“What do you mean? What do you mean?” spluttered the little man, who, from the back, had so closely resembled Professor Snodgrass. “How dare you insult me?”
“There seems to be some mistake,” said Jerry, trying to keep his voice under control, for, truth to tell, he was as indignant as his chums were at the unwarranted assumption on the part of the stranger.
“Mistake? I should say there had been!” was the exclamation4 from the little man. “You made a mistake in thinking I had anything to do[27] with that—that charlatan5! That pretender! That scientific faker, who calls himself ‘Professor’ Snodgrass. A mistake indeed!”
“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” broke in Ned, unable longer to hear his friend thus abused. “The mistake will be on the other foot in a minute if you keep on that way!” he said indignantly.
The little man seemed about to rise from the table to attack Ned, but Jerry gently thrust back his impetuous chum.
“Let me handle him,” he whispered to Ned.
“Is he crazy?” asked Bob.
“It begins to look that way,” answered Jerry, as the little man resumed his seat at his table, though he did not continue his meal.
“We wish to apologize for having mistaken you for a friend of ours,” said Jerry suavely6. “Seeing you from the back we took you to be Professor Snodgrass, and——”
“Is he a friend of yours?” asked the little man fiercely.
“He certainly is!” exclaimed Bob truculently7.
“Well, all I have to say is that I am sorry for you,” said the little man. “You had no right to assume that I was he, and your effrontery8 in publicly addressing me as such needs to be apologized for.”
“Which we are doing,” said Jerry stiffly. “And I might add,” he went on, “that if you continue in[28] your present strain there will be something else to apologize for, and not on our part, either!” He seemed quite a different Jerry now.
“We have made proper reparation for having mistaken you for our friend, Professor Snodgrass,” he continued, “and that, to a gentleman, should be sufficient. I think that is all, sir!”
Jerry turned stiffly and marched back to his own table, followed by Ned and Bob, who had left their seats to join him. For a few seconds the little bald-headed man did not seem to know what to do. He said something about its being “all right now,” but mingled9 with this were grunts10 and mutterings about “insolent puppies,” which words, however, Jerry and his chums thought best to ignore.
“Say, what was eating him, anyhow?” asked Bob, when they had resumed their seats for their dessert which the pretty Marie was then bringing to them.
“I guess you mean what had he been eating,” said Ned. “Red pepper and chili11 con3 carne I imagine, with a dish of tabasco sauce and frijoles on the side.”
“Reminds me of our Mexico trip,” interposed Bob. “What was the name of that Spanish fellow who was always making so much trouble?”
“You mean Vasco Bilette,” suggested Jerry.
“That’s it! This fellow, who really looks a[29] lot like our dear, old professor, certainly is touchy12.”
“He certainly is,” agreed Jerry. “Say, Bob,” he went on, “you claim you can parlez-vous better than the rest of us. Suppose you ask Marie if she knows this duck.”
“Sure!” assented13 the stout lad. “Say, chere Marie,” he went on as the pretty little waitress came up to their table, “comprehendez-vous him?” and he pointed14 to the man who was the cause of the Motor Boys’ discomfiture15. For it had been disquieting16, to say the least, to have the eyes of all in the restaurant turned on them during the fracas17, as Ned termed it.
“Comprehendez-vous him?” asked Bob of Marie. “You know. La petite hommes de la table d’hote,” and to make sure that his “French” would be understood he pointed to the little man.
“Say, what’s that you’re getting off?” demanded Jerry.
“I’m asking her if she’s wise to the guy who’s eating in this restaurant,” translated Bob. “Comprehendez—that means ‘do you know.’ La petite—that means ‘little’ and hommes means ‘man.’”
“He’s right there,” declared Ned earnestly, while Marie looked amusedly at “les trois mousquetaires.”
“How do you know?” snapped Jerry.
“Why, isn’t it painted all over the cars we’ve[30] been riding in, ‘chevaux 8—hommes 40’? That is eight horses or forty men. Sure hommes mean men, or man.”
“Watch Bob swell18 up,” commented Jerry.
“Well, you told me to spout19 French, and I’m doing it,” said the lad with the perpetual appetite. “Now give her a chance to answer. I’ll ask her again. Chere Marie! Comprehendez-vous la petite hommes de la table d’hote?”
The pretty waitress placed on the table the dishes she had brought up to serve, turned for a look over her shoulder at the man Bob referred to, and then looked back, with a smile, at the stout lad and his chums.
“Oui,” she answered, guessing shrewdly at Bob’s meaning and shrugging her shoulders expressively20.
“Oh, ho! So she does know him!” exclaimed Ned, for in spite of the fact that they let Bob assert his knowledge of French, they could not help acquiring some of the words, and that “oui” meant “yes” had been one of their first acquisitions.
“Who is he?” asked Jerry.
“She can’t understand that,” declared Bob. “Wait, I’ll translate it to her.” Then, laboriously21 he said: “Le nom des hommes? Comprehendez-vous?”
“What’s that?” Ned wanted to know.
[31]
“I’m asking her if she knows his name,” replied Bob.
They looked anxiously at Marie. Again she turned and glanced at the little man who had waxed so indignant at being taken for Professor Snodgrass.
“Cochon!” exclaimed Marie, and she seemed to snap out the word as a second lieutenant22 issues his commands to the awkward squad23.
“What did she say?” chorused Ned and Jerry.
Bob was nonplussed24. He scratched his head and then repeated the word to Marie.
“Cochon?” he asked.
“Cochon! Cochon!” was the swift answer. “Oui! Cochon des cochons!”
“Um!” murmured Bob.
There was a moment’s silence, during which Marie moved off to serve another table.
“Well, what is he, a German spy?” asked Ned. “If he is, he has his nerve with him—showing up here after the armistice25.”
“Yes, tell us what she said,” begged Jerry.
“Well,” returned Bob slowly, “you know the French language is very queer. It isn’t like any other language.”
“Oh, we know that all right!” exclaimed Ned. “You needn’t tell us that. Even though you may know a lot more about it than we do, it hasn’t taken us six months to appreciate the fact that it’s[32] a mighty26 elusive27 way of conversing28. But what I want to know, and what Jerry wants to know, is: What did Marie say that pepper-hash guy was?”
“Well,” confessed Bob, “that’s just it. If the French language didn’t have so many words in it that sound a lot alike, but mean a lot of different things, I could be sure. She called him a cochon.”
“A cochon of a cochon,” added Jerry.
“Yes, that’s what she did,” said Bob.
“Well, but what is a cochon?” asked Ned.
“It’s either a pig or a coachman,” said Bob, desperately29. “That’s the trouble. I’m not sure which. I forget whether cocher is pig or whether it’s coachman, and I don’t know whether cochon is coachman or pig. I know it’s one or the other, but just now I sort of forget.”
“A heap of good your French does us!” laughed Jerry. “If she said he was a coachman it might mean he was a respectable, though humble30, member of society. If, on the other hand, she called him a pig, it might mean he had something to do with starting this war. Now which is it?”
Bob scratched his head again. Plainly, he was “stumped.”
“I’ll ask her again when she comes back,” he said. “I wish I had my French book here. I sort of think that cochon means pig, and, in that case——”
“Well, he certainly acted like a pig, so we’ll let[33] it go at that,” declared Jerry. “The idea of getting on his ear just because we happened to mistake him for Professor Snodgrass!”
“And he did look a lot like him from the back,” declared Ned.
“Sure,” assented Bob. “I wonder where the dear old chap is, anyhow? I wish he were going back with us.”
“Not much chance of that,” said Jerry. “He said he’d like to, and he really started back, but he received word to take up some other line of scientific investigation31 before he left to go back to Boxwood Hall, and you can wager32 your last cartridge33 that he’ll do it. But this man seems to have some sort of grudge34 against him, taking us up the way he did.”
“That’s right,” agreed Ned. “Say, Bob, you’ll have to tackle your friend Marie again. See if you can’t find out more about this duck.”
“I will,” promised Bob. “I’ll speak to her as soon as she comes back. It might be, you know, that this fellow is some relation to the Germans the professor captured.”
“Not much chance of that,” declared Jerry. “This cocher or cochon doesn’t seem a bit like a Hun.”
“You never can tell,” remarked Ned. “We’d better find out all we can about him while we have the chance. If Professor Snodgrass is going to[34] remain here it would be a good thing for him to know about this guy.”
“Here comes Marie now,” said Jerry. “Go at her again, Bob, and see if she can’t speak English.”
“I will,” agreed the stout youth.
When Marie again approached their table, in response to a beckoning35 signal, Bob began:
“Marie, de la cochon la petite cocher est le——”
“Oh, for cats’ sake!” cried Ned, “you’ll be worse tangled36 than before. Can’t you get some American words? Here, let me——”
But at that moment there came an interruption in the person of a member of the American military police who, thrusting his head into the restaurant, called:
“Anybody here that’s booked to go on the Sherman had better hike back to the dock. She’s going to sail soon.”
“Has the machinery37 been repaired?” asked Jerry.
“Yes! She’s getting ready to sail. You fellows going on her?”
“Yes,” answered Ned.
“Oh, you lucky dogs!” sighed the other. “Well, get a move on. We got orders to round up everybody that had shore leave,” and with a friendly wave of his hand he departed.
[35]
“Come on!” cried Jerry, gathering38 up a few possessions, an example followed by the others.
“I’ll pay the bill,” said Ned, taking a handful of change out of his pocket.
“Where’s Marie?” asked Bob. “I want to——”
“Oh, never mind finding out what cochon means!” exclaimed Jerry. “We don’t want to be left!”
“I want to say good-bye!” declared Bob, indignantly. “And I was going to ask her if she could put us up some sandwiches.”
“Cupboard love!” laughed Ned. “Come on! Move lively!”
“The pepper-hash individual is moving, too,” commented Jerry, as they left the restaurant, having noted39 that the man who had so resented being taken for Professor Snodgrass was also settling his bill.
“Well, if he doesn’t run into us again I’ll be thankful,” remarked Jerry. “He sure did make me feel like twenty-nine cents when he turned on me the way he did.”
Quickly the three chums made their way back to the dock to which the Sherman had returned. They saw others on the same errand. The repair work had been completed sooner than was expected, and now the siren of the vessel40 was blowing to call back those who had been allowed shore leave.[36] Fortunately each one, when being granted permission to “stretch his legs,” had been told to hold himself in readiness, and none had gone far away.
The Motor Boys were soon on board again, and after a slight delay the transport was again moving slowly from the dock.
“Off again!” exclaimed Ned.
“Yes; and let’s hope with better luck!” added Bob.
Jerry looked about the crowded deck. As he did so he gave a start, and grasped the arm of Ned.
“Look!” he exclaimed.
“What is it?” asked Ned. “See a ghost?”
“No, but if that isn’t our peppery friend of the restaurant—le cochon—I’ll do K. P. for a week!”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
regain
|
|
| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
con
|
|
| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
charlatan
|
|
| n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
suavely
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
truculently
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
effrontery
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
grunts
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
chili
|
|
| n.辣椒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
touchy
|
|
| adj.易怒的；棘手的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
assented
|
|
| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
discomfiture
|
|
| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
disquieting
|
|
| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
fracas
|
|
| n.打架；吵闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
swell
|
|
| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
spout
|
|
| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
expressively
|
|
| ad.表示(某事物)地；表达地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
laboriously
|
|
| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
squad
|
|
| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
nonplussed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
armistice
|
|
| n.休战，停战协定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
elusive
|
|
| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
conversing
|
|
| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
desperately
|
|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
wager
|
|
| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
cartridge
|
|
| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
grudge
|
|
| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
beckoning
|
|
| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
tangled
|
|
| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |