Five Go Off In A Caravan Chapter Twenty-Two THE END OF THE ADVENTURE

Chapter Twenty-Two THE END OF THE ADVENTURE

No, Timmy wasn't hurt. The bullet zipped past his head and struck the wall of the cave. Timmy went for Lou's legs. Down went the man with a crash and a yell, and the revolver flew out of his hand. Julian heard it slithering across the floor of the cave, and he was very thankful.

'Put on your torch, George, quickly!' he yelled. 'We must see what we're doing. Goodness, here's Pongo now!'

Tiger  Dan  gave  a  yell  of  fright  when  the  torch  flashed  on  and  he  saw  the  chimpanzee  making straight for him. He dealt the ape a smashing blow on the face that knocked him down, and then turned to run. Lou was trying to keep Timmy off his throat, kicking frantically¹ at the excited dog.

Dan  ran  to  the  tunnel  -  and  then  stopped  in  astonishment.  Four  burly  policemen  were  pushing their way out of the tunnel, led by Dick! One of them carried a revolver in his hand. Dan put his hands up at once.

'Timmy!  Come  off!'  commanded  George,  seeing  that  there  was  now  no  need  for  the  dog's delighted  help.  Timmy  gave  her  a  reproachful  glance  that  said:  'Mistress!  I'm  really  enjoying myself! Let me eat him all up!'

Then the dog caught sight of the four policemen and yelped³ furiously. More enemies! He would eat the lot.

'What's all this going on?' said the first man, who was an Inspector⁴. 'Get up, you on the floor. Go on, get up!'

Lou got up with great difficulty. Timmy had nipped him in various places. His hair was over his eyes, his  clothes  were torn. He stared at  the policemen, his  mouth open in the utmost  surprise.

How had they come here? Then he saw Dick.

'So  one  of  you  kids  slipped  out  -  and  shut  the  boards  on  us!'  he  said,  savagely.  'I  might  have guessed. You . . .'

'Hold  your  tongue,  Lewis  Allburg,'  rapped  out  the  Inspector.  'You  can  talk  when  we  tell  you.

You'll have quite a lot of talking to do, to explain some of the things we've heard about you.'

'Dick! How did you get here so soon?' cried Julian, going over to his brother. 'I didn't expect you for hours! Surely you didn't go all the way to the town and back?'

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'No. I shot off to the farm, woke up the Mackies, used their telephone and got the police up here double-quick in their car,' said Dick, grinning. 'Everyone all right? Where's Anne? And Nobby?'

'There they are - just coming out of the tunnel, upstream,' said Julian, and swung his torch round.

Dick saw Anne's white, scared face, and went over to her.

'It's all right,' he said. 'The adventure is over, Anne! You can smile again!'

Anne gave a watery⁵ sort of smile. Pongo took her hand and made little affectionate noises, and that made her smile a little more. George called Timmy to her, afraid that he might take a last nip at Lou.

Lou swung round and stared at her. Then he looked at Dick and Julian. Then at Anne.

'So there was only one girl!' he said. 'What did you want to tell me there were two boys and two girls for?' he said to Nobby

'Because there were,' answered Nobby. He pointed⁶ to George. 'She's a girl, though she looks like a boy. And she's as good as a boy any day.'

George felt proud. She stared defiantly⁷ at Lou. He was now in the grip of a stout⁸ policeman, and Tiger Dan was being hustled⁹ off by two more.

'I  think  we'll  leave  this  rather  gloomy  place,'  said  the  Inspector,  putting  away  the  notebook  he had been hastily scribbling¹⁰ in. 'Quick march!'

Julian  led  the  way  down  the  tunnel.  He  pointed  out  the  shelf  where  the  men  had  stored  their things, and the  Inspector collected the few things that were still left.  Then  on they went,  Tiger Dan muttering and growling¹¹ to himself.

'Will they go to prison?' whispered Anne to Dick.

'You bet,' said Dick. That's where they ought to have gone long ago. Their burglaries have been worrying the police for four years!'

Out of the tunnel and into the cave with gleaming walls. Then down the hole and into the small cave and along the narrow passage to the entrance-hole. Stars glittered over the black hole, and the children were very thankful to see them. They were tired of being underground!

Lou and Dan did not have a very comfortable journey along the tunnels and passages, for their guards had a very firm hold of them indeed. Once out in the open they were handcuffed and put into the large police car that stood a little way down the track.

'What are you children going to do?' asked the big Inspector, who was now at the wheel of the car. 'Hadn't you better come down into the town with us after this disturbing adventure?'

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'Oh,  no,  thanks,'  said  Julian  politely.  'We're  quite  used  to  adventures.  We've  had  plenty,  you know. We shall be all right here with Timmy and Pongo.'

'Well, I can't say I'd like a chimpanzee for company myself,' said the Inspector. 'We'll be up here in  the  morning,  looking  round  and  asking  a  few  questions,  which  I'm  sure  you'll  be  pleased  to answer. And many thanks for your help in capturing two dangerous thieves!'

'What about the wagon¹² of goods?' asked Dick. 'Are you going to leave it up here? It's got lots of valuables in it.'

'Oh,  one  of  the  men  is  driving  it  down,'  said  the  Inspector,  nodding  towards  a  policeman,  who stood  near  by.  'He'll  follow  us.  He  can  drive  a  horse  all  right.  Well,  look  after  yourselves.  See you tomorrow!'

The car started up suddenly. The Inspector put her into gear, took off the brake and the car  slid quietly  down  the  hill,  following  the  winding  track.  The  policeman  with  the  wagon  followed slowly, clicking to the horse, which didn't seem at all surprised to have a new driver.

'Well, that's that!' said Julian thankfully. 'I must say we were well out of that. Gosh, Dick, I was glad to see you back with those bobbies so quickly. That was a brain wave of yours to telephone from the farm.'

Dick suddenly  yawned. 'It must be frightfully late!' he said.  'Long past the middle of the night.

But I'm so fearfully hungry that I simply must have something to eat before I fall into my bunk¹³!'

'Got anything, Anne?' asked Julian.

Anne brightened up at once. 'I'll see,' she said. 'I can find something, I'm sure!'

And she did, of course. She opened two tins of sardines¹⁴ and made sandwiches, and she opened two tins of peaches, so they had a very nice meal in the middle of the night! They ate it sitting on the floor of George's caravan¹⁵. Pongo had as good a meal as anyone, and Timmy crunched¹⁶ at one of his bones.

It didn't take them long to go to sleep that night. In fact they were all so sleepy when they had finished their meal that nobody undressed! They clambered into the bunks¹⁷ just as they were and fell  asleep  at  once.  Nobby  curled  up  with  Pongo,  and  Timmy,  as  usual,  was  on  George's  feet.

Peace reigned¹⁸ in the caravans¹⁹ - and tonight no one came to disturb them!

All  the  children  slept  very  late  the  next  morning.  They  were  awakened  by  a  loud  knocking  on Julian's caravan. He woke up with a jump and yelled out:

'Yes! Who is it?'

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'It's  us,'  said  a  familiar  voice,  and  the  door  opened.  Farmer  Mackie  and  his  wife  peeped  in, looking rather anxious.

'We wondered what had happened,' said the farmer. 'You rushed out of the farmhouse²⁰ when you had used the phone last night and didn't come back.'

'I ought to have slipped back and told you,' said Dick, sitting up with his hair over his eyes. He pushed it back. 'But I forgot. The police went down into the hills with us and got the two men.

They're  well-known  burglars.  The  police  got  all  the  goods,  too.  It  was  a  very  thrilling  night.

Thanks most awfully²¹ for letting me use the 'phone.'

'You're very welcome,' said Mrs Mackie. 'And look - I've brought you some food.'

She had two baskets stacked with good things. Dick felt wide awake and very  hungry when he saw them. 'Oh, thanks,' he said gratefully. 'You are a good sort!'

Nobby and Pongo suddenly uncurled themselves from their pile of rugs, and Mrs Mackie gave a squeal²².

'Land-snakes, what's that? A monkey?'

'No,  an  ape,  Mam,'  said  Nobby  politely.  'He  won't  hurt  you.  Hi,  take  your  hand  out  of  that basket!'

Pongo, who had been hoping to find a little titbit unnoticed, covered his face with his hairy paw and looked through his fingers at Mrs Mackie.

'Look at that now - he's like a naughty child!' said Mrs Mackie. 'Isn't he, Ted²?'

'He is that,' said the farmer. 'Queer sort of bedfellow, I must say!'

'Well, I must be getting along,' said Mrs Mackie, nodding and smiling at George and Anne, who had now come out of their caravan with Timmy to see who the visitors were. 'You come along to the farm if you want anything. We'll be right pleased to see you.'

'Aren't  they  nice?'  said  Anne  as  the  two  farm-folk  went  down  the  cart-track.  'And  oh,  my goodness - what a breakfast we're going to have! Cold bacon - tomatoes - fresh radishes - curly lettuces²³ - and who wants new honey?'

'Marvellous!' said Julian. 'Come on - let us have it now, before we clean up.'

But Anne made them wash and tidy themselves first! 'You'll enjoy it much more if you're clean,'

she  said.  'We  all  look  as  black  as  sweeps!  I'll  give  you  five  minutes  -  then  you  can  come  to  a perfectly²⁴ wonderful breakfast!'

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'All right, Ma!' grinned Nobby, and he went off with the others to wash at the spring. Then back they all went to the sunny ledge²⁵ to feast on the good things kind Mrs Mackie had provided. 

1 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 yelped   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelped in pain when the horse stepped on his foot. 马踩了他的脚痛得他喊叫起来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A hound yelped briefly as a whip cracked. 鞭子一响，猎狗发出一阵嗥叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

5 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

6 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。

7 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

9 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

10 scribbling   

n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网

11 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。

12 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

13 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

14 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

15 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。

16 crunched   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头，使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命

17 bunks   

n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话

参考例句：

• These bunks can tip up and fold back into the wall. 这些铺位可以翻起来并折叠收入墙内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart. 最后他们都钻进车内的小卧铺里。 来自辞典例句

18 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 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。

20 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

21 awfully   

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。

22 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

23 lettuces   

n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶

参考例句：

• My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢，还是你在市场上买的？ 来自辞典例句

24 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

25 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。