CHAPTER XXIX. A STRANGE DEVELOPMENT.

 Doctor Stephen Follansbee walked along at a slow pace, but his movements were not characteristic. His hands were not folded behind him, and his head was erect¹, as if he were peering into the distance in front, instead of casting his eyes on the ground as he usually did.

 

He had walked down Amsterdam Avenue for several blocks when a faint monosyllable issued from his lips.

 

“Ah!” he murmured, and sightly quickened his pace.

 

 

The young man who was keeping him in sight from the other side of the street—and who was evidently the same one who had opened the limousine² door some time earlier—could not hear the ejaculation, but he noted³ the quickened steps and glanced ahead in search of a reason.

 

Half a block beyond was a little group of men gathered on the sidewalk. When Follansbee approached, he found that it consisted of a couple of policemen, and the driver of a taxicab was bending over the figure of a tall man lying prone⁴ on the sidewalk. The physician had no need to do more than glance at the figure, for, as the policeman lifted the body, the rigid⁵ features of James Stone were revealed.

 

Clearing his throat, Follansbee stepped forward. “What’s the trouble, officer?” he asked. “Has there been any accident?”

 

One of the men in uniform turned and looked at Follansbee in a questioning way.

 

“I’m Doctor Stephen Follansbee, of St. Swithin’s Hospital,” the specialist went on. “Here’s my card. If I can help you in any way, I shall be only too glad to do so.”

 

The patrolman took the card and glanced at it in the light of a near-by street lamp. When he saw the name and the string of letters after it, his attitude instantly changed to one of great respect. It was a name to conjure⁶ with in New York City.

 

“It’s lucky you happened along, Doctor Follansbee,” the spokesman declared, making way for the newcomer, who stooped and seemed to make an examination.

 

 

“It seems to be a paralytic⁷ stroke,” Follansbee announced presently. “You had better call an ambulance and have him taken somewhere at once.” Then, as if struck by a new idea, he went on: “Come to think of it, you might as well send him to St. Swithin’s. I was going there in a few minutes, anyway. There’s a special case that needs watching. Why not put him in this taxi?”

 

The cool cunning of the man had its reward.

 

Under ordinary circumstances, the unfortunate Stone would have been taken to another hospital—one with an emergency ward—but at Follansbee’s suggestion the inert⁸, heavily-breathing form was lifted into the machine, and one of the policeman took his place beside it. Up Amsterdam Avenue, toward the big hospital over which Follansbee presided, the cab made its way. Follansbee himself had climbed into the seat beside the driver, and the ragged⁹ young man who had been following him looked uncertainly after the dwindling¹⁰ vehicle.

 

From that the vagrant’s gaze shifted to the remaining policeman, who was eying him suspiciously.

 

“This is no place for me,” thought the young fellow; and he made off hurriedly along the side street before the officer had time to accost¹¹ him.

 

It was Patsy Garvan, Nick Carter’s second assistant, and he was doing an almost unheard-of thing. In other words, he was there without his chief’s knowledge or sanction. It was not as much of a breach¹² of discipline as it might have been, however, for he was under Chick’s orders. Chick had something of a grudge¹³ against Doctor Follansbee, and had not been altogether satisfied with his chief’s assurance that he should have a hand in the case later on. It was impossible for him to do anything himself, because he was in charge at the detective’s headquarters in the absence of Carter; but he had done the next best thing. He had found no trouble in inducing Patsy Garvan to shadow Follansbee’s house while Nick Carter was watching James Stone at the hotel.

 

“Follansbee is a slippery customer,” Chick had confided¹⁴ to the other, “and it strikes me that he needs a little attention. He’s capable of almost anything, and I’d like nothing better than to bring him up short without the chief’s help. As that’s out of the question, though, I’m going to turn him over to you. Don’t let the chief know what you’re up to, if you can help it. I’d like to surprise him with some information that would be news to him; and when it comes to a showdown, I’ll take all the responsibility.”

 

Patsy had accepted the added task with his usual promptness, and had been leading a sort of double life for several days. During the hours of daylight he went about his regular duties as usual. As it happened, Nick did not give him much night work; consequently he was able to shadow Follansbee’s house night after night. He had enjoyed little sleep, but he did not seem to mind that. He, too, was convinced that Follansbee was an unusually dangerous man, and should be carefully “covered,” and he was more than willing to do the job.

 

Now his feelings were decidedly mixed. He had ventured to mingle¹⁵ with the group about the prostrate¹⁶ man, and had discovered his identity. It was unquestionably James Stone, the man he had seen entering Follansbee’s house a short time before, and had subsequently left it.

 

Patsy had seen Follansbee watching Stone as the latter started down the street, and he knew that the doctor had deliberately¹⁷ waited a few minutes, and then followed. This meant that the scoundrelly head of St. Swithin’s had looked for Stone to succumb¹⁸ on the street, and had planned to have it appear as if by accident.

 

“This is a queer go,” thought Patsy as he hurried away from the neighborhood of the curious policeman. “Follansbee must have double crossed Stone just as Patsy feared he might, and it was pretty foxy of him to have arranged that the man should take a tumble on the street several blocks from his house.

 

“I’ve stumbled over a discovery sure enough, and now it’s up to me to report to Chick and let him tell the chief, as I suppose he will. It might have been well for me to trail that taxi in order to make sure of its destination, but I don’t believe there can be any doubt about that. Follansbee suggested St. Swithin’s, and the policeman who went along would want to know the why and wherefore of any change in plan. It seems safe enough to assume, therefore, that the Buzzard is taking his latest victim to St. Swithin’s, and that’s enough for the present. I’d like to know what the mischief¹⁹ he’s up to, and what he expects to do with him at the hospital, but that will have to keep. Thank Fortune I was on hand to-night. I’ll bet the chief didn’t dream that this little affair was going to be pulled off; if not, he certainly ought to thank Chick and me for giving him the tip.”

 

1 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

2 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

5 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

6 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

7 paralytic   

adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人

参考例句：

• She was completely paralytic last night.她昨天晚上喝得酩酊大醉。
• She rose and hobbled to me on her paralytic legs and kissed me.她站起来，拖着她那麻痹的双腿一瘸一拐地走到我身边，吻了吻我。

8 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

9 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。

10 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

11 accost   

v.向人搭话，打招呼

参考例句：

• He ruminated on his defenses before he should accost her father.他在与她父亲搭话前，仔细地考虑着他的防范措施。
• They have been assigned to accost strangers and extract secrets from them.他们被指派去与生疏人搭讪从并从他们那里套出奥秘。

12 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

13 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

14 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

16 prostrate   

v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的

参考例句：

• She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
• The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。

17 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

18 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

19 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。