CHAPTER XXXV. ON THE TRACK.

O NE day Nicholas Bundy entered the apartment occupied jointly¹ by himself and Oliver, his face wearing an expression of satisfaction.

Oliver looked up from the book he was engaged in reading.

"I've found a clue, Oliver," he exclaimed.

"A clue to what, Mr. Bundy?"

"To Rupert Jones. I have ascertained² that when he left Chicago he settled down at the town of Kelso, about seventy-five miles from Chicago, in Indiana."

"What do you propose to do?"

"To go there at once. Pack up your carpet-bag, and we will take the afternoon train."

"All right, Mr. Bundy."

Oliver was by no means averse³ to a journey. He had a youthful love of adventure that delighted in new scenes and new experiences.

At two o'clock they were at the depot⁴, and bought tickets for Kelso. They did not observe that they were watched narrowly by a red-headed man, whose eyes were concealed⁵ by a pair of green glasses. Neither did they notice that he too purchased a ticket for Kelso.

This man was Denton, who had so skilfully⁶ disguised himself with a red wig⁷ and the glasses that Oliver, though his eyes casually⁸ fell upon him, never dreamed who he was.

Denton bought a paper and seated himself just behind Oliver and his guardian⁹, so that he might, under cover of the paper, listen to their conversation.

"What business can they have at Kelso?" he soliloquized. Then partially¹⁰ answering his own question, "Rupert Jones once lived there, and their visit must have some connection with him. There's something behind all this that I don't understand myself. Perhaps I shall find out. Jones was always crafty¹¹, and, as far as he could, kept his own counsel."

Denton did not glean¹² much information from the conversation between Oliver and Bundy. The latter, though he had no suspicion of being watched, did not care to converse¹³ on private matters in a public place. He was a man of prudence¹⁴ and kept his tongue under control.

I have said that the three passengers bought tickets to Kelso. Kelso, however, was not on the road, and a stage for that place connected with the station at Conway. Through tickets, however, had been purchased, including stage tickets.

It was about half-past five when the cars halted at Conway. There was a small depot, and a covered wagon¹⁵ stood beside the platform.

Oliver, Bundy, and Denton alighted.

"Any passengers for Kelso?" asked the driver of the wagon.

"Here are two," said Oliver, pointing to Bundy.

"Anyone else?"

Denton came forward, and in a low voice intimated that he was going to Kelso.

These three proved to be the only passengers.

Now, for the first time, Oliver and his guardian looked with some curiosity at their fellow-traveller.

"He's a queer-looking customer," thought Oliver.

Bundy thought, "Perhaps he lives at Kelso, and can tell us something about it. I may obtain the information I want on the way there. I'll speak to him."

"It's a pity we couldn't go all the way by cars," he said.

"Yes," said Denton briefly¹⁶.

"Do you know if our ride is a long one?"

"Six miles," answered Denton, who had enquired¹⁷.

"May I ask if you live in Kelso?"

"No, sir," answered Denton.

"Perhaps you can tell me if there is a hotel there?"

"I don't know."

By this time the stranger's evident disinclination to talk had attracted Oliver's attention. He looked inquisitively¹⁸ at the man with green glasses.

"There's something about that man's voice that sounds familiar," he said to himself. "Where can I have seen him before?"

Still, the red wig and the glasses put him off the scent¹⁹.

Denton grew uneasy under the boy's fixed²⁰ gaze.

"Does he suspect me!" he thought. "It wouldn't do for me to speak again."

When Bundy asked another question, he said:

"I hope you'll excuse me, sir, but I have a severe headache, and find it difficult to converse."

"Oh, certainly," apologized Bundy.

Denton leaned his head against the back of the carriage in support of his assertion.

The road was a bad one, jolting²¹ the vehicle without mercy. To Oliver it was fun, but Denton evidently did not relish²³ it. At last one jolt²² came, nearly overturning the conveyance²⁴. It dislodged the green spectacles from Denton's nose, and for a moment his eyes were exposed. He replaced them hurriedly, but not in time. Oliver's sharp eyes detected him.

"It's Denton!" he exclaimed internally, but he controlled his surprise so far as not to say a word.

"He is on our track," thought our hero. "What can be his purpose?"

1 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

2 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 averse   

adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的

参考例句：

• I don't smoke cigarettes,but I'm not averse to the occasional cigar.我不吸烟，但我不反对偶尔抽一支雪茄。
• We are averse to such noisy surroundings.我们不喜欢这么吵闹的环境。

4 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

5 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。

6 skilfully   

adv. (美skillfully)熟练地

参考例句：

• Hall skilfully weaves the historical research into a gripping narrative. 霍尔巧妙地把历史研究揉进了扣人心弦的故事叙述。
• Enthusiasm alone won't do. You've got to work skilfully. 不能光靠傻劲儿，得找窍门。

7 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

8 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

9 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

10 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

11 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

12 glean   

v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)

参考例句：

• The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。
• From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析，他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。

13 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

14 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

15 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

16 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

17 enquired   

打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问

参考例句：

• He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。
• Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。

18 inquisitively   

过分好奇地； 好问地

参考例句：

• The Mouse looked at her rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes, but It'said nothing. 这老鼠狐疑地看着她，好像还把一只小眼睛向她眨了眨，但没说话。
• The mouse looked at her rather inquisitively. 那只耗子用疑问的眼光看看她。

19 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

20 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

21 jolting   

adj.令人震惊的

参考例句：

• 'she should be all right from the plane's jolting by now. “飞机震荡应该过了。
• This is perhaps the most jolting comment of all. 这恐怕是最令人震惊的评论。

22 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

23 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

24 conveyance   

n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具

参考例句：

• Bicycles have become the most popular conveyance for Chinese people.自行车已成为中国人最流行的代步工具。
• Its another,older,usage is a synonym for conveyance.它的另一个更古老的习惯用法是作为财产转让的同义词使用。