CHAPTER XXV — ANXIOUS INQUIRIES

 After a while Grant learned the particulars about Herbert's disappearance¹. He had gone out to play in the street about three o'clock in the afternoon. Generally he waited for Grant to return-home, but during his absence he had found other companions. When his father returned home, he inquired of the housekeeper²: “Where is Herbert?”

“He went out to play,” said Mrs. Estabrook, indifferently.

“In the street?”

“I believe so.”

“He ought to be in by this time.”

“Probably he went to walk with some of his companions. As he had no watch, he might not know that it is so late.”

This seemed very plausible³ to Mr. Reynolds.

“Yes,” he said; “Herbert seems lost without Grant. He will be glad to see him back.”

To this Mrs. Estabrook did not reply. She had learned, to her cost, that it would not be politic⁴ to speak against Grant, and she was not disposed to praise him. She seldom mentioned him at all.

The dinner bell rang, and still Herbert had not returned. His father began to feel anxious.

“It is strange that Herbert remains⁵ so long away,” he said.

“I shouldn't wonder if he had gone to Central Park on some excursion,” returned the housekeeper calmly.

“You think there is nothing wrong?” asked the broker⁶, anxiously.

“How could there be here, sir?” answered Mrs. Estabrook, with unruffled demeanor⁷.

This answer helped to calm Mr. Reynolds, who ordered dinner delayed half an hour.

When, however, an hour—two hours—passed, and the little boy still remained absent, the father's anxiety became insupportable. He merely tasted a few spoonfuls of soup, and found it impossible to eat more. The housekeeper, on the contrary, seemed quite unconcerned, and showed her usual appetite.

“I am seriously anxious, Mrs. Estabrook,” said the broker. “I will take my hat and go out to see if I can gain any information. Should Herbert return while I am away, give him his supper, and, if he is tired, let him go to bed, just finding out why he was out so late.”

“Very well, sir.”

When Mr. Reynolds had left the house a singular expression of gratified malice⁸ swept over the housekeeper's face. “It is just retribution,” she murmured. “He condemned⁹ and discharged my stepson for the sin of another. Now it is his own heart that bleeds.”

Only a few steps from his own door the broker met a boy about two years older than Herbert, with whom the latter sometimes played.

“Harvey,” he said, “have you seen Herbert this afternoon?”

“Yes, sir; I saw him about three o'clock.”

“Where?” asked the broker, anxiously.

“Just 'round the corner of the block,” answered Harvey Morrison.

“Was he alone?”

“No; there was a young man with him—about twenty, I should think.”

“A young man! Was it one you had ever saw before?”

“No, sir.”

“What was his appearance?”

Harvey described Herbert's companion as well as he could, but the anxious father did not recognize the description.

“Did you speak to Herbert? Did you ask where he was going?”

“Yes, sir. He told me that you had sent for him to go on an excursion.”

“Did he say that?” asked the father, startled.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then there is some mischief¹⁰ afoot. I never sent for him,” said the agitated¹¹ father.

Mr. Reynolds requested Harvey to accompany him to the nearest police station, and relate all that he knew to the officer in charge, that the police might be put on the track. He asked himself in vain what object any one could have in spiriting away the boy, but no probable explanation occurred to him.

On his return to the house he communicated to the housekeeper what he had learned.

“What do you think of it?” he asked.

“It may be only a practical joke,” answered the housekeeper calmly.

“Heaven grant it may be nothing more! But I fear it is something far more serious.”

“I dare say it's only a boy's lark¹², Mr. Reynolds.”

“But you forget—it was a young man who was seen in his company.”

“I really don't know what to think of it, then. I don't believe the boy will come to any harm.”

Little sleep visited the broker's pillow that night, but the housekeeper looked fresh and cheerful in the morning.

“Has the woman no feeling?” thought the anxious father, as he watched the tranquil¹³ countenance¹⁴ of the woman who for five years had been in charge of his house.

When she was left alone in the house Mrs. Estabrook took from her workbasket a letter, bearing date a month previous, and read slowly the following paragraph: “I have never forgotten the wrong done me by Mr. Reynolds. He discharged me summarily from his employment and declined to give me a recommendation which would secure me a place elsewhere. I swore at the time that I would get even with him, and I have never changed my resolution. I shall not tell you what I propose to do. It is better that you should not know. But some day you will hear something that will surprise you. When that time comes, if you suspect anything, say nothing. Let matters take their course.”

The letter was signed by Willis Ford¹⁵.

1 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

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 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。

4 politic   

adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政

参考例句：

• He was too politic to quarrel with so important a personage.他很聪明，不会与这么重要的人争吵。
• The politic man tried not to offend people.那个精明的人尽量不得罪人。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

7 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

8 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

11 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。

12 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

13 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

14 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

15 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。