One evening, however, Carl, who sometimes was inclined to be sentimental3 and romantic, borrowed a guitar from a Spanish waiter at the hotel, and went out to serenade Ysabel Sixty, in true Spanish fashion.
He managed to escape, unnoticed by either Bob or Dick, and without confiding4 his purpose to them; so, well pleased with himself, he strolled on through the quiet streets.
It was a rare evening in old Belize. The moon was like a big yellow topaz pinned to a cushion of blue-black velvet5, and around it lay the stars like scattered6 diamonds. Carl could not see the moon or stars very distinctly, for it was so beastly hot that the perspiration7 trickled8 into his eyes and half blinded him.
The zephyrs9, laden10 with spicy11 fragrance12 from orange groves13 and pineapple fields, breathed softly through the palms; but Carl could not enjoy the zephyrs, for a cloud of mosquitoes was pestering14 him.
The house before which Carl paused was a whitewashed15 bungalow16. Between the bungalow and the street ran a high brick wall. The iron gate leading into the yard was locked, and Carl climbed the wall.
Carl was not very well acquainted with the lay of the land in Belize. By an error of judgment17 he had107 got into the wrong yard, and by another conspiracy18 of circumstances he began pouring out his enraptured19 soul under the window of a room in which Captain Reginald Pierce, of the local constabulary, was trying to sleep. Miss Sixty was staying with relatives a block farther on, around the corner of the next street.
Utterly20 unaware21 of his mistake, Carl fought the discomforts22 of his situation and heroically burst into song.
Carl knew how to play the guitar, for he had once been a member of a knockabout musical team, and he could get music out of anything from a set of sleigh bells to a steam calliope. If he had been able to use his voice as well as he used the guitar, Captain Reginald Pierce would probably have slept on or even have been lulled23 into deeper slumber24; but there were flaws in Carl’s youthful baritone.
Captain Reginald Pierce stirred uneasily, sat up suddenly in his bed, and knocked his high forehead against the iron bar that supported a canopy25 of mosquito netting. As he rubbed his temples and said things to himself, he listened with growing anger, and began forming a plan of campaign. There was a pitcher26 of water on a table in his room, a bulldog in the yard, and a valiant27 assistant in the form of Hadji Sing, his Hindu servant. Getting softly out of bed, the captain prepared for his attack on the enemy.
When Carl climbed over the wall he had dropped into the yard at the foot of a lemon tree. He had jarred the tree and a half-ripe lemon had dropped on him. This omen28 should have sent him away and postponed29 the serenade, but it did not.
After slapping at the mosquitoes and drawing his sleeve across his eyes, Carl went on picking the guitar, and singing manfully.
Just then the water descended31. It was well aimed108 and Carl caught the whole of it. Probably there was no more than a couple of gallons, but Carl, for the moment, was under the impression that it was a tidal wave.
His song died out in a wheezy gurgle, and, for a moment, he was stunned32. Then, suddenly, he realized that he had been insulted. Ysabel Sixty, the beautiful maiden33 who had captured his young fancy, had deliberately34 thrown—— But his thoughts were interrupted by a voice from the window, a voice that certainly was not Miss Sixty’s.
“By Jove! I’ll throw the pitcher at you, fellow, if you don’t clear out!”
Carl was dazed. He knew, then, that he had made a mistake. While he stood there, half drowned and trying to find his voice, the bark of an approaching dog came from the rear of the house.
Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and instantly it flashed over Carl that if he wanted to save himself he would have to run. Without standing36 on the order of his going, he whirled and fled toward the fence. The dog was close and rapidly drawing closer. Behind the dog came a white-turbaned figure that was urging the brute37 onward38 with strange language.
The front fence looked altogether too high for Carl, and he turned and made for a wall at the side of the yard. Just as he gained the foot of the barrier the dog was snapping at his heels.
The dog was rebuffed, but not discouraged. Carl had gained a few valuable seconds, and he grabbed at a vine that covered the wall and climbed frantically40 upward. He heard a growl41 below him as he ascended42, and felt a shock as the savage43 teeth closed in his109 trousers. The dog was heavy, his jaws44 were as strong as a steel trap, and as Carl hung wildly to the vine he knew that something would have to give way or else that he would be captured. It was with a feeling of joy, therefore, that he heard a tearing sound and experienced a sudden relief from his enforced burden. The next moment he was over the wall and floundering about in a thorny45 rosebush covered with beautiful blossoms. But the beautiful blossoms did not make so deep an impression on Carl as did the thorns.
As he rolled out of the bushes his language was intense and earnest; and when he got up in a cleared stretch of ground he felt a sudden coolness below the waist line that informed him fully30 of his predicament. He had left an important part of his apparel in the next yard.
“Vat35 luck!” he muttered. “Vat a laff Bob und Dick vill gif me! Vell, I can’t go pack py der hotel like dis! Vat shall I do?”
He paused to shake his fist in the direction of the yard he had just left. All was silent on the other side, and the man and the dog, Carl reasoned, must have gone back where they belonged.
A survey of the situation in the moonlight showed Carl another bungalow. It was not so pretentious46 as the house in the next inclosure, but its walls were as brightly whitewashed and the building stood out clearly against its background of shrubbery. The windows of the house were dark. But this was to be expected, as the hour was past midnight. The noise which Carl had made had not seemed to disturb the inmates47.
“If I had der nerf,” thought Carl, “I vould go dere und ask der beople for somet’ing to fix my pants. But meppy I vouldt get soaked mit some more vater, und meppy dere is anodder tog. No, I vill go pack py der110 hodel und led Bob und Dick laff as mooch as dey vill.”
But luck was still against Carl; or, perhaps, in the inscrutable way whereby fate occasionally works in order to secure the greatest good for the greatest number, he was merely encountering obstacles in order to gain knowledge of a plot that had been leveled against Bob Steele.
Carl found a tall iron gate, set into the high front wall as snugly48 as a door in its casing. But the gate was locked. More than that, the wall could not be scaled, for there were no vines or near-by trees to offer a lift upward.
Carefully he made his way around all four sides of the inclosure, only to be balked49 at every point. Then he hunted for a ladder, a box, or some other movable thing on which he could stand while getting over the wall, but his search was fruitless.
“Vell,” he muttered, again moving toward the house, “I vill haf to shpeak mit somepody in der place und dry und ged oudt. I don’d vant to shday here undil morning.”
At the rear of the house he rapped. Although he pounded heavily, no one answered his summons. Alarmed by the thought that there was no one at home, he moved around to the front door and rapped again, still without effect. Next he tried the door. To his amazement50 he found it unlocked, and, when the door swung open, a blank darkness yawned beyond it.
“Hello, somepody!” Carl called, thrusting his head inside. “I’m not a t’ief, or anyt’ing like dot, but I’m in drouple. Hello! Come und led me oudt of der yardt, blease, if you vill be so kindt.”
His voice echoed rumblingly through the interior of the house, but won no response. Hesitatingly, Carl111 stepped across the threshold. He had matches in his pocket, and they had come through the recent deluge51 unharmed. With fingers none too steady he scratched one, held the flickering52 glow above him and peered around.
The next moment his startled eyes encountered an object on the floor that caused him to drop the match from his nerveless fingers and fall back gaspingly against the wall.
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1
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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4
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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5
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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6
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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7
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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8
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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9
zephyrs
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| n.和风，微风( zephyr的名词复数 ) | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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11
spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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12
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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13
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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14
pestering
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 ) | |
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15
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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17
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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18
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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19
enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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21
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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22
discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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23
lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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24
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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25
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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26
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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27
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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28
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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29
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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30
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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31
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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32
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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33
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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34
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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35
vat
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| n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶 | |
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36
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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37
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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38
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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39
whooped
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| 叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起 | |
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40
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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41
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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42
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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44
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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45
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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46
pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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47
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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48
snugly
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| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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49
balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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50
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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51
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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52
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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