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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Sword CHAPTER 8 The Antique Store

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“Goodness, I had no idea that letter was stolen. That’s dreadful!” the owner of the antique store exclaimed. Mrs. Holmes was a round, short woman with wiry gray hair. “I would never knowingly sell stolen merchandise,” she told the Aldens. “I must call the police about this.”

“Mrs. Holmes,” Jessie said gently, “do you remember who brought the letter in?”

The owner sighed and looked around her store. “I have so many things in here,” she said wearily. “It’s hard to keep track of who brings in what. I buy most of my things at yard sales and auctions1, but I don’t believe that’s where the letter came from. I wish I could remember more. I really do. And I must apologize to Seymour.” Mrs. Holmes was wringing2 her hands.

“That letter would have come in recently,” Henry pointed3 out.

“Well, we don’t know that for sure,” Jessie reminded her brother. “Seymour doesn’t exactly know when the letters were stolen.”

“True,” Henry agreed. “But we think it was within the last month or so.”

“Seymour is also missing a stamp collection and a sword dating from the Civil War. You don’t have anything like that around, do you?” Henry asked.

Mrs. Holmes shook her head. “Good heavens, no. That I’m sure of. I just wish I could remember more about the letter. If you’ll give me a few moments, I’ll check my files. Perhaps I can find some record there.”

“Sure, we’ll just look around your store awhile,” Violet offered. “You might even remember more while we’re here.”

“I’ll certainly try to,” Mrs. Holmes assured her. “I just wish I kept better records of things.” The owner vanished behind a large oak desk and started rummaging4 through some cardboard boxes that served as her filing cabinets.

Henry walked over to a pile of newspapers. Jessie looked at some old glass vases in a cabinet. Violet and Benny went to a corner where there were some old toys: dolls, wooden blocks, and rocking horses.

“These are such old toys,” Violet said as she lifted a doll’s dress to inspect her petticoat.

“Those are the best kind,” the owner muttered. She sat on the floor surrounded by scraps5 of paper. “Oh, this is useless,” she said sadly. “I’m never going to find anything in this mess.”

Violet came over to her. “Mrs. Holmes,” she began, “do you remember buying the letter from someone?”

The owner nodded and pushed her wire-rimmed glasses on top of her head. “I believe I did. I don’t remember buying that letter at a yard sale. I think I would have remembered that.”

“Was this person who sold you the letter a woman or a man?” Violet continued.

“A man, I believe,” Mrs. Holmes answered.

“Did this man have long blond hair and a beard? Did he say he was an author?” Violet asked.

Mrs. Holmes frowned. “No, I don’t remember meeting anyone like that. I usually remember faces. That’s about all I do remember well.”

The Aldens waited while Mrs. Holmes rummaged6 through a few more cardboard boxes stuffed with papers, but she never found any record of the letter.

“I don’t want to keep you here any longer,” the owner finally said. “I know Seymour’s number. If I find anything, or remember who sold me the letter, I will give you a call, I promise.”

“Thanks for all you have done,” Jessie said as the Aldens waved good-bye and filed out the door. Once outside, they were surprised to find that the sun was low.

“We should try to get home before dark,” Henry warned the others.

“I didn’t realize we had been in that store so long,” Jessie remarked. “Everything was so old in there, it was almost like being in another century.”

The others laughed.

“I wish Mrs. Holmes had been able to remember who brought her the letter,” Violet remarked as the Aldens were mounting their bicycles.

“That would have made our job a little easier,” Henry remarked as he began to pedal away.

Jessie was about to follow when she noticed a large blue car parked under some trees near the antique store’s driveway. The car flashed its lights and began to move toward the Aldens.

“Who is that?” Jessie asked out loud.

The car pulled alongside Jessie, Violet, and Benny. “How about a ride home?” a deep voice asked.

“Mr. Ambrose!” Jessie was so startled she almost shouted.

“What are you doing here?” Benny wanted to know. He was right behind Jessie.

“I was out exploring the area,” Mr. Ambrose answered smoothly7.

“We don’t want a ride home,” Benny said firmly.

“It’s true,” Jessie agreed. “What would we do with our bicycles?”

“I would probably have room for them in my trunk,” Mr. Ambrose answered.

“We still don’t need a ride.” Benny remained firm.

“Were you driving out here to visit the antique store?” Jessie asked. She stood with one foot on the ground, the other on a bicycle pedal.

“Uh, no,” Mr. Ambrose answered.

“Have you ever been in this store before?” Jessie persisted.

“I was here once or twice when I first began my research,” the author answered. Then he cleared his throat. “Well, if you don’t need a ride, I really must be on my way,” he added. Before the Aldens could say anything more, the author pulled the car away and sped down the road.

“You know I saw a big blue car like that following us to the antique store,” Benny informed his family when they were back on Seymour’s farm. The four were walking their bicycles to the shed to put them away.

“I noticed that car, too,” Henry remarked. “I’m sure it was Blake’s car.”

“But why would he want to follow us?” Violet asked as she walked her bicycle beside Henry’s.

“Well, if he is involved in these burglaries, he probably wants to find out how much we know,” Henry suggested.

“And he probably doesn’t want us to get in his way,” Jessie added.

That evening, after dinner, Violet and Benny decided8 to take a walk in the orchard9 with one of Seymour’s flashlights. Benny wanted to hear the ghost for himself, and Violet thought it might be good to keep him company.

It was a windy night and as Violet waved the flashlight at the scarecrow, it looked like he was waving at them.

“Poor scarecrow,” Violet said sadly. “He’s probably going to need to be restuffed after this windy night.”

“I bet we’ll hear the ghost tonight,” Benny said eagerly. He walked into the orchard, with Violet at his heels. At that moment, the two heard some whispering, and a low call that sounded like a long, drawn-out boooooo.

“What’s that?” Benny asked.

Violet listened closely.

“Whooooooo...Whooooooo...Whoooooo.”

“It could be an owl,” Violet answered, but she did not sound very sure. Being out in the orchard after dark was spookier than she had thought.

“No, it’s not,” Benny said stubbornly.

“How far do you want to go?” Violet asked.

“Not too far,” Benny said. His voice was a little quavery as he peered into the dark mass of fruit trees whose branches looked as if they could reach out and grab him. “Are there wolves out here?” Benny wanted to know.

“I don’t think so. In fact, I’m sure there aren’t.”

Just at that moment, Benny and Violet heard a long, low hiss10. Benny jumped two feet in the air. “Do you hear that?” he shouted, clutching Violet’s arm. “I bet that’s a snake.”

Violet stopped walking and shone her flashlight on some low bushes behind the trees. Stray leaves were rustling11 in the wind, making a hissing12 sound — pssst, pssst, pssst. “That might be the whispering sound we’re hearing,” Violet said hopefully.

“Are you sure?” Benny asked.

“Yes.” Violet’s voice quavered. She wasn’t really sure, but she wanted Benny to believe she was.

To get their minds off the hissing noise, Violet shone her light, which was getting dimmer, on the trees in front of her. Something she saw made her stop short and stare. “Benny, that marking. It wasn’t here the last time we were in the orchard.”

“What marking?” Benny rushed over to the tree where the flashlight shone on its bark. In the dim light, he could see a drawing of a helmet, next to the drawing of the sword the Aldens had seen earlier.

“You’re right,” Benny said. “Do you think the ghost drew this?”

“No, I don’t,” Violet said. “But I hope it doesn’t mean that a helmet is missing from Seymour’s collection.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Benny exclaimed. “We’d better check the secret passageway right away.” At that moment, the flashlight went out. Violet and Benny could not believe how dark it seemed, even in the moonlight.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 auctions 1c44b3008dd1a89803d9b2f2bd58e57a     
n.拍卖,拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
  • Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子,因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句
2 wringing 70c74d76c2d55027ff25f12f2ab350a9     
淋湿的,湿透的
参考例句:
  • He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
  • He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。
3 pointed Il8zB4     
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。
4 rummaging e9756cfbffcc07d7dc85f4b9eea73897     
翻找,搜寻( rummage的现在分词 ); 海关检查
参考例句:
  • She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
  • Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着?
5 scraps 737e4017931b7285cdd1fa3eb9dd77a3     
油渣
参考例句:
  • Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
  • A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
6 rummaged c663802f2e8e229431fff6cdb444b548     
翻找,搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 ); 已经海关检查
参考例句:
  • I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
  • The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。
7 smoothly iiUzLG     
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地
参考例句:
  • The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
  • Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
8 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。
9 orchard UJzxu     
n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场
参考例句:
  • My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
  • Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。
10 hiss 2yJy9     
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满
参考例句:
  • We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
  • Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。
11 rustling c6f5c8086fbaf68296f60e8adb292798     
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的
参考例句:
  • the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
  • the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声
12 hissing hissing     
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
  • His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕
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