Chapter 9 The Mystery About Sydney

The boys stood by in anxious suspense¹ while the doctor made his examination.

"It is utter collapse² from severe mental strain," he said after a minute. "He will come around presently."

He wrote out a prescription³ and gave it to Scott to take out for him and then turned to Rex.

"You are Mr. Pell's brother, I believe?" he said.

"Yes," answered Rex, for the fact that there was no blood relation between them was one that very seldom recurred⁴ to the boys' minds.

"Then perhaps you will be able to assign some cause for this seizure⁵. Was Mr. Pell excited by anything in particular when it took him?"

Rex hesitated. Remembering how Sydney had been affected⁶ by learning that he had revealed the facts about Mr. Tyler's will to Scott, he felt that he ought not to speak of the matter to any one else.

"Yes, he was excited by a-- a family affair," he replied, hoping this was all he need say on the matter.

"Humph!" muttered the physician, and he not only took another critical look at Sydney's face, but favored Rex with a long stare, too.

"Will he be well enough to go down to Marley to-night?" asked the latter.

"You live out of town then?" returned the doctor. "There's no place where you could take him here in the city?"

"None, but a hotel," rejoined Rex. "And I'm sure my mother would rather have him home."

At this point Sydney stirred and opened his eyes. He looked first at the doctor, frowned deeply, and then as Rex came forward within his range of vision, he beckoned⁷ the boy to him.

Rex hurried over and knelt by his side.

"Who is that?" asked Sydney.

"It's a doctor. You fainted or something and Scott went out to get him. How do you feel?"

"Pretty weak, but ask him to step into the next room a minute. I want to speak to you."

"Doctor, will you mind waiting in the next room a minute? My brother wants to see me about something."

Rex was afraid the physician might feel offended or else object to leaving his patient, but he said, "Why, certainly," and then came over to take a close look at the young lawyer before leaving him.

As soon as he had gone Sydney put out one arm and passing it around Rex's neck, drew the boy's ear close to his mouth.

"Did I say anything while I was unconscious?" he whispered.

"No," replied Rex, mystified. "Nothing at all. But what does all this mean, Syd? What is worrying you so terribly?"

"Don't let it worry you and then it will worry me less. What time is it?"

"Half past five."

"Then we ought to catch the six o'clock train."

"But you're not strong enough to go now," objected Rex. "You're as pale as a ghost."

"Am I?" A wan⁸ smile lit up Sydney's face for an instant "Well, then, exercise will perhaps bring some of the color back. You can call the doctor in now and we'll see what he says."

Scott arrived with the filled prescription just as Rex brought the physician back into the room. Sydney objected to lying on the floor any longer and they helped him to a chair.

"Yes, you can go home if you don't do any walking," said the doctor after another examination.

"All right, I can go down in the elevator, get a carriage from the hotel across the street and ride right up to the station. You rush down and engage one, Rex. Scott will stay here and help the doctor down with me. Then he can go along with us. Don't lose any time, Reggie."

With an immensely relieved mind Rex hurried off to execute the commission. He had really feared at one time that Sydney was going to die.

He was rallying rapidly now. When he entered the coach he took out his pocketbook and paid the doctor for his services.

"We owe you something, Scott," he added after they had started, "for what you got at the drug store."

Scott protested, but was in the end obliged to take what he had paid out.

"It's been an exciting afternoon for you fellows," remarked Sydney, and Rex could not help but notice that while his tone was light, his face was still pale and that be did not look at them while he was speaking.

"I want you to promise me one thing, though. That you will not speak of my fainting spell at home, or you either, Scott. I have a particular reason for asking that favor."

Both boys promised to respect his wishes, and then Sydney quickly changed the subject to the Bowmans' trip, asking at what hotels they were going to stop, and so on until the carriage reached the station. He seemed so much better by this time that when he met a friend on the train and took a seat with him, Rex and Scott almost forgot that he had been ill.

They found places together near by, but neither said much during the short ride. Rex felt that Scott must be thinking of how Sydney had broken in upon his revelation of their inheritance, and wondering what it could mean. He couldn't explain it, so he thought best not to broach⁹ the subject.

And as this filled so large a part of his thoughts there was nothing else he cared to talk about. After all his trip to Philadelphia had not been productive of any results. He knew no more now than when he started about the extent of Mr. Tyler's fortune.

When they reached Marley, Sydney took a hack¹⁰ that always waited at the station, and he and Rex rode down to the Pellery, Scott living close to the station in the other direction.

"Do you feel all right, Syd?" asked Rex during the ride.

Sydney nodded without making any reply, and soon they reached home. Rex was unusually silent during dinner. He looked up in surprised fashion when he learned that Sydney had gone off without his breakfast that morning. Sydney explained that it was due to urgent business in town. Rex wondered what the family would think if they knew about the scene at the office that afternoon.

Nobody said anything about Mr. Tyler after Sydney had admitted that he died before he left him the previous night. Rex was the one most likely to discourse¹¹ on the subject, but now he had his reasons for not broaching¹² it.

The next morning Sydney did not go to the city. He devoted¹³ himself to making arrangements for Mr. Tyler's burial. The death was published in all the Philadelphia papers, and the Pells expected that some one might come down, claiming to be a relative.

But no one appeared, and on Saturday the funeral was held in the little house in Burdock. All the Pells were present, and a great number of people from Marley.

The news that the miser¹⁴ was very wealthy and had left all his money, except a small legacy¹⁵ to his servant, to Mrs. Pell, spread rapidly and created a great sensation.

Everybody connected it with Roy's act of rescue on the trestle, and so many spoke¹⁶ to him about it that he was almost afraid to show himself in public.

"What do you care?" said Jess, when he complained to her about it. "It certainly isn't a thing you are ashamed of."

"But I don't know what to say," he returned. "It sounds silly to tell them it wasn't anything, and I can't say, yes, I think it was a very brave act. So there I am."

"You poor boy. What do you do, usually?"

"Try to get around it by telling them that I'm not the heir but mother. I suppose that's kind of mean, too, for I know she hates to be spoken to about it as much as I do."

The Pells were the observed of all observers at the funeral. Eva had declared at first that she thought they ought not to go.

"We'll just make a show of ourselves," she said. "It was very unfortunate all this got out before Mr. Tyler was buried."

But Mrs. Pell announced that respect for the dead demanded their presence, so they went. Every one remarked on the pallor of Sydney. His mother had worried over it considerably¹⁷.

"You must be the first to take advantage of our altered circumstances, my dear boy," she had told him. "I want you to give up work for a while and go away for a good long rest."

"Oh, no, no!" he cried out in such terror that the poor woman was startled.

He noticed it and tried to smile as he went on:

"Of course all this business about the Tyler will has been an extra strain on me, but that will soon be off now. It is you and the children who must benefit by the money that has come so unexpectedly. You will make me, oh, so much happier, if you will not count me in on it. You will not need my help now, and my income will be abundant for my own wants."

Seeing that he felt so strongly on the matter, Mrs. Pell said no more at the time, but she often thought of that talk later and shivered as she recalled it.

1 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

4 recurred   

再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈

参考例句：

• Old memories constantly recurred to him. 往事经常浮现在他的脑海里。
• She always winced when he recurred to the subject of his poems. 每逢他一提到他的诗作的时候，她总是有点畏缩。

5 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

9 broach   

v.开瓶，提出(题目)

参考例句：

• It's a good chance to broach the subject.这是开始提出那个问题的好机会。
• I thought I'd better broach the matter with my boss.我想我最好还是跟老板说一下这事。

10 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

11 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

12 broaching   

n.拉削；推削；铰孔；扩孔v.谈起( broach的现在分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体

参考例句：

• Before broaching the subject of this lecture, I should like to recall that the discoveries of radium and of polonium were made by Pierre Curie in collaboration with me. 在开始讨论这次演讲的话题之前，我还想回忆一下，镭和钋发现是皮埃尔·居里与我合作完成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A: Can you use broaching to make a gear? 你能用拉削技术制作齿轮吗？ 来自互联网

13 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

14 miser   

n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly)

参考例句：

• The miser doesn't like to part with his money.守财奴舍不得花他的钱。
• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。

15 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

16 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。

17 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。