CHAPTER XXIV. MISS DOUGLAS RECEIVES A MESSAGE.

 Florence Douglas felt somewhat uneasy after the visit of Orton Campbell. Though he had no legal right to interfere¹ with her, even as the representative of his father, she knew the unscrupulous character of the man, and that he would not have spent time and money in a visit to California unless he had a strong hope of carrying her back with him. Her chief fear was that he would carry out his father's threat and try to have her pronounced of unsound mind, in which case he could have her confined in an asylum².

 

"If I could only hear from Richard Dewey!" she fervently³ ejaculated. "If he were here I would have nothing to fear."

 

Two days passed, and, considerably⁴ to her relief, she heard nothing from Campbell. She began to hope that he had given up his purpose and made[Pg 189] arrangements to return to the East. She was determined⁵ to refuse him an audience if he should call upon her again, either with or without companions. That she might feel more secure, she took her landlady⁶, Mrs. Armstrong, into her confidence.

 

This lady had become much attached to her guest, and listened with great indignation to the account which Florence gave her. "My dear Miss Douglas," she said, "if that man Campbell calls, leave me to deal with him."

 

"How would you propose to do it?" asked Florence, smiling.

 

"I would give him a piece of my mind, you may depend upon that."

 

"He would be rude to you."

 

"In that case I would order him out of the house," said Mrs. Armstrong, resolutely⁷. "The man needs a lesson, and I should like to be the one to give it to him."

 

"I shall be very glad to have you meet him in my place," said the young lady. "An interview with him is something which I would gladly avoid."

 

[Pg 190]"That you shall! I only hope he'll come soon. He'll find one woman that isn't afraid of him."

 

"I am not afraid of him, Mrs. Armstrong, but I own that I am apprehensive⁸ of what he may do. It would not surprise me at all if he should make his appearance with some needy⁹ physician who for a fee will be ready to pronounce me insane."

 

"Don't be alarmed, Miss Florence. I'll send the doctor packing, as well as his employer. Perhaps he will pronounce me insane. If he does, he is welcome to. I think he would find me an unsatisfactory patient."

 

"I think so too," said Florence, smiling, as she scanned the firm, determined face and the tall and muscular form of her hostess, who certainly would never be classed as a weak or timid woman.

 

On the afternoon of the third day a knock was heard at the door, for as yet it was unprovided with a bell.

 

Mrs. Armstrong and Florence were sitting together.

 

The two glanced at each other, and the same thought came to each.

 

[Pg 191]"It may be Orton Campbell," said Florence, who was the first to speak.

 

"Then let me go to the door. Stay where you are, Miss Douglas; I will receive the gentleman."

 

But when the landlady opened the door she saw a man who looked like a coachman. A covered carriage was at the gate, which he had evidently driven.

 

"Well, sir, what can I do for you?" demanded the landlady, sharply.

 

"Is there a young lady living with you named Florence Douglas?" asked the man.

 

"Miss Florence Douglas boards here," answered Mrs. Armstrong.

 

"I've got a message for her, ma'am."

 

"If it's from Mr. Orton Campbell, you can go back and tell him that she won't receive any messages from him," said the landlady, resolutely.

 

"I don't know who you mean, ma'am," replied the man, in apparent surprise. "I don't know any such gentleman."

 

"Then who sent you?" inquired the landlady, whose turn it was to be surprised.

 

[Pg 192]"It's a man just come from the mines," said the driver—"a Mr. Dewey."

 

Florence had drawn¹⁰ near to the head of the stairs in her interest to hear who had called, and she caught the name of her lover. She came flying down stairs, and demanded breathlessly, "What about Richard Dewey? I am Miss Douglas, and your message is for me."

 

Jones, for it was he, touched his hat respectfully, and held out a note penned on rough paper and written in pencil.

 

"This will explain everything, miss," he said.

 

Florence took the paper, and with some difficulty read it. It ran thus:

 

"Dear Florence: I have struggled to reach you, but have been struck down by fever when I was nearly at the end of my journey. I have had bad luck at the mines, and was almost discouraged, when I learned that you were in San Francisco. Poor as I was, I determined to come to you, even at the risk of your misjudging me. I am not able to write much, and must defer¹¹ particulars till I[Pg 193] see you. I am staying at the house of a kind stranger a few miles from the city. The man whom I send with this note is trustworthy. If you will trust yourself to his guidance, he will bring you to me. I know that I am asking a great deal of you, but I think you will not fail me.

 

"Yours, with love,

 

"Richard Dewey."

 

The writing was hurried—indeed, it was hardly more than a scrawl¹².

 

"He must be very weak," thought Florence, her heart swelling¹³ with painful emotions.—"My good friend," she said to the landlady, "Richard is sick and poor. He asks me to come to him. I must go."

 

"But can you trust that man? Is the letter genuine?" asked Mrs. Armstrong, suspiciously.

 

"I am sure it is genuine. It is written as Richard would write."

 

"But don't be in haste, Miss Douglas—Florence. Make some inquiries¹⁴, and find out whether this news can be depended upon."

 

[Pg 194]"Would you have me hesitate when Richard needs me?" asked Florence, reproachfully. "No, Mrs. Armstrong, I must go, and at once. I have waited so long to see him!"

 

"He will be very glad to see you, miss," said Jones respectfully. "He has been talking about you constant."

 

"Were Ben and Mr. Bradley with him? Why didn't one of them come?"

 

"Because, miss," said Jones with ready invention, though he had never heard of either of the persons mentioned, "one went for the doctor, and the other stayed to take care of him."

 

This seemed very plausible¹⁵. Without a particle of suspicion Florence Douglas hastily dressed herself and entered the carriage in waiting.

1 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 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。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

7 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

8 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

9 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

10 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。

11 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

12 scrawl   

vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写

参考例句：

• His signature was an illegible scrawl.他的签名潦草难以辨认。
• Your beautiful handwriting puts my untidy scrawl to shame.你漂亮的字体把我的潦草字迹比得见不得人。

13 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

14 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。