Five On Kirrin Island Again Chapter Nine GEORGE MAKES A DISCOVERY - AND LOSES HER TEMPER（在线收听）

Chapter Nine GEORGE MAKES A DISCOVERY - AND LOSES HER TEMPER

GEORGE  slipped  down  from  the  rock.  She  peered  under  it.  There  was  a  large  opening  there, scattered with stones that Timmy had loosened in his digging.

'Surely  you haven't  at  last  found a rabbit hole big enough to  go down!' said  George.  'TIMMY!

Where are you?'

Not a bark, not a whine came from the hole. George wriggled under the shelf of rock, and peered down the burrow. Timmy had certainly made it very big. George called up to Julian.

'Julian! Throw me down  your trowel,  will  you?'  The trowel landed  by  her foot. George took  it and began to make the hole bigger. It might be big enough for Timmy, but it wasn't big enough for her! She dug hard and soon got very hot. She crawled out and looked over on to the rock to see  if  she  could  get  one  of  the  others  to  help  her.  They  were  all  asleep!  'Lazy  things!'  thought George,  quite  forgetting  that  she  too  would  have  been  dozing  if  she  hadn't  wondered  where Timmy had gone.

She  slipped  down  under  the  rock  again  and  began  to  dig  hard  with  her  trowel.  Soon  she  had made the hole big enough to get through. She was surprised to find quite a large passage, once she had made the entrance big enough to take her. She could crawl along on hands and knees!

'I  say  -  I  wonder  if  this  is  just  some  animal's  runway  -or  leads  somewhere!'  thought  George.

'TIMMY! Where are you?'

From  somewhere  deep  in  the  quarry  side  there  came  a  faint  whine.  George  felt  thankful.  So Timmy was there, after all. She crawled along, and then quite suddenly the tunnel became high and wide, and she realized that she must be in a passage. It was perfectly dark, so she could not see anything, she could only feel. Then she heard the sound of pattering feet, and Timmy pressed affectionately against her legs, whining.

'Oh Timmy --  you gave me a bit of a fright!' said George. 'Where have you been? Is this a real passage -- or just a tunnel in the quarry, made by the aid miners, and now used by animals?'

'Woof,' said Timmy, and pulled at George's shorts to make her go back to the daylight.

'All  right,  I'm coming!' said  George.  'Don't  imagine  I  want  to  wander alone in  the dark!  I only came to look for you.'

She made her way back to the shelf of rock. By this time Dick was awake, and wondered where George had gone. He waited a few minutes, blinking up into the deep blue sky, and then sat up.

'George!'  There  was  no  answer.  So,  in  his  turn  Dick  slipped  down  from  the  rock  and  looked around. And, to his very great astonishment he saw first Timmy, and then George on hands and knees, appearing out of the hole under the rock. He stared open-mouthed, and George began to giggle.

38

'It's all right. I've only been rabbiting with Timmy!' She stood beside him, shaking and brushing soil from her jersey and shorts. 'There's a passage behind the entrance to the hole under the rock,'

she said. 'At first it's just a narrow tunnel, like an animal's hole -- then it gets wider -- and then it becomes a proper high wide passage! I couldn't see if it went, on, of course, because it was dark.

Timmy was a long way in.'

'Good gracious!' said Dick. 'It sounds exciting.'

'Let's explore it, shall we?' said George. 'I expect Julian's got a torch.'

'No,' said Dick. 'We won't explore today.'

The others were now awake, and listening with interest.

'Is it a secret passage?' said Anne, thrilled. 'Oh do let's explore it!'

'No,  not  today,'  said  Dick  again.  He  looked  at  Julian.  Julian  guessed  that  Dick  did  not  want Martin to share this secret. Why should he? He was not a real friend of theirs, and they had only just got to know him. He nodded back to Dick.

'No, we won't explore today. Anyway, it may be nothing - just an old tunnel made by the quarry-men.'

Martin  was  listening  with  great  interest.  He  went  and  looked  into  the  hole.  'I  wish  we  could explore,'  he  said.  'Maybe  we  could  plan  to  meet  again  with  torches  and  see  if  there  really  is  a passage there.'

Julian looked at his watch. 'Nearly two o'clock. Well, Martin, if we're going to see that half past two television programme of yours, we'd better be getting on.'

Carrying  baskets  of  primroses  and  violets,  the  girls  began  to  climb  up  the  steep  side  of  the quarry. Julian took Anne's basket from her, afraid she might slip and fall. Soon they were all at the top. The air felt quite cool there after the warmth of the quarry. They made their way to the cliff-path and before long were passing the coastguard's cottage. He was  out in his garden, and he waved to them.

They went in the gateway of the next-door cottage. Martin pushed the door open. His father was sitting at the window of the room inside, reading. He got up with a broad, welcoming smile.

'Well, well, well! This is nice! Come along in, do. Yes, the dog as well. I don't mind dogs a bit. I like them.'

It  seemed  rather  a  crowd  in  the  small  room.  They  all  shook  hands  politely.  Martin  explained hurriedly that he had brought the children to see a television programme.

39

'A good idea,' said Mr. Curton, still beaming. Anne stared at his great eyebrows. They were very long and thick. She wondered why he didn't have them trimmed but perhaps he liked them like that. They made him look very fierce, she thought.

The  four  looked  round  the  little  room.  There  was  a  television  set  standing  at  the  far  end,  on  a table.  There  was  also  a  magnificent  wireless  and  something  else  that  made  the  boys  stare  with interest.

'Hallo! You've got a transmitting set, as well as a receiving set,' said Julian.

'Yes,' said Mr. Curton. 'It's a hobby of mine. I made that set.'

'Well! You must be brainy!' said Dick.

'What's a transmitting set?' asked Anne. 'I haven't heard of one before.'

'Oh, it just means a set to send out messages by wireless like police-cars have, when they send back messages to their police stations,' said Dick. 'This is a very powerful one, though.'

Martin was fiddling about with the television switches. Then the programme began. It was great fun seeing the television programme. When it was over Mr. Curton asked them to stay to tea.

'Now don't say no,' he said. 'I'll ring up and ask your aunt, if you like, if you're afraid she might be worried.'

'Well if you'd do that, sir,' said Julian. 'I think she would wonder where we'd gone!'

Mr. Curton rang up Aunt Fanny. Yes, it was quite all right for them to stay, but they mustn't be too late back. So they settled down to an unexpectedly good tea. Martin was not very talkative, but  Mr.  Curton  made  up  for  it.  He  laughed  and  joked  and  was  altogether  very  good  company.

The  talk  came  round  to  Kirrin  Island.  Mr.  Curton  said  how  beautiful  it  looked  each  evening.

George looked pleased.

'Yes,' she said. 'I always think that. I do wish Father hadn't chosen this particular time to work on my island. I'd planned to go and stay there.'

'I suppose you know every inch of it!' said Mr. Curton.

'Oh  yes!'  said  George.  'We  all  do.  There  are  dungeons  there;  you  know  real  dungeons  that  go deep down - where we once found gold ingots?'

'Yes  I  remember  reading  about  that,'  said  Mr.  Curton.  'That  must  have  been  exciting.  Fancy finding the dungeons too! And there's an old well too you once got down, isn't there?'

'Yes'  said  Anne,  remembering.  'And  there  is  a  cave  where  we  once  lived  it's  got  an  entrance through the roof, as well as from the sea.'

40

'And  I  suppose  your  father  is  conducting  his  marvellous  experiments  down  in  the  dungeons?'

said Mr.Curton. 'Well, what a strange place to work in!'

'No we don't'…. began George, when she got a kick on the ankle from Dick. She screwed up her face in pain. It had been a very sharp kick indeed.

'What were you going to say?' said Mr. Curton, looking surprised.

'Er I was just going to say that  - er -- er -- we don't know which place Father has chosen,' said George, keeping her legs well out of the way of Dick's feet.

Timmy gave a sudden sharp whine. George looked down at him in surprise. He was looking up at Dick with a very hurt expression

'What's the matter, Timmy?' said George, anxiously.

'He's finding the room too hot, I think,' said Dick. 'Better take him out, George.'

George, feeling quite anxious, took him out. Dick joined her. She scowled at him. 'What did you want to kick me for like that? I shall have a frightful bruise.'

'You know jolly well why I did,' said Dick. 'Giving away everything like that. Can't you see the chap's very interested in  your father being on the island? There may be nothing in it at all, but you might at least keep your mouth shut. Just like a girl, can't help blabbing. I had to stop  you somehow.  I don't  mind telling  you  I trod jolly hard on poor old Timmy's  tail  too, to  make him yelp, so that you'd stop talking!'

'Oh you beast!' said George, indignantly. 'How could you hurt Timmy?'

'I didn't  want  to.  It was  a shame,' said  Dick, stopping to  fondle Timmy's ears.  'Poor old  Tim.  I didn't want to hurt you, old fellow.'

'I'm going home,' said George, her face scarlet with anger. 'I hate you for talking to me like that telling  me  I  blab  like  a  girl  and  stamping  on  poor  Timmy's  tail  You  can  go  back  and  say  I'm taking Timmy home.'

'Right,'  said  Dick.  'And  a  jolly  good  thing  too.  The  less  you  talk  to  Mr.  Curton  the  better.  I'm going back to find out exactly what he is and what he does.  I'm  getting jolly suspicious. You'd better go before you give anything else away!'

Almost choking with rage, George went off with Timmy. Dick went back to make her apologies.

Julian and Anne, sure that  something was up, felt  most uncomfortable. They  rose to  go, but  to their surprise, Dick became very talkative and appeared to be suddenly very much interested in Mr. Curton and what he did.

41

But at last they said good-bye and went. 'Come again, do,' said Mr. Curton, beaming at the three of them. And tell the other boy  what's  his  name, George  -  that  I hope his  dog is  quite all right again now. Such a nice, well behaved dog! Well good-bye! See you again soon, I hope!'