儿童英语读物 The Growling Bear Mystery CHAPTER 7 Lost and Found

At three o’clock sharp, the Aldens reported to the lodge¹’s laundry room. The huge, warm room was filled with swooshing sounds and soapy smells.

“I hear a gurgling sound again,” Benny said. “Only this time, it really is washing machines, not mud pots.”

“Mud pots?” Mrs. Crabtree said when she overheard² the Aldens. “Did you go to the Chocolate Pots up over by Gibbon Meadow³ this morning? I thought for sure you children would be up on the trails breaking in your new hiking boots.”

“We did see mud pots, but not the Chocolate Pots,” Jessie said. “There are some others near the Lost Cabin Trails. That’s where we were.”

Mrs. Crabtree put her finger to her lips. “Shhh. I hope my husband isn’t around to hear you say that. He likes to think those are his own private trails. Every summer he spends all the free time he has searching for some silly treasure.”

Now Benny Alden was a boy who thought treasures were serious business. “But it’s not a silly treasure,” he said. “It’s gold nuggets! And they might be hidden in a cabin. Only the cabin is hidden, too. Nobody can find it—except us, maybe.”

Mrs. Crabtree patted Benny’s head. “You know, the more I think about it, the more I think you children should be out having fun. This is your vacation time. You should be searching for lost cabins and gold nuggets, not working in this busy lodge.”

Henry checked the schedule book lying open on Mrs. Crabtree’s desk. “But working at the lodge is fun, too. It’s like being backstage in a play. We get to be guests and workers at the same time. When I go to college someday, I want to spend my summers working here, just like Sam Jackson.”

Mrs. Crabtree sighed. “Ah, yes, Sam. I wish he’d been placed in one of our outdoor programs, not in the lodge. He spends all his free time, and some work time, too, with one of the rangers⁵. Unfortunately, I need him in here, not outside. Anyway, I sent him to town this morning on an errand⁶.”

The Aldens looked at each other. They said nothing. It was up to Sam to explain why he had been on the Lost Cabin Trails that morning and not running errands⁷ in town.

“Well, since Sam isn’t here, what chores can we do?” Jessie asked.

Mrs. Crabtree checked her schedule book. “If you don’t mind getting a little dusty, there’s some room cleaning to do. A tour bus just left, and another one is coming in two hours. It would be a huge help to my staff if you could empty the waste-baskets and vacuum each of the rooms the tour bus guests were in,” Mrs. Crabtree said. “That will give the regular staff more time to do everything else. Take one of those cleaning carts over there and a vacuum cleaner. Here’s a list of the rooms that need immediate⁸ attention. Oh, and here are some smocks so you don’t get dusty.”

Jessie buttoned up her smock. “Okay, troops. All set?”

“All set,” Henry said. He turned to Mrs. Crabtree. “We’ll make sure to be done by five o’clock. We want to be ready to babysit the guests’ children.”

Mrs. Crabtree nodded. “Thank you for reminding me. Oh, and I’ll have Sam join you. Tonight twelve children are signed up, so I need lots of helpers. Sam said he’d be back from town by then. In fact, I expected to see him a lot sooner.”

“Back from town?” Jessie whispered to Henry after Mrs. Crabtree left. “Sam was on the trails with Ranger⁴ Crowe. I wonder whether he changed his plans.”

“Or maybe his plans are to change his story,” Henry replied.

The Aldens pushed their cleaning cart and dragged along the vacuum cleaner to the hall where most of the tour bus guests had been staying. Room by room, they went down the hall, vacuuming and emptying trash into a big barrel on the cart before moving on.

“This barrel is full,” Henry said after they finished cleaning several rooms. “Let’s take it to one of the Dumpsters in the laundry area. There’s a freight⁹ elevator at the end of this hall that goes downstairs.”

When the Aldens arrived in the laundry room, Mr. and Mrs. Crabtree were there.

“Now, Lester, don’t tell me you were out hiking alone this morning,” Mrs. Crabtree was telling her husband. “It’s too dangerous to be out on those trails by yourself.”

“Hi, Mrs. Crabtree,” Henry said. “Hi, Mr. Crabtree. We need to empty this barrel so we can finish cleaning up the last few rooms.”

Mrs. Crabtree seemed relieved to see the children. “Lester,” she said, turning to her husband again, “if you want help finding that silly treasure, bring the Aldens along. Then you’ll have four extra sets of eyes and some extra voices to keep the bears away. Truly, it worries me so when you hike alone.”

“Nonsense, Eleanor,” Mr. Crabtree said. “I never get far from the parking lot. Now let me take that barrel from you kids,” he said to the Aldens. “Otherwise Eleanor will have me baby-sitting or entertaining the guests, and I’ll get fired.”

The Aldens looked at Mrs. Crabtree. She was the boss.

“Fine, Lester. You can finish the Aldens’ cleanup chores,” she told her husband.

The Aldens carried the barrel to one of the Dumpsters just outside the laundry room. Jessie opened the side door of the Dumpster for Henry.

Before Henry had lifted the trash barrel, Jessie noticed a familiar piece of paper. She pulled it from the top of the trash. “Wait, Henry! Look what I found.”

“Our copy of Oz’s lost cabin map!” Violet cried. “Why is it in the trash?”

At that moment, Mr. Crabtree came in. “What are you kids up to? You’re not picking through the trash, are you? Shut the Dumpster. We don’t want to attract field mice.”

Henry banged the door shut. “Sorry. It’s just that we found something we were looking for.”

When the children turned around, Mr. Crabtree had taken the barrel and dumped it in a second Dumpster.

“Mr. Crabtree! Mr. Crabtree!” Jessie waved her copy of Oz’s map. “Do you know anything about this?”

Mr. Crabtree didn’t even turn around. He simply took the barrel and boarded the freight elevator. Before the Aldens could catch up, the doors closed, and Mr. Crabtree was gone.

“He sure was acting¹⁰ strange,” Violet said.

“But at least we found our copy of the map,” Jessie said.

1 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

2 overheard   

adj. 串音的, 偶而听到的 动词overhear的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• We talked quietly so as not to be overheard. 我们低声交谈，以免别人听到。
• I told Lucy the news under my breath, but Joyce overheard me. 我低声地把这个消息告诉露西，可还是被乔伊斯听到了。

3 meadow   

n.草地，牧草地

参考例句：

• The children ran free across the meadow.孩子们在草地里自由地奔跑。
• The meadow is peopled with wild flowers.草地长满了野花。

4 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

5 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

6 errand   

n.差使（如送信，买东西等），（短程）差事

参考例句：

• I've come on a special errand.我是专程来办一件差事的。
• This is a formidable errand for me.这对我来说是个太艰巨的任务。

7 errands   

n.errand的复数；差使( errand的名词复数 )；差事

参考例句：

• He often runs errands for his grandmother. 他经常给他的祖母跑腿儿。
• I have a few errands to do in the town. 我在城里有些差事要办。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 freight   

n.货物，货运；vt.运送（货物）看，装货于

参考例句：

• Tons of freight were flown into this airport every day.每天有许多吨货物被空运到这个机场。
• There is ten yuan in the bill for freight.发票中包括运费十元。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。