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儿童英语读物 The Spy in the Bleachers CHAPTER 3 Next to the Dugout

时间:2017-12-14 04:58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 Grandfather drove the children to Cogwheel Stadium. He parked in the same spot as before. “I’ll bet you want to play more ball today,” he said.

“Actually, we want to help Mr. Tanaka as much as we can,” said Jessie. Last night after dinner she and Henry had told Benny and Violet about the sign stealing. Now all four children wanted to find out who was stealing Reese Dawkins’s signs and signaling them to Cody Howard.

Grandfather led them to the owner’s office on the upper level of Cogwheel Stadium.

“Good morning,” said Jim Tanaka. “Did you enjoy yesterday’s game, even though we lost?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Benny. “I love the bleachers.”

“We had a very good time,” said Jessie. “Thank you so much for the tickets. And we would like to help you today, if you still need help.”

“I would love more help,” replied Mr. Tanaka. “Henry and Benny, Wheelie could use your help. And Jessie and Violet, I’ve got a job for you too.”

Wheelie the mascot1 had his own small dressing2 room. The man who played the mascot was dressed in cargo3 shorts, a T-shirt, and socks. “I’m Winn Winchell,” he told Henry and Benny. “Call me Winn when I’m not in costume. When I’m in costume, call me Wheelie.”

“You talk!” said Benny.

“Yep,” said Winn. “I talk when I’m Winn. I don’t talk when I’m Wheelie.”

“Why?” asked Benny.

“Because cogwheels don’t talk, that’s why,” answered Winn. He took the bottom half of the orange Wheelie costume off its hook4.

Henry watched Winn step into the bottom half of the costume. Henry saw suspenders hanging from it. He grabbed5 the suspenders and held them up for Winn.

“You’re a quick learner,” said Winn. He pulled the suspenders over his shoulders. “See that box in the corner?”

Henry and Benny looked where Winn was pointing.

“Those are rolled-up T-shirts,” Winn told them. He handed Henry a large canvas6 bag. “Stuff as many of them in here as you can,” he said. “When I go out on the field, you carry the bag and follow me. You hand me one T-shirt at a time, and I throw it to a fan. Got that?”

“Yes,” said Henry. This is cool, he thought. I get to walk on the baseball field!

Winn handed Benny a canvas bag, too.” Plastic water bottles,” he said. “You carry this bag and follow behind Henry. Sometimes I give away shirts, and sometimes I give away bottles.”

“Now listen carefully,” he told them. “Whenever we’re out of T-shirts or water bottles, you let me know. That’s when we come back here and take a break. And as soon as we get back here, you help me take off the top half of my costume. And then you hand me a tall glass of ice water. Immediately.” Winn pointed7 to a small refrigerator in the corner.” He looked at Henry and Benny. “Any questions?”

Henry and Benny shook their heads.

“Good,” said Winn, “because Wheelie doesn’t talk.” He took the top half of his Wheelie costume from its hook and began to slip it over his head.

Henry helped Winn, who became Wheelie. Wheelie turned in a circle, then faced the door. He made a come-with-me motion with his arm. Henry and Benny grabbed their canvas bags. They followed Wheelie onto the baseball field.

As soon as he walked onto the baseball field, Wheelie turned three cartwheels. The fans cheered.

Henry was surprised at how loud the crowd noise was. Really loud! So this is what baseball players hear, he thought.

Wheelie waved his arms to the fans and they shouted louder. Henry followed the mascot as he walked around the field, close to the stands. Each time Wheelie threw a free T-shirt into the crowd, Henry handed him another one. And when he threw a plastic water bottle, Benny ran up with his canvas bag of bottles.

When they were out of T-shirts they went back to the dressing room. Henry helped take off the top half of Wheelie’s costume. Benny poured a glass of ice water and handed it to the mascot.

Winn drank the entire glass of water. He handed the empty glass to Benny. “It’s hot inside this costume,” he said. He reached into the bottom half of the costume and pulled out a bandana. An envelope fell out of the bandana onto the floor. Money fell out of the envelope and scattered8 everywhere.

Benny stooped to pick up the money. He saw one-hundred dollar bills!

“Don’t touch that!” shouted Winn. He bent9 down and pushed Benny aside.

Benny didn’t like being pushed. He thought Winn was rude.

Henry bent down behind Winn and picked up the envelope. The word Wheelie was handwritten on it, in big letters. The handwriting slanted10 toward the left.

“Is that the money you charge for an autograph?” Benny asked.

“Mind your own business,” said Winn as he grabbed the envelope out of Henry’s hand. Winn stuffed the money back into the envelope. Then he pushed the envelope down into his pockets.

Henry stood up and pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and held it out toward the mascot. “Could I have your autograph?” Henry asked.

Winn looked at the piece of paper. “I’ll give you an autograph if you give me ten dollars.”

“Oh,” said Henry, taking back his paper. “Let me think about it.”

Henry now knew that the mascot wanted ten dollars for an autograph. But the envelope had been full of one-hundred-dollar bills. The money in the envelope wasn’t for autographs. What is it for, then? thought Henry. And why did Winn get so upset about it?

“Fill up your canvas bags,” Winn told Henry and Benny. “We go out the door again in five minutes.”

Jessie and Violet were helping11 out in the large open area behind the bleachers. A small waterfall had been built there. Fans could walk into it and cool off on really hot days. Jessie and Violet helped the line of people move along. Violet kept the line straight and alongside12 the wall. Jessie let everybody have one minute under the waterfall, then it was the next person’s turn.

“Time’s up,” said Jessie to a girl who was about Benny’s age.

“Awww,” said the girl as she stepped out of the waterfall.

“You can get back in line and do it again,” said Jessie with a smile. She watched as the girl ran to the back of the long line and stood there, dripping wet. There were other dripping wet people in line, too.

“It’s so hot,” said Violet. “I feel like walking through the waterfall myself, just to cool off.”

“The waterfall is a wonderful idea,” said Jessie. “Mr. Tanaka makes sure the fans have a lot of fun.”

Violet nodded, then frowned. “I hope the Cogs win today. Maybe the sign stealer won’t be here today.”

Violet noticed a woman wearing a lavender dress. Violet loved all shades of purple and always noticed them. But she wondered why somebody would wear such a beautiful, dressy dress to a ballgame.

The woman had long blonde hair that curled up at the ends. She wore a straw hat with a wide brim13.

The woman turned around. It was Emma Larke.

Emma didn’t notice Violet or Jessie or even the waterfall. She seemed to be looking around for something, or somebody.

“Look,” Violet said to her sister. “It’s Emma Larke. She looks so different from yesterday. Let’s say hello.”

But just then Carlos Garcia walked up to Emma. He didn’t notice Jessie or Violet, either.

“Reese Dawkins looked bad yesterday,” the sisters heard Carlos say to Emma.

“Yes, but he’s still playing today,” answered Emma.

“The manager doesn’t want to switch catchers this late in the season,” said Carlos. “But next year—next year will be different.”

Emma opened her straw handbag and pulled out her binoculars14. She showed them to Carlos.

As Emma was showing the binoculars to Carlos, Violet saw Carlos pull an envelope from his pocket. Violet noticed handwriting on the envelope, but she couldn’t see what it said. She saw Carlos drop the envelope into Emma’s purse.

Carlos turned and saw her. “Hello, Violet,” he said. “What are you doing?”

“Hello,” said Violet. “We’re helping out with the waterfall shower.”

Emma turned, too, and said hello to Violet and Jessie. “I would have gone into the waterfall yesterday,” she said, “but I don’t want to get my clothes wet today.”

“That’s a beautiful dress,” said Violet.

Emma twirled around, to show off her dress. “Thank you,” she said. Emma reached into her straw purse and pulled out a pair of white lace15 gloves. She put them on and wiggled her fingers. Then Emma and Carlos walked away from the waterfall.

Violet saw them talking as they left. She wondered about Emma’s binoculars. She wondered even more about Emma’s white lace gloves.

All four children met up in the aisle16 and walked down to their seats.

“Mr. Tanaka has given us tickets in the very first row,” Jessie said.

“Right next to the Cogs dugout,” Henry pointed out.

Benny stopped just before they entered their row. “Look,” he said.

Jessie, Violet, and Henry looked. There was one other person in their row. He was sitting right next to the Cogs dugout. He wore dark sunglasses and a Cogs baseball cap pulled low. He wore shorts and a flowered shirt, and he was writing something in a small notebook. It was the man who had entered the turnstile yesterday. He had whispered “Shhh” to Mr. Tanaka.

Henry led the way into the row and sat beside the man with the notebook. “Hello,” said Henry. “I’m Henry Alden, and these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my brother Benny.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said the man as he put away his notebook. “You look like a happy group. How did you get these great seats?”

“Mr. Tanaka gave them to us,” answered Jessie.

The man nodded. “That’s just like Jim Tanaka. Very generous. Are you friends of his?”

“Our grandfather is helping Mr. Tanaka expand the seating and parking for Cogwheel Stadium,” said Henry.

“And we’re helping Mr. Tanaka, too,” said Benny. “Today Henry and I helped Wheelie.”

“Aha!” said the man. “I thought the two of you looked familiar. You were on the field handing Wheelie T-shirts and water bottles.” He pulled his notebook out of his shirt pocket. He wrote something in it quickly, then put it back into his pocket.

Jessie had been waiting for the man to introduce himself, but so far he hadn’t. “What should we call you?” she asked him.

The man turned to look at them. That was when Henry noticed the small headphone the man was wearing. His baseball cap hid most of the headphone, but a small part could be seen.

“Do any of you like mysteries?” the man asked.

The children nodded. “We all like mysteries,” Violet told him.

“Excellent,” he replied. “Then you can call me ‘Mr. X.’ And now,” he said, “the game is about to begin.”

All four of the Aldens looked at Mr. X as he wrote something in his small notebook. Then he spoke17 softly into his headphone. Not even Henry, who was sitting right next to him, heard what he said.

The Cogs scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. That made the Aldens very happy. That seemed to make Mr. X happy, too. He cheered the Cogs loudly.

Benny was starting to feel hungry. He wished Carlos Garcia were here to sell them hot dogs. Benny looked across the baseball field, into the bleachers. It didn’t take him long to spot the tall pennant18 that Carlos wore on his head. “I can see Carlos!” he told Violet.

Violet looked in the direction Benny was pointing. She saw Carlos give something to Wheelie. Probably a hot dog or a soft drink. She saw Emma Larke sitting in the front row of the bleachers. Emma’s straw hat and lavender dress and white gloves made her very easy to see.

The second inning started. Cody Howard was the first man up for the Hatters. Henry tried to watch everything at once. He saw Wheelie hold his nose. He saw Emma Larke stand up and take off her straw hat. She waved it back and forth19. Henry couldn’t hear her from across the ballpark but he thought she must be shouting, “Go, Cody!”

Jessie was watching Carlos Garcia. When Cody came to bat, Carlos did not sell hot dogs. Carlos stood near the railing and watched Cody bat. She saw Carlos lift the lid of his vendor’s box up and down.

The pitch came in and Cody Howard swung. Everybody heard a loud crack as the ball sailed out of Cogwheel Stadium.

“That proves it!” shouted a loud, angry voice. “Somebody is telling that batter20 what our pitching signals are! I want to know who is doing it!” Henry leaned over to see partway into the Cogs dugout. The person doing the shouting was Sam Jackson, the Cogs manager.

Mr. X spoke into his headphones and wrote something in his notebook.

“This is bad,” Henry whispered to his sisters and brother. “We have to discover who is giving Cody Howard the Cogs’ signals.”

Jessie, Violet, and Benny nodded. Whoever was stealing signs was not a good sport.

The score remained Cogs 2, Hatters 1, until the top of the fifth inning, when Cody Howard hit another home run. The Hatters had a runner on, so now the Hatters were leading 3-2.

After Cody’s second home run, Mr. X wrote for a long time in his notebook. Henry saw that Mr. X was right-handed.

Mr. X looked up from his notebook. “You kids say that you like mysteries,” he said. “Well, here’s a good mystery for you—there’s a spy in the bleachers.”

“A spy who is stealing Reese Dawkins’ signs to the pitcher,” said Jessie.

Mr. X looked surprised. “Say,” he said, “you kids really are into mysteries, aren’t you?”

The Aldens nodded.

“Well,” said Mr. X, “I know who the spy is.”

“You do?” asked Violet.

Mr. X nodded, then pointed across the baseball field into the bleachers. “It’s the woman in the lavender dress,” he said.

“How do you know she’s the spy?” asked Violet.

“Obvious,” said Mr. X. “She has binoculars so she can see the catcher’s signs better. Then, each time Cody Howard is at bat, she stands up. She waves her visor or her straw hat or whatever she’s wearing. That’s how she signals Cody. Today she’s wearing white lace gloves. Very suspicious21, don’t you think? So easy for the batter to see her hands.”

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cogs scored two more runs to tie the score, 4-4.

But in the top of the seventh inning, Cody Howard came to bat again. Emma Larke stood up again and waved her straw hat. Cody did not hit a home run this time. But he did hit a triple22, which allowed one of the Hatters already on base to score a run. The Hatters won the game, 5-4.


 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mascot E7xzm     
n.福神,吉祥的东西
参考例句:
  • The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
  • We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。
2 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料
参考例句:
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
3 cargo 6TcyG     
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句:
  • The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
  • A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。
4 hook oc5xa     
vt.钩住;n.钩子,钩状物
参考例句:
  • The blacksmith forged a bar of iron into a hook.铁匠把一根铁条锻造成一个钩子。
  • He hangs up his scarf on the hook behind the door.他把围巾挂在门后的衣钩上。
5 grabbed grabbed     
v.抢先,抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指匆忙地)取;攫取;(尤指自私、贪婪地)捞取
参考例句:
  • He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
  • She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。
6 canvas oXGzz     
n.粗帆布,一块油画布
参考例句:
  • The times that people used canvas boat have become history.人们用帆船的时代已成为历史。
  • Smith painted an oil painting on the canvas.史密斯在画布上画了一幅油画。
7 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。
8 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
9 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。
10 slanted 628a904d3b8214f5fc02822d64c58492     
有偏见的; 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
  • She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。
11 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
12 alongside XLWym     
adv.在旁边;prep.和...在一起,在...旁边
参考例句:
  • There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
  • Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。
13 brim 5cCyz     
n.帽檐,(容器的)边,边缘;vi.注满,充溢
参考例句:
  • The glass was full to the brim.玻璃杯中的液体已满到要溢出来了。
  • She was filled to the brim with happiness.她充满了幸福。
14 binoculars IybzWh     
n.双筒望远镜
参考例句:
  • He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
  • If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜,我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。
15 lace 1xvyE     
n.饰带,花边,缎带;v.结带子,饰以花边
参考例句:
  • She let a piece of lace into her dress.她在衣服上镶了一块花边。
  • The bride is wearing a wedding dress made of lace.新娘穿一件蕾丝婚纱。
16 aisle qxPz3     
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
参考例句:
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
17 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。
18 pennant viuym     
n.三角旗;锦标旗
参考例句:
  • The second car was flying the Ghanaian pennant.第二辆车插着加纳的三角旗。
  • The revitalized team came from the cellar to win the pennant.该队重整旗鼓,从最后一名一跃而赢得冠军奖旗。
19 forth Hzdz2     
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。
20 batter QuazN     
v.接连重击;磨损;n.牛奶面糊;击球员
参考例句:
  • The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
  • Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。
21 suspicious DrLw1     
adj.可疑的,容易引起怀疑的,猜疑的,疑心的
参考例句:
  • A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
  • He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重,连自己的母亲也不相信。
22 triple Dp0yu     
n.三倍之数,三个一组;adj.三倍的
参考例句:
  • Twelve is the triple of four.十二是四的三倍数。
  • He received triple wages for all his extra work.由于额外的工作他领取了三倍的工资。
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