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第18章 思念里的流浪狗 (8)

詹金斯很快逃到高墙边上,停在那里,他急急忙忙地看了看身后,开始往墙上爬。墙太高了,我爬不上去。他要逃走了。怎么办?我放开嗓子,大声叫着,希望有人来帮我。他企图爬到墙上,但我跳了起来,抱住了他的腿。

我死死咬住他,竟然被他拖到了墙的另一边,而老吉姆被留在墙的另一边。詹金斯的脸撞到了地上,然后他爬起来,一脸的仇恨,朝我冲来。要是没有人来帮忙,我想他一定会把我的头靠在墙上撞得粉碎,就像在马厩里他把我那些可怜的兄弟的脑浆撞得四处飞溅一样。但是就在那时,传来一阵跑步声,两个男人跑到了这条街上,跃过了高墙,吉姆那会儿正上窜下跳,在绝望中咆哮。

从他们的制服和手中握的警棍,我立刻看出他们是警察。他们很快抓住了詹金斯。他放弃了逃跑,但还像只丑陋的狗那样冲我骂道:“要是没有那条狗,我就不会被抓到。噢——”他摇晃着,后退了几步,嘴里骂道:“这是我自己的狗。”

“你真无耻,”其中一个警察严厉地说道,“这么晚了,你在干什么,惹得自家狗和牧师家温顺的狗满大街追你?”

詹金斯什么都没说,只是嘴里开始诅咒。正在那时,花园的房子里的窗户打开了,一个人叫道:“嗨,你们在干吗呢?”

“我们正在抓小偷,先生,”一个警察说道,“至少我觉得他是小偷,能扔下来根绳子吗?我们没带手铐。我们一个去监狱,一个还要去华盛顿街,有个妇女说那里有人行凶。请快点儿,先生。”

那位绅士扔下来根绳子,不到两秒钟,詹金斯的手腕就被绑得牢牢的。“好狗啊。”另一个警察对我和吉姆说道。而后,他跑到了街上,我们尾随他过去了。

正当我们急急忙忙沿着华盛顿街走着,快靠近我们自己的房子时,我们看到从黑暗里闪出一丝亮光,接着听到人们来回跑的声音。邻居们已被奶妈的尖叫声惊醒了。莫里斯家的男孩子们全都跑到了街上,他们只穿了一点儿衣服,在寒风中冻得发抖。德鲁里家的车夫没戴帽子,头发都朝上竖着,拿着个灯笼四处跑着。

附近人家的房子全亮灯了,很多人把窗帘拉起,打开自家门,互相打听发生了什么事。

当警察还有我和吉姆出现在人们面前时,一大群人立刻围到警察周围,打探出了什么事。吉姆和我倒在地上,使劲儿地喘气,口水如泉水般从喉咙里流了出来。我们俩都累晕了。吉姆的背上有好几处都流血了,那是被詹金斯的石头砸的,而我也被砸得遍体鳞伤。

人们立即发现了我们,他们发出了阵阵骚动声。“勇敢的狗!高贵的狗!”大家如此称赞着,抚摸着我们。我们既骄傲又开心,站起来摇着尾巴,至少吉姆可以,我呢,则尽我所能地摇着。后来人们发现我们受了重伤。莫里斯夫人大叫着,一把抱起我,冲进了屋子,杰克和老吉姆跟了进来。

我们到了大厅。那边的火很旺,劳拉小姐和贝西小姐都坐在那里。看见我们,她们跳了起来,迅速地清洗了我们的伤口,让我们躺在火炉边。

“你保护了我们的银制餐具,勇敢的乔,”贝西小姐说道,“等我爸爸妈妈回来,他们一定会夸奖你们的。好了,杰克,有什么最新消息?”这时,莫里斯家的男孩子们都挤进了屋。

“警察正在询问你家的奶妈,检查餐厅,他们已经到警察厅做笔录了,你知道他发现了什么?”杰克兴奋地说道。

“不知道,发现了什么?”贝西小姐问道。

“那个恶棍要烧掉你们的房子。”

贝西小姐尖叫了起来,“为什么,你的意思是——”

“哦,”杰克说,“警察调查后认为,他打算把银制餐具装到袋子里带走,在这之前,他要把房子周围泼上汽油,点上一把火,这样人们就不会发现他的罪恶行径了。”

“那样我们所有人都会被烧死的,”贝西小姐说道,“他不可能只烧餐厅,而让别的房间免于火灾。”

“当然了,”杰克说道,“这正说明了他是个十足的恶棍。”

“他们证实这些了吗,杰克?”劳拉小姐问道。

“哦,他们只是猜测,因为他们在他装银器的袋子周围发现了几滴汽油。”

“多恐怖啊!可爱的乔,你救了我们,”漂亮的贝西小姐吻了吻我难看而又红肿的头。我只是舔了舔她的小手,但每次过后我总想多舔她几下。

第二天,德鲁里夫妇回家了,詹金斯的案子也水落石出。詹金斯被迫交代了一切,他被判处10年监禁。我希望他在那里好好改造,出来后做个好人。

拳狮犬【Boxer】

它曾经是野猪和熊的终结者,现在则是家庭的保护者。

产 地:德国

概 述:拳狮犬体型中等,身体呈方形,容貌特殊,四肢强健,一举一动都充满力量,动作高雅。它十分机警、自信、威严,精力充沛、喜欢嬉戏,对孩子非常有耐心,深受人们的喜爱和信赖,是力量、敏捷、高雅的结合。

satchel [' s鎡l] n. (皮或帆布的)书包

May I carry this satchel?

我可以带着这个小提包吗?

uneasy [n' i:zi] adj. 不自在的;心神不安的;不稳定的;不舒服的

How can ability cast off uneasy mood?

怎么样才能摆脱不安的情绪?

scratch [skr鎡] v. 搔痒;抓;抹掉

The monkey scratched about in its mate' s fur for fleas.

那只猴子在它的同伴身上找跳蚤。

savage ['s鎣id] adj. 野性的;凶猛的;粗鲁的;荒野的

He doesn' t like savage mountain scenery.

他不喜欢荒山的景色。

在莫里斯家的第一个冬天,我经历了一场惊心动魄的冒险。

我累了,躺在柔软而又舒适的床上,很快入睡了。

我希望他在那里好好改造,出来后做个好人。

I was so furious that I thought only of getting hold of him.

get hold of:抓住;掌握

I felt as if I could tear him to pieces.

tear... to pieces:撕碎

真正的天使

The Dog Who Dialed 911

珍妮·玛丽·拉斯卡斯 / Jeanne Marie Laskas

When Leana Beasley wondered about a name for her new service dog, she thought about one of her favorite Bible quotes: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"Faith, " she said, cradling the rottweiler puppy."I' ll name you Faith. "

That was in 2001, and Leana, now 46, who is divorced and lives with her 20一year-old son, Michael, in a house in Puget Sound, Washington, admits she found the transition to the new dog difficult. Leana is wheelchair-bound and suffers from epilepsy; for nearly a decade she had come to depend on Bronson, her first service dog, to help her with chores and errands and, most critically, to assist her in the event of epileptic seizures. Bronson was retiring from service and evolving into a regular pet for Leana and her son.

Deep down, Leana doubted she' d ever trust another dog as deeply as she did Bronson, the creature she had come to regard as her guardian angel.

"Okay, Faith, " she said to her new dog, a brindled bundle of energy with eager eyes. "We have a lot of work to do, so let' s get started. "

Scientists speculate that some dogs, with their supremely sensitive noses, might be able to detect subtle changes in human body chemistry that occur just before a seizure. But only a select few know how to interpret that olfactory information as worthy of alarm.

Faith was eventually trained to understand and answer more than 150 commands, but it wasn' t until the evening of September 6, 2004, that Leana would learn what, exactly, Faith was made of. Leana and her son were then living in Richland, Washington. It was a typical evening: Michael had left for his night shift at the local grocery store, and Leana headed to bed, feeling a little sick, as if she were getting the flu. She checked on Bronson, asleep in the living room, and went into her bedroom. Faith wouldn' t leave her side. She wouldn' t lay down in her basket next to the bed, but instead stood there looking at Leana and... talking. That' s how it sounded, like a kind of chatter "Roo roo rooo rooo. "

"What is it?" Leana said. Soon enough Faith, all 85 pounds of her, jumped on Leona' s bed—a forbidden territory—and ran in circles. She would not answer Leanne' s command to get down, which was completely out of character for the obedient dog.

In her mind Leana heard the voice of the trainer: "Trust your dog!" A dog behaving strangely probably knows something you don' t know—and need to.

"Okay, Faith, I' m trusting you," she said. "I' m getting out of bed." She got in her wheelchair and investigated the house and, finding nothing unusual, decided to make herself hot chocolate.

She reached across the stove for the empty water kettle, and that' s when the world went black. She fell out of her wheelchair, hitting her head on the kitchen cabinet door, and lay unconscious on the floor. This was a medical emergency, though not directly caused by her epilepsy. Leana was experiencing liver failure; doctors later said that an adverse reaction to her medication made her liver nearly shut down.