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儿童英语读物 The Midnight Mystery CHAPTER 3 The Mystery Riddle

时间:2017-11-07 06:10来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The next morning when Mr. Alden and Isabel came over to the garage, the children were already at work.

Grandfather looked on as his grandchildren worked. “You look like a colony of busy ants,” he said proudly.

“We are!” Henry said as he and Jessie carefully set a large birdcage onto the pushcart1 they were using to move the inventions into the house.

Violet was checking that each entry included the inventor’s drawings and directions. Benny was trying out a shoe polisher that worked with a pedal.

Isabel pointed2 to Grandfather’s empty car in the driveway. “We just came over to say good-bye. When we come back in a few days, that car is going to be filled with Grandma Alice’s inventions and artworks that collectors are lending us for the convention.”

“Aren’t you ever going to take off your flashlight hat?” Grandfather asked Benny when he came over for a good-bye hug. “You don’t want to wear it out before the convention even starts.”

Benny patted his hat. “I need it to see in back of me and in dark places, even when I’m busy.”

“By the time we return, I may not even need Mr. Percy,” Isabel joked. “You children are awfully3 clever at figuring out how all these gadgets4 work.” She checked her watch. “We’d better head out now. I left sandwich fixings and fruit in the refrigerator, bread in the breadbox, and homemade cookies in the cookie jar in Grandma Alice’s house. If you need anything else, just ask Martha. So long, now.”

“So long!” the children called out.

“Okay let’s get these pieces into the house,” Jessie told Henry. “I’ll hold things steady while you push the cart.” She admired the large birdcage, which was designed to look like a little theater. It even had a flowered cloth that lowered down like a stage curtain. “This will look pretty in the library.”

Henry and Jessie balanced the birdcage carefully. They didn’t want to disturb any of its moving parts. Violet and Benny ran ahead and held open all the doors. The older children rolled the cart into the house without bumping into any walls or doorways5.

“There,” Henry said when they finally had set down the birdcage. “That looks as nice as one of Alice Putter’s own inventions. It fits right in. Let’s try it out.”

Violet turned a winder, and the curtains came down. “Perfect,” she said. “It works just the way the directions say. All it needs is a bird inside.”

Benny wasn’t too interested in birdcage curtains. He pressed a button beneath a globe, and the globe began to rotate slowly. When he recognized the shape of the United States, Benny pressed the button again, and the globe stopped. It was neat, but he liked his flashlight hat much better. Finally, he decided6 to see if there were any good books to read on the nearby shelves. “Kids’ books!” he said when he found some colorful old children’s books. “May I look at them, Jessie?”

“Sure,” she answered. “Ms. Putter said we could use anything in the house.”

To his delight, Benny discovered that all the books on one of the low shelves were for brand-new readers like him. He ran his fingers along the books. He stopped when he came to one with a missing spine7. As he pulled it out, he saw that it wasn’t like any of the others on the shelves. This one was homemade, with handmade drawings and handwritten instead of typed words. “Hey, here’s a book somebody made,” he said.

The other children came over to take a look. The cover was decorated with hand-painted clocks, birds, animals, clowns, and toys. There was no author’s name on it. But handwritten on the first page were the words: To My Grandchildren.

“It’s just a riddle8 book,” Benny said, a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the missing plan book. He read the title: “Read Me a Riddle.”

“So read us a riddle!” Henry said back.

Benny closed his eyes and picked a riddle at random9. He opened them again, and read the riddle slowly.

“When the moon’s at twelve o’clock.

Pounce10 upon the stroke,

The time to act is at the chime,

When day and night run out of time.”

“What’s that mean?” Benny asked, puzzled. He handed the book to Jessie.

She studied several of the other riddles11. “I know some of these already. But the one you found is hard to figure out.” She flipped12 through the book.

Violet thought about the riddle. “When the moon’s at twelve o’clock ... maybe you can only figure it out at midnight when there’s a moon out.”

Jessie repeated the riddle. Maybe reading it again would make it clearer.

As the children huddled13 around the curious book, someone entered the room.

“What are you doing?” the person asked.

The children whirled around, surprised by the sharp voice.

Martha came up to the children. She stared at the book in Jessie’s hands. “Who said you could take books from the shelves?”

Benny looked up at Martha. “Ms. Putter said it was okay, right, Jessie? I’m old enough to read. It’s got riddles.”

Martha reached for the book. “Riddles? Let me see it.”

Jessie carefully passed the book to Martha. “Ms. Putter told us we could use anything in the house. She knew we would be careful. This book is handmade.”

Martha was already turning the pages. “I can see that. Well, I’m sure Isabel wouldn’t want such a fragile book being passed around. I’m going to put it away for safekeeping.”

“But ... but ...” Benny began. He stopped when he saw Jessie shake her head.

“I’m going to store it where it will be out of harm’s way,” Martha said. With that, she turned and left.

Benny took a big swallow before he spoke14. He wasn’t used to people being cross with him. “I didn’t harm the book, right, Jessie?”

Jessie patted the top of Benny’s flashlight hat. “Of course you didn’t. But I didn’t want to upset Martha.”

“Maybe we can draw and paint our own riddle book when we get home,” Violet said to cheer up Benny.

“That will be a good project for a rainy day,” Henry said. “Now, let’s just finish up a couple more things in here. We’ll think about lunch after the clocks sound at noon.”

Benny heard his stomach rumble15. “I already have a clock inside me that says it’s lunchtime. If we’re quiet, you can hear it.”

But the Aldens heard something else.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Where’s that coming from?” Jessie asked.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“It’s going faster,” Violet said. “What’s on the other side of this wall?”

Jessie scrunched16 her forehead. “Either the big coat closet or the entryway, I’m not sure. Let’s go find out. It’s the same sound we heard last night, but now it’s not windy out. It must be something else.”

The children left the library. The tapping sounded closer.

Henry pointed to the closet door. “It’s coming from in there,” he whispered. “See? There’s light coming from under the door.”

Jessie went up and knocked.

“I’ve got my hands fall!” a voice answered. “Just push if you need to come in here.”

When Henry opened the door, the children found themselves facing Mr. Percy. He was huddled over a small table in the closet. He held a tiny hammer in his hand. On the table lay a bent17 iron hinge next to an open jewelry18 box, with a circle of dancers in the middle of it.

“What is it?” he asked without turning around. “This is delicate work. The hinge to one of Alice Putter’s jewelry boxes is bent, and I mean to unbend it. Dust will get into the parts if I can’t get the top to fit tight. What do you need in here?”

“Nothing,” Henry said. “We heard tapping and wondered where it was coming from. I guess it was you with that little hammer.”

Violet stepped closer to Mr. Percy. “That hinge is so small. Is it hard to tap it into shape without breaking it?”

Mr. Percy looked at Violet. For a second, he almost seemed as if he were going to show her how to fix the hinge. “Not if you know what you’re doing and you don’t have four children barging in. Yesterday, it was dogs, now it’s kids. Can’t a man work in peace around here?”

“We’ll be quiet and still,” Violet said in her sweet way. “I would just like to see how you fix things.”

Mr. Percy pushed his magnifying glasses up on his bald head. “There’s not enough light for a man to work around here with four other people looking on,” he grumbled19.

Benny took off his hat to show Mr. Percy. “Know what? You could borrow my flashlight hat. I made it by myself ... well, almost by myself. Violet helped me sew on the mirror.”

Mr. Percy put his glasses back on his nose. “Hmm.” He studied the flashlight hat. Now he didn’t seem in such a big rush to send the Aldens away. “Hmm,” he repeated. He handed Benny back the hat. “I don’t need to borrow it. I suppose you can stay.”

“Thank you,” Violet said. “I would love to watch what you’re doing. I made a crayon saver for the invention convention. I think I need a thinner, longer screw to go inside the lipstick20 tube I’m using to hold the crayon stub. The screws from Grandfather’s toolbox are too big. It would be fun to have lots of supplies and tools like you have.”

Mr. Percy didn’t skip a beat with his tapping. “Well, why would a child have tools like mine? They cost a pretty penny.”

Benny reached into the pocket of his jeans. “I have a pretty penny.” He hoped Mr. Percy would get the joke. “Here.”

Before Mr. Percy could take it, the penny rolled off the table into an open cardboard box on the floor.

Benny bent down to find his coin. “Hey why is this here?” he asked. “It’s one of the invention boxes from the garage.”

Mr. Percy stepped in front of Benny. “Leave that be!” He reached into his own pocket, then put a penny on the table. “Take this one. Now we’re even. I don’t want anyone going through that box or anything else in here.”

Benny’s mouth fell open, but nothing came out.

“No, now you all have to leave. I need to finish with this,” Mr. Percy said. “You’re blocking the light with all your heads and hats and such.”

The Aldens turned to go out.

Violet looked back. She hoped Mr. Percy would help her with her invention another time when he wasn’t so busy.

But Mr. Percy was busy. He cut a long piece of duct tape from the roll in his toolbox. He quickly closed the cardboard box and taped it shut. The box was sealed tight. Benny wasn’t going to get back his penny, that was for sure.

“Boy, Mr. Percy works at the strangest times and strangest places around here,” Henry said as he walked back to the garage with the other children.

“I know,” Jessie said. “I wonder if he was working and making tapping sounds just like now that first night we were here. Don’t forget he told Ms. Putter that he heard the scarecrow squeaking21 during the night.”

“Maybe he just thinks about fixing pretty things and forgets the time,” Violet said.

“Sometimes if I get ideas when I wake up at night, I want to get up and draw them right away.”

“Then you need a flashlight hat,” Benny said, turning his off.

The Aldens returned to the garage to tell Martha they were going to lunch.

Martha looked up from the papers in her hand. She was counting out loud: “... nine ... ten ... eleven ... twelve. This is the third time I’ve had a box missing. How many inventions did you bring over to the main house?”

“Eleven,” Henry answered. “I counted them.”

“They all had the forms attached, too,” Violet said. “I matched and counted every one.”

Martha looked over Violet’s shoulder. “Oh, Mr. Percy, there you are. What’s that box you have?”

Mr. Percy walked past the Aldens, straight over to Martha. He handed her a cardboard box sealed with duct tape. “I found this in the house. Thought you might need it. Can’t imagine why the delivery truck dropped it off there.”

Benny looked at Violet with wide eyes. “But, but ...” he whispered. “That’s the box my penny fell into. Only it didn’t have tape or anything.”

Mr. Percy looked at Martha. “Well, the problem is solved.” He walked away.

Martha checked her watch. “I’ll unpack22 this one after lunch. I have to get going someplace.”

The children started walking back to the main house.

“The problem isn’t solved,” Violet said. “Mr. Percy was nice to us until Benny tried to get his penny from that box. He knows we’re helping23 unpack the boxes. What difference would it make if we saw what was inside?”

Henry nodded slowly. “All I can think is that Mr. Percy has something to hide.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pushcart Ck5zeh     
n.手推车
参考例句:
  • He peddled fish from a pushcart.他推着手推车沿街卖鱼。
  • Children of slum dwellers play under a pushcart in New Delhi,India.印度新德里,贫民窟的孩子们在一辆手推车下玩耍。
2 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。
3 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
4 gadgets 7239f3f3f78d7b7d8bbb906e62f300b4     
n.小机械,小器具( gadget的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
  • This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置,做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
5 doorways 9f2a4f4f89bff2d72720b05d20d8f3d6     
n.门口,门道( doorway的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The houses belched people; the doorways spewed out children. 从各家茅屋里涌出一堆一堆的人群,从门口蹦出一群一群小孩。 来自辞典例句
  • He rambled under the walls and doorways. 他就顺着墙根和门楼遛跶。 来自辞典例句
6 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。
7 spine lFQzT     
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊
参考例句:
  • He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
  • His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。
8 riddle WCfzw     
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜
参考例句:
  • The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
  • Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。
9 random HT9xd     
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
参考例句:
  • The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
  • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
10 pounce 4uAyU     
n.猛扑;v.猛扑,突然袭击,欣然同意
参考例句:
  • Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦?
  • We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。
11 riddles 77f3ceed32609b0d80430e545f553e31     
n.谜(语)( riddle的名词复数 );猜不透的难题,难解之谜
参考例句:
  • Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看,口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
  • But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句
12 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。
13 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。
14 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。
15 rumble PCXzd     
n.隆隆声;吵嚷;v.隆隆响;低沉地说
参考例句:
  • I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
  • We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定,天要下雨了。
16 scrunched c0664d844856bef433bce5850de659f2     
v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 );蜷缩;压;挤压
参考例句:
  • The snow scrunched underfoot. 雪在脚下发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。
  • He scrunched up the piece of paper and threw it at me. 他把那张纸揉成一个小团,朝我扔过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
18 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
19 grumbled ed735a7f7af37489d7db1a9ef3b64f91     
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
  • The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏,水手们边干活边发着牢骚。
20 lipstick o0zxg     
n.口红,唇膏
参考例句:
  • Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红,开始往嘴唇上抹。
  • Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。
21 squeaking 467e7b45c42df668cdd7afec9e998feb     
v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 );吱吱叫;告密;充当告密者
参考例句:
  • Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗? 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 unpack sfwzBO     
vt.打开包裹(或行李),卸货
参考例句:
  • I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
  • She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。
23 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
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