CHAPTER XXXI RANSOM

 Gerald purchased a horse, and kept on his way to Ransom¹ with Joshua Burdoch. After some reflection he told his Yankee friend his business. The latter promised him his assistance if required.

 

"That man, the superintendent², is a crafty³ old fox," he said. "Between us we must circumvent⁴ him. What is his name?"

 

"Nelson Hawk⁵."

 

"When we get to Ransom we must make inquiries⁶ and learn all we can before acting⁷. It seems to me it is rather a heavy responsibility for you!"

 

"So it is, and I am glad to have your advice and assistance."

 

"It will be fun for me to outwit the old fox!"

 

They speedily reached Ransom. It was entirely⁸ a mining town. The houses of the miners, with the hotel and store, constituted the town. Gerald stayed at the hotel, which he found a fair one for such a place. His room and Mr. Burdoch's joined. If Mr. Burdoch had any business he did not mention it, except to say that he had a few dollars, and might invest if he found anything worth buying.

 

Among the boarders at the Ransom House was a small, thin, shriveled man, with a wrinkled face and a pair of sharp, crafty eyes, whose name on the register was Matthew Grote. He appeared to have money, and it was currently reported that he wanted to make an investment.

 

On the evening of their arrival, Nelson Hawk, the superintendent of the mine, called, and, taking a seat in the public room, began to converse⁹ with Grote. Gerald conjectured¹⁰ that this must be the man who wanted to buy the mine. He sat down about ten feet from the pair, and appeared to be absorbed in a paper which he had picked up in the office. Grote and Hawk had no suspicion that the boy, whom they considered of small importance, was a listener to their conversation, and spoke¹¹ in their ordinary tone of voice.

 

"Have you heard from old Nixon, Mr. Hawk?" asked Grote.

 

"Yes. I received a letter yesterday."

 

"What does he say?"

 

"That he can't come on. His health will not admit of it."

 

"Will he sell you his interest?"

 

"He says he will take the offer into consideration, and will let me know soon."

 

"I wish the old crank would hurry up. Does he express any doubts about your statements as to the depreciation¹² in value?"

 

"No. Why should he? He knows nothing about it except what I tell him."

 

"But suppose these stories should be true?"

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"That the mine is falling off in the amount of its output."

 

"My dear sir, you are not in earnest. Why, the mine was never in better condition than at present. Our output last month was greater than ever before. A half share is well worth the forty thousand dollars I require. Why, if you buy you can make fifty per cent. in one year. I can almost guarantee that."

 

"Why, then, are you willing to sell your share?"

 

"Because I want to divide the responsibility. Besides, I am short of ready money. I should like, if I get hold of Nixon's share, to sell the whole thing for seventy-five thousand dollars. I am tired of this country, and I want to go back to my Eastern home."

 

"Well, we will see. I might make up my mind to buy the entire mine if I find that your statements are correct. How soon do you think Mr. Nixon will make up his mind?"

 

"Very soon. If not, I will write him again."

 

"The sooner the better."

 

Here the twain parted. Gerald had heard all that he needed. He saw that a stupendous fraud was contemplated¹³, of which Mr. Nixon was to be the victim. Hawk had offered him twenty thousand dollars for his half interest, and agreed conditionally¹⁴ to sell it to Grote for forty thousand. This would give the superintendent a very neat profit.

 

Mr. Burdoch had not heard this conversation. Had he been within hearing, they would have been more careful in their speech. As to Gerald, they looked upon him as a mere¹⁵ boy, and did not feel it necessary to be on their guard.

 

Gerald, however, lost no time in imparting the information he had obtained to Mr. Burdoch.

 

"The confounded rascal¹⁶!" exclaimed the Yankee. "He has got up a very pretty scheme for fleecing your employer. So he says the mine is doing well?"

 

"Never better. He says a half interest is well worth forty thousand dollars."

 

"Humph! It may be worth looking up. I might decide to buy the mine myself."

 

Gerald regarded his companion with surprise. He had not looked upon him as a rich man, but thought he might be worth one or two thousand dollars.

 

"Do you really mean it?" he asked.

 

"Certainly I do."

 

"I did not suppose——" Here Gerald hesitated.

 

"Oh, I see—you didn't think I had money enough. Well, Gerald, I don't mind telling you I could buy two such mines as this one here. I ain't no dude, but I've got the gold."

1 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

2 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

3 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

4 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

5 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

6 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》

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

10 conjectured   

推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old peasant conjectured that it would be an unusually cold winter. 那老汉推测冬天将会异常地寒冷。
• The general conjectured that the enemy only had about five days' supply of food left. 将军推测敌人只剩下五天的粮食给养。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 depreciation   

n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低

参考例句：

• She can't bear the depreciation of the enemy.她受不了敌人的蹂躏。
• They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery.他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费。

13 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

14 conditionally   

adv. 有条件地

参考例句：

• We will provide necessary English training to the new employees conditionally. 公司将为员工提供必要的英语培训。
• China should conditionally support and participate in the coordination. 我国对此宜持有条件支持并参与的立场。

15 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。

16 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。