CHAPTER VIII A PIECE OF PAPER

Delia having appeared at the time agreed on, and promptly¹ withdrawing to her own room, Patricia continued to worry for an hour and a half over the problem that was perplexing her, trying vainly to write letters or concentrate her mind on a book. But it was useless, and at length she determined² to put an end to her misery³ and suspense⁴, in that direction at least, and ring for something else. If Chester Jackson did not answer this time, it would mean that he too had gone or been removed, and that she was left without a single friend to rely on.

So once again she telephoned, this time for ice-water, and waited in breathless suspense for the answering knock. The curly head and 104merry eyes of Chet Jackson at the door was like a bracing⁵ tonic⁶ to her overwrought nerves.

"Oh!" she quavered. "Whatever happened to you? I thought you were gone, too."

He gazed at her in unfeigned astonishment⁷. "I don't get yer!" he remarked. "There ain't nothin' happened to me!"

She explained her agitation⁸, and he laughed unfeelingly. "Gee⁹! I gotta eat sometime or other. An' half past seven's about as early as I can usually strike it. You hit my supper hour, miss!"

She laughed in relief and followed Chet as he came into the room to place the tray on the table.

"Chester, I want to know the rest of what you were trying to tell me this afternoon. What is it that you have found out? And how have you discovered things?"

He glanced about the room cautiously, then tiptoed over and closed the door into the hall.

"You can't be too careful in this place," he 105said apologetically. "I'll tell you all I can in the little time I can spare, an' if I don't have a chance to finish it now, I will come some other time. I bet you'll hardly believe me, but I knew before ever you folks landed here that your dad—beg pardon!—that the captain was comin' here an that he had something secret an' important for the Gov'ment up his sleeve."

Patricia started involuntarily. "How—how did you know that?" she stammered¹⁰.

He grinned. "I told you I could make you sit up an' take notice. Now I guess you'll believe me! Well, I doped that out from the conversation of two gents who had a room here for a couple of nights an' left the day before you came. They was sending for things constant, eats and drinks an' what not,—an' I was kept runnin' to their room as reg'lar as clockwork. I got onto the fact that they was on the watch for some one from one or two things they said before me. They seemed to think I was deaf or dumb or hadn't any brains, just 106because I was only a bell-hop, an' you bet I acted the part all right. So they often talked right out before me, seemin' to think I wouldn't take it in.

"Once, when I came in, one of 'em was sayin', 'He's a captain in the army, but he's not on active service 'cause he's been wounded; but I got word from headquarters he's doin' something worth lookin' into. He's comin' here in a day or two. He's got to be watched an' watched hard. He's camouflagin' it, too, with some lecture stuff or other, but that don't count.' 'Nother time, one of 'em says: 'He arrives to-morrow, so we'll disappear to-night. But it's all right. Franz is on the job, and so will Hofmeyer be, after to-morrow.'

"Well, there was other things, too, little things I can't remember now, but I says to myself, 'This here looks shady, Chet; better get on the job an' do a little detectin' work on your own! I didn't know this 'captain' from Adam, but I hate to see any one get done, 107especially by a pair of Huns, like them two looked, so I decided¹¹ to keep my eyes open. Well, sure enough, them two gave up their room the night before you came, an' I've never laid eyes on 'em since. The next day you arrived, an' I just naturally cottoned to you both right away. You're the right sort. You don't act as if a bell-hop was made of wood an' hadn't any brains or any feelin's either. You treat 'em like human beings. An' your dad—I mean your father—gee! I could lie down an' let him walk all over me if he wanted to!

"An' I made up my mind more than ever that I wasn't goin' to let any one put it over you two if I could help it. So I kept my eyes open an' managed it so's I could answer most of the calls in this corridor. An' I've seen a few little things that would bear lookin' into."

Patricia had stood drinking in this information with swiftly beating heart. "Chester," she exclaimed softly, "this is fine of you, and I 108appreciate what you have done more than I can tell you, and so would Father if he knew! But tell me, who is this 'Franz' and 'Hofmeyer'? Have you discovered that? I have a special reason for asking."

"There ain't any one in this place who goes by either of them two names," he replied, "but of course that don't count. Naturally, they ain't the names any one would hand in here. But I got my suspicions about one person in this here hotel, an' I think I don't have to give you a hundred guesses who, either." He looked at her meaningly.

"You—you mean the waiter, Peter Stoger?" she hesitated.

"You said it!" he remarked succinctly¹². "He's a shady one, all right! Say, if you'll believe me, I seen him once without his gilt¹³ teeth—"

"What?" gasped¹⁴ Patricia, incredulously.

"Yep, they was nothin' but a set of false caps, fit on over his real teeth. He was hurryin' 109down the hall from his room, an' I guess he'd had 'em off an' forgotten 'em. After I passed him, I looked back an' saw him take somethin' out of his pocket an' raise his hands to his mouth. Oh, he's slick, all right! An' that funny droop¹⁵ in his eye, too. Once in a while he ain't got that, either. He can do it himself somehow or other. They're both just disguises, that's all. An' I bet my hat he's either Franz or Hofmeyer, for looka here: he came the same day you folks did."

"Oh, I knew it!" sighed Patricia. "I knew there was something wrong about him. I've felt it all along. But tell me, Chester, one more thing. I must ask it, though I hate to. Have you ever discovered anything—queer about—about Madame Vanderpoel and—and Mademoiselle de Vos? I hate to ask it about them, but—but I have a reason."

"They was a curious pair, all right," replied Chet musingly¹⁶. "An' I could never rightly make 'em out. At first I was on to 'em good 110an' proper, because the madame had her room changed from one on the next floor to down here right opposite you. An' she sure did act queer to that little mam'selle; or at least the mam'selle acted queer to her—as if she just couldn't stand her. But I never saw the madame act ugly to her till to-day when she wouldn't give her a chance to send you that message. I watched 'em like a cat, but I never saw nothin' that made me suspicious that they was harmful to you folks, an' you seemed to cotton so to the little mam'selle. But there was somethin' always that seemed to me blamed funny in the way she hated that madame, an' it used to make me want to find out why.

"But say, I gotta go down now. I don't darst stay here another minute, this trip. But before I go, I'll tell you this much. After that pair left to-day, I had an errand on this floor, an' I just sauntered into their vacant room a moment, before the chambermaid cleaned it up, to have a look around. They 111hadn't left nothin' of interest, that I could see, except just this. I found it in the waste-basket. Maybe you'd like to have it."

He thrust a piece of torn and crumpled¹⁷ paper into Patricia's hand and was gone before she had time to say another word.

1 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

4 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

5 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

6 tonic   

n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的

参考例句：

• It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
• Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。

7 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

8 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

9 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

10 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 succinctly   

adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地

参考例句：

• He writes simply and succinctly, rarely adding too much adornment. 他的写作风格朴实简练，很少添加饰词。 来自互联网
• No matter what question you are asked, answer it honestly and succinctly. 总之，不管你在面试中被问到什么问题，回答都要诚实而简明。 来自互联网

13 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

14 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 droop   

v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡

参考例句：

• The heavy snow made the branches droop.大雪使树枝垂下来。
• Don't let your spirits droop.不要萎靡不振。

16 musingly   

adv.沉思地，冥想地

参考例句：

17 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。