CHAPTER XXXIX AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

 On his return to New York, Frank had no reason to be dissatisfied with his reception. From Mr. Percival to Freddie, all the family seemed delighted to see him.

 

"You mustn't go away again, Frank," said little Freddie. "I wanted to see you ever so much."

 

"And I wanted to see you, Freddie," said our hero, his heart warming to the little boy.

 

"You won't go away again, will you, Frank?"

 

"Not if I can help it, Freddie."

 

"We are all glad to see you back Frank," said his employer. "But you have justified¹ my opinion of you by your success. Some of my friends ridiculed² me for sending a boy on such an important mission, but I don't believe any of them would have succeeded any better than you, if as well."

 

"I am glad you are satisfied with me, sir," said Frank, very much gratified by the commendation of his employer.

 

"I feel that you have done a great service, and indeed I don't know whom I could have sent in your place. However, I am glad to see you back again. I have missed you about my letters, and have postponed³ answering some till my young secretary returned."

 

Frank resumed his regular employment, and three months passed without anything that needs to be recorded.

 

At the end of that time, Frank received an important letter from Col. Vincent, which gave him much food for thought.

 

The letter was as follows:

 

"Dear Frank: For some time past I have been intending to write to you, but I have delayed for no good reason. Now, however, I am led to write by a surprising discovery which has just been made in your old home, which may be of material importance to you.

 

"When your stepfather went away, he requested me to have an eye to the estate, and order whatever I might think necessary to be done. I am not, as you know, a very cordial friend of Mr. Manning's, but I have always regarded the property as of right belonging to you—that is, since your mother's death—and so accepted the commission.

 

"A few days since I went over the house and found that it was quite dirty. Where the dirt could come from in an unoccupied house I can't tell, but, at all events, I felt justified in engaging a woman to clean the paint, so, if any of you should return unexpectedly, you would find the house fit to receive you. This was a very simple matter, you will think, and scarcely needs mentioning. But, my dear Frank, events of importance often hinge on trifles, and so it has proved in the present instance.

 

"On the evening of the second day I received a call from Mrs. Noonan, whom I had employed to scrub the house. She had in her hand a folded paper, which she gave to me.

 

"'Here is something I found, sir, while I was scrubbing,' she said.

 

"I opened it indifferently, but conceive of my amazement⁴ when I found it to be your mother's will, properly signed, sealed and witnessed.

 

"Of course it was not the will which Mr. Manning presented for probate. This will gave Mr. Manning ten thousand dollars, and the residue⁵ of the property to you, except a small amount bestowed⁶ upon Richard Green, the coachman, and Deborah—sums larger, by the way, than those mentioned in the will which was read after your mother's death."

 

There was more to Colonel Vincent's letter.

 

Frank showed it to Mr. Percival, and readily obtained permission to take a few days vacation.

 

"I hope you will get back the estate, Frank," said Mr. Percival, "though I don't know what I shall do without my secretary."

 

"That need not separate us, Mr. Percival," said our hero. "I have no home but this."

1 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

2 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

5 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

6 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。