“I advise you to leave Professor Puffer. He seems to be a thoroughly2 bad man. You will be in danger as long as you remain with him.”
“I will take your advice, though this will throw me upon my own resources. I think I can make a living in some way, though I should know better how to go about it in America.”
“How much money have you got?”
“About twenty dollars.”
“That won’t last you long. I must see what I can think of for you. First of all, you mustn’t stay in Liverpool. Professor Puffer would probably make an effort to get you into his clutches.”
“Where would you advise me to go?”
“To London. I shall leave directly after breakfast and you can go up with me.”
“I shall be glad to go with one who has been there before. But I must keep out of the way of the professor.”
“I will arrange matters for you. When you are dressed, go at once to the station of the London and Northwestern Railway. You will find a restaurant close by where you can get breakfast. Then go to the waiting room, where I will join you before the next train starts.”
Bernard followed the directions of his friend, and Mr. Sturgis went down to breakfast. Professor Puffer was already in the coffee room.
“I can’t tell you, sir,” returned Nelson Sturgis coolly.
“Didn’t he pass the night with you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then you should know where he is.”
“I have already told you that I don’t know.”
“Do you think he has left the hotel?”
“I think it quite probable.”
“Did he tell you where he was going?”
“No.”
“I believe you are deceiving me,” said Professor Puffer angrily.
“And I am sure that you are impertinent. I may feel inclined to pull your nose.”
Nelson Sturgis was a tall, athletic5 man, and Professor Puffer was persuaded that he could carry out his threat if he was so minded. Accordingly he thought it best to desist.
After breakfast Mr. Sturgis summoned a hotel attendant.
“Here is half a crown,” he said. “Go to the chamber6 of my young friend, Bernard Brooks7, and bring his satchel8 to my room.”
“All right, sir.”
This was done without the observation of Puffer, or he would have prevented the removal of Bernard’s luggage.
Mr. Sturgis called a hackney coach, had his luggage put on, including Bernard’s satchel, and drove to the railway station.
“Well, Bernard, I have brought your satchel,” he said.
“Thank you, sir. I was wondering what I should do without it.”
“I had no idea of leaving it with the professor. Now I will secure tickets to London.”
“What will be the price?”
“Never mind. I will undertake to get you to London free of expense to yourself. Afterwards we will consult about your plans.”
Just as the train was starting, Professor Puffer reached the station, and from the platform espied9 his ward in the act of leaving him.
“Good-by, Professor Puffer!” said Bernard with a smile and a wave of the hand.
Puffer in his anger, ran a few steps, talking violently.
“My ward is running away,” he said to a policeman. “Can’t you stop the train?”
“No; I can’t.”
“But I want to get him back.”
“Then you’ll have to go before a magistrate11.”
“Where is that train going?”
“To London.”
“Then I’ll go, too. When is the next train?”
“At twelve o’clock, sir.”
Professor Puffer returned to the hotel at once, packed his trunk, and enrolled12 himself as a passenger on the noon train.
“If that fellow escapes me,” he said with an ugly look, “he’ll have to be pretty smart. I won’t have it said that a boy of his age has got the better of me.” Mr. Sturgis bought first class tickets, and Bernard found himself in a handsomely upholstered compartment13 only large enough to hold eight passengers.
“I like our American cars better,” he said.
“So do I, but they are not so exclusive. The English like to be exclusive.”
It was an express train, and deposited them in London in a few hours.
“Now, Bernard,” said Mr. Sturgis, “I think it will be well for us to go to different hotels. I shall go to the Charing15 Cross, but this is a prominent hotel, and should you go there you could easily be traced.”
“Where shall I go?”
“There is a comfortable family hotel in Arundel Street, Strand16. The charges, including room and board, are only about six shillings per day, or a dollar and a half in American money. At the Charing Cross they are higher.”
“Then I will go to Arundel Street.”
“Very well. When you reach London I will see you started for your hotel.”
“Shan’t I see you again, sir?”
“Yes, I will call around in the evening. By the way, I have thought of a way to put Professor Puffer off the track.”
“How is that, sir?”
“He will very likely question some of the hackmen. I will therefore take you with me to the Charing Cross. Then we will dismiss the hackman, and you can take a cab from there to Arundel Street.” This precaution was well taken. When Professor Puffer reached London he began to interview the hackmen.
“I had two friends arrive by the nine o’clock train,” he said, “a gentleman and a boy of sixteen.” Then he described them.
“They neglected to tell me at what hotel they intended to stop. Do any of you remember seeing them?”
“Yes, sir,” replied one cabby. “I took them to the Charing Cross.”
“Thank you,” said Puffer, in a tone of satisfaction. “That is just what I wanted to find out. Here’s a shilling.”
“Thank you, sir. You are a gentleman.”
“And you may take me to the Charing Cross. I shall probably find them there.”
“I should make a good detective,” thought the professor complacently17, as he rolled through the streets. “Master Bernard Brooks will find that he hasn’t made much in his attempt to outwit me. Indeed I am better off for it, as he has been obliged to pay his own fare to London.”
When he reached the hotel, he inquired at the office: “Is there an American gentleman named Sturgis here?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where is he now?”
“In the dining-room, taking dinner.”
Professor Puffer smiled maliciously18.
“Doubtless Bernard will be with him,” He reflected. “They will be rather surprised to see me.”
He walked into the dining-room and looked around.
At a table near the window sat Nelson Sturgis with a substantial dinner before him, but Bernard was not with him.
“He is somewhere in the hotel,” thought the professor. “Meanwhile I will pay my respects to Mr. Sturgis.”
“Thank you, I am quite well,” answered Sturgis composedly.
“You see I have reached London not far behind you.”
“So I see.”
“Did you and my ward have a pleasant journey?”
“Very pleasant.”
“I am indebted to you for paying his traveling expenses.”
“You must excuse me. I only pay the boy’s bills when he is traveling with me.”
“Just as you like.”
“I will now relieve you of the charge which, without my permission, you have undertaken. Will you be kind enough to notify Bernard that I have come for him?”
“Why do you give me that commission?” asked Sturgis, arching his brows. “Are you under the impression that Bernard is with me?”
“Certainly. Isn’t he?”
“No.”
“Isn’t he stopping at this hotel?”
“He is not.”
“Where, then, is he? I have positive information that he came here with you.”
“From whom did you obtain the information?”
“From the hackman who drove you here,” answered Professor Puffer triumphantly22.
“Of course you can’t. It wasn’t much trouble to get on your track. I am sharper than you probably anticipated.”
“Very true, Professor Puffer.”
“Now I will thank you to tell me where Bernard is. Of course you know?”
“I can guess.”
“So I supposed.”
“But I don’t propose to tell.”
“That is of very little importance. He is in this hotel. I have traced him here.”
“He is not here now, however. He is in a different part of London.”
“Quite true, I assure you. By the way, Professor Puffer, you may be sharp, but I think I am a match for you. And now, if you kindly26 leave me, I will resume my dinner.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
dressing
|
|
| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
ward
|
|
| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
athletic
|
|
| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
brooks
|
|
| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
satchel
|
|
| n.(皮或帆布的)书包 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
espied
|
|
| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
receding
|
|
| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
magistrate
|
|
| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
enrolled
|
|
| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
compartment
|
|
| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
charing
|
|
| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
strand
|
|
| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
complacently
|
|
| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
maliciously
|
|
| adv.有敌意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
partially
|
|
| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ironical
|
|
| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
reimburse
|
|
| v.补偿，付还 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
triumphantly
|
|
| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
chagrin
|
|
| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |