小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » Bob Steele In Strange Waters or, Aboard a Strange Craft » CHAPTER XXXII. MATTERS ARRANGED.
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XXXII. MATTERS ARRANGED.
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 Captain Nemo, junior, made an astonishing rally during the night the Grampus was creeping slowly up the shore of British Honduras. He awoke from a refreshing1 slumber2, sound of mind and with an optimistic outlook on life which boded3 good things for Speake, Gaines, and Clackett.
 
The doctor, when he called, shook his hand in congratulation.
 
“You are doing better than I dared to hope, captain,” said he.
 
“Can I talk business, doctor?” asked the captain.
 
“As much as you like. Keep on with the same medicine, Cassidy,” the doctor added to the mate; “I don’t think we can improve on that.”
 
As soon as the doctor had gone, Cassidy made a confession4 which he had been keeping stored away in his mind for several days. It was a confession of his treachery toward Bob Steele and the rest of his mates aboard the Grampus during the other cruise south to rescue the American consul5.
 
Cassidy did not spare himself, but told the astonishing facts fully6 and in detail.
 
Captain Nemo, junior, listened in pained surprise. For several minutes after Cassidy finished he did not speak.
 
“If you’re going to begin drinking again, Cassidy,” said the captain, “I suppose we ought to part company.”
 
“I’ve taken my last drink,” declared Cassidy.
 
“Do you mean it?”
 
203
 
“I do.”
 
“And Bob Steele, on his way back from the River Izaral, put you back in the ship as mate?”
 
“Yes.”
 
“Well, whatever Bob Steele does is good enough for me. If you were put there as mate, then you stay there.”
 
“Thank you, sir,” said Cassidy, shaking his captain’s hand.
 
At that moment a rap fell on the door. Cassidy opened it, and Gaines, Speake, Clackett, and Bob Steele walked into the room.
 
“Well, well, Bob!” cried Captain Nemo, junior, his face brightening wonderfully at sight of the young motorist, “this is a pleasure, I must say! You’ve brought the entire crew of the Grampus with you, eh?”
 
“Not quite all of them,” laughed Bob. “Cassidy was here, taking care of you, and we left Dick and Carl aboard for an anchor watch.”
 
“You fellows act as though you had something on your minds,” observed the captain, giving the three members of the crew a curious look.
 
“That’s what we have, sir,” answered Gaines. “We have a confession to make.”
 
“Confession!” muttered the captain. “This seems to be my morning for hearing confessions7. Well, go ahead.”
 
Thereupon Speake, Gaines, and Clackett, on their part, told the captain exactly what had taken place during this second trip to the River Izaral. Captain Nemo, junior, was dumfounded. Pursing his thin lips, he leaned back in his chair and watched and listened with the utmost attention.
 
“So,” said he cuttingly, when the recital8 was done, “Bob Steele refused to take my boat south, in response to the request of this scoundrelly don, and you locked204 Bob and Dick in the storage room of the submarine and went off whether they would or no! And you called Bob out of the room to fix the motor and keep the boat from going on the reefs; and you picked up a supposedly shipwrecked crew out of a boat, and the crew turned on you and captured the Grampus; and, with the aid of Miss Sixty, Bob Steele and his friends recovered the boat, captured Fingal, Pitou, and some others, and turned them over to the cruiser Seminole—all of which would not have happened had not you, Speake, Gaines, and Clackett acted in an insubordinate and mutinous9 manner. What had I ought to do with them, Bob?”
 
“They behaved finely during the fighting and while we were running down the river, past the fort,” replied Bob, “so I don’t think they should be dealt with very severely10, captain.”
 
“You’re too easy with them, Bob! Look at the trouble they caused you!”
 
“But see what good luck came out of it, captain. We captured Pitou and Fingal.”
 
“That isn’t the best thing that has come out of it, Bob,” remarked the captain. “The best thing for me is the fact that this mutinous conduct of Speake, Clackett, and Gaines proves, more than ever, that you are always to be depended on. You refused to sail away on a wild-goose chase after listening to a plausible11 story told by this rascally12 don, and——”
 
“I took a good deal of stock in the story at the time it was told, captain,” said Bob.
 
“That may be; but you didn’t let your own desires override13 what you conceived to be your duty. There would have been no merit in your act, for you, if you had not wanted to go with the don, but yet allowed your idea of duty to me hold you back. I am much obliged to you, Speake, Gaines, and Clackett, for af205fording me this added proof that my confidence in Bob Steele is not misplaced. But, if I ever hear of any further mutiny on the Grampus, there will be something happen which none of you will ever forget.
 
“The U. S. cruiser Seminole is in the harbor, and I am positive that her captain bears some news for me of a very important nature. This may make it necessary for a call to be made upon the officers and crew of the Grampus for some further work. I cannot tell yet as to that, but you’ll receive your orders later. If so it turns out, then your commanding officer will be Bob Steele. Now leave me, all of you, for I have both listened and talked too much, and I am beginning to feel tired. Have the periscope14 ball and mast repaired, Bob, as soon as possible, and call and see me to-night.”
 
As Bob left the house and made his way along the street, he came suddenly upon Ysabel Sixty, again clad in her feminine clothes and looking like the Ysabel he used to know of old.
 
“You did not stay long at home, Ysabel,” said Bob.
 
“I couldn’t,” she answered. “I wanted to find out what your plans were, and how long you expect to remain in Belize.”
 
“That’s all in doubt, as yet. I am to call on Captain Nemo, junior, to-night, and perhaps he will be able to tell me something about future plans.”
 
“I hope,” and there was a tremulous earnestness in the girl’s words, “that you are not going to leave Belize very soon.”
 
“I should like to stay here a little while, Ysabel, myself,” said Bob.
 
Her face brightened. “And if you are here for a while, you will come often and see me?”
 
“You may depend upon it,” said Bob, taking her hand cordially. “I shall never forget this last experi206ence of yours, and how you undertook an exceedingly risky15 venture solely16 to be of aid to me.”
 
There was a gentleman waiting for a word with Bob, and Ysabel, with a glad smile, turned away in the direction of home.
 
“Se?or Bob Steele?” asked the gentleman, who had been waiting for Ysabel to finish her talk with Bob.
 
“The same, sir,” replied Bob.
 
“I, my boy, am Don Ramon Ortega, the Spanish consul in Belize. I wish to beg your pardon for the serious misadventures into which you were plunged17 through the unwarranted use of my name by that unmitigated scoundrel, Don Carlos Valdez.”
 
“You were not to blame for that, don.”
 
“Perhaps not, but I feel keenly the trouble which my name—always an honorable one—has caused you. Some time, when my family return from Mexico, I shall hope to see you at my home as an honored guest. Will you come?”
 
“Certainly, sir, if I am in Belize.”
 
“I thank you, se?or,” said the don; and then, with a courtly bow, he passed on.
 
Bob hardly knew whether to laugh or look sober; but when he reflected on how the rascally Don Carlos had juggled18 with the Spanish consul’s name, and used it for base purposes, he felt that perhaps the consul was right in taking the matter so much to heart.
 
That evening, Pedro was taken ashore19 and lodged20 in the house of Ysabel’s relatives. The next day he took passage to Cuba, and forever cut himself adrift from revolutions and the filibusters21 who foster them.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 refreshing HkozPQ     
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的
参考例句:
  • I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
  • The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼,特别解乏提神。
2 slumber 8E7zT     
n.睡眠,沉睡状态
参考例句:
  • All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
  • Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒,因为他需要休息。
3 boded 3ee9f155e2df361f160805e631a2c2ca     
v.预示,预告,预言( bode的过去式和过去分词 );等待,停留( bide的过去分词 );居住;(过去式用bided)等待
参考例句:
  • The beginning of that summer boded ill. 夏季一开始就来势不善。 来自辞典例句
4 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
5 consul sOAzC     
n.领事;执政官
参考例句:
  • A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
  • He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。
6 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
7 confessions 4fa8f33e06cadcb434c85fa26d61bf95     
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔
参考例句:
  • It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 recital kAjzI     
n.朗诵,独奏会,独唱会
参考例句:
  • She is going to give a piano recital.她即将举行钢琴独奏会。
  • I had their total attention during the thirty-five minutes that my recital took.在我叙述的35分钟内,他们完全被我吸引了。
9 mutinous GF4xA     
adj.叛变的,反抗的;adv.反抗地,叛变地;n.反抗,叛变
参考例句:
  • The mutinous sailors took control of the ship.反叛的水手们接管了那艘船。
  • His own army,stung by defeats,is mutinous.经历失败的痛楚后,他所率军队出现反叛情绪。
10 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
11 plausible hBCyy     
adj.似真实的,似乎有理的,似乎可信的
参考例句:
  • His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
  • Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。
12 rascally rascally     
adj. 无赖的,恶棍的 adv. 无赖地,卑鄙地
参考例句:
  • They said Kelso got some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult his son-in-law in public. 他们说是凯尔索指使某个下贱的冒险家,一个比利时恶棍,来当众侮辱他的女婿。
  • Ms Taiwan: Can't work at all, but still brag and quibble rascally. 台湾小姐:明明不行,还要硬拗、赖皮逞强。
13 override sK4xu     
vt.不顾,不理睬,否决;压倒,优先于
参考例句:
  • The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
  • I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。
14 periscope IMhx2     
n. 潜望镜
参考例句:
  • The captain aligned the periscope on the bearing.船长使潜望镜对准方位。
  • Now,peering through the periscope he remarked in businesslike tones.现在,他一面从潜望镜里观察,一面用精干踏实的口吻说话。
15 risky IXVxe     
adj.有风险的,冒险的
参考例句:
  • It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险,但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
  • He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
16 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅,唯一地
参考例句:
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
17 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
18 juggled a77f918d0a98a7f7f7be2d6e190e48c5     
v.歪曲( juggle的过去式和过去分词 );耍弄;有效地组织;尽力同时应付(两个或两个以上的重要工作或活动)
参考例句:
  • He juggled the company's accounts to show a profit. 为了表明公司赢利,他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The juggler juggled three bottles. 这个玩杂耍的人可同时抛接3个瓶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 ashore tNQyT     
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸
参考例句:
  • The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前,孩子们就上岸了。
  • He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。
20 lodged cbdc6941d382cc0a87d97853536fcd8d     
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属
参考例句:
  • The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 filibusters b6bb549acb80a9af59eb2808c2a04881     
n.掠夺兵( filibuster的名词复数 );暴兵;(用冗长的发言)阻挠议事的议员;会议妨碍行为v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的第三人称单数 );掠夺
参考例句:
  • This Republican leadership has waged 78 filibusters and we still have six months to go. 而这届参议院上台才一年半,共和党领导层已经应用了78次。 来自互联网
  • Yes, there were filibusters in the past-most notably by segregationists trying to block civil rights legislation. 没错,过去也有使用阻挠立法手段的——尤其是种族隔离分子阻止民权法案使用过。 来自互联网


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:tinglishi@gmail.com  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533