CHAPTER XXIII THE PAPERS IN THE SAFE

 At Riverport the next day Mr. Bartlett called upon a lawyer with whom he was well acquainted and told to the legal gentleman all that he had learned and proposed to do.

 

"I wish your assistance, Mr. Soper," he said.

 

"You shall have it," was the lawyer's prompt answer.

 

"Can you get an order from the court to open that safe?"

 

"I believe I can. Come, we will go and see the judge at once."

 

Fortunately for Mr. Bartlett the judge was easily found, and when the matter was explained he issued the necessary papers and placed them in the hands of one of the constables².

 

"But how are you going to open the safe if it is locked?" asked the judge. "Constable¹ Carley is not equal to it."

 

"I have engaged a professional safe opener," answered Mr. Bartlett. "He can do the trick for the constable."

 

"Very well."

 

Mr. Bartlett, the lawyer, and the constable waited until the stage came in. The safe opener was one of the passengers and at once joined the crowd and was introduced.

 

In the meantime Jasper Tuller had also arrived in Riverport. In the morning he lost no time in calling at the iron works.

 

"I want to see Mr. Bangs," he said, to the clerk who came to wait on him.

 

"Sorry, sir, but Mr. Bangs went out of town late last night."

 

"When will he be back?"

 

"Not until some time this afternoon—possibly not until evening."

 

"Where did he go? I must communicate with him at once."

 

"He went to Rochester, but I can't give you the exact address," answered the clerk.

 

Jasper Tuller groaned³ in spirit. Could he have telegraphed to Amos Bangs he would have done so, but the telegram would have remained at the office awaiting a call.

 

"I must make a move on my own account, if I can," he muttered.

 

He called a carriage and was driven to the Bangs mansion⁴. A servant answered his rather impatient ring at the front door.

 

"Is anybody at home?" he asked, abruptly⁵.

 

"Mr. Bangs has gone away, sir."

 

"I know that," he snapped. "Is Mrs. Bangs at home?"

 

Now it happened Mrs. Bangs had come home the night before, intending to go away again two days later. But she had given orders that she wished to see no one.

 

"I—I don't know," said the servant girl. "I can see. What is the name?"

 

"Jasper Tuller. It is highly important that I see somebody of the family at once," went on the visitor.

 

Mrs. Bangs was in an upper hallway and overheard the talk. She knew her husband had had some trouble with a book agent over the payment of a bill and took Tuller to be that person.

 

"A gentleman to see you, Mrs. Bangs," said the maid. "He is very anxious about it."

 

"I cannot see anybody," returned the fashionable woman, coldly. "Tell him I am not at home."

 

The girl went down into the hallway, where she had left Jasper Tuller standing⁶.

 

"Mrs. Bangs is not at home, sir. You will have to call some other time."

 

"Is Mr. Bangs's son at home?"

 

"No, sir; he is away for the summer."

 

"When will Mrs. Bangs be back?"

 

"I can't say, sir."

 

"It is too bad. The matter is very important. I came all the way from Springfield to see Mr. Bangs. They told me at the works he had gone to Rochester. I wanted to see him or his wife on business. Have you any idea where I can find Mrs. Bangs?"

 

The girl hesitated.

 

"N—no, sir," she faltered⁷.

 

Mrs. Bangs was listening as before and now realized that something unusual was in the air. She slipped down a back stairs and out of a rear door. Then she came around to the front piazza⁸ just as the door opened to let Tuller out.

 

"Mamie, who is this?" she asked, looking at the servant girl meaningly.

 

"Are you Mrs. Bangs?" asked Jasper Tuller, quickly, and, as she nodded, he continued: "I am glad you have come. I am Jasper Tuller, one of the stockholders in the iron works. Perhaps you have heard your husband mention my name."

 

"I have, Mr. Tuller. What can I do for you?"

 

"I would like to see you in private"—this with a side glance at the servant girl.

 

"Very well, step into the library, Mr. Tuller," and the fashionable woman led the way to that apartment. Then the door was carefully closed.

 

"Something is wrong," said the servant girl to herself. "I wonder what it can be?"

 

She was of a decidedly inquisitive⁹ nature and not above playing the eavesdropper¹⁰. She tiptoed her way to the library door and listened intently, while at the same time applying her eye to the keyhole.

 

"Now, what is it, Mr. Tuller?" asked Mrs. Bangs, after the door to the library was shut.

 

"Briefly¹¹, it is this," said the visitor. "Your husband has certain papers in his safe—papers which belong to another man,—Philip Bartlett."

 

"Proceed."

 

"I warned him to destroy the papers but he has not done so. Now Mr. Bartlett is going to come here, force open your safe, and take the papers away."

 

"Come here—force our safe!" gasped¹² the fashionable woman. "He dare not do it."

 

"He is going to do it legally, I presume."

 

"You mean he will bring an officer of the law here?"

 

"Yes. If those papers are found it will look black for your husband, for he has no right to have them in his possession."

 

"Oh, Mr. Tuller, what shall I do?"

 

"It is easy enough. Open the safe, take out the papers, and put them where they cannot be found."

 

"Yes, but I do not know how to open the safe!"

 

"Don't you know the combination? Your husband said something about that, but I felt there must be some mistake."

 

"I did know the combination once, but I believe I have forgotten it," went on the fashionable woman. She knitted her brows. "Let me see. It was three 9's, I remember—9, 18, and 27."

 

"Yes! yes! And what else. See if you cannot think. It is so very important—not alone for your husband, but also for myself and others."

 

"I am trying to think. Let me see—yes, there was a 2 and a 3 and then another 2,—I mean so many times around."

 

"I believe I understand, Mrs. Bangs. You mean twice around to 9, three times around to 18, twice to 27, and then off at 0."

 

"Yes, yes, that is it!" burst out the lady of the mansion. "How clever some men are!" and she beamed on her visitor, who chanced to be well dressed and not bad-looking.

 

"If that is correct, I'll soon have the safe open," said Jasper Tuller, and walked over to where the strong box stood, in a corner of the apartment.

 

The lady of the mansion hovered¹³ near while Jasper Tuller got down on his knees and began to try the combination. He had to work the knob all of a dozen times before the door of the safe came open.

 

"At last!" he murmured, as the contents of the safe stood revealed.

 

"Do you see the papers, or rather, do you know them?" asked Mrs. Bangs.

 

"I will know them—if I can lay eyes on them," was the reply, as Tuller began to rummage¹⁴ around in the safe.

 

The papers were sorted out in different piles and he went through each pile as rapidly as possible. Presently he found what he wanted.

 

"Here they are!" he cried in triumph, as he held them up.

1 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

2 constables   

n.警察( constable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn. 警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。 来自辞典例句
• There were also constables appointed to keep the peace. 城里也有被派来维持治安的基层警员。 来自互联网

3 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》

4 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。

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 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。

7 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

8 piazza   

n.广场；走廊

参考例句：

• Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
• They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。

9 inquisitive   

adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的

参考例句：

• Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
• A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。

10 eavesdropper   

偷听者

参考例句：

• Now that there is one, the eavesdropper's days may be numbered. 既然现在有这样的设备了，偷窥者的好日子将屈指可数。
• In transit, this information is scrambled and unintelligible to any eavesdropper. 在传输过程，对该信息进行编码，使窃听者无法获知真正的内容。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 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》

13 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

14 rummage   

v./n.翻寻，仔细检查

参考例句：

• He had a good rummage inside the sofa.他把沙发内部彻底搜寻了一翻。
• The old lady began to rummage in her pocket for her spectacles.老太太开始在口袋里摸索，找她的眼镜。