The Greyhound
After H.Griffiths
Chapter 9
November came. The days became shorter and the nights longer. Poor Silver was very cold
in his cellar. Jamie was unhappy that he could not do anything about it. Silver was his
best friend but Jamie could not help him. How often on cold nights with rain and wind
Jamie wanted to take Silver home. But each time Jamie remembered how angry his mother was
with him that he did not dare do it. “There was no other place where I can take Silver
to,” thought Jamie. “Silver may be ill and he even may die of cold. What shall I do? I
can’t find any way out of my trouble. What shall I do?” Jamie thought about it all day
long and he could not sleep well at night.
Mrs. Vincent saw that something had happened to her son. She did not know what it was, but
she was sure that her son was in trouble. He was very thin and pale. He was not interested
in anything at home. “Where does he go every evening? I wonder if Cora knows where he
goes to?” thought Mrs. Vincent. When she asked her daughter about it Cora said “no”
but Mrs. Vincent noticed that Cora did not look at her mother. Mrs. Vincent understood
that was a lie.
Silver was Jamie’s main problem but there was another one. It was Hilliard who made
Jamie’s life terrible. Those things which Jamie had to do Hilliard called “little
things”. He always had some “little things”. Sometimes Jamie had to go through a
small window and open the door for Hilliard. Sometimes Hilliard asked Jamie to talk to a
watchman while Hilliard and his friends got into a building through a window. They stole
things and then sold them. Jamie hated Hilliard and his friends. Nothing in the world
could have made Jamie do those bad things except for Silver. It was awful but Jamie had to
put up with it. Then at last the day came that he could not go on.
One morning Hilliard came to Jamie and said that he wanted Jamie to help him. “I’ve
worked enough for you. You have your five pounds now. Don’t ask me to do anything for
you again!” said Jamie.
Hilliard only laughed. “Oh, no, Jamie, I need you and you need me. You’ll always need
money to buy food for your dog and I can give you the money,” he said.
“I don’t want any more money from you,” cried Jamie. “Let me go. Please!”
“Let you go?” said Hilliard. “Let you go, so that you can tell on us! No, Vincent!
Never! I want you to help me. And you will have to help me. Or else…”
“No, I won’t help you! I’ve said ‘No’!” cried Jamie.
“Look, Vincent, if you don’t wait for us after school tomorrow evening, you’ll be
sorry!” said Hilliard angrily and went away.
“I’ll never do it again! Never!” cried Jamie.
The next morning Jamie did not go to school. He did not get up. When his mother told
him that breakfast was ready, he said he did not want anything to eat.
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Mrs. Vincent.
“I’m ill,” answered Jamie.
But Mrs. Vincent did not believe him. “I’m not sure that you’re telling the truth.
What’s happened to you?” she said.
“Don’t make me go to school, Mum! Please, don’t!” he begged his mother.
“Why don’t you want to go to school, Jamie? What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. Vincent
again.
Jamie wanted to tell her everything, but then he changed his mind and told another lie.
“We have an exam today and I don’t know anything,” he said. He tried not to look
into his mother’s eyes.
Mrs. Vincent sat on the end of his bed and looked at him attentively. She saw fear in his
eyes. “You know very well that you’re not ill and you’ve no exam,” she said. “I
won’t keep you at home only because you don’t want to go there.” She saw fear in
Jamie’s eyes again. “I know that you haven’t been happy for a long time. I won’t
make you go to school if you tell me the truth. Tell me, son, what’s the matter with
you?”
Jamie did not know what to do. He was afraid to tell his mother about Hilliard and his
friends. If he told her about them he would have to tell his mother about Silver. But if
Jamie did not tell her about Silver how could he help his dog? And suddenly he began to
talk. He told her the whole story from beginning to end. He told her everything and Mrs.
Vincent listened with great interest.
He told her about his love for Silver and about Hilliard who was a thief and about how he
helped Hilliard. When Jamie finished Mrs. Vincent said: “Now I understand why you’ve
been so unhappy for a long time, my dear!”
He looked up at her and smiled for the first time in many weeks. “You are not angry with
me, Mum?” he said. “May I have Silver? Oh, Mum, I love him so much!”
“Yes, Jamie, you may keep him. We must take him out of that terrible cellar. We must
find a way out, we shall do our best to find the way out,” she said.
She got up. “We’ll think of something,” she said.
“Yes, please, Mum!” said Jamie. His eyes were shining with excitement. He was very,
very happy
Mrs. Vincent soon decided what to do.
“First of all I’ll go to the police station. They’ll know what to do with the boys.
Next I’ll go to your school to see the headmaster. You stay at home and take care of
your little sister,” said Mrs. Vincent to her son and put on her coat. “When I get
home we’ll decide what to do about the dog. I won’t be long. I hope everything will be
all right.”
Jamie closed the door behind her and ran into the room. He got on his bed and began to
jump up and down for joy. “I can keep Silver at home! And I have the most wonderful
mother in the world!”
It was almost tea-time when Mrs. Vincent came home. “After tea you can go and bring
Silver,” she said to Jamie. “Of course, our rooms are very small. I can’t see where
we can put him. And I don’t know what your father will say when he sees a greyhound in
the house. But Silver can’t live in that cellar. You must bring him here.”
It was six o’clock when Jamie went out to bring Silver home. It was already dark, when
he came to the cellar and there was total darkness inside it. “Silver, are you there?”
he called. “I’m going to take you home. Are you glad to hear that?”
Silver was always glad to be with Jamie and he usually greeted Jamie barking loudly with
delight but now he began to growl. Jamie knew that Silver growled at any stranger who came
close. There might be somebody very near. Jamie was afraid and did not know what to do.
Who was it? Then Jamie heard footsteps. He opened his mouth, but he could not say a word,
he was so frightened.
Suddenly Silver ran out of the cellar. Jamie listened. The footsteps stopped. Then he
heard voices. Silver was still growling. Then Jamie heard a yelp of pain from Silver.
Jamie jumped up. He wanted to run out, shout at them, make them leave his dog alone but
coming from the street peals of laughter stopped him. It was Hilliard’s voice which
Jamie recognized at once. Jamie heard nothing more for a minute or two and then again he
heard Hilliard’s voice: “He’s in one of these cellars, I tell you,” said Hilliard.
“Vincent… Vincent… Can you hear me?”
Jamie did not answer. “I’m sure he knows about the police. He will have his
revenge,” thought Jamie.
“I know you’re here, Vincent,” said Hilliard. “Come on out! We have your dog, you
know. Do you want your dog?” said one of Hilliard’s friends in a cold and angry voice.
Jamie’s heart almost stopped. “They could not do anything bad to me. Not now when the
police are after them … but Silver … They may hurt him …” thought Jamie. Then
Jamie told himself: “They won’t do anything to Silver! They will never hurt him!”
Then Jamie saw the light of a torch. It shone into the cellar. He heard a noise and behind
the torch, he saw Hilliard’s legs. The torch went over the cellar walls and shone on
Jamie’s face.
“Oh, Vincent!” said Hilliard. He almost sang the words. “I know you’re here. Oh,
Granny, what big eyes you have!” he laughed. His laugh was very loud. Then he shouted:
“Okay, you boys. I’ve found him. He’s here!” Hilliard shone on Jamie’s face
again. Jamie closed his eyes.
“Well, Vincent, you told on us, didn’t you? You told the police, didn’t you?” said
Hilliard.
“No,” answered Jamie. He was surprised to hear that his voice was quite loud and not
frightened at all. “Hilliard can do nothing to me,” he thought. “He’s more afraid
than I was before. He knows that the police are after him and he is afraid of the
police.”
“Do you know what we do with those who tell on us, Vincent?” asked Hilliard.
Nobody spoke for a minute. Hilliard looked at Jamie and Jamie looked at Hilliard but they
did not say a word. Then something happened, that frightened Jamie again: Silver began to
yelp.
“Where is my dog?” said Jamie. “What have you done with my dog?”
Hilliard did not answer. He shone his torch into Jamie’s eyes again and Jamie had to
look down at the floor. Jamie’s fear came again, not for himself, but for Silver.
“Silver,” thought Jamie. “What will he do to Silver? He is going to do something
terrible to my dog…”
Hilliard spoke first: “Ben, come in! Vincent wants to see his dog.”
Jamie had never heard of the boy who Hilliard called. Ben came into the cellar. His right
hand was on Silver’s collar. Silver jumped and tried to go to Jamie when he saw him, but
the boy pulled him back. It was terrible for Jamie to stand there and do nothing to free
his dog. “If I fight with them, they may hurt Silver,” thought Jamie. “But if I do
nothing, it may be even worse for Silver. My dog is in danger now. What can I do?” He
opened his mouth to speak, but there were no words.
At last Jamie found his voice: “Please, Hilliard, don’t hurt the dog. Please, Hilliard
… I’ll do everything … Everything that you want me to do. Please, please …
Hilliard.”
Hilliard laughed very loudly. Suddenly he stopped.
“Get down on your knees,” he shouted
Jamie did so. “How will all this end?” he thought.
“I’ll make you sorry that you tried to tell on me. You’ll be sorry, very sorry
…” said Hilliard.
Jamie said nothing and looked down. He did not want Hilliard to see that he was ready to
cry.
“Okay, that’s enough. You can get up now,” said Hilliard and laughed loudly again.
But Jamie did not get up. He looked up only when he heard Silver’s yelp. He saw that
Hilliard had something in his hand. It was difficult to discern what it was.
Unexpectedly one of the boys cried: “No, Hilliard, don’t do it!”
“Shut up!” shouted Hilliard. He raised his hand and Jamie saw what was in it. It was a
long chair leg. It came quickly down on Silver’s head.
Jamie gave a loud cry. Silver fell down on the sand and Jamie’s face became white.
Nobody said a word. Then Hilliard commanded the boys to go out: “Come on. Let’s go.”
Jamie was on his knees. Hilliard left the cellar. The other two boys stared at the dog for
several minutes, uncertain what to do, then quickly went after Hilliard.
Jamie stayed alone in the dark cellar. He called his dog: “Silver … Silver?” There
was no answer. “Silver?” he called the dog again and again but there was no answer.
The cellar was not quite so dark to his eyes now. There was slight moon light which shone
through the hole and the boy looked round slowly. Then he saw Silver. His eyes were
closed; blood ran slowly from his ear.
“Silver! What have they done to you?” cried Jamie.
He went to the dog on hands and knees and looked down at him. “He looks dead,” he
thought. Then he sat back in the sand and thought about Silver. No more walks in the park.
No more lies at home. But he did not have to tell lies at home now. This evening he was
going to take Silver home.
“Never again that white dog will run behind me,” he thought, “never again he will
lick my hands, look at me with those yellow eyes. Silver is dead!”
Yes, Silver was dead. Now Jamie knew it. He could understand everything now. There was a
pain in his heart and in his head, a terrible pain. He sat in the sand near his dead dog.
There were no tears in his eyes, but the pain in his heart became worse and worse. He was
sorry that he could not cry.
…“little things” пустячки
ACTIVITIES AND EXERCISES
I. Comprehension Task
There are some changes in every sentence. What are they? Write the correct sentences.
1. Jamie saw that something had happened to his mother.
2. Cora noticed that her mother did not look at her.
3. Sometimes Hilliard asked a watchman to talk to Jamie.
4. One morning Jamie came to Hilliard and said that he wanted Hilliard to help him.
5. When Jamie told his mother that breakfast was ready, she said she did not want anything
to eat.
6. Hilliard was afraid to tell his mother about Jamie and his friends.
7. Hilliard told Mrs. Vincent everything and she listened with great interest.
8. Jamie shone on Hilliard’s face again.
9. “Do you know what we do with those who tell on us, Hilliard?” asked Ben.
10. Ben did not want Jamie to see that he was ready to cry.
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Reread chapter 9 and check your answers.
Answers (Pay attention to the underlined words!):
1. Mrs. Vincent saw that something had happened to her son.
2. Mrs. Vincent noticed that Cora did not look at her mother.
3. Sometimes Hilliard asked Jamie to talk to a watchman.
4. One morning Hilliard came to Jamie and said that he wanted Jamie to help him.
5. When his mother told him that breakfast was ready, he said he did not want anything to
eat.
6. Jamie was afraid to tell his mother about Hilliard and his friends.
7. Jamie told his mother everything and Mrs. Vincent listened with great interest.
8. Hilliard shone on Jamie’s face again.
9. “Do you know what we do with those who tell on us, Vincent?” asked Hilliard.
10. Jamie did not want Hilliard to see that he was ready to cry.
II. Grammar
Relative clauses with who or which. Who or which can be the subject or the object. When who or which is the object, we can leave it out.
1. Those things which Jamie had to do Hilliard called “little things”.
2. It was Hilliard’s voice which Jamie recognized at once.
3. It was Hilliard who made Jamie’s life terrible.
4. Jamie had never heard of the boy who Hilliard called.
5. He told her about his love for Silver and about Hilliard who was a thief and
about how he helped Hilliard.
6. Jamie knew that Silver growled at any stranger who came close.
7. There was some light which shone through the hole and the boy looked round
slowly.
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Answers:
Those things Jamie had to do Hilliard called “little things”. (1)
It was Hilliard’s voice Jamie recognized at once. (2)
Jamie had never heard of the boy Hilliard called. (4)
III. Pronunciation Task
The “oo” can sound [u] or [u:]. Put the following words in the correct column. Use your dictionary to check the pronunciation. Cross the words which are odd-sounding. Practice saying these words.
soon, understood, floor, room, food, school, look, blood, moon, foot
| [u] _____________ |
[u:] _____________ |
Answers: [u] understood, foot, look; [u:] soon, room, food, school, moon
IV. Vocabulary. Choose the correct words.
1. But each time Jamie remembered how angry his mother was with him that he did not dare /
need to do it.
2. I can’t find any way out of my trouble / bubble.
3. Mrs. Vincent noticed / recognized that Cora did not look at her mother.
4. Silver usually greeted Jamie barking / growling loudly with delight.
5. “…He will have his revenge / stranger,” thought Jamie.
6. He heard a noise and behind the torch / collar, he saw Hilliard’s legs.
7. It was difficult to discern / shine what it was.
8. There was a pain in his heart and in his head, a terrible / uncertain pain.
9. Then he sat back in the sand / light and thought about Silver.
10. There were no tears / lies in his eyes.
Reread the text again and check your answers.
Answers: 1. dare; 2. trouble; 3. noticed; 4. barking; 5. revenge; 6. torch; 7. discern; 8. terrible; 9. sand; 10. tears
V. Speaking. What do you think will happen next in the story? The questions below will help you to guess the end of the story.
1. Will Hilliard come back to the cellar?
2. Will Jamie be ill afterwards?
3. Will Jamie’s parents find and save him?
4. Will the police catch Hilliard and his gang?
5. Will Jamie’s parents buy a puppy for Jamie?