This over, he was about to return to his house close by, in his chair; but the night had become so soft and fine that he changed his mind, sent it home empty, and with two footmen, each with a flambeau, set out on foot in preference. Gout had made him rather a slow pedestrian. It took him some time to get through the two or three streets he had to pass before reaching his house.
In one of those narrow streets of tall houses, perfectly1 silent at that hour, he overtook, slowly as he was walking, a very singular-looking old gentleman.
He had a bottle-green coat on, with a cape2 to it, and large stone buttons, a broad-leafed low-crowned hat, from under which a big powdered wig3 escaped; he stooped very much, and supported his bending knees with the aid of a crutch-handled cane4, and so shuffled5 and tottered6 along painfully.
“I ask your pardon, sir,” said this old man, in a very quavering voice, as the burly Judge came up with him, and he extended his hand feebly towards his arm.
Mr. Justice Harbottle saw that the man was by no means poorly dressed, and his manner that of a gentleman.
The Judge stopped short, and said, in his harsh peremptory7 tones, “Well, sir, how can I serve you?”
“Can you direct me to Judge Harbottle’s house? I have some intelligence of the very last importance to communicate to him.”
“Can you tell it before witnesses?” asked the Judge.
“By no means; it must reach his ear only,” quavered the old man earnestly.
“If that be so, sir, you have only to accompany me a few steps farther to reach my house, and obtain a private audience; for I am Judge Harbottle.”
With this invitation the infirm gentleman in the white wig complied very readily; and in another minute the stranger stood in what was then termed the front parlour of the Judge’s house, tête-à-tête with that shrewd and dangerous functionary8.
He had to sit down, being very much exhausted9, and unable for a little time to speak; and then he had a fit of coughing, and after that a fit of gasping10; and thus two or three minutes passed, during which the Judge dropped his roquelaure on an arm-chair, and threw his cocked-hat over that.
The venerable pedestrian in the white wig quickly recovered his voice. With closed doors they remained together for some time.
There were guests waiting in the drawing-rooms, and the sound of men’s voices laughing, and then of a female voice singing to a harpsichord11, were heard distinctly in the hall over the stairs; for old Judge Harbottle had arranged one of his dubious12 jollifications, such as might well make the hair of godly men’s heads stand upright for that night.
This old gentleman in the powdered white wig, that rested on his stooped shoulders, must have had something to say that interested the Judge very much; for he would not have parted on easy terms with the ten minutes and upwards13 which that conference filched14 from the sort of revelry in which he most delighted, and in which he was the roaring king, and in some sort the tyrant15 also, of his company.
The footman who showed the aged16 gentleman out observed that the Judge’s mulberry-coloured face, pimples17 and all, were bleached18 to a dingy19 yellow, and there was the abstraction of agitated20 thought in his manner, as he bid the stranger good-night. The servant saw that the conversation had been of serious import, and that the Judge was frightened.
Instead of stumping21 upstairs forthwith to his scandalous hilarities, his profane23 company, and his great china bowl of punch — the identical bowl from which a bygone Bishop24 of London, good easy man, had baptised this Judge’s grandfather, now clinking round the rim25 with silver ladles, and hung with scrolls26 of lemon-peel — instead, I say, of stumping and clambering up the great staircase to the cavern27 of his Circean enchantment28, he stood with his big nose flattened29 against the window-pane, watching the progress of the feeble old man, who clung stiffly to the iron rail as he got down, step by step, to the pavement.
The hall-door had hardly closed, when the old Judge was in the hall bawling30 hasty orders, with such stimulating31 expletives as old colonels under excitement sometimes indulge in now-a-days, with a stamp or two of his big foot, and a waving of his clenched32 fist in the air. He commanded the footman to overtake the old gentleman in the white wig, to offer him his protection on his way home, and in no case to show his face again without having ascertained33 where he lodged34, and who he was, and all about him.
“By — — sirrah! if you fail me in this, you doff36 my livery to-night!”
Forth22 bounced the stalwart footman, with his heavy cane under his arm, and skipped down the steps, and looked up and down the street after the singular figure, so easy to recognize.
What were his adventures I shall not tell you just now.
The old man, in the conference to which he had been admitted in that stately panelled room, had just told the Judge a very strange story. He might be himself a conspirator37; he might possibly be crazed; or possibly his whole story was straight and true.
The aged gentleman in the bottle-green coat, in finding himself alone with Mr. Justice Harbottle, had become agitated. He said,
“There is, perhaps you are not aware, my lord, a prisoner in Shrewsbury jail, charged with having forged a bill of exchange for a hundred and twenty pounds, and his name is Lewis Pyneweck, a grocer of that town.”
“Is there?” says the Judge, who knew well that there was.
“Yes, my lord,” says the old man.
“Then you had better say nothing to affect this case. If you do, by — — I’ll commit you! for I’m to try it,” says the judge, with his terrible look and tone.
“I am not going to do anything of the kind, my lord; of him or his case I know nothing, and care nothing. But a fact has come to my knowledge which it behoves you to well consider.”
“And what may that fact be?” inquired the Judge; “I’m in haste, sir, and beg you will use dispatch.”
“It has come to my knowledge, my lord, that a secret tribunal is in process of formation, the object of which is to take cognisance of the conduct of the judges; and first, of your conduct, my lord; it is a wicked conspiracy38.”
“Who are of it?” demands the Judge.
“I know not a single name as yet. I know but the fact, my lord; it is most certainly true.”
“I’ll have you before the Privy39 Council, sir,” says the Judge.
“That is what I most desire; but not for a day or two, my lord.”
“And why so?”
“I have not as yet a single name, as I told your lordship; but I expect to have a list of the most forward men in it, and some other papers connected with the plot, in two or three days.”
“You said one or two just now.”
“About that time, my lord.”
“Is this a Jacobite plot?”
“In the main I think it is, my lord.”
“Why, then, it is political. I have tried no State prisoners, nor am like to try any such. How, then, doth it concern me?”
“From what I can gather, my lord, there are those in it who desire private revenges upon certain judges.”
“What do they call their cabal40?”
“The High Court of Appeal, my lord.”
“Who are you, sir? What is your name?”
“Hugh Peters, my lord.”
“That should be a Whig name?”
“It is, my lord.” “Where do you lodge35, Mr. Peters?”
“In Thames Street, my lord, over against the sign of the ‘Three Kings.’”
“‘Three Kings?’ Take care one be not too many for you, Mr. Peters! How come you, an honest Whig, as you say, to be privy to a Jacobite plot? Answer me that.”
“My lord, a person in whom I take an interest has been seduced41 to take a part in it; and being frightened at the unexpected wickedness of their plans, he is resolved to become an informer for the Crown.”
“He resolves like a wise man, sir. What does he say of the persons? Who are in the plot? Doth he know them?”
“Only two, my lord; but he will be introduced to the club in a few days, and he will then have a list, and more exact information of their plans, and above all of their oaths, and their hours and places of meeting, with which he wishes to be acquainted before they can have any suspicions of his intentions. And being so informed, to whom, think you, my lord, had he best go then?”
“To the king’s attorney-general straight. But you say this concerns me, sir, in particular? How about this prisoner, Lewis Pyneweck? Is he one of them?”
“I can’t tell, my lord; but for some reason, it is thought your lordship will be well advised if you try him not. For if you do, it is feared ’twill shorten your days.”
“So far as I can learn, Mr. Peters, this business smells pretty strong of blood and treason. The king’s attorney-general will know how to deal with it. When shall I see you again, sir?”
“If you give me leave, my lord, either before your lordship’s court sits, or after it rises, tomorrow. I should like to come and tell your lordship what has passed.”
“Do so, Mr. Peters, at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. And see you play me no trick, sir, in this matter; if you do, by — — sir, I’ll lay you by the heels!”
“You need fear no trick from me, my lord; had I not wished to serve you, and acquit42 my own conscience, I never would have come all this way to talk with your lordship.”
“I’m willing to believe you, Mr. Peters; I’m willing to believe you, sir.”
And upon this they parted.
“He has either painted his face, or he is consumedly sick,” thought the old Judge.
The light had shown more effectually upon his features as he turned to leave the room with a low bow, and they looked, he fancied, unnaturally43 chalky.
“D—— him!” said the Judge ungraciously, as he began to scale the stairs: “he has half-spoiled my supper.”
But if he had, no one but the Judge himself perceived it, and the evidence was all, as any one might perceive, the other way.
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收听单词发音
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1
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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5
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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6
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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7
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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8
functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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9
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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10
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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11
harpsichord
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| n.键琴（钢琴前身） | |
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12
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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13
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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filched
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| v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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16
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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pimples
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| n.丘疹，粉刺，小脓疱( pimple的名词复数 ) | |
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18
bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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19
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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21
stumping
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的现在分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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25
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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26
scrolls
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| n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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27
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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30
bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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doff
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| v.脱，丢弃，废除 | |
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37
conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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39
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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40
cabal
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| n.政治阴谋小集团 | |
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41
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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42
acquit
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| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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43
unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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