儿童英语读物 黄色小屋的秘密 The Yellow House Mystery Chapter 6 前往营地

It was a pleasant ride to Maine. They ate lunch on the way. Soon after lunch, Joe turned into a bumpy 1 side road and drove 2 carefully through the woods. Suddenly he pointed 3 ahead to a pretty blue lake on the side of the road. “There is the end of our station wagon 4 ride.”



The children looked out as he steered 5 the station wagon up to the door of a little store, and stopped. “All out!” he said.



“Now for the fun!” cried Alice. “What a lot of things we’ll buy here!”



The storekeeper came to the door to see who was stopping.



“You don’t remember me, Mr. Long,” said Joe. “But I was a guide up here once.”



“Sure I remember you. You’re Joe Alden. Glad to see you. Going on a canoe 6 trip? These all your children?”



“No,” laughed Joe. “This is my new wife, and these are my four young cousins.”



“How do you do?” said Benny politely. “Oh, Mr. Long, you have canoes 7 over there.”



“I have everything for a canoe trip,” said Mr. Long with a smile. “Going three in a canoe? I can fix you up all right. You’ll need two. You’ll need some tents, too.”



They all went into the store. “Oh, look!” cried Benny, happily. “All kinds of tin dishes and tin cans. And let’s have some pancakes for breakfast!” He took down a box of pancake flour.



“Benny,” said Jessie, kindly 8, “I think you’d better let Joe tell us what to buy. He knows what we can carry.”



“Well, yes, Jessie,” said Joe. “But Benny is right about the pancakes. Just wait until you smell them cooking in the early morning.”



Mr. Long put the things in a big bag. “Flour, salt, sugar, bacon 10, dried eggs, canned milk, potatoes, beans, onions, canned fruit,” said Alice. “We won’t go hungry with that.”



“Tin dishes to eat out of and tin dishes to cook in,” said Jessie.



They went outdoors to look at canoes.



“I can take care of your station wagon,” said Mr. Long. “Just leave it here.” He turned over two canoes and helped Joe push them half into the lake.



Joe thanked him. Then he said, “Just a minute, Mr. Long. We want to ask you something before we go. We are really up here to look for an old man who is lost. He would be about seventy years old now, but he has been lost for almost forty years.”



“His name is Bill McGregor,” said Benny.



“Never heard of him. I’m sorry,” said Mr. Long, shaking his head.



“We’re sorry, too,” said Violet 11 sadly.



Mr. Long looked at the gentle little girl. “I’ll keep my ears open,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything about your man.”



“Please do,” said Joe. “We’re about ready.”



“I want to go in the canoe with Joe!” cried Benny, jumping up and down.



“Well, you can,” said Joe after thinking a minute. “You are light and I am heavy. Henry, I will take Jessie, too. You take Violet and Alice.”



“That’s nice,” said Alice. She smiled at Violet. “I’d like to go with you, and I can help Henry paddle 12 if he needs me.”



“I’ll put the bag of food, the tent bag, and one blanket roll in the middle of our canoe, Benny,” said Joe. “Then you sit down near them and don’t move.



“Henry’s canoe can carry the other blanket roll and the bag of dishes.”



When everything was loaded, Mr. Long gave the canoes a last push into the lake.



“Oh, isn’t this lovely!” cried Jessie, as her canoe began to slide through the smooth blue water. “What a beautiful lake this is.” She looked back to see Henry taking up his paddle. Then both canoes were on their way.



“Keep near me, Henry,” Joe called back. “Then we can shout to each other.”



Benny was looking at a spot in the lake. “Is this water very deep, Joe?” he asked.



“Oh, yes, very deep.”



“Is it deeper than a tree?” asked Benny, still looking at the spot.



“Oh, yes, much deeper than a tree in the middle,” answered Joe laughing. “Why do you ask?”



“Well, there’s a tree growing in the lake over there, almost in the middle,” cried Benny. “But it’s moving!”



“Moving? A tree?” cried Joe. “Why—it’s a moose! He’s swimming across the lake. Those branches are his antlers, Benny. Hoo-hoo, Henry! Look! A moose!” He pointed at the moose as he shouted to Henry.



But the swimming animal had heard the shouts. He had seen the canoes. He turned around and began to swim as fast as he could toward 13 the shore. When he got near the edge 14, he splashed 15 through the shallow 16 water and ran out of sight into the bushes 17.



“Well, well!” said Jessie. “Always something interesting on a canoe trip. Wasn’t he a big one, though.”



“Keep your eyes open,” said Joe. “You may even see a bear.”



“Really, Joe?” asked Jessie.



“Well, not right here,” answered Joe. “They don’t come down here very much. But we may see a bear before we go home.”



“And fish!” cried Jessie. “Did you see that fish jump right out of the water?”



“Yes, I did,” said Joe. “He was a big fellow.”



“Let’s go fishing!” cried Benny.



“We can’t stop now,” said Joe. “We’ll have to paddle right along to make camp for the night.”



“Are you going to build a fire, Joe?”



Joe smiled. “Yes, indeed,” he said. “I can build a fire because I was a guide once. Nobody can build a fire in the Maine woods except a guide.”



“I’m glad you’re a guide, then,” said Benny. “What are you going to cook for supper?”



“A secret,” said Joe laughing. “And we may have company. Yes, I think I can promise you company.”



“Who in the world could it be?” Jessie asked. “You don’t mean Bill, do you?”



“No, not Bill,” said Joe quickly.



Then Jessie remembered that Joe had talked quietly with Mr. Long in front of the store. No one else heard a word the two men had said.



“I bet 9 that’s a secret, too,” said Benny.



“Right,” answered Joe.