Chapter 17

      It was twenty minutes before Frank, waitingimpatiently, heard the steps of his late companionascending the stairs.

　　But the door was not unlocked. Instead, a slidewas revealed, about eight inches square, throughwhich his late traveling companion pushed a plateof cold meat and bread.

　　``Here's something to eat,'' he said; ``take it.''

　　``Why do you lock me in?'' demanded our hero.

　　``You can get along without knowing, I suppose,''

　　said the other, with a sneer².

　　``I don't mean to,'' said Frank, firmly. ``I demandan explanation. How long do you intend to keepme here?''

　　``I am sorry I can't gratify your curiosity, but Idon't know myself.''

　　``Perhaps you think that I am rich, but I am not.

　　I have no money. You can't get anything out ofme,'' said Frank.

　　``That may be so, but I shall keep you.''

　　``I suppose that was all a lie about your keepingstore?''

　　``It was a pretty little story, told for your amusement,my dear boy,'' said Graves. ``I was afraidyou wouldn't come without it.''

　　``You are a villain³!'' said Frank.

　　``Look here, boy,'' said Graves, in a different tone,his face darkening, ``you had better not talk in thatway. I advise you to eat your dinner and be quiet.

　　Some supper will be brought to you before night.''

　　So saying, he abruptly⁴ closed the slide, anddescended the stairs, leaving Frank to his reflections,which it may be supposed, were not of the pleasantestcharacter.

　　Frank did not allow his unpleasant situation totake away his appetite, and though he was fullydetermined to make the earliest possible attempt toescape, he was sensible enough first to eat the foodwhich his jailer had brought him.

　　His lunch dispatched, he began at once to revolveplans of escape.

　　There were three windows in the room, two onthe front of the house, the other at the side.

　　He tried one after another, but the result wasthe same. All were so fastened that it was quiteimpossible to raise them.

　　Feeling that he could probably escape through oneof the windows when he pleased, though at the costof considerable trouble, Frank did not trouble himselfmuch, or allow himself to feel unhappy. He decidedto continue his explorations.

　　In the corner of the room was a door, probablyadmitting to a closet.

　　``I suppose it is locked,'' thought Frank, but ontrying it, he found that such was not the case. Helooked curiously⁵ about him, but found little to repayhim. His attention was drawn⁶, however to severaldark-colored masks lying upon a shelf.

　　He also discovered a small hole in the wall of thesize of a marble. Actuated by curiosity, he appliedhis eye to the opening, and peeped into what wasprobably the adjoining room. It was furnished invery much the same way as the one in which he wasconfined, but at present it was untenanted. Havingseen what little there was to be seen, Frankwithdrew from his post of observation and returned tohis room.

　　It was several hours later when he again heardsteps ascending¹ the stairs, and the slide in the doorwas moved.

　　He looked toward it, but the face that he saw wasnot that of Nathan Graves.

　　It was the face of a woman.

1 ascending   

adj.上升的，向上的

参考例句：

• Now draw or trace ten dinosaurs in ascending order of size.现在按照体型由小到大的顺序画出或是临摹出10只恐龙。

2 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

3 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

4 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

5 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。