英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

儿童英语读物 Schoolhouse Mystery CHAPTER 10 A Discovery

时间:2017-06-15 06:21来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

At breakfast they talked about the two boats and the two men.

“It’s time to ring the bell,” said Benny. “I have to go.”

But Benny really had something else in mind. He wanted to look around the schoolhouse. He wanted to see where the hole went in George Washington’s coat button.

Benny unlocked1 the schoolroom door and went at once into the back hall. The wood for the winter was there, piled high. There was the back door, a window, and the big chimney. He rattled2 the window. It was unlocked. The lock was very old and looked as if it hadn’t been locked for a long time. Benny tried it. The lock was broken. It certainly had been broken for years.

Benny looked at the floor under the window and saw some flakes3 of dry white paint just exactly like the dry paint on the windowsill.

“I bet someone came through this window last night,” he thought. “But why? I like to do things by myself, but this time I wish I could tell John Carter who works for Grandfather. After all, he used to be an F.B.I. man.”

Benny looked around again. Only the big chimney was left, and the broom closet next to it. He opened the small door. Just a broom closet. There was a broom in it.

At recess4 Benny got word to his family to wait after the children had gone home at noon. When they were alone in the school yard, Jessie said, “Well, Benny, what’s all this?”

“The back hall,” said Benny. “Come and see.”

The four Aldens all went into the tiny back hall.

“See that old dry paint on the floor?” said Benny.

“Yes, old man,” said Henry. He bent5 over to look. “You are clever! This hasn’t been here long. Somebody must have come in through the window. Maybe this is where Freddy slept last night.”

“This broom closet is just a broom closet,” said Benny. He opened the door beside the huge chimney. “See, there’s a broom in it.”

“Wait!” said Henry. “See those wood planks6 this closet is made of? If we could only pry7 them off—”

Henry opened his knife and pried8 away at one board. It was loose and came off easily. And there was a little brick room in the chimney!

“I thought this chimney was awfully9 big,” said Henry. “And it has a queer10 shape. This is the reason, of course. Somebody wanted to make a place to hide in.”

“Who?” asked Benny.

“Well, I don’t know. It was made that way when the schoolhouse was built, and that was a long time ago. I do know that a lot of New England people built their houses with a hiding place in the chimney. I’m sure this is one of them. A perfect place!”

“It is a perfect place for us, too,” said Benny, “if we want to watch what is going on in the schoolroom.”

“What’s the idea, Benny?” asked Violet. “Why would we ever want to watch the children?”

“Not the children, Violet!” said Benny. “Not in the daytime, either. At night! We can watch Freddy Willet if he ever comes in here, and I think he does.”

“I think so, too, Ben,” said Henry. “He must have some place to hide his things.”

They put the planks back, locked the front door, and went home to lunch. They told Mr. Alden all about the room in the chimney. After lunch, Grandfather said, “I know something you don’t know!”

The children laughed. “What is it?” asked Violet.

Then Mr. Alden told them about the Gray Library and the old books. When Benny heard it, he pushed back his bench. “That’s where I’m going,” he said. “Maybe I can find some pictures for my class.”

“I don’t think you will, Benny,” said Mr. Alden. “Mr. Fenton said the books were all old.”

“Well, maybe there’s an old picture of George Washington,” said Benny. “Anyway I want to see the library.”

Benny took a notebook, and off he went. Sure enough, the door of the library was not locked. Benny gave it a push and went right in. He found himself in a room just the size of the building. There were bookcases all around the room and one tall one down the middle.

“Well, here goes!” said Benny out loud. He began to whistle. He went to the first bookcase. He looked at the dusty books on the top shelves. Then he dropped to his knees to look at the books near the floor. All at once he had a queer feeling that someone was in the room. He listened, but he didn’t hear a sound.

“This is nonsense,” he thought. “Mr. Fenton says nobody ever comes here.”

Then he heard a very, very soft noise. “What is that?” he thought. “Somebody is certainly in here!” But he did not get up or turn around. He listened. Then he heard the noise again. It was behind the middle bookcase. Benny knew that he couldn’t see over it if he did turn around. Then there was a soft thud and then another. Benny rushed around the bookcase just in time to see the fingers of a hand disappear from the sill of the open window.

“Well, well, Mr. Willet!” said Benny out loud. He rushed to the window and looked out. Nobody was in sight.

“Freddy is hiding, that’s sure,” said Benny to himself. “He hasn’t had time to get anywhere. But I know what I’m going to do.” He ran up the cliff walk to the mansion11!

Benny smiled as he rang the bell because he saw Eva peeking12 at him. In a minute Miss Gray herself opened the door.

“Sorry, Miss Gray,” said Benny, very fast, “I think someone just stole some books out of the library. I thought I ought to tell you first. Maybe those books are valuable.”

Eva’s eyes grew big and round as Miss Gray said, “Thank you, Benny. I’ll look myself. Nobody else knows the books. You come, too, Eva.”

The three people went quickly down the cliff. Miss Gray went into the library and straight over to the last rows of books. There was the empty space exactly where she thought it would be. She knew which were the most valuable books, and so did Mr. Willet.

“There are four books gone here,” she said. “They were a set. I never had an idea they would be stolen. And over here! Yes, some more are missing. Mr. Willet must have been here before.”

She went around the room and found empty spaces everywhere. “Oh, dear!” said Miss Gray. “He has taken the very best books! He can sell them for a lot of money.”

“But look here, Miss Gray,” said Benny. “See this sign? It says you can borrow anything you want and sign your name. And here is Freddy Willet’s name!”

“I don’t think he will bring them back,” said Miss Gray. “How foolish I was not to lock the door!”

“I don’t think so,” said Benny. “Freddy would have climbed in the window. Windows and doors don’t stop our Freddy. That’s why I think he is a thief. Don’t worry too much, Miss Gray. My grandfather has Freddy on his mind. And my grandfather doesn’t slip up very often.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 unlocked d821dbe5ef2db3d805cd0f7eea0ec33f     
v.开锁( unlock的过去式和过去分词 );开启;揭开;开着,解开
参考例句:
  • Don't leave your desk unlocked. 请不要忘记锁好办公桌。
  • On no account should you leave the door unlocked. 你无论如何也不应该不锁门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 rattled b4606e4247aadf3467575ffedf66305b     
慌乱的,恼火的
参考例句:
  • The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
  • Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里,窗户都格格作响。
3 flakes d80cf306deb4a89b84c9efdce8809c78     
小薄片( flake的名词复数 ); (尤指)碎片; 雪花; 古怪的人
参考例句:
  • It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
  • It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。
4 recess pAxzC     
n.短期休息,壁凹(墙上装架子,柜子等凹处)
参考例句:
  • The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
  • Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。
5 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
6 planks 534a8a63823ed0880db6e2c2bc03ee4a     
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点
参考例句:
  • The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
  • We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。
7 pry yBqyX     
vi.窥(刺)探,打听;vt.撬动(开,起)
参考例句:
  • He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
  • We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。
8 pried 4844fa322f3d4b970a4e0727867b0b7f     
v.打听,刺探(他人的私事)( pry的过去式和过去分词 );撬开
参考例句:
  • We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴,把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
9 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
10 queer f0rzP     
adj.奇怪的,异常的,不舒服的,眩晕的
参考例句:
  • I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
  • She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。
11 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
12 peeking 055254fc0b0cbadaccd5778d3ae12b50     
v.很快地看( peek的现在分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
参考例句:
  • I couldn't resist peeking in the drawer. 我不由得偷看了一下抽屉里面。
  • They caught him peeking in through the keyhole. 他们发现他从钥匙孔里向里窥视。 来自辞典例句
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴