CHAPTER XIII. CATCHING A THIEF.

 "WHAT are you doing here?" demanded Robert, in a quick, imperious tone.

The man, like all who are engaged in a disreputable deed, started suddenly and half rose from his crouching¹ position, still holding the keys in his hand. He did not answer immediately, probably because it was rather difficult to decide what to say.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Robert, once more.

"None of your business!" answered the man, whose temper got the better of his prudence².

"I should think it was my business, as you were trying to get at my property."

"That's a lie!" said the man, sullenly³.

As he spoke⁴ he stepped out of the wagon⁵, and Robert recognized him as the canvas man, Carden, introduced in the last chapter.

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"It's the truth," said Robert firmly. "I know you, Carden, and I am not much surprised. It won't do to try it again."

"I've a great mind to thrash you for your impudence⁶!" growled⁷ Carden.

"I can defend myself," returned Robert, coolly, who had plenty of courage.

Carden laughed derisively⁸.

"What can you do?" he said. "You'd be like a baby in my grasp."

"I am not afraid of you," said Robert, with composure. "Don't come around here again."

"I shall go where I please," said Carden, with the addition of an oath. "And don't you go to telling tales of me, or I'll wring⁹ your neck."

Robert did not answer, but when Carden had slunk away, opened the locker¹⁰ himself, and took out a wallet filled with bills.

"It is imprudent to leave so much money here," he reflected. "If I hadn't come up just as I did, Carden would have got hold of it. What shall I do with it?"

Robert felt that it would not do to carry it round with him, as that would be about as imprudent as to leave it in the locker. He decided112 after a little reflection upon leaving it with the manager of the circus, in whom he had every confidence, and deservedly. He accordingly sought Mr. Coleman after the entertainment was over.

"Well, Robert, what is it?" asked the manager, kindly¹¹.

"I have a favor to ask of you, sir."

"Very well; what is it?"

"I came near losing all my savings¹² to-night. Will you take charge of this wallet for me? I don't feel safe with it in my possession."

"Certainly, Robert. How much money have you here?"

"Two hundred dollars."

"Whew! You are rich. You say you came near losing it?"

"Yes, to-night."

"How was that?"

Robert detailed¹³ his visit to his locker, and his discovery of the canvas man attempting to open it, but he mentioned no names.

"Which of the canvas men was it?" asked Mr. Coleman.

Robert hesitated.

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"I don't want to get the man into trouble," he said.

"That does you credit, but if we have a thief with us it is important that we should know it, for there are others whom he may try to rob."

From what he knew of Carden, Robert felt that the apprehension¹⁴ was very well founded, and he saw that it was his duty to mention the name of the thief.

"It was Carden," he answered.

"The very man I suspected," said the manager. "The other men are rough, but he looks like a scoundrel. He came to me and begged for work, and I engaged him, though I knew nothing about him. I shall see him in the morning, and discharge him."

The manager did not forget. The next morning he summoned Carden, and said, quietly, "Carden, you are no longer in my employ. I will pay you to the end of the week, but I want you to leave now."

"What's that for?" growled the canvas man, looking ugly.

"It's on account of what happened last night," said the manager.

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"Has that young fool been blabbing about me?"

"I have said nothing about any one."

"No, but I know Robert Rudd's been telling tales about me."

"He answered my questions, but said he didn't want to get you into trouble."

"Of course not!" sneered¹⁵ Carden. "He's a nice boy, he is; the young liar¹⁶."

"You seem to know what he said," observed the manager, eying the man keenly.

"I s'pose he said I was tryin' to rob him."

"He did, and I believed him."

"Then he lied!" said the man, fiercely. "He'll repent¹⁷ the day he told tales about me."

"That will do, Carden," said the manager, quietly. "Here's your money."

Carden went off swearing. As he was leaving the grounds of the circus he met Robert.

"You've been blabbing about me. I'll fix you," he said.

Robert made no reply, for he did not care to get into a dispute with such a man.

1 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

2 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。

3 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

4 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。

5 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

6 impudence   

n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼

参考例句：

• His impudence provoked her into slapping his face.他的粗暴让她气愤地给了他一耳光。
• What knocks me is his impudence.他的厚颜无耻使我感到吃惊。

7 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 derisively   

adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• This answer came derisively from several places at the same instant. 好几个人都不约而同地以讥讽的口吻作出回答。
• The others laughed derisively. 其余的人不以为然地笑了起来。

9 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

10 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

11 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

12 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

15 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。

16 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

17 repent   

v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔

参考例句：

• He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。
• Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。