Five On Kirrin Island Again Chapter Fourteen A SHOCK FOR GEORGE

Chapter Fourteen A SHOCK FOR GEORGE

DICK  looked  at  George.  He  didn't  think  it  would  matter  telling  Martin  where  Timmy  was,  so long as George didn't give the reason why he had been left on the island.

But George was going to hold her tongue now. She looked at Martin and spoke¹ quite airily. 'Oh, Timmy? We left him behind today. He's all right.'

'Gone out shopping with your mother, I suppose, hoping for a visit to the butcher's!' said Martin.

This was the first joke he had ever made to the children, and though it was rather a feeble one they  laughed  heartily.  Martin  looked  pleased.  He  began  to  try  and  think  of  another  little  joke, while his deft² hands put reds and blues³ and greens on the little wooden figures.

They all had a huge tea. Then, when the clock said a quarter to six the girls carried the painted figures carefully back to the coastguard, who was delighted with them. Dick took back the little tins of paint, and the brush, stuck in a jar of turpentine.

'Well  now,  he's  clever  that  boy,  isn't  he?'  said  the  coastguard,  eyeing  the  figures  in  delight.

'Looks sort of miserable⁴ and sulky -- but he's not a bad sort of boy!'

'I'll just have one more squint⁵ through your telescope,' said George, 'before it gets too dark.' She tilted⁶ it towards her island. But once more there was no sign of Timmy, or of her father either.

She looked for some time, and then went  to  join the others.  She shook  her head as  they raised their eyebrows⁷ inquiringly

The  girls  washed  up  the  tea-things,  and  cleared  away  neatly.  Nobody  felt  as  if  they  wanted  to wait and see Mr. Curton. They didn't feel as if they liked him very much, now they knew how hard he was on Martin.

'Thanks for a lovely afternoon,' said Martin, limping to the door with them. 'I enjoyed my spot of painting, to say nothing of your company.'

'You stick out for your painting,' said Julian. 'If it's the thing you've got to do, and you know it, you must go all out for it. See?'

'Yes,' said  Martin,  and  his  face went  sullen again. 'But  there  are things  that  make it difficult  --

things I can't very well tell you. Oh well - never mind! I dare say it will all come right one day, and I'll be a famous artist with pictures in the academy!'

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'Come  on,  quickly,'  said  Dick,  in  a  low  voice  to  Julian.  'There's  his  father  coming  back!'  They hurried off down the cliff-path, seeing Mr. Curton out of the corner of their eyes, coming up the other path.

'Horrid⁸ man!' said Anne. 'Forbidding Martin to do what he really longs to do. And he seemed so nice and jolly and all-over-us, didn't he?'

'Very all-over-us,' said Dick, smiling at Anne's new word. 'But there are a lot of people like that -

- one thing at home and quite another outside!'

'I  hope  Mr.  Curton  hasn't  been  trying  to  explore  that  passage  in  the  side  of  the  quarry⁹,'  said George, looking back, and watching the man walk up to his back door. 'It would be too bad if he butted¹⁰ in and spoilt our fun. I mean -- there may be nothing to discover at all -- but it will be fun even finding there is nothing.'

'Very involved!' said Dick, with a grin. 'But I gather what you mean. I say, that was a good tea, wasn't it?'

'Yes,' said George, looking all round her in an absent-minded manner.

'What's up?' said Dick. 'What are you looking like that for?'

'Oh - how silly of me -  I was just looking for Timmy,' said George. 'You know, I'm so used to him always being at my heels or somewhere near that I just can't get used to him not being here.'

'Yes, I feel a bit like that too,' said Julian. 'As if there was something missing all the time. Good old Tim! We shall miss him awfully¹¹, all of us -- but you most of all, George.'

'Yes.  Especially  on  my  bed  at  night,'  said  George.  'I  shan't  be  able  to  go  to  sleep  for  ages  and ages.'

'I'll wrap  a cushion up in a rug and plonk  it down on  your feet  when  you're in  bed,' said  Dick.

'Then it will feel like Timmy!'

'It won't! Don't be silly,' said George, rather crossly. And anyway it wouldn't smell like him. He's got a lovely smell.'

'Yes, a Timmy-smell,' agreed Anne. 'I like it too.'

The evening went very quickly, playing the endless game of monopoly again. Julian lay in bed later,  watching  for,  his  uncle's  signal.  Needless  to  say,  George  was  at  the  window  too!  They waited for half past ten.

'Now!' said Julian. And just as he spoke there came 'the first flash from the lantern in the tower.

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'One,' counted George, 'two, three, four, five, six!' She waited anxiously to see if there were any more, but there weren't.

'Now you can go to bed in peace,' said Julian to George. 'Your father is all right, and that means

'that Timmy is all right too. Probably he has remembered to give Timmy a good supper, and has had some himself as well!'

'Well,  Timmy  would  soon  remind  him,  if  he  forgot  to  feed  him,  that's  one  thing,'  said  George, slipping out of the room. 'Good night, Dick; good night, Ju! See you in the morning.'

And back she went to her own bed and snuggled down under the sheets. It was queer not to have Timmy  on  her  feet.  She  tossed  about  for  a  while,  missing  him,  and  then  fell  asleep  quite suddenly.  She  dreamed  of  her  island.  She  was  there  with  Timmy  --  and  they  were  discovering ingots of gold down in the dungeon¹². What a lovely dream!

Next morning dawned bright and sunny again. The April sky was as  blue as the forget-me-nots coming  out  in  the  garden.  George  gazed  out  of  the  dining-room  window  at  breakfast-time, wondering if Timmy was run-fling about her island.

'Dreaming  about  Tim?'  said  Julian,  with  a  laugh.  'Never  mind  --  you'll  soon  see  him,  George.

Another hour or so and you'll feast your eyes on him through the coastguard's telescope!'

'Do you really think you'll be able to make out Tim, if he's in the tower with your father at half past ten?' asked her mother. 'I shouldn't have thought you would be able to.'

'Yes, I shall, Mother,' said George. 'It's a very powerful telescope, you know. I'll just go up and make my bed, then I'll go up the cliff-path. Anyone else coming?'

'I  want  Anne  to  help  me  with  some  turning  out,'  said  her  mother.  'I'm  looking  out  some  old clothes to give to the vicar's wife for her jumble¹³ sale. You don't mind helping¹⁴ me, Anne, do you?'

'No, I'd like to,' said Anne at once. 'What are the boys going to do?'

'I think I must do a bit of my holiday work this morning,' said Julian, with a sigh. 'I don't want to

- but I've kept on putting it off. You'd better do some too, Dick. You know what you are -- you'll leave it all to the last day if you're not careful!'

'All  right.  I'll do some too,' said  Dick.  'You won't  mind scooting up to  the coastguard's  cottage alone, will you, George?'

'Not a bit,' said George. 'I'll come back just after half past ten, as soon as I've spotted¹⁵ Timmy and Father.' She disappeared to make her bed. Julian and Dick went to fetch some books. Anne went 61

to make her bed too, and then came down to help her aunt. In a few minutes George yelled goodbye and rushed out of the house.

'What a hurricane!' said her mother. 'It seems as if George never walks if she can possibly run.

Now Anne - put the clothes in three piles -- the very old - the not so old -- and the quite nice.'

Just before half past ten Julian went up to his window to watch for the signal from his uncle. He waited patiently. A few seconds after the hall-hour the flashes came - one, two, three, four, five, six - good! Now George would settle down for the day. Perhaps they could go to the quarry in the afternoon. Julian went back to his books and was soon buried in them, with Dick grunting¹⁶ by his side.

At about five minutes to eleven there was the sound of running feet and panting breath. George appeared at the door of the sitting-room¹⁷ where the two boys were doing their work. They looked up.

George was red in the face, and her hair was windblown. She fought to get her breath enough to speak. 'Julian! Dick! Something's happened -- Timmy wasn't there!'

'What do you mean?' said Julian in surprise. George slumped¹⁸ down on a chair, still panting. The boys could see that she was trembling too.

'It's serious, Julian! I tell you Timmy wasn't in the tower when the signals came!'

'Well -- it only means that your absent-minded father forgot to take him up with him,' said Julian, in his most sensible voice. 'What did you see?'

'I had my eye glued to the telescope,' said George, 'and suddenly  I saw someone come into the little  glass  room  at  the  top.  I  looked  for  Timmy,  of  course,  at  once  -  but  I  tell  you,  he  wasn't there! The six flashes came, the man disappeared -- and that was all. No Timmy! Oh I do feel so dreadfully worried, Julian.'

'Well,  don't  be,'  said  Julian,  soothingly.  'Honestly,  I'm  sure  that's  what  happened.  Your  father forgot about Timmy. Anyway, if you saw him, obviously things are all right.'

'I'm not thinking about Father!' cried George. 'He must be all right if he flashed his signals -- I'm thinking  about  Timmy.  Why,  even  if  Father  forgot  to  take  him,  he'd  go  with  him.  You  know that!'

'Your father might have shut the door at the bottom and prevented Timmy from going up,' said Dick.

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'He might,'  said  George, frowning. She hadn't  thought  of that.  'Oh dear  -  now  I  shall worry  all day long. Why didn't I stay with Timmy? What shall I do now?'

'Wait till tomorrow morning,' said Dick. 'Then probably you'll see old Tim all right.'

'Tomorrow  morning!  Why,  that's  ages  away!'  said  poor  George.  She  put  her  head  in  her  hands and groaned¹⁹. 'Oh, nobody understands how much I love Timmy. You would perhaps if you had a dog of your own, Julian. It's an awful feeling, really. Oh Timmy, are you all right?'

'Of course he's all right,' said Julian, impatiently. 'Do pull yourself together, George.'

'I  feel  as  if  something's  wrong,'  said  George,  looking  obstinate.  'Julian  --  I  think  I'd  better  go across to the island.'

'No,' said  Julian at  once. 'Don't  be idiotic²⁰, George.'  'Nothing is  wrong, except  that  your father's been forgetful. He's sent his O.K. signal. That's enough! You're not to go and create a scene over there with him. That would be disgraceful!'

'Well  -  I'll  try  and  be  patient,'  said  George,  unexpectedly  meek.  She  got  up,  looking,  worried.

Julian spoke in a kinder voice.

'Cheer up, old thing! You do like to go off the deep end, don't you?' 

1 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。

2 deft   

adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手）

参考例句：

• The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
• This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快，能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。

3 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

4 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

10 butted   

对接的

参考例句：

• Two goats butted each other. 两只山羊用角顶架。
• He butted against a tree in the dark. 他黑暗中撞上了一棵树。

11 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。

12 dungeon   

n.地牢，土牢

参考例句：

• They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
• He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前，他刚从土牢里被放出来。

13 jumble   

vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆

参考例句：

• Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
• The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 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。

16 grunting   

咕哝的，呼噜的

参考例句：

• He pulled harder on the rope, grunting with the effort. 他边用力边哼声，使出更大的力气拉绳子。
• Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。

17 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

18 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

19 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 idiotic   

adj.白痴的

参考例句：

• It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
• The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。