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儿童英语读物 Mystery Behind the Wall CHAPTER 3 Surprise from the Past

时间:2017-06-30 06:21来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The next morning it was raining very hard. The sky was filled with black clouds.

“It’s teeming,” said Rory.

“It’s pouring,” said Benny. “We can’t play outdoors very well.”

“That’s OK,” Rory said. “We can work some more on our telegraph1.”

As the boys worked, Rory had an idea. He said, “We made that hole pretty big, Ben. Maybe we could pass messages through it.”

Benny looked at the hole. He said, “Yes, I think we could. Let’s make the hole a little bigger. If I knock three times, it means2 I’ve tied a message around the rope. Then you can pull it over to your side.”

The boys tried out the new idea right away. But they ran into trouble.

“Ouch!” Rory exclaimed3. “The rope is stuck. Look, this hole is full of splinters.”

“I tell you what we can do, Rory,” said Benny. “Let’s make the hole square and sand the edges4. It will be all right with Grandfather.”

“Let’s do that,” Rory agreed. “We’ll need the tools.”

“That’s easy,” replied Benny. “We’ll just go down to the cellar6 and get the tools again.”

The boys picked out a short saw, a steel plane, a pair of pliers, and some sandpaper. Then they raced upstairs again.

“Don’t you ever walk, Rory?” Jessie asked, laughing. She was going upstairs to her room.

“No, I don’t walk when I can run,” answered Rory. “What’s the use of waiting around?” And by that time he was out of sight.

Mrs. McGregor said, “I do hope Rory isn’t doing anything he shouldn’t.”

“No, he isn’t,” answered Henry. “I’ve watched the boys. They are just going to make a larger hole between their rooms through the closet7 wall. It’s all right.”

Rory was busy sawing the round hole into a square one. “Lots more room, Ben, to let the rope through. And it will look better, too, when we begin to smooth it off.”

“Let me sandpaper,” said Benny. “When I get tired, I’ll hand it over to you.”

Benny went to work. Then in a few minutes Rory took his turn.

It was not long before their arms were tired. It was hard work smoothing off the oak8 wood.

“We can rest a while,” said Rory. “Did you notice that the wooden wall is double? There’s quite a space between the two walls.”

Benny said, “Yes, there’s a grand5 little hidey-hole between these boards. If anyone wanted to hide a paper or a letter, nobody would ever find it.”

“Who could hide a paper there?” said Rory. “Girls don’t hide papers9.”

“Oh, don’t they!” exclaimed Benny. “My sisters had a time when they hid the strangest things.”

“Look if you want to,” said Rory. “You might find an old will or something. I read about somebody finding10 a will in a mystery story. That would be exciting!”

“My fingers won’t go in that space,” said Benny after trying for a minute. “My hand is too big.”

“Make your fingers as flat as you can,” directed11 Rory. “You might at least touch something.”

“No,” said Benny at last. “You try. Your hand is smaller.”

Benny came out of the clothes closet and Rory went in. He made his fingers as flat as he could and slipped12 them into the space.

“I can’t feel a thing,” he said.

“Nothing at all?” Benny asked. “I just feel that there must be something there.”

Rory made one last try, moving his fingers as much as he could.

“Oh, Ben!” he cried, “I do feel something! There’s something in here.”

“What does it feel like? Paper?” asked Benny.

“Not paper. It feels like cloth. But I simply can’t get it between my fingers,” said Rory.

“Here, try the pliers. Take your fingers out. The pliers are longer and thinner,” said Benny.

“But what if I drop them?” Rory said.

“Let me tie a string on them first,” said Benny. “Like this.”

Then both boys held their breath13 as the long, slim pliers went into the slot14.

“I’ve got something, Ben!” shouted Rory after several tries.

“Well, pull!” commanded Benny. “Try and pull it out, Rory. What could be in there?”

Rory twisted15 the pliers this way and that. He twisted his face the same way, too. He was a comical looking sight. But Benny did not laugh.

Then very slowly Rory drew out the pliers holding something strange made of thin blue cloth.

“What in the world is it?” asked Rory, holding it up by the pliers. “It’s but a wee bit of cloth.”

Benny answered, “I haven’t the slightest idea.”

The boys smoothed the cloth out on the floor and found it was old and torn in some places. But across the cloth in neat rows were bands of darker blue cloth sewed on very carefully by hand with odd16 uneven17 stitches18.

The stitching19 seemed to make a row of little pockets. It was a big puzzle.

Benny turned the cloth over. He looked at the back and ran his finger along the stitches. What could this be for? Who could have made it? And why was it hidden between the closet walls?

Rory looked at the cloth, too. For once he did not find a thing to say.

At last Benny said, “I can guess just two things about this. It’s been hidden for a long time. It must have been important to the person who made it.”

“How do you know?” asked Rory.

“Because someone took the trouble to hide it,” Benny said. “Oh, I wish I knew what it was for.”

Jessie walked past the door and the boys called, “See what we found, Jessie!”

Jessie turned the cloth over and looked at it for a while. She said, “Looks like a man’s sewing. No woman ever sewed like that.”

“But what in the world is it?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know,” said Benny. “But Grandfather might. This thing was surely20 hidden or we wouldn’t have found it in such a funny place. Nobody would look for anything pushed down between the boards.”

“I’d dote on knowing what it is,” Rory said.

“Grandfather will know,” said Benny. “He knows just about everything. I’ll ask him at dinnertime.”

“What time is that?” asked Rory.

“Well, at different times. When Grandfather gets home from work, Mrs. McGregor has dinner all ready to put on the table.”

That day, however, before Mrs. McGregor had put the meal on the table, the two boys met Mr. Alden’s car at the driveway. They ran up to the car and held out the piece of blue cloth.

“What is this, Grandfather?” asked Benny. “It won’t take you a second to answer.”

“Well, well,” said Grandfather. “What’s all the hurry? Give me time to get out of the car and put on my reading glasses.”

Rory said, “I suppose we want to know fast because we are so curious, Granda.”

Mr. Alden and the boys went into the house. Mr. Alden sat down and put on his glasses. He took the piece of cloth. Jessie, Henry, and Violet21 came over to look, too.

After turning the cloth over, Mr. Alden said, “I really don’t know for sure, boys, but I rather think this is a coin case. It is certainly old. Where in the world did you find it?”

“Rory found it,” answered Benny. “It was hidden in a space between the walls of his clothes closet and the closet in my room.”

Jessie said, “My guess is that Stephanie Shaw made it. The boys showed it to me. How old was she when she lived here, Grandfather?”

“She was about ten, I think.”

Jessie shook her head. “A girl of ten ought to know how to sew better than that—at least in the days when every little girl had to sew.”

“Not so fast, my dear,” returned Mr. Alden. “Wait until you hear the whole story.”

“Do you know the story of this cloth?” Henry asked, surprised.

“I will tell you all I know,” replied his grandfather, “if you can all sit still and listen.”

“Oh,” said Rory, “listening is the best thing I do.”

This made everyone laugh, even Rory, for he was always talking.

“I’ll begin with that picture in Rory’s room,” Grandfather said. “That is a picture of the family that you know lived in this very house. They all moved to France, as I told you, and we never heard from any of them. The little girl’s name was Stephanie Shaw. She was the most beautiful child I ever saw. And she was as good as she was beautiful.”

“Just like a fairy princess,” said Benny.

“Exactly!” said Grandfather, very much pleased. “She always made me think of a fairy princess. Her life was sad, though. Her father had special ideas about how she should grow up. He would not let her play with other children. He bought her everything she wanted, but she wanted some friends.”

“Poor little rich girl,” Jessie said.

“Yes, Jessie,” replied Grandfather, “that’s exactly how it was. Stephanie had beautiful clothes—but no friends her own age. Her mother had already gone to France to live when I met Stephanie. Perhaps Mr. Shaw was not sure how to treat a little girl.”

“So you really didn’t know her, did you?” asked Violet. She felt sure her grandfather might have done something for Stephanie if anyone could.

“No, I didn’t,” Mr. Alden said. “But I knew about her because of my friend Professor Nichols. He saw a lot of Mr. Shaw and Stephanie. In fact, Professor Nichols and the little girl had the same hobby.”

“What was it?” asked Rory, smiling. “Certainly not sewing!”

“No, not sewing,” said Grandfather. “Something much more exciting than that.”

“Please tell us,” Violet begged. “I almost feel as if I’ve known22 Stephanie.”

“The hobby was coin collecting,” Mr. Alden said. “Even today Professor Nichols is the person to ask if you have any questions about coins. In those days, he knew a lot about coins. His hobby then was nickels23.”

Benny threw back his head and laughed. He said, “That’s funny! Professor Nichols liked nickels.”

“That’s really funny, Ben,” said Rory. “Nichols and nickels.”

Mr. Alden spoke24 again. “Mr. Shaw thought it was good for Stephanie to have a special interest like coins. He bought coins for her. It was Stephanie’s idea to get some blue material to make cases to hold her collection. She and Professor Nichols called it the Blue Collection.”

“But there are no coins here,” Rory said. “Just the case.”

“I wonder what happened,” Benny said. “Maybe Stephanie took the coins with her when she went to France.”

Grandfather shook his head. “Andrew Nichols didn’t think so. He thought she left the collection somewhere in the house. You see, Stephanie thought she would be coming back. But she didn’t.”

“Why didn’t the professor write to her and offer to send her the Blue Collection?” Henry asked.

“That’s easy to answer,” Mr. Alden said. “He didn’t know her address.”

Jessie laughed. “Well, that is a pretty good reason. Rory and Benny found only the empty coin case. Maybe the coins in the Blue Collection were stolen. Then again, maybe the boys didn’t search deep enough.”

Benny and Rory looked at each other. They were both thinking of the small hole in the closet wall.

“That hole isn’t very deep, Ben,” said Rory. “Perhaps the coins are still there! We were so excited to find anything that we stopped looking when we found the cloth case.”

The boys raced upstairs followed by all the Aldens, even Grandfather. Benny rushed into the closet while everyone stood still outside. They were wondering if Benny would find anything else hidden behind the wall.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 telegraph ipnwt     
n.电报,电报机;v.打电报,显示
参考例句:
  • A new telegraph line has been set up between the two cities.那两个城市之间架设了一条新的电报线。
  • Telegraph communication was broken off.电讯中断了。
2 means 9oXzBX     
n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
参考例句:
  • That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
  • We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
3 exclaimed 68e477dcdab3965d2189fb7276ee5041     
vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊,惊叫,大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 edges ecd027c0cb64e9d14ec937b4afed7cf1     
n.边( edge的名词复数 );优势;(悬崖、峭壁的)边缘;锋利
参考例句:
  • Blood began to coagulate around the edges of the wound. 血液开始在伤口的边缘凝固。
  • a surface with rounded edges 带圆边的面
5 grand 0fDx4     
adj.豪华的,宏伟的,壮丽的,主要的,重大的;n.(美俚)一千美元
参考例句:
  • The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
  • Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来,我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。
6 cellar JXkzo     
n.地窖,地下室,酒窖
参考例句:
  • He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
  • The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。
7 closet dWqys     
n.壁橱;储藏室
参考例句:
  • I'll clear out that closet for you.我要替你把那个小衣橱清理出来。
  • Hang your overcoat in the closet.把你的大衣挂在衣橱里。
8 oak YHoxP     
n.栎树,橡树,栎木,橡木
参考例句:
  • The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
  • The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。
9 papers qmQzJz     
n.文件,纸币,论文
参考例句:
  • I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前,我要与我的秘书商议。
  • The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。
10 finding 5tAzVe     
n.发现,发现物;调查的结果
参考例句:
  • The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
  • That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。
11 directed Eubzb0     
adj.有指导的;有管理的;定向的;被控制的v.(用建议、指示、有益的情报等)指导( direct的过去式和过去分词 );导演(戏剧或电影);指示方向;把…对准(某方向或某人)
参考例句:
  • The firemen directed jets of water at the burning building. 消防队员把水柱喷向燃烧着的楼房。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The general directed that the prisoners should be set free. 将军命令释放囚犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 slipped 4c5c6d788245d18d7f659f5aeaa435f3     
adj.打滑,打滑的v.滑( slip的过去式和过去分词 );滑脱;下降;(健康状况等)变差
参考例句:
  • She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤,摔得鼻青脸肿。
  • The climber slipped and dropped to his death. 攀登者一失足掉下去摔死了。
13 breath 9SCyv     
n.呼吸,气息,微风,迹象,精神,一种说话的声音
参考例句:
  • I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
  • While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。
14 slot 6xkwC     
n.(口)位置,职位,狭长孔,狭槽
参考例句:
  • Put a coin in the slot.将硬币放入投币口。
  • He's been given a regular ten-minute slot on the radio.电台定期给他十分钟的节目广播时间。
15 twisted yfVzk0     
adj.(感情、欲望等)反常的,变态的v.扭,搓,缠绕( twist的过去式和过去分词 );歪曲;转动;扭转
参考例句:
  • After the crash the car was a mass of twisted metal. 那辆车撞成了一堆扭曲的废铁。
  • The rope had twisted itself around the wheel, stopping the motor. 绳子把轮子缠住,电动机就不转了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 odd P5szQ     
adj.奇特的;临时的;奇数的;n.[pl.]机会
参考例句:
  • She looks a bit odd.I wonder what has happened to her.她的神色有些异样,不知出了什么事。
  • He's an odd character and no mistake!他的确是个怪人!
17 uneven akwwb     
adj.不平坦的,不规则的,不均匀的
参考例句:
  • The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
  • The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。
18 stitches 70b457f1c55a93ceace567a436b21338     
n.(缝纫或编织中的)一针( stitch的名词复数 );缝法;衣服;(缝合伤口的)缝线v.缝,缝补,缝合( stitch的第三人称单数 );[引申]把某物连在一起
参考例句:
  • Try to keep the stitches small and straight. 针脚要尽量缝得小而直。
  • Knit the next two stitches together to make the garment narrower. 下两针织在一起,把衣服弄瘦点儿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 stitching d6ebf0e61c1d44c4131b26fdaee26980     
n.用U字钉钉箱,缝纫v.缝,缝补,缝合( stitch的现在分词 );[引申]把某物连在一起
参考例句:
  • The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • There was only homemade thread for stitching up wounds. 缝伤口用的线只有国产的。 来自辞典例句
20 surely yrRwj     
adv.确实地,无疑地;必定地,一定地
参考例句:
  • It'should surely be possible for them to reach an agreement.想必他们可以达成协议。
  • Surely we'll profit from your work.我们肯定会从你的工作中得到益处。
21 violet 8h3wm     
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。
22 known hpKzdc     
adj.大家知道的;知名的,已知的
参考例句:
  • He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
  • He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。
23 nickels 50136a4ae3499c49a4f6d699873726e6     
镍( nickel的名词复数 ); (美国和加拿大的)五分镍币,五分钱
参考例句:
  • The mint coins millions of nickels and dimes each year. 造币厂每年都要铸数以百万计的分币和角币。
  • A dime is the equivalent of two nickels. 一角硬币等于两个五分镍币。
24 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
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