CHAPTER XXIII ALMOST CAUGHT

“My!” exclaimed Tavia, later. “There is a whole lot to making up a plot; isn’t there? And how wise you are,

Doro!”

“But you see, my child, you can’t go ahead with this scheme as you first mapped it out,” observed Dorothy, drily.

“Oh, I see,” agreed her friend. “Mr. Somes can’t arrest the man who calls himself ‘John Smith.’”

“Of course not. Nor can anybody else arrest him. He has committed no crime in trying to get money for his

information about Tom Moran.”

“But how will you fix him?”

“You see, if Mr. Somes will allow the clerk at the general delivery window of the post-office to make some signal

when a person comes to call for this letter I have written, we will have somebody on the watch to follow John Smith.

Then we’ll find out who he is——”

“If it is a ‘he,’” interposed Tavia.

194 “Of course it is,” returned her friend. “It’s a man’s handwriting. And a very bad, ignorant man, I am

afraid.”

“He doesn’t belong to Dalton, then,” declared Tavia, earnestly. “Since the liquor crusade, when the saloons were

all shut, we haven’t had many men of bad character in Dalton.”

“That’s right,” agreed Dorothy. “But you see, there is always a ‘floating population.’ Work such as your

father’s company is doing brings in irresponsible men from outside. They have no interest in the fair name of

Dalton, so we mustn’t be surprised if they misbehave,” said sensible Dorothy.

“But who is going to watch all the time at the post-office?” demanded Tavia.

“The window for the delivery of letters is open from eight till eight. We’ll get the boys to help us take turns.

There are you and me, Johnny, Joe and Roger—even Roger isn’t too little to follow the man and find out where he

lives,” said Dorothy, briskly. “Then we can pull my cousins, and Bob Niles, and Abe Perriton into it. That makes

nine of us. Nine in twelve hours—— What does nine in twelve make, Tavia?”

“One hour and twenty minutes each—about. Oh, all right!” exclaimed Tavia. “Of course we can watch. But the

question is: Will that do any good?”

195 Dorothy would not listen to any croaking¹. She wrote the decoy letter, and the two girls went down town and saw

Mr. Somes privately². He knew both Tavia’s father and Major Dale; and when the girls from Glenwood disclosed to the

postmaster just why they wished to find Tom Moran, and all about Celia, and the letter Dorothy had received from

“John Smith,” he agreed to help them.

It was arranged, however, that the letter should not be put in the mail until the following morning, so that the

girls might fully³ arrange the “watch-and-watch” on the general delivery letter window.

Their boy friends fell into the scheme with alacrity⁴. Dorothy and Tavia did not explain entirely⁵ their interest in

Tom Moran, nor why there was such a hue⁶ and cry after that red-haired young man; but——

“It doesn’t matter,” said one of the lads, cheerfully. “If Dot says she wants to find the chap—and this fellow

who wrote the bum⁷ letter—we’ll do just what she says. Dot’s all right, you know, fellows!”

But that very morning there came word over the telephone to Abe Perriton’s house that started the excitement in a

new quarter. A man named Polk, who ran a sawmill on Upper Creek⁸, asked Mr. Perriton to hire several men in Dalton if

he196 could, as he had work that must be rushed and he needed an extra force of hands.

“And I haven’t been able to hire a soul up here, except Tom Moran, who came along last night. And I’m afraid he

won’t stay. He’ll not promise to.”

“Here, Abe,” said Mr. Perriton. “Didn’t I hear something about your friends wanting to see Tom Moran? He’s up

to Polk’s mill.”

That was enough. The boys started with the Firebird inside of ten minutes picking up Dorothy and Tavia on the way.

But nobody thought to telephone to the mill man to ask him to hold the red-haired man until the Firebird party

arrived.

It was over another rough road to Polk’s mill on Upper Creek. “Dear, dear,” complained Tavia, “I am half in

doubt whether the geographers⁹ have got it right. Perhaps the world isn’t round. I don’t see how it can be when it

is so awful bumpy¹⁰!”

“You feel like Nat did, I guess,” chuckled¹¹ Ned. “That was when my lovely brother was a whole lot younger than he

is now—hey, Nat?”

“What’s the burn?” asked Nathaniel White, Esquire.

“’Member when Miss Baker¹² put the poser to you in intermediate school? ’Member about it, boy?”

“Oh, that’s an old one,” grunted¹³ Nat.

197 “Let’s hear it—do,” cried Dorothy. “Did Nattie miss his lesson?”

“He wasn’t paying much attention, I reckon,” said Ned, just scaling a corner post as they took a turn, and

scaring a squawking flock of hens almost into “nervous prosperity,” as Tavia called it. “Miss Baker was giving us

fits in the physical geography line. She snaps one at Nat:

“‘What’s the shape of the earth, Nathaniel?’

“‘Oh! Ugh-huh? Round,’ says Nat, just barely waking up.

“‘How do you know it’s round?’ demands Miss Baker.

“‘All right,’ says Nat. ‘It’s square, then. I don’t mean to argue about it!’”

“Aw, I never!” cried Nat, as the others shouted their appreciation¹⁴ of the story. “That’s just one of Ned’s

yarns¹⁵.”

With similar “carryings-on” they lightened the rough way to the sawmill camp. The last mile they had to walk,

leaving the Firebird at a farmer’s place. There was no such thing as taking the automobile¹⁶ to the camp.

“I hope Tom Moran is here,” said Dorothy, again and again, to her friend, Tavia. “But I feel as though we were

due to have another disappointment.”

“Oh, I hope not,” groaned¹⁷ Tavia.

The boys would not keep to the wood road, but198 scrambled¹⁸ over stumps¹⁹ and brambles, raising the hue and cry after

timid rabbits, starting an old cock partridge now and then, and chasing chipmunks²⁰ along the fences.

“I’d love to have a woodchuck bake,” Abe Perriton said. “The kids say they’ve found several woodchuck holes up

near the Rouse place.”

“Joe and Roger, you mean?” asked Dorothy, to whom Abe was speaking.

“And Octavia’s brother Jack²¹. Yes. Those kids would find woodchucks if there were any in the county. M-m-m! did you

ever eat woodchuck, Tavia?”

“Sure I did. But I never expect to enjoy a woodchuck bake again. I’m grown up now,” called Tavia, from her

position in the lead with Bob Niles.

“If the kids really have found the holes—and Mr. Woodchuck is home,” said Abe, “we might have a picnic, even if

it is cold weather—say day after to-morrow.”

“Nice weather for a picnic,” laughed Dorothy. “See! there’s still some snow in the fence corners.”

“And the groundhogs will be as poor as Job’s turkey,” said Tavia, who understood about such things better, even,

than a boy.

“Hurrah! there’s the mill,” shouted Nat.

The whine²² of the saw as it cut through a log199 floated down to them through the aisles²³ of the wood. They hurried to

reach their destination.

The saw was flying and the few men about the mill were working speedily. Mr. Polk himself, whom they knew by sight,

was dragging a huge log out of the water by the aid of a chain and a small engine. But nowhere in sight was “that

redhead.”

“Hello, Abe Perriton!” shouted the master of the mill. “Your father going to send that gang? Or are you huskies—

and the little ladies—goin’ to roll logs for me?”

“I guess father will send along men. But we’ll roll that one for you, Mr. Polk,” laughed Abe, as the huge log

came up the runway to the mill.

The boys grabbed canthooks and helped put the log in place upon the carriage. The girls looked on with interest, for

the working of a sawmill with a disk-saw of this size is not uninteresting.

“But that log’s got a hollow in it, Mr. Polk,” advised Tavia, the sharp-eyed.

“I know it, Miss. But the grain of the wood’s so straight, and the hollow’s so small, that I believe we’re going

to get some mighty²⁴ fine planks²⁵ out of it, just the same,” replied the sawyer.

“Ask him about Tom Moran,” begged Dorothy, sotto-voce.

“Just wait till he gets this log on the carriage. Now it goes!” exclaimed the interested Tavia.

200 The saw struck the hollow place the first clip, the outside slab²⁶ was cut off, and out of the hollow flopped²⁷

something that made the girls scream.

“A snake!” gasped²⁸ Dorothy.

“Maybe it’s an eel,” said Tavia.

But quick-eyed Nat jumped for it and held up the flopping²⁹ creature. It was a beautiful brook³⁰ trout³¹ more than two

feet long.

“Great find, boy!” declared Mr. Polk. “The law ain’t off until April first; but I reckon that’s your kill.”

“We’ll have the picnic, anyway!” laughed Bob Niles. “I bet trout baked in the ashes beats woodchuck all to

pieces!”

Dorothy had come close to the sawyer now and tapped him on the arm.

“Oh, sir!” she exclaimed. “Isn’t Tom Moran here with you?”

Polk’s face clouded. “The red-haired rascal³² wouldn’t stay. He don’t like sawmill work. He worked for me

yesterday and started in this morning; but an hour before you came he lit out.”

“Gone?” gasped Dorothy.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“And you don’t know where he’s gone?” broke in Tavia.

“Couldn’t tell ye,” said Polk. “He lit out—walkin’—toward Pollinary. But that’s twenty mile from here. Dunno

as he’ll go that far.”

 

1 croaking   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• the croaking of frogs 蛙鸣
• I could hear croaking of the frogs. 我能听到青蛙呱呱的叫声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 alacrity   

n.敏捷，轻快，乐意

参考例句：

• Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老，动作仍很敏捷。
• He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

7 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 geographers   

地理学家( geographer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains. 地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Many geographers now call this landmass Eurasia. 许多地理学家现在把这块陆地叫作欧亚大陆。

10 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

11 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

12 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

13 grunted   

（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

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

14 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

15 yarns   

n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事

参考例句：

• ...vegetable-dyed yarns. 用植物染料染过色的纱线 来自辞典例句
• Fibers may be loosely or tightly twisted into yarns. 纤维可以是膨松地或紧密地捻成纱线。 来自辞典例句

16 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

17 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 stumps   

（被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。

20 chipmunks   

n.金花鼠( chipmunk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

21 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

22 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

23 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

24 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

25 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

26 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

27 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 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》

29 flopping   

n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• The fish are still flopping about. 鱼还在扑腾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?' 咚一声跪下地来咒我，你这是什么意思” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

30 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

31 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

32 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。