9 ANOTHER MEETING

CHAPTER NINE ANOTHER MEETING PETER AND Colin helped the boy to get out the cushions from the rubber sheet. The kitten sat on a nearby branch, watching. It was a dear little thing, a fluffy tabby. 'You can have the rest of our biscuits, and a drink too, if you want to,' said Colin. 'Oh!– I nearly forgot that ship book! I must get it out of the cubby-hole!' He pulled it out, and then the two boys began to climb down the tree again, feeling carefully for footholds. It wasn't nearly so easy to climb down in the dark as it was in the daylight!

第九章又一次相遇彼得和科林帮助男孩从橡皮板上取下靠垫。 小猫坐在附近的树枝上看着。 那是一只可爱的小东西，毛茸茸的虎斑猫。 “你可以吃我们剩下的饼干，如果你愿意的话，还可以喝一杯。”柯林说。 “啊!-我差点忘了那本关于船的书！我必须把它从小木屋里拿出来！”他把它拔了出来，然后两个男孩又开始爬下树，小心地寻找落脚点。 在黑暗中爬下来远不如在白天那么容易！

'Good night,' called the boy, gratefully. 'And thanks for your help. Are you coming tomorrow? Could you bring me a spot of milk for my kitten, please?' 'Yes, of course– and a bit of fish if we can,' called back Peter. 'Don't fall out of the tree when you're asleep.' 'No, I shan't,' said the boy, sounding much more cheerful. Colin and Peter made their way home, talking in low voices about the boy and his curious story. 'What do you suppose his uncle and that friend of his– Mr Tizer– were planning to do, and were afraid Jeff had overheard?' said Peter. 'If it was a robbery or something we ought to try and stop it.' 'Well– if we can find out anything from Jeff, I really do think we ought to tell someone,' said Colin. 'Your parents, for instance.'

“晚安，”男孩感激地说。 “谢谢你的帮助。 你明天来吗？请给我的小猫拿点牛奶来好吗？“是的，当然——如果可以的话，再来点鱼。”彼得回答。 “睡觉的时候别从树上掉下来。“不，我不会的，”男孩说，听起来高兴多了。 科林和彼得在回家的路上，低声谈论着这个男孩和他的奇怪故事。 “你认为他的叔叔和他的朋友——蒂泽尔先生——打算做什么，而且担心杰夫听到了？”彼得说。 “如果是抢劫之类的，我们应该设法阻止它。“嗯——如果我们能从杰夫那里打听到什么，我真的认为我们应该告诉别人。”柯林说。 “比如说，你的父母。”

'Yes. But it would be nice to see if the Secret Seven can do something about it first,' said Peter. 'We'll call a meeting tomorrow– up the tree, with Jeff there– and we'll see what we can get out of him. He must have heard something that was said!' 'Right,' said Colin, beginning to feel excited. 'This is great! Just when we thought nothing would ever happen, something does. Do you want me to go and tell everyone tomorrow morning that something is up, and we must meet at the tree?' 'Yes,' said Peter. 'Passwords and everything. I'll be at the bottom of the tree, and nobody must yell out the password– just whisper it. Badges must be worn too.' 'Good,' said Colin, pleased. 'Well, we'll say good night here– this is your gate, isn't it? Good thing I went back for this book tonight, wasn't it? We wouldn't have caught Jeff if I hadn't.'

‘是的。“不过，不妨先看看七人秘密能不能做点什么。”彼得说。 “我们明天开个会——在树上，杰夫也在那儿——我们看看能从他那儿套出些什么。 他一定是听到了什么！“好吧，”科林说，开始感到兴奋起来。 “太棒了！”就在我们以为什么都不会发生的时候，事情发生了。 你想让我明天早上去告诉大家出事了，我们必须在树那儿见面吗？“是的，”彼得说。 “密码和一切。 我会在树的底部，没有人可以大声喊出密码——只要小声说。 还必须佩戴徽章。“很好，”科林高兴地说。 “好吧，我们就在这儿道晚安吧——这是你的大门，不是吗？” 幸好我今晚回去拿了这本书，不是吗？ 如果不是我，我们就抓不到杰夫了。”

The boys went their different ways, and Peter wondered whether or not to wake Janet and tell her about the boy in the tree-house, but he decided not to. It would keep till morning. All the Secret Seven were excited next morning when they heard about the meeting to be held, and were told about Jeff. 'Can we take Scamper with us, do you think?' asked Pam. 'Do you suppose he would frighten the kitten?' 'No. He's nice with kittens,' said Peter. 'Anyway, he'll be on guard down below, and the kitten will be up the tree with Jeff. I must remember to take a bottle of milk, and a saucer, and some fish.' 'Good thing we had haddock for breakfast,' said Janet. 'I'll wrap a bit up in grease-proof paper. Poor little kitten! Do you suppose its leg will be all right? Imagine anyone kicking a kitten!'

男孩们各奔东西，彼得不知道要不要叫醒珍妮特，告诉她树屋里男孩的事，但他决定不这么做。 它会保持到早晨。 第二天早上，当他们听说要开会时，所有的“秘密七人组”都很兴奋，并听说了杰夫的事。 “你觉得我们能带上斯坎普吗？”潘问。 “你认为他会吓到小猫吗？”“没有。 “他对小猫很好。”彼得说。 “不管怎样，他会在下面站岗，小猫会和杰夫在树上。 我必须记得带一瓶牛奶、一个碟子和一些鱼。“幸好我们早餐吃了黑线鳕，”珍妮特说。 我要用防油纸包起来一点。 可怜的小猫！你认为它的腿会好吗？ 想象有人踢小猫！”

Promptly at ten o'clock the Secret Seven met at the foot of the tree. The password was whispered importantly to Peter. 'Adventure!' 'Adventure!' 'Adventure! Is that boy up there?' 'Yes. Got your badge on? Good. Are we all here now? Well, up we go. Scamper, on guard, please!' Scamper looked at Peter, wagged his tail, and at once ran to his sentry-box in the nearby tree. He sat down on his bit of rug there, and looked quite stern as if to say, 'Strangers, beware! I'm on guard. Grrrrrrrrr!' Peter went up the tree first, the bottle of milk in his pocket, and the little saucer between his teeth. The others followed. Peter saw Jeff peering down anxiously as he heard them climbing up. 'Hello, Jeff!' said Peter, clambering up on to the platform of boards. 'Had a good night?

十点钟的时候，七个秘密成员在树下集合了。 密码被重要地悄悄告诉了彼得。 “冒险!“冒险!“冒险!那个男孩在上面吗？“是的。 你戴上警徽了吗？好。大家都到齐了吗？ 好了，我们走吧。快跑，请站岗！”斯坎普看了看彼得，摇了摇尾巴，立刻跑到附近树上的岗亭里。 他在那块小地毯上坐了下来，神情严肃，好像在说：“陌生人，小心！我在站岗。 Grrrrrrrrr !”彼得第一个上了树，口袋里装着那瓶牛奶，嘴里叼着那个小碟子。 其他人跟在后面。彼得看见杰夫听到他们爬上去，焦急地往下看。 “你好,杰夫!彼得说着，爬上了木板平台。 “昨晚过得好吗？”

How's the kitten?' 'Its leg is much better,' said Jeff. 'And I slept all night except when the wind blew too hard. I say– nobody will give me away will they? How many of you are there?' 'Seven,' said Peter. 'Move up a bit, Jeff, and make room. We're a Secret Society– the Secret Seven. We have our password and badges, and we hold meetings. If anything turns up for us to do, we do it.' Jeff sat at the back of the platform and looked at each member climbing up. Colin he knew from the night before. Barbara, Janet, Pam, George, Jack– they all climbed up and grinned kindly at him. The kitten mewed. 'Here's your milk, you tiny little thing!' said Peter, and he poured some out of the bottle into the saucer he had brought. 'Janet, where's the bit of fish?' The meeting was forgotten as the Seven crowded together on the little platform to

小猫怎么样了？“它的腿好多了，”杰夫说。 “除了风刮得太猛的时候，我整晚都在睡觉。 我说——没人会出卖我，对吧？ 你们有多少人？“七个。”彼得说。 “往前挪一点，杰夫，腾出地方来。” 我们是一个秘密社团，秘密七人组。 我们有密码和徽章，我们举行会议。 如果有什么事情需要我们去做，我们就会去做。”杰夫坐在站台的后面，看着每个人爬上去。 他前天晚上认识的科林。 芭芭拉、珍妮特、帕姆、乔治、杰克——他们都爬了上去，对他亲切地笑着。 小猫喵喵叫。“这是你的牛奶，你这个小东西！”彼得说着，从瓶子里倒了一些到他带来的碟子里。 “珍妮特，那块鱼在哪儿？”七个人挤在小平台上开始聊天，忘记了这次会议