5 AN IMPORTANT MEETING

CHAPTER FIVE AN IMPORTANT MEETING THAT NIGHT the Secret Seven were very excited. Janet and Peter had slipped notes into everyone's letterbox. 'MEETING AT HALF-PAST NINE. IMPORTANT! S.S.S.' Colin and George had no idea at all what was up, because they hadn't listened to the radio. But the others had all heard of the theft of Lady Lucy Thomas's necklace, and, knowing that she lived by Little Thicket, they guessed that the meeting was to be about finding the thief!

第五章那天晚上的重要会议七个秘密成员非常兴奋。 珍妮特和彼得把纸条塞进了每个人的信箱。 九点半开会。 重要!轮”。柯林和乔治根本不知道发生了什么事，因为他们没有听收音机。 但是其他人都听说了露西·托马斯夫人的项链被盗的事，而且知道她住在小丛林附近，他们猜测这次会面的目的是找到那个小偷！

At half-past nine the Society met. Janet and Peter were ready for them in the shed. Raps at the door came steadily. 'Password!' called Peter, sternly, each time. 'Adventure!' said everyone in a low voice. 'Adventure!' 'Adventure!' One after another the members were admitted to the shed. 'Where's that awful sister of yours– Susie?' Peter asked Jack. 'I hope she's not about anywhere. This is a really important meeting today. Got your badge?' 'Yes,' said Jack. 'Susie's gone out for the day. Anyway, she doesn't know our latest password.' 'What's the meeting about?' asked Colin. 'I know something's up by the look on Janet's face. She looks as if she's going to burst!' 'You'll feel like bursting when you know,' said Janet. 'Because you're going to be rather important, seeing that you and Peter are the only ones who saw the thief we're going after.'

九点半，协会开会了。 珍妮特和彼得在小屋里为他们准备好了。 敲门声不断传来。 “密码!彼得每次都严厉地叫道。 “冒险!大家低声说。 “冒险!“冒险!”成员们一个接一个地进了棚屋。 “你那个可怕的妹妹——苏西呢？”彼得问杰克。 “我希望她不在附近。 今天的会议非常重要。 拿到警徽了吗？“是的，”杰克说。 “苏茜今天出去了。 总之，她不知道我们最新的密码。“会议是关于什么的？”科林问。 “从珍妮特脸上的表情我就知道有什么事。 她看起来好像要爆炸了！“你知道后会觉得要炸了的，”珍妮特说。 “因为你将成为一个相当重要的人物，因为只有你和彼得看到了我们正在追捕的小偷。”

Colin and George looked blank. They didn't know what Janet was talking about, of course. Peter soon explained. 'You know the man that Colin saw yesterday, climbing over the wall that runs round Milton Manor?' said Peter. 'The one I saw hiding in the bush– and then he went and climbed up into the very tree Colin was hiding in? Well, it said on the radio last night that a thief had got into Lady Lucy Thomas's bedroom and taken her magnificent pearl necklace.' 'Gracious!' said Pam with a squeal. 'And that was the man you and Colin saw!' 'Yes,' said Peter. 'It must have been. And now the thing is– what do we do about it? This is an adventure– if only we can find that man– and if only we could find the necklace too– that would be a fine feather in the cap of the Secret Seven.' There was a short silence. Everyone was

柯林和乔治一脸茫然。 当然，他们不知道珍妮特在说什么。 彼得很快解释道。“你知道柯林昨天看到的那个人吗？他正在翻过弥尔顿庄园周围的围墙。”彼得说。 “就是我看见藏在灌木丛里的那只——然后他就爬上了科林躲着的那棵树？” 嗯，昨晚广播上说，一个小偷进入了露西·托马斯夫人的卧室，偷走了她那漂亮的珍珠项链。“亲切!潘尖叫着说。 “那就是你和科林看到的那个人！”“是的，”彼得说。 “一定是这样。现在的问题是，我们该怎么做？ 这是一次冒险——只要我们能找到那个人——如果我们也能找到那条项链——那将是七人秘密的锦上添花。”一阵短暂的沉默。 每个人都是

thinking hard. 'But how can we find him?' asked Barbara at last. 'I mean– only you and Colin saw him, Peter– and then just for a moment.' 'And don't forget that I only saw the top of his head and tips of his ears,' said Colin. 'I'd like to know how I could possibly know anyone from those things. Anyway, I can't go about looking at the tops of people's heads!' Janet laughed. 'You'd have to carry a stepladder about with you!' she said, and that made everyone else laugh too. 'Oughtn't we to tell the police?' asked George. 'I suppose so,' said Peter, considering the matter carefully. 'Not that we can give them any help at all, really. Still– that's the first thing to be done. Then maybe we could help the police, and, anyway, we could snoop round and see if we can find out anything on our own.'

思考困难。“但是我们怎样才能找到他呢？”芭芭拉最后问道。 “我的意思是——只有你和科林看见了他，彼得——然后就一会儿。“别忘了我只看到了它的头顶和耳尖，”柯林说。 “我想知道我怎么可能从那些东西里认识一个人。 不管怎样，我不能到处去看别人的头顶！”珍妮笑了。 “你得随身带着一个梯子！”她说，其他人也都笑了。 “我们不应该告诉警察吗？”乔治问。 “我想是的，”彼得说，仔细考虑了一下这件事。 “不是说我们能给他们任何帮助，真的。 这是第一件要做的事。 然后也许我们可以帮助警察，而且，不管怎样，我们可以四处看看，看看我们自己能不能发现什么。”

'Let's go down to the police station now,' said George. 'That would be an exciting thing to do! Won't the Inspector be surprised when we march in, all seven of us!' They left the shed and went down to the town. They trooped up the steps of the police station, much to the astonishment of the young policeman inside. 'Can we see the Inspector?' asked Peter. 'We've got some news for him– about the thief that stole Lady Lucy's necklace.' The Inspector had heard the clatter of so many feet and he looked out of his room. 'Hallo, hallo!' he said, pleased. 'The Secret Seven again! And what's the password this time?' Nobody told him, of course. Peter grinned. 'We just came to say we saw the thief climb over the wall of Milton Manor yesterday,' he said. 'He hid in a bush first and then in a tree where Colin was hiding. But that's about all

“我们现在去警察局吧，”乔治说。 “那将是一件令人兴奋的事情！”我们七个人走进去的时候，探长不会感到惊讶吗？”他们离开棚子，到镇上去了。 他们成群结队地走上警察局的台阶，令里面的年轻警察大为吃惊。 “我们能见探长吗？”彼得问。 “我们有一些消息要告诉他——关于那个偷了露西夫人项链的小偷。”探长听到了许多脚步声，他向房间外望去。 “喂,喂!他高兴地说。 “又是七个秘密！”这次的密码是什么？”当然，没有人告诉他。 彼得咧嘴一笑。“我们只是来告诉你，昨天我们看见小偷翻过了米尔顿庄园的墙，”他说。 “他先躲在灌木丛里，然后躲在科林躲的树上。 但仅此而已

we know!' The Inspector soon got every single detail from the Seven, and he looked very pleased. 'What beats me is how the thief climbed that enormous wall!' he said. 'He must be able to climb like a cat. There was no ladder used. Well, Secret Seven, there's nothing much you can do, I'm afraid, except keep your eyes open in case you see this man again.' 'The only thing is– Colin only saw the top of his head, and I only caught a quick glimpse of him, and he looked so very, very ordinary,' said Peter. 'Still you can be sure we'll do our best!' Off they all went again down the steps into the street. 'And now,' said Peter, 'we'll go to the place where Colin saw the man getting over the wall. We just might find something there– you never know!'

我们知道!”侦察员很快从七个人那里得到了每一个细节，他看起来很高兴。 “令我不解的是小偷是怎么爬上那堵巨墙的！”他说。 “他一定能像猫一样爬树。 没有梯子。七号秘密，恐怕你也无能为力，只能睁大眼睛，以防你再见到这个人。“唯一的问题是——科林只看到了他的头顶，我也只匆匆瞥了他一眼，他看起来非常、非常普通。” “不过你可以放心，我们会尽力而为的！”他们又走下台阶，来到街上。 “现在，”彼得说，“我们要去科林看到那个人翻墙的地方。 我们也许会在那儿发现些什么——谁知道呢！”