors, and she said she was going to get them with her eightpence. But Alice said—

“You ought to get her those, Oswald, because you know you broke the points off hers getting the marble out of the brass¹ thimble.”

It was quite true, though I had almost forgotten it, but then it was H.O. who jammed the marble into the thimble first of all. So I said—

“It’s H.O.’s fault as much as mine, anyhow. Why shouldn’t he pay?”
page: 52

Oswald didn’t so much mind paying for the beastly scissors, but he hates injustice² of every kind.

“He’s such a little kid,” said Dicky, and of course H.O. said he wasn’t a little kid, and it very nearly came to being a row between them. But Oswald knows when to be generous; so he said—

“Look here! I’ll pay sixpence of the scissors, and H.O. shall pay the rest, to teach him to be careful.”

H.O. agreed: he is not at all a mean kid, but I found out afterwards that Alice paid his share out of her own money.

Then we wanted some new paints, and No?l wanted a pencil and a halfpenny account‐book to write poetry with, and it does seem hard never to have any apples. So, somehow or other nearly all the money got spent, and we agreed that we must let the advertisement run loose a little longer.

“I only hope,” Alice said, “that they won’t have got all the ladies and gentlemen they want before we have got the money to write for the sample and instructions.”

And I was a little afraid myself, because it seemed such a splendid chance; but we looked in the paper every day, and the advertisement page: 53 was always there, so we thought it was all right.

Then we had the detective try‐on—and it proved no go; and then, when all the money was gone, except a halfpenny of mine and twopence of No?l’s and threepence of Dicky’s and a few pennies that the girls had left, we held another council.

Dora was sewing the buttons on H.O.’s Sunday things. He got himself a knife with his money, and he cut every single one of his best buttons off. You’ve no idea how many buttons there are on a suit. Dora counted them. There are twenty‐four, counting the little ones on the sleeves that don’t

点击收听单词发音  

1 brass
n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器
参考例句：
Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。 Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

2 injustice
n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利
参考例句：
They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。 All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

3 undo
vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销
参考例句：
His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。 I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

4 eldest
adj.最年长的，最年老的
参考例句：
The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。 The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

5 wreck
n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难
参考例句：
Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。 No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

6 reviving
v.恢复( revive的现在分词 )；苏醒；使再生效；回忆起
参考例句：
There was a reviving pleasure in this intercourse. 交谈中，有一种令人振奋的乐趣。 来自辞典例句 He had accused them of deliberately reviving militarism. 他曾指控他们蓄意复活军国主义。 来自辞典例句

7 eloquence
n.雄辩；口才，修辞
参考例句：
I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。 The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

8 beetle
n.甲虫，近视眼的人
参考例句：
A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。 He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

9 schooner
n.纵帆船
参考例句：
The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。 The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。

10 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 spectacles
n.眼镜
参考例句：
a pair of spectacles 一副眼镜 People wear spectacles so that they can see better. 人们戴眼镜是为了看得更清楚。

12 awfully
adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地
参考例句：
Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。 I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

13 idiots
傻子，笨蛋( idiot的名词复数 )； 白痴
参考例句：
"How I hate them-those idiots in charge of the town! “我恨极了，那班混账东西！ 来自子夜部分 'May the Devil carry away these idiots! “但愿魔鬼把这些白痴都抓了去！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

14 vexed
adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论
参考例句：
The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。 He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 grudge
n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做
参考例句：
I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。 I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

16 disapproving
adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Mother gave me a disapproving look. 母亲的眼神告诉我她是不赞成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Her father threw a disapproving glance at her. 她父亲不满地瞥了她一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 mischief
n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹
参考例句：
Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。 He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

18 cannon
n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮
参考例句：
The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。 The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

19 nasty
adj.令人讨厌的，困难的，恶劣的，下流的
参考例句：
She got a nasty knock on the head when she fell.她跌倒时头部受到严重碰撞。 When this material burns，it flings off a nasty smell.这种物质燃烧时发出一股难闻的气味。