儿童英语读物 The Mystery in the Cave CHAPTER 9 Trapped Underground!

After saying good-bye to Joe Caveman, the Aldens spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the new cave.



“Know what?” Benny asked as he walked along with his brother and sisters. “Joe Caveman never told us his real name.”



“I like the name you gave him way better than any real name,” Violet said. “Henry, why are you stopping?”



“Because we hit a dead end,” Henry said when he came to a rock wall.



Jessie checked her watch. “It’s four o’clock. We should get back before Mr. Howe worries about us. And don’t forget. Grandfather will be back tonight. We have to pack for Greenfield.”



“Nuts!” Benny said when they turned back. “I didn’t find a Rockville diamond or any silver or figure out any mysteries to tell Grandfather.”



“We found out about Joe Caveman,” Henry said. “That was a mystery we solved.”



“That wasn’t a real mystery. He was just a plain old person reading his book in a cave,” Benny complained.



When the Aldens spotted 1 the last piece of tape, Henry pulled it down. “Wait a minute. Is this where we started? I don’t see the exit. There’s no light in here except for our flashlights.”



Jessie went over to the far wall of the cave. “The entrance is blocked!”



Henry came over and began to dig out rocks and dirt from the opening.



“What’s the matter, Henry?” Violet asked.



Henry waited a long time before answering. “There’s a boulder 2 or something very heavy pushed against the outside. It’s way too heavy for me to move.”



“Are we trapped?” Benny asked, his voice cracking.



Jessie tried not to sound scared. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s go back to where we saw Joe Caveman leave. He went out a different way. We’ll just follow his footprints, and I know we’ll get out.”



The Aldens walked quickly back through the dark cave.



“Benny, you stick up the tape this time,” Henry said. “And Violet can drag the stick along and mark our turns with an ‘X.’ Let’s get a move on.”



Finally, they were back in Joe Caveman’s “living room.”



“Okay,” Jessie said, “here are Joe Caveman’s footprints. Let’s just follow them until we see daylight.”



“Wait, I think I hear something,” Henry said.



“Stop! I hear water rushing near here,” said Jessie.



“Is it a flood, Jessie?” Benny asked. “What if there’s a big thunderstorm outside?”



“Let’s check where the sound is coming from,” Jessie said as calmly as she could. “Maybe it’s just an underground stream. That would be good because it could lead us out of here.”



Everyone listened very carefully. Sure enough, there was a whooshing 3, gurgling sound nearby, so the Aldens headed in that direction.



“See, an underground stream!” Jessie whispered when they found water. “Let’s walk along this ledge 4 and see where it goes.”



Henry led everyone alongside 5 the stream. The Aldens hadn’t gone far when they heard men’s voices shouting in the distance.



“This is your dumbest idea ever,” Ed Lyme said to Randall Pitt. “I’m not getting into that thing. I can’t swim.”



Mr. Pitt was blowing up a large raft with an air pump.



“Hey, what are you kids doing here?” Mr. Lyme shouted when he saw the Aldens standing 6 there.



“It’s us, Mr. Lyme,” Henry explained. “Even though you tried to scare us, we decided 7 to explore these caves anyway.”



“What are you staring at?” Mr. Pitt asked when he noticed Henry staring at his head.



“So you’re the one who broke into our cabin and stole my headlamp. I can see the initials 8 I marked on it—H.A. And that’s not all you stole. Nelly Stoner said a raft was taken from the Dragon’s Mouth Cavern 9 a couple of days ago.”



Mr. Pitt kicked the raft to one side and took the headlamp off his head. “What are you talking about, kid?”



Mr. Lyme shifted from one foot to the other. “Come on, Randy. We need to talk. In private, without four pairs of ears listening in.”



Then the two men moved several feet away so the Aldens wouldn’t hear them.



Henry and Jessie didn’t waste any time. “Come on,” Jessie whispered to Benny and Violet. “Hop on the raft. First, let’s put on these life jackets.”



With barely 10 a splash 11, the four children climbed onto the raft. Henry pushed off with the oars 12 and quickly began rowing.



The next thing the Aldens heard was a lot of yelling 13. “Hey! They took our raft!” Mr. Pitt screamed.



“Hey! They took our raft,” the cave walls echoed 14 back.



“Go after it!” Mr. Lyme shouted at Mr. Pitt.



But it was too late. The Aldens were soon floating along the current of a small stream.