12 THE SCARECROW INN

CHAPTER TWELVE THE SCARECROW INN THE SECRET Seven came near to the old inn. It was certainly a strange place, almost tumble-down. Outside a sign swung in the wind, creaking dismally. On it was painted a scarecrow in a field, and printed on it in big letters was the name. 'The Scarecrow,' said Peter, leaping off his bicycle. 'Here we are. Look out for Albert, everyone!' They leaned their bicycles against a hedge and walked over to the inn. No one was about. The whole place looked completely deserted. 'But there must be somebody about!' said

第十二章稻草人客栈七个人来到老客栈附近。 这的确是个奇怪的地方，几乎要坍塌了。 外面一块牌子在风中摇晃，发出凄凉的吱吱声。 上面画着一个稻草人在田野里，上面用大字印着稻草人的名字。 “稻草人，”彼得说着，从自行车上跳了下来。 “我们到了。大家要当心阿尔伯特！”他们把自行车靠在树篱上，向旅店走去。 周围没有人。整个地方看起来完全空无一人。 “但附近一定有人！”说

Colin. 'Look, there are a few hens pecking around.' They went right up to the old inn. 'It seems to be shut,' said Peter, puzzled. 'Yes, look, there are bars across the windows and across the front door too, wooden bars, nailed on.' 'It must be closed down,' said Jack. 'Let's go round to the back. We can ask for a drink of water, or how to get to Penton, or something like that.' So they all went round to the back door of the inn. A woman was in a little yard there, hanging out some washing, an old, grey-haired woman with a very disagreeable face. 'Er, could we have a drink of water, please?' asked Peter, in his politest voice. 'There's the well. Help yourself,' said the woman. 'Thank you. Is the inn closed now?' asked Peter. 'Yes. Been closed for months,' said the old

科林。“看，有几只母鸡在啄食。”他们径直走到老客栈。 “它好像是关着的。”彼得困惑地说。 “是的，你看，窗户上和前门上都有铁条，都是钉上去的木条。“它必须被关闭，”杰克说。 “我们绕到后面去吧。 我们可以要一杯水，或者怎么去巴顿，或者诸如此类的事情。”于是他们都绕到客栈的后门去了。 那边的一个小院子里有个女人在晾洗好的衣服，她是一个白发苍苍的老妇人，一副令人讨厌的样子。 “呃，我们能喝点水吗？”彼得用他最礼貌的声音问。 “那是一口井。“请自便，”那女人说。 “谢谢你。旅馆现在关门了吗？彼得问。 ‘是的。“关门好几个月了。”老人说

woman, pegging up a sheet. 'I just caretake, and it's a lonely job up here on the common. You're the first people I've spoken to for about six weeks, except for the milkman and the grocer's boy.' 'Oh, then you don't know anyone called Albert, I suppose?' asked Peter, as innocently as he could. 'Now, don't you be cheeky,' said the woman angrily. 'Who told you my old man was called Albert? You call him Mr Larkworthy, and mind your manners. See, there he is. I'll send him after you if you're cheeky!' The Secret Seven saw an old bent man coming out of the inn with a stick in his hand, on which he leaned heavily. Goodness, they hadn't meant to be cheeky! How could they have guessed that the old woman's husband was called Albert? 'We didn't mean your husband,' said Peter hurriedly. 'We really didn't. We're just looking

女人，在钉床单。 “我只是看家，在这片公地上，这是一项孤独的工作。 你们是我六周以来第一个和我说话的人，除了送奶工和杂货店的男孩。“哦，那么我想你不认识一个叫阿尔贝的人吧？”彼得尽量装出一副无辜的样子问。 “喂，你别这么厚脸皮，”那女人生气地说。 “谁告诉你我爸爸叫艾伯特的？” 你叫他拉克沃西先生，注意你的举止。 看，他来了。你要是这么厚脸皮，我就派他去追你！”秘密七人看见一个弯腰驼背的老人从旅店里出来，手里拿着一根棍子，重重地倚在上面。 天哪，他们不是故意这么厚脸皮的！他们怎么能猜到那老妇人的丈夫叫阿尔贝呢？ “我们不是说你丈夫。”彼得急忙说。 “我们真的没有。我们只是看看

for someone called Albert that we thought we might see here this morning.' 'Well, I won't have any cheek from children,' said the old woman. 'You clear off, now, before I tell my husband to chase you.' The Seven went away slowly, taking a good look at the little place as they went. They walked to their bicycles by the hedge. 'What do you think, Peter?' asked Jack. 'Do you suppose Albert came here at all?' 'No,' said Peter. 'We're on the wrong track. I think that cross old woman was speaking the truth. She probably hasn't seen anyone here for weeks! Gosh, I did feel awful when she said her husband's name was Albert! No wonder she thought we were cheeky!' 'I had a good look at that little garden,' said George. 'And it's quite plain that nobody has been digging in it to get anything buried there. Nothing but enormous weeds.' 'Yes. I had a look too,' said Peter. 'No, we're

找一个叫阿尔伯特的人，我们今天早上可能会在这里见到他。“好吧，我不要孩子们的厚脸皮，”老妇人说。 “在我叫我丈夫去追你之前，你给我滚开。”七兄弟慢慢地走开了，一边走一边仔细地打量着这个小地方。 他们沿着树篱向他们的自行车走去。 “你觉得怎么样，彼得？”杰克问。 “你认为阿尔贝到这儿来过吗？”“不，”彼得说。 “我们走错了路。 我认为那个暴躁的老妇人说的是实话。 她可能已经好几个星期没见过任何人了！天哪，当她说她丈夫的名字叫艾伯特时，我真的感觉很糟糕！难怪她认为我们厚脸皮！“我仔细地看了看那个小花园，”乔治说。 “很明显，没有人在里面挖东西，想把什么东西埋在里面。 除了巨大的杂草什么也没有。“是的。 “我也看了一眼。”彼得说。 “不,我们

on the wrong track, as I said. The thing is, what do we do next? If only we knew where Albert was at this moment, it would be a great help!' 'It might not be,' said Jack, with a grin. 'He might be scaring Jeff and Susie in our cave!' 'I hope he is,' said Peter grimly. 'Just like those two to try to annoy us!' 'What are we going to do now?' asked Janet. 'Peter, do you suppose it's a real scarecrow we have to look for?' Peter considered. 'Yes, it might be. I was so sure that the old inn was the place meant, that I didn't really think about proper scarecrows. But we can't go chasing over the countryside looking for all the scarecrows in the fields!' 'Yes, we can,' said Colin. 'Quite easily. All we've got to do is to separate, and bike all over the place, and whenever we see a scarecrow, get off and see if anyone has been disturbing the ground by it. I bet whatever is hidden is

就像我说的，我们走错了路。 问题是，我们接下来要做什么？ 要是我们知道艾伯特此刻在哪里就好了，那就帮了大忙了！“也许不是，”杰克笑着说。 “他可能在我们的山洞里吓唬杰夫和苏西！”“我希望他是。”彼得严肃地说。 “就像那两个人想惹恼我们一样！”“我们现在该怎么办呢？”珍妮特问。 “彼得，你认为我们要找的是一个真正的稻草人吗？”彼得认为。 “是的，可能是这样。我很肯定那个老客栈就是我要找的地方，所以我并没有真正去想什么合适的稻草人。 但是我们不能在田野里到处寻找稻草人！“是的，我们可以。”柯林说。 ”很容易。我们所要做的就是分开，到处骑，只要我们看到稻草人，就下车看看有没有人在它旁边捣乱。 我打赌不管藏了什么

well dug-in beside a scarecrow.' 'Yes. It would be such a good place if the thief wanted to get the loot again,' said Peter. 'I mean, if stolen goods were hidden in a field in the ordinary way, they couldn't be marked in case anyone wondered what the mark was for. A stick or a post or something would call attention to the place and make the farmer examine it. But a scarecrow is a natural mark and anything hidden beneath it wouldn't be found until the field was reaped!' 'Yes. And the thief meant to get it before that, as we know!' said George. 'Well, shall we go scarecrow-hunting?' 'Yes,' said Peter, getting on his bicycle. 'But look out for farmers. They mightn't be too pleased to see us walking all over their fields to get to a scarecrow!' They all rode off together, Peter calling out orders as they went. 'You take the west road, Colin and Jack.

挖在稻草人旁边。“是的。 “如果小偷想再次得到赃物，这将是一个很好的地方。”彼得说。 “我的意思是，如果偷来的东西以普通的方式藏在地里，它们就不能做标记，以防有人怀疑这个标记是干什么用的。 一根棍子或柱子之类的东西会引起人们对这个地方的注意，让农民检查一下。 但是稻草人是一个天然的标记，藏在它下面的任何东西都是在田地收割之前找不到的！“是的。 正如我们所知，小偷是想在那之前得到它的！乔治说。 “好吧，我们去找稻草人好吗？”“是的，”彼得说着，骑上了他的自行车。 “但是要注意农民。 他们看到我们走遍他们的田地去找稻草人，可能会不太高兴的！”他们一起骑马走了，彼得一边走一边喊着命令。 “你们走西路，科林和杰克。