CHAPTER XXXV GOOD NEWS

 At midnight Johnny received a long distance call from the city. Curlie was on the wire. He and Grace Palmer, following the tip from the mysterious note, had gone to the breakwater and there retrieved¹ the registered package with its seal unbroken.

 

“And they are all there, the jewels,” Grace Palmer broke in over his shoulder. “The little diamond and platinum² train and all the rest. And there will be a reward, such a reward! Oh, how big! And we’ll share it, we four, Curlie, Joyce and you and I.”

 

* * * * * * * *

 

“So it was you, Greasy³ Thumb, and your gang!” “The Ferret” said, after receiving the good news. “It was you, and not the radicals⁴, who robbed the Air Mail! And I haven’t the least doubt that it was your money the dead Spy gripped in his hand! Blood money for betraying my boy!

 

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“Oh, you’ll get your due now! We’ll have you before an honest judge. And the world will not see you again until your hair is white.”

 

Once more he lapsed⁵ into silence.

 

And so, before a great fire, they spent the night, until dawn and a strong power boat came together to light the waters and to bear guards and prisoners back to the city.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

Evening of that day found three people standing⁶ before the cabin that had known love and hate, life and death. There was a gray haired man and a boy. And between them a slim, dark-eyed girl. Johnny, Joyce and Newton Mills.

 

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Having recovered from his injuries, save for a scalp wound that would soon heal, the veteran detective had told, amid laughter and tears, how he had concealed⁷ his identity under a gray coat and whiskers so that he might better play the part of protector to his young friend, Johnny.

 

The affair in the tunnel had been a high spot. He it had been who had warned Johnny and saved him from drowning.

 

The affair of the glider⁸ among the clouds was merely the result of a freak of fancy.

 

He had come alone to the north woods and had arrived just in time to save the boy from the murderous assault of the Spy.

 

“Who,” asked Joyce as the three stood watching the sun go down over the bay, “wrote those notes to Grace Palmer?”

 

“No one knows,” was Johnny’s reply. “Perhaps none of us ever will know. Some enemy of Greasy Thumb, perhaps. Every bad man has his enemies. And they are, more often than not, his undoing⁹.”

 

For a time after that there was silence. Then, as she laid a hand gently on a shoulder of each of her companions, the girl spoke¹⁰ again:

 

“When do we go back?”

 

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“We don’t go back.” Johnny’s voice was husky. “We go on into the silent north, perhaps. It may be that we shall find a land where men are just and merciful and kind.”

 

“Is there such a land?” she whispered.

 

“Who knows, unless he goes to see?”

 

Did they go on? Or did they go back? If you wish to know, you will find the answer in our next book entitled: Riddle¹¹ of the Storm.

The End

1 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

2 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

3 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。

4 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

5 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

8 glider   

n.滑翔机；滑翔导弹

参考例句：

• The glider was soaring above the valley.那架滑翔机在山谷上空滑翔。
• The pilot managed to land the glider on a safe place.那个驾驶员设法让滑翔机着陆到一个安全的地方。

9 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

10 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。

11 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。