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--- lesson 30 The death of a ghost |
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--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
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--- Why did the two brothers keep the secret? |
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For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted. |
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The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. |
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They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long. |
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Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. |
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Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. |
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Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. |
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A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. |
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In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them. |
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No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. |
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This was indeed the case. |
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A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. |
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Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man. |
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After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years. |
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Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. |
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He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. |
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As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. |
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When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war. |
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Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. |
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His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. |
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The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. |
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They did not even tell their wives. |
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When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. |
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All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. |
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He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. |
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When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer. |