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儿童英语读物 The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain CHAPTER 10 How to Catch a Ghost

时间:2017-10-17 02:48来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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“I’m glad it stopped snowing,” whispered Violet.

“Me, too. And when the sun comes up, it’ll be warmer,” said Jessie.

They were huddled1 in the little lean-to just off the Blizzard2 Trail. They’d been there since right before dawn. From where they sat, they could see the trail clearly.

“It didn’t turn out to be much of a snowstorm after all,” Benny complained.

“Shhh, everyone!” Henry warned.

After that, the Aldens were quiet.

“What if this doesn’t work?” Violet said very, very softly.

“Maris is waiting just down the trail at the next big rock,” Henry reminded her. “One way or another, our trap will work.”

“Listen ...” Benny said.

They all grew quiet now. And then they heard it. Something was scraping over snow. Someone was coming down the Blizzard Trail.

Crunch4, crunch, crunch went the sound of boots on thin snow.

There was also the sound of something heavy being pulled over that same thin snow. Swish, bump, bump, swish.

A figure appeared through the trees. Everyone held their breath.

The figure leaned forward and pulled hard on a rope in one hand. A sled bumped along at the end of the rope. “Whoa,” the figure commanded, and raised one foot awkwardly to slow down the sled.

“Let’s go,” said Jessie, and leaped to her feet and out of the lean-to.

The person saw the four Aldens running through the trees and, yanking the sled hard, began to run, too.

“Stop!” cried Jessie.

“Stop, thief!” shouted Benny. Henry jumped forward—and landed right on the sled.

The sled tipped over. The person pulling the sled stumbled and fell, but tried to get up and run again.

But by this time Maris had stepped out into the middle of the trail.

“Give up, Chuck,” said Henry. “We know all about the gold.”

The man turned and pushed the hood5 of his jacket back. Chuck’s face was red.

“What a dumb thing I did,” he said, and sat down hard on a fallen tree trunk.

Jessie stepped forward and pulled back the tarp on the sled. Underneath6 was a lump, covered with purple velvet7. Carefully, she and Violet lifted the velvet cape8. Gold bars shone beneath it.

“Gold!” said Benny.

“It’s the museum gold,” said Violet.

“I ... I ... oh, no,” moaned Chuck, and buried his face in his hands.

“Not exactly gold,” said a new voice.

Maris and the Aldens looked up in surprise at the woman striding up the trail.

“Rayanne?” asked Maris. “What are you doing here?”

“Rayanne Adams, private detective, at your service,” said Rayanne.

“But you work at the diner!” said Violet.

“That’s because I was undercover. What better place to find out what’s going on than at the town’s only diner?” asked Rayanne. She stared at Chuck. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, mister, robbing that museum.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Chuck looked up. “I was just standing9 there, and no one was around, and I saw how easy it would be to take the gold that was on display. I put a piece of tape on the back door lock and just pushed the door open right after the museum closed. I wrapped the gold in that old purple cape and carried it out.”

“You’re a private detective?” Maris asked Rayanne.

Rayanne nodded. “My nephew runs the museum. I’m retired10 now, but I agreed to take this case to help him out.”

“That’s why you asked so many questions! And knew so much about the museum theft!” cried Jessie.

“Yep,” said Rayanne. “And I had my suspicions about Mr. Chuck Larson here. But until you came along, I couldn’t prove anything. How did you know to make a trap for him?”

“Two clues,” said Henry. “Shoes and purple velvet. Chuck was acting11 like a hiker who didn’t know anything. But he wore good old comfortable hiking boots. Boots that had been used a lot.”

“And they were worn down on one side, like a man who’d been limping while wearing them,” said Jessie. “That matched the boot prints we found in the snow. The prints weren’t very clear, but they were clear enough to show us that whoever walked around our cabin limped on the same foot as Chuck. Only we didn’t know why he’d be following us.”

“We thought first he’d found Stagecoach12 George’s treasure. It wasn’t until you mentioned the cape from the museum was purple velvet and we remembered that scrap3 of purple cloth Violet had found that things began to make sense,” said Henry.

“That purple velvet was an important clue,” Rayanne agreed. “It got my attention. And it got Chuck’s attention, too.”

“That’s when we knew for sure Chuck was faking it. That his ankle was not all that broken anymore,” said Benny.

Henry looked at Chuck. “You’re not even a history teacher, are you? It was all faked.”

Chuck groaned13. “No,” he confessed. “I’m a mountain guide from out West. I came here just to hike.”

“We should have known you were no beginner when we found you all snug14 in your tent when you were injured. Beginners usually wander off the trail. And they aren’t so prepared,” said Maris.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that,” Chuck said. “Anyway, I’d carried the gold, wrapped in the cape, in my pack, about halfway15 down Blizzard Mountain when I slipped and broke my ankle.” He made a face at the memory.

“I knew I was near the cabin—I’d used it on the way over the mountain the first time. So I managed to get there and bury the gold under the floor of the cabin and put the boards back down.”

“That’s why there was so much dirt on the floor,” said Violet. “We figured that out, too.”

He nodded. “I guess that’s when a piece of purple velvet tore off that old cape. Anyway, I dragged myself back over to the trail so no one would know I’d been in the cabin. I had enough supplies to last awhile, and I knew I’d be okay, that someone would come along before long.”

“You let the air out of our tires, too,” Benny accused Chuck.

“Yes, it was me. When I went to the bathroom at the diner, I really sneaked16 out and did that. And I followed you up the trail and took part of your food,” Chuck confessed. “I hoped that would scare you off, but it didn’t. So I followed you to the cabin and tried to scare you away then.”

“And you took my boots,” said Henry.

“I did. But I gave them back!” said Chuck. “I couldn’t let you try to hike down the mountain without them, any more than I could leave you without any food at all. I’m a mountain guide. I just couldn’t do it.”

“You’re a better mountain guide than a thief,” said Rayanne. “That wasn’t even gold that you took.”

Chuck sat up. “What?” he said.

“Iron bars painted to look like gold, for the mining display,” said Rayanne. “That’s all it is. Heavy and worthless. It’s the cape the museum wants back. It’s an important part of this park’s history.”

Chuck’s mouth had fallen open. So had Benny’s.

“N-not gold?” Chuck managed to stammer17 at last.

“Nope,” said Rayanne. “So now that we’ve got the cape back, the museum’s going to let you go.”

“You will?” said Chuck. He jumped to his feet. “Oh, thank you! I’ll never, ever do something like that again. I’ve never done anything like that before. I know it was wrong. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Good,” said Jessie. She almost felt sorry for Chuck.

“Thank you,” Chuck cried again. “Thank you.”

“Go on, then,” said Rayanne. “We’ll get this down the mountain.”

Chuck looked around. Then, almost running, he headed down the mountain.

As the Aldens and Maris and Rayanne came out of the woods at the bottom of the Blizzard Trail, Grandfather Alden stepped out of a car parked near Maris’s truck.

“Grandfather!” said Jessie. “We caught the thief.”

“And Rayanne’s a real live detective,” said Benny.

Another person got out of the truck.

“Bobcat!” said Maris. “There you are. What happened?”

“We forgot to ask Chuck what he told you to make you leave town,” said Henry.

“So you figured it out, huh?” Bobcat chuckled18. He shook his head. “And I fell for it, too. Chuck met me outside the general store. Must have been waiting for me, I realize now. He gave me a message, said it had been left at the diner for me. That’s not unusual. Everyone knows that the people at the diner can always find you. It’s the way a small town works.”

“What was the message?” asked Violet.

“My brother had an attack of appendicitis19. It said please come at once. Chuck said he’d see that someone else took supplies to you, so I drove to the airport and flew halfway across the country. Boy, was my brother surprised to see me. We had a nice visit, though.” Bobcat grinned. “That buzzard!”

“Bobcat called when he got back,” Grandfather explained. “I told him what had been going on and we drove here.”

“But what about when your truck wouldn’t start, Maris? Did Chuck do that, too?” asked Violet.

“Nope. My truck’s just an old truck. But Chuck knew about the trouble I’d been having with it. Carola had stopped by the diner earlier on her way out of town and been talking about it. That’s what gave him the idea to try to scare us off the trail until he could get back up there and haul the gold out,” said Maris.

“And because his ankle was hurting, he waited until the first snow so it would be easy to pull the gold out by sled. Only it wasn’t gold,” Henry concluded.

“Chuck made a mistake,” said Rayanne. “And he got caught. Bad luck for Chuck.”

“He always said Blizzard Mountain was a bad luck mountain,” Bobcat said. “Looks like it was—for him.”

“But good luck for us,” said Benny.

Everyone looked at Benny. “What do you mean, Benny?” asked Jessie.

“Well, Stagecoach George’s gold is still up on Blizzard Mountain,” Benny said. “So on our next visit, we can go back and find it!”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 huddled 39b87f9ca342d61fe478b5034beb4139     
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
  • We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。
2 blizzard 0Rgyc     
n.暴风雪
参考例句:
  • The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
  • You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。
3 scrap JDFzf     
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
参考例句:
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
4 crunch uOgzM     
n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声
参考例句:
  • If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
  • People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。
5 hood ddwzJ     
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
  • The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
6 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
7 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
8 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
9 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。
10 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
11 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
12 stagecoach PuQww     
n.公共马车
参考例句:
  • She's getting off the stagecoach.她正在下马车。
  • The stagecoach driver cracked the whip.驿站马车的车夫抽响了鞭子。
13 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 snug 3TvzG     
adj.温暖舒适的,合身的,安全的;v.使整洁干净,舒适地依靠,紧贴;n.(英)酒吧里的私房
参考例句:
  • He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
  • She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。
15 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
16 sneaked fcb2f62c486b1c2ed19664da4b5204be     
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 );偷偷溜走;(儿童向成人)打小报告;告状
参考例句:
  • I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
  • She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。
17 stammer duMwo     
n.结巴,口吃;v.结结巴巴地说
参考例句:
  • He's got a bad stammer.他口吃非常严重。
  • We must not try to play off the boy troubled with a stammer.我们不可以取笑这个有口吃病的男孩。
18 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
19 appendicitis 4Nqz8     
n.阑尾炎,盲肠炎
参考例句:
  • He came down with appendicitis.他得了阑尾炎。
  • Acute appendicitis usually develops without relation to the ingestion of food.急性阑尾炎的发生通常与饮食无关。
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