12 The end of the adventure

CHAPTER TWELVE The end of the adventure SIX FIGURES went up the snowy lane– two boys in dark anoraks, two in curious white garments and caps, a dog in a draggled white coat, and a proud and beautiful horse. All the boys had gleaming white faces and looked extremely weird, but as they didn't meet anyone it didn't matter. Peter talked hard as he went, telling of all that had happened to him and Jack. Colin and George listened in astonishment, half-jealous that they, too, had not shared in the whole of the night's adventure. 'I'm going to put Kerry Blue into one of the stables at our farmhouse,' said Peter. 'He'll be all right now. What a shock for the men to

六人沿着雪白的小路走着——两个男孩穿着黑色的夹克，两个穿着奇怪的白色衣服和帽子，一条狗穿着拖泥带水的白大衣，还有一匹骄傲而漂亮的马。 所有的男孩都有一张闪着白光的脸，看起来非常奇怪，但因为他们没有遇到任何人，所以没关系。 彼得一边走一边使劲说话，讲述了发生在他和杰克身上的一切。 柯林和乔治惊讶地听着，有点嫉妒他们没有分享整个晚上的冒险。 “我要把克里·布鲁放在我们农舍的一个马厩里，”彼得说。 “他现在会好起来的。这对男人们来说是多么的震惊啊

find him gone! And tomorrow we'll tell the police. Meet at half-past nine– and collect Pam and Barbara on the way, will you? This really has been a wonderful mystery, and I do think the Secret Seven have done well! Goodness, I'm tired. I shall be asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow!' They were all in bed and asleep in under half an hour. Janet was fast asleep when Peter got in. He had carefully stabled Kerry Blue who was now quite docile and friendly. In the morning, what an excitement! Peter told his father and mother what had happened and his father, in amazement, went to examine Kerry Blue.

发现他不见了！明天我们就告诉警察。 九点半见面，顺便去接帕姆和芭芭拉，好吗？ 这真的是一个奇妙的谜团，我确实认为秘密七人做得很好！天哪，我累了。 我的头一碰到枕头就会睡着的！”不到半小时，他们都上了床，睡着了。 彼得进来时，珍妮特睡得正香。 他小心翼翼地养着克里·布鲁，它现在很温顺，很友好。 早上，多么令人兴奋啊！彼得把发生的事情告诉了他的父母，他的父亲惊讶地去检查克里·布鲁。

'He's a very fine racehorse,' he said. 'And he's been dyed with some kind of brown stuff, as you can see. I expect those fellows meant to sell him and race him under another name. Well, you've stopped that, you and your Society, Peter!' 'What about getting on to the police now?' said the children's mother, anxiously. 'It does seem to me they ought to be after these men at once.' 'There's a meeting of the Secret Seven down in the shed at half-past nine,' said Peter. 'Perhaps the police could come to it.'

“他是一匹非常好的赛马，”他说。 “你可以看到，他身上染了一种棕色的东西。 我想那些家伙打算把他卖了，用另一个名字比赛。 好吧，你和你的社团已经停止了，彼得！“现在去报警怎么样？”孩子们的母亲焦急地说。 "在我看来，他们的确应该立刻去追捕这些人。“九点半，秘密七人会在下面的小屋里开会。”彼得说。 “也许警察可以到这儿来。”

'Oh, no– I hardly think the police would want to sit on your flowerpots and boxes,' said Mummy. 'You must all meet in Daddy's study. That's the proper place.' So, at half-past nine, when the Seven were all waiting in great excitement, and Scamper was going quite mad, biting a corner of the rug, the bell rang, and in walked two big policemen. They looked most astonished to see so many children sitting round in a ring. 'Good morning,' said the Inspector. 'Er– what is all this about? You didn't say much on the phone, sir.' 'No. I wanted you to hear the story from the children,' said Peter's father. He unfolded the morning paper and laid it out flat on the table. The children crowded round. On the front page was a big photograph of a lovely horse. Underneath it were a few sentences in big black letters.

“哦，不——我想警察是不会想坐在你的花盆和盒子上的。”妈妈说。 “你们必须在爸爸的书房集合。 那才是合适的地方。”于是，九点半的时候，七个孩子正兴奋地等着，斯坎普快要发疯了，咬着地毯的一角，门铃响了，两个高大的警察走了进来。 看到这么多孩子围成一圈坐着，他们显得非常吃惊。 “早上好，”探长说。 “嗯——这是怎么回事？” 你在电话里没说什么，先生。“没有。 “我想让你听孩子们讲这个故事。”彼得的父亲说。 他打开晨报，平摊在桌子上。 孩子们围了过来。 头版上有一张很大的照片，上面是一匹可爱的马。 下面是几句用黑色大字写的句子。

KERY BLUE STOLEN. FAMOUS RACEHORSE DISAPPEARS. NO SIGN OF HIS HIDING-PLACE. 'I expect you saw that this morning,' said Peter's father. 'Peter, tell him where Kerry Blue is.' 'In our stables!' said Peter, and thoroughly enjoyed the look of utter amazement that came over the faces of the two policemen. They got out notebooks. 'This is important, sir,' said the Inspector to Peter's father. 'Can you vouch for the fact that you've got the horse?' 'Oh, yes– there's no doubt about it,' said Peter's father. 'You can see him whenever you like. Peter, tell your story.' 'We're going to take it in turns to tell bits,' said Peter. He began. He told about how they had made snowmen in the field. Then Jack went on to tell how he had gone to look for his

凯里蓝偷来的。著名的赛马消失了。 没有发现他的藏身之处。 “我想你今天早上已经看到了。”彼得的父亲说。 “彼得，告诉他克里·布鲁在哪儿。“在我们的马厩里！”彼得说，他非常欣赏两个警察脸上露出的惊讶的表情。 他们拿出笔记本。“这很重要，先生。”探长对彼得的父亲说。 “你能保证你得到了那匹马吗？”“哦，是的——这是毫无疑问的。”彼得的父亲说。 “你随时都可以去看他。 彼得，说说你的故事。“我们要轮流讲故事。”彼得说。 他开始。他讲了他们是如何在田野里堆雪人的。 然后杰克继续讲他是怎么去找他的

Secret Seven badge in the field, and how he had seen the car and its trailer-van. 'Of course I know now it was a horse-box,' he said. 'But I didn't know then. I couldn't think what it was– it looked like a small removal van, or something. I couldn't see any proper windows either.' So the story went on– how they had interviewed the caretaker and what he had said– how they had tracked the car down to the field gate and up the lane again. Then how four boys had dressed up as snowmen with Scamper and gone to watch. Then came the exciting bit about Peter and Jack creeping into the house to find the

七号秘密徽章，以及他是如何看到那辆车和它的拖车的。 “我现在当然知道那是一辆马车了，”他说。 “但我当时并不知道。我想不出那是什么——看起来像一辆小型搬运车什么的。 我也没看到任何像样的窗户。”故事就这样继续着——他们怎样采访了看门人，他又说了些什么——他们怎样追踪那辆车，一直追踪到院子的大门，然后又沿着小路往前走。 然后是四个男孩和斯坎普一起打扮成雪人去观看。 然后是彼得和杰克偷偷溜进房子去找