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儿童英语读物 Benny Uncovers a Mystery CHAPTER 6 Who Wrote the Letters?

时间:2017-07-04 08:46来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Monday morning was almost gone before Henry remembered the order for the glass vase. He checked with Mrs. Lester.

“No, Henry, I haven’t seen any package,” Doris said. “You might ask the other clerks. Sometimes a package is taken to the wrong department.”

Henry checked with almost everyone in the store. No one had seen his order. There was no extra package of any kind to be found.

Doris could see that Henry was worried. “I think I’ll call the company and see if the order has been sent out,” she told him.

“Thank you, Doris. I’m certain the customer will be in. I promised she would have the vase today.”

Benny came by. “I’m going to get the mail for the departments,” he said. By now, handing out the mail was one of his regular jobs.

“See if you can find a glass vase for me,” Henry said.

Benny laughed and answered, “I’ll try.” But of course Mr. Furman gave Benny only letters, catalogs, and advertisements to deliver throughout the store.

Usually Benny did not stop to look through the mail before he began to give it out. But this time he glanced through the letters as he left Mr. Furman’s office.

Benny stared. To his surprise there was a letter addressed, “Benny Alden, care of Furman’s Department Store.”

Benny turned the envelope this way and that. It was an ordinary post office envelope with a printed stamp. Benny carefully tore open his letter. He found a sheet of blue writing paper. The written message was short. It said, “Your work for Furman’s Store has been excellent. It is noticed and it is appreciated.”

“What in the world?” thought Benny.

He was pleased, but he was more puzzled than pleased. Who could have sent him this? He thought to himself, “It must be somebody who is in the store, because who else would know? Mr. Furman? Toni? Doris? This is a mystery!”

He thought of showing the letter to Toni, but suppose she had written it? She might think Benny wasn’t very smart to ask her. So Benny carefully put the letter in his pocket. He passed out the mail as if nothing had happened.

He had just given a thick envelope to Mr. Fogg when someone said, “Hi, Benny! Remember me?”

Benny turned around quickly. “Sure,” he said. “You were at Woodland Path when I took the package there.”

“That’s right,” said the boy. “I told the lady you brought it. You came through the woods, so I guess you rode your bike away.”

Benny was going to say, “You’re a good detective. How do you know my name?” when Mr. Fogg spoke1.

“That’s enough standing2 around, Alden. Go down and help the man in the basement. See if he has those bowls for the electric mixers. I need them.”

“Yes, sir,” Benny said and hurried off. Some people said Mr. Fogg was hard to get along with because he had a painful back. If that was so, it still did not make Benny like to be bossed around.

Benny thought about the boy whose name he didn’t know. And yet the boy knew Benny’s name. That was another puzzle. He felt as if the boy was teasing3 him. But there was no time to think about that.

Benny was so busy the rest of the day that he did not think about anything but work. He forgot about his mystery letter until dinnertime. Then he showed it to his grandfather.

“Well, Benny,” said Mr. Alden, “this is very good. I like to have my grandchildren appreciated. Who sent it?”

“I haven’t any idea,” Benny replied. “No one signed it. I never saw writing like this before. But anyone could buy the envelope.”

Jessie said, “Let me see.” She took the letter and read it. “It’s nice writing and it looks strong, somehow. It could be either a man’s writing or a woman’s. I can’t tell.”

Violet looked at the letter, too. She laughed and said, “Now you have a small mystery, Benny. You should like that.”

“I have a mystery, too,” Henry said. “But not like Benny’s. I ordered a vase for a customer. It should have come by now, but it hasn’t.” Henry told the Aldens about the order.

“What did Mrs. Lester tell you about her phone call?” asked Jessie.

“She told me that the order had been sent.”

“How could the box get lost?” Violet asked.

“I asked Doris the same thing,” said Henry. “She said that it wasn’t hard. The store once lost a bass4 drum.” Everyone laughed.

“Did she order another vase?” asked Jessie.

“Yes, she did. It should get here in time for my customer. But I had to call the woman so that she wouldn’t make a trip to the store for nothing.”

“That was a thoughtful thing to do,” said Mr. Alden.

“Was it Miss Douglas who ordered the vase?” asked Violet.

“No, the woman’s name was Mrs. Allen,” Henry said. “She seemed satisfied that Furman’s was doing the best it could.”

“But you’re not satisfied, are you, Henry?” asked Grandfather. “What’s the matter?”

Henry took a long breath and said, “Grandfather, you don’t suppose that Mr. Fogg has anything to do with this? He seems to want to make trouble for Ben and me. He keeps saying that Aldens shouldn’t make mistakes.”

“Don’t worry, Henry,” Mr. Alden said. “I’m sure the vase will turn up, and I doubt that Mr. Fogg has anything to do with it.”

The next day when Benny handed out the mail, he gave a letter to Doris. The envelope was exactly like the one Benny had received.

Doris said what Benny thought she would. “Who can be writing to me in care of the store? Why wasn’t the letter sent to my house?”

“You’ll never know unless you open it,” Benny said, and he tried to sound mysterious.

Doris tore open her letter and took out a sheet of blue writing paper. She blushed5.

Benny couldn’t help asking, “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t read this out loud. You read it,” she said. “Is this a joke or something?”

Benny read aloud, “You are the kind of salesperson6 who always keeps your customer’s likes and dislikes in mind. Good.”

“This is true,” said Benny. “But I wonder who is watching us. See—I got a letter, too.” And he pulled the blue notepaper out of his pocket.

This was beginning to be exciting, at least to Benny and Doris. They weren’t surprised when the next mail brought a letter for Toni. It read, “You are a fine cashier. You’re never too busy to say ‘Thank you’ as you count out the change.”

Henry received a letter, too. It said, “Do not feel upset about your work. You are thoughtful about your customers.”

“Now this is too much!” exclaimed Benny. “Who would know something has been bothering you? We’ll have to do some detective work and find out who is sending these notes.”

“I know one person who didn’t write this,” Henry said grimly7. “Mr. Fogg!”

Some of the other workers also had notes. One person teased8 Benny by saying, “Are you doing this, Benny Alden? Nothing like this ever happened before you came to work.”

Benny shook his head. “There was a letter for me, too,” he said. “I’m going to keep it in my locker9. Then it will be handy to read after Mr. Fogg scolds me.”

“Well,” laughed the salesclerk, “you’re a smart boy. Maybe you wrote one to yourself just to fool everyone.”

“I want to be smart enough to find out who really sent these notes,” Benny answered.

“Let me know when you find out,” said the clerk. “I think it’s a big joke of some kind.”

But it was no joke when a note came for Mr. Fogg. Benny didn’t want to give the letter to him. He handed the envelope to Henry. Henry handed it to Toni. Toni handed the envelope to Doris.

“All right,” Mrs. Lester said. “I’ll take this to Mr. Fogg. But I wonder what nice thing the mystery writer can say about Mr. Fogg.”

Mr. Fogg grunted10 as he took the envelope from Doris. He opened it and frowned. He did not show the letter to anyone. He just crushed it in his hand and threw it toward the wastebasket. His toss11 missed. The crumpled12 ball of paper fell at Mrs. Lester’s feet.

“It’s nothing,” Mr. Fogg said, trying to sound as though he didn’t care about the letter. “Someone around here is playing practical jokes.” He glared13 at Benny, who was standing near Henry’s counter. “And if I catch whoever is sending these crazy letters, there’ll be trouble.” Mr. Fogg turned around to arrange the stock on his shelves.

Doris went to a corner out of Mr. Fogg’s sight. “He threw this away,” she told Benny and held up the letter Mr. Fogg had tossed14 away. “I just have to see what it says.”

She smoothed out the crumpled paper. “It says, ‘You hurt business. Furman’s needs more polite behavior from its first floor manager.’ ”

“There,” said Benny. “Justice at last.”

“But who writes these notes?” asked Mrs. Lester. “Who knows everyone so well?”

“I’m going to find out,” promised Benny. “Mr. Fogg wants to blame Henry and me. I’ll prove he’s wrong.”

The managers of some of the other departments began to walk past Benny and Doris. “Are you coming to Mr. Furman’s office?” someone asked her.

“Oh, I forgot about the meeting Mr. Furman called,” Doris said. “Henry is supposed to come, too. I’d better remind him. I’ll see you later, Benny.”

Henry felt out of place at the meeting, especially when Mr. Fogg said pointedly15, “I don’t think a boy belongs here.”

Mr. Furman said, “I asked Mrs. Lester to bring Henry. I feel he is interested in the store. This is a good chance for him to see how we do business.”

Henry listened as the department managers talked. At last Mr. Furman turned to Henry and said, “Do you have anything to report? Is everything all right?”

Henry blurted16 out, “I’m sorry about the double order for the expensive glass vase. I don’t know what happened. I’ve looked all over the store for the first one. It was supposed to be here, but no one has seen it.”

That was all Mr. Fogg needed. “See!” he exclaimed. “I told you that these Aldens are more trouble than they are worth.”

Mr. Furman surprised everyone by laughing. “I have two things to say. First, I have a story to tell you. This morning a woman came up the stairs to my office and knocked on my door. I asked her if she had a complaint to make. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I have a compliment17 to give.’ ”

Everyone at the meeting was listening to Mr. Furman. He continued, “Hardly anyone takes the time to praise our salespeople18, so I was interested in what she had to say. She was helped by our new glassware clerk, Henry, and by our delivery boy, Benny. And Henry, here’s the second thing I have to say. I can make you feel better about that vase in a few minutes. Follow me.”

The meeting was over and Mr. Furman led the way down the stairs and to the glassware department. Henry and the others followed. Out of the corner of his eye, Henry saw Miss Douglas, but she was busy with one of the clerks.

“I’ll explain the mystery of the missing vase,” Mr. Furman said. “The other day I looked over the mail before Benny took it to the different departments. There was a special delivery package with a label that said ‘Glassware.’ I knew it had to go to Mrs. Lester, so I thought I’d deliver it myself. And I did, right to this spot.”

Henry, Doris, Mr. Fogg, the department heads—all trooped over to the place where Mr. Furman was standing.

On the floor under the counter, almost out of sight, was the missing package.

Even Mr. Fogg admitted, “I’ve been by here several times and I never saw that package. It’s in the shadows there. Anyone could miss it.”

“We all did,” said Henry. He picked up the box and began to unwrap it. “I’ll make a special display and try to sell this before the day is over.”

Henry then smiled at Mr. Furman and the people around him.

He even smiled at Mr. Fogg. But Mr. Fogg looked as cross as ever. And when Mr. Fogg saw Miss Douglas walking in his direction, his frown became a real scowl19.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 spoke XryyC     
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 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
3 teasing b0a55d9bbec76684d03d555d84e3ad65     
adj.戏弄的,逗趣的v.取笑,戏弄( tease的现在分词 );梳理(羊毛等)
参考例句:
  • Don't get upset—I was only teasing. 别不高兴,我只是在逗你玩。
  • I didn't think you meant that seriously;I thought you were teasing. 我未想到你是当真的,我原以为你是开玩笑的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 bass APUyY     
n.男低音(歌手);低音乐器;低音大提琴
参考例句:
  • He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
  • The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。
5 Blushed Blushed     
n. 脸红,外观 vi. 泛红,羞愧
参考例句:
  • She blushed at the mention of her lover's name. 她因说到她情人的名字而脸红。
  • He blushed when the pretty girl gave him the eye. 那位漂亮的女孩向他抛媚眼时,他脸红了。
6 salesperson 7Yoxa     
n.售货员,营业员,店员
参考例句:
  • A salesperson works in a shop.售货员在商店工作。
  • Vanessa is a salesperson in a woman's wear department.凡妮莎是女装部的售货员。
7 grimly Nrlzp9     
ad.坚定地;不屈地
参考例句:
  • "We failed," he announced grimly. “我们失败了”,他严肃地宣布道。
  • His voice was grimly determined. 他语气非常坚决。
8 teased 7db750760b25c2517c6d13ae84c5ffb9     
v.取笑,戏弄( tease的过去式和过去分词 );梳理(羊毛等)
参考例句:
  • He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws. 他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I felt annoyance at being teased. 我恼恨别人取笑我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 locker 8pzzYm     
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人
参考例句:
  • At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
  • He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。
10 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
11 toss QJSz9     
n./v.突然抬起,摇摆,扔
参考例句:
  • Let's toss to see who pays it.让我们来掷钱币决定谁付账吧。
  • The matter made him toss in the bed.那件事使他在床上翻来覆去。
12 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
13 glared bb8b114d908b9d05c55d49d1b1cb9b35     
怒目而视( glare的过去式和过去分词 ); 发强光
参考例句:
  • Two fierce eyes glared at them. 一双凶狠的眼睛对着他们怒目而视。
  • He didn't shout, he just glared at me silently. 他没有喊叫,只是默默地怒视着我。
14 tossed 1788eb02316d84175e2a5be1da07e7bf     
v.(轻轻或漫不经心地)扔( toss的过去式和过去分词 );(使)摇荡;摇匀;(为…)掷硬币决定
参考例句:
  • I tossed the book aside and got up. 我把书丢在一边,站了起来。
  • He angrily tossed his tools and would work no longer. 他怒气冲冲地扔下工具不肯再干了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 pointedly JlTzBc     
adv.尖地,明显地
参考例句:
  • She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠,又刻意地看了看手表。
  • The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 blurted fa8352b3313c0b88e537aab1fcd30988     
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止,她已脱口而出。
  • He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相,说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 compliment BpDzx     
n.[pl.]问候,致意;n./v. 称赞,恭维
参考例句:
  • The manager paid her a compliment on her work.经理赞扬了她的工作。
  • Your presence is a great compliment.承蒙光临,不胜荣幸。
18 salespeople xjuz25     
n.售货员,店员;售货员( salesperson的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The shop usually employs additional salespeople for the Christmas toy trade. 这家商店通常雇一些临时售货员来做圣诞节玩具生意。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Under our new system, salespeople sit down with each of our dealers. 根据新的制度,销售人员应逐个地同承销商洽商。 来自辞典例句
19 scowl HDNyX     
vi.(at)生气地皱眉,沉下脸,怒视;n.怒容
参考例句:
  • I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
  • The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色,清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。
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