CHAPTER XX. THE AMATEUR DETECTIVES.

 WHEN it was found that Robert was not seriously hurt there was a general feeling of relief among his circus friends, for the boy rider was a great favorite. Though he was somewhat reserved he was always polite, affable, and ready to be of assistance to any of his associates. He was sometimes called "the little gentleman," and was generally supposed to have sprung from a good family, though even to himself his birth was a secret.

Among those who inquired anxiously for him were Charlie Davis and the Norwegian giant.

"He has sprained¹ his ankle slightly," said Dr. Grey. "It will require a week or two of perfect rest, perhaps more. Indeed it will not do for him to ride again this season."

"Are you sure of that, doctor?" asked the manager.

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"I am positive that it would be most imprudent."

"I asked because it cuts off the boy from earning money."

"There need be no trouble on that score. He can stay at my house as long as he likes, and it will cost him nothing."

"You are very kind, Dr. Grey. However, the boy is not without funds. I have two hundred dollars of his in my possession, and before I leave town I will hand it to him or you, as this accident will part us for the remainder of the season."

"Give it to him, then. I am glad he has been so provident²."

Dr. Grey and Sidney obtained a carriage, and Robert was taken home to the doctor's comfortable and even luxurious³ dwelling⁴, for, besides having had an extensive practice for years, he had married a lady with a fortune. Leaving Robert there in good hands, we return to the circus.

As soon as the entertainment was over, Charlie and Anak, remembering their engagement, bent⁵ their steps towards the house of Mr. Tarbox. They were detained, however, for fifteen minutes or more before being able to depart, and this gave Carden an opportunity to get at work.

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"Have you seen Carden this evening, Charlie?" asked Anak.

"Yes; he was at the circus."

"I wonder whether it was he that threw the rock?" said Anak, suddenly.

"I shouldn't wonder. I didn't think of it before."

"He could have no other object in coming to the show. He had seen it plenty of times. Besides, his money must have been low."

"Perhaps he got in for nothing," suggested Charlie.

"Go and ask."

Charlie, upon inquiring at the ticket-office, found that Carden had tried to obtain a pass on the score of his former connection with the circus, but without success, as the manager had left orders that he was not to be admitted, except on the same footing with others.

"He grumbled⁶ some, but finally bought a ticket," added the ticket-seller. "I wondered at it, for there was nothing new to him."

"He must have been the one who fired the rock at poor Robert's horse—the villain⁷!" said Anak, gravely. "We know he had a spite against the boy."

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"I'd like to fire a rock at him!" said Charlie, impetuously.

"He may get into trouble yet," said Anak. "Let us go along."

"Shall we go to the house and speak to Mr. Tarbox?" asked Charlie.

"Yes, for he will know where to look for him."

"I wonder what he will say when he sees you? Bet he'll be scared."

"We'll soon let him understand that we came for his good."

Mr. Tarbox was just about retiring, or rather he was making the usual preparations—bringing in kindling⁸ wood from the shed, raking out the fire, etc.—when a knock was heard at the outer door.

In the Tarbox household such a thing as a visitor at half-past 10 o'clock in the evening was absolutely unknown.

"Who can it be, Nathan?" asked Mrs. Tarbox, in a flutter.

"How do I know?" returned her husband in the usual polite tone in which he was accustomed to address his wife.

"Suppose it should be burglars?" suggested Mrs. Tarbox, nervously⁹.

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"They'd be very likely to knock at the door, wouldn't they, you goose!" said her husband. "That's exactly what they always do, isn't it?"

The knock was repeated.

"Go to the door, Mrs. Tarbox."

"Oh mercy, Nathan, I couldn't. I might be killed."

"Give me the lamp, then, you fool!"

Mrs. Tarbox readily gave her husband the lamp, and he strode to the door.

When he opened it, and his inquiring glance fell on the towering form of Anak, it must be admitted that Mr. Tarbox himself felt nervous. He made a movement to close the door, but Anak thrust in his huge foot, and this made the effort impossible.

"What do you want?" demanded Tarbox, his calmness not quite undisturbed.

"We come on important business," said Anak, in his deep voice.

"Then you might have come at a better time," said Tarbox, his fears dissipated and his ill-temper returning. "It is time all honest persons were abed."

"So it is, Mr. Tarbox," answered Anak, "but I167 am afraid there is one dishonest person that is wide awake."

"What do you mean?" demanded Tarbox, with a vague suspicion that the remark might be made at his expense.

"Is there anything of value concealed¹⁰ under the barn yonder?" asked Anak, pointing to the one already referred to in a former chapter.

"Why do you ask?" queried¹¹ the farmer, turning pale, and eying the questioner with suspicion.

"Because a man who has been discharged from our show—a canvas man, named Carden—was seen by Charlie here prowling about the barn this afternoon, and trying to look under it through a crack."

Now Tarbox turned pale in earnest.

"It must have been when I was there," he said.

"Very likely; were you under it?"

"Ye-es," answered the farmer.

"Then he was watching you. You know best whether he was likely to see anything that could be of service to him."

"Is he there now?" asked Tarbox, agitated¹².

"I should not be at all surprised."

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"He may be robbing me at this moment," said Tarbox, wildly.

"Then there is something hidden under the barn?"

"Ye-es. What shall I do? Is he armed? Is he a strong man?"

"No matter whether he is or not. I'm middling strong myself," said the giant, with a laugh. "Get your hat, and I'll go with you, and we'll see if we can't defeat him and his plans."

"I'll go, too," added Charlie, in an important tone.

"You alone are able to frighten him, Charlie," said Anak, aroused.

Tarbox got his hat and led the way hurriedly towards the barn. Before they reached there a sudden suspicion entered his mind and he stopped short.

"How do I know but this is a trick?" he said, nervously. "You may be intending to rob me yourself."

"Make your mind easy, Mr. Tarbox!" said Anak. "We don't do business in that way."

"You are my enemy," said Tarbox.

"Not at all. You have done me no harm. You169 were meaning to arrest me, to be sure, but you didn't, and I have no hard feelings against you. I will do you a good turn if you will let me, especially as this Carden is a bad fellow. He tried to kill Robert Rudd, to-night."

"What, the boy rider?"

"Yes. Robert caught him stealing, or trying to steal, from his locker¹³, and this led to his discharge. He threw a rock at the boy's horse, and he was thrown."

At another time Tarbox might possibly have felt rejoiced that the boy against whom he himself felt a spite had met with an accident, but now he felt too anxious about his own property to concern himself about other matters.

By this time they had reached the solitary¹⁴ barn.

Charlie got down on his knees and peered through the same crevice¹⁵ which Carden had used in the afternoon.

"He's there!" he exclaimed in excitement, "and he's got a lighted candle."

"What is he doing?" asked Tarbox in agitation¹⁶.

"He's digging."

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"He will steal my money!" ejaculated Tarbox in dismay. "There's between three and four hundred dollars hidden there."

"Rather a queer savings¹⁷ bank, Mr. Tarbox!" said Anak, dryly.

1 sprained   

v.&n. 扭伤

参考例句：

• I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤，把脚脖子扭了。
• When Mary sprained her ankles, John carried her piggyback to the doctors. 玛丽扭伤了足踝，约翰驮她去看医生。

2 provident   

adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的

参考例句：

• A provident father plans for his children's education.有远见的父亲为自己孩子的教育做长远打算。
• They are provident statesmen.他们是有远见的政治家。

3 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

4 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

5 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。

6 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

7 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

8 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

9 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

10 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

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 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

13 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。

14 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

15 crevice   

n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口

参考例句：

• I saw a plant growing out of a crevice in the wall.我看到墙缝里长出一棵草来。
• He edged the tool into the crevice.他把刀具插进裂缝里。

16 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

17 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。