CHAPTER XXIV ANOTHER HIDING PLACE

 Mrs. Bangs breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the papers.

 

"You are certain you are right, Mr. Tuller?" she asked, anxiously.

 

"Yes."

 

"Where did those papers come from?"

 

"Mr. Bartlett's desk at the iron works."

 

"As they were in my husband's safe I think you ought to give them to me."

 

"I will do so, Mrs. Bangs. But you must put them where they cannot be found."

 

"Trust me for that."

 

"The officers of the law may search the whole house."

 

"Dare they do such a thing?"

 

"Yes, but if everything is found square your husband can sue Bartlett for damages," and Jasper Tuller chuckled¹ loudly. "It will be a good joke on him."

 

"There are no more of the papers?"

 

"I will take another look and make sure."

 

This was done, but no more papers belonging to Philip Bartlett could be found. Then the safe was locked once more.

 

"I will put these papers away at once," said Mrs. Bangs and left the library with the documents in her hand. She was gone all of five minutes and came back smiling quietly to herself.

 

"Now they are safe," she said. "Nobody can possibly find them."

 

"I am glad to hear it," answered Tuller. "Now I had better be going—before Bartlett appears. Don't say anything about my having been here."

 

"I will not."

 

"And another thing, Mrs. Bangs. Pretend not to know how to open the safe. That will compel them to break it open, and your husband's case against Bartlett will be so much stronger."

 

"I shall follow your advice, Mr. Tuller. But look, somebody is coming already!" went on the fashionable woman, as a carriage turned in from the road and came toward the horse block.

 

"I must get out of this! Can I go by a back door?"

 

"To be sure," said Mrs. Bangs, and showed the way. As Tuller slipped out and passed toward the back road where Randy had had an encounter with Bob Bangs, there came a ring at the front door.

 

"Good-morning, Mrs. Bangs," said Mr. Bartlett. "Is your husband at home?"

 

"He is not," answered the fashionable woman, coldly.

 

"I've got a search warrant for this place," said the constable², pushing his way in, and he proceeded to read the document aloud.

 

"This is an outrage³!" cried Mrs. Bangs, with assumed dignity. "An outrage, and you shall pay dearly for it, Mr. Bartlett. My husband is no thief, to steal your papers."

 

"Perhaps not," answered Philip Bartlett. "Nevertheless, I am going to have his safe searched and also this house."

 

"Well, since you have the law on your side, go ahead. But you shall answer to my husband for this indignity⁴."

 

The constable began his work, and the safe opener approached the strong box and inspected it.

 

"Can you open it?" asked Mr. Bartlett, anxiously.

 

"With ease," was the answer. "This is one of the old-style safes."

 

"How much will it cost?"

 

"Ten dollars."

 

"Then go ahead."

 

The safe opener was soon at work. He turned the knob around slowly, listening intently in the meanwhile. He worked thus for perhaps ten minutes, when the door to the safe came open without an effort.

 

Mrs. Bangs was disappointed. She had expected that the safe would have to be blown open in the most approved burglar fashion, and was wondering what bill for damages she could render.

 

"You must have known the combination," she said, tartly⁵, to the safe opener.

 

"This is my business," was the quiet answer.

 

The constable, with Mr. Bartlett's aid, went through all the papers in the safe. Of course the all-important documents were not found.

 

"Well?" asked the lawyer, after a long wait.

 

"They are not here," replied Mr. Bartlett. He felt sick at heart over his failure to bring the papers to light.

 

"Not here!"

 

"No, they must have been removed."

 

The library was searched, and then a look was taken through the whole house. Mrs. Bangs followed the men everywhere.

 

"You shall suffer for this outrage," she said to Mr. Bartlett several times.

 

"I presume I shall have to stand for what I have done," he answered, meekly⁶. "Of one thing I am certain, Mrs. Bangs. Your husband has those papers, or else he has destroyed them."

 

"You can say what you please, Mr. Bangs is an honest man and a gentleman," retorted the fashionable woman.

 

At last there was nothing left to do but to leave the mansion⁷, which Mr. Bartlett did with reluctance⁸.

 

"I am afraid I have made a mess of it," he said to his lawyer. "I was certain we would find those papers."

 

"I am afraid you have hurt your case, Mr. Bartlett," answered the legal light, bluntly. "Bangs will now be on his guard and will take good care to keep those papers away from you."

 

"Perhaps he has destroyed them."

 

"That is not unlikely, since it would do him small good to keep them."

 

"What do you advise me to do next?"

 

"You had better wait and see what develops," said the lawyer.

 

The safe opener and the constable were paid off and Philip Bartlett returned to Albany in anything but a happy frame of mind. A day or two later he called upon Randy, when the steamboat tied up at the dock for the night.

 

"My fat is in the fire," he said to our hero, and told of his failure to locate the missing documents.

 

"Mr. Bartlett, I am sure Mr. Bangs said the papers were in his safe!" cried Randy. "He must have taken them out when he returned home."

 

"You can be a witness if the matter is brought into court?"

 

"Of course. I remember very well all I heard."

 

"Well, that is something," answered Philip Bartlett, hopefully.

 

He went home and the next day received a strong letter from Amos Bangs denouncing him for the action he had taken. Part of the letter ran as follows:

 

"I should sue you for damages, only I do not wish to drag you into court on account of your wife and family. In the future you need expect no favors from me. I am done with you. If you want to sell your stock in the iron company I will give you the market price, not a cent more. Remember, I shall be on my guard against you in the future, and if you dare to molest⁹ me again you shall take the consequences."

 

"He will do what he can to ruin us," said Mrs. Bartlett when her husband read the letter to her.

 

"I suppose so."

 

"What is the market price of the stock?"

 

"It has no regular market value now. Bangs will buy it for about ten cents on the dollar."

 

"Oh, Philip, that is so little!"

 

"I'll not sell the stock," said Mr. Bartlett. "I'd rather lose every cent than play into Amos Bangs's hands!"

 

1 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

2 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。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

5 tartly   

adv.辛辣地，刻薄地

参考例句：

• She finished by tartly pointing out that he owed her some money. 她最后刻薄地指出他欠她一些钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Kay said tartly, "And you're more Yankee than Italian. 恺酸溜溜他说：“可你哪，与其说是意大利人，还不如说是新英格兰人。 来自教父部分

6 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

9 molest   

vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏

参考例句：

• If the man continues to molest her,I promise to keep no measures with the delinquent.如果那人继续对她进行骚扰，我将对他这个违法者毫不宽容。
• If I were gone,all these would molest you.如果没有我，这一切都会来骚扰你。