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chapter 18
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The loss of the jewels affected1 Keturah Hand strangely. At first it made her ill, but soon she was not only well, but better than she had been for a long time. She declared herself actually relieved, in a sense, to be rid of the stones. They had been a constant worriment for years. Now she did not have the care and anxiety of them—and she knew they were in safe hands.

“Any one who steals them is going to take pretty good[165] care of them,” she declared. “And I think I know who stole them, and why.”

“Was it the ghost of one of Kidd’s pirates?” asked Mermaid2, upon whom the theft of the jewels had seemed to have a more persistently3 depressing effect than it had had upon her aunt.

“He may have been one of Kidd’s pirates in a previous incarnation, and he may have been Kidd himself in an earlier life,” responded Keturah. “At present he’s a retired4 sea captain whose story wouldn’t look pretty in print, I suspect. Not that it will ever get printed,” she added. “He took them because——” She broke off. “I don’t know as I’m called upon to air my guesses,” she explained. “I’m not a detective in a detective story and I’ll not do any deducing out loud.”

Both Ho Ha and John Smiley were much upset by the disappearance5 of the stones, though both felt called upon to remonstrate6 with Keturah when she said, quite calmly, that Captain Vanton had got what he was after.

“If there’s the slightest shred7 of evidence that Captain Vanton took them, Hosea and I can handle him,” her brother told her. “You won’t let the theft be known, and you won’t hire a detective. You won’t tell us anything that points to Vanton.”

“Because I can’t,” cut in Keturah. “I’m not like a good many women. I don’t mistake my intuitions for evidence. I just feel that he has them—and I don’t much care if he has. I also feel that he won’t break them[166] up and sell them, and that eventually they will get where they belong, as nearly as possible. Jewels aren’t like any other kind of property, and everybody who has much to do with them knows it. I’m not superstitious8, but you don’t have to be superstitious to believe that a sort of curse attends the possession of most really valuable gems9 whenever they’re not in the right hands. They don’t rightly belong to me, never did. As I say, it’s no use to hand down jewels like other property. My aunt, to whom they belonged as rightfully as any one else, had no more sense than to leave them to me along with her land and furniture. I’ve always known they weren’t for me, but what could I do about it? Nothing, except wait for them to get into the right hands or throw them in the bay. Maybe they’ve got into the right hands now. If they haven’t, they’ll make whoever’s got ’em trouble enough until they do. If they belong to him it won’t matter how he came by them, or whether he deserves ’em, or whether he is a good man or a devil; but if they don’t belong in his hands, he may be a living saint and still be sorrier than the worst sinner.”

Ho Ha and Cap’n Smiley affected to treat this argument as foolishness, but something in it appealed to the mysticism in Mermaid. It fitted in with what she had observed of the illogicality of life, and she was readier than many an older person to believe that the world is ruled as much by sentiment as by law, and that life is a[167] series of compromises only for those who can’t accept its contradictions, and go on with their work.

She expressed this view to Guy Vanton without mentioning the loss of the stones.

It was Mermaid’s last day on the beach. In a week she would be in New York, taking special courses at Columbia and perhaps elsewhere. She was going in for cooking and chemistry, the chemistry of foods, and later she might take some medical courses leading to a study of the chemistry of digestion10.

“The chemistry of the human body,” she said to Guy, “is a job for the next fifty years.”

Guy considered, lazily. “If you like it, I suppose,” he said, reflectively. “I wish I knew enough chemistry to analyze11 my father, for instance. Not his digestion, which is perfect, but his mind. But I think the best approach to the mind is still alchemy. The philosopher’s stone probably exists, only we’ve always been on the wrong track in hunting it. It would be an idea that would transmute12 base-mindedness to rare-mindedness, and not base metals to gold. My father needs that kind of a philosopher’s stone; perhaps I do, too. We’re very unlike, you know; often it seems to me as if he weren’t my father at all. Sometimes I think he hates me, but even if he did—there are ties hate can’t break.” His voice lowered and his queer eyes looked into the distance. “Some day,” he said, “some day, Mermaid, I’ll tell you, maybe—— You pulled me out once, you[168] know.” He looked at her with a painful appeal. His eyes were those of a wild fawn13. An almost overpowering desire to answer that appeal swept through the girl, met the solid wall of her final doubt of him, and was broken to pieces. She gave his hand a friendly squeeze. “Good-bye,” she said, and left him.

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1 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
2 mermaid pCbxH     
n.美人鱼
参考例句:
  • How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起,那个女孩会有多受欢迎!
  • The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴,因为她等不及了。
3 persistently MlzztP     
ad.坚持地;固执地
参考例句:
  • He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
  • She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。
4 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
5 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失,消散,失踪
参考例句:
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
6 remonstrate rCuyR     
v.抗议,规劝
参考例句:
  • He remonstrated with the referee.他向裁判抗议。
  • I jumped in the car and went to remonstrate.我跳进汽车去提出抗议。
7 shred ETYz6     
v.撕成碎片,变成碎片;n.碎布条,细片,些少
参考例句:
  • There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
  • The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。
8 superstitious BHEzf     
adj.迷信的
参考例句:
  • They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
  • These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。
9 gems 74ab5c34f71372016f1770a5a0bf4419     
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长
参考例句:
  • a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
  • The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。
10 digestion il6zj     
n.消化,吸收
参考例句:
  • This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
  • This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。
11 analyze RwUzm     
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse)
参考例句:
  • We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
  • The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。
12 transmute KmWwy     
vt.使变化,使改变
参考例句:
  • We can transmute water power into electrical power.我们能将水力变成电力。
  • A radioactive atom could transmute itself into an entirely different kind of atom.放射性原子本身能嬗变为性质完全不同的另一种原子。
13 fawn NhpzW     
n.未满周岁的小鹿;v.巴结,奉承
参考例句:
  • A fawn behind the tree looked at us curiously.树后面一只小鹿好奇地看着我们。
  • He said you fawn on the manager in order to get a promotion.他说你为了获得提拔,拍经理的马屁。


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