CHAPTER XI. A Day of Surprises.

 "Are you better, now?" said the stranger, laying his hand on Harold's shoulder.

 

"Yes, thank you," replied Harold, jerking himself away, while Rupert gave expression to what we all felt and thought.

 

"I wish you'd go about like other people, instead of sneaking¹ up the sides of walls." As he spoke² he went to the window. "Uncle George!" he shouted at the top of his voice. An answer came from a distance. "Make haste up here, there's a man who wants to see you."

 

"I pity him if he is in your den³," father called out merrily, after about two minutes during which time we had all been perfectly⁴ silent, Kathleen and Harold keeping a strict guard over the chest by sitting on it.

 

It seemed to me a fearful time before father's footstep sounded on the stairs. I almost expected to see the stranger bolt out of the window, but he did not. He stood as still as if he had been cut in marble, until the door opened, and father entered with some joke on his lips which was never uttered.

 

The mysterious stranger took his hat from his head, and father gazed at him for one brief second, then held out both his hands.

 

 "FATHER GAZED AT HIM FOR ONE SECOND, THEN HELD OUT BOTH HIS HANDS." 

"FATHER GAZED AT HIM FOR ONE SECOND, THEN HELD OUT

BOTH HIS HANDS."

"What! you, Joe?"

 

"Yes, I, George."

 

The words meant little enough, but the tone spoke volumes, and, to our terrible distress⁵, the stranger dropped on the oak chest and was convulsed with sobs⁶.

 

"Right about face, quick march," whispered Jack⁷, hopping⁸ off as well as he could. "Look after the baggage."

 

The baggage meaning me, Rupert and Kathleen seized me with a rapidity which would have terrified me a month back; and in less time than it takes to write, we had made our retreat in disorder⁹, and the enemy were left in possession.

 

"Never no more," said Jack, whom we found resting on one of the landings, "will I pass my days in that den. I shan't have nerve enough to face a cricket-ball when I get back to school. To think that the ghost, the mysterious stranger, the rescuer of my beloved brother, should be called Joe, and be on speaking terms with my uncle! After that, no more mysteries for me. I mean to live in the dining-room, and devote myself to bread and butter."

 

"That's all providing that father will let you," I said.

 

"No, it isn't. He will have to let me. I feel like the poultry¹⁰ in the farmer's yard, who declared 'twas hard that their nerves should be shaken, and their rest be marred¹¹ by the visit of Mr. Ghost. Oh, I'll go to Brighton, if uncle likes; but pass the rest of my days in the tower-room, I won't."

 

A burst of laughter restored Jack's good temper, and then we all went into the dining-room and told mother about everything. I'm a good deal older now than I was then, but I have not yet got out of the way of wanting to rush off to tell mother everything. Happy are the youngsters who have such a mother as I have, and who try all their lives never to do or say anything that they would be afraid or ashamed to tell her. Let me see, I said "rush off," did I not? and I meant it; though at the time I am speaking about, I was dependent on other people's rushing instead of my own.

 

Mother was nearly as excited as we were about the stranger, only she seemed to know a little more about him.

 

"Your father had a half-brother named Joseph," she said; "his mother was a Frenchwoman, and when she died her little boy was sent by your grandfather to stay with her relations in France."

 

"But why has father never mentioned him?" I asked.

 

"There was some unhappiness about him, dear, and you know your father never speaks about anything like that. He bears it all, and says nothing. Take care, Edric! what are you going to do?"

 

"Take hold of me, mother."

 

Slowly and carefully I drew my legs round, and then, leaning on her arm, with Rupert on the other side of me I put them to the ground. Of course, it was but a poor attempt at walking, but still, it was an attempt, and mother seemed utterly¹² amazed. Nothing ever happens just as one has expected and planned it; I had so often gone through that little scene in my mind, and yet I had not the least intention of acting¹³ it that day.

 

"Well done, my darling, well done! How came you to think of trying that? Why, you will walk as well as I do some day."

 

"It is all Kathleen's doing," I said, still standing¹⁴ propped¹⁵ up by their arms, and wondering at the peculiar¹⁶ feeling in my feet. "She had seen a child cured in Australia by doing a few exercises daily. She had watched very carefully, and was sure she could do me good if I would only persevere¹⁷. So she has made me do them twice every day, for half an hour, for five weeks."

 

"But that was what the doctor ordered for you, darling; and you cried and said the woman hurt you, so we had to leave it off."

 

"I know, mother," I said, colouring, for I was ashamed of myself now; "but in those days I did not really feel as if I cared to move about. I would rather not walk at all than be hurt as that woman hurt me. Now, Kathleen is different; she has not hurt me once, and yet she would not let me off a minute before the half-hour."

 

"Mary! Mary!" said father's voice, "I want you for a moment." He pushed the door open and stood transfixed.

 

"What! Edric trying to walk? This is a day of surprises. Whose doing is that?"

 

"Kathleen's," I said, making a sign to mother that I wanted to go back to my couch again. Father came into the room and looked gravely at me.

 

"Do you know, laddie," he said, seriously. "I have found out that there is one thing in this world which always brings a reward, and that is unselfishness. It's your mother that's unselfish, not I. If it had not been for her, I should never have consented to have your cousins here. I hated the thought of it, and only consented to please her. Wow see the reward we have got, far beyond what I, at least, deserve; my little helpless laddie is going to try to be like other children, and my half-brother is restored to his inheritance. Come and see him, Mary; I'll tell you all about it presently, children."

1 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

6 sobs   

啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
• She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

11 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

12 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

16 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

17 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。