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儿童英语读物 The Clue in the Corn Maze CHAPTER 9 Trouble!

时间:2017-11-15 06:02来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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When the Aldens returned to Ken1’s, Mr. Sweeney was back. He was just finishing up the last of the repair work in the maze2.

“Tomorrow we paint the fence posts,” Violet said.

“And decorate for the festival,” Benny added.

“Can you kids help me go down all the paths right now and make sure the rest of the maze is in good shape?” asked Mr. Sweeney.

“Sure,” the Aldens replied.

They divided up—Mr. Sweeney, Henry, and Violet, and Jessie and Benny—and headed down different paths.

“Everything looks good over here,” Jessie called after a little while.

“Here, too,” Henry called back.

“Wait a minute,” Violet said. “What’s that?”

A round black object had caught her eye. Violet and Henry rushed down the path to see what it was.

“A tire?” Violet said with surprise. The tire was short and fat.

“It’s too small to have come from a car,” Henry said.

“What else could it have come from?” Violet asked.

“I don’t know,” Henry said as Mr. Sweeney, Jessie, and Benny came up behind them. “Maybe a wagon3?”

Mr. Sweeney picked up the tire. There was another note underneath4. Henry picked it up. Like the other notes that had been found in the maze, it was written in letters cut from magazine or newspaper headlines.

“CANCEL THE FESTIVAL OR THERE WILL BE TROUBLE,” Jessie read over Henry’s shoulder.

“Oh, no,” Violet said.

“What kind of trouble?” Benny asked.

“I don’t know,” Mr. Sweeney said grimly5. “But this looks like a tire from the trailer we use for hayrides. I’d better go see if the trailer is okay.”

The children followed Mr. Sweeney through the maze and over to the barn.

Mr. Sweeney grabbed6 a tire iron from a workbench in the corner, then went around and checked each tire on the trailer.

“They’re all tight,” Mr. Sweeney said after he’d checked the last one.

“So what does the note mean?” Benny asked.

“Maybe it means the person hasn’t actually done anything yet, but they’re planning on doing something to the tires sometime before the festival,” Henry said.

Violet gasped7. “That sounds dangerous!”

“We’d better show this note and tire to Ken and Grandfather,” Jessie said. She and Henry picked up the tire and trooped up to the house.

They found Ken and Grandfather making dinner in the kitchen. Grandfather was peeling potatoes. Ken was snapping8 beans at the kitchen table. A beef roast rotated9 slowly in the rotisserie on the counter.

Ken looked up curiously10 as Mr. Sweeney and the children walked in. When he saw the worried faces, he asked, “Is something the matter?”

“We may have some more trouble,” Mr. Sweeney said, pointing to the tire.

Ken looked at the tire. “I don’t understand,” he said.

Henry showed him the note.

“Th-this sounds like a threat!” Ken said angrily. He looked at the children. “Where did you get this?”

“We found it in the maze,” Violet said. “It was down one of the dead-end paths.”

“Do you suppose the person who was hacking11 down the corn put it there last night?” Jessie asked.

“It wasn’t there this morning,” Mr. Sweeney said. “I walked through the whole maze looking for damage. If this note and wheel were there then, I would’ve seen them.”

“So somebody must have put them in there today while you were shopping for chicken wire and we were out walking or visiting Kurt. That’s the only time the maze was unguarded,” Jessie said.

“I’m guessing it’s the same person who tried to destroy the maze last night. Now we’re being warned there’s going to be trouble if the festival goes on as planned,” Henry said.

“Did you see anyone around, Ken?” Violet asked.

“No,” Ken replied. “James and I were playing chess all afternoon.”

“David stopped by for a few minutes,” Grandfather said. “I wonder if he saw anything?”

The children exchanged looks. If David had stopped by, they wondered, could he have left the wheel and the note?

“I’m worried,” Ken said, shaking his head. “What if this person makes good on his threat? What if he loosens12 one of the wheels on the trailer and the trailer tips over? People could get hurt.”

He slumped13 back against his chair in defeat. “I think I’m going to have to cancel the festival,” he said sadly.

“No!” the Aldens said together.

“I’m sorry, kids,” Ken said. “But I don’t see any other choice. I can’t take a chance on someone getting hurt.”

“Should I call the radio station so they can make an announcement about the festival being canceled?” Mr. Sweeney asked. “We don’t want people driving out here for nothing.”

“It’s a little late to do that today,” Ken said. “The office is probably only open until five o’clock. But if you’d take care of that for me tomorrow, I’d appreciate it.”

Mr. Sweeney nodded.

“So that gives us less than twenty-four hours to solve this case,” Henry said glumly14.

“If we figure out who’s doing this, you won’t have to cancel the festival, will you, Ken?” Violet asked.

“No,” Ken said. “But do you really think you can catch someone so quickly?”

“We’ll sure try,” Henry said.

“We know one thing for sure,” Jessie said after supper. The sun was going down, but the children sat on bales of hay behind the barn reviewing all the clues they had.

“What?” Benny asked, swinging his feet.

Jessie pulled her legs up onto the bale she was sitting on. “We know that it couldn’t have been Kurt who put the tire in the maze,” she said. “We were with him this afternoon.”

“Not the whole time,” Henry pointed15 out. “We walked down to Peggy’s first.”

“But we woke Kurt up when we got to his house,” Jessie said. “I don’t think he would’ve had time to drive up here, hide a tire in the maze, then drive back home and fall asleep.”

“You’re probably right, Jessie,” Violet said.

“Mr. Sweeney could have done it,” Henry said. “He was here by himself for a little while before we got back.”

“David was here, too,” Benny put in.

“But David is Ken’s son,” Violet said. She still couldn’t believe he was involved in all this.

“How about Peggy Rodman?” Jessie suggested. “Kurt said that the person who ran away from Ken’s house last night went into the field across the street. And that field comes out down by Peggy’s house.”

“Maybe we should do what Kurt did last night,” Benny said.

“What do you mean, Benny?” Violet asked.

Benny jumped down from his bale of hay. “Maybe we should stake out the maze and the barn tonight. Make sure nothing bad happens.”

“That’s a great idea, Benny!” Jessie said. “We could sit up in the lookout16 tower. I think we could see both the maze and the barn from up there.”

“We can roll out our sleeping bags and pretend we’re having a campout,” Violet said. “And we can take turns keeping watch.”

“If we’re lucky, we’ll catch the person in the act and save Ken’s maze,” Henry said.

“Not to mention the whole King Corn Days Festival!” Benny said.

“I don’t know,” Ken said a little while later when the children explained their plan. He and Grandfather were sitting in the living room paging through old photo albums and talking about things they used to do together when they were young.

“I appreciate you kids wanting to help,” Ken went on. “But this sounds a little dangerous.”

“We’ll be careful, Ken,” Violet said. “We promise.”

“This might be the only way to catch the vandal,” Jessie said.

“You don’t want to let someone get away with this, do you?” Benny asked.

“Well, no,” Ken admitted. “But I don’t want to put you children in harm’s way, either.”

“Perhaps you and I could sit outside and keep watch, too,” Grandfather suggested. “Those back porch17 chairs of yours are pretty comfortable. And I know my grandchildren won’t do anything foolish.”

Ken looked at Grandfather. “You’d be willing to spend the night sleeping in a chair outdoors?”

“To catch the person who’s been wrecking18 your maze?” Grandfather said. “You bet I would!”

“Then it’s settled,” Henry said. “We’ll go get our sleeping bags.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ken k3WxV     
n.视野,知识领域
参考例句:
  • Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
  • Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
2 maze F76ze     
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
  • She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时,她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。
3 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。
4 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
5 grimly Nrlzp9     
ad.坚定地;不屈地
参考例句:
  • "We failed," he announced grimly. “我们失败了”,他严肃地宣布道。
  • His voice was grimly determined. 他语气非常坚决。
6 grabbed grabbed     
v.抢先,抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指匆忙地)取;攫取;(尤指自私、贪婪地)捞取
参考例句:
  • He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
  • She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。
7 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 snapping d1659d0ba621e2aaf8a8b11f9abca950     
adv.显著地,强烈地,非常地v.猛地咬住( snap的现在分词 );(使某物)发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开,关闭];厉声地说;拍照
参考例句:
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away. 细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The fire is snapping. 火劈劈啪啪地响。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
9 rotated 5ffec1dd03499d496d36d1ffce3267b5     
(使某物)旋转[转动]( rotate的过去式和过去分词 ); (使某人或某物)轮流[按顺序循环]
参考例句:
  • To combat this tendency, Carlson rotated his top executives. 为了反对这种倾向,卡尔森轮换他的高级行政主管。
  • The drum is rotated at 20 revolutions per minute for 10 minutes. 圆筒以每分钟20转的速度转10分钟。
10 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。
11 hacking KrIzgm     
n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动
参考例句:
  • The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
  • We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。
12 loosens e47f21f889a36da0409e0c3b39caebe3     
v.解开( loosen的第三人称单数 );放松;松弛;(使)放松
参考例句:
  • With a wrench he loosens the nuts which fuse the fuel line between tank and engine. 他用钳子扭松了接连油箱与发动机的油管上的螺钉帽。 来自辞典例句
  • This connection has a right-hand thread (loosens counterclockwise) . 这种接头有右手螺纹(逆时针方向松开)。 来自互联网
13 slumped b010f9799fb8ebd413389b9083180d8d     
大幅度下降,暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 ); 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]
参考例句:
  • Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
  • The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上,疲惫得睡着了。
14 glumly glumly     
adv.忧郁地,闷闷不乐地;阴郁地
参考例句:
  • He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
  • The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里,磨着他的上牙,一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句
15 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。
16 lookout w0sxT     
n.注意,前途,瞭望台
参考例句:
  • You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
  • It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来,公司的前景可就不妙了。
17 porch ju9yM     
n.门廊,入口处,走廊,游廊
参考例句:
  • There are thousands of pages of advertising on our porch.有成千上万页广告堆在我们的门廊上。
  • The porch is supported by six immense pillars.门廊由六根大柱子支撑着。
18 wrecking 569d12118e0563e68cd62a97c094afbd     
破坏
参考例句:
  • He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟,反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句
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