CHAPTER XXVIII FRANK STARTS FOR THE SOUTH

 When Frank reached the post office, he found several letters for his parents and himself. One was post-marked Charleston, and was in the handwriting of his brother Mark.

 

“Hullo! Mark must have reached the United States at last,” he said to himself. “Wonder when he will be home?”

 

He knew his parents would be anxious to read the communication, so hastened home without delay.

 

“Here is a letter from Mark!” he called out, and this brought his mother and his father to the dining room.

 

“Let me see the letter, Frank,” said his mother, and he cut it open for her. “I’ll read it aloud,” she added, and walked to the window, to get the benefit of the light.

 

The communication ran as follows:

 

“Dear Folks at Home: I suppose you will all be glad to know that I am back in the United States safe and sound once more. I trust this finds you all well.

“We had a good trip from, Cuba, and are now unloading a portion of our cargo¹ here. As soon as that is done, we shall take some new cargo aboard, and then sail for Philadelphia, where my trip will come to an end. I reckon I have had enough of the ocean for the present, and shall either go to school again or else get something to do ashore². A life on the ocean wave is all well enough in a story book, but when you’ve got to be on deck in all sorts of weather, and put up with any old kind of grub, it’s a different story. And they tell me the food on this brig is as good as the average vessel³.

“I have got a whole lot to tell when I get home, so I will not take the time to put it down on paper. But there is one thing I must write about. I may be making a mistake, but I don’t think so.

“It’s about that Jabez Garrison⁴, who ran away from Philadelphia with some funds belonging to a benevolent⁵ association. I read the newspaper clippings Frank sent me, carefully, and also read what father wrote about him. I also kept the picture one of the papers printed of the rascal⁶.

“Unless I am greatly mistaken, this Jabez Garrison is in Charleston. I was knocking around town yesterday, taking in the sights, when I stopped into a restaurant for a bite. Some men were there, and two at a table near me. Evidently they had just run across one another, and each seemed to be glad to see the other.

“These men talked of going to California, to a place called San Margella, wherever that is. The little chap was called Flecker, and he addressed the other man once as Garrison, and then again as Jabez. Both spoke⁷ of being in Philadelphia some time ago. The fellow called Flecker, or Becker, said he had been to Goshen, to the horse races, and out in Pennsylvania. The other man, Garrison, said he had been to Boston and down the Maine coast. Both acted as if they knew each other well and had been in some shady transactions together.

“I didn’t know what to do. If I had been sure this Garrison was the man you were after, I would have had him arrested, but both of the men went out, and in a crowd on the street I lost sight of them.

“Before they went away, however, they arranged to meet at a place called the Planters’ House, a week from to-day. Flecker said he had business to attend to in New York, and Garrison said he would lay low until his pal⁸ got back.

“If there is anything in this let me know. Shall I notify the police or what?”

“It must be Jabez Garrison!” cried Frank.

 

“I believe you are right, my son,” answered Mr. Hardy⁹. “And if so, we ought to notify the police without delay.”

 

“And the most wonderful part of it is, that other man must be Gabe Flecker,” went on our hero.

 

“There may be some mistake,” put in Mrs. Hardy, timidly. “Thomas, you must not have an innocent man arrested.”

 

“You are right there, Margy. If I did that, it might cost me a pretty penny for damages. I wish I was well enough to go down to Charleston. I’d take the first train.”

 

“Let me go, father!” cried Frank, quickly. “It’s just the thing! Why didn’t I think of it before?”

 

“Are you sure you would know Jabez Garrison?”

 

“Positive, father. Haven’t I seen him a number of times, when he called at the store?”

 

“It is a long trip to Charleston, South Carolina,” came from Mrs. Hardy.

 

“I shouldn’t mind it in the least, mother. Besides, remember Mark is there. I can telegraph to him that I am coming on.”

 

“Yes, you might do that.”

 

“I’ll go down to the railroad station at once and see when I can get a train,” went on the young book agent, enthusiastically. “And I’ll send the telegram, too.”

 

The matter was talked over for a few minutes longer, and it was decided¹⁰ that our hero should really take the trip south. Without loss of time the telegram was prepared, and he hurried off to the station with it.

 

“Want to go to Charleston?” queried¹¹ the ticket agent. “That’s rather a long trip, Frank.”

 

“Yes. How soon can I go?”

 

“You can make a connection at Philadelphia in two hours and forty minutes.”

 

“That will just suit me. Now let me know how much this telegram will cost.”

 

The telegram ran as follows:

 

“Am starting to-night for Charleston. Keep your eye on Garrison.

“Frank.”

The telegram paid for and sent, our hero raced back to the house. His mother had already brought forth¹² a dress-suit case, and into this were packed such articles as he thought that he might need. Then he placed ample funds in his pocket, and kissed his mother and his sister good-by, and shook hands with his father and little Georgie.

 

“Now, be sure and keep out of danger,” said Mr. Hardy, on parting. “I’d rather have Garrison escape than that you should come to grief.”

 

“Yes, keep out of all danger,” pleaded his mother.

 

The train was coming into the station when Frank reached the ticket office once more. He purchased a ticket for Philadelphia, and was the last to get aboard. A moment more and Claster was left behind, and the long journey to South Carolina was begun.

 

Earlier in the year the journey would have made Frank feel strange, but knocking around as an agent had given him confidence in himself, and he felt quite at home as he settled back in his seat, and reviewed the situation.

 

“I hope that fellow does prove to be Jabez Garrison and that the other chap is Gabe Flecker,” he said to himself. “It will be killing¹³ two birds with one stone.”

 

It was growing dark when the Quaker City was reached. At the main railroad station on Broad Street, Frank obtained a ticket to Charleston, and also a berth¹⁴ in a sleeping car. He had barely time to get his supper at a nearby lunch room, when his train came in and he got aboard.

 

It was a misty¹⁵ night, so but little could be seen of the landscape. Frank sat up for a while to read, and then went to bed. He slept soundly, and got up about seven o’clock.

 

“We must be pretty well south by this time,” he thought. He was tremendously hungry, and after making his toilet, waited impatiently for the dining car to be taken on.

 

“First call for breakfast!” was the welcome cry a little later, and he made his way towards the dining car, which was at the rear end of the rather long train. To get to it he had to pass through two sleepers¹⁶. Here some of the folks were not yet up, and he had to take care so as not to disturb them.

 

He was passing through the last sleeper¹⁷, when a man emerged from behind the heavy curtains of a berth and bent¹⁸ over a hand-bag which rested in the aisle¹⁹. The man’s back was toward Frank, but a single glance showed our hero that the individual was Gabe Flecker.

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

5 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

6 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

9 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

15 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

16 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

17 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

18 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

19 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。