CHAPTER XXXI. ROBERT DECIDES TO ACT.

To go back to Robert at the time he was watching the four men in the room on the ground floor of the sanitarium.

Our hero saw the certificate signed, and a little later saw Dr. Remington and his friend arise to depart.

He leaped from the fence and ran around to the front of the grounds, and was just in time to see Remington and his companion stalk off in the direction of the nearest street car.

At first he thought to have the pair arrested, but on second thought concluded to wait. He must first have positive proof that Mrs. Vernon had been brought to the place, and that these men were implicated¹ in the plot against the lady.

"It's one thing to know a truth," thought Robert. "It's another thing to prove it. I must wait until I can prove what I suspect."

After the two men had gone the youth walked around to the rear of the institution once more.

Some trees hid the upper windows from view, and to get a better sight of these Robert climbed one of the trees to the very top.

From this point he could look into several apartments.

The sight in one made his heart sick. On a bed lay an old man, reduced to almost a skeleton. The old man had his fists doubled up, and seemed to be fighting off some imaginary foe².

The next window was dark, and our hero turned to the third.

The sight that met his gaze here startled him. In a chair near the narrow window sat Mrs. Vernon, while in the center of the apartment stood her graceless nephew.

The conversation between the pair has already been given. Robert could not hear what was being said, but he saw every action, and saw that Mrs. Vernon was pleading to be released.

When Frederic Vernon went below, our hero slid down the tree and ran once more to the front of the house.

He saw Vernon come out and start for the street car line. It was now dark, and he managed to keep quite close to the young man without being discovered.

Now that he had seen Mrs. Vernon, Robert's mind was made up as to what he should do.

Frederic Vernon had to wait several minutes for a car. When it came along he hurried to a forward seat and gave himself up to his thoughts. As before, Robert kept on the rear platform.

The center of the city being reached, Frederic Vernon left the car and took his way to a leading hotel. Watching him, Robert saw the young man get a key from the night clerk and enter the elevator.

As soon as Vernon was out of sight Robert entered the hotel office and asked if he might look over the register.

"Certainly," answered the clerk.

Our hero soon found the entry, "Frederic Vernon, Chicago," and after it the number of his room--643.

"Mr. Vernon is stopping here, I see," he said to the clerk.

"Yes, he just went up to his room. Do you want to see him?"

"I won't bother him to-night, thank you," rejoined Robert, and walked out.

He felt pretty certain that Frederic Vernon had retired³ for the night, but in order to make certain he hung around for the best part of an hour. As Vernon did not re-appear he concluded that the young man had gone to bed.

"Now to find Mr. Farley and explain everything to him," said Robert.

In looking over the directory he found a long list of people by that name, and of this list three were lawyers.

Which of the three could be the man he was after was the question.

"I'll have to go it blind," said our hero to himself, and called a passing hack⁴.

Soon he was on his way to the nearest of the three residences of the lawyers who bore the same family name. When he arrived he found a rather tumbled-down looking place. Telling the hackman to wait for him, he ran up the steps and rang the bell.

No answer was returned and he rang again. Presently an upper window was thrown up, and a head thrust out.

"What's wanted?" asked a deep bass⁵ voice.

"I am looking for Mr. Farley, the lawyer," answered Robert.

"All right, I'm your man."

"Hardly," thought Robert.

"I mean Mr. Farley who has his office in the Phoenix⁶ Building," he went on, aloud.

"Oh!" came the disappointed grunt⁷. "I am not the fellow."

"So I see. Will you please tell me where he lives?"

"Somewhere out on Michigan Avenue. I don't remember the number." And with this the upper window was closed with a bang.

"That man doesn't believe in being accommodating," said Robert to himself. "However, there is no telling how many times he has been bothered by people looking for other Farleys."

He had the address of the Farley living on Michigan Avenue, and told the hackman to drive to it. The distance was covered in quarter of an hour. A sleepy-looking servant answered our hero's summons.

"Is Mr. Farley at home?"

"He is, but he went to bed long ago."

"Will you tell him that Robert Frost is here and wishes to see him on important business?"

"Yes, sir."

Robert was ushered⁸ into a library and the servant went off. Soon Mr. Farley appeared, in dressing⁹ gown and slippers¹⁰.

"Why, Frost, what brings you here this time of night?" he asked, as he came in.

"I suppose you are surprised, Mr. Farley, but something quite out of the ordinary has happened, and I want your advice."

"I will assuredly do the best I can for you. What is the trouble?"

"Frederic Vernon has carried off Mrs. Vernon and had her placed in an asylum¹¹ for the insane."

The lawyer emitted a low whistle.

"Is it possible!" he ejaculated.

"It is, sir. I hunted for Mrs. Vernon for several hours, and just located her a little while ago. She is confined in Dr. Rushwood's Sanitarium for the Weak-Minded, as the institution is called."

"I have heard of the place, and, let me add, Dr. Rushwood's reputation is none of the best."

"How Frederic Vernon got her there is still a mystery to me, but she is there, and I am pretty certain that he has got his tool, Dr. Remington, and another physician to certify¹² that she is insane."

At this announcement the lawyer's face fell.

"In that case we may have considerable trouble in procuring¹³ her release."

"But she is no more insane than you or I."

"That is true, and I presume an examination in court will prove the fact."

"I can testify that Frederic Vernon plotted this whole thing out with Dr. Remington, and offered the doctor ten thousand dollars for his assistance."

"That will be good evidence in Mrs. Vernon's favor."

"We can prove, too, that Vernon forged his aunt's name to a check for six hundred dollars."

"Yes, I know that. I saw the forged check myself."

"And we can prove that he followed her to England and tried to take her life," added Robert. And then he told the particulars of the perilous¹⁴ carriage ride along the cliff and of how Frederic Vernon had been caught by Farmer Parsons.

"I guess we'll have a pretty clear case against that young man," said Mr. Farley, after Robert had finished.

Our hero then told of his following Frederic Vernon from Mrs. Vernon's mansion¹⁵, and of what he had seen while hanging around Dr. Rushwood's institution.

"We ought to rescue Mrs. Vernon at once," he concluded. "If we don't Frederic Vernon may take it into his head to do her harm."

"I think we had better have Vernon and Dr. Remington arrested first," answered the lawyer.

He returned to his room above and donned his street clothing. A little later he and Robert were driven to the office of the private detective who had been engaged to hunt up Frederic Vernon.

"He is around town," said Brossom. "I've seen him. He is thick again with that Dr. Remington." He had learned a few things, but was astonished when Robert told his tale.

"Why, you ought to be a detective yourself, young man," he cried.

"Thanks, but I don't care for the work," was our hero's dry response.

Brossom agreed that it would be best to arrest Frederic Vernon without delay. The arrests of Dr. Remington and the other physician could then follow.

Again the hack was called into service, and they proceeded to the hotel at which Frederic Vernon had been stopping since his return to the city by the Great Lakes.

"I will see Mr. Vernon now, if you please," said Robert.

"Sorry, but Mr. Vernon went out about half an hour ago," was the clerk's answer, which filled our hero with dismay.

1 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

3 retired   

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。

4 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

5 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

6 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

7 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

8 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

10 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

11 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

12 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

13 procuring   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• He was accused of procuring women for his business associates. 他被指控为其生意合伙人招妓。 来自辞典例句
• She had particular pleasure, in procuring him the proper invitation. 她特别高兴为他争得这份体面的邀请。 来自辞典例句

14 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

15 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。