“We certainly missed one grand ducking,” crowed Jane. “Just listen to that!”
Gathered in the living room, the foresters had good reason for self-congratulation. Not more than ten minutes had passed since their run to cover, yet in that short interval1, the shower had increased to driving sheets of rain that lashed2 furiously against the window panes3. Above the beating of the rain, the wind whistled and roared about the sturdy little cottage, as though determined4 to tear it from its foundations.
“I’d hate to be back in the woods now with this storm going on,” shuddered5 Betty. “That wind is strong enough to send the trees crashing down.”
“We are lucky to have escaped it,” said Miss Drexal. “I would advise you girls to go upstairs and change your damp clothing. Then you will run no risk of catching6 cold. I am going to take my own advice and do so at once.”
“I hope that horrid7 man that nearly ran us down gets a good wetting,” grumbled8 Sarah.
“He wasn’t a man. He was only a crazy boy,” jeered9 Jane.
“I’d like to know where he came from so suddenly,” remarked Betty. “I wonder if he lives somewhere near here.”
“He drove his car up the road just as we came out of the woods,” informed Ruth. “Didn’t any of you see him then? It was at the very minute when Jane fell down.”
“You couldn’t expect us to bother with a little thing like an automobile10 when our Jane had come to grief,” smiled Anne. “I never even heard it.”
“Nor I,” chorused several voices.
For reasons best known to herself, Ruth was not sorry to hear this.
“He couldn’t have gone much further than the cottage, or he wouldn’t have come back so soon,” argued Betty. “He certainly didn’t stop at the Heights, or Martha would have mentioned it when she told us about the drayman bringing our trunks.”
“I don’t see why he should stop here,” declared Jane. “We don’t know him and he doesn’t know us.”
“The Mystery of the Mad Motorist; or Why, Where and When,” supplied Frances gaily11.
“Very likely he was afraid of the storm, and decided12 to turn back,” suggested practical Betty, bent13 on clearing up the mystery.
“Why bother our heads over a silly boy who hasn’t any notion of speed laws?” laughed Marian. “Let’s think of our own precious selves, and go upstairs for a grand change of costume. Blanche has certainly beaten us to it. She didn’t stop to compare notes with us.”
“That’s so. I’d forgotten about seeing her come in just ahead of us. I wonder where she had been.” Mention of Blanche had aroused Jane’s curiosity. “She must have—” Jane stopped. She had been on the point of saying that Blanche must have forgotten all about being tired.
Sarah giggled14 faintly. She had guessed the rest of the speech to be satirical, hence Jane’s reason for chopping it off so abruptly15. Ruth cast the sharp-tongued girl an approving glance, which Jane caught and understood.
“Come, girls.” Miss Drexal moved toward the hall.
Arrived in their rooms, the hikers lost no time in changing their slightly damp clothing for simple house gowns, substituting pumps and slippers16 for their cumbersome17 high tan boots.
The Guardian18 found Blanche, already arrayed in a pale blue linen19 gown, seated before the dressing20-table rearranging her auburn hair in the elaborate coiffure she always affected21.
“I thought I would go for a walk,” she began hurriedly, before Miss Drexal had time to make a remark. “I had no idea it was going to storm. I was hurrying for the cottage when you and the girls came up the road. I was tired of just sitting around doing nothing,” she added, as though feeling it incumbent22 upon her to explain her movements.
“I am glad you went. It was fortunate you didn’t walk far,” replied Miss Drexal, smiling. She was secretly pleased to find that her languid guest had been about and stirring. Her advice to Blanche, before starting on the walk, had evidently borne fruit. At once busying herself with her own dressing, she failed to observe the curious expression of relief that lurked24 in Blanche’s eyes as she studied the other woman intently for an instant, then turned to the mirror.
Before Miss Drexal had completed her change of gown, Blanche rose and walked to the door. “I am going to Ruth’s room,” she announced. She was bent on getting away, lest the registrar25 should ask questions which she could not truthfully answer. She preferred not to commit herself to anything which might afterward26 involve her in a mesh27 of difficulties.
Admitted to Ruth’s room by Emmy, she found the three girls had begun the overhauling28 of their steamer trunks.
“It’s a good thing for us these trunks came,” congratulated Marian. From a kneeling position before her own, she looked up and nodded brightly. “What time did they get here, Blanche?”
This being one of the very questions Blanche was trying to evade29, it stumped30 her for an instant. Quickly rallying, she drawled, “I’m not sure. While I was asleep, perhaps, or maybe while I was out walking. I didn’t ask Martha. I—well—I haven’t seen her since this morning.”
“Didn’t you have any luncheon31?” Emmy turned abruptly from the chiffonier drawer, which she was filling with the soft silk blouses she usually wore in preference to the heavy white middies.
“No. I didn’t want any. I—that is—Martha understood she needn’t get me any luncheon.”
“You must be hungry by this time,” observed Marian. “Never mind, it will soon be dinner time. Jane and Frances are the cooks to-night. I hope Martha can hear herself think.”
“Will you sit down, Blanche?” Thus far Ruth had refused to look at the caller. Her eyes fixed32 steadily33 on the tray of her trunk, she was wondering dejectedly what she ought to do.
“No, thank you.” Deep in her own problem, Blanche failed to mark the note of constraint34 in Ruth’s voice. “Would you mind coming to my room, Ruth?” She had made a swift resolve to ask Ruth to find out from Martha when the trunks had arrived; also if the latter had kept strictly35 away from her door, and what she had said about the message Ruth had delivered. It would be easy to further impress on Ruth that it was necessary to know these things in order to keep secret her pretended consideration toward Miss Drexal.
“I’ll be with you in a minute.” Unwittingly, Blanche had opened to Ruth the way she dreaded36 and yet felt was the only right one. Her pleasant face set in determined lines, Ruth turned from her trunk and followed Blanche to the door.
Emmy shot a curiously37 speculative38 glance after the two as they disappeared. She wondered what now ailed23 finicky Blanche. Marian placidly39 continued her unpacking41. She was not concerned by the request for a private session with Ruth.
“Did you give Martha my message? What did she say?” They were hardly in the hall when Blanche began her questioning.
“She didn’t like it very well.” Ruth had decided not to be too hasty. It was just possible that Blanche intended to offer a satisfactory explanation of what Ruth had privately42 observed. “She said she didn’t like to go against Miss Drexal’s orders. I repeated what you said about not caring to worry Miss Drexal, and saving extra work. Then she said, ‘All right,’ but that she would have to tell Miss Drexal to-night. I said it wouldn’t matter then, because—”
“You shouldn’t have said that! It matters a good deal!” Vexation robbed Blanche of caution. They had now reached her room and entered.
“Why?” Ruth swung the door shut, and faced her companion, her usually placid40 features alive with accusation43.
“I didn’t want her to know. That’s all. Why—what’s the—matter?” Blanche began haughtily44 enough, but ended by stammering45. Ruth’s stern expression sent a chill to her heart.
“That is not all,” Ruth grimly contradicted. “I’m glad you asked me to come here. Still, I should have come anyway to ask you to explain a number of things.”
“What do you mean?” Blanche tried to pretend amazement46.
“You know very well what I mean.” Ruth made an impatient gesture. “Why pretend that you don’t? You’ve deceived me from the very start, but you can’t do it any longer. I saw you this afternoon in the automobile that passed us—”
“Where were you when you—” With a gasp47 Blanche checked herself, looking the picture of guilt48.
“Where was I when I saw you?” Ruth smiled wryly49. “I was standing50 at the edge of the woods when the machine went along the road. We came out of them about a quarter of a mile below the cottage. Jane fell down. The rest of the girls and Miss Drexal went back to her. It was then I saw you. No one else even noticed the automobile. Of course, we all saw you running toward the cottage. The girls thought nothing of that. There’s just this much about it, Blanche, you owe me a full explanation. You’ve got to begin at the very first of this affair, and tell me every single thing about it.”
A note of passionate51 resentment52 had crept into Ruth’s voice. The humiliating knowledge that she had served as a cat’s-paw to Blanche had struck deep. Her sturdy soul revolted against the very idea of it. Now she was resolved to learn the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Further, she would not leave the room until she had learned it.
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收听单词发音
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1
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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cumbersome
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| adj.笨重的，不便携带的 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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ailed
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| v.生病( ail的过去式和过去分词 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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registrar
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| n.记录员，登记员；(大学的)注册主任 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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mesh
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| n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络 | |
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28
overhauling
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| n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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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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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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41
unpacking
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| n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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42
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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43
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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44
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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45
stammering
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
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46
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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47
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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48
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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49
wryly
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| adv. 挖苦地，嘲弄地 | |
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50
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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51
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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52
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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