Five Go Off In A Caravan Chapter Twenty-Three GOOD-BYE, NOBBY - GOOD-BYE, CARAVANNERS!

Chapter Twenty-Three GOOD-BYE, NOBBY - GOOD-BYE, CARAVANNERS!

Before they had finished their breakfast the Inspector² came roaring up the track in his powerful police car. There was one sharp-eyed policeman with him to take down notes.

'Hallo,  hallo!'  said  the  Inspector,  eyeing  the  good  things  set  out  on  the  ledge³.  'You  seem  to  do yourselves well, I must say!'

'Have some new bread and honey?' said Anne in her best manner. 'Do! There's plenty!'

'Thanks,'  said  the  Inspector,  and  sat  down  with  the  children.  The  other  policeman  wandered round the caravans⁴, examining everything. The Inspector munched⁵ away at honey and bread, and the children talked to him, telling him all about their extraordinary adventure.

'It  must  have  been  a  most  unpleasant  shock  for  those  two  fellows  when  they  found  that  your caravan¹ was immediately over the entrance to the place where they hid their stolen goods,' said the Inspector. 'Most unpleasant.'

'Have you examined the goods?' asked Dick eagerly. 'Are they very valuable?'

'Priceless,' answered the Inspector, taking another bit of bread and dabbing⁶ it thickly with honey.

'Quite priceless. Those rogues⁷  apparently stole  goods  they knew to  be of great  value, hid  them here for a year or two till the hue⁸ and cry had died down, then got them out and quietly disposed of them to friends in Holland and Belgium.'

'Tiger Dan used to act in circuses in Holland,' said Nobby. 'He often told me about them. He had friends all over Europe - people in the circus line, you know.'

'Yes. It was  easy for him to dispose of his goods abroad,' said the  Inspector. 'He planned to go across  to  Holland  today,  you  know  -  got  everything  ready  with  Lou  -  or,  to  give  him  the  right name, Lewis Allburg - and was going to sell most of those things. You just saved them in time!'

'What a bit of luck!' said George. They almost got away with it. If Dick hadn't managed to slip out when Pongo was attacking them, we'd still have been prisoners down in the hill, and Lou and Dan would have been half-way to Holland!'

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'Smart bit of work you children did,' said the Inspector approvingly, and looked longingly⁹ at the honey-pot. That's fine honey, I must buy some from Mrs Mackie.'

'Have some more,' said Anne, remembering her manners. 'Do. We've got another loaf.'

'Well,  I  will,'  said  the  Inspector,  and  took  another  slice  of  bread,  spreading  it  with  the  yellow honey. It looked as if there wouldn't even be enough left for Pongo to lick out! Anne thought it was nice to see a grown-up enjoying bread and honey as much as children did.

'You  know,  that  fellow  Lou  did  some  very  remarkable  burglaries,'  said  the  Inspector.  'Once  he got across from the third floor of one house to the third floor of another across the street  - and nobody knows how!'

'That would be easy for Lou,' said Nobby, suddenly losing his fear of the big Inspector. 'He'd just throw a wire rope across, lasso something with the end of it, top of a gutter-pipe, perhaps, draw tight, and walk across! He's wonderful on the tight-rope. There ain't nothing he can't do on the tight-rope.'

'Yes - that's probably what he did,' said the Inspector. 'Never thought of that! No, thanks, I really won't  have any more honey. That  chimpanzee will  eat  me if I don't  leave some for him to  lick out!'

Pongo  took  away  the  jar,  sat  himself  down  behind  one  of  the  caravans,  and  put  a  large  pink tongue  into  the  remains  of  the  honey.  When  Timmy  came  running  up  to  see  what  he  had  got, Pongo held the jar high above his head and chattered¹⁰ at him.

'Yarra-yarra-yarra-yarra!' he said. Timmy looked rather surprised and went back to George. She was  listening  with  great  interest  to  what  the  Inspector  had  to  tell  them  about  the  underground caves.

They're very old,' he said. The entrance to them used to be some way down the hill, but there was a  landslide  and  it  was  blocked  up.  Nobody  bothered  to  unblock  it  because  the  caves  were  not particularly interesting.'

'Oh, but they are,' said Anne, 'especially the one with the gleaming walls.'

'Well,  I  imagine  that  quite  by  accident  one  day  Dan  and  Lou  found  another  way  in,'  said  the Inspector. The way you know - a hole going down into the hill. They must have thought what a fine  hiding-place  it  would  make  for  any  stolen  goods  -  perfectly  safe,  perfectly  dry,  and  quite near the camping-place here each year. What could be better?'

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'And I suppose they would have gone on burgling for years and hiding the stuff if we hadn't just happened to put our caravan over the very spot!' said Julian. 'What a bit of bad luck for them!'

'And what  a bit of  good luck for us!' said  the  Inspector.  'We did  suspect  those two,  you know, and once or twice we raided the circus to try and find the goods - but they must always have got warning of our coming and got them away in time - up here!'

'Have you been down to the camp, mister?' asked Nobby suddenly.

The  Inspector  nodded.  'Oh,  yes.  We've  been  down  already  this  morning  -  seen  everyone  and questioned them. We created quite a stir.'

Nobby looked gloomy.

'What's the matter, Nobby?' said Anne.

'I  shan't  half  cop  it  when  I  get  back  to  the  camp,'  said  Nobby.  They'll  say  it's  all  my  fault  the coppers¹¹  going  there.  We  don't  like  the  bobbies  round  the  camp.  I  shall  get  into  a  whole  lot  of trouble when I go back. I don't want to go back.'

Nobody said anything. They all wondered what would happen to poor Nobby now his Uncle Dan was in prison.

Then Anne asked him: 'Who will you live with now in the camp. Nobby?'

'Oh,  somebody  will  take  me  in  and  work  me  hard,'  said  Nobby.  'I  wouldn't  mind  if  I  could  be with the horses - but Rossy won't let me.  I know that. If I could be with  horses  I'd be happy. I love them and they understand me all right.'

'How old are you, Nobby?' asked the Inspector, joining in the talk. 'Oughtn't you to be going to school?'

'Never been in my life, mister,' said Nobby. 'I'm just over fourteen, so  I reckon  I never will go now!'

He  grinned.  He  didn't  look  fourteen.  He  seemed  more  like  twelve  by  his  size.  Then  he  looked solemn again.

'Reckon I won't go down to the camp today,' he said. 'I'll be proper set on by them all - about you going  there  and  snooping  round  like.  And  Mr  Gorgio,  he  won't  like  losing  his  best  clown  and best acrobat¹²!'

'You can stay with us as long as you like,' said Julian. 'We'll be here a bit longer, anyway.'

But he was wrong. Just after the Inspector had left, taking his policeman with him, Mrs Mackie came hurrying up to them with a little orange envelope in her hand.

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'The  telegraph  boy's  just  been  up,'  she  said.  'He  was  looking  for  you.  He  left  this  telegram  for you. I hope it's not bad news.'

Julian tore the envelope open and read the telegram out loud.

'AMAZED TO GET YOUR LETTER ABOUT THE EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENINGS YOU

DESCRIBE. THEY SOUND DANGEROUS. COME HOME AT ONCE. DADDY.'

'Oh dear,' said Anne. 'Now we shall have to leave. What a pity!'

'I'd better go down to the town and telephone Daddy and tell him we're all right,' said Julian.

'You can 'phone from my house,' said Mrs Mackie, so Julian thought he would. They talked as they went along and suddenly a bright idea struck Julian.

'I say - I suppose Farmer Mackie doesn't want anyone to help him with his horses, does he?' he asked. 'He wouldn't want a boy who really loves and understands them and would work hard and well?'

'Well, now, I dare say he would,' said Mrs Mackie. 'He's a bit short-handed now. He was saying the other day he could do with a good lad, just leaving school.'

'Oh,  do  you  think  he'd  try  our  friend  Nobby  from  the  circus  camp?'  said  Julian.  'He's  mad  on horses. He can do anything with them. And he's been used to working very hard. I'm sure he'd do well.'

Before Julian had left the farmhouse¹³ after telephoning to his amazed parents, he had had a long talk with Farmer Mackie - and now he was running back with the good news to the caravans.

'Nobby!'  he  shouted  as  he  got  near.  'Nobby!  How  would  you  like  to  go  and  work  for  Farmer Mackie  and  help  with  the  horses?  He  says  you  can  start  tomorrow  if  you  like  -  and  live  at  the farm!'

'Jumping  Jiminy!'  said  Nobby,  looking  startled  and  disbelieving.  'At  the  farm?  Work  with  the horses? Coo - I wouldn't half like that. But Farmer Mackie wouldn't have the likes of me.'

'He will. He says he'll try you,' said Julian. 'We've got to start back home tomorrow, and you can be with us till then. You don't need to go back to the camp at all.'

'Well  -  but  what  about  Growler?'  said  Nobby.  'I'd  have  to  have  him  with  me.  He's  my  dog.  I expect poor old Barker's dead. Would the farmer mind me having a dog?'

'I shouldn't think so,' said Julian. 'Well, you'll have to go down to the camp, I suppose, to collect your few things - and to get Growler. Better go now, Nobby, and then you'll have the rest of the day with us.'

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Nobby went off, his face shining with delight. 'Well, I never!' he kept saying to himself. 'Well, I never did! Dan and  Lou gone, so  they'll never hurt me again  -  and me not  going to  live in  the camp any more - and going to have charge of them fine farm horses. Well, I never!'

The children had said good-bye to Pongo because he had to go back with Nobby to the camp. He belonged  to  Mr  Gorgio,  and  Nobby  could  not  possibly  keep  him.  Anyway,  it  was  certain  that even if he could have kept him, Mrs Mackie wouldn't have let him live at the farm.

Pongo shook hands gravely with each one of them, even with Timmy. He seemed to know it was good-bye.  The  children  were  really  sorry  to  see  the  comical  chimpanzee  go.  He  had  shared  in their adventure with them and seemed much more like a human being than an animal.

When he had gone down the hill a little way he ran back to Anne. He put his arms round her and gave her a gentle squeeze, as if to say: 'You're all nice, the lot of you, but little Anne's the nicest!'

'Oh, Pongo, you're really a dear!' said Anne, and gave him a tomato. He ran off with it, leaping high for joy.

The  children  cleared  up  everything,  put  the  breakfast  things  away,  and  cleaned  the  caravans, ready for starting off the next day. At dinner-time they looked out for Nobby. Surely he should be back soon?

They heard him whistling as he came up the track. He carried a bundle on his back. Round his feet ran two dogs. Two!

'Why - one of them is Barker!' shouted George in delight. 'He must have got better! How simply marvellous!'

Nobby came up, grinning. They all crowded round him, asking about Barker.

'Yes, it's fine, isn't it?' said Nobby, putting down his bundle of belongings¹⁴. 'Lucilla dosed him all right. He almost died - then he started to wriggle¹⁵ a bit, she said, and the next she knew he was as lively as could be - bit weak on his legs at first - but he's fine this morning.'

Certainly there didn't seem anything wrong with Barker. He and Growler sniffed¹⁶ round Timmy, their tails wagging fast. Timmy stood towering above them, but his tail wagged, too, so Barker and Growler knew he was friendly.

'I was lucky,' said Nobby. 'I only spoke¹⁷ to Lucilla and Larry. Mr Gorgio has gone off to answer some questions at the police station, and so have some of the others. So I just told Larry to tell Mr Gorgio I was leaving, and I got my things and hopped¹⁸ it.'

'Well, now we can really enjoy our last day,' said Julian. 'Everybody's happy!'

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And  they  did  enjoy  that  last  day.  They  went  down  to  the  lake  and  bathed.  They  had  a  fine farmhouse  tea  at  Mrs  Mackie's,  by  special  invitation.  They  had  a  picnic  supper  on  the  rocky ledge, with the three dogs rolling over and over in play. Nobby felt sad to think he would so soon say good-bye to his 'posh' friends - but he couldn't help feeling proud and pleased to have a fine job of his own on the farm - with the horses he loved so much.

Nobby, Barker, Growler, Farmer Mackie and his wife all stood on the cart-track to wave goodbye to the two caravans the next morning.

'Good-bye!' yelled Nobby. 'Good luck! See you again some time!'

'Good-bye!' shouted the others. 'Give our love to Pongo when you see him.'

'Woof!  woof!'  barked  Timmy,  but  only  Barker  and  Growler  knew  what  that  meant.  It  meant,

'Shake paws with Pongo for me!'

Good-bye, five caravanners . . . till your next exciting adventure!

THE END 

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

6 dabbing   

石面凿毛，灰泥抛毛

参考例句：

• She was crying and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 她一边哭一边用手绢轻按眼睛。
• Huei-fang was leaning against a willow, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 四小姐蕙芳正靠在一棵杨柳树上用手帕揉眼睛。 来自子夜部分

7 rogues   

n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽

参考例句：

• 'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

8 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

9 longingly   

adv. 渴望地 热望地

参考例句：

• He looked longingly at the food on the table. 他眼巴巴地盯着桌上的食物。
• Over drinks,he speaks longingly of his trip to Latin America. 他带着留恋的心情，一边喝酒一边叙述他的拉丁美洲之行。

10 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。

11 coppers   

铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币

参考例句：

• I only paid a few coppers for it. 我只花了几个铜板买下这东西。
• He had only a few coppers in his pocket. 他兜里仅有几个铜板。

12 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。

13 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。

14 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

15 wriggle   

v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒

参考例句：

• I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
• Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。

16 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》

17 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。

18 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。