"Excellently met," said Norcot. "I've waited long for you. I need not ask if 'Victor' carried you well. But you're growing too busy, John Lee. Now come aside and explain why you are so active in this business. Have a care, young man! You run into considerable danger."
"I don't fear you. And you know well enough the reasons that I am busy. You've hatched a piece of damnable knavery3, and by God's goodness I overheard it. Stark trusts you; you've deceived his honest heart. But I never trusted you. Not one word of your wickedness surprised me."
"Well, plain speaking is good for the soul, my poor John. And any soul-prescription may be worth your attention just now, for, unless you mend your manners, I shall have to be short and sharp with you.
"'The dreadful reckoning; and men smile no more.'
You overheard me and my cousin. Was it all clear to you? Were there any gaps? You may as well know exactly what is going to happen since the affair interests you so deeply. Ask what questions you please, but be brief. Poor 'Victor'! You've made him gallop4 to-night."
Norcot tethered his horse at a gate; then he entered it and Lee followed him.
"Come into the Manor5 Woods. I can give you half an hour, no more. After that time our little play begins, and I am to be wedded6 to Grace Malherb, for better, for worse. You know all that."
"And Cecil Stark?"
"Stark, good soul, will play his part and press a wedding-ring upon my sister's finger. Then the light of day serves to show him Sergeant7 Bradridge and a file of soldiers patiently waiting for his sapient8 person to convey him back to Prince Town."
"Think better of it. Don't blast your own life and that of this man and woman. She will always hate you, as she always has."
"Advice! Well, take some from me. I cannot stop long, but——"
"Stop you shall, Peter Norcot! Not until you've killed me do you return to this knavery."
"I was afraid you'd take that view. I don't want blood on my hands to-day. Even I have my superstitions9 and sentiments. Consider; if you detain me how things must fall awry10. It would be the play of Hamlet without the Dane. Why, my fool cousin might even lose his head and marry 'em, if that was possible! A pretty conceit11. She'll feel my hand in the dead darkness and think 'tis his. I am dumb and he speaks the answers. He'll feel my sister's hand and think 'tis hers. Gertrude is dumb, and Grace speaks the answers. But these things cannot be managed without me. I must get back at any cost. My wedding tour is planned. Better live to think of me and my happy bride upon the Continent than perish in this cold dawn. Death is so final."
"'Tis you shall die, for I will kill you rather than let you return now."
"The possibility of this attitude on your part had occurred to me, John Lee. Unfortunately for yourself, you have never understood me. I am no enemy to any living man. I wish the world well. But I, too, have my life to live, and those who intervene between me and my plans and purposes pay for their blunder. I will tell you something, since we have no witness. It may help you to comprehend me and draw you out of the jaws12 of death, wherein frankly13 you stand at this moment. I killed my late uncle, Norman Norcot. I took his gun while he sat in thought, and thrust it under his chin and shot him like a rabbit. Do you wish to follow him?"
Without answering, John Lee dashed forward at Norcot's throat; but Peter's hand, though in his pocket, was on a pistol trigger. He leapt swiftly aside, and before Lee could turn, the wool-stapler had fired into his body. For a second John stood shaking; then he sank forward and fell on his face. Frightened blackbirds fled shrieking14, with shrill15 chink-chink-chink-chinketty-chink; the smoke arose and hung in a thin flat layer under the boughs16 of the trees.
"Lucky wretch17!" said the murderer, looking down. "'Death is a morsel18 best bolted whole,' as divine Montaigne remarks. Naught19 is nastier to chew upon. May I go as easy when my turn comes!
"'Light lay the earth, John Lee, upon thy clay—
That so the dogs may easier find their prey20.'
Yes—Squire Yeoland's dogs, and his gamekeepers. It remains21 to plan your next appearance before I hasten on to my own."
He stood and reflected, then nodded his head quickly.
"They stand along the covert22 side at regular intervals23, and happily I know how to find 'em. Rest there, 'thou wretched, rash, intruding24 fool,' until I've found what I seek."
He put up his pistol, then looked at his watch.
"How time flies!"
Turning round, Peter now plunged25 into the forest, and at a covert side, where a drive was cut through dense26 larch27 woods with undergrowth of furze and briar, he began to make search, and advanced, foot by foot, with the utmost caution. Each yard of the ground he scrutinised as though his own life depended upon it; and, indeed, the man's present quest did not lack for personal danger. Here, a yard within the pheasant coverts28, were set spring-guns two feet above the ground. The countryside raged against these infernal engines, but at that date they were legal, and a man might place them in his own preserves if it pleased him to do so.
Norcot's purpose was now to discover one of these weapons and to drag John Lee before it. He then designed to discharge the gun into his victim's wounded side, and so leave the corpse29 for others to find. With utmost care he pursued his search; and presently he started back with an oath, for his foot actually scraped a wire, and, looking up, he saw the short, squat30 muzzle31 of a gun fastened to a young larch and pointing straight at his belly32. Peter sweated at this escape. For a moment it unsteadied him. Then tearing down an ash sapling, peeling it, and sticking it beside the wire, he returned hastily where the dead man lay—thirty yards distant.
Now Norcot deliberately33 took off his coat and waistcoat, that they might escape all mark of this deed. Next, he bent34 down, grasped Lee under the armpits, gripped his own hands round the other's back, and began steadily35 to drag him where stood the peeled ash wand at the edge of the copse.
He had approached to within ten yards of the wire, and was turning his head to see his exact position, when a startling quiver ran through the inert36 mass he dragged along. Lee, though wounded to death, was not yet dead. His feet stuck to the ground, and Peter felt a pair of arms, limp until now, suddenly lifted and tightening37 round his waist. This unexpected spark of life galvanising a corpse shook him. His own breast was wet with the other's blood, for John bled from the lung; but he was still alive, and Norcot guessed at his vitality38 by the sudden tightening of the wounded man's arms round his neck. For answer he squeezed his wretched burden with a hug like a bear, whereon poor Lee relaxed his hold and his head fell forward again. But just as Peter had reached the wire and was about to drop the dying man in a line with the muzzle of the spring-gun, John's consciousness returned. He appeared to divine the enemy's intent, and for a moment his strength waxed and he struggled desperately39. Drenched40 with blood and blinded by Lee's arm over his face, Peter started back, to be free of his foe41, took him by the throat and hurled42 him to the ground with all his strength.
"Die!" cried the murderer. "Cease this struggling like a stuck pig and die decently. I——"
John had hold of the other's leg, but Norcot kicked him and tore himself free as he spoke43. The force of this action, however, made Peter lose equilibrium44. He stepped backwards45, hit a hidden root, slipped his foot and fell heavily upon the wire of the spring-gun.
Lee, kicked in the face, had fainted; but he was out of the line of fire; and now he recovered consciousness in time to gaze about him and witness the end of Peter Norcot.
The unlucky wool-stapler, falling as he struck the wire, had received the charge, at close quarters, in his back. The shot, though intended to maim46 or wound, but not to kill, was, under these circumstances, and at this range, fatal. Moments separated Norcot from death. The stinging, red-hot agony of the blow did not deprive him of consciousness. Then, using his last breath, he cried aloud—
"Death and hell—done for! To leave life now! No luck! Tut—urg—gurg——"
And Lee, with fading eyes, saw Peter Norcot's life-blood choke him.
Thrice he writhed47; thrice he beat the earth with his hands and fought for air; then he perished.
Cock pheasants began to crow in the coverts; and far away, a keeper, hearing gun-fire, put a whistle to his mouth and blew it.
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1
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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knavery
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| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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8
sapient
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| adj.有见识的，有智慧的 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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14
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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15
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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17
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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21
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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22
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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23
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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24
intruding
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于 | |
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25
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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26
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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larch
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| n.落叶松 | |
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coverts
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| n.隐蔽的，不公开的，秘密的( covert的名词复数 )；复羽 | |
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29
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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30
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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31
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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32
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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33
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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34
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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35
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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38
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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40
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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41
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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42
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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43
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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44
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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45
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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46
maim
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| v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残 | |
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47
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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