There he fell into the arms of Solomon. His tale was quickly told, and at once three greatly excited persons ran into the street. They were Solomon, Angelo and Dan Baker1.
Sprinting2 along in the direction indicated by the stranger, Angelo plunged3 boldly into the dark shadows by the bridge.
There was no one there. But by good chance he came upon Florence’s Boston bag lying on the ground.
267
The exclamation4 of joy that escaped his lips at sight of it died suddenly. As he lifted it from the earth he found it almost as light as air.
“Gone!” he exclaimed. “The Fire God is gone!”
“What could you expect?” Solomon grumbled5. “They were after it. Why should they leave it?
“See!” he added after one look at the bag. “They ripped it open.”
As he turned to retrace6 his steps he stumbled over a hard object.
“A brick,” he mumbled7 after casting the light of a pocket torch upon it. “Only a brick.”
“But how strange!” There was surprise in Angelo’s voice. “The thing is dry. And it rained only two hours ago. And see! There are two of them.”
“Those men threw them there,” was Solomon’s pronouncement. “Probably meant to brain some one if necessary.”
He could not have guessed how wrong he was.
268
Since no further trace of the missing girl and her precious burden could be found there was nothing for them but to return. This they did. Then they discovered that Petite Jeanne, too, was missing.
The police were notified at once. An alarm was broadcast over the police radio network. After that there seemed nothing to do but wait.
* * * * * * * *
Florence was a girl of strength and courage. Not without reward had she spent hours in the gymnasium. Swinging from ring to ring in mid-air, twisting through ladder and trapeze, torturing the medicine-ball, she had developed muscular strength far beyond her years.
There was need of grip and grit8 now, as she clung, with the mysterious pursuers above her, and with water, perhaps fathoms9 of it, beneath her, to the side of that abandoned scow.
Footsteps approached. Grumbles10 and curses sounded in her ears. Trembling, she held her breath. Her fingers, she knew, were in the shadows. Flattened11 as her body was against the dark side of the scow, she hoped she might not be seen if anyone looked for her there.
269
To her great relief they did not look but went grumbling12 away toward some fish shanties13 a block away.
“Do they live there?” she asked herself. “I wonder.”
Moments passed. Her courage and her grip weakened.
“What’s the use?” she murmured at last. “I can swim. Swimming is better than this, even in a city dump scow.”
Relaxing her hold, she dropped with a low splash into some ten inches of black, muddy water.
“So far, so good,” she philosophized. “But now?”
Groping about in the muddy water she retrieved14 her paper-wrapped package and tucked it under her arm.
Her next task was a survey of her temporary prison. She was in no great danger, but the water was frightfully cold.
“Must get out of here some way,” she told herself. “Besides, there’s Petite Jeanne. She’ll fret15 her poor little heart.”
270
Had she but known!
Slowly she made her way about, feeling the walls of her strange prison. Everywhere the walls were too high. Even by leaping she could not grasp them.
“And if that were possible,” she told herself, “I could not climb up without some foothold.”
It was a foothold she sought. “Only some cleats or patches, or a rusty16 chain dangling17 down,” she all but prayed. Her prayer was not answered.
“Oh, well,” she sighed. And with that, propping18 herself in a corner, she stood first on one foot, then on the other, and almost fell asleep.
But what was this? Did she catch the sound of footsteps? Yes. She was sure of it, light footsteps as of a woman. She knew not whether to tremble or rejoice.
The sound grew louder, then ceased.
After that, for a long time there was silence. The silence was broken at last by a startling sound. A rusty harmonica suddenly lent its doubtful harmonies to the night.
271
Curiosity and desire drew her from the shadows. Then she all but laughed. A ragamuffin of a newsboy with three frayed19 papers under his arm sat, legs adangle, on top of the dump, pouring out his soul to the moon in glorious discord20.
Instantly she knew that here was her savior. She understood boys well enough to realize that the raggedest of them all could not be hired to watch a lady freeze in a well of a prison.
“Hey, there!” she called in a loud whisper, as the disharmony died away.
This came near being her undoing21. The boy’s eyes bulged22 as he scrambled23 to his feet, prepared to flee. His whole being said: “I have heard a ghost!”
“No, no!” she cried aloud. “Don’t run away! I am down here. In the scow. I—I fell in. Help me out. I’ll buy your papers, a jitney for every one, and a dime24 to boot!”
Reassured25, he dropped to the top of the scow and peered down.
“Gee!” he exclaimed. “You are in it! Been in long?”
272
“About an hour.”
“Gee!”
“I’ll go for help,” he said, after a moment’s thought.
“No, don’t,” she begged. “Find a rope, can’t you? Tie it up here. I can climb out.”
“I’ll try.”
He disappeared. A moment later there came a clanking sound.
“Here’s a chain,” he called back. “Gee, it’s heavy!”
He succeeded in dragging it to the top of the scow and knotting one end about a broken bit of plank26. He threw the free end over the edge. With a mighty27 jangle and bump, it extended its length to the water’s edge.
“Fine!” she applauded. “Now watch this!” She threw her paper-bound package to the dump beside him.
“Man! It’s heavy!” he exclaimed as he picked it up.
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“Now! Here I come!” Florence’s agility28 in climbing a chain surprised even a boy. He was still more surprised when, after thrusting a shiny half dollar in his hand, she grasped her mysterious package and hastened away among the box cars.
Ten minutes later she emerged upon an all but deserted29 street. To her great relief she succeeded in hailing a passing taxi at once and went whirling away from the scene of her peril30.
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1
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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2
sprinting
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| v.短距离疾跑( sprint的现在分词 ) | |
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3
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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4
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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5
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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6
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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7
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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9
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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10
grumbles
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| 抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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11
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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12
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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13
shanties
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| n.简陋的小木屋( shanty的名词复数 )；铁皮棚屋；船工号子；船歌 | |
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14
retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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15
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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16
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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17
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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18
propping
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| 支撑 | |
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19
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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21
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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22
bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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23
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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24
dime
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| n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角 | |
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25
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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26
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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27
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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28
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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29
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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30
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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