CHAPTER XV DADDY SENDS A CLUE

 “Did you have a good time with Aunt Marcia, Chloe?”

 

“Er-r—certainly, Mimi. Why do you ask?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

Mimi blushed. She could not fib with a straight face. She edged around keeping her back away from Chloe as she was clutching behind her a letter which had just come from Daddy. Perhaps it was the effect of the letter but it seemed to Mimi, Chloe had looked disturbed and paler since the holidays. In contrast to her wistful dark eyes, her skin seemed ivory white. The other girls had come back sparkling and glowing, telling and re-telling good times they experienced at home. Betsy was radiant. Sue was voluble. The first night she was back Mrs. Cole had had to rap sharply on the door of Tumble Inn to stop the talking after light-bell. They hadn’t given Chloe a chance to get a word in edge ways had she wanted it. Mimi had waited hopefully for the slightest word from her but none had come. She had to pull to get much out of Chloe.

 

“You didn’t have an opportunity to ask Aunt Marcia—anything—important?”

 

“What could I ask, Mimi?” Chloe countered. “The once or twice I have broached² the topic Aunt Marcia has hedged or changed the subject. She was so kind Christmas and seemed so happy to have me with her. She must be awfully³ lonely, too, or she never would have adopted me. She tried to plan things I’d like but right in the middle of whatever we’d be doing I’d think—you’re not my Aunt, you’re not even kin¹ to me! Who are you?”—Chloe was choking—“Who am I?”

 

Mimi hugged Chloe close. Chloe did not shrink. She laid her beautiful, tired head against Mimi and sobbed⁴.

 

“You are somebody beautiful and sweet and lovely. We all love you, no matter who your Mother and Father were.”

 

“I know they were fine, too, Mimi. But it’s this awful suspense⁵ of not knowing. I might have brothers and sisters and pass right by them any day and not know them. My mother must be tortured imagining horrible things have happened to me. I’d—I’d rather—believe—she is dead than that she has worried about me all these years.”

 

The letter which Mimi had quickly thrust in her belt when she took Chloe in her arms, crackled as the two girls sat down on the bed. Both the chairs and the vanity stool were piled up. Everything was topsy-turvy in term-end confusion.

 

Mimi was more upset than anything around her. The letter had brought her a spark of hope, so dim, so faint she dared not tell. Yet Chloe needed to know so badly; which would be worse, to give her a ray of hope that in all probability would be shattered or leave her as she was without anything to cling to? If she should tell Chloe she had told Daddy, Chloe might not like it. She might not feel as Mimi did, that any great secret could be shared with your parents without breaking your promise. Mimi could keep secrets. She had struggled hard and won to keep from telling Millie. She had never told Betsy about Madge and the alarm bell. But Chloe was again sobbing⁶ softly against her. She trembled delicately as Pluto⁷, the crow, had trembled in Mimi’s hands while Daddy patched his broken wing. Poor Chloe! A wounded dark bird snatched from her nest before she could fly.

 

“Would you know Fritzie if you saw him or saw a picture of him, Chloe?”

 

She needed a more tangible⁸ clue. Something she could tell Daddy definitely yes and no about.

 

“I’ve often wondered. You see, it’s been so very long ago. I was so tiny. I remember how I laughed at the pictures tattooed⁹ on his arms—a lady on one and a sailor on the other. He’d hold them together and we’d play they were dancing. He cackled instead of laughing. When I think back the only picture I have is that blurred¹⁰ one of my mother—hear her frantic¹¹ screams. Voices—I’d KNOW HIS VOICE, Mimi. I know I would.”

 

Encouraged by her decision Chloe continued.

 

“When I get in college, I’m going to take psychology¹². I read it in the library every chance I get now. When I am old enough to travel by myself I’m going everywhere hunting places and faces that seem familiar. Oh, Mimi, I’ve thought about it so much! Maybe, some day, when I’m sure Fritzie and the short man and big old Freida are dead and can’t hurt us any more, I may write my story and have my picture made and published.”

 

“When Fritzie is dead.” Mimi repeated slowly. The words in Daddy’s letter danced before her eyes. Should she tell? Daddy had written at great length about Chloe’s story.

 

“Chloe, would you care if you knew that I had written my Daddy ALL about you?” She didn’t wait for a reply. “You see, I have, and I hope you won’t think I’ve broken my word. I haven’t told another living soul and shan’t. But Daddy is interested in your case and says he will help. The night you told us your story, I swore never to quit until we knew who you really were but I didn’t know where to start. That same night I wrote Daddy. He can do anything. Already he is planning what to do and how to do it.”

 

But Mimi quit there and kept the contents of the letter secret. After asking Chloe several pointed¹³ questions, the answers to which were not satisfactory, she talked slowly toward the library to write Daddy in the quiet where she could think clearly.

 

As she passed College Hall the smell of black coffee came floating out. Cram¹⁴ week was causing a panic Ghostly figures with notebooks, unfinished themes, and reference books had been slipping through the corridors after lights out. Laggards¹⁵ were drinking strong coffee now trying to keep awake long enough to learn a few more answers. The gym was deserted¹⁶ except at class periods. Sue had cut practice hours twice in a row. Betsy was “boning” as she had never done before but the College girls were the busier.

 

Let them slave Mimi thought. Thank goodness she had caught up with lessons while she was quarantined.

 

She ignored the librarian as she entered. With a grand disregard for the cramming¹⁷ going on all about her, Mimi unscrewed the top of her fountain pen. This letter to Daddy is far more important. It is the most important document I’ve ever written. I must think straight. I must tell every little detail that might help, the tattooed figures, the cackling laugh. But first I must answer his questions.

 

Unfolding the fat letter and rearranging the pages carefully so that the questions were on top, Mimi shook her pen twice and began to write feverishly¹⁸.

1 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

2 broached   

v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体

参考例句：

• She broached the subject of a picnic to her mother. 她向母亲提起野餐的问题。 来自辞典例句
• He broached the subject to the stranger. 他对陌生人提起那话题。 来自辞典例句

3 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

4 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

5 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

6 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

7 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

8 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

9 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

12 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

15 laggards   

n.落后者( laggard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I would say the best students at Chengdu are no laggards. 依我看成都最优秀的学生绝不逊色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The laggards include utilities and telecommunications, up about % and 12% respectively, to MSCI. 据摩根士丹利资本国际的数据，涨幅居后的包括公用事业和电信类股，分别涨了约%和12%。 来自互联网

16 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

17 cramming   

n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课

参考例句：

• Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 feverishly   

adv. 兴奋地

参考例句：

• Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
• The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。