“My train got in half an hour ago,” explained Julius, as he led the way outof the station. “I reckoned you’d come by this before I left London, andwired accordingly to Sir James. He’s booked rooms for us, and will beround to dine at eight.”
“What made you think he’d ceased to take any interest in the case?”
asked Tommy curiously1.
“What he said,” replied Julius dryly. “The old bird’s as close as an oyster2!
Like all the darned lot of them, he wasn’t going to commit himself till hewas sure he could deliver the goods.”
“I wonder,” said Tommy thoughtfully.
Julius turned on him.
“You wonder what?”
“Whether that was his real reason.”
“Sure. You bet your life it was.”
Tommy shook his head unconvinced.
Sir James arrived punctually at eight o’clock, and Julius introducedTommy. Sir James shook hands with him warmly.
“I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr. Beresford. I have heardso much about you from Miss Tuppence”—he smiled involuntarily—“thatit really seems as though I already know you quite well.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Tommy with his cheerful grin. He scanned thegreat lawyer eagerly. Like Tuppence, he felt the magnetism3 of the other’spersonality. He was reminded of Mr. Carter. The two men, totally unlikeso far as physical resemblance went, produced a similar effect. Beneaththe weary manner of the one and the professional reserve of the other, laythe same quality of mind, keen-edged like a rapier.
In the meantime he was conscious of Sir James’s close scrutiny4. Whenthe lawyer dropped his eyes the young man had the feeling that the otherhad read him through and through like an open book. He could not butwonder what the final judgment5 was, but there was little chance of learn-ing that. Sir James took in everything, but gave out only what he chose. Aproof of that occurred almost at once.
Immediately the first greetings were over Julius broke out into a flood ofeager questions. How had Sir James managed to track the girl? Why hadhe not let them know that he was still working on the case? And so on.
Sir James stroked his chin and smiled. At last he said:
“Just so, just so. Well, she’s found. And that’s the great thing, isn’t it? Eh!
Come now, that’s the great thing?”
“Sure it is. But just how did you strike her trail? Miss Tuppence and Ithought you’d quit for good and all.”
“Ah!” The lawyer shot a lightning glance at him, then resumed opera-tions on his chin. “You thought that, did you? Did you really? H’m, dearme.”
“But I guess I can take it we were wrong,” pursued Julius.
“Well, I don’t know that I should go so far as to say that. But it’s certainlyfortunate for all parties that we’ve managed to find the young lady.”
“But where is she?” demanded Julius, his thoughts flying off on anothertack. “I thought you’d be sure to bring her along?”
“That would hardly be possible,” said Sir James gravely.
“Why?”
“Because the young lady was knocked down in a street accident, and hassustained slight injuries to the head. She was taken to the infirmary, andon recovering consciousness gave her name as Jane Finn. When—ah!—Iheard that, I arranged for her to be removed to the house of a doctor—afriend of mine, and wired at once for you. She relapsed into unconscious-ness and has not spoken since.”
“She’s not seriously hurt?”
“Oh, a bruise8 and a cut or two; really, from a medical point of view, ab-surdly slight injuries to have produced such a condition. Her state is prob-ably to be attributed to the mental shock consequent on recovering hermemory.”
“It’s come back?” cried Julius excitedly.
Sir James tapped the table rather impatiently.
“Undoubtedly, Mr. Hersheimmer, since she was able to give her realname. I thought you had appreciated that point.”
“And you just happened to be on the spot,” said Tommy. “Seems quitelike a fairy tale?”
But Sir James was far too wary9 to be drawn10.
“Coincidences are curious things,” he said dryly.
Nevertheless, Tommy was now certain of what he had before only sus-pected. Sir James’s presence in Manchester was not accidental. Far fromabandoning the case, as Julius supposed, he had by some means of hisown successfully run the missing girl to earth. The only thing that puzzledTommy was the reason for all this secrecy11? He concluded that it was afoible of the legal mind.
Julius was speaking.
“After dinner,” he announced, “I shall go right away and see Jane.”
“That will be impossible, I fear,” said Sir James. “It is very unlikely theywould allow her to see visitors at this time of night. I should suggest to-morrow morning about ten o’clock.”
Julius flushed. There was something in Sir James which always stirredhim to antagonism12. It was a conflict of two masterful personalities13.
“All the same, I reckon I’ll go round there tonight and see if I can’tginger them up to break through their silly rules.”
“It will be quite useless, Mr. Hersheimmer.”
The words came out like the crack of a pistol, and Tommy looked upwith a start. Julius was nervous and excited. The hand with which heraised his glass to his lips shook slightly, but his eyes held Sir James’s defi-antly. For a moment the hostility14 between the two seemed likely to burstinto flame, but in the end Julius lowered his eyes, defeated.
“For the moment, I reckon you’re the boss.”
“Thank you,” said the other. “We will say ten o’clock then?” With con-summate ease of manner he turned to Tommy. “I must confess, Mr. Beres-ford, that it was something of a surprise to me to see you here this even-ing. The last I heard of you was that your friends were in grave anxiety onyour behalf. Nothing had been heard of you for some days, and Miss Tup-pence was inclined to think you had got into difficulties.”
“I had, sir!” Tommy grinned reminiscently. “I was never in a tighterplace in my life.”
Helped out by questions from Sir James, he gave an abbreviated15 accountof his adventures. The lawyer looked at him with renewed interest as hebrought the tale to a close.
“You got yourself out of a tight place very well,” he said gravely. “I con-gratulate you. You displayed a great deal of ingenuity16 and carried yourpart through well.”
Tommy blushed, his face assuming a prawn-like hue17 at the praise.
“I couldn’t have got away but for the girl, sir.”
“No.” Sir James smiled a little. “It was lucky for you she happened to—er—take a fancy to you.” Tommy appeared about to protest, but Sir Jameswent on. “There’s no doubt about her being one of the gang, I suppose?”
“I’m afraid not, sir. I thought perhaps they were keeping her there byforce, but the way she acted didn’t fit in with that. You see, she went backto them when she could have got away.”
Sir James nodded thoughtfully.
“What did she say? Something about wanting to be taken to Marguer-ite?”
“Yes, sir. I suppose she meant Mrs. Vandemeyer.
“She always signed herself Rita Vandemeyer. All her friends spoke7 ofher as Rita. Still, I suppose the girl must have been in the habit of callingher by her full name. And, at the moment she was crying out to her, Mrs.
Vandemeyer was either dead or dying! Curious! There are one or twopoints that strike me as being obscure—their sudden change of attitude to-wards yourself, for instance. By the way, the house was raided, ofcourse?”
“Yes, sir, but they’d cleared out.”
“Naturally,” said Sir James dryly.
“And not a clue left behind.”
“I wonder—” The lawyer tapped the table thoughtfully.
Something in his voice made Tommy look up. Would this man’s eyeshave seen something where theirs had been blind? He spoke impulsively18:
“I wish you’d been there, sir, to go over the house!”
“I wish I had,” said Sir James quietly. He sat for a moment in silence.
Then he looked up. “And since then? What have you been doing?”
For a moment, Tommy stared at him. Then it dawned on him that ofcourse the lawyer did not know.
“I forgot that you didn’t know about Tuppence,” he said slowly. The sick-ening anxiety, forgotten for a while in the excitement of knowing JaneFinn found at last, swept over him again.
The lawyer laid down his knife and fork sharply.
“Has anything happened to Miss Tuppence?” His voice was keen-edged.
“She’s disappeared,” said Julius.
“When?”
“A week ago.”
“How?”
Sir James’s questions fairly shot out. Between them Tommy and Juliusgave the history of the last week and their futile19 search.
Sir James went at once to the root of the matter.
“A wire signed with your name? They knew enough of you both for that.
They weren’t sure of how much you had learnt in that house. Their kid-napping of Miss Tuppence is the countermove to your escape. If necessarythey could seal your lips with what might happen to her.”
Tommy nodded.
“That’s just what I thought, sir.”
Sir James looked at him keenly. “You had worked that out, had you? Notbad—not at all bad. The curious thing is that they certainly did not knowanything about you when they first held you prisoner. You are sure thatyou did not in any way disclose your identity?”
Tommy shook his head.
“That’s so,” said Julius with a nod. “Therefore I reckon someone putthem wise—and not earlier than Sunday afternoon.”
“Yes, but who?”
“That almighty20 omniscient22 Mr. Brown, of course!”
There was a faint note of derision in the American’s voice which madeSir James look up sharply.
“You don’t believe in Mr. Brown, Mr. Hersheimmer?”
“No, sir, I do not,” returned the young American with emphasis. “Not assuch, that is to say. I reckon it out that he’s a figurehead—just a bogy nameto frighten the children with. The real head of this business is that Russianchap Kramenin. I guess he’s quite capable of running revolutions in threecountries at once if he chose! The man Whittington is probably the head ofthe English branch.”
“I disagree with you,” said Sir James shortly. “Mr. Brown exists.” Heturned to Tommy. “Did you happen to notice where that wire was handedin?”
“No, sir, I’m afraid I didn’t.”
“H’m. Got it with you?”
“It’s upstairs, sir, in my kit23.”
“I’d like to have a look at it sometime. No hurry. You’ve wasted aweek,”—Tommy hung his head—“a day or so more is immaterial. We’lldeal with Miss Jane Finn first. Afterwards, we’ll set to work to rescue MissTuppence from bondage24. I don’t think she’s in any immediate6 danger.
That is, so long as they don’t know that we’ve got Jane Finn, and that hermemory has returned. We must keep that dark at all costs. You under-stand?”
The other two assented25, and, after making arrangements for meeting onthe morrow, the great lawyer took his leave.
At ten o’clock, the two young men were at the appointed spot. Sir Jameshad joined them on the doorstep. He alone appeared unexcited. He intro-duced them to the doctor.
“Mr. Hersheimmer—Mr. Beresford—Dr. Roylance. How’s the patient?”
“Going on well. Evidently no idea of the flight of time. Asked this morn-ing how many had been saved from the Lusitania. Was it in the papersyet? That, of course, was only what was to be expected. She seems to havesomething on her mind, though.”
“I think we can relieve her anxiety. May we go up?”
“Certainly.”
Tommy’s heart beat sensibly faster as they followed the doctor upstairs.
Jane Finn at last! The long-sought, the mysterious, the elusive26 Jane Finn!
How wildly improbable success had seemed! And here in this house, hermemory almost miraculously27 restored, lay the girl who held the future ofEngland in her hands. A half groan28 broke from Tommy’s lips. If only Tup-pence could have been at his side to share in the triumphant29 conclusion oftheir joint30 venture! Then he put the thought of Tuppence resolutely31 aside.
His confidence in Sir James was growing. There was a man who would un-erringly ferret out Tuppence’s whereabouts. In the meantime, Jane Finn!
And suddenly a dread32 clutched at his heart. It seemed too easy .?.?. Sup-pose they should find her dead .?.?. stricken down by the hand of Mr.
Brown?
In another minute he was laughing at these melodramatic fancies. Thedoctor held open the door of a room and they passed in. On the white bed,bandages round her head, lay the girl. Somehow the whole scene seemedunreal. It was so exactly what one expected that it gave the effect of beingbeautifully staged.
The girl looked from one to the other of them with large wonderingeyes. Sir James spoke first.
“Miss Finn,” he said, “this is your cousin, Mr. Julius P. Hersheimmer.”
A faint flush flitted over the girl’s face, as Julius stepped forward andtook her hand.
“How do, Cousin Jane?” he said lightly.
But Tommy caught the tremor33 in his voice.
“Are you really Uncle Hiram’s son?” she asked wonderingly.
Her voice, with the slight warmth of the Western accent, had an almostthrilling quality. It seemed vaguely34 familiar to Tommy, but he thrust theimpression aside as impossible.
“Sure thing.”
“We used to read about Uncle Hiram in the newspapers,” continued thegirl, in her soft tones. “But I never thought I’d meet you one day. Motherfigured it out that Uncle Hiram would never get over being mad with her.”
“The old man was like that,” admitted Julius. “But I guess the new gener-ation’s sort of different. Got no use for the family feud35 business. First thingI thought about, soon as the war was over, was to come along and huntyou up.”
A shadow passed over the girl’s face.
“They’ve been telling me things — dreadful things — that my memorywent, and that there are years I shall never know about—years lost out ofmy life.”
“You didn’t realize that yourself?”
The girl’s eyes opened wide.
“Why, no. It seems to me as though it were no time since we were beinghustled into those boats. I can see it all now!” She closed her eyes with ashudder.
Julius looked across at Sir James, who nodded.
“Don’t worry any. It isn’t worth it. Now, see here, Jane, there’s some-thing we want to know about. There was a man aboard that boat withsome mighty21 important papers on him, and the big guns in this countryhave got a notion that he passed on the goods to you. Is that so?”
The girl hesitated, her glance shifting to the other two. Julius under-stood.
“Mr. Beresford is commissioned by the British Government to get thosepapers back. Sir James Peel Edgerton is an English Member of Parliament,and might be a big gun in the Cabinet if he liked. It’s owing to him thatwe’ve ferreted you out at last. So you can go right ahead and tell us thewhole story. Did Danvers give you the papers?”
“Yes. He said they’d have a better chance with me, because they wouldhave the women and children first.”
“Just as we thought,” said Sir James.
“He said they were very important—that they might make all the differ-ence to the Allies. But, if it’s all so long ago, and the war’s over, what doesit matter now?”
“I guess history repeats itself, Jane. First there was a great hue and cryover those papers, then it all died down, and now the whole caboodle’sstarted all over again—for rather different reasons. Then you can handthem over to us right away?”
“But I can’t.”
“What?”
“I haven’t got them.”
“You — haven’t — got them?” Julius punctuated36 the words with littlepauses
“No—I hid them.”
“You hid them?”
“Yes. I got uneasy. People seemed to be watching me. It scared me—badly.” She put her hand to her head. “It’s almost the last thing I remem-ber before waking up in the hospital. .?.?.”
“Go on,” said Sir James, in his quiet penetrating37 tones. “What do you re-member?”
She turned to him obediently.
“It was at Holyhead. I came that way—I don’t remember why. .?.?.”
“That doesn’t matter. Go on.”
“In the confusion on the quay38 I slipped away. Nobody saw me. I took acar. Told the man to drive me out of the town. I watched when we got onthe open road. No other car was following us. I saw a path at the side ofthe road. I told the man to wait.”
She paused, then went on. “The path led to the cliff, and down to the seabetween big yellow gorse bushes—they were like golden flames. I lookedround. There wasn’t a soul in sight. But just level with my head there wasa hole in the rock. It was quite small—I could only just get my hand in, butit went a long way back. I took the oilskin packet from round my neck andshoved it right in as far as I could. Then I tore off a bit of gorse—My! but itdid prick—and plugged the hole with it so that you’d never guess therewas a crevice39 of any kind there. Then I marked the place carefully in myown mind, so that I’d find it again. There was a queer boulder40 in the pathjust there—for all the world like a dog sitting up begging. Then I wentback to the road. The car was waiting, and I drove back. I just caught thetrain. I was a bit ashamed of myself for fancying things maybe, but, byand by, I saw the man opposite me wink41 at a woman who was sitting nextto me, and I felt scared again, and was glad the papers were safe. I wentout in the corridor to get a little air. I thought I’d slip into another car-riage. But the woman called me back, said I’d dropped something, andwhen I stooped to look, something seemed to hit me—here.” She placedher hand to the back of her head. “I don’t remember anything more until Iwoke up in the hospital.”
There was a pause.
“Thank you, Miss Finn.” It was Sir James who spoke. “I hope we havenot tired you?”
“Oh, that’s all right. My head aches a little, but otherwise I feel fine.”
Julius stepped forward and took her hand again.
“So long, Cousin Jane. I’m going to get busy after those papers, but I’ll beback in two shakes of a dog’s tail, and I’ll tote you up to London and giveyou the time of your young life before we go back to the States! I mean it—so hurry up and get well.”
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收听单词发音
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1
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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abbreviated
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| adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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impulsively
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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omniscient
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| adj.无所不知的；博识的 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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bondage
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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elusive
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miraculously
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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joint
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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vaguely
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feud
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punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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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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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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