“Your foundling is a lot better, Pickering,” exclaimed the great lunacy specialist, rising and giving me his hand. “I’ve got him round at last. Not only is he quite rational, but he has found his voice, or as much of it as he will ever have. Brand, the surgeon, has discovered that he has an injury to the tongue which prevents him properly articulating.”
“Is he quite in his right mind?” I asked, eagerly.
“As right as you are, my dear fellow. I thought from the first it was only temporary,” he answered. “He has told me his story, and, by Jove! it’s a remarkable1 one.”
“What account does he give of himself?”
“Oh, you’d better come with me down to Ealing, and hear it from his own lips. I’m going to High Elms in half an hour.”
When the Mysterious Man entered the doctor’s private room at the asylum2 I saw at once what a change had been wrought3 in him. Neatly4 dressed in blue serge, his grey hair was well-trimmed, and he no longer wore that long Rip Van Winkle beard of which the hands of the Thrush had made such fun. He was now shaven, with a well-twisted white moustache, smart, fresh-looking, and no longer decrepit5. He walked with springy step, and seemed at least twenty years younger. Only when he spoke6 one realized his infirmity, although he seemed an educated man. His mouth emitted a strange, hollow sound, and several letters he could not pronounce intelligibly7.
“I have, I believe, to thank you, doctor,” he said, politely, as he came in. “You were one of those who rescued me.”
“Yes,” I answered. “I found you on board the old ship, the Seahorse, and we took you with us to the steamer.”
“Ah!” he sighed. “I had a narrow escape, doctor—a very narrow escape. I’ve been mad, they say. It’s true, I suppose, otherwise I should not be here, in an asylum. But I assure you I recollect9 very little after I boarded that coffin-ship.”
I watched his dark eyes. They were no longer shifty, but calm and steady. He was quite sane10 now, and had at Macfarlane’s invitation seated himself between us.
“We are all very much interested in you,” I said. “Will you tell me the whole story?”
“Well, I can’t talk very plainly, you know, but I’ll try and explain everything,” he said. Then with a renewed effort he went on:?—
“It is no sailor’s yarn11, but the truth, even though it may sound a remarkable story. You see, it was like this. I’d been at sea all my life, and in Liverpool Bob Usher12, first mate of the City of Chester, was well known twelve years ago. Like a good many other men I got sick of my work, and in a fit of anger with the skipper I deserted13 in Sydney. After the City of Chester had sailed for home I joined another steamer, the Goldfinch, bound for Shanghai, but instead of putting in there we ran up the Chinese coast, and when a couple of cannon14 were produced and the forecastle hands armed themselves with rifles and cutlasses, the truth dawned upon me. It was not long before we painted our name on the bows, and commenced doing a bit of piracy15 among the junks. Our quick-firing guns, manned by old naval16 men, played havoc17 among the Chinese boats, and before a fortnight we had quite a cargo18 of loot—silks, ivories, tea, opium19, and such things—all of which we ran to Adelaide, where the skipper disposed of them to one of those agents who asked no questions.
“At first I had thoughts of leaving the ship, for I had no desire to be overhauled20 by a British cruiser, nor to be sunk as a pirate. Still, the life was full of excitement, and the hands were as adventurous21 and as light-hearted a crew as ever sailed the Pacific. Although the gunboats were constantly on the lookout22 for us, we had wonderful good luck. In the China seas there is still a lot of piracy, mostly by the Chinese themselves, but sometimes by European steamers. We always gave the British squadron a very wide berth23, constantly changing our name and altering the colour of our funnel24. This went on for nearly a year, when at last the chase after us grew a bit too hot, and we sailed out of Perth for Liverpool. We had rounded the Cape8 and were steaming up the West Coast of Africa, when one day a Danish seaman25 named Jansen made a trifling26 mistake in executing one of the captain’s orders. The skipper swore, the Dane answered him back, whereupon the captain shot the poor fellow like a dog, and with the aid of the second mate pitched him to the sharks before he was dead. This was a bit too much for me. I remonstrated27 at such cold-blooded murder, but scarcely had the words left my mouth when the captain, Bennett by name, fired point-blank at me.”
“Bennett!” I ejaculated, interrupting. “Do you mean Black Bennett?”
“Yes. The same man,” he answered. “Do you know the brute28?”
“I do. Go on. I’ll tell you something when you have finished.”
“Well, the skipper fired at me. He was the worst of bad characters. They said he’d secured a big fortune after a few years, and that it was locked up in Consols in England. All I know, however, is that he was the most cold-blooded, heartless blackguard that I’ve ever met. Of course Chinese don’t count for much, but I’d be afraid to estimate how many he’d sent to kingdom come during our exciting cruises in Chinese waters. But that’s neither here nor there. We quarrelled, he and I. Having missed me, he at once decided29 on another plan of getting rid of me. We were just then hugging a long, broken, and unexplored coast line, therefore he stopped the vessel30 and ordered the crew to lower a boat and put me ashore31, knowing too well the fate of a single unarmed man among the barbarous Moors32. It was a fiendish revenge to maroon33 me, but I was helpless. That was the last time I saw Bennett—nearly ten years ago now.”
The man Usher paused for a few moments, the effort of such a long narrative34 having been too much for him.
“Well,” he continued, “I was put ashore without food or water on a sandy, desolate35 spot. The surf was so strong that we narrowly escaped being upset, but getting to land at last I discovered the mouth of a river, and pushed my way beside it for a good many miles. The river, I afterwards found, was called the Tensift, and I had landed in South Morocco. I need not describe all the adventures that happened to me, save that I was seized a week after landing and carried as a slave to Morocco city, where I was sold to a powerful sheik, who probably considered that it increased his social status to possess an English slave. I was taken across the deserts and over the Atlas36 to a place called Aksabi, and for several years was kindly37 treated although held in bondage38. After some time, however, my master was ordered by the Sultan to raise an army against the Riff tribes on the Mediterranean39 coast, and I was, of course, enrolled40 as a man who knew something of war. Our expedition travelled first to Fez, where we were reviewed by the Sultan himself, and then we penetrated41 into the fertile mountain country held by the revolutionary Riffs. But disaster after disaster befell us in that unknown country, falling into ambushes42 almost every day, until with others I was taken prisoner, and passed from hand to hand until I became slave to one of the powerful Riff chiefs. All my companions had been massacred in cold blood, but being a European my life had been spared, probably because my captors expected they might hold me for ransom43. As slave of a tyrannical barbarian44, mine was a dog’s life. On any day or at any hour I knew not whether my capricious master might not order me to be put to the torture, bastinadoed, or shot, while the work in the broiling45 sun under a harsh negro taskmaster was so hard that it sapped my manhood. The Sheik Taiba, whose slave I was, defied the Sultan and lived in a mountain stronghold a few miles from the blue Mediterranean. Day after day I could see the open sea stretching away beyond. Ah! how I longed to be free to return to England. On one or two occasions I had been sent with other slaves (all negroes) to obtain stones from the seashore. On one occasion, at the mouth of the small river that flowed down the valley to the sea opposite the island of Alhucemas, there had been pointed46 out to me by one of my hapless companions, a decrepit old negro, the submerged hull47 of a ship lying about a quarter of a mile up from the sea, and only just covered by the clear, swift-flowing stream. It lay like this,” and taking a pencil and paper he drew a plan of its position.
“It was the Seahorse!” I said, quickly.
“Yes. It had been there for ages, a ship the like of which I had never before seen, but by standing48 upon the projecting rock above I could look down upon it. Many times I visited it, for the mystery of it attracted me. Among both Moors and negroes there was a strange legend that evil spirits were contained within, hence it was held in superstitious49 awe50. When it rose to the surface there would, it was believed, emerge from it a terrible pestilence51 that would sweep the whole of the Riff tribes from the face of the earth. I, however, had no such fear. Many times I dived off the rock and examined the black old hull, finding that the projecting stern had become wedged beneath the overhanging ledge52, and that this apparently53 kept it in its place. Through the windows I could see that the water had not entered, hence it occurred to me that some buoyancy might be left in it. For two whole years I held this theory, and it was strengthened by the fact that instead of lying heavily on the sandy bottom, the bows were raised a foot or two. I could see that it was a very ancient vessel, which in some remote period had drifted over the bar into the estuary55, and had stranded56 there when the river was low. Then when the winter snows of the Atlas had melted, the flood had risen rapidly, the projecting rock had held down the stern of the old craft, and the waters had closed over her. The one thought that possessed57 me was that if that overhanging rock could be removed the hull might float again. With this object I waited in patience. From the traders at Tetuan the Riffs frequently purchased explosives which they used in their periodical fights against the forces of the Kaid Maclean and the Sultan. Hence, about two years afterwards, I found in the possession of the Sheik Taiba some strange-looking substance which, although the Moors were unaware58 of its potency59, I knew to be dynamite60. I managed to secure some of it, and a week later placed it in the great rift54 in the rock and in the middle of the night blew it up. The quantity I used must have been much more than necessary, for the rock was split, and the ledge, blown right off, fell into the water ten yards away from the vessel, while to my great delight the craft came up to the surface, the strangest-looking object I had ever seen afloat. I swam to it, and having broken out one of its windows crept into the cabin, the current carrying me slowly out to sea.
“The explosion had alarmed the Riffs, who poured down to the spot in hundreds, only to see the strange craft which they held in such dread61 actually floating down the stream. The sight of it filled them with terror, and they fled, attributing the explosion to a supernatural cause. My object, of course, was to escape from slavery, and in order not to attract the attention of my enemies, the Riffs, should they board me, I threw off my slave’s clothing, and finding in the cabin a pair of old Elizabethan breeches and a doublet, I donned them. The door communicating with the other part of the ship was secured so firmly that very soon I realized my position.
“Days passed, how many I cannot tell. I only knew that want of food and water—of which I had none—told upon me, as well as the punishment that had been inflicted62 upon me a month before my escape. For a trifling offence the Sheik Taiba had ordered my tongue to be cut out, a cruel mutilation common among the Moors. This had not actually been done, but so severely63 was my tongue injured by my inhuman64 captors that I was now unable to articulate a single word. What more can I tell you? Alone on that strange craft, hunger and thirst consumed me, my mind wandered, I grew worse, and eventually went stark65 mad and oblivious66 to everything. All I recollect is that I was placed in charge of Ben Harding, the man who acted as Bennett’s second mate on the Goldfinch—a broken-down gentleman who knew little about the sea, and whose previous career included a long term of imprisonment67 at Brisbane for being implicated68 in the murder of a mail-driver. But you said that you know Black Bennett,” he added, with anger flashing in his eyes. “He marooned69 me because he feared that I should tell the truth of poor Jansen’s murder when we got to Liverpool. Where is he to be found?”
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1
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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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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intelligibly
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| adv.可理解地，明了地，清晰地 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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9
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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11
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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12
usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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13
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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14
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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15
piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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17
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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overhauled
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| v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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22
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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23
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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27
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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30
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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33
maroon
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| v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的 | |
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34
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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38
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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39
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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40
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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41
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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42
ambushes
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| n.埋伏( ambush的名词复数 )；伏击；埋伏着的人；设埋伏点v.埋伏( ambush的第三人称单数 )；埋伏着 | |
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43
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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44
barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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45
broiling
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| adj.酷热的，炽热的，似烧的v.（用火）烤（焙、炙等）( broil的现在分词 )；使卷入争吵；使混乱；被烤（或炙） | |
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46
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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47
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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48
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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49
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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50
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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51
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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52
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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53
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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54
rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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55
estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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56
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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57
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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58
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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59
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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60
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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61
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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62
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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64
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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65
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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66
oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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67
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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68
implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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69
marooned
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| adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的 | |
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