20 THE END OF THE ADVENTURE

CHAPTER TWENTY THE END OF THE ADVENTURE LOUIS STARED at them all sullenly. 'You're mad!' he said. 'Asking me to pull up my trouser legs, and bend over– and now you start talking about pearls. What pearls? I don't know anything about pearls– never did.' 'Oh yes, you do,' said the Inspector. 'We know all about you, Louis. You took your stilts to get over that high wall– didn't you?– the one that goes round Milton Manor. And you got the pearls, and came back to the wall. Up you got on to your stilts again, and there you were, nicely on top, ready to jump down the

第二十章冒险的结束路易斯闷闷不乐地盯着他们大家。 “你疯了!他说。“让我拉起裤腿，弯下腰来——现在你开始谈论珍珠了。” 珍珠呢?我对珍珠一无所知——从来都不知道。“哦，不，你知道，”探长说。 “我们知道你的一切，路易斯。 你用高跷爬过那堵高墙，是吗？-环绕米尔顿庄园的那条。 你拿到了珍珠，回到了城墙。 你又爬上了高跷，就这样，稳稳地站在上面，准备跳下去

other side.' 'Don't know what you're talking about,' mumbled Louis sulkily, but he had gone very pale. 'I'll refresh your memory a little more then,' said the Inspector. 'You left stilt marks behind you– and this cap on a high branch– and this bit of wool from one of your socks. You also left your stilts behind you, in the middle of a holly bush. Now, you didn't do all those things for nothing. Where are those pearls?' 'Find 'em yourself,' said Louis. 'Maybe my brother's gone off with them in the caravan. He's gone, anyway.' 'But he left the pearls here– he said so,' said Peter, suddenly. 'I was in the caravan when you were talking together!' Louis gave Peter a startled and furious glance. He said nothing. 'And you said the pearls would be safe with the lions!' said Peter. 'Didn't you?'

另一边。“我不知道你在说什么，”路易斯不高兴地嘟囔着，但他的脸色已经很苍白了。 “那我就再唤起你一点记忆吧，”探长说。 “你在身后留下了高跷的痕迹——还有这顶挂在高树枝上的帽子——还有你一只袜子上的羊毛。 你还把高跷留在了冬青树丛中。 你所做的一切都不是白做的。 那些珍珠在哪里？“你自己去找吧，”路易斯说。 “也许我哥哥和他们一起坐大篷车走了。 反正他已经走了。“可是他把珍珠留在这儿了——他是这么说的。”彼得突然说。 “你们在一起谈话的时候，我就在大篷车里！”路易斯又惊又怒地看了彼得一眼。 他什么也没说。“你还说珍珠和狮子在一起会很安全！”彼得说。 “你没有?”

Louis didn't answer. 'Well, well!' said the Inspector, 'we'll make a few inquiries from the lions themselves!' So accompanied by all the children, and the two policemen, and also by about thirty interested circus people and by the little bear who had somehow got free and was wandering about in delight, the Inspector went over to the big lions' cage. He called for the lion- keeper. He came, astonished and rather alarmed. 'What's your name?' asked the Inspector. 'Riccardo,' replied the man. 'Why?' 'Well, Mr Riccardo, we have reason to believe that your lions are keeping a pearl necklace somewhere about their cage or their persons.' Riccardo's eyes nearly fell out of his head. He stared at the Inspector as if he couldn't believe his ears. 'Open the cage and go in and search,' said

路易斯没有回答。“好,好!巡查员说，“我们要向狮子们自己问几个问题！”于是，在所有孩子、两个警察、大约三十个感兴趣的马戏团人员和那只不知怎么逃出来的、正在高兴地四处游荡的小熊的陪同下，探长向大狮子的笼子走去。 他叫来了看守狮子的人。 他来了，既吃惊又有些惊慌。 “你叫什么名字？”探长问。 “里卡多，”那人回答。 “为什么?“嗯，里卡多先生，我们有理由相信你的狮子在它们的笼子或身体附近放了一串珍珠项链。”里卡多的眼睛几乎要掉下来了。 他盯着探长，仿佛不敢相信自己的耳朵。 “打开笼子，进去搜一搜。

the Inspector. 'Search for loose boards or anywhere that pearls could be hidden.' Riccardo unlocked the cage, still looking too astonished for words. The lions watched him come in, and one of them suddenly purred like a cat, but much more loudly.

检查员。“寻找松动的木板或任何可能藏珍珠的地方。”里卡多打开笼子，仍然惊讶得说不出话来。 狮子们看着他进来，其中一只突然像猫一样发出呼噜声，但声音要大得多。

Riccardo sounded the boards. None was loose. He turned, puzzled, to the watching people. 'Sir,' he said, 'you can see that this cage is bare except for the lions– and they could not hide pearls, not even in their manes

里卡多敲了敲木板。 没有一个是松的。他迷惑不解地转向围观的人们。 “先生，”他说，“你可以看到，除了狮子之外，这个笼子是空的——它们不能藏珍珠，甚至不能藏在它们的鬃毛里

–they would scratch them out.' Peter was watching Louis's face. Louis was looking at the big water-trough very anxiously indeed. Peter nudged the Inspector. 'Tell him to examine the water-trough!' he said. Riccardo went over to it. He picked it up and emptied out the water. 'Turn it upside down,' called the Inspector. Riccardo did so– and then he gave an exclamation. 'It has a false bottom soldered to it!' he cried. 'See, sir– this should not be here!' He showed everyone the underneath of the water-trough. Sure enough, someone had soldered on an extra piece, that made a most ingenious false bottom. Riccardo took a tool from his belt and levered off the extra bottom. Something fell out to the floor of the cage. 'The pearls!' shouted all the children at once, and the lions looked up in alarm at the noise. Riccardo passed the pearls through the bars of

——他们会把它们刮掉的。”彼得看着路易斯的脸。 路易斯确实非常焦急地看着那个大水槽。 彼得轻推了探长一下。 “叫他检查一下水槽！”他说。 里卡多走过去。他把它捡起来，把水倒掉。 “把它倒过来，”探长叫道。 里卡多照做了——然后他叫了一声。 “它焊接了一个假底！”他叫道。 “瞧，先生——这东西不应该在这儿！”他给大家看了水槽的下面。 果然，有人多焊了一块，做成了一个最巧妙的假底。 里卡多从腰带上拿出一个工具，撬开了多余的底部。 有东西掉到了笼子的地板上。 “珍珠!所有的孩子们异口同声地喊着，狮子们听到这声音惊恐地抬起头来。 里卡多把珍珠穿过酒吧