14 DOWN THE COAL-HOLE!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN DOWN THE COALHOLE! RONNIE'S PARTY was a good one, and the three boys and Janet enjoyed themselves thoroughly. They quite forgot the exciting affair they were mixed up in, as they played all kinds of games. But one game reminded them of the Secret Seven doings! Ronnie's mother suddenly came in with a tray of all kinds of things. 'Now look well, everybody!' she said. 'There are twenty things here. I am going to find out which of you has the best powers of observation! Look well for one minute, and then I shall take the tray away, and you must each write down

第十四章下了煤坑！罗尼的晚会开得很好，三个男孩和珍妮特玩得很开心。 他们玩着各种各样的游戏，完全忘记了自己卷入其中的激动人心的事情。 但是有一个游戏让他们想起了七个秘密！罗尼的妈妈突然端着一盘各种各样的东西走了进来。 “现在，每个人都要注意健康！”她说。 “这里有二十种东西。 我要看看你们谁的观察力最好！好好看一分钟，然后我就把盘子拿走，你们每个人都要写下来

what you saw on the tray, as many as you can!' You can guess who won that competition, Janet! She remembered all twenty, and Peter was very proud of her. 'I believe you belong to a Secret Society, Janet,' said Ronnie's mother, giving her a box of chocolates as a prize. 'You must be one of its best members!' That reminded the three boys of the exciting thing they were to do the next night. Down the coal-hole they would go, and what would they find there? There was no time for a proper meeting before Friday night, so Janet, Pam, and Barbara hurriedly told Peter what they had found out about lost or stolen dogs. Peter was very interested indeed, especially when he heard that most of them were from their own county. 'That rather looks as if the thieves have their quarters in the county too,' he said. 'And if so,

你在托盘上看到的，尽可能多地说！”珍妮特，你能猜到谁赢了那场比赛！她记得所有的二十个，彼得为她感到骄傲。 “我相信你属于一个秘密社团，珍妮特，”罗尼的母亲说着，给了她一盒巧克力作为奖励。 “你一定是它最好的成员之一！”这使三个男孩想起了第二天晚上要做的令人兴奋的事情。 他们会钻进煤洞，在那里会发现什么呢？ 星期五晚上之前没有时间开一个正式的会议，所以珍妮特、帕姆和芭芭拉赶紧告诉彼得她们发现的关于丢失或被盗狗的情况。 彼得确实很感兴趣，尤其是当他听说他们大多数都来自自己的国家时。 “看来小偷们也住在县里，”他说。 “如果是这样的话，

it may be down that coal-hole! I'd like to pay back that nasty young man for getting George into trouble. I'm sure he's mixed up in this!' It was dark about seven o'clock. The three boys and Scamper met at the end of Peter's road, and set off together. Colin had his rope- ladder, and they all had their torches. They felt very excited. It was a dark night, and a slight drizzle was falling. The boys turned up their coat collars. They went cautiously, in case that young man should turn up again out of some corner. They didn't like him. In fact each boy was secretly afraid of him. There was something horrid about his cold eyes and thin, cruel mouth that not one of them liked. They went down Hartley Street and across Plain Square. A bus rumbled by and a few cars. They came near to the alley-way. 'Do you suppose that man's coming with another dog

它可能在那个煤洞下面！我想报复那个让乔治陷入麻烦的讨厌的年轻人。 我敢肯定他跟这件事有牵连！”七点钟左右天已经黑了。 三个男孩和斯坎普在彼得那条路的尽头相遇，一起出发了。 科林有他的绳梯，他们都有火把。 他们感到非常兴奋。那是一个漆黑的夜晚，下着细雨。 男孩们把衣领竖起来。 他们小心翼翼地走着，以防那个年轻人又从某个角落出现。 他们不喜欢他。事实上，每个男孩都暗自害怕他。 他那双冰冷的眼睛和那张瘦削而残忍的嘴有一种可怕的味道，谁也不喜欢。 他们沿着哈特利街走，穿过平原广场。 一辆公共汽车和几辆小轿车隆隆驶过。 他们走近了小巷。 “你认为那个人是带着另一条狗来的吗？

tonight?' whispered Jack. 'We'd better keep a sharp lookout in case he does. It wouldn't do for him to find us getting down the coal-hole!' 'Well, you had better keep watch while we two get down,' said Peter. 'Then as soon as we're down you can make a run for the hole and get down yourself. I only hope that man doesn't come– we'd be nicely trapped if he did. He's only got to pop on the lid and we're prisoners. We couldn't possibly lift up that heavy lid from inside.' This was not at all a nice thought. They went along even more cautiously, keeping a lookout for the young man. But there was no one to be seen near the alley-way. The boys went quietly down it and came into the yard. It was pitch-dark there. They stood and listened for a while, with Scamper silent beside them. If the man was there they might hear a slight movement, or even breathing. But they heard nothing at all.

今晚吗?杰克小声说。“我们最好保持警惕，以防他这么做。” 可不能让他发现我们下了煤洞！“好吧，我们下去的时候，你最好放哨。”彼得说。 “我们一下去，你就可以跑到洞那边，自己下去。 我只希望那个人不要来——如果他来了，我们会被困住的。 只要他打开盖子，我们就成了囚犯。 我们不可能把那沉重的盖子从里面打开。”这可不是什么好事。 他们更加小心翼翼地走着，时刻注意着那个年轻人。 但小巷附近一个人也看不见。 男孩们悄悄地走下楼梯，来到院子里。 那里一片漆黑。他们站在那里听了一会儿，斯坎普静静地站在旁边。 如果那个人在那里，他们可能会听到轻微的动静，甚至是呼吸。 但是他们什么也没听到。

It seemed quite safe to switch on torches and go across to the coal-hole. Peter flashed his torch round quickly. The yard was deserted, dirty as ever, and very quiet. There was not even the lighted window to see. They moved the box that hid the coal-hole and heaved off the heavy lid, and then Peter flashed his torch down. Nothing there but blackness and dirt. Colin undid the little rope- ladder he carried and let it drop slowly down into the hole, rung by rung. Scamper watched it going down with much interest. They peered down. Yes, it reached the bottom nicely. Colin fastened the top end carefully to a nearby stone post. 'Now, Jack, you go to the entrance of the alley and keep guard till we're down,' whispered Peter. 'Come as soon as you hear a low whistle.' Jack sped off obediently. Colin said he

打开火把，走到煤洞那边去，似乎很安全。 彼得迅速地向四周挥动火把。 院子里空无一人，像以前一样肮脏，非常安静。 甚至连点着灯的窗户也看不见。 他们搬开了藏煤洞的箱子，掀开了沉重的盖子，然后彼得用手电筒照着。 那里除了黑暗和尘土什么也没有。 科林解开他带着的小绳梯，让它慢慢地一阶一阶地往洞里掉。 斯坎珀饶有兴趣地看着它往下沉。 他们往下看。是的，它很好地到达了底部。 科林小心地把顶端固定在附近的一根石柱上。 “好了，杰克，你到巷口去守着，直到我们下去。”彼得小声说。 “你一听到低低的哨声就过来。”杰克顺从地飞驰而去。 科林说他

would go down first. So down he climbed, rung by rung, till he came to the bottom. He flashed his torch round. He was in a big coal- cellar. His feet crunched a little as he stepped here and there, and he guessed that there was still coke or coal dust on the floor. 'I'm coming now,' whispered Peter. 'Look out, I'm bringing Scamper too!' Down he came, and soon stood beside Colin. He remembered Jack, and sent a low whistle to tell him he could come. Soon they heard Jack's feet above, and then he came down too, grinning in delight. They were all very excited, Peter flashed his torch all round. 'Now, there must be a way out of this cellar. Look, is that a door over there?' 'Yes,' said Jack. 'That probably leads into the other cellars or basements. We'd better go cautiously– and listen hard as we go.' 'Nobody saw us go down, that's one good

会先下去。于是他一阶一阶地往下爬，一直爬到底部。 他用手电向四周闪烁。 他在一个大煤窖里。 他的脚嘎吱嘎吱地走来走去，他猜想地板上还有焦炭或煤尘。 “我现在就来。”彼得小声说。 “小心，我把斯坎普也带来了！”他下来了，很快站在柯林身边。 他想起了杰克，轻轻地吹了一声口哨，告诉他可以来。 很快他们听到了杰克的脚步声，然后他也下来了，高兴地笑着。 他们都很兴奋，彼得拿着手电四处闪烁。 “现在，一定有办法从这个地窖出去。 看，那边是门吗？“是的，”杰克说。 “那可能通向其他的地下室。 我们最好小心行事，一边走一边仔细听。“没人看见我们下去，这倒是件好事。