Chapter 33 A Queer Fish Pond Party

Miles stared at Rex as though he did not comprehend the meaning of the word.

"A fortune?" he repeated. "What fortune?"

"Why, your fortune, to be sure," returned Rex.

"But I don't understand," went on Miles. "How can I have a fortune?"

"Easy enough, since your father has one. Syd knows all about it. You're a lucky fellow, Miles. It's somewhere about half a million."

Miles looked very grave for half a minute, then a smile broke out over his face.

"Come, Rex," he said, "I see through your joke, so you might as well drop it. You oughtn't to have made the sum so high if you expected me to believe it."

"It's true, all the same, Miles."

But Miles still shook his head and declared he should wait to believe till Mr. Sydney told him all about it.

"I wonder if Syd will tell him the whole thing tonight?" Rex asked himself, but Sydney was not home to dinner.

There was a note from him to Rex, however, asking that he and Roy and Miles should meet him at the Continental¹ Hotel that night at eight. This threw Rex into a great state of excitement. He knew that the crisis was at hand.

Roy took things more quietly, but inwardly he was none the less excited.

"Syd wants us to meet him down town," he said as they rose from the table.

He had been waiting for Rex to tell Miles, but the other had not yet brought himself to do it.

"Where are you going?" Jess wanted to know. "To the theater?"

"No, indeed," responded Rex. Then he folded up his napkin quickly and left the dining room.

"Has this visit got anything to do with my father?" Miles whispered to Roy, as they went out into the hall together.

"I think it has, Miles, but I don't know much more about it than you do."

There was not much said by the three boys on their way down town. Rex was in one of his silent moods, and made no effort to get out of it.

Roy tried to talk, but there was such a weight on his mind that he made but poor success of the attempt.

Miles was far too excited, however, to notice the difference in manner of the twins compared with their usual cordiality.

They found Sydney waiting for them in the corridor of the hotel. He was looking very haggard, but he seemed very glad to see Miles.

"I have good news for you, my boy," he said; "good and bad, too. I have found your father, but he is not quite himself."

"What do you mean?" exclaimed Miles, while Roy and Rex looked their interest.

"His mind is affected," Sydney went on. "We hope the sight of you may have a favorable effect, but be careful not to be excited yourself when you see him. Take it quite as a matter of course."

Miles drew in a long breath. It was going to be rather a difficult matter for him to take easily a meeting with the father he had thought never to see.

"Where is he?" he asked in a faint tone.

"Not far from here. Come, we will go there at once."

On the way to Mrs. Fox's Sydney explained that he and the old lady had arranged that she should give a sort of boys' party at which Mr. Darley should be present. He would then have an opportunity to study Miles quietly, while the latter was engaged in playing games.

"You look so much like him," Sydney added, "that we hope he may recognize you."

Miles appeared to be somewhat astonished when they halted before the odd little home in Seventh Street. But he said nothing, and the next moment they were all being warmly welcomed by Mrs. Fox.

The old lady was so excited that both her hands and voice trembled. She came near crying when she first saw Miles, but she greeted him exactly as she had the twins. There was a game of Fish Pond on the center table.

"Now, boys," she said, "try your luck."

They all drew up to the table, Sydney taking a rod, too. The old lady stood looking on behind Miles's chair. Presently she went out into the back room and in a few minutes returned, accompanied by a gentleman who did not look to be over thirty-seven. He was dressed very handsomely and his resemblance to Miles was striking.

"Mr. Darley, boys," said Mrs. Fox, as the two came up to the table. "Go right on with your fishing; we will watch you."

She had taken up her stand this time behind Rex, who was sitting just opposite Miles.

"Glad to meet you, boys," remarked Mr. Darley, in a pleasant voice. "How is the market?"

Rex, with an effort, collected himself sufficiently² to answer, "Oh, pretty fair, sir."

"Only pretty fair, eh?" went on the other. "Keep at it, though. You're bound to win some time, as I have. Look here."

He put his hand in the side pocket of his coat and drew forth³ a great mass of chips, all covered with gilt⁴ paper.

A look of agony was on Miles's face. It was almost worse than finding no father at all, to find such a one as this.

"Don't you want to take my rod and fish a while, sir?" he said, feeling that it would be impossible for him to longer sit still.

"Thank you; you are very kind. I might take a single flyer."

Mr. Darley stepped around to take Miles's seat, but as the other rose they were face to face, and very close to each other for an instant. Mr. Darley put out both hands and grasped the boy by the shoulders.

"What is your name?" he said in a tone that was quite different from the one in which he had hitherto spoken. It was much more decided⁶, and firmer.

"Miles," answered the other, trying his best to keep his excitement down.

He could see Mrs. Fox standing⁷ just behind his father, her hands clasped together in an agony of suspense⁸.

"Miles, eh! Well, you look as if your name ought to be Maurice. Great Caesar! doesn't he look like me, Mrs. Fox?"

He wheeled around so suddenly that the poor old lady was taken quite unawares. She dropped her hands quickly to her sides and had not a word to say.

"Don't he look like me?" Mr. Darley now appealed to Sydney, who managed to stammer⁹ out: "I certainly see a strong resemblance, sir."

"What is your last name, young man?" went on the other.

Miles hesitated an instant. He was about to say Darley, but some happy instinct prompted him to substitute "Morrisey."

Mr. Darley started.

"Morrisey, you say?" he exclaimed.

A swift change passed over his features. He had dropped his hand from Miles's shoulders, but now reached forth and caught him by the arm.

"Come with me," he said quietly, and led him into the back room.

The others looked at one another without speaking. No one thought of the game. The fish lines, tangled¹⁰ up, were lying in the pasteboard pond.

Mrs. Fox had sunk down on the sofa, her head covered with her apron¹¹. From the inner room came the subdued¹² sound of voices.

"Do you suppose he has recognized him?" It was Rex who at length broke the silence, and he spoke⁵ in an awed¹³ whisper.

Nobody made any reply, for footsteps were heard approaching from the rear. It was Miles. His face was handsomer than Rex had ever seen it. It was lighted up with joy.

He came straight to Rex and put a hand on his shoulder, while he leaned over till his chin rested on the other's head.

"I want to tell you first, Rex," he said, "who have been the means of bringing me to this happiness. He knows me. His mind has come back to him. He called me Maurice, and he remembers giving me to the Morriseys to take care of for a while. Then his brain went back on him, and he thought I was dead."

"Where is he?" asked Rex.

"Lying down on the bed. He is utterly¹⁴ exhausted¹⁵. I must go back to him now," and Miles hurried off again.

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

5 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。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 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。

8 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。

9 stammer   

n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说

参考例句：

• He's got a bad stammer.他口吃非常严重。
• We must not try to play off the boy troubled with a stammer.我们不可以取笑这个有口吃病的男孩。

10 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

11 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

12 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

13 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。