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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Missing Cat CHAPTER 4 The Mysterious Stranger

时间:2017-08-08 06:43来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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“What should we do?” asked Violet.

“Let’s keep walking,” said Henry. “But not so fast.”

The four children began to walk down the street, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

Jessie glanced quickly over her shoulder. “He’s still there.”

“Why is he following us?” Benny asked.

“I don’t know, Benny,” Jessie answered.

“Why don’t we ask him?” suggested Benny.

Jessie looked down at Benny. Suddenly she smiled. “You know, Benny, that’s not a bad idea. I think we should ask him.”

“Oh, Jessie!” gasped1 Violet. “Really?”

“What could happen? It’s the middle of the day and we’re on a street in the middle of town,” Jessie pointed2 out sensibly.

“You’re right,” said Henry.

The four stopped again and looked at one another.

“Okay,” said Jessie, “let’s go.”

The Aldens turned around and began walking back toward the man who was following them.

For a moment, he stood in the middle of the sidewalk as if he didn’t know what to do. Then abruptly3, he turned and began to run.

“Come on!” shouted Jessie. She jumped on her bicycle and began to pedal after the stranger. The other children did the same.

But it was no use. The man turned up a narrow alley4, leaped over a low fence, and disappeared.

The Aldens stopped by the fence, breathing hard. After they’d gotten their breath, they turned around and went back the way they’d come, heading for Dr. Scott’s office.

“Did anybody recognize him?” asked Henry.

Nobody had. It had been hard to tell anything about the mysterious stranger. He’d been too far away, and even though the day had gotten hot, he was wearing a hat, a coat, dark glasses, a scarf, and baggy5 pants. They couldn’t even tell whether he was fat or thin!

“Maybe he has something to do with Spotzie,” said Jessie thoughtfully.

“But what?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “I’ve just got a funny feeling.”

The Boxcar children walked in silence for a while, thinking about what Jessie had said.

The Aldens kept a careful watch for the mysterious stranger all the way to Dr. Scott’s office, but he never reappeared. When they got to the veterinarian’s office, her assistant said, “Dr. Scott is very busy right now.”

At that moment, Dr. Scott walked out to the waiting room with a girl holding a small dog with a bandage on its paw.

“And make sure she stays off that paw,” Dr. Scott said.

“Thank you, Dr. Scott,” said the girl. She and the dog went out.

Dr. Scott saw the Aldens and greeted them. “So you have a cat now, too?” she asked, seeing the sign Violet was holding.

“Oh, no,” said Violet. “The cat belongs to someone else. We’re just helping6 find her.”

“You can put the sign up on the wall over there.” Dr. Scott pointed. “I’ll keep an eye out for her, too. Good luck.”

“Thank you,” said Henry. “By the way, Dr. Scott — has anyone else been in looking for a missing cat? A spotted7 one like Spotzie?”

Dr. Scott shook her head. “No one.” A man came into the waiting room with a large, shaggy dog bouncing at the end of a leash8. “Well, I need to get back to work. Good luck again.”

The Aldens put the sign up on the wall and went back outside.

“Lunchtime?” said Benny hopefully.

“Not quite, Benny,” said Jessie. She looked back over her shoulder, but the mysterious stranger had not reappeared. “We need to go see if Mr. Woods has a picture of Spotzie. That would help our search.”

The Aldens rode their bicycles over to Mr. Woods’s house. This time, when they got there, Mrs. Valentine opened the door when Henry knocked.

She smiled. “Hello,” she said. “Come in.” She led the way to the kitchen. A short young woman with lots of curly red hair was sitting at the kitchen table.

“This is my niece, Whitney,” said Mrs. Valentine. “Whitney, these are the Aldens: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.”

“How nice,” said Whitney.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” said Henry politely.

“I just made some cookies,” said Mrs. Valentine.

“Cookies? I like cookies,” said Benny.

Mrs. Valentine laughed. “I know you do, Benny. Mrs. McGregor has told me. Maybe you’d like some cookies now?”

“Yes, thank you,” said Benny, promptly9 sitting down at the kitchen table.

Everyone laughed. While Henry helped pour milk into glasses, Jessie and Violet joined Benny and Whitney.

“We’ve been looking for Spotzie,” Jessie told Whitney.

“Oh yes. Mr. Woods’s cat. I’ve been hearing about her from my aunt. Any luck?” asked Whitney.

“Not yet,” said Henry as he gave each of the Aldens a glass of cold milk. “We’ve made some signs and put them up at the animal shelter and at Dr. Scott’s veterinary office and around town.”

Mrs. Valentine put a plate of cookies warm from the oven in the middle of the table, and she and Henry sat down, too. “It’s very strange that the little cat disappeared like that off the front porch,” Mrs. Valentine said.

“Maybe a dog came by and chased her off the porch while Mr. Woods was inside,” suggested Whitney.

“A dog! We never thought of that,” said Henry. “We thought she might have seen something and chased it and gotten herself lost somehow.”

“An interesting theory,” said Whitney, with a little smile. “You children are real detectives, aren’t you?”

Benny didn’t seem to notice Whitney’s amused smile. “Yes,” he said, reaching for another cookie. “We’ve solved a lot of mysteries. Do you want to help?”

“I’m kind of busy,” said Whitney, raising her eyebrows10. “I’m afraid you children will have to solve the mystery without my help.”

Jessie’s face turned red at Whitney’s tone, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned to Mrs. Valentine. “We were wondering if Mr. Woods had a photograph of Spotzie. We want it to show to people.”

“I’m sure he must,” said Mrs. Valentine. “He’s not home right now, but I’ll asked him when he returns.”

“Thanks,” said Henry. “Well, it’s time we were getting home.”

The Aldens thanked Mrs. Valentine for the cookies and milk and said good-bye to Whitney.

“Nice meeting you, children,” said Whitney. “Good luck with your little mystery.”

The Alden children rode their bicycles slowly home.

“I don’t think Whitney thinks we can solve the mystery,” said Jessie. “She’s nice, but she treated us like we were babies.”

“Yes, but won’t she be surprised when we do find Spotzie,” answered Henry.

“Then she’ll know we’re real detectives,” said Benny.

“Yes, Benny,” said Jessie. “But even more important, Spotzie will be back home.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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》
2 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。
3 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。
4 alley Cx2zK     
n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路
参考例句:
  • We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
  • The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。
5 baggy CuVz5     
adj.膨胀如袋的,宽松下垂的
参考例句:
  • My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
  • Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦,而不是无礼。
6 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
7 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
8 leash M9rz1     
n.牵狗的皮带,束缚;v.用皮带系住
参考例句:
  • I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳,但被狗挡住了路。
  • The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带,想挣脱开去。
9 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
10 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
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