CHAPTER XXI A FALCON COMES TO LIFE

It was the keen blue eyes of the Irish girl, Merry, that made an important discovery connected with Petite Jeanne’s disappearance¹.

Knowing that Merry was up bright and early every morning, Florence called her at seven o’clock the next morning to tell her of Jeanne’s disappearance.

“But what can have happened?” the girl asked in tearful consternation².

“That,” replied Florence, “is just what we all would like to know.”

“I’m coming down,” Merry announced. “Coming right away.”

“Then come to the theatre. I’m going there at once. The night watchman is on till eight. He’ll let us in. Places never look the same by the light of day. We may discover some clue.”
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And indeed they did. As has been said, it was Merry who came upon it. She was passing through a narrow corridor between two doors, when something caused her to look up at the sill of a narrow window just above her head.

At once she let out a little cry of surprise.

“The Marble Falcon³!” She could scarcely believe her eyes.

The next instant she did not believe them, for the thing resting there on the window sill turned its head slowly, as though it were set on a wooden pivot⁴, and then quite as slowly winked⁵ an eye.

Merry felt her knees sinking beneath her. Gripping the doorknob, she stood there shaking until her senses returned.

She recovered just in time to seize a thin silken cord that dangled⁶ from one of the creature’s feet. At that instant the falcon, a real one and quite alive, spread two very capable wings and went flapping away through the half open door.
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Only the silken line held tightly in the Irish girl’s hand prevented him from soaring aloft as he had, without doubt, done on other occasions.

Merry gave a little cry as he came fluttering down and alighted on one of her outstretched hands. The cry attracted Florence’s attention. She came hurrying up.

“A falcon, a real live falcon!” cried Merry. “Now, what do you think of that?”

“A live falcon!” Florence stared in astonishment⁷.

Then she went into a brown study.

“Wings,” she murmured after a time. “The flutter of wings. Those were her very words. Merry, you may have made an important discovery!”

“She told me once,” replied the Irish girl, “that gypsies were very fond of falcons⁸. Do you think there could be anything in that?”

“There may be.” Florence’s tone was thoughtful. “There may be a whole lot.”

“What are you going to do next?” Merry demanded with a sudden start.
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“I must stay right here until nine o’clock. There was to have been a rehearsal⁹ at that hour. The director will be furious.”

“As if she could help it!”

“That’s just the trouble. You see she really had no business being here at that hour. And she was doing a thing that would have angered them beyond words, should they have found it out. How can we tell them anything without going into the whole affair?”

“That’s not an Irish question,” Merry smiled, “so you can’t expect an Irishman to answer it. We Irish folk tell the blunt, unadorned truth. If that means a fight, then we fight.

“And,” she added whimsically, “I don’t think we mind a good fight much, either.

“But say!” she exclaimed. “If you’re going to stay for the scrap¹⁰, I’m not. It’s not my fight.

“Besides, I’ve something I want to try out. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not in the least.”
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With that, the strange little girl from the shop of broken gifts gathered the silk cord into her hands, and with the falcon still perched upon her wrist, walked down the corridor and out into the sunlit street.

1 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

2 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

3 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

4 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

5 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

7 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

8 falcons   

n.猎鹰( falcon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Peregrine falcons usually pluck the feathers and strip the flesh off their bird prey. 游隼捕到鸟类猎物时，通常是先拔掉它们的羽毛，再把肉撕下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Though he doubted the wisdom of using falcons, Dr. de la Fuente undertook the project. 虽然德·拉·富恩特博士怀疑使用游隼是否明智，但他还是执行了这项计划。 来自辞典例句

9 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

10 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。