Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 The next morning they met in front of the school before the first bus showed up. There were only a couple of cars in the teachers' parking lot. "I hope Mrs. Waters isn't late today" Josh said as they entered the school. "We need to get these

第5章第二天早上，在第一辆公共汽车到来之前，他们在学校门口相遇。 教师停车场里只有几辆车。 “我希望沃特斯太太今天没有迟到。”他们走进学校时，乔希说。 “我们需要得到这些

notes in the mailboxes before the teachers get here." They hurried along the silent hallway to the principal's office. Mrs. Waters was just taking off her coat. "Mr. Dillon isn't in yet," she said when the kids walked in. "We came to see you," Dink said. "Well, isn't that nice!" the secretary said, flipping a page on her calendar. "Goodness, where did March go already? Now, how can I help you kids?" Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose explained their idea. "You honestly think one of our teachers took that skeleton?" she asked. "We don't know," Dink said. "But the footprint looks like an adult's. Would you mind putting these in the right mailboxes?" He handed Mrs. Waters the eight notes they'd printed. She read one and smiled. "Of course I will," she said. "And I wish you luck finding Mr. Bones. I know Mr. Dillon will be happy to have this mystery solved!"

在老师来之前把纸条放在邮箱里。” 他们沿着寂静的走廊匆匆奔向校长办公室。 沃特斯太太正在脱外套。 “狄龙先生还没来，”孩子们走进来时，她说。 “我们来看你，”丁克说。 “嗯，那不是很好吗?”秘书说着，翻了翻她的日历。 “天哪，三月已经去哪儿了?” 孩子们，我能帮你们什么忙吗?”丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯解释了他们的想法。 “你真的认为是我们的老师拿走了那具骨架吗?”她问。 “我们不知道，”丁克说。 “但脚印看起来像成年人的。 你介意把这些放在正确的邮箱里吗?”他把印好的八张钞票递给沃特斯太太。 她读了一篇，笑了。“我当然会的，”她说。 “我祝你好运，能找到博恩斯先生。 我知道狄龙先生会很高兴解开这个谜的!”

Mrs. Waters stood up, walked to the teachers' mailboxes, and placed the notes in eight different slots. The kids thanked her and left. Just then the bell rang, and students began rushing through the front door. They walked to their room and found Mrs. Eagle at her desk. "My, my, look who's eager to get started!" she said. Once more, the kids explained about the footprint, the eight notes, and their plan for finding the person who took the school skeleton. They showed her Josh's drawing of the footprint. "And you plan to ask each teacher if you can measure his or her feet?" Mrs. Eagle asked, grinning. "That footprint is our only clue," Ruth Rose said. "We want our class to win the tickets," Josh said. Mrs. Eagle smiled. "All right, if the teachers agree, you three may leave the room later," she

沃特斯太太站起来，走到老师的邮箱前，把纸条放在八个不同的槽里。 孩子们谢过她就走了。 就在这时，铃声响了，学生们开始从前门冲进来。 他们走到自己的房间，发现鹰夫人坐在书桌前。 “我的天，我的天，看看谁迫不及待要开始了!”她说。 孩子们再一次解释了脚印、那八张纸条，以及他们寻找偷走学生骸骨的人的计划。 他们给她看了乔什画的脚印。 “你打算问每位老师你能不能量一下他们的脚?”鹰太太咧嘴笑着问。 “那个脚印是我们唯一的线索，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我们希望我们班能赢得彩票，”乔希说。 鹰太太笑了。“好吧，如果老师们同意，你们三个稍后可以离开教室。

said. The morning seemed to last forever. Dink kept glancing at the clock, and Josh kept sighing and fidgeting at his desk. Finally, during math, a fifth grader came into the room and handed Mrs. Eagle a stack of papers. She looked through the stack, then called Dink up to her desk. "Here are your responses," she whispered. "All eight have checked YES. You might as well go now, and good luck!" Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose quietly left the room. They brought with them eight sheets of drawing paper, a ruler, Josh's footprint sketch, and Ruth Rose's list of teachers' names. "Guys, I just thought of something," Ruth Rose said in the hallway. "Whoever made that footprint yesterday might be wearing different shoes today." "You're right," Dink said. "So anyone whose shoe is about the right size, we'll ask if they wore the same shoes yesterday"

说。这个早晨似乎永远都过不完。 丁克不停地看钟，乔希不停地叹气，在书桌前坐立不安。 最后，上数学课时，一个五年级的学生走进教室，递给伊格尔夫人一叠试卷。 她浏览了一堆文件，然后把丁克叫到她的办公桌前。 “这是你的回答，”她低声说。 “八个人都选了YES。 你最好现在就走，祝你好运!”丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯悄悄地离开了房间。 他们带来了八张画纸、一把尺子、乔希的脚印草图和露丝·罗斯的老师名单。 “伙计们，我刚想到一件事，”露丝·罗斯在走廊里说。 “昨天留下那个脚印的人，今天可能穿着不同的鞋子。” “你说得对，”丁克说。 “所以任何鞋子尺码合适的人，我们都会问他们昨天是否穿过同样的鞋子。”

They started walking down the hall. On one classroom door, someone had hung a sign. It said: COME HOME, MR. BONES. WE MISS YOU! There was a drawing of a skeleton under the words. Three girls wearing skeleton masks scampered down the hallway. "Mr. Bones, where are you?" one of the girls said. The other two laughed at their friend. Outside the fifth-grade room, a paper skeleton hung from the ceiling. "The whole school is looking for the skeleton," Josh muttered. "We have to find it first!" "Then we'd better get going," Ruth Rose said. "Maybe no one else knows about the footprint yet." First on her list was Miss Alubicki, the kindergarten teacher. They showed her Josh's drawing and asked if she would let them trace her left foot. "Of course," Miss Alubicki said, smiling. "But I can already tell you, that foot is a lot bigger than mine." The little kids giggled as Josh traced around her foot on a piece of paper. Outside in the hall, Josh compared it with his drawing.

他们开始沿着大厅走去。 在一间教室的门上，有人挂了一块牌子。 上面写着:回家吧，博恩斯先生。 我们想念你!文字下面有一幅骷髅图。 三个戴着骷髅面具的女孩在走廊上蹦蹦跳跳。 “博恩斯先生，你在哪儿?”其中一个女孩说。 另外两个人嘲笑他们的朋友。 在五年级的教室外面，天花板上挂着一个纸骨架。 “整个学校都在找那具骷髅。”乔什喃喃地说。 “我们必须先找到它!”“那我们最好马上出发，”露丝·罗斯说。 “也许还没有其他人知道这个脚印。” 她名单上的第一位是幼儿园老师阿鲁比基小姐。 他们给她看了乔希的画，问她是否愿意让他们画她的左脚。 “当然，”阿鲁比基小姐微笑着说。 “但我可以告诉你，那只脚比我的大得多。” 当乔希在一张纸上画着她的脚时，孩子们咯咯地笑起来。 在外面的大厅里，乔希把它和他的画作了比较。

"It's definitely not her," he said. "Miss Alubicki's foot is only seven inches long." Ruth Rose drew a big X in front of Miss Alubicki's name on her list. After the name she wrote: TOO SMALL. They went next door and peeked into Mr. Diodato's first-grade class. The tall teacher was writing at the chalkboard: WHO STOLE THE SCHOOL SKELETON? Dink knocked, and Mr. Diodato looked up. "We have visitors, class," he said, grinning. While Josh traced Mr. D.'s sneaker onto a sheet of paper, the first graders gathered around.

“肯定不是她，”他说。 “阿鲁比基小姐的脚只有七英寸长。” 露丝·罗斯在名单上的阿鲁比基小姐的名字前面画了一个大大的X。 她在名字后面写了:太小。 他们走到隔壁，偷看了一下迪奥达托一年级的班级。 高个子老师正在黑板上写:谁偷走了学校的骨架? 丁克敲了敲门，迪奥达托先生抬起头来。 “同学们，我们有客人。”他笑着说。 在乔希追踪D先生的时候。他把他的运动鞋画在一张纸上，一年级的学生都围了过来。