7 Something to work on

CHAPTER SEVEN Something to work on JANET WAS awake now, very much awake! She took one scared look at the heads of the two men in front, suddenly outlined by a street lamp, and slid quickly down to the floor. She began to tremble. Peter slipped down beside her. 'Don't be frightened. I'll look after you. So long as the men don't know we're here, we're all right.' 'But where are they taking us?' whispered Janet, glad that the rattling of the car drowned her voice. 'I've no idea. They've gone down the main street, and now they're in a part of the town I don't know,' whispered Peter. 'Hallo, they're stopping. Keep down, Janet, and don't make a

珍妮特现在醒了，醒得很清醒！她惊恐地看了一眼前面两个男人的头，突然被一盏路灯照出了轮廓，然后迅速滑到地板上。 她开始发抖。彼得滑到她身边。 “别害怕。我会照顾你的。 只要他们不知道我们在这里，我们就没事。“可是他们要把我们带到哪儿去呢？”珍妮特低声说，很高兴汽车的嘎嘎声淹没了她的声音。 “我不知道。“他们沿着大街走了，现在他们到了镇上一个我不知道的地方。”彼得小声说。 “喂，他们停下来了。小声点，珍妮特，别闹

sound!' The driver stopped the car and peered out of the open window. 'You're all right here,' he said to his companion. 'No one's about. Get in touch with Q8061 at once. Tell him Sid's place, five o'clock any evening. I'll be there.' 'Right,' said the other man and opened his door cautiously. Then he shut it again, and ducked his head down. 'What's up? Someone coming?' said the driver. 'No. I think I've dropped something,' said the other man, in a muffled voice. He appeared to be groping over the floor. 'I'm sure I heard something drop.' 'For goodness' sake! Clear out now while the going's good!' said the driver impatiently. 'The police will be on the look-out for this car in a few minutes. I'm going to Sid's, and I don't know anything at all about you, see? Not a thing!'

声音!”司机停下车，从开着的窗户往外看。 “你在这儿没事，”他对他的同伴说。 “周围没人。立即与Q8061取得联系。 告诉他希德的住处，每天晚上五点。 我会去的。“好的，”另一个人说，小心翼翼地打开了门。 然后他又关上了门，低下了头。 “有什么事吗?有人要来吗?车夫说。 “不。“我想我掉了什么东西。”另一个人低声说。 他似乎在地板上摸索着。 “我肯定听到有什么东西掉下来了。“看在上帝的份上！”趁一切顺利，马上撤离！车夫不耐烦地说。 “警察几分钟后就会留意这辆车。 我要去希德家，我对你一无所知，明白吗？ 什么也没有！”

The other man muttered something and opened his door again. He slid out into the dark road. The driver got out on his side; both doors were left open, as the men did not want to make the slightest noise that might call attention to them. Peter sat up cautiously. He could not see or hear anything of the two men. The darkness had swallowed them completely. In this road the lamp-posts were few and far between, and the driver had been careful to stop in the darkest spot he could find. He had switched headlights and sidelights off as soon as he had stopped. Peter reached over to the front of the car and switched them on. He didn't want anything to run into his father's car and smash it. He wished he could drive, but he couldn't, and anyway, he was much too young to have a licence. What should he do now?

另一个人咕哝着什么，又打开了门。 他溜到黑暗的路上。 司机侧着身子下了车；两扇门都开着，因为他们不想发出任何可能引起注意的声音。 彼得小心翼翼地坐了起来。他既看不见也听不见那两个人的任何动静。 黑暗把他们完全吞没了。 在这条路上，路灯柱很少，而且相距很远，司机一直小心翼翼地把车停在他能找到的最黑暗的地方。 他一停车就关掉了前灯和侧灯。 彼得伸手到汽车前部，打开了开关。 他不想让任何东西撞到他父亲的车，把它撞坏。 他希望自己能开车，但他不能，而且，他太年轻了，还没有驾照。 他现在该怎么办呢？

Janet sat up, too, still trembling. 'Where are we?' she said. 'Have those men gone?' 'Yes. It's all right, Janet; I don't think they're coming back,' said Peter. 'Well, I wonder who they were and why they wanted to come here in the car? Talk about an adventure! We were moaning last night because there wasn't even the smell of one, and now here's one, right out of the blue!' 'Well, I don't much like an adventure in the dark,' said Janet. 'What are we going to do?' 'We must get in touch with Daddy,' said Peter. 'He must still be waiting at the station, unless he's gone home! But we haven't been more than a few minutes. I think I'll try to find a telephone box and telephone the station to

珍妮特也坐了起来，还在发抖。 “我们在哪儿？”她说。“那些人走了吗？”“是的。 没事的，珍妮特；“我想他们不会回来了。”彼得说。 “嗯，我想知道他们是谁，为什么要坐车来这里？” 这是一次冒险！昨晚我们还在抱怨，因为根本闻不到它的味道，现在突然来了一个！“嗯，我不太喜欢在黑暗中冒险，”珍妮特说。 “我们该怎么办？”“我们必须和爸爸联系。”彼得说。 “他一定还在车站等着，除非他回家了！”但我们在一起才几分钟。 我想我得找个电话亭，然后给电台打个电话

see if Daddy is still there.' 'I'm not going to wait in the car by myself,' said Janet, at once. 'Oh dear, I wish we had Scamper with us. I should feel much better then.' 'The men wouldn't have taken the car if Scamper had been with us,' said Peter, getting out. 'He would have barked, and they would have run off to someone else's car. Come on, Janet, get out. I'll lock the doors in case there is anyone else who might take a fancy to Daddy's car!' He locked all the doors, Janet holding his torch for him so that he could see what he was doing. Then they went down the street to see if they could find a telephone box anywhere. They were lucky. One was at the corner of the very road where they were! Peter slipped inside and dialled the railway station. 'Station here,' said a voice at the other end. 'This is Peter, of Old Mill House,' said

看看爸爸是否还在。“我不想一个人在车里等，”珍妮特马上说。 "噢，天哪，我真希望斯坎普也在。 那我就会感觉好多了。“要是斯坎普跟我们在一起，那些人就不会把车开走了。”彼得边说边下了车。 “他会吠叫，然后他们就会跑到别人的车上。 来吧，珍妮特，出去。我把门锁上，以防别人看上爸爸的车！”他锁上了所有的门，珍妮特帮他拿着手电筒，这样他就能看到自己在做什么。 然后他们沿街走去，看看能不能在什么地方找到一个电话亭。 他们很幸运。其中一个就在他们所在的那条路的拐角处！彼得溜了进去，给火车站打了电话。 “站在这儿，”电话那头有人说。 “这是老磨坊的彼得，”他说

Peter. 'Is my father at the station still, by any chance?' 'Yes, he is,' said the voice. 'He's just collecting some parcels. Do you want to speak to him? Right, I'll ask him to come to the phone.' Half a minute later Peter heard his father's voice. 'Yes? Who is it? You, Peter! But – but aren't you still in the car, in the station yard? Where are you?' Peter explained everything as clearly as he could, and his father listened to his tale in amazement. 'Well! Two car thieves going off with my car and not guessing you and Janet were in it. Where are you?'

彼得。“我父亲可能还在车站吗？”“是的，他是，”那声音说。 “他只是在收包裹。 你要和他说话吗？ 好吧，我叫他来接电话。”半分钟后，彼得听到了父亲的声音。 “是吗?是谁？你,彼得!可是你不是还在车里，在车站的院子里吗？ 你在哪儿？”彼得尽可能清楚地解释了一切，他的父亲听了他的故事感到惊讶。 “好!两个偷车贼开走了我的车却没料到你和珍妮特在里面。 你在哪儿？”