Thirty-two BUNDLE IS DUMBFOUNDED

Thirty-two BUNDLE IS DUMBFOUNDED

“That’s right,” said Battle, as Mosgorovsky leapt up and came round toBundle. “Get a chair for her. It’s been a bit of a shock, I can see.”
Bundle sank down on the chair. She felt limp and faint with surprise.
Battle went on talking in a quiet, comfortable way wholly characteristic ofhim.
“You didn’t expect to see me, Lady Eileen. No, and no more did some ofthe others sitting round the table. Mr. Mosgorovsky’s been my lieutenantin a manner of speaking. He’s been in the know all along. But most of theothers have taken their orders blindly from him.”
Still Bundle said no word. She was—a most unusual state of affairs forher—simply incapable¹ of speech.
Battle nodded at her comprehendingly, seeming to understand the stateof her feelings.
“You’ll have to get rid of one or two preconceived ideas of yours, I’mafraid, Lady Eileen. About this society, for instance—I know it’s commonenough in books—a secret organization of criminals with a mysterious su-percriminal at the head of it whom no one ever sees. That sort of thingmay exist in real life, but I can only say that I’ve never come across any-thing of the sort, and I’ve had a good deal of experience one way or an-other.
“But there’s a lot of romance in the world, Lady Eileen. People, espe-cially young people, like reading about such things, and they like still bet-ter really doing them. I’m going to introduce you now to a very creditableband of amateurs that has done remarkably² fine work for my Department,work that nobody else could have done. If they’ve chosen rather melodra-matic trappings, well, why shouldn’t they? They’ve been willing to facereal danger—danger of the very worst kind—and they’ve done it for thesereasons: love of danger for its own sake—which to my mind is a veryhealthy sign in these Safety First days—and an honest wish to serve theircountry.
“And now, Lady Eileen, I’m going to introduce you. First of all, there’sMr. Mosgorovsky, whom you already know in a manner of speaking. Asyou’re aware, he runs the club and he runs a host of other things too. He’sour most valuable Secret Anti-Bolshevist Agent in England. No 5 is CountAndras of the Hungarian Embassy, a very near and dear friend of the lateGerald Wade³. No 4 is Mr. Hayward Phelps, an American journalist, whoseBritish sympathies are very keen and whose aptitude⁴ for scenting⁵ ‘news’ isremarkable. No 3—”
He stopped, smiling, and Bundle stared dumbfounded into the sheepish,grinning face of Bill Eversleigh.
“No 2,” went on Battle in a graver voice, “can only show an empty place.
It is the place belonging to Mr. Ronald Devereux, a very gallant⁶ young gen-tleman who died for his country if any man ever did. No 1—well, No 1 wasMr. Gerald Wade, another very gallant gentleman who died in the sameway. His place was taken—not without some grave misgivings⁷ on my part—by a lady—a lady who has proved her fitness to have it and who hasbeen a great help to us.”
The last to do so, No 1, removed her mask, and Bundle looked withoutsurprise into the beautiful, dark face of Countess Radzky.
“I might have known,” said Bundle resentfully, “that you were too com-pletely the beautiful foreign adventuress to be anything of the kindreally.”
“But you don’t know the real joke,” said Bill. “Bundle, this is Babe St.
Maur—you remember my telling you about her and what a ripping act-ress she was—and she’s about proved it.”
“That’s so,” said Miss Maur in pure transatlantic nasal. “But it’s not a ter-rible lot of credit to me, because Poppa and Momma came from that partof Yurrup—so I got the patter fairly easy. Gee⁸, but I nearly gave myselfaway once at the Abbey, talking about gardens.”
She paused and then said abruptly⁹:
“It’s—it’s not been just fun. You see, I was kinder engaged to Ronny, andwhen he handed in his checks—well, I had to do something to track downthe skunk¹⁰ who murdered him. That’s all.”
“I’m completely bewildered,” said Bundle. “Nothing is what it seems.”
“It’s very simple, Lady Eileen,” said Superintendent¹¹ Battle. “It beganwith some of the young people wanting a bit of excitement. It was Mr.
Wade who first got on to me. He suggested the formation of a band ofwhat you might call amateur workers to do a bit of secret service work. Iwarned him that it might be dangerous—but he wasn’t the kind to weighthat in the balance. I made it plain to him that anyone who came in mustdo so on that understanding. But, bless you, that wasn’t going to stop anyof Mr. Wade’s friends. And so the thing began.”
“But what was the object of it all?” asked Bundle.
“We wanted a certain man—wanted him badly. He wasn’t an ordinarycrook. He worked in Mr. Wade’s world, a kind of Raffles¹², but much moredangerous than any Raffles ever was or could be. He was out for big stuff,international stuff. Twice already valuable secret inventions had beenstolen, and clearly stolen by someone who had inside knowledge. The pro-fessionals had had a try—and failed. Then the amateurs took on—and suc-ceeded.”
“Succeeded?”
“Yes—but they didn’t come out of it unscathed. The man was dangerous.
Two lives fell victim to him and he got away with it. But the Seven Dialsstuck to it. And as I say they succeeded. Thanks to Mr. Eversleigh, the manwas caught at last red-handed.”
“Who was he?” asked Bundle. “Do I know him?”
“You know him very well, Lady Eileen. His name is Mr. Jimmy Thesiger,and he was arrested this afternoon.”

1 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

2 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

3 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

4 aptitude   

n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资

参考例句：

• That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
• As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代，他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。

5 scenting   

vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Soames, scenting the approach of a jest, closed up. 索来斯觉察出有点调侃的味儿来了，赶快把话打断。 来自辞典例句
• The pale woodbines and the dog-roses were scenting the hedgerows. 金银花和野蔷薇把道旁的树也薰香了。 来自辞典例句

6 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

7 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

9 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

10 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

11 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

12 raffles   

n.抽彩售物( raffle的名词复数 )v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Elsa and I will buzz on to the Raffles bar. 埃尔莎和我继续往前去，到拉福尔旅馆的酒巴。 来自辞典例句
• Tudsbury rushed to the Raffles and dictated this hot story to Pamela. 塔茨伯利冲到拉福尔旅馆，对帕米拉口述了这个最新消息。 来自辞典例句