"The heat?" repeated her father; "in January?"
"Beckleigh isn't England. My nerves are out of order.--Count Akira had some funny Japanese scent1 on his handkerchief.--Theodore was looking at me, and that always upsets me." And in this way she made idle excuses, none of which would hold water. "I wish you would leave me alone," she ended, angrily.
As there was nothing else for it, she was left alone, and the queer episode was passed over. Mara was polite to the Japanese and nothing more; but her eyes were constantly following him about, and she came upon him by design in unexpected places. Akira was too shrewd not to notice that he was an object of interest to this pale, golden-haired English maid, and inwardly was puzzled to think why she should pursue him in this secretive fashion. Mara everlastingly2 inquired about Japan, and about its people. She wished to know the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and entreated3 the Count to draw word-pictures of Far-Eastern landscapes. But he observed that she never asked him questions when anyone else was present. With a delicate sense of chivalry4, he kept silent about this secret understanding which her odd conduct had brought about between them. For there was an understanding without doubt. Akira found himself wondering at times if she was really English, for towards him, at all events, she did not display the world-wide reserve for which the island race of the West is famous.
Of course, Squire5 Colpster seized the first opportunity to question his guest about the emerald. But Akira professed6 that he knew little more than the facts that there was such a stone and that it had been stolen some months before from the temple. "I have been to Kitzuki," said the Count, "as my religion is Shinto, and in Izumo is the oldest of our shrines7. A very wonderful building it is, and was built in legendary9 ages by order of the Sun-goddess."
"But the same temple surely does not exist now?"
"Oh, no. It has been rebuilt twenty-eight times, and----"
The Squire interrupted him with an exclamation10. "I remember! Lafcadio Hearn says that in one of his books."
"He was a very clever man, and loved our people," replied Akira quietly.
"Yes! yes!" Colpster nodded absently. "It is strange that he did not say anything about the Mikado Jewel."
"It is not generally shown to strangers," explained the Japanese. "I have seen it myself, of course."
"What is it like?"
"Like a chrysanthemum11 blossom of green jade12 with an emerald in the centre, Mr. Colpster. I believe it was given to the shrine8 by one of our Emperors, called Go Yojo."
"It was; and he received it from Shogun Ieyasu."
Akira fixed13 his sharp black eyes on the tired face of his host. "You seem--pardon me--to know a great deal about this jewel," he observed inquiringly.
"I ought to. The emerald belonged to our family centuries ago."
"You astonish me."
"I thought I would!" cried the Squire triumphantly14. "Yes; an ancestor of mine gave the emerald to Queen Elizabeth, and she sent it, through an English pilot called Will Adams, to Akbar, the Emperor of India. Adams, however, was wrecked15 on your coasts, Count, and presented the jewel to Ieyasu."
"How very interesting," said Akira, his usually passive Oriental face betraying his wonder. "Thank you for telling me all this, Mr. Colpster. I must relate it to the priests of the Kitzuki Temple, when I return to my own land. I do so in a month or two," he added courteously16.
"But the Jewel is now lost!"
"So I understand. I read the report of the death of your housekeeper17."
Colpster gazed in astonishment18 at the little man. "Did that interest you?"
"Naturally," rejoined Akira, unmoved, "seeing that her death was connected with the Mikado Jewel."
"Are you sure that it is the same?" asked Colpster breathlessly.
"Assuredly, from the description. I expect the thief, whosoever he was, brought the emerald to London."
"But who stole it from Miss Carrol?"
Akira shrugged19 his shoulders and spread out his small hands. "Alas20! I do not know. But you should, Mr. Colpster, seeing that the thief proposed to transfer it to your housekeeper through Miss Carrol?" He looked very directly at his host as he spoke21.
The Squire reflected for a few minutes. "I will be frank with you, Count," he observed earnestly. "That emerald brought good luck to our family, and since it has left our possession, we have had misfortunes and losses. I wished to get back the jewel and gave Basil a sum of money to----"
"To offer to buy it back," interrupted Akira, nodding. "Yes, I know. You sent him on a dangerous errand, Mr. Colpster. But for me he would have been murdered, as perhaps you know."
"Basil told me the story," said Colpster, drawing himself up stiffly; "but I cannot really agree with you as to the danger. I merely offered to buy back what belonged to an ancestor of mine."
"Your ancestor parted with it," said Akira, readily and rather dryly, "so, as the stone has become a sacred one, it was impossible for the priests to take money for it. I know Dane had nothing to do with its disappearance22."
"Ah!" the Squire became cautious. "I don't know who had anything to do with the theft. I wish I did."
"What then?"
"I would seek out the thief and regain23 the jewel."
"By your own showing the thief parted with the emerald to Miss Carrol," was Akira's quiet remark. "That it was taken from her is strange."
"Oh, I don't think so, Count. Some thief saw Miss Carrol looking at it--you remember, of course, the details given at the inquest--and snatched it."
Akira was silent for a few moments. "Mr. Colpster," he said earnestly, "if you are wise, you will make no attempt to regain this stone. It brought your family good luck centuries ago, but if it comes into your possession again, it will bring bad luck."
"How do you, know?"
"I don't know for certain; I don't even know why it was snatched from Miss Carrol, or where it is now," said Akira coldly, "but I do know," he added with great emphasis, "that since the emerald has been adapted to certain uses in the Shinto Temple at Kitzuki, the powers it possesses must be entirely24 changed."
"Oh, I don't believe it has such powers," said the Squire roughly.
"Yet you believe that it will bring you good luck," said Akira with a dry little cough. "Isn't that rather illogical, sir?"
Mr. Colpster could find no rejoinder to this very leading question, and dropped the subject. It was very plain that Akira knew very little about the matter, and also it was dangerous to speak to him on the subject. If, indeed, the jewel was in the possession of a London thief, it might be recovered sooner or later. And if Akira knew that it had again passed into the possession of the Colpster family, he might get his ambassador to claim it for Japan. The Squire rather regretted that he had spoken of the matter at all, since his explanation might arouse his guest's curiosity. But as the days passed away, and Akira did not again refer to the abruptly25 terminated conversation, Colpster thought that he was mistaken. The Japanese really was indifferent to the loss of the Jewel, and no doubt had never given the subject a second thought. But the Squire determined26, should he learn anything from Harry27 Pentreddle, to keep his knowledge to himself.
"Akira doesn't care," he meditated28; "but one never knows. If I can get the emerald by some miracle, he may want it for Kitzuki again. I shall hold my tongue for the future. I was a fool to speak of the matter."
Having decided29 to act in this manner, he warned Theodore and Basil and Mara not to refer in any way to the Mikado Jewel. Yet, strangely enough, he did not warn the person who knew most to hold her tongue. It therefore came about that one day, while Patricia was showing the gardens to Akira, he abruptly mentioned the subject of the inquest and incidentally touched on her adventure in Hyde Park.
"Were you not afraid, Miss Carrol?"
"Yes and no. I was not afraid until the emerald was taken from me," said Patricia frankly30.
"Why?" asked the Count politely, and with seeming indifference31.
She hesitated. "I fear you will think me silly." Then in reply to his wave of a hand that such an idea would never enter his head, she added hastily: "When I held the emerald I felt a power radiating out from it."
"Ah!" the Japanese started in spite of his usual self-command. "Then you have occult powers and sight and feeling and hearing?"
"I have not," replied Patricia, vexed32 with herself that she had spoken so freely. "I am a very commonplace person indeed, Count. I felt that feeling because I was worried and hungry."
"Naturally!" muttered Akira to himself; "you get in touch with it when the physical body is weak."
"Get in touch with what?" asked Patricia crossly, for she began to think that this beady-eyed little man was making game of her.
"With what you felt; with what you saw."
"I shan't say anything more about the matter." Patricia turned away with great dignity. "I'm sorry I spoke at all."
"Your secret is safe with me, Miss Carrol."
"It isn't a secret. Mr. Colpster and his two nephews know."
"I don't suppose they understand."
"Mr. Theodore Dane does!" snapped Miss Carrol fractiously, for the persistence33 of the man was getting on her nerves.
"Yes," said Akira with a ghostly smile; "in a way; but he doesn't know enough. Pity for him that he doesn't."
"What are you talking about, Count?"
"Nonsense!" he replied promptly34; "after all, Miss Carrol, I am here to play."
"I wonder you came here at all to such a quiet place."
"Oh, I don't care for orgies, Miss Carrol. But if you ask me, I wonder also why I am here."
Patricia felt that he was speaking truthfully and turned on him with a look of amazement35. From all she had seen of the small Japanese, she judged that he was a man who knew his own mind. As she looked, by some telepathic process he guessed what was in hers. "Sometimes I do," he answered; "but on this occasion I don't--exactly"--and he drawled the last word slowly.
Patricia almost jumped. "You are a very uncomfortable man," she remarked.
"The East and the West, dear lady--they never meet without misunderstandings."
This cryptic36 remark closed the conversation, and they went in to afternoon tea. Akira said no more, nor did he explain his puzzling conversation in the least. However, he still remembered it, for every time he looked at Patricia he smiled so enigmatically that the mother which is in every woman made her wish to slap him and send him to bed without any supper.
That same evening in the drawing-room a strange thing took place, which made Patricia wonder more than ever. Theodore had been performing some conjuring37 tricks with cards at which Akira smiled politely. Basil had sung, and she had played a sonata38 of Beethoven. Feeling tired, no doubt, of Shakespeare and the musical glasses, Mr. Colpster had stolen to his study to look at his beloved family tree. The young people had the drawing-room to themselves. As all save Mara--who invariably declined to contribute to the gaiety of any evening--had done his or her part, it was the turn of the Japanese.
"Amuse us in some way, Count," commanded Patricia, crossing to a sofa, and throwing herself luxuriously39 on the silken cushions.
"Alas! I am so foolish, I know not how to amuse. I have told you so much of my own country that you must be tired."
"No! No! No!" cried Mara, with shining eyes and an alert manner. "I never grow weary of hearing about Japan."
"Why?" asked the Count, half-closing his eyes.
Mara's face became strange and cold. "I don't know," she said, in a hesitating manner. "I seem to know Japan."
"But, Mara," cried Basil, staring, "you have never been there!"
"All the same I know it, and especially I know the Temple of Kitzuki."
"Ah! but you were there!" put in Theodore, glancing at the Count, whose eyes were curiously40 intent upon the girl's pale face.
"How? When?" he asked suddenly.
"She went in her astral body in search for the Mikado Jewel, and----"
"Don't talk of these things," interrupted Mara, in an angry tone. "The Count doesn't want to hear such rubbish."
"Of course; it is all rubbish," said Akira promptly; but Patricia, mindful of his afternoon conversation, did not believe that he spoke as he felt.
"Ah!" sneered41 Theodore quietly, "you are one of the scoffers. Yet I thought that the East believed in such things."
"We believe in much we never talk about," replied Akira calmly. Then there was a pause, until he suddenly produced from his pocket a bamboo flute42. "I can play this," he said, with his eyes on Mara, as though he addressed himself to her; "it is a simple Japanese instrument. Have you a drum?"
Basil, who was addressed, laughed. "I don't think so. There's the dinner-gong."
"That will do," said Akira serenely43. "Would you mind getting it and beating it rhythmically44 like a tom-tom--softly, of course, so as not to drown the notes of my flute. And a hand-bell," he added, casting his looks round the room.
"You are arranging an orchestra," laughed Basil, going out to fetch the gong.
"Here is a bell!" cried Mara, taking a small silver hand-bell from a table covered with nicknacks.
"Hold it, please."
"But what am I to do with it?" asked the girl, bewildered.
"The music I play will tell you," said Akira, somewhat grimly, and then Patricia began to see that there was some meaning in all this preparation. More, that the same was in some hidden way connected with Mara. However, she said nothing, but waited events.
Presently Basil, tall and slim, returned, carrying the brazen45 gong and sat down to flourish the stick. "Punch and Judy," said Basil; "now for it."
Akira said nothing. He looked at Patricia and Theodore, who were staring at him with astonishment, and at Basil laughing over the gong, and finally at Mara, who held the hand-bell and appeared puzzled. Suddenly the Japanese rose from his seat, and, crossing to the fire, threw something into it. Immediately a thick white smoke poured into the room, and a strong perfume came to Patricia's nostrils46, which seemed to be familiar.
"The incense47 of Moses," she heard Theodore mutter; "hang it, the fellow does know something of these things!"
Mara also smelt48 the perfumed smoke. Her eyes grew fixed, her nostrils dilated49 and--as Patricia had seen in Theodore's room--she began to make a shaking motion with both hands. And, as formerly50, she closed them together, holding the silver bell, mouth downward. As the fragrant51 smoke was wafted52 through the room, the shrill53 piping of the flute was heard, and Basil, according to his instructions, began to beat a low, muffled54, monotonous55 accompaniment on the gong. The music sounded weird56 and Eastern, and was unlike anything Patricia had ever heard before. The stupefying incense and the smoke and the sobbing57 flute, wailing58 above the throbbing59 of the gong, made her head swim.
Suddenly Mara, as if she was moving in her sleep, rose slowly and walked into the centre of the room. There she began to move with swaying motion in a circle, shaking the silver bell with closed hands. Her feet scarcely made any figures, as she only walked rapidly round and round, but the upper part of her body swung from side to side, and bent60 backward and forward. It was like an Indian nautch, weird and uncanny. Basil seemed to think so, for he stopped his measured beating, but the smoke still wreathed itself through the room in serpentine61 coils, the flute shrilled62 loud and piercing, and Mara danced as in a dream. All at once she reeled and the bell crashed on the floor. Basil flung down the gong and sprang forward.
"She is fainting," he cried angrily, catching63 Mara in his arms. "Akira, what the devil does this mean? She is ill!"
"No! No!" said Mara, as the flute stopped and the scent of the incense grew faint. "I am not ill, I am--I am--what have I been doing?" and she looked vacantly round the room.
Akira laid aside his flute and spoke with suppressed excitement. "You have been performing the Miko dance," he said, trying to control himself.
"Miko! The dance of the Miko!" cried Mara, stretching out her hand; "I know, I remember. The Dance of the Divineress! At last. At----"
"Mara, you are ill!" cried Basil roughly, and catching her by the arm he hurried her, still protesting, out of the room.
"What does it mean?" asked Patricia, who had risen.
"Don't you know?" asked Akira, looking at Theodore.
"No," said Dane, puzzled and a trifle awed64. "When Mara smells that scent, she always dances in that queer fashion. But I never saw her keep it up for so long as she has done to-night. Where did you get that incense!"
"It is an old Japanese incense," said Akira carelessly; then he turned to Patricia. "I now know why I have been brought here," he said.
"I don't understand," stammered65 the girl nervously66.
"I shall explain. I did not intend to come to Beckleigh, but I was compelled to come. You, with your sixth sense, should know what I mean, Miss Carrol. I wondered why I was brought to this out-of-the-way place. Now I know. It was to meet a former Miko of the Temple of Kitzuki. Oh, yes, I am sure. I now know why Miss Colpster declared that she remembered my country and loved to hear me talk about it. She is a reincarnation of the dancing priestess who lived ages since in the province of Izumo."
"Do you believe that?" asked Patricia scornfully.
Akira nodded. "All Japanese believe in reincarnation," he said, in a decisive tone; "it is the foundation of their belief. You believe also?"
Theodore, to whom he spoke, nodded. "Yes. And I wish--I wish----" he turned pale.
Akira looked at him imperiously. "Wish nothing," he said; "she is not for you; she is not for the West; she is for Dai Nippon."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
everlastingly
|
|
| 永久地，持久地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
entreated
|
|
| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
squire
|
|
| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
professed
|
|
| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
shrines
|
|
| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
shrine
|
|
| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
legendary
|
|
| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
chrysanthemum
|
|
| n.菊，菊花 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
jade
|
|
| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
triumphantly
|
|
| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
wrecked
|
|
| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
courteously
|
|
| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
housekeeper
|
|
| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
alas
|
|
| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
regain
|
|
| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
harry
|
|
| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
meditated
|
|
| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
indifference
|
|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
vexed
|
|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
persistence
|
|
| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
cryptic
|
|
| adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
conjuring
|
|
| n.魔术 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
sonata
|
|
| n.奏鸣曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
luxuriously
|
|
| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
flute
|
|
| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
serenely
|
|
| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
rhythmically
|
|
| adv.有节奏地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
brazen
|
|
| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
nostrils
|
|
| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
incense
|
|
| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
smelt
|
|
| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
dilated
|
|
| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
fragrant
|
|
| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
wafted
|
|
| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
shrill
|
|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
monotonous
|
|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
wailing
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
throbbing
|
|
| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
serpentine
|
|
| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
shrilled
|
|
| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
awed
|
|
| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
stammered
|
|
| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |