CHAPTER XXVIII. BAFFLED.

Balmayne danced down the lane with impotent fury. Despite her peril¹ and the fear that was in her heart, Hetty smiled. Here was a daring and audacious rascal² engaged in some desperate and, no doubt, cunning scheme who was utterly³ baffled by a mere⁴ girl and a hairpin⁵.

Hetty checked the smile, for that might have grown hysterical⁶. She had to brace⁷ herself to the effort, an easier task seeing that Gordon Bruce was uppermost in her mind. For him she would have dared and done anything. The woman who was at the bottom of this thing was his deadly enemy. To gain her secrets must help in Gordon's final victory.

Balmayne knelt down there with one of the lamps in his hand. His face was not good to look upon. Leona Lalage watched him eagerly.

"Is it a very bad puncture⁸?" she asked.

"It isn't a puncture at all," Balmayne snarled⁹, "at least not an accidental one. Some mischievous¹⁰ fiend must have passed down the lane just now and done this for pure wickedness. There are two long slashes¹¹ in the tyres."

"And the mending will be a matter of time?"

"Rather. An expert couldn't do it under an hour. Both those tyres will have to come off. Now what are we to do?"

The Countess clasped her hands together in hopeless rage.

"If I only had that ruffian here!" she said. Her voice was low, she strode backwards¹² and forwards like an angry wolf. "Oh, if I only had him here! I should like you to hold him down so that I----"

"drop it," Balmayne said rudely. "What's the good of that theatrical¹³ nonsense? If something is not done at once our plans are utterly ruined. Don't stand there like a tragedy actress, but suggest something."

"But what can I suggest? This thing has taken me utterly by surprise. The only thing is to carry that thing back into the street and lay him down where you found him. A policeman saw him leave the house. It will be thought that he had a fit in the street, and we shall not be suspected."

"And meanwhile the policeman on the beat has been at least twice past the spot where the body ought to be," Balmayne sneered¹⁴. "People in fits don't get out of the way and then come back again."

"True," the Countess exclaimed. "I had not thought of that. Wheel your motor into the courtyard of the Corner House before a policeman comes this way, and carry him back into the house."

There was nothing else to do, and Balmayne complied, muttering. The autocar was disposed of, and Balmayne, breathless and dripping under the weight of his burden, staggered back into Lytton Avenue Gardens again. Once the little green gate was closed he could breathe more freely. But the perils¹⁵ and dangers of the night were not over yet.

The unconscious form of Maitrank was cast carelessly on the grass. Balmayne wiped his heated forehead. The moon came out from behind a ragged¹⁶ bank of cloud and fell on the face of the sleeping capitalist It was so white and still that he might have been dead already.

The white, still face looked up, the murderous dark one looked down. Balmayne kicked the body in a sudden spurt¹⁷ of passion.

"You miserly old dog," he growled¹⁸. "A nice dance you are leading us. I wish I knew what on earth to do with you."

The Countess gripped his arm convulsively.

"Kill him," she said in a hoarse¹⁹ whisper that thrilled Hetty. "That is a sure and easy way out of the peril. We can prove that he left the house, nobody can prove that he ever returned. I have my jewels back; there is nothing that we can be traced by. And the secret dies with him."

Balmayne gave a shudder²⁰. Even he recoiled²¹.

"I have never had that on my conscience," he whispered. "And if we do----"

"Kill him," urged the Countess. "Kneel down and pin that wrap over his face. He is an old man, and the drug has affected²² his heart. He will go off quietly in his sleep. Then you can throw him down the well in the courtyard of the Corner House."

"Can I help you?" cried Hetty, with a voice so steady that it astonished herself. "I had a dreadful headache, so I thought I would steal down into the garden. Have you killed a burglar or something of that kind?"

Leona Lalage was the first to recover herself.

"Something of that kind," she said. "My friend Mr. Balmayne was bringing my motor back when he found this poor fellow unconscious in the lane. Mr. Balmayne called out to me for assistance and I fortunately heard."

Hetty nodded. Truly the woman was magnificent.

"Had you not best get him into the house?" Hetty suggested. "It is not cold, but any one who is ill, to lie on the damp grass----"

The Countess touched Balmayne. She had turned her face away, fearful lest the expression of it should be seen.

"Convey him into the house," the Countess ordered.

There was nothing for it now but to obey. Hetty followed slowly and crept up to her own bedroom. Once there, she dropped into a chair, and just for the moment the whole world seemed to be whirling before her sightless eyes.

1 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

2 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

3 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 hairpin   

n.簪,束发夹，夹发针

参考例句：

• She stuck a small flower onto the front of her hairpin.她在发簪的前端粘了一朵小花。
• She has no hairpin because her hair is short.因为她头发短，所以没有束发夹。

6 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

7 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

8 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

9 snarled   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
• As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时，它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

11 slashes   

n.（用刀等）砍( slash的名词复数 )；（长而窄的）伤口；斜杠；撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• They report substantial slashes in this year's defense outlays. 他们报道今年度国防经费的大量削减。 来自辞典例句
• Inmates suffered injuries ranging from stab wounds and slashes to head trauma. 囚犯们有的被刺伤，有的被砍伤，而有的头部首创，伤势不一而足。 来自互联网

12 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

13 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

14 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

15 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

16 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

17 spurt   

v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆

参考例句：

• He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
• After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿，莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。

18 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

20 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

21 recoiled   

v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回

参考例句：

• She recoiled from his touch. 她躲开他的触摸。
• Howard recoiled a little at the sharpness in my voice. 听到我的尖声，霍华德往后缩了一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 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。