16 PRISONERS

CHAPTER SIXTEEN PRISONERS 'QUICK! HIDE under that bunk thing– and I'll hide under this,' whispered Peter in a panic. He and Colin crawled underneath, and pulled the hangings over them. They waited there, trembling. Two men came into the caravan, and one of them lit a lamp. Each sat down on a bunk. Peter could see nothing of them but their feet and ankles. He stiffened suddenly. The man on the bunk opposite had pulled up his trouser legs, and there, on his feet, were the blue socks with the faint red lines running down each side!

第十六章犯人快！“躲在那个铺位下面——我要躲在这个下面。”彼得惊慌地小声说。 他和科林爬到下面，拉上窗帘遮住他们。 他们战战兢兢地等在那里。 两个人走进大篷车，其中一个点上了一盏灯。 每个人都在一张铺位上坐下。除了脚和脚踝，彼得什么也看不见。 他突然僵住了。对面铺位上的那个人撩起了裤腿，他脚上穿的是一双两边有淡淡红线的蓝袜子！

To think he was sitting opposite the man who must be the thief– and he couldn't even see his face to know who it was! Who could it be? 'I'm clearing out tonight,' said one man. 'I'm fed up with this show. Nothing but grousing and quarrelling all the time. And I'm scared the police'll come along sooner or later about that last job.' 'You're always scared,' said the man with the socks. 'Let me know when it's safe to bring you the pearls. They can stay put for months, if necessary.' 'Sure they'll be all right?' asked the other man. The man with the socks laughed, and said a most peculiar thing. 'The lions will see to that,' he said. Peter and Colin listened, frightened and puzzled. It was plain that the thief was there– the man with the socks, whose face they couldn't see– and it was also quite plain that

想想看，他坐在那个一定是小偷的人对面——他甚至看不见他的脸，也不知道是谁！会是谁呢？ “我今晚要搬走，”一个人说。 “我受够了这个节目。 除了抱怨和争吵，什么都没有。 我怕警察迟早会因为那最后一份工作来找我。“你总是害怕，”穿袜子的男人说。 “什么时候给你带来珍珠是安全的，告诉我一声。 如果有必要，他们可以在这里待上几个月。“他们肯定不会有事吗？”另一个人问。 穿袜子的人笑了，说了一件很奇怪的事。 “狮子们会注意的，”他说。 彼得和科林听着，又害怕又困惑。 很明显，小偷就在那儿——就是那个穿袜子的人，他们看不见他的脸——而且，也很明显

he had hidden the pearls away for the time being– and that the first man had got scared and was leaving. 'You can say I'm feeling too sick to go on again in the ring tonight,' said the first man, after a pause. 'I'll go now, I think, while everyone's in the ring. Get the horse, will you?'

他暂时把珍珠藏了起来——第一个人害怕了，正要离开。 “你可以说我病得太重了，今晚不能再参加拳击比赛了，”第一个人停了一会儿说。 “我想，趁大家都在拳击场上，我现在就走。” 把马牵过来，好吗？”

The man with the socks uncrossed his ankles and went down the steps. Peter and Colin longed for the other fellow to go too. Then perhaps they could escape. But he didn't go. He sat there, drumming on something with his

穿袜子的人没有交叉脚踝，走下台阶。 彼得和科林渴望另一个人也去。 然后也许他们就可以逃跑了。 但他没有去。他坐在那里，用他的手敲着什么东西

fingers. It was plain that he felt nervous and scared. There were sounds outside of a horse being put between the shafts. Then the man with the socks called up the steps. 'All set! Come on out and drive. See you later.' The man got up and went out of the caravan. To the boys' intense dismay he locked the door! Then he went quietly round to the front of the van, and climbed up to the driving seat. He clicked to the horse and it ambled off over the field. 'Hey!' whispered Colin. 'This is awful! He locked that door! We're prisoners!' 'Yes. What a bit of bad luck,' said Peter, crawling out from his very uncomfortable hiding-place. 'And did you notice, Colin, that one of the men had those socks on! He's the thief. And he's the one we've left behind, worse luck.'

的手指。很明显，他感到紧张和害怕。 外面传来一匹马被夹在车辕中间的声音。 然后，穿袜子的人朝台阶上喊道。 “都准备好了!快出来开车吧。 再见。”那人站起来，走出了大篷车。 他把门锁上了，这使孩子们非常沮丧！然后他悄悄地走到车的前面，爬到驾驶座上。 他叫马一声，马就在田野上溜达了。 “嘿!科林小声说。“这太可怕了！”他把门锁上了！我们囚犯!“是的。 “真倒霉。”彼得说着，从他那不舒服的藏身之处爬了出来。 “科林，你注意到没有，其中一个男人穿着那双袜子！”他是小偷。 他就是我们留下的那个人，真倒霉。”

'We've learnt a lot,' said Colin, also crawling out. 'We know the pearls are somewhere in the circus. What did he mean about the lions?' 'Goodness knows,' said Peter. 'Unless he's put them into the lions' cage and hidden them somewhere there. Under one of the boards, I expect.' 'We'll have to escape somehow,' said Colin, desperately. 'Could we get out of a window, do you think?' The boys peeped cautiously out of the window at the front, trying to see where they were. The caravan came to a bright street lamp at that moment– and Peter gave Colin a sharp nudge. 'Look!' he whispered, 'that man who's driving the caravan has got on the tweed coat that matches the old cap we found up in the tree. It must be the man we saw painting the outside of the lions' cage!' 'Yes. And probably the thief borrowed his

“我们学到了很多。”科林说着，也爬了出来。 “我们知道珍珠在马戏团的某个地方。 他说狮子是什么意思？“天知道，”彼得说。 “除非他把他们放进了狮子的笼子里，藏在那里的什么地方。 我想是在其中一块板子下面吧。“我们总得想办法逃出去。”科林绝望地说。 “你觉得我们能从窗户出去吗？”孩子们小心翼翼地从前面的窗户向外窥视，想看看他们在什么地方。 这时，大篷车来到了一盏明亮的路灯前——彼得狠狠地推了科林一下。 “看!他低声说，“开大篷车的那个人穿了一件粗花呢大衣，和我们在树上找到的那顶旧帽子很相配。 一定是我们看到在狮子笼子外面画画的那个人！“是的。 很可能是小偷借了他的