“How careless you have been, Mr. Strong!” Mrs. Brevoort was saying, chidingly3. “It is well that you have decided4 never to marry. How can a man who loses track of a sister hope to keep his eye on a wife?”
“You are exacting,” he returned. “Why should I expect to perform miracles? I am not possessed5 of second-sight, nor of eyes in the back of my head. But, Mrs. Brevoort, it is a condition, not a theory, that confronts us, as a famous man once said. Now, if you are tired of wheeling, won’t you walk over to our old house with me? Kate did not come down the hill, you remember. I am inclined to think that something may have happened to her wheel, and that she stopped to have Rudolph, our lodge6-keeper, repair it. It is not much of a walk, by a short cut I know how to make.”
“I think, Mr. Strong,” answered Mrs. Brevoort, “that you had better go alone. It is getting late, and I must dress at once.”
“A woman’s eternal excuse for unsociability!” cried the youth petulantly7. Then[106] he grew beseeching8. “I ask so few favors of you, Mrs. Brevoort,” he pleaded. “And, remember, Kate may have met with an accident. She would feel very lonely in that old lodge if I had to go for a doctor. I appeal unselfishly to you, Mrs. Brevoort. Walk over to the lodge with me. Please do!”
Mrs. Brevoort gazed at the blue waters of the Sound musingly9. She was not anxious to bring a problem that must soon be solved to an issue at once. But she was really worried about Kate Strong and impatient to learn what had befallen her best friend. Furthermore, she knew that the short cut to the manor-house was not a lover’s lane, in that the path for the most part demanded the single-file formation. Her hesitation10, therefore, was short-lived, and she was soon hurrying away from the club-house, with Ned Strong, in a gay mood, striding along at her side.
“I cannot understand, Mr. Strong,” she remarked severely11, after they had left the main road and were following the narrow path that led toward the rear of the manor-house, “I cannot understand how you can be so light-hearted under these depressing circumstances.”
“The fact is, Mrs. Brevoort,” explained Ned, “that I am not greatly worried about Kate; and as for myself, I was never more contented12 in my life.”
He glanced back at Mrs. Brevoort merrily.
“And you will be late for dinner, too,” exclaimed his companion. “Surely you are one man among many thousands, Mr. Strong, to grow jolly with such a dismal13 fate staring you in the face.”
[107]
The youth laughed aloud. Then he half-turned around, and said, impressively:
“I eat nothing in these joyous14 days, Mrs. Brevoort. Food has not passed my lips for a week. I live on air, I walk on air, I am an airy nothing with a local habitation and a name. Speaking of that name, Mrs. Brevoort——”
“But we weren’t speaking of that name,” cried the little mondaine, emphatically. “You were talking about the ethereal nature of your favorite food. I am sorry to say that I require something more substantial than country air to satisfy my appetite. You will observe, Mr. Strong, that this is a veiled hint intended to make you increase your pace. At the rate at which you are now walking, it will be scandalously late before we get anything to eat.”
“Alas,” cried Ned, in assumed despair, “how little encouragement a man gets to cultivate the poetic15 side of his nature in these days! Just look at this scene before us,” he continued, turning as they reached the top of a knoll16 that gave them a view of the Sound and of the rear balcony of the manor-house. They stood in silence for a time, watching the changing tints17 that the early evening scattered18 with prodigality19 across the surface of the land-locked sea. Over toward the Long Island shore a brilliantly lighted steamboat, a great hotel escaping by water toward the east, threw its merry gleam across the waves.
Suddenly Ned Strong laid his hand excitedly on his companion’s arm.
“Look,” he whispered, pointing to the balcony of the manor-house. “What is that?”
[108]
A small dark figure could be seen creeping toward one of the windows that opened on the balcony.
“There is a light inside the room,” exclaimed Ned, almost trembling with excitement. At that instant the dark form arose from its recumbent attitude and stood in bold relief against the window. On the instant there came the crash of breaking glass, then silence.
“He’s a burglar!” exclaimed Mrs. Brevoort, her voice shaking perceptibly. Somehow, she did not notice that Ned Strong’s arm had been thrown around her protectingly.
At that moment the sharp, evil crack of a pistol startled the night air.
“A burglar or a murderer,” muttered Ned Strong, awe-struck. “Come,” he cried, almost carrying his companion forward in his excitement. “Come, we must get to the lodge at once and find Rudolph! Come! Quick!”
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收听单词发音
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1
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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chidingly
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| Chidingly | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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petulantly
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8
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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9
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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12
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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14
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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16
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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17
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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18
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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prodigality
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| n.浪费，挥霍 | |
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