儿童英语读物 迈克的谜案 Mike's Mystery Chapter 9 雷厉风行

CHAPTER 9
Quick Work

When the truck stopped at the mine office, a crowd of workmen¹ stood waiting. The men were all smiling. Henry, Benny and Mike jumped out of the truck and helped Jessie and Violet² out.

The driver helped Mrs. Wood down from the high seat. “We’ll help you move these things into the building,” said one man. “You tell us where you want them to go.”

Mrs. Wood and the children and the driver went in. They looked around. The dogs ran around barking. Just then Mr. Carter³ came out of the office.

“Oh, Mr. Carter, hello!” said Henry. “You are just the man we want.”

“I want to see him too,” said Mrs. Wood. “I want to ask him something.”

“Ask away, my lady,” said Mr. Carter with a smile.

“Well,” said Mrs. Wood slowly, “I can hardly wait to make a pie. And I’d love to live right here in this room with my two boys.”

“That’s just what I said!” shouted Benny. “I said you’ve got to live somewhere, and why not here?”

“Yes, you did, Benny,” agreed Mrs. Wood. “That is what gave me the idea. You see, Mr. Carter, the boys say there are watchmen up here all night. They would help me if I needed anything. And it wouldn’t take long to put up some rough⁴ boards and make two rooms, would it? It would be so handy⁵ for me to start my pies early in the morning.”

“Oh, what a wonderful idea!” cried Jessie. “We can help Mrs. Wood, too, Mr. Carter.”

“Yes, I think it could be done,” said Mr. Carter. “I have talked with Mr. Gardner, the big boss, Mrs. Wood. He says if I say O.K., he says O.K.”

“Oh, isn’t this fun!” shouted Benny. “Who would put up the rough boards?”

Mr. Carter laughed. He pointed⁶ at the workmen who were bringing in the stove.

“Would they?” asked Violet softly⁷.

“Yes, they would,” said a workman⁸ who heard what Violet had said. “We have time off today.”

“Then you could make the rooms today!” shouted Mike. He never liked to wait for anything.

A workman laughed at Mike. “You’ll have to help us, son,” he said.

“Oh, yes, I will,” said Mike. “I’ll be the one to tell you where the things go.”

“That is called a boss,” said the man. “Boss Mike.”

Benny said, “Mike would be a good boss. He really would. And so would I. You see, that window will make Mike’s room, and the next window will be Mrs. Wood’s room. Every room will have one window so that it will have plenty of light.”

“Not so bad!” said the man. “There is water in the office already. So we will just get longer pipes to go to your sink.”

What a noise there was! Men were cutting holes in the floor for the pipes. Others were pounding away at the pipes. The dogs barked and barked. Mr. Carter telephoned three times and soon some long boards arrived at the door. More men came.

“My room can be small,” said Mrs. Wood. “Just big enough for a bed.”

“Mine ought to be bigger,” said Mike. “Because Pat⁹ and I will have two beds, and I want another bed for Ben. I want him to sleep up here sometimes.”

“That will be easy,” said a man. “One small room, and one big one. Are you going to sleep here tonight?”

“No,” said Mike. “No beds.”

“What did you say?” shouted Benny. “Look out of the window!”

Another truck had just come. A bed was sticking out of the back. It was an Army cot.

Mr. Carter ran down the steps and said a few words to the driver.

Violet thought the driver said, “I’ll be back soon,” but she was not sure. The driver saw the children. He called, “Come on, kids! Help me take out these things.”

The boys were delighted to help. They found some folding chairs under the cot.

“Where did these things come from?” asked Henry.

“From the neighbors,” said the driver. “Everyone wants to help Mrs. Wood. These came from the store, but—.” He stopped and said, “Don’t ask me any more questions.”

But Benny went right on. “What are those barrels¹⁰ for?”

“Two barrels of flour,” said the driver.

“For pies,” said Violet.

“Oh, barrels are very useful,” said Benny. “Just put a board across two barrels and it makes a seat.”

“It makes a table, too,” said Jessie. “Remember our table in the barn¹¹ on Surprise Island?”

Soon the children sat in a row on the long board. They were all watching the rooms go up.

“This is like a ball-game,” said Henry.

“It’s like a race,” said Benny.

Henry said, “Some day we ought to have a race. We ought to have a fair race for Watch and Spot.”

“Do you think so?” asked Mike. “Watch is a very fast runner.”

“Oh, ho!” cried Benny. “You’re afraid Watch will beat again!”

“No, I am not!” cried Mike. “Spotty is a fast runner, too.”

“Now, boys, no fights!” said Henry. “Just enjoy yourselves. Who’s coming now? It’s a woman in a car.”

“My neighbor from the blue house!” cried Mrs. Wood. She went to the door.

“Mike, come help Mrs. Smith with that box.”

Mrs. Smith came in smiling. She shook hands with everyone. Then she said, “Mrs. Wood, all your friends want to help. They have looked over the things they can spare and everyone is giving you something. It’s a Surprise Party.”

“How kind you are!” said Mrs. Wood with tears in her eyes.

“We planned to have it next week, but Mr. Carter telephoned that now is the time. So everyone is coming today.”

“Well, Mr. Carter is right,” said Mrs. Wood. “This is the time I need it most.”

“There are two sheets and two blankets in that box,” said Mrs. Smith. “And more are on the way.”

Another car came while she was talking. Then another and another. Soon the room was full of women with baskets and boxes. They brought everything that Mrs. Wood needed.

“Oh, oh!” said Jessie. “Isn’t this fun, Violet? Look how fast the men are making shelves!”

“I’ll put my pink cup on the shelf,” shouted Benny.

“Look out of the window!” shouted Mike. A man was helping¹² someone out of a car. It was Aunt Jane with her bright blue eyes and pink cheeks. She had a newspaper in her hand. Lady walked beside her.

All the children rushed over to Aunt Jane. All but Mike. He just stood and looked at the paper in her hand.
 

1 workmen   

n.技术工人，工匠( workman的名词复数 )；工人；工匠；工作者；体力劳动者

参考例句：

• The workmen sawed and hammered all day. 工人又锯又锤，干了整整一天。
• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人

2 violet   

adj.紫色的；n.紫罗兰

参考例句：

• She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
• Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的，和平的和力量的颜色。

3 carter   

n.运货马车夫，赶大车的人；卡车司机

参考例句：

• Although fatigue shows readily on Carter, he bounces back quickly. 卡特虽然容易显出疲劳的样子，但他恢复得很快。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 rough   

adj.粗糙的；粗略的，大致的；粗野的，粗暴的

参考例句：

• It's just a very rough translation.这只是一篇非常粗糙的译稿。
• His reply was a bit rough.他的答复过于粗鲁了一点。

5 handy   

adj.方便的；手边的，近便的；手巧的

参考例句：

• A few more traveler's checks may come in handy on holiday.多带几张旅行支票，度假时会有用的。
• She is a handy girl who can turn her hand to anything.她是个心灵手巧的姑娘。

6 pointed   

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。

7 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

8 workman   

n.工人，工匠，技工

参考例句：

• A bad workman finds much fault with his tools.蹩脚的工匠总是埋怨自己的工具不好。
• There was a workman up the ladder.有一个工人在梯子上工作。

9 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

10 barrels   

n.桶( barrel的名词复数 )；枪[炮]管；一桶（的量）；桶（石油计量单位，相当于120 到159 升）

参考例句：

• The farmers put up the apples in barrels. 农夫们把苹果装入箱内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wine is aged for almost a year in oak barrels. 这葡萄酒已经在橡木桶里存放近一年了。 来自辞典例句

11 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

12 helping   

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。