"Prompt," said Bechamel, appreciatively. "Now here's the thing I

want to put to you--the kernel of the whole business. You need



not answer if you don't want to. There's no harm done in my

telling you what I want to know. Are you employed to watch me--or



Miss Milton?"

"I'm not the leaky sort," said Mr. Hoopdriver, keeping the secret



he did not know with immenseenjoyment. Miss Milton! That was her

name. Perhaps he'd tell some more. "It's no good pumping. Is that



all you're after?" said Mr. Hoopdriver.

Bechamel respected himself for his diplomatic gifts. He tried to



catch a remark by throwing out a confidence. "I take it there are

two people concerned in watching this affair."



"Who's the other?" said Mr. Hoopdriver, calmly, but controlling

with enormousinternaltension his selfappreciation. "Who's the



other?" was really brilliant, he thought.

"There's my wife and HER stepmother."



"And you want to know which it is?"

"Yes," said Bechamel.



"Well--arst 'em!" said Mr. Hoopdriver, his exultation getting the

better of him, and with a pretty consciousness of repartee. "Arst



'em both."

Bechamel turned impatiently. Then he made a last effort. "I'd



give a five-pound note to know just the precise state of

affairs," he said.



"I told you to stow that," said Mr. Hoopdriver, in a threatening

tone. And added with perfect truth and a magnificentmystery,



"You don't quite understand who you're dealing with. But you

will!" He spoke with such conviction that he half believed that



that defective office of his in London--Baker Street, in fact--

really existed.



With that the interview terminated. Bechamel went back to the

Angel, perturbed. "Hang detectives!" It wasn't the kind of thing



he had anticipated at all. Hoopdriver, with round eyes and a

wondering smile, walked down to where the mill waters glittered



in the moonlight, and after meditating over the parapet of the

bridge for a space, with occasional murmurs of, "Private Inquiry"



and the like, returned, with mystery even in his paces, towards

the town.



XVIII

That glee which finds expression in raised eyebrows and long, low



whistling noises was upon Mr. Hoopdriver. For a space he forgot

the tears of the Young Lady in Grey. Here was a new game!--and a



real one. Mr. Hoopdriver as a Private Inquiry Agent, a Sherlock

Holmes in fact, keeping these two people 'under observation.' He



walked slowly back from the bridge until he was opposite the

Angel, and stood for ten minutes, perhaps, contemplating that



establishment and enjoying all the strange sensations of being

this wonderful, this mysterious and terrible thing. Everything



fell into place in his scheme. He had, of course, by a kind of

instinct, assumed the disguise of a cyclist, picked up the first



old crock he came across as a means of pursuit. 'No expense was

to be spared.'



Then he tried to understand what it was in particular that he was

observing. "My wife"--"HER stepmother!" Then he remembered her



swimming eyes. Abruptly came a wave of anger that surprised him,

washed away the detective superstructure, and left him plain Mr.



Hoopdriver. This man in brown, with his confident manner, and his

proffered half sovereign (damn him!) was up to no good, else why



should he object to being watched? He was married! She was not

his sister. He began to understand. A horriblesuspicion of the



state of affairs came into Mr. Hoopdriver's head. Surely it had

not come to THAT. He was a detective!--he would find out. How was



it to be done? He began to submit sketches on approval to

himself. It required an effort before he could walk into the



Angel bar. "A lemonade and bitter, please," said Mr. Hoopdriver.

He cleared his throat. "Are Mr. and Mrs. Bowlong stopping here?"



"What, a gentleman and a young lady--on bicycles?"

• artificial [,ɑ:ti´fiʃəl] a.人工的；模拟的 (初中英语单词)


• schoolgirl [´sku:lgə:l] n.(中小学的)女生 (初中英语单词)


• ambition [æm´biʃən] n.雄心，野心；企图 (初中英语单词)


• attain [ə´tein] v.取得；到达；成为 (初中英语单词)


• encounter [in´kauntə] vt.&n.偶然相遇；冲突 (初中英语单词)


• probable [´prɔbəbəl] a.大概的n.很可能的事 (初中英语单词)


• equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地；平等地 (初中英语单词)


• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)


• partly [´pɑ:tli] ad.部分地；不完全地 (初中英语单词)


• definite [´definit] a.确定的，明确的 (初中英语单词)


• hammer [´hæmə] n.锤子 v.重击 (初中英语单词)


• disgust [dis´gʌst] n.厌恶 vt.令(人)作呕 (初中英语单词)


• impulse [´impʌls] n.推动(力)；冲动；刺激 (初中英语单词)


• sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)


• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)


• abruptly [ə´brʌptli] ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词)


• phrase [freiz] n.短语；词组；措词 (初中英语单词)


• dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)


• evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)


• mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)


• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)


• pretend [pri´tend] v.假装；借口；妄求 (初中英语单词)


• stupid [´stju:pid] a.愚蠢的；糊涂的 (初中英语单词)


• employer [im´plɔiə] n.雇佣者，雇主 (初中英语单词)


• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• overlook [,əuvə´luk] vt.&n.俯瞰；忽略；观察 (初中英语单词)


• snatch [snætʃ] v.&n.抢，夺取，抓住 (初中英语单词)


• fiercely [´fiəsli] ad.凶猛地，残忍地 (初中英语单词)


• conceal [kən´si:l] vt.藏；隐瞒 (初中英语单词)


• furious [´fjuəriəs] a.狂怒的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)


• immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)


• calmly [´kɑ:mli] ad.平静地；无风浪地 (初中英语单词)


• enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)


• brilliant [´briliənt] a.灿烂的；杰出的 (初中英语单词)


• magnificent [mæg´nifisənt] a.壮丽的；豪华的 (初中英语单词)


• conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)


• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)


• moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)


• occasional [ə´keiʒənəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (初中英语单词)


• mystery [´mistəri] n.神秘；秘密；故弄玄虚 (初中英语单词)


• inquiry [in´kwaiəri] n.询问；质询；调查 (初中英语单词)


• scheme [ski:m] n.计划；阴谋，诡计 (初中英语单词)


• disguise [dis´gaiz] vt.假装；隐瞒 n.伪装 (初中英语单词)


• pursuit [pə´sju:t] n.追踪；追击；事务 (初中英语单词)


• detective [di´tektiv] n.侦探 a.侦探的 (初中英语单词)


• sovereign [´sɔvrin] a.至高无上的 n.君主 (初中英语单词)


• horrible [´hɔrəbəl] a.可怕的；恐怖的 (初中英语单词)


• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)


• submit [səb´mit] vt.使服从；使忍受 (初中英语单词)


• throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)


• offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)


• strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)


• southward [´sauθwəd] a.&n.向南方向(的) (高中英语单词)


• limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)


• respectable [ri´spektəbəl] a.可敬的；有身价的 (高中英语单词)


• gateway [´geit-wei] n.入口；通道；途径 (高中英语单词)


• forthwith [fɔ:θ´wið] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)


• outbreak [´autbreik] n.(战争等的)爆发 (高中英语单词)


• admirable [´ædmərəbəl] a.极佳的，值得赞美的 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• sensitive [´sensitiv] a.敏感的；感光的 (高中英语单词)


• enjoyment [in´dʒɔimənt] n.享受；愉快；乐趣 (高中英语单词)


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• internal [in´tə:nl] a.内部的；国内的 (高中英语单词)


• consciousness [´kɔnʃəsnis] n.意识；觉悟；知觉 (高中英语单词)


• dealing [´di:liŋ] n.交易；来往 (高中英语单词)


• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)


• approval [ə´pru:vəl] n.赞成，批准，认可 (高中英语单词)


• precipitate [pri´sipiteit] v.猛抛；a.仓促的 (英语四级单词)


• aspire [ə´spaiə] vi.立志要；升高；热望 (英语四级单词)


• genial [´dʒi:niəl] a.愉快的；和蔼的 (英语四级单词)


• uneasiness [ʌn´i:zinis] n.不安，担忧；不自在 (英语四级单词)


• adversary [´ædvəsəri] n.敌手，对手 (英语四级单词)


• rehearsal [ri´hə:səl] v.(使)排练；背诵 (英语四级单词)


• nervously [´nə:vəsli] ad.神经质地；胆怯地 (英语四级单词)


• victor [´viktə] n.&a.胜利者(的) (英语四级单词)


• breeches [´britʃiz] n.裤子；马裤 (英语四级单词)


• diplomatic [,diplə´mætik] a.外交的 (英语四级单词)


• tension [´tenʃən] n.紧张；压力；拉力 (英语四级单词)


• impatiently [im´peiʃəntli] ad.不耐烦地，急躁地 (英语四级单词)


• precise [pri´sais] a.精确的；清楚的 (英语四级单词)


• defective [di´fektiv] a.有缺陷的；有瑕疵的 (英语四级单词)


• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)


• lemonade [,lemə´neid] n.柠檬水 (英语四级单词)


• orthodox [´ɔ:θədɔks] a.正统的；正统的；习惯的 (英语六级单词)


• unfamiliar [ʌnfə´miljə] a.不熟悉的；生疏的 (英语六级单词)


• reunion [ri:´ju:njən] n.再结合；再联合；团聚 (英语六级单词)


• valiantly [´væljəntli] ad.勇敢地，英勇地 (英语六级单词)


• mechanically [mi´kænikəli] ad.机械地；无意识地 (英语六级单词)


• exultation [egzʌl´teiʃən] n.欢腾，狂欢 (英语六级单词)


• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)


• kernel [´kə:nl] n.(果实)核；去壳谷粒 (英语六级单词)