CHAPTER X. GERTRUDE LEAVES HER HOME.

 Left to himself in the alleyway, our hero scarcely knew what to do next.

 

Under ordinary circumstances he would have notified a policeman of what was going on. But he reflected that Pepper had done him many kindnesses in the past, and that it was barely possible the man was not doing as much of a wrong as he imagined.

 

"I'll wait a while and see what turns up," he soliloquized, and hid himself in a dark corner, where he could watch not only the library window, but also the side alleyway leading to the street in front of the mansion¹.

 

Slowly the minutes wore away until Nelson felt certain that Sam Pepper was going to remain inside all night.

 

"Perhaps something happened to him," he thought. "Maybe he got a fit, or somebody caught him."

 

He waited a while longer, then, impelled² by[Pg 78] curiosity, approached the balcony, climbed up, and tried to look into the window of the library.

 

As he did this the curtain was suddenly thrust aside, and in the dim light he found himself face to face with Gertrude Horton!

 

He was so astonished that, for the moment, he did not know what to say or do. Gertrude was equally amazed. She quickly raised the window.

 

"What brought you here?" she questioned. "Did you make the noise I heard a while ago?"

 

"No, miss. I—er—I just came," stammered³ our hero. He knew not what to say.

 

"But I heard a noise. It was that which brought me downstairs. What are you doing here?"

 

"I came to see if—if your home was safe."

 

"To see if it was safe?"

 

"Yes. I was on the street a while ago and a man sneaked⁴ in here. Is he around?"

 

"I saw nobody. But I heard a noise, as I said before. I guess I had better investigate. Did the man look like a thief?"

 

"He looked like lots of men," answered Nelson noncommittally.

 

It must be confessed that our hero's head was in a whirl. What had become of Sam Pepper? Was it possible that he had robbed the mansion and made his escape without discovery? And if[Pg 79] he was gone, should he expose the man who, good or bad, had cared for him so many years?

 

Gertrude was looking around for a match, and now she lit the gas and turned it up full. She had scarcely done so when her eyes rested on a ten-dollar gold piece lying in front of the safe.

 

"A gold piece!" she cried.

 

"Here is another, miss," returned Nelson, stepping into the room and picking it up from where it had rolled behind a footstool. "Twenty dollars! Gracious!"

 

"Gertrude! What is the meaning of this?"

 

The voice came from the hallway, and looking around the girl and our hero saw Mark Horton standing⁵ there, clad in his dressing⁶ gown and slippers⁷. His face was filled with anger.

 

"Oh, uncle!" cried the girl. Just then she could say no more.

 

"So I have caught you, have I?" went on the retired⁸ merchant. He turned to our hero. "Who are you, young man?"

 

"I? I'm Nelson, sir."

 

"Nelson? Is that your name?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Fine company you keep, Gertrude, I must say," sneered⁹ Mark Horton. "I would not have believed it, had I not seen it with my own eyes."

 

"Why, uncle——"

 

[Pg 80]

 

"Don't talk back to me. I know all about your doings. You wish——" The retired merchant broke off short. "What is that in your hand? A gold piece, as I live! And this young man has another! Ha! you have been at my safe!"

 

Pale with rage, Mark Horton tottered¹⁰ into the room and clutched Gertrude by the arm.

 

"Oh, Uncle Mark, let me go!" she gasped¹¹ in horror.

 

"To think it has come to this!" groaned¹² the invalid¹³. "My own niece turned robber! It is too much! Too much!" And he sank into an armchair, overcome.

 

"Hold on, sir; you're making a mistake," put in Nelson.

 

"Silence, you shameful¹⁴ boy! I know her perhaps better than you do, even though you do come to see her on the sly."

 

"Me? On the sly?" repeated our hero, puzzled.

 

"You talk in riddles¹⁵, uncle," put in Gertrude faintly.

 

"I know what I am saying. I will not argue with you. How much have you taken from the safe?"

 

"Nothing," said Gertrude.

 

"I haven't touched your safe," added our hero stoutly¹⁶.

 

[Pg 81]

 

"I will soon see." Mark Horton glanced at the window, which was still wide open. "Is anybody else outside?"

 

"I guess not," said Nelson.

 

Arising with an effort, the retired merchant staggered to the safe and opened it. Then he opened the secret compartment¹⁷.

 

"Gone! At least six hundred dollars stolen!" he muttered. He turned upon both of the others. "What have you done with that gold?"

 

AT LEAST SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS STOLEN

AT LEAST SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS STOLEN,' HE MUTTERED."

 

Nelson the Newsboy. —Page 81.

 

"Uncle, I have not touched it," sobbed¹⁸ Gertrude.

 

"This is all I have, and I just picked that up," added our hero and flung the piece on the table, beside that which the girl had picked up.

 

"I will not believe it!" stormed Mark Horton, more in a rage than ever. He turned to Nelson. "You took that money away and then thought to come back for more. Or perhaps you came back to see Gertrude."

 

"I am no thief!" cried Nelson. "I never stole in my life."

 

"You are a thief, and this girl is your accomplice¹⁹. Stop, did you not go past the house this afternoon?"

 

"I did, but——"

 

"And you saw Gertrude?"

 

"I saw this young lady, but——"

 

[Pg 82]

 

"As I suspected. You planned this thing."

 

"Oh, Uncle Mark! what are you saying?" sobbed Gertrude. Her heart was so full she could scarcely speak. She had always treated her uncle with every consideration, and to have him turn against her in this fashion cut her to the quick.

 

"Gertrude, my eyes are open at last. From to-night you leave me!"

 

"What, going to throw her out of this house—out of her home!" ejaculated Nelson. "Sir, I don't know you, but I think you must be off in your mind."

 

"I am not so crazy as you imagine. I am sick—nay, I have one foot in the grave. But this shameless girl shall no longer hoodwink me. As soon as daylight comes she shall leave this house, and she shall never set foot in it again."

 

"But, sir——"

 

"I will waste no further words on you, young man. Out you go, or I will call a policeman at once."

 

"Oh, uncle, don't do that!" burst out Gertrude. "I will go away, if you insist upon it."

 

"I do insist upon it. Pack your things at once. If it were not night I would insist upon your leaving now."

 

Gertrude looked at him, and then drew herself up with an effort.

 

[Pg 83]

 

"I will go now, I will not wait," she said. "But if ever you need me——"

 

"I'll not send for you," finished Mark Horton quickly. "I never want to see you again." He turned to our hero. "Are you going, or must I call an officer?" he added harshly.

 

"I will go," said Nelson. He paused as if wishing to say more, then leaped through the window and disappeared into the darkness of the alleyway.

 

As our hero left the library by the window, Gertrude left by the hall door. Slowly she mounted the steps to her own room. Once inside, she threw herself on the bed in a passionate²⁰ fit of weeping. But this did not last long. Inside of half an hour she was packing a traveling case with such things as she absolutely needed.

 

"I will take nothing else," she told herself. "His money bought them and they shall remain here."

 

At last her preparations were complete, and she stole downstairs with her traveling case in her hand. She looked into the library, to see her uncle sitting in a heap in the armchair.

 

"Good-by, Uncle Mark," she said sadly.

 

"Go away!" he returned bitterly. "Go away!"

 

He would say no more, and she turned, opened[Pg 84] the door to the street, and passed outside. He listened as she hurried down the steps and along the silent street. When he could no longer hear her footsteps he sank back again into the armchair.

 

"Gone!" he muttered. "Gone, and I drove her away! What a miserable²¹ man I am! What a miserable man!" And then he threw himself down again. He remained in the armchair for the rest of the night, weaker than ever, and tortured by an anguish²² he could not put into words.

1 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

2 impelled   

v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He felt impelled to investigate further. 他觉得有必要作进一步调查。
• I feel impelled to express grave doubts about the project. 我觉得不得不对这项计划深表怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

7 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

10 tottered   

v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• The pile of books tottered then fell. 这堆书晃了几下，然后就倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wounded soldier tottered to his feet. 伤员摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

14 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

15 riddles   

n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜

参考例句：

• Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看，口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句

16 stoutly   

adv.牢固地，粗壮的

参考例句：

• He stoutly denied his guilt.他断然否认自己有罪。
• Burgess was taxed with this and stoutly denied it.伯杰斯为此受到了责难，但是他自己坚决否认有这回事。

17 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

18 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

19 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

20 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

21 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

22 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。