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儿童英语读物 Disappearing Staircase Mystery CHAPTER 6 Mysterious Music

时间:2017-10-16 08:41来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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“My muscles real strong now!” Benny said as he and the other Aldens climbed to the third floor of the Bugbee House the next day. Nan was following right behind, rushing as usual to get the Aldens working and out of her way.

After three days, the Aldens were used to climbing a lot of stairs.

“You go up and down these stairs even more than we do,” Jessie said to Nan.

Nan paused on the second-floor landing. “What do you mean? I work all over the house, not just up here.”

Jessie looked at Nan for a few seconds. “It’s … well, it’s just that we run into you and Brian up here more than anybody else.”

Nan disagreed. “I can’t speak for Brian. But I’m sure you’re quite mistaken about me. I’m hardly up here at all.”

The Aldens didn’t say anything else to Nan. Even after a few days, the children had a hard time figuring her out. She was a bit forgetful, always darting1 in and out of rooms and saying she left something behind. For someone who carried a notebook with her everywhere, she wasn’t very organized.

“Now, where did Mabel say the bucket was?” Nan tried several doors before she finally found the right closet on the second floor. “Here it is. Just fill this bucket with water from the third-floor bathroom and use it to paste the wallpaper,” she told the Aldens. “Some of the volunteers started papering the hallway up there, but they only finished a little of the job. Think you can do it?”

“We helped Uncle Joe wallpaper Soo Lee’s bedroom,” Jessie answered. “He taught us how to match up the paper and paste it up and everything.”

“Fine,” Nan said. “You’ll find rolls of wallpaper, brushes, sponges2, and a stepladder up there. The job will keep you busy most of today. Now I have work to do, and I don’t want any interruptions. So long.”

The Aldens got their water bucket and brought it to the third floor. They could hear Nan banging one door after the other on the second floor, directly below them.

The children looked at one another.

“It never seems like she’s actually working,” Jessie said. “She’s always going off someplace with that notebook of hers.”

Henry agreed. “I’ve yet to see her pick up a broom or a tool, that’s for sure.”

“Here’s another strange thing,” Violet said when she came out of the bathroom with the bucket of water. “This hallway is already wallpapered. See? Somebody did most of the job already. I wonder why Nan told us it would take us all day to finish. I don’t even think she checked.”

Jessie walked to the far end of the hall. “Well, there’s still one roll that needs to be put up at this end. I guess we should get started.”

After the children lined up their equipment, Henry found a stepladder and climbed up. He measured the ceiling to the floor. “Cut ninety-two inches,” he told Violet and Jessie. “Remember what Uncle Joe said?”

The girls answered together. “‘Measure twice, cut once.’”

Soo Lee and Benny looked confused.

As Violet measured the wallpaper a second time, she explained what Uncle Joe meant. “If you measure something twice before cutting it, then you probably won’t make a mistake and have to cut more than once. It could be wallpaper or a piece of wood or—”

“A piece of cake!” Benny said.

The children helped one another measure, cut, and paste a wallpaper strip.

“Ready, Henry?” Jessie called out.

“Ready!” Henry answered.

The other children carefully carried the wet wallpaper strip over to Henry. He lined it up, matching the leaf pattern exactly right. Then he smoothed the paper in place. There wasn’t a bubble or a wrinkle3 on it. “Good job, everybody.”

The children stepped back from the nice smooth wall to admire their work. That’s when they heard someone walking around overhead.

“There are those footsteps again.” Jessie scooted in the direction of the steps. But she couldn’t see anyone. “It can’t be Nan. She’s downstairs.”

“Maybe it’s another mouse,” Benny joked when Jessie came back puzzled.

“A mouse that plays music?” Soo Lee asked.

A faint, tinkling4 sound seemed to be coming from somewhere not too far away. The Aldens checked in all the third-floor rooms, but didn’t get any closer to the music.

“It’s The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’!” Violet said. “Listen.”

“Maybe the sound is somehow coming from the second floor where Nan is,” Henry whispered. “I’ll go check.”

He tiptoed down one flight of stairs but didn’t hear a thing. One room was locked. Raising his hand, Henry knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?” Nan yelled5 out, but she didn’t open the door.

“It’s Henry. Can I come in?”

“No, I’m painting in here,” Nan snapped6. “All the woodwork is wet with paint. Go finish your wallpapering.”

Henry started to say something but stopped himself. “Okay.”

When he got back to the other children, he explained what had happened. “You know what? I didn’t smell a bit of paint coming from that room. I wonder why Nan locked herself in there.”

Violet looked at Henry with her big blue eyes. “Did you hear my music box?”

Henry shook his head. “I’m not sure where that sound came from. I didn’t hear it from where Nan was, anyway. But she may have heard my footsteps and closed the music box.”

“What are we going to do now?” Violet asked.

“I guess we’ll clean up, then go downstairs to see if there are other jobs for us,” Jessie answered.

“Can I climb up on there?” Benny asked when he saw Henry about to fold the stepladder. “I want to be tall.”

Henry smiled. “Sure. We need to be careful around ladders. So lean against the wall with your right hand. I’ll hold you and the ladder steady.”

“Now I’m taller than you!” Benny said when he stood on top of the stepladder. He looked up at the ceiling and noticed something. “Know what? There’s a little knob7 on the ceiling that sticks out.”

Henry held his arms out for Benny. “Here, jump down. I want to get a closer look. Jessie, hold the stepladder steady for me, okay?”

Jessie held the ladder firmly as Henry stood on top.

“Good eyes, Benny,” Henry said when he saw something on the ceiling, too. “From down there you can’t really see that knob. I wonder if it’s part of a folding staircase8 like Aunt Jane had at her ranch9 house. I can’t quite reach it.”

Jessie squinted10 up. “Oh, I see what you’re talking about. The knob blends into the carvings11 on the ceiling.”

The knob was just a couple of inches out of Henry’s reach. “Know what?” he said. “I’m going to stand on the floor instead. If I put Soo Lee on my shoulders, she can pull the panel12 open a couples of inches. Then I can pull it down the rest of the way.”

Soo Lee always loved sitting on Henry’s shoulders. She was even more excited now to help her cousins open the secret door. She looked down at the other children after Henry put her on his shoulders. “Now I’m tall, too!”

“Okay, Soo Lee, just tug13 that knob a teeny bit,” Jessie said, looking up.

A moment later, the children were startled14 when a figure appeared in the hallway.

“May I ask what you children are doing?” Louella Gardiner demanded in a sharp voice. “Why is that child sitting on your shoulders?”

Henry reached up for Soo Lee and helped her down.

Soo Lee came to the rescue. “We were listening to see if there was a mouse on the roof.”

“A mouse? On the roof?” Louella said. “This is exactly why I told Mabel Hart that children should not be volunteers. Now I’d like you all to go work outside with my husband. There’s still a lot of yard work to be done. You’ll do less damage out there than inside.”

“But we finished wallpapering,” Henry began, “like Nan told us to.”

Now Louella looked even more annoyed. “That one! A more scatterbrained leader I’ve never seen than Nan Lodge—always with her nose in a book or scribbling15 down jobs to do instead of doing them. Why, I told her the wallpapering job was nearly complete yesterday. And it certainly wasn’t a job for children. Now go find Mr. Gardiner outside.”

After the children went downstairs, something kept bothering Jessie. “Did any of you see or hear Louella come up the stairs? Didn’t it seem as if she just appeared out of nowhere on the third floor?”

“I know,” Henry agreed. “I just hope she doesn’t look up and notice that secret panel in the ceiling.”

“Unless she already knows about it,” Jessie added.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 darting darting     
v.投掷,投射( dart的现在分词 );向前冲,飞奔
参考例句:
  • Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句
2 sponges 11f846f09e05abbc5016382c69bbf510     
n.海绵( sponge的名词复数 );海绵动物
参考例句:
  • Sponges absorb water. 海绵吸水。 来自辞典例句
  • Ice bags and alcohol sponges help to reduce fever, especially in children. 用冰袋和洒精擦浴有助于降体温,尤其是对儿童。 来自辞典例句
3 wrinkle WMFzG     
n.皱纹;vi.(使)起皱纹,皱眉;vt.使起皱纹
参考例句:
  • This pair of pants does not wrinkle.这条裤子不会皱。
  • Too much sunbathing will wrinkle your skin.皮肤晒得过分就能起皱纹。
4 tinkling Rg3zG6     
n.丁当作响声
参考例句:
  • I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
  • To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话,犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学
5 yelled aeee2b86b284e7fbd44f45779d6073c1     
v.叫喊,号叫,叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。
  • The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着,希望林子里的人会听见。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 snapped 049d092795475d08a3fcd2d16ef4b519     
v.猛地咬住( snap的过去式和过去分词 );(使某物)发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开,关闭];厉声地说;拍照
参考例句:
  • The wind had snapped the tree in two. 风把树喀嚓一声刮断了。
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 knob NkCyB     
n.球形把手,球形柄,旋钮,小块
参考例句:
  • There is a knob of butter on the table.桌子上有一小块黄油。
  • This knob is only held on by sellotape.这个旋钮只是用透明胶带固定住的。
8 staircase ju5wq     
n.楼梯,楼梯间
参考例句:
  • Footsteps on the staircase interrupted his train of thought.楼梯上传来脚步声,打断了他的思路。
  • I crossed the staircase landing,and entered the room she indicated.我经过一个楼梯平台,走进她说的那个房间。
9 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
10 squinted aaf7c56a51bf19a5f429b7a9ddca2e9b     
斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 ); 眯着眼睛; 瞟; 从小孔或缝隙里看
参考例句:
  • Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩,眯起眼睛瞄准。
  • I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。
11 carvings 3ccde9120da2aaa238c9785046cb8f86     
n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 );雕刻术;雕刻品;雕刻物
参考例句:
  • The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 panel l4IzD     
n.面,板,专门小组,控制板,仪表盘
参考例句:
  • The unusual control panel on the walls caught our attention.墙上不同寻常的控制板引起了我们的注意。
  • The panel of judges included several well-known writers.评判小组中包括几位知名作家。
13 tug 5KBzo     
v.用力拖(或拉);苦干;n.拖;苦干;拖船
参考例句:
  • We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
  • The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
14 startled 651a5bec8a61bb5867cc270c8ec3c20b     
adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳,使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛,那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 scribbling 82fe3d42f37de6f101db3de98fc9e23d     
n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下
参考例句:
  • Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字! 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字,妈妈看在眼里,就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网
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