“We may be very thankful it didn’t wipe out Forest Lodge3, as well,” said Aunt Emma, coming from the kitchen at that moment and bearing a huge tray laden4 with johnnycake. “We might be huddled5 in the boats now, wondering what to do next, instead of sitting snug6 and safe in here——”
“Eyeing the most delicious platter of cornbread ever evolved by a cook,” finished Jessie, gayly.
“I vote we do something more than eye it,” cried Fol. “Come on, fellows, let’s get next to that cornbread!”
There were chicken croquets besides and a steaming dish of boiled potatoes and a bowl of peaches for dessert.
After dinner, seated cozily about the grate fire, the girls could no longer restrain their curiosity.
“If you keep us waiting another minute to tell us what you did down at that swamp, I am quite certain I shall explode,” said Amy, decidedly.
“We have seen quite enough wreckage8 to-day without your starting something,” declared Burd. There were signs of impatience9 on the girls’ part at this speech, so he asked quickly: “What is it you would like to know, fair ones?”
“Oh, Burd, you are exasperating10!” cried Jessie, impatiently, adding, as she turned to Darry: “Aren’t you ever going to tell us about those awful people who captured you, Darry, and all the rest of it? You must know how eager we are to know what really happened.”
“It is a pretty long story, and not all of it is exactly pleasant,” returned Darry, gravely, his gaze fixed11 steadily12 on the leaping flames in the fireplace. “You must have thought my actions for the past week or two rather—er—curious.”
The girls exchanged glances and Amy said dryly:
“You don’t know the half of it, Darry.”
“You remember Link Mullen up at college, don’t you, Burd?” Darry asked with apparent irrelevance13. “The dark one with the eyebrow14 moustache—friend of Monty Reid?”
“Link—of course I remember Link,” returned Burd, his gaze introspective. “Sporty guy, rather too fond of hitting the high spots?”
Darry nodded. His expression was still unusually grave. The girls listened silently not daring to interrupt him lest he retire once more into that baffling shell of reticence15 which had puzzled them so long.
“That is Link all right,” he said. “Kindhearted, you know, and a good fellow, the life of a party and all that. But his sister worried about him, tried to cut him off too much conviviality16, midnight parties and such things.”
“His sister!” exclaimed Jessie. “Oh, Darry, then that tall girl was——”
“Link Mullen’s sister,” agreed Darry.
“But how did she come to be in New Melford and, later, in Gibbonsville?” cried Amy, and Darry gestured impatiently.
“Give me time. I was coming to that,” he protested. “Link and his sister—their parents are dead, and they live with their guardian17, who is in South America at present—had a quarrel, and the girl ran away from home, declaring that if Link intended to ruin himself she did not intend to stay around and watch him do it.”
“Must have been a bird of a quarrel,” murmured Burd, appreciatively. “Go ahead, old man, what happened next?”
“The girl kept her word and slipped away the next day, taking only a grip with her and leaving no word as to her destination.”
“But where do you come in, Darry?” asked Jessie, softly.
“Right about here,” returned the boy, smiling at her. “Link was pretty much cut up, and he came to me and asked me to help him find his sister. Of course I said I would, but I hadn’t the least idea in the world how I was going to do it.”
“You knew her by sight, then, did you?” asked Amy.
“Link had brought her up to one or two of the college affairs,” replied Darry. “He was mighty18 proud and fond of her.”
“But not proud or fond enough to reform for her sweet sake,” remarked Amy dryly.
“I imagine this has been a lesson to him. He told me that if he was ever lucky enough to get Eileen back he would never do another thing to cross her as long as he lived. He was afraid she might be tempted19 to do something desperate, you see.”
“I guess he was right. If you could call passing counterfeit20 five-dollar bills desperate,” remarked Amy, and Darry took her up quickly.
“That is just the point,” he countered. “The girl didn’t know the bill was counterfeit.”
“That is what they all say,” remarked Amy, unconvinced. Jessie broke in before Darry could voice his exasperation21.
“How did she happen to get this bill, Darry?” she asked quietly. Darry turned to her with a gesture of relief.
“She befriended a strange woman, prevented her being run over when she was crossing the street. Eileen told me when I hunted her up at Gibbonsville that the woman seemed to be in a befuddled22 condition, whether from liquor or drugs she could not say, and she had given Eileen in return for her service a five-dollar bill.”
“The counterfeit!” cried Amy, dramatically. “At last we are on the trail!”
“We were!” Darry unexpectedly agreed with her. “Amazed at the magnificence of this gift for so comparatively small a service, Eileen made inquiries23 and found that the woman in all probability was a member of a gang who had been suspected at different times of trying to pass counterfeit money——”
“And so Eileen presented me with her counterfeit bill!” remarked Amy, ignoring Darry’s irritated glare. “Pretty clever work, I should say.”
“Link’s sister had already asked you to change the bill before she found out—or rather, suspected—that it was counterfeit,” he told her coldly.
“If she was so honest what made her run away that time when we saw her in Gibbonsville?” asked Amy, still not completely convinced. “She could have stood her ground then and given me the good five-dollar bill as well as to hand it to you later.”
“Oh, Amy, don’t you see how different that is?” Jessie cried eagerly. “When this girl saw us she had no way of knowing we were friendly!”
“As a matter of fact, we weren’t,” said Nell. “We were all inclined to be suspicious of her, thought she must be a member of some counterfeiting24 gang.”
“Of course! And, thinking that, she didn’t know but what we might try to have her arrested. Later when Darry found her and was so friendly she was encouraged to do what she had probably wanted to do for a long time—make good that counterfeit bill,” said Jessie, earnestly.
Again Darry gave her a grateful glance.
“Well go ahead, Darry. There is still considerable mystery to unravel25. What became of the woman who gave Eileen the counterfeit bill?”
“Ah, now you come to the real point of this yarn,” said Burd. “You sure did ask a leading question that time, Amy.”
“From Eileen’s description,” Darry continued, “I thought I recognized the woman as one whom I had seen in Gibbonsville talking with some rough-looking men. I did a little sleuthing on my own account and finally trailed the woman and her companions in the direction of Forest Lodge.”
“Forest Lodge!” they cried, and instinctively26 glanced about at the shadows that pressed in upon them.
“Go on, Darry,” urged Jessie, eagerly. “I believe I begin to see light.”
“You found out about that hut in the swamp!” cried Nell. “Now, I know why you were so anxious to investigate Phrosy’s ghosts!”
“Hold on, hold on!” begged Amy, rubbing a hand across a troubled forehead. “You proceed too swiftly for me, as Miss Seymour would remark. My poor intelligence refuses to follow your drift.”
“You see, it was like this,” said Burd, taking the story away from Darry and speaking swiftly. “Darry did find out that this woman and her companions came from the hut in the swamp, and he got it into his well-oiled brain pan that this unpleasant abode27 was the home of counterfeiters——”
“An ideal one I must say,” murmured Amy. “Absolutely safe from intrusion.”
“Ideal, as you say,” agreed Burd. “And if it had not been for Darry, the invincible28 sleuthhound, it might have remained absolutely safe from intrusion to the end of time. He confided29 to Fol and me his suspicions, and we immediately decided7 to investigate the inhabitants of the mysterious hut.”
“And you never told us a word about it!” complained Amy. “That is what I call just plain mean.”
“All the time you said you were going to investigate the queer noises from the swamp, you were after the counterfeiters!” exclaimed Jessie, excitedly.
“Not on your life!” Fol chuckled30. “When we said we were after ghosts, we were after ghosts.”
“And, by George,” announced Burd, emphatically, “we found ’em, too!”
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1
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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2
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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4
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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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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6
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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7
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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8
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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9
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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10
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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11
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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12
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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13
irrelevance
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| n.无关紧要；不相关；不相关的事物 | |
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14
eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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conviviality
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| n.欢宴，高兴，欢乐 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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20
counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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21
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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22
befuddled
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| adj.迷糊的，糊涂的v.使烂醉( befuddle的过去式和过去分词 )；使迷惑不解 | |
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23
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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24
counterfeiting
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| n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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25
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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26
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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27
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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29
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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30
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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