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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Lake Monster CHAPTER 4 A Sound in the Dark

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When they were sure that Nora and Drew were gone, the Aldens and Nicole came cautiously out of the library.

“Are they going to sell Lucille Lodge1?” asked Benny

“I hope not, Benny,” said Violet.

“If we catch the monster, it won’t get a chance to scare away business,” said Benny. “Then Nora won’t have to sell the lodge.”

“First we have to prove there is a monster,” said Jessie.

“Or that there isn’t one,” Violet said.

“But if there isn’t a monster,” asked Nicole, “why is Carl saying that there is one?”

“It’s part of the mystery,” said Henry. He smiled. “And we like mysteries.”

“Yes. We’ve solved a lot of them,” said Benny. “Let’s hurry and get the candles so we can solve this one!”

But although the Aldens and Nicole spent the whole day looking around the lake, they didn’t see a single sign of Lucy.

They did find Carl again, however, just before it was time to go back to the lodge for dinner — or rather, Carl found them. He appeared as silently and unexpectedly as he had the day before.

“What are you looking for? Did you lose something?” he growled2. They looked up from their search along the shoreline to see Carl and Wildman standing3 in the shadow of a huge tree.

“Hi,” said Benny. “We’re looking for monster tracks.”

“Monster tracks? And have you found any?” asked Carl.

“No,” said Benny. “We found all kinds of tracks, but none of them are monster tracks. At least, I don’t think they are.”

“Here are some tracks,” said Violet. She pushed aside a low branch that overhung the lake.

Carl walked closer and glanced down. “Raccoon,” he said. “They’re nocturnal animals. That means they mostly come out at night.”

“Like owls4?” asked Benny.

“Yes. And opossums. Deer, now, they move around most in the early morning and the early evening.”

“Is Lucy a night creature or a day creature?” asked Violet.

“Why would I know that?” asked Carl.

“Because you’ve seen her,” said Nicole.

“Seen who?” Carl asked.

“The lake monster — Lucy,” said Nicole. “You told me so. Remember?”

“That’s right. Nicole told us about how you escaped,” Jessie said. “Did that happen at night or in the morning?”

“In the early morning it was,” said Carl at last.

“If we were going to set a trap to catch Lucy,” said Henry, “how would we do that?”

“Well, instead of setting a trap, my suggestion would be to take a picture of her,” said Carl. “Good luck to you. Come, Wild-man.” As before, the man and the dog seemed to almost melt away and disappear into the trees.

“Found any monsters yet?” Jason asked with a sneer5 as the Aldens walked past his family’s table after finishing dinner at the lodge that night.

“No. Not yet,” said Benny.

“Well, don’t stop looking. At least it keeps Nicole from bothering me all day long,” said Jason.

Nicole made a face at her brother.

“See you tomorrow, Nicole,” said Jessie.

“Right,” said Nicole.

“Jason’s going to be sorry he was mean to us and to his sister when we find Lucy,” said Benny.

“If Lucy really does live in Lake Lucille,” Violet said. “After all, Dr. Lin said that it wasn’t possible, and she ought to know. She’s a scientist.”

“Even scientists aren’t always right, you know,” said Grandfather Alden. “Not too long ago, scientists said that the idea of traveling in space was nothing but science fiction. And you see how wrong they were.”

Henry said, “That’s true. We have to keep open minds until we can prove that Lucy does exist — or that she doesn’t.”

“But if she’s not real, then why would Carl say that he saw her?” asked Benny.

“It’s a two-part mystery,” said Jessie as they reached the door of their cabin. “One: does a monster live in the lake and how do we prove that she does? Two: if we prove there is no monster, why did Carl say he saw one?”

Watch came running up to them, wagging his tail happily.

“Let’s take Watch for one more walk before bed,” suggested Henry.

“Good idea,” said Grandfather Alden. He handed Henry the flashlight he had been carrying. “Everyone take a flashlight.” Grandfather had taken a flashlight with him to dinner in case they had needed it on the walk home. But they hadn’t, since the summer days were long. Now, however, it was getting dark fast.

Benny attached Watch’s leash6 to his collar.

“We won’t go far,” Jessie told their grandfather. “Just a little way along the Lakeside Trail, and then we’ll come back.”

The Aldens went out into the night. Stars shone brightly above. A faint breeze brushed the leaves on the trees.

“I like it here,” declared Violet. “Even if there is a monster in the lake.”

Jessie said slowly, “You know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe it isn’t a two-part mystery. Maybe it’s a three-part mystery.”

“What do you mean?” asked Benny. “What’s part three?”

“Maybe Carl really did think he saw a monster. But it wasn’t a monster. Maybe someone is trying to make everyone believe there is a monster in Lake Lucille.”

“But who would do a mean thing like that?” asked Violet.

Just then they heard a long, low sound.

“What’s that?” said Benny, stopping in his tracks. Watch looked toward the lake.

“Look at Watch,” said Jessie. “It came from the — ”

The noise came again, a sound almost like the mooing of a cow, but more eerie7. Watch barked once, sharply, and pulled on his leash, straining to get down to the water.

“It’s coming from the lake,” said Henry. “Let’s go.” He raced as fast as he dared back along the main trail and turned down the first trail that led to the lake — the one that went right past Dr. Lin’s cabin.

Just as they reached the beach, the long, low sound came again. Henry shone his flashlight out over the water and the sound faded away.

“What was that?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “But it sounded as if it came from out in the lake.”

“Do you think someone is out there?” asked Benny.

“Someone. Or something,” answered Jessie.

Just then an angry voice behind them said, “What is going on here?”

The Aldens turned to see Dr. Lin standing on the edge of the beach at the foot of the trail that led down past her cabin. She was wearing sneakers and a bathrobe over her pajamas8 and holding a flashlight in one hand.

“Dr. Lin!” exclaimed Henry. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first,” said Dr. Lin crossly. “But if you want to know what I am doing here, I came out to investigate why a herd9 of noisy children would run past my cabin in the middle of the night.”

“It’s not the middle of the night,” cried Benny. He paused. “Is it?”

“For me it might as well be. I go to bed very early because I get up early to do my work,” said Dr. Lin. “I was sound asleep when you came crashing by.”

“I’m sorry,” said Henry. “We didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“We heard a noise from the lake,” said Jessie.

“And we wanted to see what it was,” Violet finished.

“A noise? What noise?” Dr. Lin cocked her head to listen. Everyone stood very still, even Watch. For a long moment no sound could be heard at all except the whisper of the wind through the trees. Then faintly and far away they heard hooting10.

“Oh, that,” said Dr. Lin. “That’s just a mother bear and her cub11 calling back and forth12 to one another.”

“It sounds like an owl,” said Benny.

“It does sound that way a little bit,” Dr. Lin agreed. She didn’t seem so angry now. She gave Benny a little smile. “I remember the first time I heard the bears calling to each other. I wasn’t much older than you are. I think that’s when I decided13 to become a biologist. But you don’t have anything to worry about. Those bears are very far away. They won’t bother you.”

She turned to go.

“Wait,” Jessie blurted14 out. “That’s not the sound we heard. It was more like a mooing sound, only lower and more growly.”

Dr. Lin looked over her shoulder with a frown. “I’ve never heard a noise like that. There’s no animal I know of that makes that sound in these mountains. Or anywhere, for that matter. It must have been the wind blowing. . . .”

Her voice trailed off as the long, low sound rolled across the lake once more.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 lodge q8nzj     
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆
参考例句:
  • Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗?
  • I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。
2 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 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。
4 owls 7b4601ac7f6fe54f86669548acc46286     
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋,”我说,“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句
5 sneer YFdzu     
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语
参考例句:
  • He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
  • You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻,但很多人喜欢这种音乐。
6 leash M9rz1     
n.牵狗的皮带,束缚;v.用皮带系住
参考例句:
  • I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳,但被狗挡住了路。
  • The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带,想挣脱开去。
7 eerie N8gy0     
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的
参考例句:
  • It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
  • I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。
8 pajamas XmvzDN     
n.睡衣裤
参考例句:
  • At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时,我脱去衣服,换上睡衣。
  • He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。
9 herd Pd8zb     
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见,只是人云亦云。
10 hooting f69e3a288345bbea0b49ddc2fbe5fdc6     
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 ); 倒好儿; 倒彩
参考例句:
  • He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
  • The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。
11 cub ny5xt     
n.幼兽,年轻无经验的人
参考例句:
  • The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
  • The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。
12 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
13 decided lvqzZd     
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。
14 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》
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