CHAPTER XXXIV THE PASSING OF THE VOICE

 A strangely tense bit of drama was being enacted¹ in that hunting lodge² in the north woods.

 

Johnny, you will recall, had turned on the radio. For a space of three minutes they listened to a familiar tune³. Then, as Johnny held up his watch, pointing to the hour of ten, the place grew so silent that the far-away throb⁴ of an outboard motor seemed strangely loud.

 

“The Voice!” Johnny announced huskily.

 

But the voice did not sound. A moment passed; another and yet another. The silence grew oppressive.

 

Then suddenly a voice boomed out with startling clearness.

 

But what was this! This was not the old familiar voice. And what was it saying?

 

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“We are sorry to announce that there will be no Voice to-night. A terrible thing has happened.”

 

“The Ferret” started from his chair. The Chief and his whispering reporter shrank into the shadows.

 

“The Voice,” the announcer continued, “has been—”

 

At that instant there came a strange sputtering⁵.

 

Something had gone wrong. Was it the distant station or the radio at Johnny’s elbow? He turned the dial and at once there came to the ears of the listeners the faint, mournful, melodious⁶ notes of a pipe organ.

 

Ever endowed with a sense of what is fitting in life, Johnny allowed this second station to continue its sweet, sad dirge⁷.

 

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“It is for the Voice,” he told himself. “He is dead.” At once a feeling of infinite sadness came over him. The Voice was dead. Little enough he knew about this strange person and yet he had come to love him, as had hundreds of thousands of others. “He was young,” he whispered, “and now he is dead. The beautiful world with its sunshine and flowers, its singing birds and laughing children is lost to him forever.”

 

That every person in the room shared his opinion, he did not doubt. It was a strange situation. Perhaps the very persons who had plotted the murder, yes, and paid well for it, were in this very room. Greasy⁸ Thumb and his confederates had committed deeds as evil in the past. They appeared to cower⁹ now.

 

Then, too, there was “The Ferret.” He had always displayed an extraordinary interest in the Voice. What did he know of him? Was he possessed¹⁰ of secrets hidden from the others? Certainly at this moment he was behaving strangely. The look on his face was a terrible thing to see. Yet his manner was controlled. Though small of stature¹¹ and mean of feature, “The Ferret” was every inch a man. He had a brain that could think, a heart that could feel, and a will that was ever in action.

 

“Chief,” he said as he advanced to the corner, “you are going to resign! To-night! Now!”

 

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In his righteous indignation, the little man appeared literally¹² to tower. He pointed¹³ at a phone.

 

The Chief, moving heavily toward the instrument, called for long distance and asked for a number. He waited while the clock ticked three minutes away, then mumbled¹⁴ some words too low to be understood, and returned to his place. An hour later every radio station in operation, and all the late newsboys were announcing to the astonished city that the Chief of Police had resigned.

 

“As for you,” said “The Ferret,” turning his attention to the reporter, “you are going to vanish. You may choose your own method. I’ve enough on you for your double-crossing, your play between honest work and the worst form of double dealing¹⁵, to put you away for ten years. But you’ve a good mother. I would spare her. The Canadian border is but twenty miles away.” He pointed toward the door.

 

Gone was the smirking¹⁶ smile of the reporter who had turned traitor¹⁷, as he shuffled¹⁸ toward the door.

 

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“Do you think the Chief has been crooked¹⁹?” Johnny whispered, as “The Ferret” returned to his place.

 

“It is not for me to say.” The little man sank deep into his chair. “The city officials can find out. It is their duty to find out.

 

“All I know is that he held up his hand and in solemn oath swore to protect my boy and every other honest boy in our great city. And he failed! Failed!”

 

“You—your boy?”

 

“Yes. My boy. Didn’t you know? The fine boy I introduced to you that night, who took you for that long walk—that was my only son. None ever had higher ideals and nobler ambition than he. He was the Voice. And now he is—”

 

At that instant Johnny held up a hand. A moment before he had turned the dial back. A sound now came from the radio. The same booming voice sounded again:

 

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“Ladies and gentlemen, you must pardon the interruption. A thunderstorm crippled our power station. We were off the air for a time. As we were about to say, some time back, there will be no message from the Voice to-night, nor, indeed, on any other night.”

 

“The Ferret” sank lower in his chair.

 

“As I was saying,” the announcer went on, “a terrible thing has happened. An attempt was made upon this brave young man’s life, he who was known as the Voice. Fortunately, this was an unsuccessful attempt. His wounds are of little consequence. The assailant—”

 

At that “The Ferret” sprang up with a cry:

 

“He lives! He lives! Thank God, he lives!”

 

The assailant, Johnny gathered from what followed, had been captured by a private detective employed to guard the Voice.

 

“The man who had betrayed the brave youth, the man known to the underworld only as the Spy, is reported killed in the north woods.”

 

“Yes, thank God! He is!” “The Ferret” said fervently²⁰.

 

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“In the future,” the announcer went on, “there will be no Voice. Those who have promoted this noble undertaking²¹ feel that the young man, whose name must remain unknown, should not further risk his life.

 

“So now it is up to you, fellow citizens,” he went on earnestly, “to carry forward the work which he has so nobly begun!”

 

“They will!” said “The Ferret” fervently. “They will! This is the dawn of a new day.”

 

“And for my friends, Drew Lane and Tom Howe, there will be a new deal,” said Johnny.

 

“Yes,” said “The Ferret,” “a new deal; an opportunity to use the talents they possess in the service of their city.”

1 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

3 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

4 throb   

v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动

参考例句：

• She felt her heart give a great throb.她感到自己的心怦地跳了一下。
• The drums seemed to throb in his ears.阵阵鼓声彷佛在他耳边震响。

5 sputtering   

n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出

参考例句：

• A wick was sputtering feebly in a dish of oil. 瓦油灯上结了一个大灯花，使微弱的灯光变得更加阴暗。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Jack ran up to the referee, sputtering protest. 贾克跑到裁判跟前，唾沫飞溅地提出抗议。 来自辞典例句

6 melodious   

adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的

参考例句：

• She spoke in a quietly melodious voice.她说话轻声细语，嗓音甜美。
• Everybody was attracted by her melodious voice.大家都被她悦耳的声音吸引住了。

7 dirge   

n.哀乐，挽歌，庄重悲哀的乐曲

参考例句：

• She threw down her basket and intoned a peasant dirge.她撂下菜篮，唱起庄稼人的哀歌。
• The stranger,after listening for a moment,joined in the mournful dirge.听了一会儿后这个陌生人也跟著唱起了悲哀的挽歌。

8 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

9 cower   

v.畏缩，退缩，抖缩

参考例句：

• I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.我决不会在任何一位大师面前发抖，也不会为任何恐吓所屈服。
• Will the Chinese cower before difficulties when they are not afraid even of death?中国人死都不怕，还怕困难吗？

10 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

11 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 smirking   

v.傻笑( smirk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Major Pendennis, fresh and smirking, came out of his bedroom to his sitting-room. 潘登尼斯少校神采奕奕，笑容可掬地从卧室来到起居室。 来自辞典例句
• The big doll, sitting in her new pram smirking, could hear it quite plainly. 大娃娃坐在崭新的童车里，满脸痴笑，能听得一清二楚。 来自辞典例句

17 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

18 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

20 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

21 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。