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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Sword CHAPTER 4 The Secret Passageway

时间:2017-09-13 05:59来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The Aldens peered inside the opening. The passageway looked so dark and spooky with cobwebs hanging overhead that Benny was suddenly afraid to step inside, even after Seymour handed him a flashlight.

“Come on, Benny. This is one of the things you came all this way to see,” Seymour said.

“I’ll go after Henry,” Benny said in a quavery voice.

Henry had to bend down to go through the opening. He shone his flashlight against the walls and gave a gasp1.

“What’s the matter?” asked Benny, who was right behind his brother.

“It’s a...it’s just that I thought I saw a person in here,” Henry explained, sounding a little sheepish. “Now I see that it’s a suit of armor.” Henry shone his flashlight all around. He saw not just one but six steel suits of armor, complete with helmets, lining2 the walls of the narrow passageway.

“Neat,” Benny said as he came inside. The others crowded in behind him.

Besides the armor, there were lots of old weapons: knights’ swords, a battle-ax, a crossbow, and two big shields.

“Wow!” said Benny. “Did they really fight with all this stuff?”

“No, Benny,” said Seymour with a chuckle3. “For one thing, not all of it is real equipment from the Middle Ages. This suit, for example, is stage armor. It was used in a play in Boston many years ago. It looks real, but it’s much lighter4 than the other suits.”

“Are these swords all real?” asked Henry.

“Yes, Henry, they are indeed. This one is from the fifteenth century,” the farmer said, shining his light on it. “And this curved one is from Turkey, and here is a naval5 cutlass from Colonial times here in America.” Seymour beamed the flashlight on a short, heavy, curved sword. Then Seymour looked around the passageway and said nothing more for a few moments.

“Is something the matter?” Jessie asked.

“It’s strange, but I can’t find Gideon’s officer’s saber from the Civil War. It was down here the last time I was.”

Jessie and Henry exchanged glances. “You don’t think it was stolen, do you?” Henry asked.

The farmer scratched his head. “I don’t know what to think. I’d find it hard to believe a burglar would know how to get inside this secret passageway. It’s too well hidden. It was built before the Civil War to help runaway6 slaves escape north. After the Civil War, my ancestor, Gideon, used this passageway to store his sword and armor collection. His collection has been down here ever since, pretty much just the way you see it, though my children and grandchildren have sometimes borrowed some of the armor to use as Halloween costumes.”

“Maybe someone borrowed that Civil War sword for a costume,” Jessie suggested hopefully.

Seymour sighed. “I hope so. I must ask Rose if she knows anything about it.”

Violet shone her flashlight on the dirt floor to look for clues. But there weren’t any, just lots of indistinguishable footprints.

By now the Aldens and Seymour were at the end of the passageway Seymour shone his light on the wooden trapdoor above them. “That door goes right into the barn,” he said. “When we go through it, we’ll be right next to Elvira’s stall.”

Jessie giggled7. “Won’t she be surprised.”

Seymour fetched the ladder that was resting behind one of the suits of armor.

“Want to go out this way?” he asked.

“Sure, why not,” Jessie answered for all of them.

Henry was the first one up the ladder.

“Just push the door out,” Seymour advised Henry.

“It’s heavy,” Henry answered, panting.

“I know,” said Seymour. “It’s part of the floor. I never go out this way because I’m getting too old to fool with that heavy trapdoor.”

“I know what you mean,” Henry said, huffing. “Aha, finally it’s out!” Henry climbed out into the barn. Elvira came over to greet him.

“Your goat is here, Jessie,” Henry called into the passageway.

When they were all in the barn, Seymour lowered the trapdoor, then scattered8 straw to conceal9 it. Then the Aldens insisted on helping10 Seymour with the animals. They brought the horses in from the pasture and fed them oats. The cows got hay that Henry pitched into their stall.

The sun was low in the sky when the Aldens walked back to the house with Seymour. Flocks of geese flew overhead, forming a pattern that looked like the letter V.

As soon as they were in the house, Seymour and the Aldens lost no time asking Rose if she had seen Gideon’s sword.

“No, I haven’t,” Rose said, wiping her hands on her blue-and-white-checked apron11. “I haven’t been in that passageway in months.”

“Neither have I.” Seymour was scratching his head. He sighed heavily. “You don’t know of anyone borrowing that sword for a Halloween costume, or some such getup?”

Rose frowned. “Well, no. I don’t remember telling anyone they could borrow a costume this year.”

The Aldens looked at one another. “Do you think someone might have borrowed that sword without telling you?” Jessie asked gently.

Seymour sighed and looked at his wife. “It’s possible,” he said, almost as if he were trying to convince himself. “I mean, we certainly don’t keep things under lock and key here. We’ve never had to.”

“That’s true,” Rose agreed. “We’ve never had to — until now.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说
参考例句:
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
2 lining kpgzTO     
n.衬里,衬料
参考例句:
  • The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
  • Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。
3 chuckle Tr1zZ     
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑
参考例句:
  • He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
  • I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个,我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。
4 lighter 5pPzPR     
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
参考例句:
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
5 naval h1lyU     
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的
参考例句:
  • He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
  • The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
6 runaway jD4y5     
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的
参考例句:
  • The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
  • He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。
7 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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 conceal DpYzt     
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽
参考例句:
  • He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方,他只好隐瞒身份。
  • He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。
10 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。
11 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
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