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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Haunted Boxcar CHAPTER 4 The Main Suspects

时间:2017-11-14 08:27来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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“Oh my goodness!” said Jessie. “What happened here?”

“A ghost!” Benny cried.

Henry shined the flashlight all around the inside of the boxcar. Aside from the fallen chair and the mess of games, everything else was in its proper place. “These seem to be the only things that were touched. It doesn’t look like we were robbed.”

“Do you think whoever did this is still around?” asked Violet.

“No,” said Henry. “Watch would be barking if anyone else were in the yard. Right, Watch?”

Watch’s ears were up, alert. He was sniffing1 around curiously2, but he stayed silent.

“Can we go back inside the house?” Violet asked, her voice shaky.

“Sure,” said Jessie. She picked up the chair that had been knocked over and set it upright. “We’ll clean up the games tomorrow, in the light.”

The children took one last look around the boxcar and then stepped out. It was still raining. Jessie carefully shut the door, then followed the others back across their yard. Violet felt relieved as their comfortable house appeared in the flashlight’s glow.

Once inside, Henry turned off the flashlight. They all removed their wet raincoats.

“How about some hot cocoa?” Jessie offered.

“Good idea,” said Benny.

A few minutes later, the Aldens were gathered around the kitchen table with steaming mugs of cocoa in front of them.

“Mmmmm … ” said Benny as he took a sip3 from his mug. A thin layer of chocolate coated his upper lip.

“Do you think we should wake up Mrs. McGregor?” Violet asked.

“And tell her what?” said Henry. “We don’t even know what happened.”

“Well, we know someone was in there,” said Jessie.

“Or something,” said Henry. “It might not have been a person.”

“That’s just what I was thinking,” said Benny. “It might have been a ghost!”

Henry smiled. “That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking, Benny. I meant it might have been an animal.”

“How would an animal have opened the door?” Violet asked. “I’m sure I shut it before we came in for dinner.”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

“Then it must have been a person,” Henry said at last.

“But Professor Murray said — ” Benny started to protest.

“You know it wasn’t a ghost,” Jessie said, interrupting.

“I guess not,” Benny said, reluctantly. He swirled4 his cocoa in his cup.

“All right, so we agree it was a person,” said Henry. “Who? Why would someone go in our boxcar in the middle of the night?”

“There’s nothing valuable to steal,” Jessie pointed5 out.

“Do you think someone was trying to wreck6 it?” asked Henry.

Jessie thought for a moment before she answered. “I don’t think so. I think the mess might have been an accident. Maybe whoever was in there saw the lights go on in the house and got scared. When they ran out of there, they might have just knocked over the chair and games.”

Violet yawned. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to go back to bed.”

“Me too,” said Jessie.

The Aldens rinsed7 their cocoa mugs and put them in the sink. Then they headed up to their rooms.

Jessie tucked Benny in for the second time that night. “See you in the morning,” she said.

“Good night,” said Benny. This time he had no trouble falling asleep.

The next morning when Benny awoke, he jumped to his window and looked outside. The rain had stopped and sunlight was sparkling on the wet grass.

He looked over at the boxcar. As far as Benny could tell, it was just as they had left it. He pulled on some clothes and hurried downstairs to the kitchen, where Mrs. McGregor was getting breakfast ready. Henry, Jessie, and Violet were already there, telling Mrs. McGregor what had happened the night before.

“Are you sure you didn’t just leave the door to the boxcar open?” Mrs. McGregor asked as she flipped8 their pancakes. “It could have been a raccoon or a stray dog that went in and knocked things over.”

“I’m sure I shut it,” said Violet.

“I’ve encountered some pretty smart raccoons,” said Mrs. McGregor, turning to face the children. “Since they can open garbage cans, they can probably open that boxcar door.”

“But what about the light I saw?” Benny asked.

“It could have just been a reflection of something,’ their housekeeper9 said.

“I guess. … ” Benny said.

“Was anything broken or missing?” asked Mrs. McGregor.

“No,” said Jessie.

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it.” Mrs. McGregor turned back to the griddle, humming softly.

“I want to take a look at the boxcar in the daylight,” Jessie said. “Maybe we’ll find some clues.”

“I’ll come, too,” said Benny. They all followed Jessie out the door.

“Hurry back, the pancakes are almost ready,” Mrs. McGregor called after them.

Violet couldn’t believe how scared she’d felt walking across the yard the night before. In the daylight, it wasn’t frightening at all.

Inside the boxcar, the Aldens looked around carefully. They saw no footprints or pawprints or any other clues to help them figure out who had been in the boxcar the night before.

Benny, Violet, Jessie, and Henry knelt to clean up the game pieces that had spilled, then put the boxes back into a neat pile.

There were still a lot of unanswered questions. But at least now the boxcar was back in order.

When the children returned to the sunny kitchen, the pancakes were waiting.

“Everything okay out there?” Mrs. McGregor asked.

“All straightened up,” said Jessie.

“That’s good,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Could you kids walk into town and pick up some groceries after breakfast?”

“Sure,” said Violet.

“The list’s on the table,” Mrs. McGregor said.

A short while later the Aldens were on their way to town, pulling a small red wagon10 for the groceries.

“I just can’t believe that someone sneaked11 into our boxcar last night,” said Violet.

“Maybe Mrs. McGregor was right,” said Jessie. “Maybe it was just a raccoon.”

Henry shook his head. “Maybe,” he said, “but something tells me it was a person.”

“But what was a person doing in our boxcar in the middle of the night?” asked Benny.

“I don’t know,” said Henry. “I don’t know why anyone would be there. But someone was.”

“Professor Murray and Amelia and Claire all seemed really interested in the boxcar,” Violet pointed out. “Maybe one of them came back to look at it again.”

“In the middle of the night?” Benny said. “Why not just wait until daytime?”

“It does seem pretty unlikely,” Violet admitted.

“Unless … ” Jessie began. “Unless one of them wanted to go in without us knowing about it.”

“Why wouldn’t they want us to know?” said Benny.

Jessie shrugged12. “Beats me.”

“Whoever was in there knocked all that stuff over and just left it that way,” Henry pointed out. “Wouldn’t one of them have picked it up?”

“You’re right,” said Violet.

They continued walking without saying anything. They were all deep in their own thoughts.

Then Jessie spoke13 up. “Benny, tell us again what you saw out your window.”

“I saw a light,” Benny said. “Near the boxcar. It was sort of … floating along.”

“Floating?” Jessie repeated.

“I’m telling you, it looked ghostly,” said Benny.

“Maybe that’s it,” said Henry.

“You think it was a ghost?” Benny asked, his eyes widening.

“No, but maybe it was someone trying to make us think there was a ghost,” said Henry. “Maybe someone went in the boxcar and knocked things over to make us think the boxcar was haunted.”

“Who would do that?” asked Violet.

“Well, it was Professor Murray who made Benny think the boxcar might be haunted in the first place,” Henry said. “Maybe he did it on purpose. Then he came over with a flashlight in the middle of the night and knocked things over.”

“But why would he want us to think the boxcar is haunted?” said Violet.

“Remember how upset he was that we use the boxcar as a playhouse?” said Henry. “Maybe he thinks that if he scares us, we’ll want to get rid of it and give it to a museum like he suggested.”

“Maybe,” said Violet. She didn’t sound convinced.

“Well, if he thinks we’re going to be scared that easily, he’s wrong,” said Benny, standing14 up tall and thrusting out his chest.

“I just don’t believe Professor Murray would do something like that,” said Jessie. “He is a professor, after all, and he’s Ms. Murray’s brother. She’s so nice — I can’t believe her brother would be so sneaky.”

“Maybe he thought there was no other way to convince us,” said Henry.

“Maybe,” said Jessie. “But I wonder more about Amelia.”

“What about her?” asked Henry.

“Professor Murray is our neighbor’s brother,” said Jessie, “but we don’t know anything about Amelia — who she is, why she’s interested in our boxcar. We don’t even know her last name!”

“You’re right,” Benny said.

“She said she likes old train cars,” said Henry. “That doesn’t mean she’d break into one.”

“But it doesn’t mean she wouldn’t, either,” Jessie said.

“Well, we’ll just have to keep our eyes open,” Violet said. “Right now we don’t have much to go on.”

They had reached the door to the grocery store and were about to enter when Benny stopped abruptly15. “I have an idea!” he cried. “Let’s sleep outside in the boxcar tonight! That way, we’ll see if anything unusual happens.”

“Great idea,” said Henry.

“And if there’s a ghost,” Benny added, “we’ll know for sure.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sniffing 50b6416c50a7d3793e6172a8514a0576     
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》
2 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
3 sip Oxawv     
v.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量
参考例句:
  • She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
  • Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。
4 swirled eb40fca2632f9acaecc78417fd6adc53     
v.旋转,打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
  • The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。
5 pointed Il8zB4     
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。
6 wreck QMjzE     
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。
7 rinsed 637d6ed17a5c20097c9dbfb69621fd20     
v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
参考例句:
  • She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。
9 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
10 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
11 sneaked fcb2f62c486b1c2ed19664da4b5204be     
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 );偷偷溜走;(儿童向成人)打小报告;告状
参考例句:
  • I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
  • She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。
12 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
14 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
15 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
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