Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Dink tried to shrink into the dark space between the bushes. He could feel Josh and Ruth Rose doing the same. His heart thudded as Fred Little stepped closer. Then he stopped, took off his jacket, and hung it on a tree branch three feet from Dink's nose. He walked back toward the house. Josh grabbed Dink. "Look, he's wearing yellow suspenders!" Dink remembered where he'd seen those suspenders. He grinned at Josh. "The Superman clown!"

丁克试图缩进灌木丛之间的黑暗空间。 他能感觉到乔希和露丝·罗斯也在做同样的事情。 弗雷德·利特尔走近时，他的心怦怦直跳。 然后他停了下来，脱下夹克，挂在离丁克鼻子三英尺远的树枝上。 他朝房子走去。 乔希抓住丁克。“看，他穿着黄色的背带裤!”丁克记起他在哪儿见过那些背带裤。 他朝乔希咧嘴一笑。“超人小丑!”

"And the giraffe clown," Josh whispered back. "I knew I'd seen him before." They watched as Fred Little opened his gym bag. He pulled out a coil of rope and looped it around his neck. Then he picked up the long pole he'd brought with him. Only it wasn't a pole. Fred Little had brought a pair of long stilts. He carefully leaned the stilts against the house and scooted up the foot rests. Now about ten feet tall, he stilt-walked to a spot under a small window on the second floor. A moment later, Dink watched Fred Little slip through the window. First he was standing there on stilts, and then he was gone, like a snake slithering into a hole. The stilts remained leaning against the side of the house. Josh was at Dink's ear. "Should we-" "Shhh, wait," Ruth Rose whispered. Suddenly the rope uncoiled from the window. One end dangled to the ground, between the stilts. "That must be how he's coming down," Ruth Rose said.

“还有长颈鹿小丑。”乔什小声回答。 “我知道我以前见过他。” 他们看着弗雷德·利特尔打开他的运动包。 他抽出一卷绳子，把它绕在脖子上。 然后他拿起随身带来的长杆。 只不过它不是一根杆子。弗雷德·利特尔带来了一副长高跷。 他小心翼翼地把高跷靠在房子上，把脚凳抬起来。 他现在大约有十英尺高了，踮着脚走到二楼一个小窗户下面。 过了一会儿，丁克看见弗雷德·利特尔从窗户溜了出去。 刚开始他还站在高跷上，然后就不见了，像一条蛇爬进洞里。 高跷仍然靠在房子的侧面。 乔希在丁克的耳边。“嘘，等等，”露丝·罗斯低声说。 突然，窗户上的绳子松开了。 一端悬在地面上，在两根高跷之间。 “他一定是这样下来的，”露丝·罗斯说。

"Let's take the rope and stilts," Josh whispered. "He'll be trapped inside!" "But Mrs. Davis is in there with him," Ruth Rose said. "We have to let him come out, then follow him." "One of us should run to the police station now," Dink said. The trouble was, no one wanted to leave the excitement. Suddenly three things happened at once: The upstairs light blazed on. Dink heard a loud scream. A police whistle blared through the open window. Dink leaped to his feet, not sure what to do. Mrs. Davis was up there, and the burglar was probably in the same room with her! But which one had let out that scream? Dink saw a silhouette appear at the window. A second later, Fred Little was climbing down his escape rope. With his feet still above the ground, he dropped. Suddenly the backyard exploded in color and noise. A police cruiser roared across Mrs. Davis's lawn, flashing red, yellow, and blue lights. The backyard looked like a fireworks display.

“我们带上绳子和高跷吧。”乔希小声说。 “他会被困在里面的!”“可是戴维斯太太和他在一起，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我们必须让他出来，然后跟着他。” 丁克说:“我们其中一个现在应该去警察局。” 问题是，没有人想离开这种兴奋。 突然间，三件事同时发生了:楼上的灯亮了。 丁克听到一声尖叫。从开着的窗户里传来警笛声。 丁克跳了起来，不知道该怎么办。 戴维斯夫人在楼上，窃贼很可能和她在同一个房间里!但到底是谁发出了那声尖叫呢? 丁克看见一个剪影出现在窗口。 一秒钟后，弗雷德·利特尔顺着逃生绳往下爬。 他的脚还在地面上，他倒了下去。 突然，后院五彩缤纷，一片嘈杂。 一辆警车呼啸着穿过戴维斯夫人的草坪，闪烁着红、黄、蓝三色的警灯。 后院看起来像一场烟花表演。

The siren whooped loudly, shutting out the shrieking of the whistle. Then the noise stopped as the cruiser doors burst open. Officers Fallon and Keene leaped out. "Hold it!" Officer Fallon shouted. Fred Little was still crouched on the ground where he had landed. Dink saw his mouth fall open in panic and surprise. In seconds, he was wearing handcuffs. As Officer Keene led the prisoner to the police car, the back door flew open. Mrs. Davis marched out in a white nightgown and floppy slippers. She flip-flopped across the yard toward Fred Little. Her face was shiny with white cream. Some kind of lacy bonnet covered her hair. And she held a long sword high over her head. "The nerve of you!" she yelled into Fred Little's terrified face. "Coming right into my bedroom!" The sword flashed in the cruiser's headlights. Dink thought she was going to use it on the burglar!

汽笛大声鸣叫，盖住了汽笛的尖叫声。 然后，当巡洋舰的门突然打开时，噪音停止了。 法伦和基恩警官跳了出来。 “抓住它!”法伦警官喊道。 弗雷德·利特尔仍然蹲在他降落的地方。 丁克看到他的嘴因恐慌和惊讶而张得大大的。 几秒钟后，他就戴上了手铐。 当基恩警官把犯人带到警车上时，后门突然打开了。 戴维斯夫人穿着一件白色睡衣和软拖鞋大步走了出来。 她转身穿过院子朝弗雷德·利特尔走去。 她的脸因涂了白奶油而发亮。 她的头发上戴着一顶花边帽子。 她把一把长剑高高地举过头顶。 “你胆子真大!”她冲着弗雷德·利特尔惊恐的脸喊道。 “直接进我的卧室!”那把剑在巡洋舰的前灯里闪烁。 丁克以为她要用它来对付窃贼!

"I heard you trying to find my jewelry!" she shouted. "And after I fed you tea and cookies!" "Come on," Ruth Rose said. Everyone, but especially Fred Little, was surprised to see three little ninjas crawl out of the bushes.

“我听到你在找我的珠宝!”她喊道。 “在我给你喂了茶和饼干之后!”“来吧，”露丝·罗斯说。 每个人，尤其是弗雷德·利特尔，都惊讶地看到三个小忍者从灌木丛中爬出来。