CHAPTER XXIX — A STARTLING EVENT

 Sometimes, the mere¹ presence of a person in the room is sufficient to interrupt even sound repose². At all events, whether it was the entrance of Fairfax, acting³ in some mysterious way upon Andy, or the light that streamed into the room, his slumber⁴ was disturbed, and his eyes opened just as the adventurer was retiring, with his supposed booty.

 

Our hero did not immediately take in the situation. He was naturally a little bewildered, being just aroused from sleep, but in a short time the real state of the case dawned upon him.

 

"By the powers!" he said to himself, "it's that man that went to the museum with me! He saw my money, and he came in for it! I'll get up and see."

 

Quietly and noiselessly he got out of bed, and, going to the chair, felt in his pockets, and so discovered the loss of the stuffed pocketbook.

 

Andy wanted to laugh, but forbore, lest the sound should be heard in the next room.

 

"It's a good joke on the dirty thafe!" said Andy, to himself. "He's welcome to all the money, he's got—it won't carry him far, I'm thinkin'."

 

Prudence⁵ suggested another thought. When Fairfax found out the worthlessness of his booty, would he not come back and search for the real treasure?

 

"If he does, I'll fight him," thought Andy.

 

Still, he knew the conflict would be unequal, since the other was considerably⁶ his superior in strength. However, Andy determined⁷ that, come what might, he would defend his trust, "or perish in the attempt." But, while he was coming to this determination, he heard the door of the adjoining chamber⁸ open softly, and then he could hear steps along the corridor. Evidently, the thief had not found out the actual character of his booty, but was going off under the impression that it was valuable.

 

"Maybe he'll come back," thought Andy. "I guess I'd better go down and give notice at the desk. Then, if he comes back, he'll get into hot water."

 

He hastily dressed himself, and, locking his door, went downstairs. First, however, he removed the money from under his pillow, and put it into his pocket. He found the clerk at the desk.

 

"Has the man that came in with me gone out?" asked Andy.

 

"Mr. Marvin?"

 

"Yes."

 

"He went out about five minutes ago."

 

"Did he say anything about coming back?"

 

"He said it would be late when he returned. He asked me if we kept open after twelve. Did you want to find him?"

 

"I should like to have the police find him," said Andy.

 

"How is that?" asked the clerk, surprised.

 

"He has robbed me."

 

"Did you leave your door unlocked?"

 

"No; but there was a door between our rooms. He opened it, and stole a pocketbook from the pocket of my coat."

 

"While you were asleep?"

 

"Yes; but I awoke just in time to see him go through the door."

 

"How much money was there in it?"

 

"That's the joke of it," said Andy, laughing; "there was no money at all, only some folds of paper. He got hold of the wrong pocketbook."

 

Thereupon, he told the story of the "drop game," of which he came near being a victim, and what a useful turn the bogus treasure had done him.

 

"There's the right pocketbook," he said, in conclusion. "I wish you would take care of it for me till to-morrow. The money isn't mine, and I don't want to run any more risk with it."

 

"I'll lock it up in the safe for you," said the clerk. "Is there much?"

 

"Several hundred dollars."

 

"You were very fortunate in escaping as you did," said the clerk.

 

"True for you," said Andy. "He may come back when he finds out how he has been fooled."

 

"If he does, I'll call a policeman. We'll make short work with him."

 

The reader has already heard how Fairfax (or Marvin) did return, and how he met with a reception he had not calculated upon. Andy was informed in the morning that it would be necessary for him to appear as a witness against him in order to secure his conviction. This he did the next day, but the judge delayed sentence, on being informed that the accused was charged with a more serious offense⁹, that of stopping a traveler on the highway. His trial on this count must come before a higher court, and he was remanded to prison till his case was called in the calendar. Andy was informed that he would be summoned as a witness in that case also, as well as Colonel Preston, and answered that he would be ready when called upon.

 

We will so far anticipate events as to say that the testimony¹⁰ of Andy and the colonel was considered conclusive¹¹ by the court, and, on the strength of it, Mr. Fairfax, alias¹² Marvin, was sentenced to several years' imprisonment¹³ at hard labor¹⁴.

 

Andy met with no further adventures in his present visit, but had the satisfaction of delivering the money he had been sent to collect to Miss Priscilla Grant.

 

Now, advancing our story some three months, we come to an afternoon when Miss Sophia Grant, returning from a walk, with visible marks of excitement, rushed, breathless and panting, into her sister's presence.

 

"What's the matter, Sophia?" asked Priscilla.

 

"Such an awful thing!" she gasped¹⁵.

 

"What is it?"

 

"You won't believe it."

 

"Tell me at once what it is!"

 

"It seems so sudden!"

 

"Good heavens! Sophia, why do you tantalize¹⁶ me so?"

 

"Just so!" gasped Sophia.

 

"If you don't tell me, I'll shake you!"

 

"Colonel Preston's dead—dropped dead in the store ten minutes ago. I was there, and saw him."

 

This startling intelligence was only too true. Suddenly, without an instant's warning, the colonel had been summoned from life—succumbing to a fit of apoplexy. This event, of course, made a great sensation in the village, but it is of most interest to us as it affects the fortunes of our young hero.

1 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。

2 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

3 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。

4 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

5 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

6 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

10 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

11 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

12 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

13 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 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》

16 tantalize   

vt.使干着急，逗弄

参考例句：

• The boy would come into the room and tantalize the dog with his feed.那个男孩会到房间里拿狗食逗弄狗。
• He tried to tantalize me by revealing that the Soviet Union was prepared to discuss a package deal.他想要逗弄我，于是就露出口风说，苏联愿意讨论一揽子交易。