Presently the crowd parted as the stalwart men in blue advanced towards the quay6-side with the obvious intention of crossing the deck of the Unity7 and boarding the Olivette.
Even then Gregory did not shift his position. Desmond, watching him out of the corner of his eye, wondered what the wanted youth was going to do. It seemed improbable that a hardened young criminal would give in tamely while a chance remained to attempt to escape.
"I think that if I were in his place," soliloquized Desmond, "I'd jump into the dinghy and scull for the other side of the harbour like blue blazes. Perhaps he'll dish the bobbies yet."
Mr. Armitage advanced to the rail to receive the two policemen.
"You know what we're here for, sir?" remarked one of the men.
The Scoutmaster nodded.
"What's the lad done?" he asked in a low tone.
"Broke into an old woman's shop, rifled the till, and well-nigh did for her, sir," was the reply. "He's a dangerous chap, seeing he's not turned seventeen. Did he give you any trouble, sir?"
"None whatever, Constable8."
"That's strange, sir."
"When a fellow's sea-sick there's the bottom knocked out of the universe as far as he's concerned," remarked the Scoutmaster drily.
The second constable had meanwhile sauntered for'ard, keeping the still unresisting but now restless Gregory between him and the bows of the Olivette. At a sign from his companion the policeman laid his hand on the wanted lad's shoulder.
"Come on, Greening," he exclaimed. "This is the end of your little stunt9. Come quietly now, or there'll be more trouble."
"What for?" demanded the youth with sudden energy. "My name's not Greening—it's Gregory, and I ain't done nothin'!"
"And half a dozen other aliases10, I suppose?" rejoined his captor caustically11. "It won't wash, Greening, so chuck it."
The boy appealed wildly to Mr. Armitage.
"I've done nothin' wrong, have I, sir?" he exclaimed. "It ain't you who's given me in charge, is it, sir?"
The Scoutmaster did not know what to reply. It seemed a despicable act on his part to have kept the boy "in the dark" until his captors were upon him. He could only shake his head in a deprecatory way.
Gregory went quietly. With quite unnecessary vehemence12 the two policemen bundled him off the Olivette and across the deck of the smack13. Murmurs14 of pity rose from the throng15 of interested spectators, while execrations of no mild form were hurled17 at the crew of the Olivette and the two Scoutmasters in particular, for their part in surrendering their charge. Clearly the sympathies of the Sutton Pool habitués were strongly in favour of the prisoner.
Suddenly the lad stopped and raised his head.
"Uncle! Uncle Garge!" he shouted.
A short, burly man on the fringe of the crowd, on hearing himself addressed, elbowed his way through the press and planted himself rigidly18 in front of the leading policeman.
"What you'm doin' wi' my nephew?" he demanded.
"Tell them my name's Gregory, Uncle," exclaimed the youth, before the policemen could say a word.
"'Corse it tes," rejoined the fisherman. "Same as mine, an' nothin' for to be ashamed on. What are ye got 'im for, perliceman?"
"Broke out of the Borstal Institution at Portland, day before yesterday," replied the constable laconically19.
The little man held his sides, threw back his head, and laughed uproariously.
"Lead on, Joe!" exclaimed one of the policemen to his comrade. "We can't stop here arguing the point."
"Get back, man!" said the other constable, addressing the highly amused fisherman. "Get back, or I'll run you in for obstruction20."
Just then the two Scoutmasters came up. The assertion of Gregory's uncle and the policemen's replies had been distinctly audible on board the Olivette. Realizing that there was certainly a mistake somewhere, Mr. Armitage jumped ashore21 to see the matter through, and Mr. Graham followed to back him up.
"I think there's some misunderstanding, Constable," observed Mr. Armitage. "We'll go with you to the station. This man's assertion quite conforms to—er—Gregory's statement when we picked him up in West Bay."
"But didn't you report the matter to Prawle Point, sir?" asked the policeman. "They telephoned the information on to us and we acted upon it."
A howl of execration16 burst from the lips of the onlookers22. Clearly they regarded the Scoutmaster as the cause of the trouble.
Realizing that there was not much to be gained by arguing with a couple of policemen on Sutton Pool quay in the face of hostilely inclined onlookers, Mr. Armitage did not reply to the question.
A few minutes later the double doors of the police-station closed in the faces of a curious and demonstrative crowd, while the two Scoutmasters, Gregory, uncle and nephew, and the two policemen entered the charge-room, where they were greeted by a stern-faced inspector23.
On the one hand the police had acted upon instructions. The description of the missing Borstal lad corresponded very closely with that of the youth removed from the Olivette. The time, place, and proximity24 to Portland, as far as the rescue in West Bay was concerned, tended to bear out the official view of the case.
On the other hand Uncle Garge Gregory, a well-known local smack-owner, was emphatic25 that the lad was his nephew and that he certainly was not at Portland a week ago, because his sister had mentioned his nephew in a letter.
"All you've got ter du, Inspector," he added, "is tu telegraph tu the police at Abbotsbury an' get them to see my brother Tom—young Tom here's father."
The inspector turned to Mr. Armitage.
"You reported the matter, I understand?"
"We merely reported that we had picked up a boat with a boy in it somewhere in West Bay," replied the Scoutmaster. "The reply to our signal was to the effect that the boy was the one who had broken out of Portland. We had no reason to doubt the statement. Now we know that it is wrong, but you must admit that the assertion did not come from us. I might also point out that the dinghy bears the words: 'Gregory—Abbotsbury'."
"All right, Gregory," said the inspector, addressing "Uncle Garge". "You can take your nephew away and be responsible for him. Bring him here to-morrow at ten o'clock—merely as a matter of form."
The crowd without raised a cheer when the two Gregorys appeared. Mr. Armitage and Mr. Graham were greeted with a storm of hisses26 and cat-calls.
Holding his nephew's arm, Garge Gregory mounted a doorstep and held up his hand. Such was the popularity of the little man that almost instantly the noisy throng relapsed into silence.
"Friends!" exclaimed Mr. Gregory in stentorian27 tones, "'tes all a mistake. You'm no call tu rant28 at these gen'l'men here. They be rare gude uns, seein' as 'ow they saved my nephew's life, so tu say. Look see: they bain't a-had nothin' tu du wi' this little misunderstandin'. T'was all the fault of the perlice; so don't 'ee shout agin' these gen'l'men no more."
"We'm mighty29 sorry to be sure, sir," said one of the men, who had been conspicuous30 in the hostile demonstration31.
"Quite all right," replied Mr. Armitage hurriedly. "We all make mistakes sometimes."
It was nearly eight o'clock when the two Scoutmasters regained32 the Olivette. Although the rain had ceased it was now quite out of the question to think of the Southend Sea Scouts33 setting out on their long trek34.
"We are sleeping on board to-night," announced Mr. Graham, after Mr. Armitage had briefly35 related what had occurred at the police-station. "If any of you fellows want to stretch your legs, let me recommend a stroll round the Hoe before it gets dark."
A little later a fisherman crossed the deck of the Unity and dumped a pailful of fish into the Olivette's well.
"Might come in handy like, mister," he said sheepishly. "Us—me an' my mates—wish tu make amends36, in a manner o' speakin', for kicking up a shine. Us hopes you'll let bygones be bygones, sir, an' if you'm wantin' any assistance while you'm stoppin' at Plymouth don't 'ee be afraid tu ax any o' we."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
tint
|
|
| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
quay
|
|
| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
unity
|
|
| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
constable
|
|
| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
stunt
|
|
| n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
aliases
|
|
| n.别名，化名( alias的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
caustically
|
|
| adv.刻薄地；挖苦地；尖刻地；讥刺地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
vehemence
|
|
| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
smack
|
|
| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
murmurs
|
|
| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
throng
|
|
| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
execration
|
|
| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
hurled
|
|
| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
rigidly
|
|
| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
laconically
|
|
| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
obstruction
|
|
| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
onlookers
|
|
| n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
inspector
|
|
| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
proximity
|
|
| n.接近，邻近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
hisses
|
|
| 嘶嘶声( hiss的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
stentorian
|
|
| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
rant
|
|
| v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
demonstration
|
|
| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
regained
|
|
| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
scouts
|
|
| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
trek
|
|
| vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
amends
|
|
| n. 赔偿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |