5. Secret Mission

5 Secret Mission At the edge of the Charles River, Stanley and his family waited for Paul Revere to arrive. Or for someone who was dressed up as Paul Revere, anyway. As soon as he got here, their adventure would begin! It was hard to believe that, just the day before, they had seen this river from a duck boat. Or that

在查尔斯河边，斯坦利和他的家人等着保罗·里维尔的到来。 或者是打扮成保罗·里维尔的人。 他一到这里，他们的冒险就开始了!令人难以置信的是，就在前一天，他们还从一只鸭子船上看到了这条河。 或者

Stanley had taken a swim! That seemed like a long time ago now. But not as long ago as the 1700s. Now his family looked like they were from that time themselves. The Lambchops had changed their clothes and were now dressed like Boston colonists! Mrs. Lambchop was wearing a long dress. The boys and Mr. Lambchop were in short pants and long blue coats. Hannah had told them that the colonists wore blue and the British soldiers wore red. The colonists had a nickname for the British soldiers. They called them redcoats! Stanley didn't mind the ruffled shirt he was wearing under the coat. He didn't mind the stiff shoes on his feet. The outfit was so different from his usual clothes that he felt like it was Halloween. The only problem was the hat. No matter what Stanley did, the three-cornered hat would not fit on his two-cornered head. It wobbled all over the place.

斯坦利游泳了!那好像是很久以前的事了。 但不是早在18世纪。 现在他的家人看起来就像是那个时代的人。 小羊羔换了衣服，现在穿得像波士顿殖民者了!兰切普太太穿着一件长裙。 男孩们和兰彻先生都穿着短裤和蓝色长外套。 汉娜告诉他们，殖民者穿蓝色衣服，英国士兵穿红色衣服。 殖民者给英国士兵起了个外号。 他们叫他们红衣兵!斯坦利并不介意外套里面穿了一件皱巴巴的衬衫。 他不介意脚上的鞋子很硬。 这身衣服和他平时穿的太不一样了，他觉得这是万圣节。 唯一的问题是帽子。 无论斯坦利做什么，三角帽都不适合他的两角头。 它到处摇晃。

Mr. Bradford would be rowing the Lambchops, with Paul Revere, across the river to a different part of the city. Once they arrived, Paul Revere would get on a horse and ride to Lexington. He would try to get there before a group of people pretending to be British soldiers. He would also try to get there before the sun set! "Here he is!" said Mr. Bradford as Paul Revere approached. Paul Revere was tall and strong. He nodded at the Lambchop family, and stepped into Mr. Bradford's rowboat. He kept his head down. It looked like he was hiding. "Remember," said Mr. Bradford, "Paul Revere took this trip in secret. If anyone spotted him crossing the water, he wouldn't be able to take his ride." Maybe that was why he didn't say hello, Stanley realized. He didn't want to make any noise. This was a secret mission! Present-day Boston was still alive around them. Stanley saw sailboats and water taxis on the river. But there was only open water in front of the simple rowboat.

布拉德福德先生将和保罗·里维尔(Paul Revere)一起划着小羊羔船过河，前往城市的另一个地方。 他们一到，保罗·里维尔就骑马去列克星敦。 他会设法赶在一群假装成英国士兵的人之前到达那里。 他也会尽量在太阳落山之前到达那里!“他来了!”当保罗·里维尔走近时，布拉德福德先生说。 保罗·里维尔又高又壮。 他朝兰切普一家点了点头，然后跨上了布拉德福德先生的划艇。 他低着头。看起来他好像躲起来了。 “记住，”布拉德福德先生说，“保罗·里维尔这次旅行是秘密进行的。 如果有人发现他过河，他就不能骑了。” 也许这就是他不打招呼的原因，斯坦利意识到。 他不想弄出任何声响。 这是个秘密任务!今天的波士顿在他们的周围仍然生机勃勃。 斯坦利看到河上有帆船和水上出租车。 但那只简陋的划艇前面只有开阔的水面。

Stanley pretended he was on a secret mission, too. It made him feel a little nervous, but also excited. There were six people in the rowboat, and Mr. Bradford worked hard to get it going. "This is going to take forever!" Arthur whispered to his father. "There were no motorboats in colonial times," his father whispered back. "You just need to be patient." Mr. Bradford rowed silently across the water. Every time he dipped the paddles, he made sure there was no splash. If there were real British soldiers out here, Stanley was pretty sure no one would hear them. After a while, Mr. Bradford worked up some speed and they coasted across the water. "That breeze feels nice," said Mrs. Lambchop. Maybe it was nice for a tired traveler, but it was not that nice for Stanley. He was too flat and too light to withstand it. In the middle of the rowboat, he had nothing to hang onto. Suddenly, with another gust of wind, Stanley was airborne. His legs flew up and his body went upside down!

斯坦利假装他也在执行秘密任务。 这让他感到有点紧张，但也很兴奋。 划艇上有六个人，布拉德福德先生努力使它运转起来。 “这要花很长时间!”阿瑟小声对父亲说。 “殖民时期没有摩托艇，”父亲低声回答。 “你只需要有耐心。” 布拉德福德先生默默地划过水面。 每次他把桨浸入水中，他都要确保不会溅起水花。 如果这里真的有英国士兵，斯坦利很肯定没人会听到他们的声音。 过了一会儿，布拉德福德先生加快了速度，他们在水面上滑行。 “这风吹起来真舒服，”兰彻太太说。 也许这对一个疲惫的旅行者来说是件好事，但对斯坦利来说就不那么好了。 他太平太轻，承受不了。 在划艇的中间，他没有任何东西可以抓住。 突然，又刮起一阵风，斯坦利飞了起来。 他的腿飞了起来，他的身体倒了下来!