“Valuable pearls, eh?”
“Yes.”
“We may be mistaken after all,” persisted the lanky3 plebe. “Limbs have a habit of dropping from trees, you know. We would feel rather foolish if we aroused the house, and found only a cat or something like that. Miss Windom would laugh.”
“I’ll take the risk of that. I’d take any risk rather than see——”
“Confound the pearls.”
“Oh, I meant girl. Excuse me.”
By this time the villa5 was reached. The extensive grounds were separated from the street by a stone wall ten feet in height and surmounted6 by an ornamental7 iron railing.
Clif halted near one end of the wall and announced that he would try to enter there.
“No use arousing the lodge-keeper,” he added. “There may be nothing in it after all, and I don’t want to raise an alarm without proof. You can stay here and I’ll take a peep through the grounds on the quiet.”
Joy protested, but Clif was firm.
“Well, it won’t be long until I follow you,” muttered the former as he gave his friend a “boost” to the top of the wall. “You are altogether too fond of getting into danger. I’ll have to look after you, sonny.”
Clif found it an easy matter to drop into the grounds. Once inside he crouched8 close to the wall and took his bearings.
The night had assumed that depth of blackness usual before the rise of a full moon. The villa grounds presented one smudge of darkness with no alternating patches of light and shade. A cool breeze came from the direction of the river, bringing occasional bursts of noise and commotion9 from the central portion of the city.
Clif moved away from the wall, stepping carefully and with hands outstretched.
He had not covered a dozen feet when he plumped squarely into a depressed10 flower bed, and sprawled11 headlong, creating what seemed to him a prodigious12 clatter13.
He lay quiet for a brief period, then not hearing any sounds, rose to his feet and once more moved in the general direction of the house.
He knew that somewhere in the blackness in front was the tree, but of its exact location he was ignorant.
Suddenly a twinkling light appeared through the gloom.
It gleamed for a moment, then vanished.
“Guess they have gone to bed,” muttered Clif.
The thought gave him confidence, and he proceeded with less caution. The cadet had no desire to be discovered prowling about the Windom grounds. Explanations would be awkward, especially if the robber up the tree proved to be some marauding cat or restless fowl15.
Clif was not so positive in his belief now. The simple fact that the limb had been snapped from the tree was no longer a convincing evidence that something underhand was in progress, and he proceeded in a half-hearted manner, almost decided16 to turn back.
He paused and glanced about, at the same time listening intently. The only sounds came from Nature’s voice in the chirping18 of night insects and the distant murmuring of the city.
“Everything seems all right here,” muttered Clif. “I guess I was mistaken after all. I think I will——”
He ceased speaking and glanced upward, attracted by a rustling19 among the leaves of a tree under which he was standing20.
Before he could move or cry out, a heavy object dropped swiftly upon him, and he sprawled headlong upon the path unconscious!
Out in the street Joy paced up and down impatiently in the shadows of the trees.
As the minutes passed without sign or sound of Clif, the lanky plebe became uneasy, and he reproached himself for permitting his friend to make the venture alone.
“There was no sense in it, anyway,” he muttered. “I could have gone along just as well as not. If he don’t come out in three seconds, I’ll follow.”
Joy’s “three seconds” soon elapsed, and the plebe made good his word by boldly scaling the wall. This he did by propping21 a piece of wood against the brick barrier, thus gaining the ironwork at the top.
Dropping lightly upon the soft earth on the other side, he started across the grounds.
He had barely taken a dozen steps when there came through the night air a crash of splintering glass, then a scream of terror.
A moment of breathless silence, then a hoarse22 murmuring of excited voices, interspersed23 by occasional shouts. By that time Joy, armed with a stout24 stick, was bounding in the direction of the uproar25.
The intense blackness of the night had given way to a subdued26 light from the rising moon, whose silvery rim27 was even then showing above the city.
Suddenly, outlined in this faint illumination, Joy saw the figure of a man dash away from the house.
As the plebe turned to follow, shouting at the top of his voice, another figure rose up in front of the fugitive28 and grappled with him.
The two were struggling fiercely when Joy reached the spot. There was light enough for him to recognize in one of the combatants his chum, Clif.
That was enough for the brave lad. Calling out encouragingly, he sprang upon the back of the other.
The cadets found their hands full. The stranger fought like one possessed29. He bit and kicked and rained blows upon his antagonists30, but they clung to him with unswerving courage until he at last sank to the ground exhausted31.
“Bring a rope here, quick!” gasped32 Clif, as Mr. Windom, accompanied by a number of servants, ran up. “Bring a rope to tie this fellow. We’ve got a prize.”
“My pearls, my pearls!” wailed33 the old merchant, wringing34 his hands. “They are gone. I tried to save them, but the robber——”
“We’ve got the robber all right,” interrupted Clif, cheerily. “And there are your pearls over yonder.”
He inclined his head toward an indistinct object lying upon the path. Mr. Windom snatched it up with a cry of joy. It was a bag containing his priceless collection.
The servants returned with a rope and several lanterns. Several of the men assisted the cadets to bind35 the prisoner, then he was turned over with his face to the light.
“Great guns!” gasped Joy, “it’s the Englishman! It’s J. Chesire-Cheshire Cate!”
“The would-be assassin!” cried Clif. “Seize him!”
There was a desperate struggle, in the midst of which several neighbors and two mounted policemen arrived.
It was decided not to reveal the identity of the prisoner, for this would have aroused the citizens to the fury of a lawless mob.
So the would-be assassin was locked up as a common burglar.
From Juanita, Clif and Joy learned that it was she who had discovered the presence of the Englishman. She had gone into the library for something, after her father had retired37, and had been just in time to see a strange man tiptoeing from her father’s apartments.
She screamed, and the intruder made a dash for the nearest window, and leaped boldly through the sash. It was plain the desperate man had worked quickly.
Clif explained the arousing of his suspicions by the broken tree branch, then he and Joy took their departure.
It was long after midnight before they reached the ship, and they had already been marked in the log as “absent without leave.”
Clif’s story speedily caused the erasing38 of the entry, and on every hand he and Joy were hailed as heroes of the first water.
The authorities failed to get any account from Cate of how he had escaped from the river. The man was locked up in a dungeon39, and there remained a long time.
During the balance of the stay at Lisbon, Clif was made a social lion to such an extent that he was glad when the announcement came that the training ship would up anchor and away for the island of Madeira. Clif hated to part with Juanita, but she promised to write often, and with this he had to be content.
As the gallant40 old Monongahela left the port of Lisbon, all the river craft saluted41 her with a prodigious din14 of whistles and cannon42 shots. It was a time never to be forgotten, and it must be admitted that the plebes enjoyed it immensely.
该作者的其它作品
《The Jungle 屠场》
该作者的其它作品
《The Jungle 屠场》
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1
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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7
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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8
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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11
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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12
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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13
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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14
din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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15
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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16
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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17
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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18
chirping
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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19
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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20
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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propping
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| 支撑 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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23
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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27
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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28
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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29
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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30
antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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31
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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32
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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33
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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35
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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36
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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37
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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38
erasing
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| v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
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39
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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40
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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41
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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42
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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