"Dad, I've got a clue!" exclaimed Tom, hurrying into the house latethat afternoon, following a quick trip from where he had metEradicate with his sawmill. "A good clue, and I'm going to startearly in the morning to run it down."
"Wait a minute, now, Tom," cautioned his father slowly. "You knowwhat happens when you get excited. Nothing good was ever done in ahurry."
"Well, I can't help being excited, dad. I think I'm on the trail ofthose scoundrels. I almost wish I could start to-night."
"Suppose you tell me all about it," and Mr. Swift laid aside ascientific book he was reading.
Whereupon Tom told of his meeting with the colored man, and whatEradicate had said about the tramp.
"But he may not be the same Happy Harry2 you are looking for,"interposed Mr. Swift. "Tramps who don't like to work, and who have ajolly disposition3, also those who ask for money and have designstattooed on their hands, are very common."
"Oh, but I'm sure this is the same one," declared Tom. "He wants tostay in this neighborhood until he locates his confederates. That'swhy he's hanging around. Now I have an idea that the desertedmansion, where Eradicate1 used to work, and which once housed GeneralHarkness and his family, is the rendezvous6 of this gang of thieves."
"You are taking a great deal for granted, Tom."
"I don't think so, dad. I've got to assume something, and maybe I'mwrong, but I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to try, ifyou'll let me."
"What do you mean to do?"
"I want to go to that deserted4 mansion5 and see what I can find. If Ilocate the thieves, well--"
"You may run into danger."
"Then you admit I may be on the right track, dad?"
"Not at all," and Mr. Swift smiled at the quick manner in which Tomturned the tables on him. "I admit there may be a band of tramps inthat house. Very likely there is--almost any deserted place would beattractive to them. But they may not be the ones you seek. In fact,I hardly see how they can be. The men who stole my model and patentpapers are wealthy. They would not be very likely to stay indeserted houses."
"Perhaps some of the scoundrels whom they hired might, and throughthem I can get on the track of the principals."
"Well, there is something in that," admitted Mr. Swift.
"Then may I go, dad?"
"I suppose so. We must leave nothing untried to get back the stolenmodel and papers. But I don't want you to run any risks. If youwould only take some one with you. There's your chum, Ned Newton.Perhaps he would go."
"No, I'd rather work it alone, dad. I'll be careful. Besides, Nedcould not get away from the bank. I may have to be gone a week, andhe has no motor-cycle. I can manage all right."
Tom was off bright and early. He had carefully laid his plans, andhad decided7 that he would not go direct to Pineford, which was thenearest village to the old Harkness mansion.
"If those fellows are in hiding they will probably keep watch on whocomes to the village," thought Tom. "The arrival of some one on amotor-cycle will be sure to be reported to them, and they may skipout. I've got to come up from another direction, so I think I'llcircle around, and reach the mansion from the stretch of woods onthe north."
He had inquired from Eradicate as to the lay of the land, and had agood general idea of it. He knew there was a patch of woodland onone side of the mansion, while the other sides were open.
"I may not be able to ride through the woods," mused8 Tom, "but I'lltake my machine as close as I can, and walk the rest of the way.Once I discover whether or not the gang is in the place, I'll knowwhat to do."
To follow out the plan he had laid down for himself meant that Tommust take a roundabout way. It would necessitate9 being a whole dayon the road, before he would be near the head of Lake Carlopa, wherethe Harkness house was located. The lake was a large one, and Tomhad never been to the upper end.
When he was within a few miles of Pineford, Tom took a road thatbranched off and went around it. Stopping at night in a lonelyfarmhouse, he pushed on the next morning, hoping to get to the woodsthat night. But a puncture11 to one of the tires delayed him, andafter that was repaired he discovered something wrong with hisbatteries. He had to go five miles out of his way to get new cells,and it was dusk when he came to the stretch of woods which he knewlay between him and the old mansion.
"I don't fancy starting in there at night," said Tom to himself."Guess I'd better stay somewhere around here until morning, and thenventure in. But the question is where to stay?"
The country was deserted, and for a mile or more he had seen nohouses. He kept on for some distance farther, the dusk fallingrapidly, and when he was about to turn back to retrace12 his way tothe last farmhouse10 he had passed, he saw a slab13 shanty14 at the sideof the road.
"That's better than nothing, provided they'll take me in for thenight," murmured Tom. "I'm going to ask, anyhow."
He found the shanty to be inhabited by an old man who made a livingburning charcoal15. The place was not very attractive, but Tom did notmind that, and finding the charcoal-burner a kindly16 old fellow, soonmade a bargain with him to remain all night.
Tom slept soundly, in spite of his strange surroundings, and after asimple breakfast in the morning inquired of the old man the best wayof penetrating17 the forest.
"You'd best strike right along the old wood road," said thecharcoal-burner. "That leads right to the lake, and I think willtake you where you want to go. The old mansion is not far from thelake shore."
"Near the lake, eh?" mused Tom as he started off, after thanking theold fellow. "Now I wonder if I'd better try to get to it from thewater or the land side?"
He found it impossible to ride fast on the old wood road, and when hejudged he was so close to the lake that the noise of his motor-cyclemight be heard, he shut off the power, and walked along, pushingit. It was hard traveling, and he felt weary, but he kept on, andabout noon was rewarded by a sight of something glittering through thetrees.
"That's the lake!" Tom exclaimed, half aloud. "I'm almost there."
A little later, having hidden his motor-cycle in a clump18 of bushes,he made his way through the underbrush and stood on the shore ofLake Carlopa. Cautiously Tom looked about him. It was getting wellon in the afternoon, and the sun was striking across the broad sheetof water. Tom glanced up along the shore. Something amid a clump oftrees caught his eyes. It was the chimney of a house. The younginventor walked a little distance along the lake shore. Suddenly hesaw, looming19 up in the forest, a large building. It needed but aglance to show that it was falling into ruins, and had no signs oflife about it. Nor, for that matter, was there any life in theforest around him, or on the lake that stretched out before him.
"I wonder if that can be the place?" whispered Tom, for, somehow,the silence of the place was getting on his nerves. "It must be it,"he went on. "It's just as Rad described it."
He stood looking at it, the sun striking full on the mysteriousmansion, hidden there amid the trees. Suddenly, as Tom looked, heheard the "put-put" of a motor-boat. He turned to one side, and saw,putting out from a little dock that he had not noticed before, asmall craft. It contained one man, and no sooner had the younginventor caught a glimpse of him than he cried out:
"That's the man who jumped over our fence and escaped!"
Then, before the occupant of the boat could catch sight of him, Tomturned and fled back into the bushes, out of view.
收听单词发音 |
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eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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7
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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puncture
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| n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破 | |
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retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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16
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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17
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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19
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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