Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Everyone looked at Lenny. "Quicksand is just a kind of soup made of sand and water," he explained. "Beneath the quicksand there's a layer of hard clay or rock. The quicksand lies on top of that hard stuff because it can't drain out." "But how far down is the hard layer?" Officer Fallon asked. "The only way to find out is to get out there in the stuff," Lenny said. "But if these kids found the antenna sticking up, the jeep must be just beneath the surface of sand."

大家都看着莱尼。 他解释说:“流沙只是一种由沙子和水做成的汤。” “流沙下面有一层坚硬的粘土或岩石。 流沙在坚硬的东西上面，因为它无法排出。” “但是硬土层到底有多深呢?”法伦警官问。 “找到答案的唯一方法就是走到外面去，”莱尼说。 “但如果这些孩子发现天线竖起来，那吉普车肯定就在沙子下面。”

"So we'll get a hook on that baby and pull it out, right, Lenny?" Jake asked. "Yeah, if I can find the bumper," Lenny said. "I'll go out there and see what's what. You go back to the firehouse and get the truck." Twenty minutes later, everything was in place. Jake had backed the rescue truck to the riverbank. A long cable with a big hook on one end lay on the ground. The other end snaked into the winch on the back of the truck. Standing at the water's edge, Lenny held the hook end of the cable. "Okay," Jake called to Lenny. "Go fishing!" Dragging the cable and hook, Lenny half floated, half swam out into the river. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose hunkered down under a tree and watched. Pal's head was resting on Josh's knees. Officer Fallon sat in his cruiser, talking into his car phone. A small crowd of people stood watching on the edge of River Road. "I sure hope the duck bank is still in the jeep," Dink said. "And I hope Lenny doesn't get stuck in the quicksand," Josh added.

“那我们就用钩子钩住那孩子，把它拉出来，对吗，莱尼?”杰克问。 “是的，如果我能找到保险杠的话，”莱尼说。 “我要出去看看到底是怎么回事。 你回消防站把卡车开过来。” 二十分钟后，一切就绪。 杰克把救援卡车倒到了河边。 一根一端有一个大钩子的长电缆躺在地上。 另一端蜿蜒进了卡车后面的绞车。 莱尼站在水边，抓着缆绳的钩头。 “好吧，”杰克对莱尼喊道。 “去钓鱼!”莱尼拖着缆绳和鱼钩，半浮半游到河中。 丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯蹲在一棵树下看着。 帕尔的头靠在乔希的膝盖上。 法伦警官坐在他的巡逻车里，对着他的车载电话讲话。 一小群人站在河边路的边上观看。 丁克说:“我真希望那堆鸭子还在吉普车里。” “我希望莱尼不要被困在流沙里，”乔希补充道。

"Okay, I think I'm right over the rear of the jeep," Lenny yelled. He took a deep breath and plunged under the water. A minute passed. Everyone stared at the spot where Lenny had disappeared. Dink glanced at his watch. "The quicksand must have him!" Josh yelled. "Let's not panic," Jake said. "If he gets in trouble, we'll haul him out by the cable." But Jake looked worried. Suddenly the surface of the water erupted. Lenny popped up like a cork on a fishing line. He began spitting and shaking mud from his arms and shoulders. "What took you so long?" Jake yelled to his partner. "The jeep sank at an angle," Lenny called back. "So unfortunately the bumper is lower down than I thought." "Did you get the hook on it?" Jake asked. Lenny grinned. "Of course I did! Pull her in, Jake!" Jake ran to the truck and threw a lever, and the cable began to inch backward into the winch. As the cable tightened, the winch strained, making a

“好吧，我想我就在吉普车的后面，”莱尼喊道。 他深吸了一口气，跳入水中。 一分钟过去了。大家都盯着莱尼消失的地方。 丁克看了看手表。 “一定是流沙把他抓走了!”杰克喊道。 “我们不要惊慌，”杰克说。 “如果他遇到麻烦，我们就用缆绳把他拉出来。” 但是杰克看起来很担心。突然，水面爆发了。 莱尼就像鱼线上的软木塞一样突然出现了。 他开始吐口水，抖掉胳膊和肩膀上的泥巴。 “你怎么花了这么长时间?”杰克对他的搭档喊道。 “吉普车倾斜下沉了，”莱尼回答。 “所以不幸的是，保险杠比我想象的要低。” “你找到钩子了吗?”杰克问。 莱尼笑了。“当然了!”把她拉进来，杰克!”杰克跑向卡车，扔了一根杠杆，缆绳开始慢慢地向后插入绞车。 当缆绳拉紧时，绞车就拉紧，形成一个

noise like fingernails on a chalkboard. Everybody stared at the river. Out in the water, the back end of a yellow jeep suddenly broke the surface. "There it is!" Ruth Rose cried. Officer Fallon had come to stand behind the kids. "Well, I'll be darned," he muttered. They all heard a sucking sound as the quicksand gave up the jeep. Inch by inch, the jeep oozed toward the river-bank like some yellow sea monster. Water and sand cascaded off the metal and glass. Finally the jeep's rear tires came to rest against the riverbank. In the passenger seat, wet and muddy, sat the duck bank. The coins were barely visible through the clear plastic because of the sand and water that had seeped in.

像指甲划过黑板的声音。 每个人都盯着那条河。 在水面上，一辆黄色吉普车的尾部突然露出水面。 “在那儿!”露丝·罗斯哭了。 法伦警官站在孩子们后面。 “好吧，我要倒霉了。”他嘟囔着。 他们都听到了一声吮吸的声音，流沙把吉普车甩了出去。 一寸一寸地，吉普车像黄色的海怪似地向河岸缓缓驶来。 水和沙子从金属和玻璃上倾泻而下。 吉普车的后轮胎终于靠在了河岸上。 在副驾驶座位上，坐着又湿又泥泞的鸭子。 由于沙子和水已经渗入，硬币在透明的塑料中几乎看不见。

"This bank must weigh a ton with all that water and muck inside," Lenny-said. "I know I can't lift it." "Let's haul the jeep back to the firehouse," Jake suggested. He climbed into the driver's seat of the rescue truck. "We'll use the hoist to lift the bank, then empty out the money and let it dry." "And I'd like to see what's in that glove compartment," Officer Fallon said. Lenny nodded. He opened the jeep's doors, letting muddy water flood out onto the ground. With it came a soggy mixture of old hamburger wrappers, a T-shirt, and a ragged green towel.

“这滩肯定有一吨重，里面有那么多水和淤泥，”莱尼说。 “我知道我举不动它。”“我们把吉普车拖回消防站吧。”杰克建议道。 他爬上了救援卡车的驾驶座。 “我们用起重机把银行抬起来，然后把钱倒出来，让它变干。” “我想看看那个置物箱里有什么，”法伦说。 莱尼点了点头。他打开吉普车的车门，让泥水倾泻到地上。 随之而来的是湿漉漉的旧汉堡包装纸、一件t恤和一条破旧的绿色毛巾。

"Okay," Lenny said. "Take 'er away." The rescue truck slowly pulled the jeep toward the firehouse. Water was still oozing out. Officer Fallon followed in his cruiser. With the excitement over, people began to wander away. "Let's go watch them empty out the bank," Dink said. "Could we get some lunch first?" Josh asked as he untied Pal's leash from the tree. "I swear I'm losing weight here." "Okay, we can go to my house and eat," Ruth Rose said. "I wouldn't want Josh to get any skinnier." Pal was sniffing the wet hamburger wrappers that had just poured out of the jeep. "See, even my dog is hungry," Josh teased. "Wait a minute, guys," Ruth Rose said. Using the toe of her sandal, she kicked at the wet towel. Only it wasn't a towel. It was a green apron. And flashing in the sun was a name tag, pinned to the material. Three words were printed on the name tag: HI! I'M MARTIN.

“好吧，”莱尼说。“把她带走。” 救援卡车慢慢地把吉普车拉向消防站。 水还在渗出来。 法伦警官开着巡逻车跟在后面。 兴奋过后，人们开始溜之大吉。 “我们去看看他们把银行洗劫一空吧，”丁克说。 “我们能先吃午饭吗?”乔希一边问一边把帕尔的皮带从树上解开。 “我发誓我在这里减肥。” “好吧，我们可以去我家吃饭，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我不希望乔希变得更瘦了。” 帕尔嗅着刚从吉普车里倒出来的湿漉漉的汉堡包装纸。 “看，连我的狗都饿了，”乔希开玩笑说。 “等一下，伙计们，”露丝·罗斯说。 她用凉鞋的脚趾踢湿毛巾。 只不过那不是毛巾。那是一条绿色的围裙。 在阳光下闪闪发光的是一个别在布料上的名牌。 名牌上印着三个字:嗨!我是马丁。