Chapter 19

      Frank looked with some surprise at the womanwho was looking through the slide of his door. Hehad expected to see Nathan Graves. She also regardedhim with interest.

　　``I have brought you some supper,'' she said.

　　Frank reached out and drew in a small waiter,containing a cup of tea and a plate of toast.

　　``Thank you,'' he said. ``Where is the man whobrought me here?''

　　``He has gone out.''

　　``Do you know why he keeps me here in confinement¹?''

　　``No,'' said the woman, hastily. ``I know nothing.

　　I see much, but I know nothing.''

　　``Are many prisoners brought here as I havebeen?'' asked our hero, in spite of the woman's refusalto speak.

　　``No.''

　　``I can't understand what object they can have indetaining me. If I were rich, I might guess, but Iam poor. I am compelled to work for my dailybread, and have been out of a place for two weeks.''

　　``I don't understand,'' she said, in a low voice,rather to herself than to him. ``But I cannot wait.

　　I must not stand here. I will come up in fifteenminutes, and if you wish another cup of tea, or sometoast, I will bring them.''

　　His confinement did not affect his appetite, forhe enjoyed his tea and toast; and when, as she hadpromised, the woman came up, he told her he wouldlike another cup of tea, and some more toast.

　　``Will you answer one question?'' asked our hero.

　　``I don't know,'' answered the woman in a flurriedtone.

　　``You look like a good woman. Why do you stayin such a house as this?''

　　``I will tell you, though I should do better to besilent. But you won't betray me?''

　　``On no account.''

　　``I was poor, starving, when I had an applicationto come here. The man who engaged me told methat it was to be a housekeeper², and I had no suspicionof the character of the house--that it was aden of--''

　　She stopped short, but Frank understood whatshe would have said.

　　``When I discovered the character of the house, Iwould have left but for two reasons. First, I hadno other home; next, I had become acquainted withthe secrets of the house, and they would have fearedthat I would reveal them. I should incur³ great risk.

　　So I stayed.''

　　Here there was a sound below. The womanstarted.

　　``Some one has come,'' she said. ``I must go downI will come up as soon as I can with the rest of yoursupper.''

　　``Thank you. You need not hurry.''

　　Our hero was left to ponder over what he hadheard. There was evidently a mystery connected withthis lonely house a mystery which he very muchdesired to solve. But there was one chance. Throughthe aperture⁴ in the closet he might both see andhear something, provided any should meet there thatevening.

　　The remainder of his supper was brought him bythe same woman, but she was in haste, and he obtainedno opportunity of exchanging another wordwith her.

　　Frank did not learn who it was that had arrived.

　　Listening intently, he thought he heard some soundsin the next room. Opening the closet door, andapplying his eye to the aperture, he saw two menseated in the room, one of whom was the man whohad brought him there.

　　He applied⁵ his ear to the opening, and heard thefollowing conversation:

　　``I hear you've brought a boy here, Nathan,'' saidthe other, who was a stout⁶, low-browed man, withan evil look.

　　``Yes,'' said Graves, with a smile; ``I am going toboard him here a while.''

　　``What's it all about? What are you going to gainby it?''

　　``I'll tell you all I know. I've known something ofthe family for a long time. John Wade⁷ employedme long ago. The old millionaire had a son whowent abroad and died there. His cousin, John Wade,brought home his son--a mere⁸ baby--the old man'sgrandson, of course, and sole heir, or likely to be,to the old man's wealth, if he had lived. In thatcase, John Wade would have been left out in the cold,or put off with a small bequest⁹.''

　　``Yes. Did the boy live?''

　　``No; he died, very conveniently for John Wade,and thus removed the only obstacle from his path.''

　　``Very convenient. Do you think there was anyfoul play?''

　　``There may have been.''

　　``But I should think the old man would have suspected.''

　　``He was away at the time. When he returned tothe city, he heard from his nephew that the boy wasdead. It was a great blow to him, of course. Now,I'll tell you what,'' said Graves, sinking his voice sothat Frank found it difficult to hear, ``I'll tell youwhat I've thought at times.''

　　``I think the grandson may have been spirited offsomewhere. Nothing more easy, you know. Murderis a risky¹⁰ operation, and John Wade is respectable,and wouldn't want to run the risk of a halter.''

　　``You may be right. You don't connect this storyof yours with the boy you've brought here, do you?''

　　``I do,'' answered Graves, emphatically. ``Ishouldn't be surprised if this was the very boy!''

　　``What makes you think so?''

　　``First, because there's some resemblance betweenthe boy and the old man's son, as I remember him.

　　Next, it would explain John Wade's anxiety to getrid of him. It's my belief that John Wade has recognizedin this boy the baby he got rid of fourteenyears ago, and is afraid his uncle will make thesame discovery.''

　　Frank left the crevice¹¹ through which he hadreceived so much information in a whirl of new andbewildering thoughts.

　　``Was it possible,'' he asked himself, ``that hecould be the grandson of Mr. Wharton, his kindbenefactor?''

1 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

2 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

3 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

4 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 bequest   

n.遗赠；遗产，遗物

参考例句：

• In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
• The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。

10 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

11 crevice   

n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口

参考例句：

• I saw a plant growing out of a crevice in the wall.我看到墙缝里长出一棵草来。
• He edged the tool into the crevice.他把刀具插进裂缝里。