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儿童英语读物 The Vampire Mystery CHAPTER 9 A Mysterious Photo

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Later that night the Aldens sat in the living room each with a mug of hot chocolate and plate of cookies. Henry opened The Legend of the Vampire1 to Chapter One. He began to read.

    The cemetery2 on Whittaker Street was dark and cold. Martha stood by the gate and pulled her coat close around her body. She wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck. A chill ran down her spine3, and she turned just in time to see a strange man in a long, dark cape4 gliding5 toward her neighbor’s quaint6 little house. At first she had hoped that it was Francis, coming home after all these years. But when she saw the pale, white skin, the blood red lips, and the piercing black eyes of the stranger, she knew that it was not Francis. Those eyes held her for a moment and as they did, Martha felt the blood pounding through her veins7. Was it fear or excitement that made her heart flutter so violently? Just as suddenly as he arrived, the stranger disappeared into her neighbor’s basement, so quickly that it seemed he simply melted himself through the walls.

“Oh my!” cried Mrs. McGregor standing8 in the doorway9. “What a frightening book to be reading before bed. It would give me nightmares!”

Benny rubbed his eyes and yawned. “We’re looking for clues to a mystery in the story. Strange things are happening at Mr. Hudson’s house.”

“I’ve heard about it,” Mrs. McGregor said. “Oh yes, and a man named Josh called a few minutes ago. He said Mr. Hudson is coming home tomorrow. It seems he didn’t need to stay as long as he’d planned. Also, Josh said you left milk on the table and mud on the porch.”

The children looked at each other.

“We’ll go over there first thing in the morning.” Jessie said.

Henry nodded. “We need to tell Mr. Hudson someone was in his house.”

Mrs. McGregor held a bag of mini marshmallows in her hand. “Also, I thought you might like to have some of these in your hot chocolates. Goodnight, children.”

They all thanked Mrs. McGregor and wished her a good night.

Jessie reached for the marshmallows and sprinkled a few on the top of her hot chocolate. “Josh must have been at Mr. Hudson’s house tonight.”

“But why would he go over there so late?” wondered Violet.

Henry shrugged10. “It does seem odd. I doubt he’d to show the house to a buyer late at night.”

Benny dropped a few marshmallows into his mug and a whole handful into his mouth. “Maybe he was looking for the vampire.”

Henry stood to take a cookie from the platter and The Legend of the Vampire fell to the floor. When he picked it up, he saw something sticking out from the pages. It was an old black-and-white photograph. The edges were a little crumpled11, and a crease12 ran down one side.

“Look at this!”

Jessie, Violet, and Benny crowded around the photo in Henry’s hand.

“That’s Mr. Hudson’s house!” Violet pointed13 to the home that was in the background of the photo.

“Who do you think those two boys are?” asked Benny.

Two young children were posed in front of the porch. One looked to be about Henry’s age, fourteen, and the other one seemed to be a little younger than Benny The younger boy had his hand resting on the seat of a shiny, new bicycle.

Violet gasped14. She pointed to the older boy. “That must be Mr. Hudson.”

“I’m sure you’re right!” Jessie exclaimed. “And the other one must be his little brother.”

Benny’s fingers were sticky from the marshmallows, so he did not touch the photo. But he pointed at the two boys. “They sure do look an awful lot alike.”

“Yes,” Violet agreed. “If they were the same age, I would think they were twins.”

“But how did the picture get in the book?” Benny wondered. “Do you think it was stuck in that book in the library for all those years?”

Henry turned the photo over in his hand. “No. I don’t think it was in the book before today. See this crease mark? I think the photo was folded and carried in someone’s wallet for a long time.”

Henry pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He slid the picture in and out of the billfold. “See? When it is folded at the crease, this photo fits perfectly15 in a wallet. You wouldn’t need to fold it if you were going to keep it in a book.”

“That makes a lot of sense, Henry,” Violet said.

“Look, there’s some faded writing on the bottom.” Jessie took the picture and held it up to the light. “It’s hard to read.”

Benny ran from the room and quickly returned with a magnifying glass that he had gotten as a gift on his last birthday. “This will help!” he cried.

“Thanks, Benny.” Henry held the magnifying glass over the faded writing. It helped the children see the faded ink. Slowly, the Aldens puzzled out each letter.

“‘Charles!’” Jessie exclaimed. “The first word is “‘Charles!’”

“Mr. Hudson’s first name is Charles,” Violet remembered.

“A … n … d,” Benny read. “‘And!’ I know that word.”

Violet smiled. “Good job, Benny.”

The last word was the most faded. Before long, though, the Aldens had spelled “F-r-a-n-c-i-s.”

“Francis must be Mr. Hudson’s younger brother,” Jessie said.

Henry was paging through The Legend of the Vampire, checking to see if any more pictures could be stuck between its pages. He did not find any. He paused at the dedication16 page. “Look at this.”

Jessie read aloud: “‘This book is dedicated17 to my dear brother, Francis.’”

“We didn’t even have to read the book to find clues in it!” Benny exclaimed.

Henry set the book back on the table with the picture carefully placed inside. “We’ll have a lot to tell Mr. Hudson when we see him tomorrow morning.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vampire 8KMzR     
n.吸血鬼
参考例句:
  • It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆,而是个吸人血的妖精!
  • Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说,孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。
2 cemetery ur9z7     
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场
参考例句:
  • He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
  • His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。
3 spine lFQzT     
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊
参考例句:
  • He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
  • His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。
4 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
5 gliding gliding     
v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的
参考例句:
  • Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
  • The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。
6 quaint 7tqy2     
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的
参考例句:
  • There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里,有很多小巷。
  • They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
7 veins 65827206226d9e2d78ea2bfe697c6329     
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理
参考例句:
  • The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的,感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 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。
9 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
10 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》
11 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
12 crease qo5zK     
n.折缝,褶痕,皱褶;v.(使)起皱
参考例句:
  • Does artificial silk crease more easily than natural silk?人造丝比天然丝更易起皱吗?
  • Please don't crease the blouse when you pack it.包装时请不要将衬衫弄皱了。
13 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。
14 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》
15 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
16 dedication pxMx9     
n.奉献,献身,致力,题献,献辞
参考例句:
  • We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
  • Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。
17 dedicated duHzy2     
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的
参考例句:
  • He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
  • His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。
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