"I thought you were dead! You certainly sleep like an honest man."
"Sleep? Where am I?"
"You are at present enjoying a cell in the Tombs. You seem to like it."
Donaldson pressed his hand to his aching eyes. Then slowly the truth dawned upon him.
"What day is this?" he asked.
"Thursday."
"Yes. Yes. That's so. And to-morrow is Friday."
"That's a good guess. Do you remember what happened last night?"
"Yes, I remember. I 'm under arrest. I remember the terror in the face of that woman!"
Saul laughed inhumanly3.
"Of all the bogie men I ever saw you were the worst."
"I suppose I 'll be arraigned4 this morning."
"I doubt it, old man. In some ways you deserve it, but I'm afraid the Chief won't satisfy your morbid5 cravings. Remember the story you told him?"
"Yes."
"And you 're wide enough awake to understand what I 'm saying to you now?"
"Perfectly," answered Donaldson, growing suspicious.
"Then," exploded Saul, "I want to ask you what the devil your blessed game is?"
"I could n't sacrifice an honest man, could I?"
"Then," went on Saul with increasing vehemence6, "I want to tell you plainly that you 're a chump, because you sacrificed an honest man after all."
"You have n't arrested Arsdale? Lord, Saul, you haven't done that, have you?"
"No," answered Saul, "I was ass7 enough to arrest you."
"It would be wrong, dead wrong, to touch the boy. He didn't have anything to do with this. There was no one with me."
Saul took a long breath.
"I 'm hanged if I ever saw a man hanker after jail the way you do. And you 've got the papers full of it. And pretty soon I 'll be getting frantic8 messages from the girl. And you 've made all sorts of an ass of yourself. Do you hear—you chump of a hero, you?"
"What do you mean?" demanded Donaldson.
"I mean just this; that we 've nailed the right man at last! Got him with the goods on, so that we won't need the identification of a bunch of hysterical9 idiots to prove it. We won't even need a loose-jointed confession10, because we caught him black-handed. But my guess wasn't such a bad one—it was n't Arsdale, but it was Jacques Moisson, his father's valet."
"Jacques Moisson?"
"The son of that old crone Marie there. He caught the dope habit evidently from his master and has been to the bad ever since Arsdale senior died. The old lady has been hiding him part of the time in the garret of the house."
Donaldson's thoughts flew back to the bungalow11; it was this fellow then and not Arsdale who had attacked him,—if Saul's story was true.
Saul approached him with outstretched hand.
"You played a heavy game, Don."
Donaldson grew suspicious.
"I don't know what you 're talking about," he said, his lips coming tightly together again.
"No. Of course not! That's right. Keep it up! But I 'll have my revenge. I 'll give the newspaper boys every detail of it. I 'll see your name in letters six inches higher than they were even this morning. I will; I swear it!"
"Saul," said Donaldson quietly, "you 're doing your best to make me go back upon my story. You can't do it."
Saul folded his arms.
"Of all the heroic liars," he gasped12, his face beaming, "you 're the prince. And," he continued in an undertone, "it 's all for the sake of a girl."
Donaldson sprang to his feet.
"Don't bring in her name, Saul," he commanded.
"All for the sake of a girl," continued Saul undisturbed. "It took me some time to work it out, but now I see. Take my hand, won't you, Donaldson? I want to say God bless you for it."
Donaldson hesitated. But Saul's eyes were honest.
"This is the truth you're telling me?" he trembled.
"The truth," answered the other solemnly.
"Then you won't touch the boy? There is no further suspicion resting upon him?"
"To hell with the boy!" exploded Saul. "You 're free yourself! Don't you get that?"
"Yes," answered Donaldson.
He passed his hand thoughtfully over his face. Then he glanced up with a smile.
"I need a shave, don't I?" he asked.
"You sure do. Let's get out of here. And if I were you I 'd get back to her about as soon as I could. It's early yet, so maybe she has n't seen the papers. I gave the boys the real arrest, so that they could get out an extra on it and take the curse off the first editions. And now," he added, "and now I 'm going to give them the story of their lives—the inside story of all this."
"Don't be a chump, Beefy!"
"I'll do it," answered Saul firmly. "I'll leave out the girl but I 'll give them the rest. I 've got some rights in this matter after the way you 've used me."
"I know," he apologized, "but there didn't seem any road out of it. If you 'll just keep quiet about—"
"Not a word. You 'll take your medicine. Besides, the dear public will think you were crazy if they don't learn the truth."
"I don't care about that, if—"
"Bah! Come on. I 'll get you past the bunch now, but you 'll have to run for your life after this."
Saul put him with all possible despatch13 through the red tape necessary to secure his acquittal, and then led him out by a side door. He summoned a cab.
"They 're waiting," he chuckled14. "Twenty of 'em with sharpened pencils and,—Holy Smoke,—the story! The story!"
"Forget it, Saul. Forget it—"
But Saul only pushed him into the cab and hurried back to his joyous15 mission.
Donaldson ordered the driver to the Waldorf. He must get a clean shave, change his clothes and get back to the Arsdale house before the first editions were out heralding16 his arrest. If Jacques had been arrested at the house it was possible that the excitement might have prevented them from learning anything at all of his part in the mess.
He found a letter from Mrs. Wentworth waiting for him. He tore it open. She wrote:
"Oh, Peter Donaldson, I wish I had the gift to make you understand how grateful I am for all you 've done. But I can't until you come up and visit us. We reached here safely and found everything all right. The deed was given to me and the money you put in the bank for me. The house now is all clean and the children are playing out doors. My heart is overflowing17, Peter Donaldson. It is better than anything I ever dreamed of here. My prayers are with you all the time and I know they will be heard."
So she ran on and told him all about the place and what she had already accomplished18. Happiness breathed like a flower's fragrance19 from every line of it, until it left him with a lump in his throat.
"That is something," he said to himself as he finished it. "It has n't been all waste."
He went to the barber in better spirits and came back to his room to read the letter again. It was like a tonic20 to him. He looked from his window a moment, to breathe the fresh morning air.
The street below him was alive once more with its eager life. Men and women passed to the right and left, the blind beggar still waited at the corner, the world, expressed now through this one human being, had abated21 not one tittle of its activity. The Others were still about him. The pigeons still cut gray circles through the sunshine and the girl still waited. As he stood there he heard the raucous22 cries of the newsboys shouting "Extra," and knew that he must go on and face this final crisis. He could not delay another minute.
When he reached the house he found his worst fears realized. She was in the library with a crumpled23 paper in her hand and Arsdale was bending over her. As he greeted them they both pushed back from him as though one of the dead had entered. The boy was the first to recover himself. He sprang to Donaldson's side with his hand out.
"I told her it was n't true," he exclaimed. "I told her it was all a beastly lie!"
He grasped Donaldson's hand and dragged him towards his sister.
"See," he cried, "see, here he is! The papers lied about him!"
The girl tottered24 forward. Donaldson put out his arm and supported her.
"I 'm sorry you saw the papers," he said quietly. "I was in hopes I should reach here before that."
"But what is the meaning of it?"
"The police made a mistake, that 's all," he explained.
Arsdale broke in,
"We 'll sue them for it, Donaldson! I 'll get the best legal talent in the country and make them sweat for this! It's an outrage25!"
"I 'm sorry you saw the paper," he repeated to the girl.
Her pale face and startled eyes frightened him. She had withdrawn26 from his arm after a minute and now fell into a chair.
"The blasted idiots," raged the boy.
The telephone rang imperiously and Arsdale went to answer it, chewing invectives.
Donaldson crossed to the side of the girl.
"Where is Marie?" he asked.
"She is in bed again. Her poor knees are troubling her."
"I have both good news and bad news for you," he said after a moment's hesitation27, "the real assailant has been found and it is Jacques Moisson."
The girl recoiled28.
"Jacques!"
"So the police feel sure. They say they caught him this morning in the attempt to commit another robbery. The Arsdale curse is upon him."
"Oh," she cried, "that is terrible."
But as he had guessed, it was good news also. There was no longer any doubt of who brought that wallet to the bungalow. There was no longer the grim suspicion of who might have rifled her rooms. The spectres which had seemed to be moving nearer and nearer her brother vanished instantly. That burden at least was lifted from her shoulders, even though it was replaced by another.
"Poor Marie! Poor Marie!" she moaned.
"I think she may suspect this," he said. "But it will be better for you to tell her than the police."
"Yes, I must go to her at once."
Arsdale came to the door, his face strangely agitated29. He paused there a moment clinging to the curtains. Then, almost in awe30, he came unsteadily towards Donaldson. The latter straightened to meet him. The boy started to speak, choked, and, finding Donaldson's hand, seized it in both his own. Then with his eyes overflowing he found his voice.
"How am I ever going to repay you for this?" he exclaimed in a daze31.
Elaine was at his side in an instant.
"What is it, Ben? What is it now?"
"What is it?" he faltered32. "It's so much—it's so much, I can't say it all at once."
Donaldson turned away from them both.
"He," panted the boy, "he gave himself up for me. They thought it was I, and he went to jail for me."
"It was a mistake on their part," answered Donaldson. "They did n't know."
"And so you shouldered it," she whispered.
"I knew it would come out all right," he faltered.
"A reporter rang me up just now," ran on Arsdale. "He told me the whole thing. The papers are full of it. They—they say you 're great, Donaldson, but they don't know how great!"
"If you would n't talk about it," pleaded Donaldson.
"Talk about it? I want to scream it! I want to get out and stand in Park Row and yell it. I want every living man and woman in the world to know about it!"
"It's all over—it's done with!"
"No," answered Arsdale, "it's just begun. I feel weak in the knees. I must go—I must be alone a minute and think this over."
He staggered from the room and Donaldson turning to the girl, said gently, "Go to Marie now. She will need you."
"You," she exclaimed below her breath, "you are wonderful!"
He turned away his head and she left him there alone.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
bunk
|
|
| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
stupor
|
|
| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
inhumanly
|
|
| adv.无人情味地，残忍地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
4
arraigned
|
|
| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
morbid
|
|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
vehemence
|
|
| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
frantic
|
|
| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
hysterical
|
|
| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
bungalow
|
|
| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
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： |
|
|
|
|
13
despatch
|
|
| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
joyous
|
|
| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
heralding
|
|
| v.预示( herald的现在分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
overflowing
|
|
| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
fragrance
|
|
| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
tonic
|
|
| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
abated
|
|
| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
raucous
|
|
| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
crumpled
|
|
| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
tottered
|
|
| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
outrage
|
|
| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
withdrawn
|
|
| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
recoiled
|
|
| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
daze
|
|
| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |