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儿童英语读物 Bus Station Mystery CHAPTER 8 Tricked Twice

时间:2017-07-03 05:38来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Not one of the Aldens moved. They watched the man on the bus station steps. What was he going to do?

Henry motioned to Jessie and Violet. He wanted them to stay where they were. He whispered to Benny, “Come with me.”

Benny nodded and tiptoed behind Henry. The girls stayed where they were, out of sight.

Henry led Benny back toward their station wagon1. He said in a low voice, “Let’s see if we can find out what that man wants. If he’s up to some harm, maybe we can learn what it is and tell Frank.”

“If there’s a good reason for his actions, then we won’t have to worry,” Benny said.

“Here’s my idea,” Henry went on. “We’ll walk toward the bus station as if we want to catch a bus. When we get near the man, say something to me like, ‘I thought we’d never find this bus station.’ You know, stuff like that.”

“OK,” Benny said. “Let’s go. I hope he hasn’t gone.”

“I’m sure he hasn’t. We’d hear the truck start,” Henry said.

The boys walked along quickly. They tried to act as if they were not doing anything unusual.

As they came near the bus station they saw the man on the steps, stooping down near the door. They couldn’t tell what he was doing.

Benny said loudly, “Am I glad to see the bus station! My feet hurt.”

Jessie, hidden behind a tree, nearly laughed aloud.

“I hope we haven’t missed the bus,” Henry said.

“You haven’t,” said the man on the steps, and Benny jumped.

“You’re—you’re sure?” he asked.

“Naw, you haven’t missed it,” the man said. “The fellow who keeps this station has it all closed up. Nobody at all around.”

Henry said, “But we have to buy tickets.”

“Read the sign,” the man said. “You buy your tickets on the bus. Where you want to go?”

“Greenfield,” Benny said quickly.

“You got a long wait. No bus until this afternoon. You been visiting around here?”

Benny swallowed. He was supposed to be asking the questions, not answering them. He looked over at Henry.

“We were visiting Jud and Troy,” Henry said. Those were the only names he knew of anyone nearby.

“Down on the river? What did their dad do to them after they passed out those papers last night?”

Henry had to think fast. He didn’t know what had happened to the boys. So he just said, “They got in trouble, all right. Did you come to the bus station for something?”

The man shrugged2. “I told the foreman at the plant it wouldn’t do any good. But he wanted me to come to see if Frank was around. One of the machines broke and we need a new part to fix it. The part was supposed to come on the bus yesterday. You can send packages on the bus, you know. Faster than the mail.”

“Did Frank have the package?” Henry asked.

“How do I know? Frank isn’t here. I just pushed a note under the door. I’ll come back later for it. Got to get back to work now. Tell Frank hello for me— if you see him.”

“For you?” Henry asked.

“Yeah, tell him Bill was here. Have a good wait.”

The workman walked down the steps and headed for the truck.

When the truck was out of sight Henry and Benny began to laugh.

“You never had a chance to find out a thing,” Henry told Benny. “Bill was asking all the questions.”

Jessie and Violet came running up. “What was going on?” asked Jessie. “Do you think the man was snooping around?”

“He wanted a package that came on the bus,” Benny said. “That was all. I guess he thought he’d take it if he could get in. It’s something to fix some machinery3 at the paint factory.”

“What shall we do now?” Violet asked. “Wait for Frank here?”

“We know he isn’t in the station, that’s one thing sure,” Benny said.

“Why not look for Frank?” Violet asked. “I don’t feel like waiting here.”

“Not enough excitement?” Henry asked, teasing Violet a little. “All right, let me get the car.”

Jessie said, “Oh, Henry, put the car behind the bus station. Let’s walk. His house is about a mile away, right on the river. We can’t miss it.”

The Aldens left their car at the bus station. They locked it and set off for the river.

“We have to go single file,” Henry said. “I’ll go first, and Benny, you bring up the rear.”

There was a narrow, well-worn path along the river. Benny said, “We should see some fishermen along here. It’s just the kind of day for fishermen. Where are they?”

Violet stopped and pointed4 to a dark streak5 in the middle of the stream. “Do you see where the water is so dirty?” she asked. “I wonder what makes that.”

“Ugh,” Benny said. “I wouldn’t want to swim here.”

Henry said, “I think the paint factory waste makes the whole river look different.”

They walked along until they thought they must be near Frank’s house.

“Maybe we should look around and not just walk up and bang on Frank’s door,” Benny suggested.

The others agreed. So when they saw a boat pulled up on the shore and the roof of a small house behind some trees, they stopped.

“That has to be Frank’s house. I see a birdhouse in one of the trees,” said Jessie.

There was a little breeze. Jessie sniffed6, then she held her nose. “I forgot about that queer smell at the bus station yesterday. Now I smell it again.”

“Look over there,” said Benny, pointing. “See that big chimney? I think we’ve found Frank’s house and the paint factory, too.”

As he spoke7, a truck passed the Aldens on the road above the riverbank. It was going to the factory.

“What do we do now?” Jessie asked. She was standing8 on the path. Bushes and tall grass nearly hid the trail.

There was a rustling9 sound. A twig10 snapped.

“Shhh!” Henry whispered. “Get down.” He was sure he had seen someone or something move in the tall grass nearby.

The Aldens dropped down behind Henry. No one said a word. They waited.

“Caught you!” a voice said softly.

“Yeah, caught you!” a second voice said. “What do you want here?”

Slowly the Aldens stood up. The voices belonged to Jud and Troy. The boys scowled11 at the Aldens.

“We were looking for Frank,” Benny said, no longer surprised. “Anything wrong with that?”

“Sneaking around is a funny way to look for someone,” Jud declared. “Are you spying on Frank or something?”

“That’s stupid,” Henry said. He felt angry at the boys for suspecting anything like that. “We never met Frank until yesterday. We forgot our raincoats and came back to save Frank the trouble of mailing a package.”

“Yeah?” Troy asked. “Do you believe that, Jud?” He turned to his brother.

Jud looked at the Aldens. “I kind of believe it,” he said slowly. “Four people are too many to take along if you’re up to something wrong.”

Jessie said, “We left our raincoats at the bus station yesterday. We came to get them. The station was locked, so we started to look for Frank.”

“I guess you’re OK,” Jud said. “You’ll find Frank down by the river.” And he and Troy climbed up to the road and disappeared.

“Those boys scared me for a minute,” Violet said. “Do you think they were spying on Frank?”

“Or spying for him?” asked Benny. “I’m all mixed up.”

“Let’s find Frank anyway,” Henry decided12.

They had not gone far down the path when Violet called, “I see him!”

Frank was lying on the riverbank, pulling something out of the water. He looked around and saw the Aldens.

Jessie said quickly, “We got here early. We just thought we’d come and find you.” She held her breath. Would he be angry?

“I’m glad you did,” answered Frank. “You are just in time to see what I found.” He lifted a large dead fish as he spoke. “It was right here floating upside down in the river. Too bad.”

The Aldens looked at the fish. “That would have made a big dinner for someone,” said Jessie.

“Me,” said Frank. “I used to sit here and fish and have a good time by myself. Sometimes I caught a fish in ten minutes. Now every fish is dead and it’s not fun even being on the river in a boat. Pollution has ruined the river.”

“What are you going to do with that dead fish?” Benny asked.

Frank gave a queer laugh. “I think I have a special use for it. It will make a real surprise for someone.” He wrapped the fish in paper as he spoke. “I’ll drive you back to the bus station. Then you can get your raincoats.”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
2 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 machinery CAdxb     
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构
参考例句:
  • Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗?
  • Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。
4 pointed Il8zB4     
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。
5 streak UGgzL     
n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动
参考例句:
  • The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
  • Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹?
6 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 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。
8 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
9 rustling c6f5c8086fbaf68296f60e8adb292798     
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的
参考例句:
  • the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
  • the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声
10 twig VK1zg     
n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解
参考例句:
  • He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
11 scowled b83aa6db95e414d3ef876bc7fd16d80d     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
  • The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。
12 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
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