Chapter 7

Chapter 7 "What kind of boat?" Josh asked. "The water in Indian River isn't very deep." "But it's deep enough for a row-boat," Ruth Rose said.

第七章“什么样的船?”杰克问。 “印度河的水不是很深。” “可这地方够划小船的，”露丝·罗斯说。

Dink thought about the river near Ron's Bait Shop. They'd all waded there before. The water was only up to their knees. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe they took Sammi downriver in a small boat. When they got to the deep part, they could have put him in a bigger boat…" "…and taken him out to sea!" Ruth Rose added. The kids stared at each other. Dink thought about poor Sammi, afraid of noises and animals, tied up in some boat. "We have to do something, guys," he said. "Let's go see if we can find more clues at the bait shop." He ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Ruth Rose hurried after him, with Josh and Pal right behind her. "Your mom told us to stay put," Josh reminded Dink. "I know, Josh." Dink was scribbling on a pad. "I'm telling her where we're going," he said. "We'll probably be back before she sees this. Come on!" The kids cut through the dining room and headed for the back door.

丁克想到了罗恩鱼饵店附近的那条河。 他们以前都蹚过水。 水只到他们的膝盖。 “是的，”他说。“也许他们用小船把萨米带到下游去了。 他们到了深水处，就可以把他放在更大的船上，把他带到海里去。”露丝·罗斯补充道。 孩子们面面相觑。 丁克想到了可怜的萨米，她害怕噪音和动物，被绑在船上。 “我们必须做点什么，伙计们，”他说。 “我们去鱼饵店看看能不能找到更多线索。” 他跑下楼梯来到厨房。 露丝·罗斯急忙跟在他后面，乔希和帕尔跟在她后面。 “你妈妈叫我们待在原地，”乔希提醒丁克。 “我知道，乔希。”丁克在便笺簿上乱写乱画。 “我要告诉她我们要去哪里，”他说。 “我们可能在她看到这个之前就回来了。 来吧!”孩子们穿过餐厅，向后门走去。

Suddenly, Pal barked and began straining on his leash. He pulled until Josh let him have his way. Pal headed for the living room, and the kids followed. "I think he smells something," Josh said. Pal had his nose on the rug, sniffing at something small and shiny. "It's another piece of glass!" Josh said, snatching it away from the dog's nose. "This is the third one," Dink said. He looked at the stairs going up to the bedrooms. "Sammi dropped one in his room, one down here, and another one on the front steps…" "SAMMI LEFT US A TRAIL!" Ruth Rose suddenly yelled. "I'll bet you're right," Dink said. "The kidnappers must have brought him down the stairs and out the front door. Come on, let's look for more!" The kids hurried out the door and into the front yard. Pal snuffled with his nose along the ground while the kids searched with their eyes.

突然，帕尔吠了一声，开始拉紧皮带。 他一直拉，直到乔什让他为所欲为。 帕尔向客厅走去，孩子们也跟着去了。 “我觉得他闻到了什么，”乔希说。 帕尔把他的鼻子放在地毯上，嗅着一个又小又亮的东西。 “又是一块玻璃!”乔希说着，把它从狗鼻子上夺了过来。 “这是第三个，”丁克说。 他看着通往卧室的楼梯。 “萨米把一个丢在了他的房间里，一个丢在了这里，还有一个丢在了前面的台阶上……”露丝·罗斯突然喊道。 “我打赌你是对的，”丁克说。 “绑匪一定是把他带下楼，从前门带了出去。 来吧，我们再找找看!”孩子们匆匆出门，跑到前院。 帕尔用鼻子在地上嗅来嗅去，孩子们则用眼睛搜寻。

"Nothing," Dink muttered after a few minutes. "The trail ends here." Suddenly, Pal yanked on the leash. "Whoa, doggie," Josh said. But Pal kept pulling. He dragged Josh to the road. At the curb, Pal's nose went right into the gutter.

“没什么，”几分钟后丁克喃喃地说。 “小路到此为止。”突然，帕尔猛拉皮带。 “哇，小狗，”乔希说。 但帕尔一直在拉。他把乔希拖到路上。 在路边，帕尔的鼻子撞到了排水沟里。

"Look!" Josh said. He held up a fourth piece of yellow glass. Dink and Ruth Rose ran over. "Sammi must've dropped it when the kidnappers loaded him into a car," Ruth Rose said. "And I bet the trail picks up again down at the river," Dink said. "Let's go!" With Pal loping along behind them, the kids hurried down Woody Street. They cut past the elementary school, then crossed Duck Walk Way toward the river. Inside his shop, Ron Pinkowski was feeding the bait shiners in one of his huge tanks. "Hey, I heard about that boy disappearing," Ron said when he saw the kids. "He didn't disappear," Josh said. "He was kidnapped!" Ron nodded. "That's what Officer Fallon said. And they stole one of my rowboats!" "Can you show us where the boat was?" Dink asked. "Sure, come on." Ron took the kids outside. "Right over there," he said, pointing to a line of upside-down boats along the riverbank. There was an empty space between two of the boats.

“看!”杰克说。他举起第四块黄色的玻璃。 丁克和露丝·罗斯跑了过来。 “萨姆米一定是在绑匪把他抬上车的时候掉的，”露丝·罗斯说。 丁克说:“我敢打赌，在河边，小路又恢复了。” “我们走吧!”在帕尔的尾随下，孩子们沿着伍迪街匆匆而过。 他们抄近路经过小学，然后穿过鸭子步道向河边走去。 在他的店里，罗恩·平科夫斯基(Ron Pinkowski)正在用一个巨大的水箱喂鱼饵。 “嘿，我听说那个男孩失踪了。”罗恩看到孩子们说。 “他没有消失，”乔希说。 “他被绑架了!”罗恩点点头。 法伦警官就是这么说的。 他们还偷了我的一条划艇!”“你能告诉我们船在哪里吗?”丁克问道。 “当然，来吧。”罗恩把孩子们带到了外面。 “就在那边，”他指着河岸上一排颠倒的小船说。 两艘船之间有一块空地。

"They broke my padlock and took a pair of my brand-new oars, too." "Thanks, Mr. P," Dink said. The kids hurried over to the row of boats and searched for yellow glass. Pal sniffed the ground for a few seconds, then flopped under a tree and closed his eyes. The kids examined the ground where the boat had been. They didn't find any glass at all. "Let's look in the driveway" Dink suggested. They walked back to the road, then worked their way down to the boats again. Josh found a nickel, but there wasn't a piece of yellow kaleidoscope glass anywhere. "That's weird," said Dink. "If Sammi left a trail back at my house, why didn't he drop another piece of glass when he got here?"

“他们弄坏了我的挂锁，还拿走了我的一双崭新的桨。” “谢谢，P先生，”丁克说。 孩子们急忙跑到那排小船旁，寻找黄色的玻璃。 帕尔在地上嗅了几秒钟，然后扑倒在一棵树下，闭上了眼睛。 孩子们仔细检查了船停过的地方。 他们根本没找到任何玻璃。 “我们去车道上看看吧。”丁克建议道。 他们走回大路，然后又朝小船走去。 乔什找到了一枚五分硬币，但没找到一块黄色的万花筒玻璃。 “真奇怪，”丁克说。 “如果萨米在我家留下了痕迹，他来这里的时候为什么不扔另一块玻璃呢?”