Yet the cheering whistle of the war's most popular tune7, every hour or so, in the park below, 134assured her that Chet was true to his promise, even if the loud chugging of his motor-cycle had not likewise informed her of his intermittent8 presence. He was certainly proving himself a friend, and a staunch one, in this time of her dire9 need.
With the coming of daylight she turned off the lights and lay down awhile, exhausted10 by the night's vigil, but she did not sleep. She heard Delia go quietly out soon after six. At seven she prepared to go down to breakfast, and promptly12 at seven-thirty stopped at the desk in the lounge for her mail, as Chet had directed. She found that she had two letters, one a short note from Mrs. Quale, explaining that she had been called away suddenly to New York by the illness of a niece, but expected to be back that evening, and hoping Patricia had not needed her in the meantime.
"She little knows how much I did need her!" sighed Patricia. "But thank goodness! she's coming back to-night. I couldn't—I simply 135couldn't go through another night like last!"
The other letter was directed to her in a handwriting she did not recognize, and she prepared to read it while she was waiting for her breakfast to be served. To her immense relief, Peter Stoger was still absent. She had had the horrible suspicion that he might be there once again to spy on her, perhaps even to be the instrument of the threatened "danger."
While waiting for her cantaloupe she opened the second missive and read it through in startled wonder. It was written in pencil and marked midnight of the night before. It was inscribed13 also with a fine disregard of spelling, punctuation14, and grammar, was only a few sentences long, and signed at the end, "C. J." It ran as follows:
Deer Miss,
I done a heap of scooting around last night on my moter-cicle and I found out quite a bit you will be intrested to no. If you are intrested will you please try to be at the sea wall in the park where you usully 136like to sit about nine this a m an we can talk it over. will wate for you their.
Yours respeckfully,
C. J.
"Bless that kind boy's heart!" thought Patricia. "He certainly is a trump15! I don't know what on earth I'd be doing now if it weren't for his help. I'll be there without fail."
Promptly at nine she was at the tryst16 by the sea-wall, a bench shaded by an overhanging tree where she frequently came with her book or sewing to enjoy the beautiful view out over the water and the invigorating salt air. Chet was there before her, sitting unostentatiously with his legs hanging over the sea-wall, apparently17 absorbed in the occupation of fishing with a rod and reel.
"Hullo! Good morning!" he greeted her, with his usual infectious grin. "Catch any Hun spies lurkin' around last night?"
"No indeed!" she answered him quite gaily18. "I didn't see one—not a single one."
137"Well, I had better luck than you, then!" he replied, looking about cautiously to see that no one was approaching along the foot-path.
"Oh, Chester! How? What do you mean?"
"Well, what do you think of this? Last night, after I left the hotel, I went right home an' got out my motor-cycle and made a bee-line for Hanford. I somehow figured that we'd better find out that queer dope about Hanford first of all. I hadn't a ghost of an idea where in the place that house might be, but I told you before that there weren't so many houses there, anyhow, an' I just figured I could mosey around an' take a squint19 at 'em all an' try to figure out which was the most likely.
"It's a lonesome kind of a place, 'cause there ain't no railroad nor even a trolley-line runnin' near it. I didn't want to go chuggin' through it on my cycle, waking the dead with the racket, so I hid it in a little clump20 of woods 138just outside the place an' went huntin' round on foot. First I went through the main street, an' every house an' store was shut up as tight an' dark as a graveyard21. Nothin' doin' there. Then I gave all the rest of the houses the once-over. No better luck!
"The only place left was one way out on the road toward Crampton. It's a lonesome kind of a hole, old farm-house with queer, dinky, green wooden shutters22 all in a piece an' a slantin' roof goin' almost down to the ground at the back. It used to be all sort of tumblin' to pieces an' deserted23, but a man around here bought it an' fixed24 it all up modern inside an' painted it, an' rents it out in the summer to city folks for a few months. I didn't rightly know whether it was occupied this season or not, 'cause I ain't been that way lately, but I thinks to myself, I'll go past it an' see, before I give up the hunt.
"Sure enough, the place was lit up on the ground floor an' one room upstairs too. But 139the shades were all drawn25 down tight. So I just sneaked26 around quiet an' hid in the bushes near the front door an' one of the windows, an' lay low to see if anything would happen. I didn't want to stay too long, either, 'cause I wanted to get back an' give you the signal I was on the job. Well, nothin' did happen for so long I was just goin' to give it up, when all of a sudden the front door opened an' a woman come out an' stood on the little porch—"
"Oh, who was it?" cried Patricia, in a fever of impatience27.
"You can search me!" he replied. "She ain't no one I ever see before. She was a queer-lookin' specimen28, dressed like a maid in a black dress an' white cap an' apron29. I could see her quite well, 'cause the light was shinin' out from the hall behind her. She was tall an' bony and sort of grouchy30-lookin'. Well, she sat down on one of the little side-benches on the porch to get the air, I guess, 'cause it was pipin' hot. An' all of a sudden some one else 140slipped out of the door very quiet an' sat down on the bench opposite. An' I bet you can't guess who that was."
"Oh, who?" breathed Patricia.
"The little mam'selle!"
"Chester, you are a trump!" cried Patricia, springing up excitedly. "What did you do?"
"Why, I didn't do nothin' but lay low, of course. I sure would have spilled the beans if I'd jumped out an' hollered who I was, then. I just stayed and listened to what went on. The grouchy maid said: 'You better go in. The madame will not like it.' An' the little un' said: 'Oh, Melanie, let me stay just a few moments! It is so hot in my room. I need the air.' Then the grouchy maid grunted31 something that sounded like French. I couldn't get on to it at all. They didn't say no more, but sat a while, an' bimeby both got up an' went in. An' soon after all the lights went out in the place, an' I knew it wasn't no use to stay longer, so I beat it back here."
"Oh, Melanie, let me stay just a few moments!"
141"Chester," exclaimed Patricia, at the end of this recital32, "what are we going to do?"
"Well, I got a plan," he acknowledged. "I don't know whether you'll stand for it or not, but here it is, anyway. An' I can promise you that if you go in for it, you won't come to a bit of harm. It ain't possible, the way I got it fixed, an' we may do a whole lot of good, at least as far as the little mam'selle is concerned, an' maybe something about this here Crimson33 Patch beside. Here's my scheme:
"I got an older brother who owns a secondhand auto34 an' runs it like a jitney. That's his business. But sometimes he takes a day off when I do an' we go fishin' together or somethin'. He's off to-day, same as me. An' you can trust him just the same as me. He ain't a born detective like I am, but he's honest as honest an' he knows how to hold his tongue an' ask no questions. So I ain't explainin' everything to him.
"Now I figure that it ain't healthy for you 142to stay all day alone around that hotel if there's anything in this 'danger' business. Not that you wouldn't be safe enough if you sit tight, but you can't tell what complicatin' thing might come up, an' you ain't got a soul around to advise you, not even me. Now suppose you come out to Hanford with me an' Ted11 in the auto, an' we'll hang around an' lie low an' see if we can get hold of the little mam'selle somehow an' find out what this here mess is all about, anyhow. There can't any harm possibly come to us, 'cause Ted's goin' to keep out of things an' just lie low in the auto in that patch of woods back of the house an' I got a police-whistle in my pocket, an' if anything goes wrong I'll blow it like mad an' he'll beat it back to the city an' have the police out in ten minutes. Are you game?"
For one uncertain moment Patricia wavered. Was it right for her to engage in this harebrained escapade? What would her father say? Or Mrs. Quale? Then the thought of 143Virginie in danger, the possibility of locating the Crimson Patch, and the sheer adventure of the thing overcame all her scruples35.
"Yes, I'll go, Chester. I trust you absolutely, and I'm sure you will not let me come to harm. But suppose Father should call me up at the hotel? What will he think if they say I'm away?"
"He'll think you're out somewhere with Mrs. Quale probably, won't he?" answered Chet. "And I'm almost certain he won't call you up till evening, probably, because you might be out an' he'd only be wasting time an' money."
But another thought had suddenly occurred to Patricia, who, truth to tell, did not feel at all easy about this expedition, nor about what her father would think of it. A solution of one side of its difficulties had all at once leaped into her mind.
"How would it do, Chester, if we take Mrs. Quale's Delia along with us?"
144"What?" exclaimed Chet, in such obvious dismay that Patricia could not resist a laugh at his expense. "Gee36 whiz! you'd block the whole game with that white elephant on our hands!"
"Now, be sensible, Chester!" she urged. "It's perfectly37 plain to me that I've either got to take her, or else not go myself. Otherwise Father would not allow it. We can have her with us, and yet not tell her all about our plans. You know, Mrs. Quale won't be back until evening, so Delia hasn't a blessed thing to do to-day. I'll ask her if she'd like to go off on a little picnic with me this morning a ways out of town where we may pick up Virginie. She'll be delighted to have the outing, that I know!"
The explanation cleared the air for Chet. "All right, I'm game if you are!" he declared. "If you go back and get her and bring her over here, I'll be round with Ted and the jit in next to no time."
145Twenty minutes later he appeared in a battered38 jitney, sitting on the front seat with a sheepish-looking, red-haired young fellow, who bowed and grinned inarticulately as Chet introduced him as his brother Ted. Patricia, accompanied by an obviously delighted Delia and a well-filled lunch basket, clambered into the rear seat, and in another instant they were off on their adventurous39 mission.
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1
streaked
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| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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2
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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3
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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4
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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5
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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6
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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7
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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8
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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9
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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10
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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11
ted
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| vt.翻晒，撒，撒开 | |
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12
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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13
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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14
punctuation
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| n.标点符号，标点法 | |
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15
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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16
tryst
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| n.约会；v.与…幽会 | |
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17
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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18
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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19
squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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20
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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21
graveyard
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| n.坟场 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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23
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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24
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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25
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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26
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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27
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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28
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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29
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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30
grouchy
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| adj.好抱怨的；愠怒的 | |
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31
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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32
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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33
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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34
auto
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| n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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35
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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36
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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37
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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38
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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39
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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