-
实用文档
典范英语
9
Sing for your Supper
Nick
Warburton
Red Beard
The smell of mutton pies woke Jamie up.
His nose twitched before his
eyes
opened.
Jamie
’
s
mother
was
dead.
His
father
had
gone
to
sea
and
not
come
back.
He remembered the big
round sails as the little galleon moved out of
Plymouth harbour, but
he
’
d forgotten what his
father looked like. For
two years
he
’
d lived on the streets
and begged for his food, so he got
used
to sniffing out pies.
He
’
d been dozing on a pile
of straw beside the horse trough when the
man walked by with his tray.
Pies, Jamie thought at once. Fat warm
pies.
He didn
’
t
have a coin to his name, but he jumped up and
followed the
man. He was heading for
The Boar
’
s Head.
Jamie saw him push his tray into the crowd at the
door and disappear.
‘
After
him,
’
Jamie said to himself.
He dropped to his knees and crawled
through a forest of sturdy legs.
Jamie
could tell by a sniff that the pie man had stopped
by a table in
the
corner.
Keeping
an
eye
open
for
the
innkeeper,
he
crawled
on.
The
pie
man had set two steaming
pies on the table. He was counting a handful of
coins into his purse.
His
customers weren
’
t ordinary
sailors. They wore stiff ruffs and a
line of fancy buttons down the front of
their tunics. Jamie had seen one
of
them
around
Plymouth
before
–
the
one
with
the
red
curly
hair
and
the
pointed beard.
He must be important, Jamie thought.
Whenever he goes there
’
s
bustle
and talk. But he looks like a
man who might share his pie with a hungry
boy.
Jamie saw him push
his tray into the crowd at the door and
disappear
．
‘
After
him
。
’
Jamie said
to himself
．
CHAPTER 1
文案大全
实用文档
He
dropped
to
his
knees
and
crawled
through
a
forest
of
sturdy
legs
．
Jamie
could tell by a sniff that the pie man
had stopped by a table in the
corner
．
Keeping
an
eye
open
for
the
innkeeper,
he
crawled
on
．
The
pie
man
had
set
two
steaming
pies
on
the
table
．
He
was
counting
a
handful
of
coins
into his purse
．
His customers
weren
’
t ordinary
sailors
．
They wore stiff
ruffs and a
line of fancy buttons
down the front
of their
tunics
．
Jamie had seen
one
of them around Plymouth
before--the one with the red curly hair and the
pointed beard
．
He must be
important
，
Jamie thought.
Wherever he goes there
’
s
bustle
and talk .But he looks like a
man who might share his pie with a hungry
boy.
‘
No
mutton
pies
after
we
set
sai1,'
the
man
with
the
red
bead
was
saying
to his friend.
'Ship's biscuits and hard cheese and not much
else. '
‘
But
may
be
some
Spanish
gold
to
spend
when
we
get
back,
eh,
Francis?'
his friend said.
Francis.
So
that
was
his
name.
And
Spanish
gold.
That
meant
sea-fights,
didn't it? Maybe
they were pirates.
'Well, Master
Francis,' Jamie said to himself, 'I can't wait for
your
gold but I'd like to share a bit
of your pie.'
And he popped up from
behind the table as the redheaded man was about
to eat.
'Can
I
sing
you
a
song,
Master
Francis?'
Jamie
asked
him.
Francis
blinked
at him with his mouth stil1 open.
'Please, Master,' Jamie said.' A song
for a mouthful of pie.'
The man
laughed and asked him if he had a good voice.
'A wonderful voice, sir. Sweet as the
birds, I promise.'
‘
If you
want to earn the Price of a Pie,' said Francis's
friend, 'you
can go down to the harbour
and help load our Ship.'
what ship is
that, sir?' Jamie asked.
'
The Pelican.
And
it's being loaded for a voyage
to
…
'
But before
he could say another word, Francis held up a hand
to stop
him.
'Quiet, Wi11,'
he said. 'A busy inn is not the place to talk
about our
文案大全
实用文档
plans.'
Will
shut
his
mouth
and
looked
round
the
noisy
room.
Jamie
looked
round,
too. And sure enough- or so he thought-
there was a thin man at the next
table,
leaning
towards
them
as
if
to
catch
every
word.
For
a
second
Jamie's
eye met his, and the man scowled.
A
face
to
sour
the
milk,
Jamie
thought.
And
full
of
trouble,
too.
After
two years on the
streets, Jamie knew trouble when he saw it.
A
shiver
of
fear
ran
up
his
spine.
But
Francis
was
speaking
to
him
again.
'Come on then, lad,'
he said. 'Sing up.'
Jamie opened his
mouth to Sing, but a broad hand took hold of his
neck
and he felt himself jerked to his
feet.
'I've told you before,' boomed a
voice. 'You leave my gentlemen in
peace.'
It
was
the
innkeeper.
He
crooked
an
arm
round
Jamie's
throat
and
crushed
him against his
greasy apron.
Jamie kicked out and
flailed his arms but it was no use. The innkeeper
hauled him backwards to the door and
swung him out into the night.
He
twisted
through
the
air
and
landed
with
a
thud
in
the
street.
Instead
of the smell of mutton, his nose was
fi1led with the stench of straw and
horse dung. It was the second time he
had been thrown out of The Boar's
Head
that night.
He stood up and shook
himself. Across the street he saw the g1ow of
candle-light from The Swan. The hum of
voices inside tempted him to try
his
luck
there,
but
he'd
been
thrown
out
of
The
Swan,
too.
He
didn't
feel
like
being dumped in horse muck a fourth time.
'Oh
well,'
he
mumbled
as
he
wiped
himself
down,
'maybe
I
should
go
down
to
the
harbour.
If
they're
loading
for
a
voyage,
maybe
I
can
pick
up
some
scraps.'
Soon
he heard
the
lap
of water against
wooden
hulls
and ropes slapping
in
the breeze. He
saw masts
swaying
against the blue-
black sky. The
ship
in front
of him was The Pelican. There were others, too,
lined up behind
it.
The
harbour was busy for the time of night. Dark
figures with sacks on
their shoulders
hurried backwards and
文案大全
实用文档
forwards.
Some
dumped
their
loads
on
the
harbour
wall
and
others
tottered up planks
onto the ships.
He stopped one of the
sailors and asked if he could help.
'Clear
off,
little
'un,'
the
sailor
growled.
You'll
only
get
under
our
feet.'
Jamie
sighed
and
sat
down
in
the
shadow
of
a
wall.
His
stomach
grumbled
with hunger in the dark. His head hurt.
He watched the men loading their
stores. He'd seen ships being loaded
many times. Once he'd seen a sack
drop
and split open, sending cheeses rolling over the
cobbles.
A good round cheese would do
nicely now, he thought. Maybe someone'll
drop a few sacks tonight. Sack after
sack he saw carried onto the ships.
But
no one stumbled. Nothing spilled. At last the men
stopped work and
went off together,
laughing and joking.
For
a
while
Jamie
watched
the
moon
climb
s1owly
in
the
sky.
Then
he
stood
up and
stretched.
'Nothing
doing
here,'
he
said
softly
to
himself.
He
was
about
to
wander
back into Plymouth Town when something
caught his eye.
Two of the men came
back.
〇
r were they the same
men? It was too dark
to see properly
and they were wrapped in long cloaks.
They
moved
like
the
men
who'd
loaded
the
ships,
trotting
along
with
their
heads
bowed, but there was something different about
them.
At first Jamie couldn't think
what it was. Then it came to him. They
had
no
sacks
on
their
backs.
They
were
running
up
the
plank
onto
The
Pelican
but they carried no stores. He saw them
drop into the ship and disappear
in
shadow. Jamie sat down again and waited.
A man with a lantern on a pole came
wandering along- the watchman,
keeping
his eye on the ships with their load of fresh
stores. He walked
steadily a1ong the
harbour wa1l until he reached the ship furthest
from
The
Pelican.
Then
he
paused
for
a
moment
before
turning
round.
It
was
then
that the two men came
scuttling down the plank again.
One was
tall with pale hands which fluttered in the dark.
Jamie knew
him. It was the sour-faced
man from The Boar's Head. The other man was
short and thick-set.
They
moved
nimbly
and
silently,
and
this
time
they
were
carrying
文案大全
实用文档
some-thing,
At
least,
the
short
one
was.
It
was
more
like
a
black
bag
than
a sack
and the short man carried it on his shoulder like
a barrel.
Jamie Shrank back into the
shadow of a wa11. He saw the men look round
and spot the Watchman. The tall man
stooped and picked up a stone in his
pale hands.
He hurled it
high over the masts of me Pelican and Jamie heard
it drop
into the sea with a deep
splash.
Along
the
harbour
wall
the
watchman
heard
it
too.
He
spun
round
and
held
himself still. Then he lifted his
lantern and peered between the ships,
trying to see where the sound had come
from.
While he was still staring at
the sea, the men hurried away in the
opposite direction, their cloaks
flapping behind them as they ran.
Pale hands
CHAPTER 2
Jamie's mind was
racing. He knew that something odd was going on.
He
waited until the men were almost out
of sight, then set off after them.
When
they turned into a side street, he forced himself
to run faster.
Mustn't
lose
them
now,
he
thought
as
he
pounded
along.
They'll disappear
down some
dark alley. I must keep up.
Jamie had
seen plenty of thieves on the streets, but these
two were
different- and he was sure
they were dangerous
Common sense told
him to stay out of it. But he was curious. And
maybe
there was the chance of pleasing
Red Beard and earning some pie. Maybe
even something better than pie.
'Mustn't lose them,' he said to himself
over and over. 'Mustn't lose
them.'
As soon as the men reached the safety
of a side street, they stopped
running
to catch their breath.
They
were
bending
down
to
examine
the
thing
in
the
black
bag,
when
Jamie
hurtled round the
corner and ran straight into them.
He
fell over one and ro1led onto the other. There
were rough shouts,
the rustle of cloaks
and a waving of arms.
文案大全
实用文档
Jamie's
struggle didn't last long.
Soon
he
felt
a
knee
on
his
chest
and
long
fingers
tightening
on
his
arm.
He
twisted
his
head
and
saw
the
same
pale
hand
that
had
thrown
the
stone
。
There
was
a
silver
ring
on
the
middle
finger.
A
face
came
close
and
spoke
to him in a harsh
voice.
And where do you think you're
going?'
It was the broad man, the one
who was kneeling on him, and the Stench
of his breath made Jamie flinch.
' I'm sorry, master,' he said. 'I'm
Sorry.'
Then the tall man spoke and his
voice was a thin whisper.
'He's
following us, Tom. I saw him talking to Red Beard
in The Boar's
Head.'
No,
sir,'
said
Jamie.
Tm
not
following
you,
I'm
running
away,
sir.
Honest.
The watchman's after
me.'
The fingers loosened on Jamie's
arm and the men darted a look at each
other. They glanced nervously back at
the corner of the street.
They only
looked away for a second but it was enough for
Jamie. He
wriggled from under Tom's
knee and scrambled to his feet.
The
men
grabbed
at
him,
missed,
and
he
was
charging
off
into
the
darkness.
'Hey! Come back
here!' the man called Tom shouted after him.
Jamie dived into an alley and barked
his shin against something he
couldn't
see. From the way it clattered against the wall
behind him he
guessed it was an empty
barrel. The men came lumbering after him and one
of them kicked the barrel too.
Jamie came to a gap between two houses
and ran blindly into it, hoping
there
’
d be
nothing in his way this time. There
wasn
’
t.
He
groped
along
a
wall
until
he
found
a
low
fence.
he
swung
himself
over
it
and dropped into a little garden.
His
fingers touched damp cabbage leaves and a fish
head. He crouched
there wide-eyed,
trying to still his gasping breath.
Heavy
feet
thudded
by
him,
only
yards
away.
The
sound
disappeared
into
the night and then there was silence.
He waited. A dog barked in the
distance. A sharp pain began to throb
in his leg. He hadn't noticed it
文案大全
实用文档
when he was
running.
After two or three more
minutes he let out a long sigh and climbed
painfully out of the garden.
‘
You should save your nose
for sniffing out pies,
Jamie,
’
he told
himself.
’
And
keep it clear of bad men in long
cloaks,
’
He
imagined what the men might do if they caught him.
The thought made
him shudder.
Maybe
he
should
look
for
Red
Beard-Master Francis.
And
then
what?
Tell
him what he
’
d
seen? No. Men like him
didn
’
t believe beggar boys
like
Jamie.
Still,
he
thought,
it
’
ll
be
sager
in
the
warm
glow
from
busy
inns
than alone here in the dark.
So
he
rubbed
his
leg
and
started
slowly
through
back
streets
and
alleyways towards the heart of the
town. After a while he found himself
outside The
Boar
’
s Head again.
‘
Well, here I am
again,
’
Jamie said out loud,
And I
’
m worse off
than I was before. Still,
I
’
ll be safe and warm in
here, as long as I keep my head
down.
’
He slid in
at the door and looked cautiously around.
The place was full, and noisy with talk
and laughter. The pie seller
had gone
but he thought he might be able to scrounge a
scrap of bread.
He
squeezed
onto
the
nearest
bench
and
made
himself
as
small
as
he
could.
The men next to him kept their backs
turned and talked in low voices.
Jamie
could see two beakers of ale on the table in front
of them. There
was no bread, though, so
he soon lost interest in them.
He was
looking round for more promising customers when
one of the men
reached out to pick up
his beaker.
Jamie turned
and
looked, then
looked
again and his
heart gave a
sudden
jump.
The
man's
hand
was
long
and
pale,
with
a
silver
ring
on
the
middle
finger.
'I
told you, Tom,' Jamie heard the thin man say. 'The
boy was in here
talking to Red Beard.
He was watching The Pelican. He must be a spy.'
'What
if
he
is?'
Tom
said
shortly.
'We've
got
what
we
were
after,
Jack.
And if we see him again I'll do for
him. No need to worry then.'
‘
If, Tom. If we see him
again.'
文案大全