CHAPTER XXV. JASPER FINDS HIMSELF A PRISONER.

 It was after five o'clock when Jasper opened his eyes. As soon as consciousness returned he looked around him with astonishment¹ and wonder.

 

"Where am I?"

 

A few rays of light entered at the sliding-door above, and to this his eyes were naturally drawn².

 

Here was another puzzle. He explored his memory, and could recall no such place as this. He had never before been in such a room.

 

At last he recalled the circumstances under which he fell asleep, and he jumped to the conclusion that he was in the same house still.

 

"They must have put me to bed," he said to himself. "They were very kind; but this is a queer room."

 

Thus far no thought that he was a prisoner had entered his mind.

 

He arose and began to feel his way around by the walls. He judged that he was in a room not more than ten feet square. He could form no idea what was the time. It might be the middle of the night, so far as he knew.

 

"This is awkward," he thought. "I don't fancy being shut up like this. Where's the door? There must be one somewhere."

 

He found it at last, and tried the lock, but it did not yield to his efforts.

 

Then came the startling thought:

 

"Am I a prisoner?"

 

He stopped short and thought over the situation. He recalled all he could of the men in whose company he had been at the time he went to sleep. The longer he thought the more it seemed probable that it was as he suspected.

 

Though a little startled at this view of the situation, Jasper was by no means disposed to be despondent³. His courage arose with the difficulties of his position.

 

"I'll find out how matters stand," he said to himself. "I'll pound till somebody comes."

 

He began to pound on the walls of the room with such effect that the old man below heard him.

 

"The bird is beating against the walls of his cage," he thought. "I'll go up and see him."

 

Presently Jasper heard steps ascending⁴ the stairs. Almost immediately another sliding-door about four feet from the floor was drawn open, and the old man's face was poked⁵ in.

 

"Did you knock?" he asked, grinning.

 

"Yes," said Jasper. "Open the door, and let me out."

 

"Won't you have some supper first?" asked Nathan, with a leer.

 

"No; I'd rather go out," said Jasper, in a tone of suspicion.

 

"I couldn't allow that. Oh, no!" said Nathan.

 

"What right have you to keep me here against my will?" exclaimed Jasper, furiously.

 

"We like your company so much, my dear young man," said Nathan, nodding his head waggishly⁶.

 

"Who's 'we'?" demanded Jasper.

 

"Jack⁷, and Bill, and me."

 

"Let me out, I say."

 

"Don't be agitated⁸, my dear boy. You'll be taken good care of."

 

"I'd rather take care of myself. Will you open the door?"

 

"I couldn't, but I'll bring you up some supper directly."

 

The sliding-door was closed suddenly, and again Jasper found himself in the dark, fully⁹ understanding now that he was a prisoner, but why, he could not form a conjecture¹⁰.

 

1 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

2 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。

3 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

4 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。

5 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 waggishly   

adv.waggish（滑稽的，诙谐的）的变形

参考例句：

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。