Ch9-The Real Story

CHAPTER NINE The Real Story After the curtain closed, Jack could hear the joyful crowd leaving the theater. Mr. Dewey, Mr. Wilson, Butch, and Hank rushed from the wings to congratulate the Houdinis. Mr. Dewey actually went down on his knees to thank them. "You have made my audience very

幕布拉上后，杰克听见欢快的人群正离开戏院。 杜威先生、威尔逊先生、布奇和汉克从机翼上冲了出来，向胡迪尼夫妇表示祝贺。 杜威先生竟然跪下来感谢他们。 “你让我的听众非常

happy!" he exclaimed. "And when my audience is happy, I am happy, too! Great show! Great show!" "Man, he's really lost it," Jack said. Annie laughed. "Come on, I want to tell them 'Great show,' too," she said. But as Jack and Annie started toward the Houdinis, some teenage boys rushed onstage ahead of them. "Sorry, boys," said Mr. Wilson, stepping between the boys and the Houdinis. "Mr. Houdini is exhausted from his magnificent performance. You'll have to buy a ticket and come back again!" "Come on, Harry, let's get you two out of here!" Mr. Dewey said. As Mr. Dewey whisked Harry and Bess backstage, Jack and Annie followed them. Mr. Dewey ushered the couple into their dressing room. He hurried in after them and closed the door. Annie was about to knock, but Jack stopped her. "Don't bother them yet," he said. "Let them relax a minute first. We'll see them when they come out." "Good idea," said Annie.

快乐！”他叫道。“当我的观众高兴时，我也高兴！”很棒的节目!很棒的节目!”“天哪，他真的疯了，”杰克说。 安妮笑了。“来吧，我也想告诉他们‘精彩的演出’，”她说。 但是当杰克和安妮向胡迪尼兄弟走去时，几个十几岁的男孩冲到他们前面。 “对不起，孩子们，”威尔逊先生说着，走到孩子们和胡迪尼兄弟中间。 “胡迪尼先生在他精彩的表演中精疲力竭。 你得买张票再来！”“来吧，哈利，我带你们两个离开这里！”杜威先生说。 杜威先生把哈利和贝斯带到后台，杰克和安妮也跟着他们。 杜威先生把这对夫妇领进了化妆间。 他急忙跟在他们后面，关上了门。 安妮正要敲门，但杰克拦住了她。 “先别打扰他们，”他说。 “先让他们放松一下。 等他们出来的时候我们再看。” “好主意，”安妮说。

Jack and Annie waited outside the Houdinis' dressing room door as the crew cleared all the hooligan fans off the stage. They waited as Hank and Butch took away Houdini's cabinet, his milk can, and his steamer trunk. They waited as Mrs. Crenshaw collected the bird and rabbit cages and carried them away. They waited as Mr. Wilson swept the floor and turned off the stage lights. "They should be relaxed by now," said Annie. "No kidding," said Jack. He tapped softly on the door. There was no answer. Annie knocked louder. "Bess? Harry?" she called. Still, no one answered. Annie tried the handle, but the door was locked. "They're gone," said Mr. Wilson, passing by Jack and Annie in the hall. "Gone?" said Annie. "Yes, both the Houdinis left a while ago," the stage manager said. "Left? How?" asked Jack. He and Annie had been watching the door every minute!

杰克和安妮等在胡迪尼的更衣室门外，工作人员把所有的流氓球迷赶下了舞台。 他们等着汉克和布奇拿走胡迪尼的橱柜、牛奶罐和蒸笼箱。 他们等着克伦肖太太收拾好鸟笼和兔笼，把它们带走。 他们等着威尔逊扫地并关掉舞台灯光。 “他们现在应该已经放松了，”安妮说。 “别开玩笑了，”杰克说。他轻轻地敲了敲门。 没有人回答。安妮敲得更响了。 “贝丝?哈利？”她叫道。 仍然没有人回答。安妮试了试把手，但门是锁着的。 “他们走了，”威尔逊先生在大厅里从杰克和安妮身边走过时说。 “走了？”安妮说。“是的，两个胡迪尼都走了一会儿了，”舞台监督说。 “离开?怎么做？”杰克问。他和安妮一直时时刻刻盯着门！

"Mr. Dewey took them through the secret exit out of the stars' dressing room," said Mr. Wilson. "It goes through the basement and out of the theater. Otherwise, they'd be mobbed by all the crazy fans." "So they're really gone?" said Jack. "They don't call Harry the Master of Escape for nothing," Mr. Wilson said. "You'd better change out of your costumes and get going, too. We'll be locking up the building soon." Jack and Annie walked down the hall and into their dressing room. "I can't believe it!" Annie wailed. "We didn't even get to tell them 'Great show.'" "Worse than that, we didn't get to find out a secret of greatness," said Jack. He held up his finger with the Ring of Truth. "The ring didn't glow all night." "Well, I guess all we can do is get dressed and go look for them," said Annie. Jack and Annie quickly changed out of the tuxedos and back into their street clothes. Jack grabbed his bag and put his watch in the pocket of his pants.

“杜威先生带他们穿过明星更衣室的秘密出口，”威尔逊说。 “它穿过地下室，走出剧院。 否则，他们会被疯狂的粉丝团团围住。” “那么他们真的走了？”杰克说。 “他们称哈利为‘逃生大师’不是无缘无故的，”威尔逊说。 “你最好把戏服换掉，赶紧走吧。 我们很快就要封锁大楼了。” 杰克和安妮走过大厅，走进他们的化妆间。 “我简直不敢相信！”安妮恸哭。 “我们甚至都没来得及告诉他们‘精彩的演出’。’”“更糟糕的是，我们没有发现伟大的秘诀，”杰克说。 他举起手上的真理之戒。 “戒指并没有整夜发光。” “好吧，我想我们能做的就是穿上衣服去找他们，”安妮说。 杰克和安妮迅速脱下晚礼服，换上便服。 杰克抓起包，把手表放进裤子口袋里。

"Come on, hurry!" said Annie. She and Jack rushed out the back door of the theater. They ran down the dark alley, past the row of garbage cans, and out to the street. Surf Avenue was still bright with lights and just as busy as before. The sidewalks were still crowded with lots of people. The old-timey cars and horses and buggies filled the cobbled street. "They could be anywhere," said Jack. "They could even have gone home." "Let's try Luna Park," said Annie. "Why would they go back there?" asked Jack. "Especially after getting trapped on their Trip to the Moon?" "I don't know. There's lots they might want to do there," said Annie. She gasped. "Ice cream!" Jack and Annie said together. At the same moment, they'd each remembered Bess saying "Ice cream always comes after the show." "To the ice cream stand!" said Annie. "And fast!" said Jack. Jack and Annie took off up the street, dodging people along the way. They ran to the tall arches,

“快点，快点！”安妮说。 她和杰克冲出剧院的后门。 他们跑过黑暗的小巷，经过一排垃圾桶，来到街上。 冲浪大道仍然灯火通明，和以前一样热闹。 人行道上仍然挤满了人。 鹅卵石铺成的街道上满是老式的汽车、马车和四轮马车。 “他们可能在任何地方。”杰克说。 “他们甚至可能已经回家了。” “我们去月亮公园试试吧，”安妮说。 “他们为什么要回到那里？”杰克问。 “尤其是在他们被困在月球之旅之后？”“我不知道。 他们可能想在那里做很多事情，”安妮说。 她喘着气。“冰淇淋!”杰克和安妮一起说。 与此同时，他们每个人都记得贝丝说过“冰淇淋总是在节目结束后出现。” “去冰淇淋摊！”安妮说。 “快！”杰克说。杰克和安妮沿街跑去，一路上躲避着行人。 他们跑向高大的拱门，

where ticket sellers in chariots were still welcoming people into Luna Park. "Admission, ten cents each," one said. Jack and Annie dumped the rest of their pennies into the ticket seller's hands. Then they took off, dashing up the broad avenue, weaving around couples and children and barkers on stilts and unicycles. When they came to the ice cream stand, they found a line of people waiting to buy cones. Panting, Jack looked up and down the line. The two Houdinis were nowhere to be seen. Jack's spirits fell. But Annie poked him. "What?" Jack said. Annie pointed at the terrace.

马车里的售票员仍在欢迎人们进入月神公园。 “入场费，每人10美分，”其中一个说。 杰克和安妮把剩下的硬币扔到售票员手里。 然后他们出发了，在宽阔的林荫道上疾驰而去，在夫妇、孩子和骑着高跷和独轮车的人中间穿梭。 当他们来到冰淇淋摊时，发现有一排人在等着买蛋筒。 杰克气喘吁吁地上下打量着队伍。 两名胡迪尼分子不见了踪影。 杰克的情绪低落了。但是安妮捅了他一下。 “什么?”杰克说。安妮指着阳台。