CHAPTER XXI. ROBERT AND THE OLD LUMBERMAN.

It must be confessed that Robert was in no humor to hunt up Herman Wenrich.

"Even if I find him, what good will it do, if I can't offer him the money for the map?" was his mental comment.

Nevertheless, there seemed to be nothing else to do, and so, after a lunch, he started again for No. 238 Grandon Street.

He was careful where he went this time, and found the thoroughfare without further difficulty. It was fully¹ eight blocks from the tenement² where he had been robbed.

The number he was searching for was a block away, and as he walked toward it two men passed him whom he instantly recognized. The men were Jean Le Fevre and Oscar Hammerditch.

"Well, I declare!" muttered the boy. "Can it be possible that they have been calling upon Herman Wenrich?"

It certainly would seem so, yet Robert had no[Pg 179] way of proving it. Both the Canadian and the Englishman were walking rapidly, and soon they passed out of sight around the corner.

Robert found No. 238 Grandon Street a modest dwelling³ set in the rear of a tiny garden of flowers. As he entered the garden a girl came out on the front porch and gazed up and down the street anxiously. She was probably fifteen years of age, and was pale and thin, as if just getting over a long sickness, which was the case.

"Does Mr. Herman Wenrich live here?" asked Robert politely, as he tipped his hat.

"Yes, sir," answered the girl.

"Is he in?"

"He is, but he is not very well."

As she spoke⁴ the girl eyed Robert sharply, wondering what he wanted.

"He doesn't look like one of these traveling agents," she thought. She had been bothered with agents a great deal lately.

"I am sorry to hear Mr. Wenrich is not well," said Robert. "I wished to see him on a little business."

"May I ask your name?"

"My name is Robert Frost. But he doesn't know me. You might tell him that I came here at[Pg 180] the request of Richard Marden, who is a nephew of Felix Amberton, of Timberville, Michigan. I wish to see him about a lumber⁵ tract⁶ up there."

"Why, that is what those two men came about!" cried the girl.

"You mean the two men I just met on the street?"

"I presume they are the same. The men left but a minute before you came."

"Can you tell me if they came for a map?"

"Why, yes, they——" The girl stopped short. "I do not know as I have any right to talk of these things, Mr. Frost. My father might not like it."

"So Mr. Wenrich is your father."

"Yes. My name is Nettie Wenrich."

Robert bowed. "I certainly would not wish to make any trouble for you," he said, with a smile. "But I would like to see your father."

Nettie Wenrich hesitated for a moment. "He looks like a nice boy," she thought. "I like him better than I did those men."

"Come into the parlor⁷ and I will tell father you are here," said she.

Robert found the parlor small but cozy⁸. There were several covered chairs, some pictures and books, and in one corner stood a small organ. The youth sat down near a window and waited.

[Pg 181]

The girl was gone fully five minutes. When she returned her face bore a puzzled look.

"Father does not know what to make of this," she said. "You say you came because Mr. Amberton sent you?"

"Mr. Marden sent me. He is Mr. Amberton's nephew and has taken full charge, now that Mr. Amberton is sick."

"Father says Mr. Hammerditch, one of the men who just called, said Mr. Amberton sent him for the map."

"What!" cried Robert, leaping to his feet. "That cannot be possible."

"Why?"

"Because those men are enemies of Mr. Amberton. They wish to get some of his lumber lands away from him."

The girl studied Robert's honest face for a moment.

"I believe you. But it is a queer mix-up," was her comment.

"Perhaps I can explain some things, Miss Wenrich. But I would like to talk with your father first."

"Very well. But my father is quite sick, and I would not like to have you excite him."

[Pg 182]

"I will be careful. But I hope he didn't let them have the map."

"No, he is holding that. They made a proposition to him and he said he would think it over."

Nettie Wenrich led the way to the second story of the cottage, and to the front bedchamber. Here, on a snowy couch lay Herman Wenrich, feeble with age and a malady⁹ that had attacked his digestive organs.

"I do not wish to disturb you, Mr. Wenrich," said Robert, after introducing himself and shaking hands. "But I think it very strange that I should come here right after those two men I met outside."

"It is strange, lad," responded Herman Wenrich feebly. "I cannot understand it."

"I think I can safely say that Mr. Amberton never sent them and that he knows nothing of their coming," continued our hero.

"That makes the whole thing even more strange."

"They wish to get a certain map from you—a map of some lumber lands in upper Michigan."

"Yes, yes, there is but one map," cried Herman Wenrich. "I have kept it safely for years."

"Papa, please do not excite yourself," pleaded Nettie Wenrich, coming to the bedside.

[Pg 183]

"I am not excited, my child."

"I do not know a great deal about the matter," continued Robert. "But I do know that those two men, Le Fevre and Hammerditch, are Mr. Amberton's enemies and not his friends."

"Can you prove that?"

For the instant the youth was nonplussed¹⁰. Then he thought of Dick Marden's letter.

"Here is a letter I got from Timberville," he said. "You can read that."

"My eyesight is poor. Nettie, read the letter."

At once the daughter complied. Herman Wenrich listened attentively¹¹.

"Ah, yes, I remember this Marden now," he said slowly. "He was the son of Amberton's youngest sister. Where does he come from?"

"He belongs in California and is a rich miner. But he was brought up down east—in Vermont, if I remember rightly."

"Exactly—he is Grace Amberton's boy. A good fellow, too—if he takes after his mother. So Amberton is sick and has put Dick Marden in charge. Then what those two men told me is a—a string of falsehoods."

"You can see what I am authorized¹² to offer you for the map," said Robert. "I started for here with the money in my pocket——"

[Pg 184]

"Stop, Mr. Frost. You do not understand old Herman Wenrich. I am not thinking to sell the map."

"But you are willing to see justice done to Mr. Amberton, are you not?"

"Yes, yes—full justice—for he deserves it. He could have had the map before, but it affected¹³ some land of mine—which I have since sold."

"Then you will let him have the map!" exclaimed Robert, much delighted. "I will pay——"

"Not a cent, my lad, not a cent. He can have it and welcome. But—but——"

"But what, sir?"

"I must be dead sure, as they say, of what I am doing. You look honest enough, but so did those men."

"Those men didn't look very honest to me," came from Nettie Wenrich, who had taken a strong liking¹⁴ to Robert, and it must be admitted that the feeling was reciprocated¹⁵. "I could not bear that Englishman."

"I cannot blame you for being suspicious," said Robert gravely. "I wish I had been so this morning. I might have saved my watch and some of my money." He did not feel called upon to state that he had lost the amount which was[Pg 185] to be paid over to Herman Wenrich for the map.

Of course he had to tell his story—or, at least, a part of it. Nettie Wenrich was quite affected.

"It was too bad!" she cried. "I hope you get your watch and money back and succeed in sending those bad men to prison."

"I will tell you what I will do," said Herman Wenrich, after several minutes of silent thinking. "Let Felix Amberton send me a written order to deliver the map to you and I will do so."

"That is fair," said Robert. "No honest person could ask more at your hands. But what of those two men? They are to call again, I believe."

"I will put them off, for, say three days. You ought to be able to get your order by that time."

"Perhaps I can get it sooner, but I wish you would make it four days. There may be some delay, especially if Mr. Amberton is very ill."

"Very well, we will make it four days then," said Herman Wenrich, and thanking him for his kindness Robert withdrew and followed Nettie Wenrich downstairs.

"Do your father and you live here alone?" he asked.

"Yes."

[Pg 186]

"I hope he gets well soon," said the youth gravely, and his voice was full of a sympathy which went straight to the girl's heart.

"I am afraid he will never get well," answered Nettie, and the tears sprang into her eyes.

He took her hand and shook it warmly. "You must hope for the best," he said. And then, as she looked straight into his clear, honest eyes, he added, "If I can ever be of service to you don't hesitate to call upon me."

And a minute later he was gone.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 tenement   

n.公寓；房屋

参考例句：

• They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
• She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里，她觉得很得意。

3 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。

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 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

6 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

7 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

8 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

9 malady   

n.病，疾病(通常做比喻)

参考例句：

• There is no specific remedy for the malady.没有医治这种病的特效药。
• They are managing to control the malady into a small range.他们设法将疾病控制在小范围之内。

10 nonplussed   

adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The speaker was completely nonplussed by the question. 演讲者被这个问题完全难倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was completely nonplussed by his sudden appearance. 他突然出现使我大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

15 reciprocated   

v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动

参考例句：

• Her passion for him was not reciprocated. 她对他的热情没有得到回应。
• Their attraction to each other as friends is reciprocated. 作为朋友，他们相互吸引着对方。 来自辞典例句