儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Midnight Dog CHAPTER 10 The Ghost Catchers Explain

The porch swing creaked as Benny and Violet rocked back and forth¹ in it. Curled in the corner, Watch yawned.

It was late, long past dinner, on the last night of the Aldens’ visit to Elbow Bend. Mrs. Wade² had made another special dinner, almost as good as the first one, with peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert.

Now they were all sitting on the porch, talking about the visit—and about solving the mystery.

“I almost forgot to tell you the good news,” Kate Frances said. “More funding is being given to Dr. Sage’s research project.”

“Isn’t that great?” Lainey added. “That means she can pay Brad to keep working for her and maybe even get a second assistant.”

“And I think one of the reasons she got the money was because of all the publicity³ about the fake ghost dog,” said Brad. He’d joined them for dinner and was sitting next to Lainey on the wicker sofa.

“I still can’t believe that writer, Elizabeth Prattle⁴, would do all that,” said Mrs. Wade. She shook her head. “Some people!”

“She got the idea when she overheard Kate Frances telling ghost stories. That was our first day in Elbow Bend and Kate Frances was giving us a tour of the town,” Violet said. “She heard the ghost dog story then, saw how the other tourists reacted. She realized it might be useful to her to help sell her book—since her book is based on the same story.”

“And she had her dog with her. Dusty. And Dusty was already trained to come to the silent whistle,” Henry added.

“That first night, she just used the whistle as an experiment,” Benny said. “That’s what made all the dogs bark and howl—except her dog, who’s used to the whistle.”

“And then she went to Elbow Bend State early in the morning and turned over trash cans and dug holes and planted that dog collar to make it look like a dog had been through there,” Violet said.

“And then at Stories Under the Stars, she parked her car away from all the others so no one would see her dog inside,” Jessie began.

“But wait,” Brad said. “How did she make it glow? And leave no footprints?”

“The glow came from glow-in-the-dark Halloween paint,” Violet said. “She washed it off Dusty each time. And she put booties on her dog to keep her from leaving footprints.”

“Everybody believed Dusty was a ghost,” Jessie said.

“She made the howling by playing a tape recording⁵ of a dog howling,” added Violet.

“And then, after listening to us talk about the ghost dog in the parking lot, she decided⁶ to make the ghost dog appear in town. So she took her dog to the woods along the back of this house and did the same thing,” Jessie said.

“Only this time, Watch tracked Dusty, and we found a spot of wet phosphorescent paint on a tree trunk where Dusty had brushed against it,” Henry said. “That’s when we knew we weren’t chasing a ghost but a real dog.”

“But how did you know who did it?” Lainey asked.

Violet blushed a little in the dark, and was glad Lainey couldn’t see her.

Jessie said, “We had a few suspects. But we were able to narrow the list down and set a trap.”

“And we caught her!” Benny concluded triumphantly⁷.

“You sure did, Benny,” said Grandfather.

“She got a lot of publicity,” said Kate Frances. “But I don’t think it was the kind she wanted.”

“Her book is still selling well at the bookstore,” said Mrs. Wade. “But I think she’s sorry she did what she did.”

“She sure left town in a hurry,” Kate Frances said. “I don’t think she’ll try anything like that again.”

“Well, it’s sure been an exciting visit,” Mrs. Wade said. “I hope y’all come again soon.”

“We will,” said Benny. “And we’ll catch more ghosts next time!”

“Oh, Benny,” Violet said, and everyone laughed.

1 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

4 prattle   

n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音

参考例句：

• Amy's happy prattle became intolerable.艾美兴高采烈地叽叽喳喳说个不停，汤姆感到无法忍受。
• Flowing water and green grass witness your lover's endless prattle.流水缠绕，小草依依，都是你诉不尽的情话。

5 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

6 decided   

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。

7 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。