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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Couldn’t we go up that ladder,” asked Benny, “and look in the hole?”
“Not yet, young man,” said Dr1. Osgood. He pushed up his glasses. “We don’t want any more accidents. When we get the staging done, it will be safe for any of you to get up to the cave.”
Mr. Alden said, “Percy, the old Indian woman Lovan told us that her great-great-grandfather hid that leather bag in a cave. Now suppose this was the cave. Would that be near this door or near the opening in the other side, do you think?”
“I should say he crawled2 in and hid it as far back as he could,” said Dr. Osgood.
Benny said, “That would mean the leather bag could be right under our noses! I hope they will get that staging done fast. I can hardly wait! Can you, Mr. Carter3?”
Mr. Carter said, “No, I can hardly wait, either. But right now I am hungry. Aren’t you all hungry?”
“Always!” said Henry and Jessie together.
“Well, then, how about a bit of lunch?” said John Carter. “You’ve had a three-hour climb, and we all need food. And you should see the lunch!”
“Oh, we’ll never eat all this food!” Jessie said as she watched the lunch being unpacked4.
“Don’t forget, it is for the workmen5, too,” said Dr. Osgood. “And me!”
Then Henry noticed that Benny was sitting still and saying nothing.
“What’s the matter, Ben?”
“Well, I simply can’t decide which sandwiches I like best!” said Benny. “I like them all best.”
“Shut your eyes and point, then,” said Mr. Carter.
Benny did so. He was pointing at the cheeseburgers.
“That’s exactly what I do like best, really!” he cried. “Cheeseburgers!”
“I thought you didn’t know,” laughed Violet6.
“Yes, I thought so, too,” said Benny. “And I just love to dunk hard-boiled eggs!” He opened his salt and pepper7 and “dunked” his egg in the salt as he spoke8. Then he bit off a huge bite.
“Delicious!” he said.
Everyone agreed. The piles of sandwiches went down very fast. But there were plenty for the workmen when Mr. Alden called them to lunch. When the workmen sat down, the Alden family waited on them. Henry gave them hot coffee. Violet passed the pickles9. Mr. Carter got out the cold drinks. Jessie gave each one an egg and salt. Benny sat down with them and had another sandwich. He said, “You haven’t really got very far on the staging, have you?”
“No,” said the head man. “It takes three days. You see a staging must not fall. And it has to rest somewhere. It takes time to make a place to hold it.”
“Don’t you keep wishing that you could take time off and look in the cave?” asked Benny.
“Yes,” said a man. “But if we do, the staging has to wait, and it takes that much longer to finish it. Dr. Percy has had a look. That’s enough for me. He thinks it is worth while, so I’m not wasting my time.”
Henry said to Dr. Osgood, “What do you think could be in the lost bag? A French nobleman expected to sell whatever it was for enough money to live here. So it must be worth something.”
“It could be jewelry,” said Dr. Osgood. “French noblemen often had to sell jewels to keep alive. It could be gold coins or silver. It could be silver candlesticks or vases10 or mirrors or spoons. I don’t know.”
“I know you, Percy!” said Mr. Alden. “You’re not really interested in that leather bag, are you?”
“Well, no, not much,” said Dr. Osgood. “I always hope to find something important in a cave.”
“What could be more important than Lovan’s treasure?” cried Benny.
“Well, you’re right, boy, if you are thinking mostly of Lovan. But for the whole country, stones could be more important. They are to me.” He threw his head back and tried not to laugh.
Grandfather shook his finger at his old friend. “You’re up to something, Percy! Have you found something already?”
“I suppose I shall have to show it to you,” said Dr. Osgood. “At first I thought I’d put it back and let Benny find it. But Benny wouldn’t like that if he found it out.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” said Benny.
“Here it is,” said Dr. Osgood. He took a flat stone out of the biggest pocket of his overalls11. It was about six inches long. He gave it to Henry, not Benny. “Take care!” he said.
“A fossil12,” said Henry. He took the stone carefully in both hands. It was one flat stone, but it was split13 down the middle.
“Take off the cover,” said Dr. Osgood. “Careful now!”
Henry lifted the top half and they all bent14 over to look.
“A little fish!” cried Benny.
“Yes, a fossil fish,” said Dr. Osgood. “It is millions of years old.”
“What kind of a fish?” asked Benny. He was sure Dr. Osgood knew everything.
“I don’t know,” said Dr. Osgood. “You may be sure that many people will study this fossil. See the backbone15? Every little bone shows on both halves.”
“Does that mean that once this mountain top was under water?” asked Jessie.
“Yes,” said Dr. Osgood, nodding, “and this is the proof16. I’d rather find this than ten leather bags.”
Dr. Osgood said, “And now you’ll be surprised to hear this. I think you had better start down the mountain. The weather doesn’t look too fine to me.”
“It looks beautiful to me,” said Benny, looking at the deep blue sky. “But of course you would be right. Are you coming, too?”
“No, I’ll stay. I’ll keep my head man and we’ll come down later in the helicopter17.”
Jessie did not have to be told twice. She was already packing the things.
Three hours later they reached the store. They all went in, and Mr. Carter said to the ranger18, “Did you see the Indian boy this morning in the crowd?”
“Yes, he is new around here. Before I had time to talk to him, he had gone.”
“Gone!” cried everyone.
“Yes, gone. And what’s more, he’s still gone. Nobody around here ever saw him before. And nobody knew how he got here.”
“That’s very funny,” said Henry. “I should think somebody would have spoken to him. There was such a crowd. Would you guess he was up to no good?”
“Well,” said the ranger. He stopped. Then he went on, “We know nothing about him. He may be lost and need help. That’s really why we’re going to find him, come what may.”
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1
Dr
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| n.医生，大夫；博士(缩)（= Doctor） | |
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2
crawled
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| v.爬( crawl的过去式和过去分词 )；（昆虫）爬行；缓慢行进；巴结 | |
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carter
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| n.运货马车夫，赶大车的人；卡车司机 | |
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unpacked
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| v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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workmen
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| 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 | |
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violet
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| adj.紫色的；n.紫罗兰 | |
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7
pepper
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| n.胡椒(粉)；辣椒(粉) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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9
pickles
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| n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱 | |
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10
vases
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| n.装饰瓶，花瓶( vase的名词复数 ) | |
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overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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12
fossil
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| n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固 | |
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split
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| n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开 | |
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14
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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15
backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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16
proof
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| adj.防...的，耐...的，能防护；n.校样，证据，证明；vt.检验，给...做防护措施 | |
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17
helicopter
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| n.直升飞机；vt.用直升飞机载送；vi.乘直升飞机 | |
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ranger
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| n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员 | |
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