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儿童英语读物 灯塔之谜 The Lighthouse Mystery Chapter 2 神秘来客

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CHAPTER 2
Unfriendly Characters

Watch always slept at the foot of Jessie’s bed.

“Keep still, Watch!” said Jessie. “You’ll wake everybody up!”

But Watch didn’t stop. He barked all the more. His hair stood up straight around his neck.

Benny came down the stairs. Henry came. Mr. Alden called, “What’s the matter with Watch, Jessie?”

“I don’t know, Grandfather,” called Jessie. “He must hear something he doesn’t like.”

Benny began to pat1 the dog. “What’s the matter with you, Watch? Why do you have to bark at twelve o’clock midnight? Why couldn’t you bark at four o’clock in the afternoon? Then we could do something about it.”

Watch barked on and on. He stopped just long enough to growl2.

Suddenly Benny said, “I smell steak and mashed3 potatoes.”

“Benny, mashed potatoes don’t smell,” said Violet4.

“I can smell them,” said Benny.

“Are you sure it is not baked potatoes you smell?” asked Henry. “I don’t smell anything.”

“No. Baked potatoes smell even better. Maybe it’s the milk and butter and pepper5 and salt that I smell.”

“Well, maybe pepper, Benny. Certainly not salt,” said Jessie.

Henry was frowning6. “Maybe someone is hiding and eating in that little house at the foot of our lighthouse. But I thought it was empty,” he said.

Just then Watch stopped barking. He lay down and put his head on his paws7 and shut his eyes. Everyone was surprised.

“Just look at Watch now,” said Jessie. “He doesn’t care any more. I guess the danger is over, whatever it was.”

“That’s a funny thing,” said Benny. He started upstairs.

“It’s more than funny, Ben,” said Henry. “The dog must have heard something.”

“We’ll find out tomorrow,” said Mr. Alden. “I’ll ask the police.”

Then everyone went back to bed. Violet thought she could not go back to sleep, but she did.

They slept till morning. After a rather poor breakfast, Jessie said, “Well, the first thing is to go to the store and buy food.”

“Right,” said her grandfather. He missed his morning coffee and toast.

No one spoke8 of the midnight noise. With the sun shining, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

As they walked up the street to the grocery9 store they saw a middle-aged10 man coming. He had sharp, black eyes. He did not even look at the Aldens. He passed Jessie, almost bumping12 her.

“Well!” said Benny, when the man had gone by. “He’s a queer13 character.”

“He did look at us sideways,” said Violet. “I saw him when he was far down the street.”

“But why should he almost bump11 into Jessie?” Henry asked. “He might have knocked her down if she hadn’t moved quickly. A queer character is right, Ben.”

“I think we notice everybody now,” said Violet. “We think they are a part of our mystery.”

Suddenly everyone was thinking about the noise in the night. It had been real!

“Right!” said Henry. He took Violet’s arm as they went into the store. “You are always right.”

There was only one person in the store. It was a boy of about Henry’s age. Under his arm he had a college book. Henry knew it at once.

The girls started to buy groceries14, but Henry gave the boy a friendly smile and said, “I noticed your book. Do you go to college?”

“I certainly don’t,” said the boy loudly. Then he went out of the store and banged15 the door.

“Hey, what’s the matter with him?” asked Henry. He stared after the boy.

“He’s looking for trouble, that feller!” said Benny. His voice sounded just like his grandfather’s.

Mr. Hall said, “He doesn’t have to look for trouble. He’s got trouble.”

“What trouble?” asked Henry. “He looks so cross at everybody.”

“Well, his father won’t let him go to school,” said Mr. Hall.

“School?” cried Benny. “He wants to go to school, and his father won’t let him?”

“That’s right,” said Mr. Hall.

Benny said, “Didn’t that boy go to high school?”

“Oh, yes, he had to go to high school. It’s the law. He’s very smart, especially in science. He got through high school at sixteen.”

“Well,” said Henry, “he is smart, then. But he’s looking for trouble. It wouldn’t hurt him to be polite to a stranger.”

“He isn’t polite to anybody,” said Mr. Hall. “I try to be nice to him, but you see how he acts. He doesn’t want friends.”

“Now that is too bad,” said Benny. “Everyone ought to have friends.”

“I guess it isn’t hard for you to make friends,” said Mr. Hall. He laughed.

“No, it isn’t,” said Benny. “I’m lucky. We’re all lucky.”

Henry was quiet. At last he said, “I wish we could do something with that father. A boy like that ought to go to college if he wants to.”

“He wants to all right. That’s all he thinks about—college—college—and I guess whatever lives in the sea. He’s always picking up shells16 or bits of seaweed. Now I say if any boy wants to learn, let him learn.”

“Right,” said Benny. “There are lots of boys I know that don’t want to learn.”

“I don’t think you can do anything with his father,” Mr. Hall said. “You’re not the first people who have tried.”

Then the four Aldens thought of the same name—Grandfather. But they did not say it. Grandfather knew how to get things done.

“That boy is another queer character,” said Benny. “Two cross people in ten minutes.” Benny did not see many cross people.

Then Mr. Alden said, “By the way, Mr. Hall, our dog barked in the night. We feel that someone was prowling about. I thought I’d see the police today.”

Mr. Hall shook his head. “No police in this town,” he said. “Never had any trouble here.”

“No police!” said Mr. Alden. “I never heard of such a thing. Who looks up a mystery?”

“Nobody, I guess. Never had a mystery either.”

As the Aldens drove17 home, they were all thinking.

Grandfather said, “I suppose I could send for John Carter18.”

“Oh, please don’t,” cried Benny. “We want to find out for ourselves. No police, no Mr. Carter, no help at all!”

“Very well,” said Grandfather with a smile.

“We’ll have to solve the mystery, Ben,” said Henry.

“Maybe we can do it better than Mr. Carter can,” said Benny.

“Oh,” said Jessie. “Somebody thinks he’s pretty smart, Mr. Benny! But we all know that Mr. Carter is right there. He would come to help us in a minute.”

When they reached the lighthouse with the groceries, Jessie said, “I wonder just the same about that black-eyed man and the cross boy. Could one of them have anything to do with our mystery?”

“I don’t see how,” said Benny. “But you never know. Maybe they are cooking up something or other.”

Benny didn’t know then how near he was to the truth.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pat 8vhyZ     
n.轻拍,拍打声;vt.轻拍,拍打;vi.轻跑,轻击;adv.适时,彻底;adj.油腔滑调的,恰好的,合适的
参考例句:
  • Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗?
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
2 growl VeHzE     
v.(狗等)嗥叫,(炮等)轰鸣;n.嗥叫,轰鸣
参考例句:
  • The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫,尾巴也跟着摇摆。
  • The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。
3 mashed Jotz5Y     
a.捣烂的
参考例句:
  • two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
  • Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。
4 violet 8h3wm     
adj.紫色的;n.紫罗兰
参考例句:
  • She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
  • Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的,和平的和力量的颜色。
5 pepper lSCzl     
n.胡椒(粉);辣椒(粉)
参考例句:
  • He put some pepper in the bowl.他放了一些胡椒粉在碗里。
  • This pepper is really hot.这辣椒真够劲儿。
6 frowning frowning     
n. 皱眉, 不悦 v. 皱眉头, 不同意
参考例句:
  • What are you frowning at me for? 你为什么朝我皱眉头?
  • Why are you frowning at me? 你为什么对我皱眉头?
7 paws b78b84c2e20f17cb70ffcff9430ca0ea     
n.爪子( paw的名词复数 );手
参考例句:
  • Take your filthy paws off me! 把你的脏手从我身上拿开!
  • Take your dirty little paws off me! 别用你的小黑手抓着我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 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。
9 grocery FfPxV     
n.食品,杂货;食品杂货店
参考例句:
  • There used to be a grocery store on the corner.以前在这个街角有家杂货店。
  • Her mother began operation of a small grocery.她母亲开始经营一家小杂货店。
10 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句:
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
11 bump rWUzQ     
v.(against,into)碰,颠簸;n.碰撞,隆起物
参考例句:
  • I heard a bump in the next room.我听到隔壁房间传来“砰”的一声。
  • He got a bad bump on his forehead.他碰得前额隆起一个大包。
12 bumping b75f677204f9b0bc21b088f2ccdfe89b     
爆沸; 突沸; 放气; 崩沸
参考例句:
  • The circulation of the magazine has been bumping along for some time at around 30, 000. 一段时间以来,杂志的销量一直在三万份上下摇摆。
  • "Yes, "and shipped his oars without bumping the boat. "来啦,"说着从桨架上取下双桨,没有让船颠簸一下。
13 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。
14 groceries 9rHzo3     
n.食品,杂货;杂货业( grocery的名词复数 );杂货店;杂品
参考例句:
  • Hi, Al. I see you're buying the groceries today. 你好,Al.我今天看见你买杂货了。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
  • She ordered her groceries by phone and never left the house. 她用电话定购食品,一步也没离开那座房子。 来自辞典例句
15 banged 2ae20657a3e85c172230502212ff219b     
vt.猛击,猛撞(bang的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Two days after the accident she still looked pretty banged up. 事故过去两天后她看上去伤势仍然很重。
  • I've banged into the doorpost and hurt my arm. 我撞着了门柱,把臂伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 shells 6cada1b5279cf64ec485c08de4d14f53     
n.(贝、卵、坚果等的)壳( shell的名词复数 );外壳;炮弹;(人的)表面性格
参考例句:
  • We collected shells on the beach. 我们在海滩拾贝壳。
  • But at last the shells cracked, one after another. 最后,蛋壳一个接着一个地裂开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 drove brAxi     
vbl.驾驶,drive的过去式;n.畜群
参考例句:
  • He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
  • They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。
18 carter carter     
n.运货马车夫,赶大车的人;卡车司机
参考例句:
  • Although fatigue shows readily on Carter, he bounces back quickly. 卡特虽然容易显出疲劳的样子,但他恢复得很快。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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