佚名/Anonymous
The sound of the clock made Bridget jump.It had been so quiet in the living room.Her eyes went to the carved black case on the desk.Inside it, the clock continued to chime.The notes sounded sad and empty.
Everything seemed empty in Rose Cottage since Grandpa had died.He’d lived here for eighty-two years, and Bridget had visited him every summer of her life.Now the cottage would be sold.
“You can keep something to remember Grandpa by.”Mom had said.
Bridget looked away from the clock.That wasn’t what she needed to remind her of Grandpa’s teasing eyes and his hugs.Would a book make her think of him? She went to the shelf, but most of the books looked boring.Then she saw a paper sticking out of a book.Gently she pulled it out.
A date was written on one side of the paper: February 1, 1927.On the other side was something exciting.Bridget gave a shout that brought her brother running.
“Look what I found.”Bridget said.
Colin took the paper and glanced at the date, then gasped when he saw the other side.Above a drawing were the words My Treasure Map.
“Grandpa always said he’d buried a treasure on his land.”Bridget said.“I thought he was teasing.”
“So did I.”Colin said.“This map proves that he wasn’t.”
It was a simple map: just a big circle that said The Giant and an arrow pointing from it with the words Twenty-Yard Walk.At the end of the arrow was a small circle marked Stone, and an X.
“The Giant is what Grandpa called that big boulder”Bridget said.
“And the treasure isburied under a stone twentyyards from it,”Colin said.“Let’s go!”
They ran outside and grabbed shovels from the shed.They raced across a field to The Giant.It was the only big boulder on the Iowa farm, and it stood beside a stream.
Colin started to walk away from The Giant.It wasn’t easy to measure twenty yards with his short strides, but a glance around the field showed only two stones that could hide the treasure.
“This one first,”Colin said, rolling aside the bigger stone.
Bridget thrust her shovel into the dirt.What could the treasure be?“Gold bars,”she guessed.“Or jewels—a chest full of sapphires and diamonds.”
Did the old treasure map make sense?
Colin laughed.“Be realistic, Bridget.I’ll bet it’s money.”
“Enough to buy a new computer or a bike?”
“Maybe enough to save this place,”Colin said.“If we find a lot of money, Mom won’t have to sell the cottage.We can always spend our summers here.”
Bridget knew it wouldn’t be the same without Grandpa, but she loved the old cottage.The thought of saving it spurred her on.She tightened her grip on the shovel and dug harder.But half an hour later, all they’d uncovered was dirt.
“It must be under the other stone.”Colin said.
They moved to the other spot and dug for an hour.Bridget’s arms began to ache, and her face burned in the sunlight.“The treasure isn’t here either.”she said.She turned and walked back toward the cottage.Colin gritted his teeth and kept digging.
Bridget went into the cottage and stared at Grandpa’s map.Was there something she had missed? Some clue she hadn’t snapped up? She searched the drawing inch by inch, then turned over the paper.The only thing there was the date.
“I’ve got it!”Bridget cried.She raced outside and grabbed her shovel and headed for the stream near The Giant.
“Where are you going?”Colin called.“Wait for me.”
Colin dashed to the stream, too.Bridget was already in the rowboat that was always tied near the bank, waiting for anyone who wanted to cross.
Bridget didn’t say a word as they rowed across the stream.Then she led the way to a single stone near the opposite bank.She didn’t need the shovel.She just rolled aside the stone and uncovered a metal box.
Colin gasped.“How did you know?”
Bridget smiled.“The map was made in the middle of winter.Grandpa crossed the stream.He walked across the ice!”
“There’s something else we forgot,”she continued.“The year was 1927.Grandpa hid this box when he was a little boy!”
客廳裏異常安靜，鍾表的報時聲把布裏奇特嚇了一跳。她轉過去，看到桌子上那個雕花的黑色盒子，時鍾還在裏麵咚咚作響，聽起來悲哀且空寂。
自爺爺死後，羅斯別墅的一切看起來都是空****的。爺爺在這住了82年，以前每年夏天，布裏奇特都要到這來看他。現在這座別墅要賣了。
“你可以留下點兒東西，以紀念爺爺。”媽媽說。
布裏奇特不再看著時鍾，那不能勾起她對爺爺逗弄的眼睛和擁抱的思念。一本書會讓她想起爺爺嗎？她走向書架，但大多數的書看起來令人厭煩。這時，她看見一張紙從一本書裏露出來，便輕輕地把它拽出來。
紙上一麵寫著一個日期：1927年2月1日。另一麵有些令人激動的東西，布裏奇特尖叫一聲，她弟弟忙跑了過來。
“看，我發現了什麽！”布裏奇特說道。
科林接過那張紙，瞥了一眼日期，翻開另一麵，頓時說不出話來，在一幅圖的上麵寫著：我的藏寶圖。
“爺爺總是說他藏了寶物在地裏，”布裏奇特說，“我以為他在開玩笑呢！”
“我也是，”科林說，“這張圖證明他說的沒錯。”
這是一張簡單的圖：一個大圓圈上寫著“巨人”，一個箭頭從這裏指出去，上麵寫著“步行20碼”，箭頭的末尾又畫了一個小圈，寫著“石頭”，還有一個叉。
“‘巨人’是爺爺叫的那塊‘大石頭’！”布裏奇特說。
“寶藏就埋在離它20碼的小石頭下，”科林說，“走，我們去尋寶！”
他們跑出去，從工棚裏拿出鐵鍬，飛一般地穿過田野，跑向那塊大石頭。愛荷華州農場隻有一塊大石頭，它就在一條小溪邊。
科林開始從大石頭起步，要用他的小步子量出20碼並不容易，但環顧這片原野，能夠藏寶的隻有兩塊石頭。
“先看看這塊，”科林邊說邊挪開較大的那塊。
布裏奇特把她的鏟子插入土裏，會有什麽寶藏呢？“金條，”她想，“還是珠寶——滿滿一箱藍寶石和鑽石？”
這張古老的藏寶圖有用嗎？
科林笑道：“現實點兒，布裏奇特，我敢打賭，是錢。”
“夠買一台新計算機或者一輛自行車嗎？”
“也許足夠把這個地方留下，”科林說，“如果我們找到許多錢，媽媽就不用賣掉別墅了。我們就能永遠在這過夏天了。”
布裏奇特知道，這幢別墅沒有了爺爺，就和以前大不一樣了，但她喜歡這古老的別墅。留下它的願望激勵著她，她握緊鐵鍬，更用力地挖掘。但是，半個小時過去了，除了挖到泥土，什麽都沒有。
“一定在另一塊石頭下麵。”科林說。
他們來到另一處，又挖了一個小時，布裏奇特的胳膊都酸了，臉也被太陽曬得通紅，“這兒也沒有寶藏。”她說。她轉過身，走回別墅裏去。科林咬緊牙，繼續挖下去。
布裏奇特回到別墅，盯著爺爺的藏寶圖。她是不是遺漏了什麽東西了呢？有什麽線索沒有發現呢？她在圖片上一英尺一英尺地搜尋，然後翻轉過來，唯一的東西就是日期。
“我知道了！”布裏奇特叫道。她跑到外麵，抓起鐵鏟，朝著大石頭邊的小溪跑去。
“你去哪兒？”科林喊道，“等等我。”
科林也衝向小溪，布裏奇特已經爬上了那條一直拴在岸邊的小船，這是給過河的人準備的。
布裏奇特一言不發，他們劃過小河。然後，她帶路來到了河對岸唯一的一塊石頭，不用鐵鍬，她隻是把石頭挪到一邊，一個金屬盒子露了出來。
科林大吃一驚：“你怎麽知道的？”
布裏奇特笑著說：“地圖是在冬天做的，爺爺從冰上走過來，到了溪對麵。”
“我們還忘了一些東西，”她繼續說道，“當時是1927年，爺爺藏下這個盒子時還是一個小男孩。”
1.glance at
glance的意思是“掃視，一瞥”，後麵一般接介詞at。
表示“看”的各種表達還有：stare at凝視；peep into偷窺，偷看；glare at怒視，瞪眼。
例：I glanced quickly at her.
我很快地看了她一眼。
2.spur on
spur表示“激勵”，相當於stimulate。
詞組：spur sb.on激勵某人。
to spur one’s horse on策馬前進。
例：He was spurred on by ambition.
他胸懷大誌。
1.The sound of the clock made Bridget_________.It had been so quiet in the living room.Her eyes went to the_________black case on the desk.Inside it, the clock continued to_________.The notes sounded sad and.
2.Brid get went into the cottage and_________Grandpa’s map.Was there something she had missed? Some clue she hadn’t_________? She searched the drawing inch by inch, then turned over the_________.The only thing there was the date.