Five Go Off In A Caravan Chapter Twenty MORE EXCITEMENT

Chapter Twenty MORE EXCITEMENT

It was a very sad and disappointed little company that made their way back to the cave. Along the  tunnel  they  went,  painfully  and  slowly,  for  it  was  not  so  easy  against  the  current.  Julian shivered; he was wet through with trying to swim.

At last they were back in the cave through which the stream flowed so swiftly. 'Let's run round and round it to  get warm,' said Julian. 'I'm  frozen. Dick, let me have one of  your dry jerseys³. I must take off these wet ones.'

The children ran round and round the cave, pretending to race one another, trying to get warm.

They did get warm in the end, and sank down in a heap on some soft sand in a corner, panting.

They sat there for a little while to get their breath.

Then they heard something. Timmy heard it first and growled⁴. 'Jumping Jiminy, what's up with Timmy?' said Nobby, in fright. He was the most easily scared of the children, probably because of the frights he had had the last few days.

They all listened, George with her hand on Timmy's collar. He growled again, softly. The noise they all heard was a loud panting coming from the stream over at the other side of the cave!

'Someone is wading⁵ up the stream,' whispered Dick, in astonishment⁶. 'Did they get in at the place where we couldn't get out? They must have!'

'But  who  is  it?'  asked  Julian.  'Can't  be  Lou  or  Dan.  They  wouldn't  come  that  way  when  they could come the right way. Sh! Whoever it is, is arriving in the cave. I'll shut off my torch.'

Darkness  fell  in  the  cave  as  the  light  from  Julian's  torch  was  clicked  off.  They  all  sat  and listened,  and  poor  Nobby  shook  and  shivered.  Timmy  didn't  growl  any  more,  which  was surprising. In fact, he even wagged his tail!

There was a sneeze from the other end of the cave - and then soft footsteps padded towards them.

Anne felt as if she must scream. WHO was it?

Julian  switched  on  his  torch  suddenly,  and  its  light  fell  on  a  squat,  hairy  figure,  halting  in  the bright glare. It was Pongo!

'It's Pongo!' everyone yelled, and leapt up at once. Timmy ran over to the surprised chimpanzee and sniffed⁷ round him in delight. Pongo put his arms round Nobby and Anne.

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'Pongo! You've escaped! You must have bitten through your rope!' said Julian. 'How clever you are to find your way through that hole where the stream pours out. How did you know you would find us here! Clever Pongo.'

Then  he  saw  the  big  wound  on  poor  Pongo's  head.  'Oh  look!'  said  Julian.  'He's  been  hurt!  I expect those brutes⁸ threw a stone at him. Poor old Pongo.'

'Let's bathe his head,' said Anne. 'I'll use my hanky.'

But  Pongo  wouldn't  let  anyone  touch  his  wound,  not  even  Nobby.  He  didn't  snap  or  snarl  at them,  but  simply  held  their  hands  away  from  him,  and  refused  to  leave  go.  So  nobody  could bathe his head or bind⁹ it up.

'Never  mind,'  said  Nobby  at  last,  'animals'  wounds  often  heal  up  very  quickly  without  any attention at all. He won't let us touch it, that's certain. I expect Lou and Dan hit him with a stone, and  knocked  him  unconscious  when  they  came.  They  then  shut  up  the  hole  and  made  us prisoners. Beasts!'

'I say,' suddenly said Dick. 'I say! I've got an idea. I don't know if it will work - but it really is an idea.'

'What?' asked everyone, thrilled.

'Well  -  what  about  tying a letter round Pongo's  neck and sending him out of the hole again,  to take the letter to the camp?' said Dick. 'He won't go to Lou or Dan because he's scared of them -

but he'd go to any of the others all right, wouldn't he? Larry would be the best one. He seems to be a good fellow.'

'Would Pongo understand enough to do all that, though?' asked Julian, doubtfully.

'We could try him,' said Nobby. 'I do send him here and there sometimes, just for fun  - to take the elephant's bat to Larry, for instance - or to put my coat away in my caravan¹⁰.'

'Well, we could  certainly try,' said Dick. 'I've got a notebook and a pencil. I'll write a note and wrap it up in another sheet, pin it together and tie it round Pongo's neck with a bit of string.'

So he wrote a note. It said:

'To whoever gets this note - please come up the hill to the hollow where there are two caravans¹¹.

Under  the  red  one  is  the  entrance  to  an  underground  passage.  We  are  prisoners  inside  the  hill.

Please rescue us soon.

Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Nobby.'

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He read it out to the others. Then he tied the note round Pongo's neck. Pongo was surprised, but fortunately did not try to pull it off.

'Now, you give him his orders,' said Dick to Nobby. So Nobby spoke¹² slowly and importantly to the listening chimpanzee.

'Where's Larry? Go to Larry, Pongo. Fetch Larry. Go. GO!'

Pongo blinked at him and made a funny little noise as if he was saying: 'Please, Nobby, I don't want to go.'

Nobby repeated everything again. 'Understand Pongo? I think you do. GO, then, GO. GO!'

And  Pongo  turned  and  went!  He  disappeared  into  the  stream,  splashing  along  by  himself.  The children watched him as far as they could by the light of their torches.

'He really is clever,' said Anne. 'He didn't want to go a bit, did he? Oh, I do hope he finds Larry, and that Larry sees the note and reads it and sends someone to rescue us.'

'I hope the note doesn't get all soaked and pulpy¹³ in the water,' said Julian, rather gloomily. 'Gosh, I wish I wasn't so cold. Let's run round a bit again, then have a piece of chocolate.'

They ran about and played 'He' for a time till they all felt warm again. Then they decided¹⁴ to sit down  and  have  some  chocolate,  and  play  some  sort  of  guessing  game  to  while  away  the  time.

Timmy sat close to Julian, and the boy was very glad.

'He's like a big hot-water bottle,' he said. 'Sit closer, Tim. That's right. You'll soon warm me up!'

It was dull after a time, sitting in the light of one torch, for they dared not use them all. Already it seemed as if Julian's torch was getting a little dim. They played all the games they could think of and then yawned.

'What's the time? I suppose it must be getting dark outside now. I feel quite sleepy.'

'It's nine o'clock almost,' said Julian. 'I hope Pongo has got down to the camp all right and found someone. We could expect help quite soon, if so.'

'Well, then, we'd better get along to the passage that leads to the hole,' said Dick, getting up. 'It's quite likely that if Larry or anyone else comes they'll not see the footholds leading up the wall out of that first little cave. They might not know where we were!'

This seemed very likely. They all made their way down the tunnel that led past the hidden store of  valuables,  and  came  out  into  the  enormous  cave.  There  was  a  nice  sandy  corner  just  by  the hole that led down into the first small cave, and the children decided to sit there, rather than in 93

the  passage  or  in  the  first  rocky  and  uncomfortable  little  cave.  They  cuddled  up  together  for warmth, and felt hungry.

Anne  and  Nobby  dozed  off  to  sleep.  George  almost  fell  asleep,  too.  But  the  boys  and  Timmy kept awake, and talked in low voices. At least, Timmy didn't talk, but wagged his tail whenever either Dick or Julian said anything. That was his way of joining in their conversation.

After what seemed a long while Timmy growled, and the two boys sat up straight. Whatever it was that Timmy's sharp ears had heard, they had heard nothing at all. And they continued to hear nothing. But Timmy went on growling¹⁵.

Julian shook the others awake. 'I believe help has come,' he said. 'But we'd better not go and see in case it's Dan and Lou come back. So wake up and look lively!'

They were all wide awake at once. Was it Larry come in answer to their note  - or was it those horrid¹⁶ men, Tiger Dan and Lou the acrobat¹⁷?

They  soon  knew!  A  head  suddenly  poked  out  of  the  hole  nearby,  and  a  torch  shone  on  them.

Timmy  growled  ferociously  and  struggled  to  fly  at  the  head,  but  George  held  on  firmly  to  his collar, thinking it might be Larry.

But  it  wasn't!  It  was  Lou  the  acrobat,  as  the  children  knew  only  too  well  when  they  heard  his voice. Julian shone his torch on to him.

'I hope you've enjoyed your little selves,' came Lou's harsh voice. 'And you keep that dog under control, boy, or I'll shoot him. See? I'm not standing¹⁸ no nonsense from that dog this time. Have a look at this here gun!'

To George's horror she saw that Lou was pointing a gun at poor Timmy. She gave a scream and flung herself in front of him. 'Don't you dare to shoot my dog! I'll - I'll - I'll . . .'

She  couldn't  think  of  anything  bad  enough  to  do  to  the  man  who  could  shoot  Timmy,  and  she stopped, choked by tears of rage and fear. Timmy, not knowing what the gun was, couldn't for the life of him understand why George wouldn't let him get at his enemy - such a nice position, too, with his head poking¹⁹ through a hole like that. Timmy felt he could deal with that head very quickly.

'Now, you kids, get up and go into that tunnel,' said Lou. 'Go on - go right ahead of me, and don't dare  to  stop.  We've  got  work  to  do  here  tonight,  and  we're  not  going  to  have  any  more interference from kids like you. See?'

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The children saw quite well. They began to walk towards the entrance of the tunnel. One by one they climbed into it. George first with Timmy. She dared not let his collar go for an instant.  A few paces behind them came Lou with his revolver, and Dan with a couple of big sacks.

The children were made to walk right past the shelf on which were the hidden goods.

Then Lou sat down in the tunnel, his torch switched on fully² so that he could pick out each child.

He still pointed¹ his revolver at Timmy.

'Now we'll get on,' he said to Tiger Dan. 'You know what to do. Get on with it.'

Tiger Dan began to  stuff the things  into one of the big sacks he had brought.  He staggered off with  it. He came back in  about  ten minutes and filled the other sack.  It  was  plain that the men meant to take everything away this time.

'Thought  you'd  made  a  very  fine  discovery,  didn't  you?'  said  Lou,  mockingly,  to  the  children.

'Ho, yes - very smart you were! See what happens to little smarties like you - you're prisoners -

and here you'll stay for two or three days!'

'What do you mean?' said Julian, in alarm. 'Surely you wouldn't leave us here to starve?'

'Not to starve. We're too fond of  you,' grinned Lou. 'We'll chuck  you down some food into the tunnel. And in two or three days maybe someone will come and rescue you.'

Julian  wished  desperately  that  Pongo  would  bring  help  before  Lou  and  Dan  finished  their business  in  the  tunnel  and  went,  leaving  them  prisoners.  He  watched  Tiger  Dan,  working quickly,  packing  everything,  carrying  it  off,  coming  back  again,  and  packing  feverishly  once more. Lou sat still with his torch and revolver, enjoying the scared faces of the girls and Nobby.

Julian and Dick put on a brave show which they were far from feeling.

Tiger  Dan  staggered  away  with  another  sackful.  But  he  hadn't  been  gone  for  more  than  half  a minute before a wail²⁰ echoed through the tunnel.

'Lou! Help! Help! Something's attacking me! HELP.'

Lou  rose  up  and  went  swiftly  down  the  tunnel.  'It's  Pongo,  I  bet  it's  old  Pongo,'  said  Julian thrilled. 

1 pointed   

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。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 jerseys   

n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句
• The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

4 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

6 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

7 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 brutes   

兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性

参考例句：

• They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。
• Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然，他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学

9 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

10 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

11 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

12 spoke   

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。

13 pulpy   

果肉状的，多汁的，柔软的； 烂糊； 稀烂

参考例句：

• The bean like seeds of this plant, enclosed within a pulpy fruit. 被包在肉质果实内的这种植物的豆样种子。
• Her body felt bruised, her lips pulpy and tender. 她的身体感觉碰伤了，她的嘴唇柔软娇嫩。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

16 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

17 acrobat   

n.特技演员，杂技演员

参考例句：

• The acrobat balanced a long pole on his left shoulder.杂技演员让一根长杆在他的左肩上保持平衡。
• The acrobat could bend himself into a hoop.这个杂技演员可以把身体蜷曲成圆形。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

20 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。