Five On Kirrin Island Again Chapter Six UP ON THE CLIFF

Chapter Six UP ON THE CLIFF

THE next day was rainy. The four children put on their macintoshes and sou'-westers and went out  for  a  walk  with  Timmy.  They  never  minded  the  weather.  In  fact  Julian  said  that  he  really liked the feel of the wind and rain buffeting¹ against his face.

'We forgot  that Uncle Quentin  couldn't  flash to  us if the weather  wasn't  sunny!' said  Dick.  'Do you suppose he'll find some way to signal instead?'

'No,' said  George.  'He just won't  bother.  He thinks we're  awful  fussers anyway,  I'm  sure. We'll have to watch at half past ten tonight to see if he signals.'

'I say! Shall I be able to stay up till then?' said Anne, pleased.

'I shouldn't think so,' said Dick. 'I expect Julian and I will stay up - but you kids will have to buzz off to bed!'

George gave him a punch. 'Don't call us "kids"! I'm almost as tall as you are now.'

'It's not much use waiting about till half past ten now to see if Uncle signals to us in any way, is it?' said Anne. 'Let's go up on the cliff - it'll be lovely and blowy. Timmy will like that. I love to see him racing² along in the wind, with his ears blown back straight!'

'Woof,' said Timmy.

'He says he likes to see you with yours blown back too,' said Julian, gravely.

Anne gave a squeal³ of laughter. 'You really are an idiot, Ju! Come on - let's take the cliff-path!'

They went up the cliff. At the top it was very windy indeed. Anne's sou'-wester was blown to the back of her head. The rain stung their cheeks and made them gasp⁴.

'I should think we must be about the only people out this morning!' gasped⁵ George.

'Well, you're wrong,' said Julian. 'There are two people coming towards us!'

So  there  were.  They  were  a  man  and  a  boy,  both  well  wrapped  up  in  macintoshes  and  sou'-

westers. Like the children, they too wore high rubber boots.

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The children took a look at them as they  passed. The man was tall and well built, with shaggy eyebrows⁶ and a determined⁷ mouth. The boy was about sixteen, also tall and well built. He was not a bad-looking boy, but he had rather a sullen⁸ expression.

'Good morning,' said the man, and nodded. 'Good morning,' chorused the children, politely. The man looked them over keenly, and then he and the boy went on.

'Wonder who they are?' said George. 'Mother didn't say there were any new people here.'

'Just walked over from the next village, I expect,' said Dick.

They  went  on  for  some  way.  'We'll  walk  to  the  coastguard's  cottage  and  then  go  back,'  said Julian. 'Hie, Tim, don't go so near the cliff!'

The  coastguard  lived  in  a  little  whitewashed⁹  cottage  on  the  cliff,  facing  the  sea.  Two  other cottages stood beside it, also whitewashed. The children knew the coastguard well. He was a red-faced, barrel-shaped man, fond of joking.

He was nowhere to be seen when they came to his cottage. Then they heard his enormous voice singing a sea-shanty in the little shed behind. They went to find him.

'Hallo, coastguard,' said Anne.

He looked up and grinned at the children. He was busy making something.

'Halo  to  you!'  he  said.  'So  you're  back  again,  are  you?  Bad  pennies,  the  lot  of  you  --  always turning up when you're not wanted!'

'What are you making?' asked Anne.

'A  windmill  for  my  young  grandson,'  said  the  coastguard,  showing  it  to  Anne.  He  was  very clever at making toys

'Oh, it's lovely,' said Anne, taking it in her hands. 'Does the windmill part go round  -- oh yes --

it's super, coastguard!'

'I've  been  making  quite  a  bit  of  money  out  of  my  toys,'  said  the  old  fellow,  proudly.  'I've  got some new neighbours in  the next  cottage  - man  and a boy  -  and the man's been buying all the toys I make. Seems to have a lot of nephews and nieces! He gives me good prices too.'

'Oh - would that be the man and the boy we met, I wonder?' said Dick. 'Both tall, and well built -

and the man had shaggy eyebrows.'

'That's right,' said the coastguard, trimming a bit of his windmill. 'Mr. Curton and his son. They came here some weeks  ago. You ought  to  get  to know the son,  Master Julian. He's  about  your age, I should think. Must be pretty lonely for him up here?'

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'Doesn't he go to any school?' asked Julian.

'No. He's been ill, so his father said. Got to have plenty of sea-air and that sort of thing. Not a bad sort of boy. Comes and helps me with my toys sometimes. And he likes to mess about with my telescope.'

'I do too,' said George. 'I love looking through your telescope. Can I look through now? I'd like to see if I can spot Kirrin Island.'

'Well, you won't see much this weather,' said the coast guard. 'You wait a few minutes. See that break in the clouds? Well, it'll clear in a few minutes, and you'll be able to see your island easily.

That's a funny thing your father's built there, Miss. Part of his work, I suppose.'

'Yes,'  said  George.  'Oh  Timmy  -  look  what  he's  done,  coastguard  -  he's  upset  that  tin  of  paint.

Bad boy, Timmy!'

'It's not my tin,' said the coastguard. 'It's a tin belonging to that young fellow next door. I told you he comes in to help me sometimes. He brought in that tin to help paint a little dolls' house I made for his father.'

'Oh dear,' said George, in dismay. 'Do you think he'll be cross when he knows Timmy spilt it?'

'Shouldn't think so,' said the coastguard. 'He's a queer boy though  - quiet and a bit sulky. Not a bad boy, but doesn't seem very friendly like.'

George  tried  to  clear  up  the  mess  of  paint.  Timmy  had  some  on  his  paws,  and  made  a  little pattern of green paw-marks as he pattered about the shed.

'I'll tell the boy I'm sorry, if I meet him on the way back,' she said. 'Timmy, if you dare to go near any more tins of paint you shan't sleep on my bed tonight.'

'The  weather's  a  bit  clearer  now,'  said  Dick.  'Can  we  have  a  squint¹⁰  through  the  telescope, coastguard?'

'Let me see my island first,' said George at once. She tilted¹¹ the telescope in the direction of Kirrin Island. Slit¹² looked through it earnestly, and a smile came over her face. 'Yes, I can see it clearly.

There's  the  tower  Father  has  had  built.  I  can  even  see  the  glass  room  quite  clearly,  and  there's nobody in it. No sign of Father anywhere.'

Everyone  had  a  turn  at  looking  through  the  telescope.  It  was  fascinating  to  see  the  island appearing so close. On a clear day it would be even easier to see all the details.

'I can see a rabbit scampering,' said Anne, when her turn came.

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'Don't  you let that dog of  yours squint  through the telescope then,' said  the coastguard  at  once.

'He'll try to get down it after that rabbit!' Timmy cocked his ears up at the mention of the word rabbit. He looked all round and sniffed¹⁴. No, there was no rabbit. Then why did people mention them?

'We'd better go now,' said Julian. 'We'll be up here again sometime, and we'll come and see what toys you've done. Thanks for letting us look through the telescope.'

'You're  welcome!'  said  the  old  fellow.  'You're  not  likely  to  wear  it  out  through  looking!  Come along any time you want to use it.'

They said good-bye and went off, Timmy capering¹⁵ round them.

'Couldn't  we  see  Kirrin  Island  well!'  said  Anne.  'I  wished  I  could  see  where  your  father  was, George. Wouldn't it be fun if we spotted¹⁶ him just coming out of his hiding-place?'

The  four  children  had  discussed  this  problem  a  good  deal  since  they  had  left  the  island.  It puzzled them very much indeed. How did it happen that George's father knew a hiding-place that they  didn't  know?  Why,  they  had  been  over  every  inch  of  the  island!  It  must  be  quite  a  big hiding-place too, if he had got all his stuff for his experiments with him. According to George's mother, there had been quite a lot of this, to say nothing of stores of food.

'If Father knew a place I didn't know, and never told me about it, I think he's jolly mean,' George said half a dozen times. 'I do really. It's my island!'

'Well, he'll probably tell you when he's finished the work he's on,' said Julian. 'Then you'll know.

We can all go and explore it then, wherever it is.'

After they left the coastguard's cottage, they turned their steps home. They made their way along the cliff, and then saw the boy they had met before. He was standing¹⁷ on the path looking out to sea. The man was not with him.

He  turned  as  they  came  up  and  gave  them  a  pale  kind  of  smile.  'Hallo!  Been  up  to  see  the coastguard?'

'Yes,' said Julian. 'Nice old fellow, isn't he?'

'I say,' said George, 'I'm so sorry, but my dog upset a tin of green paint, and the coastguard said it was yours. Can I pay you for it, please?'

'Goodness, no!' said the boy. 'I don't mind. There wasn't much of it left anyway. That's a nice dog of yours.'

27 'Yes, he is,' said George, warmly. 'Best dog in the world. I've had him for years, but he's still as young as ever. Do you like dogs?'

'Oh yes,' said the boy, but he made no move to pat Timmy or fuss him, as most people did. And Timmy did not run round the boy and sniff¹³ at him as he usually did when he met anyone new. He just stood by George, his tail neither up nor down.

'That's an interesting little island,' said the boy, pointing to Kirrin. 'I wish I could go there.'

'It's my island,' said George, proudly. 'My very own.'

'Really?' said the boy, politely. 'Could you let me go over one day then?'

'Well - not just at present,' said George. 'You see, my father's there working - he's a scientist.'

'Really?' said the boy again. 'Er - has he got some new experiment on hand, then?'

'Yes,' said George.

'Ah - and that queer tower is something to do with it, I suppose,' said the boy, looking interested for the first time. 'When will his experiment be finished?'

'What's that to do with you?' said Dick, suddenly.

The others stared at him in surprise. Dick sounded rather rude, and it was not like him.

'Oh nothing!' said the boy, hastily. 'I only thought that if his work will, soon be finished, perhaps your brother would take me over to his island!'

George  couldn't  help  feeling  pleased.  This  boy  thought  she  was  a  boy!  George  was  always gracious to people who made the mistake of thinking she was a boy.

'Of  course  I'll  take  you!'  she  said.  'It  shouldn't  be  long  before  I  do  -  the  experiment  is  nearly done.' 

1 buffeting   

振动

参考例句：

• The flowers took quite a buffeting in the storm. 花朵在暴风雨中备受摧残。
• He's been buffeting with misfortunes for 15 years. 15年来，他与各种不幸相博斗。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 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。

4 gasp   

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。

5 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

9 whitewashed   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
• The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形，状近葫芦，外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

10 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

11 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

12 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

13 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

14 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》

15 capering   

v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳

参考例句：

• The lambs were capering in the fields. 羊羔在地里欢快地跳跃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boy was Capering dersively, with obscene unambiguous gestures, before a party of English tourists. 这个顽童在一群英国旅游客人面前用明显下流的动作可笑地蹦蹦跳跳着。 来自辞典例句

16 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

17 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。