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儿童英语读物 Disappearing Staircase Mystery CHAPTER 10 No Escape

时间:2017-10-16 08:43来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The reporter stood off in the corner of the playroom and looked a little restless. “I guess we have our story, Nan. I’ll run a little piece about your great-uncle and about House and Hands fixing up the Bugaboo House.”

“Please don’t call it that,” Nan protested. “My great-uncle was a bit odd but not scary. He made this whole place into a playhouse for his family. He designed it with all kinds of hallways, secret closets, doors that don’t go anywhere, windows that open to other rooms instead of outside. But it wasn’t a scary house.”

“Fine,” the reporter said. “Well, show us around. I suppose we can get some shots of the house’s oddities.”

Benny stepped in front of Nan. “Know what? We found another secret room filled with old stuff. And know what else? George knows where it is, too.”

The reporter nodded to the camera operator. “Let’s follow this boy. Where to now, young man?”

“To the bathroom on the third floor,” Benny answered.

“The bathroom?” Mabel asked, a bit confused.

“Don’t worry, Mabel,” Jessie said. “Wait until you see what Benny and Soo Lee found.”

By this time, both children had gone down the staircase. By the time everyone had joined them, Benny and Soo Lee had already exposed the hidden door in the bathroom.

“See?” Benny said to the reporter. “This doorway1 goes to another room. Isn’t it neat?”

The reporter bent2 down to get a better look. “Are you sure this opens? It won’t budge3.”

Henry came over. “Let me try.” He gave the hidden door a strong push with his feet.

Everyone heard a thud on the other side.

“It’s open!” Henry bent down and entered the hidden room. “George! Louella! So you didn’t leave.” He looked around at the heaps of old leather books, jewelry4 boxes, and paintings all boxed up and ready to go. “So this is where you kept all the treasures that never got into the auction5. Well, now they will.”

George grabbed a box and ran out a door on the far side of the room. Louella quickly disappeared behind her husband. The door banged shut behind them with a click.

Henry pulled at the door. “It’s locked!”

Benny scooted over and put his ear up against the door. “Now I remember something. When Soo Lee and I got lost, we heard people walking and talking behind the walls and some steps, too. I forgot.”

Jessie nodded. “Yes. Well, we had a feeling the Gardiners knew there were more treasures in this house.”

“I have a hunch6 the passageway they used goes right to the garage,” Henry said. “Follow us.”

The Aldens scrambled7 out of the hidden room as fast as they could get through the opening. In a flash, they raced down several flights of stairs and out to the garage.

The Gardiners were already backing one of the old cars down the driveway.

“Stop!” Henry yelled.

Jessie spotted8 a big lawn mower9. She raced over and pushed it into the driveway. This blocked the car from going any farther.

George turned off the engine then banged his fist on the steering10 wheel. He and Louella stared straight ahead. The Aldens had them trapped.

By this time, everyone else had come outside, too.

The reporter raced over and looked in the car window. “That’s the pair that made off with half the contents of the Paulding estate over in Winslow last month,” he said. “These two have quite a racket going. They show up at big estates that are about to be sold. They work there for a while and pass themselves off as auction experts—which they are. That’s how they know which stuff to steal before it ever gets to auction. They sneak11 out the real treasures and leave the rest for the auction.” He turned to Mabel. “I bet you everything they took is worth ten times more than what you made at the auction.”

Mabel swallowed hard and tapped her fingers against the old car. “It’s all my fault. I hired them.”

“So did a lot of smart people, Mrs. Hart,” the reporter said. “You’re not the first. But thanks to the Aldens, this is the first time they’ve been caught red-handed.”

“Oh, my,” Mabel said when she spotted some rolled-up papers in the backseat. “Those are the house blueprints12 I thought I lost. So that’s how they figured out where the roomful of treasures was. But the Gardiners didn’t count on the Aldens. These kids didn’t need blueprints to find the hidden rooms.”

Brian turned to Mabel. “Well,” he said, “now we can plan another auction.”

“Another auction?” Mabel said. “It’s hard to think about that right now. We’d better get the police here.”

“I’m making the call right now,” the reporter said, holding up his cell phone. “These two aren’t going anywhere.”

“Yes, they are,” Henry said. “While we’re waiting, I want them to show us how they got from the garage to the house. We knew there was a way, but George sent us out of there before we could find it.” He opened the car door for Louella.

Louella unlocked the garage door. Everyone followed her inside.

“A trapdoor!” Benny cried when he spotted a wooden door on the garage floor. “It was under the car.”

“So that’s why we kept hearing a car engine sometimes when the Gardiners were in the garage,” Henry said. He went over and pulled up the door. “There are some steps.”

“Can I look?” Benny said.

The Aldens climbed down some wooden steps to a basement under the garage. They didn’t have their flashlights, but there was enough light to see something up ahead.

“It’s a spiral staircase,” Jessie said when she went over. “It goes way, way up to the third floor.”

A few people crowded around to get a look.

Brian smacked13 his forehead. “Now I remember this passageway,” Brian said. “My dad mentioned that my grandfather had a chauffeur14 named Wolcott. He lived in a small room on the third floor near the bathroom. He complained all the time about how much he disliked going outside in bad weather to start the car. My grandfather put this staircase in an airshaft so Wolcott could go right to the garage from the bathroom. Of course, as a joke, he made it tricky15 for Wolcott to get to the passageway. The bathroom doorway is just a few feet high, whereas Wolcott was a very tall man. Well, what do you know?”

“I know something,” Benny said as everyone walked outside again.

“What’s that?” Grandfather asked, wondering what Benny was up to next.

“I’m hungry,” Benny said. “That’s what I know. Didn’t somebody say there was going to be a picnic after the television people left?”

Mabel came over and hugged Benny “After we settle things with the police, we’ll have our picnic and plan a new auction.”

“Know what kind of picnic?” Benny asked the crowd.

Everyone quieted down to hear what Benny was going to say next.

“A teddy bear picnic!” Benny announced.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
3 budge eSRy5     
v.移动一点儿;改变立场
参考例句:
  • We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来,但它连动都没动一下。
  • She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。
4 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
5 auction 3uVzy     
n.拍卖;拍卖会;vt.拍卖
参考例句:
  • They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
  • They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。
6 hunch CdVzZ     
n.预感,直觉
参考例句:
  • I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉,他并不真正想去。
  • I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。
7 scrambled 2e4a1c533c25a82f8e80e696225a73f2     
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
参考例句:
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 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。
9 mower Bn9zgq     
n.割草机
参考例句:
  • We need a lawn mower to cut the grass.我们需要一台草坪修剪机来割草。
  • Your big lawn mower is just the job for the high grass.割高草时正需要你的大割草机。
10 steering 3hRzbi     
n.操舵装置
参考例句:
  • He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
  • Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵,口吻也马上变得温和了。
11 sneak vr2yk     
vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
参考例句:
  • He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
  • I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
12 blueprints 79424f10e1e5af9aef7f20cca92465bc     
n.蓝图,设计图( blueprint的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Have the blueprints been worked out? 蓝图搞好了吗? 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • BluePrints description of a distributed component of the system design and best practice guidelines. BluePrints描述了一个分布式组件体系的最佳练习和设计指导方针。 来自互联网
13 smacked bb7869468e11f63a1506d730c1d2219e     
拍,打,掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴,一声也不言语。
  • She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。
14 chauffeur HrGzL     
n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机;v.为…开车
参考例句:
  • The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
  • She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。
15 tricky 9fCzyd     
adj.狡猾的,奸诈的;(工作等)棘手的,微妙的
参考例句:
  • I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手,你能帮我吗?
  • He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题,只做了个笼统的表述。
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