19 WHERE ARE THE PEARLS

CHAPTER NINETEEN WHERE ARE THE PEARLS? 'YOU WANT to know what he did with the stilts he used when he climbed up on the wall after he had stolen the pearls?' said Peter. 'Well– I don't really know– but if all my reasoning is right, he must have flung them into a thick bush, somewhere, to hide them!' 'Yes– of course,' said Pam. 'But which bush?' They all looked round at the bushes and trees near by. 'A holly bush!' said Colin, pointing over the wall. 'That's always so green and thick, and people don't go messing about

第十九章珍珠在哪里？ “你想知道他偷了珍珠后爬上墙时用的高跷是怎么回事吗？”彼得说。 “嗯——我真的不知道——但是如果我的推理是正确的，他一定把它们扔进了茂密的灌木丛里，藏起来了！”“是的——当然，”潘说。 “但是是哪一丛呢？”他们都看了看附近的灌木丛和树木。 “冬青树！”科林指着墙那边说。 “那里总是那么绿，那么厚，人们不会乱来

with holly because it's too prickly!' 'Yes– that would certainly be the best,' said Peter. 'Come on, everyone.' He led the rest out of the Manor grounds and round to the other side of the wall at top speed. They were soon finding out what a very scratchy, prickly job bending back the branches of the thick holly tree could be. But what a reward they had! There, pushed right into the very thickest part, were two long stilts! Colin pulled out one and Peter pulled out the other. 'You were right, Peter!' said Janet. 'You are clever! We've explained simply everything now– the old cap high up on a branch– the bit of wool– the peculiar round marks– how the thief climbed an unclimbable wall. Really, I think the Secret Seven have been very, very clever!' 'And so do I!' shouted another voice. They all turned, and there, flushed and breathless,

和霍莉在一起，因为它太带刺了！“是的——那当然是最好的了，”彼得说。 “加油，大家。”他领着其他人走出庄园，以最快的速度绕到墙的另一边。 他们很快就发现，把那棵茂密的冬青树的树枝往后弯是一件多么刺耳、多刺的工作。 但是他们得到了多么丰厚的回报啊！在那里，有两根长长的高跷，正好插在最厚的地方！科林拿出一个，彼得拿出另一个。 “你说得对，彼得！”珍妮特说。 “你真聪明！”现在我们已经简单地解释了一切——树枝上的旧帽子——那一小块羊毛——奇怪的圆形痕迹——小偷是如何爬上一堵不可爬的墙的。 真的，我认为秘密七人非常非常聪明！“我也是！”另一个声音喊道。 他们都转过身来，满脸通红，喘不过气来，

was their friend the Inspector of Police, with John the gardener still a good ten metres off. 'Hallo!' said Peter, surprised. 'Did you hear all that?' 'Yes,' said the Inspector, beaming but breathless. 'John here opened the gate to my car, and told me he thought you had solved the mystery. We knew you must be hot on the scent of something when you chased out of the gate like that. Well, what's your explanation? You've certainly beaten the police this time!' Peter laughed. 'Ah well, you see– we can go snooping about the circus without anyone suspecting us– but if you sent seven policemen to snoop round the circus field, you'd certainly be suspected of something!' 'No doubt we should,' agreed the Inspector. He picked up the stilts and examined them. 'A very ingenious way of scaling an enormously high wall. I suppose you can't also tell me who the thief is, can you?'

是他们的朋友警察局长，园丁约翰离他们还有整整十米远。 “喂!彼得惊讶地说。 “你都听到了吗？”“是的，”探长微笑着说，但是上气不接下气。 “约翰打开了我的车门，告诉我他认为你已经解开了这个谜。 我们知道你那样跑出大门一定是嗅到了什么气味。 那你的解释是什么？ 这次你确实打败了警察！”彼得笑了。 “啊，好吧，你看——我们可以在马戏团里四处窥探而没有人怀疑我们——但如果你派七个警察去马戏场周围窥探，你肯定会被怀疑的！”“毫无疑问，我们应该这样做，”探长同意道。 他拿起高跷仔细检查。 “这是一种非常巧妙的攀爬巨大高墙的方法。 我想你也不能告诉我小偷是谁吧？”

'Well– it's a stilt-walker, of course,' said Peter. 'And I think it's a fellow called Louis. If you go to the circus you'll probably find him wearing blue socks with a little red thread running down each side.' 'And he'll have black hair with a little round bare place at the crown,' said Colin. 'At least– the thief I saw had a bare place there.' 'Astonishing what a lot you know!' said the Inspector, admiringly; 'you'll be telling me the colour of his pyjamas next! What about coming along to find him now? I've got a couple of men out in the car. We can all go.' 'Oooh,' said Pam, imagining the Secret Seven appearing on the circus field with three big policemen. 'Hey– won't the circus people be afraid when they see us?' 'Only those who have reason to be afraid,' said the Inspector. 'Come along. I do want to see if this thief of yours has a bare place on the crown of his head. Now, how do you know

“嗯——当然是走高跷的。”彼得说。 “我想是一个叫路易斯的家伙。 如果你去马戏团，你可能会发现他穿着蓝袜子，两边都有一根小红线。“他会有黑色的头发，头顶上有一小块圆的光秃秃的地方。”科林说。 “至少——我看见的那个贼在那儿有个空荡的地方。“你知道的真多！”巡查员羡慕地说道；“接下来你要告诉我他睡衣的颜色！”现在一起去找他怎么样？ 我车里有几个人。 我们都可以去。“哦，”帕姆说，想象着秘密七人和三个大警察一起出现在马戏场上。 “嘿——马戏团的人看到我们不会害怕吗？”“只有那些有理由害怕的人才会害怕，”探长说。 的出现。我倒要看看你这个贼的头顶上有没有光秃秃的地方。 你怎么知道

that, I wonder? Most remarkable!' They all arrived at the circus field at last. The police got there first, of course, as they went in their car, but they waited for the children to come. Through the gate they all went, much to the amazement of the circus people there. 'There's Louis,' said Peter, pointing out the sullen-looking young fellow over by the lions' cage. 'Bother– he's got no socks on again!' 'We'll look at the top of his head then,' said Colin. 'Louis stood up as they came near. His eyes looked uneasily at the tall Inspector. 'Got any socks on?' inquired the Inspector, much to Louis's astonishment. 'Pull up your trousers.' But, as Peter had already seen, Louis was barelegged. 'Tell him to bend over,' said Colin, which astonished Louis even more. 'Bend over,' said the Inspector, and Louis

我想知道那是什么？最引人注目的!”他们终于都到了马戏场。 当然，警察是先到的，因为他们是开车去的，但他们等着孩子们来。 他们都进了门，使在场的马戏团人员大为吃惊。 “那是路易斯，”彼得指着狮子笼子那边那个闷闷不乐的年轻人说。 “真讨厌——他又没穿袜子了！”“那我们就看看他的头顶吧。”科林说。 他们走近时，路易斯站了起来。 他的眼睛不安地望着高大的探长。 “穿袜子了吗？”探长问，这使路易斯大吃一惊。 “把裤子拉上来。”但是，正如彼得已经看到的，路易斯光着腿。 “叫他弯下腰来。”科林说，这使路易斯更吃惊了。 “弯下腰，”探长和路易斯说

obediently bent himself over as if he were bowing to everyone. Colin gave a shout. 'Yes– that's him all right! See the bare round patch at the crown of his head? Just like I saw when I was up in the tree!' 'Ah– good,' said the Inspector. He turned to Louis again. 'And now, young fellow, I have one more thing to say to you. Where are the pearls?'

顺从地弯下腰，好像在向大家鞠躬。 科林叫了一声。“是的——就是他！”看到他头顶上那块光秃秃的圆斑了吗？ 就像我在树上看到的那样！“啊——很好，”探长说。 他又转向路易斯。“现在，年轻人，我还有一件事要对你说。 珍珠在哪儿？”