儿童英语读物 The Ghost Ship Mystery CHAPTER 4 Go Away!

Golden sunlight poured into the Crow’s Nest as the Aldens awakened¹.

Jessie tiptoed to the big windows to feel the sun. She opened the doors that led to the widow’s walk. “Mmm, fresh sea air.”

“Do you see any land yet?” Henry joked. “I dreamed we were on a long sea voyage.”

Jessie focused the telescope the Peases left by the window. “I see lots of land with lots of people,” she answered, laughing. Then she stopped. “Hey, come here, Henry. Isn’t that Captain Bob out on the Jonah?”

Henry jumped out of bed to take a look. “It sure is. I thought he said he was driving up the coast today. Do you suppose he’s running his whale watch trips after all?”

“If he is, let’s get down to the dock,” Jessie said. “A sign said the trips leave at eight. We’ve only got half an hour.”

Henry and Jessie tickled² Benny and Violet to get them out of bed.

“Why are we rushing?” Violet said, rubbing her eyes.

“Captain Bob is out on his boat,” Henry told his sister. “We want to see if he’s going out to watch whales today.”

“Whales! Did somebody say ‘whales’?” Benny cried.

The children left a note under the door of their grandfather’s room and went downstairs to tell Mrs. Pease their plans.

She shook her head. “I’ll pack a few muffins for the trip. But I don’t think the Jonah is scheduled for any whale watches today. Mr. Pease said Captain Bob had other plans for the next few days. We’ve never figured out where he disappears to after every big storm.”

“Well, we’re going to try, just in case,” Benny said hopefully.

Mrs. Pease handed Benny a cloth napkin filled with warm muffins for the trip.

The children ran through the sleepy streets of Ragged³ Cove⁴ and down to the town dock. Sure enough, the Aldens could hear the Jonah’s motor warming up. They raced down the dock to the bright blue boat.

“Captain Bob! Captain Bob!” Henry yelled, nearly out of breath.

Jessie whispered to Henry. “Do you think one of us should go on board and see if he’s down below? Maybe he didn’t hear us.”

Jessie didn’t wait for Henry’s answer. She walked cautiously up the gangplank then walked on deck. Before she got very far, a voice boomed out.

“What are you doing on this boat?” Captain Bob yelled when he came up from the engine room.

Jessie jumped back and caught herself on the railing. “We came to see if you were taking people out whale watching after all.”

Captain Bob’s face grew red. He seemed about to shout until he saw that he was scaring the children. He looked down at his boots and shook his head. “I’m not going out today. Told you kids that. Now off you go.”

Jessie didn’t argue. She walked down the gangplank and away from the Jonah with her brothers and sister.

“Maybe another day,” Captain Bob called out. “Just not today.”

“Let’s go sit up on a bench and have breakfast,” Henry suggested. “We’ll try to come up with some better plans.”

But coming up with better plans wasn’t easy. It was such a sunny, warm day. Nothing seemed nearly as much fun as whale watching. Jessie unwrapped the napkin full of muffins. The children each took one but only nibbled⁵ at the edges. They watched Captain Bob untie⁶ the Jonah then slowly steer⁷ it out of the protected cove.

“Look, he’s heading north, up the coast,” Henry pointed⁸ out. “Not straight out to sea. Maybe he decided⁹ to take the boat up the coast instead of taking his truck like he told us yesterday.”

“He’d better be careful,” Violet said. “Howling Cliffs is in that direction. Mr. Pease said there are lots of boat wrecks¹⁰ up that way.”

Benny tossed crumbs¹¹ of muffins to the seagulls that had discovered the Aldens. “What are we going to do today, Henry?” he asked his older brother.

“Maybe we can visit the Sailors’ Museum,” Henry said. “Even if we can’t go on a whale watching boat, we can go look at pictures and souvenirs of boats at the museum.”

Violet was worried. “What if that woman, Miss Coffin¹², won’t let us in? Mr. Pease said she doesn’t even like grown-ups visiting.”

“We’ll try, just in case,” Jessie said. “I’d like to see some scrimshaw and sea paintings.”

“If I can’t be on the sea, at least I’ll get to look at a painting of it,” Benny said.

The other children laughed, but they agreed with Benny.

1 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

3 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

4 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。

5 nibbled   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 untie   

vt.解开，松开；解放

参考例句：

• It's just impossible to untie the knot.It's too tight.这个结根本解不开。太紧了。
• Will you please untie the knot for me?请你替我解开这个结头，好吗？

7 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 wrecks   

n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉

参考例句：

• The shores are strewn with wrecks. 海岸上满布失事船只的残骸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My next care was to get together the wrecks of my fortune. 第二件我所关心的事就是集聚破产后的余财。 来自辞典例句

11 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

12 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。