CHAPTER XII A MYSTERIOUS OCCURRENCE

 Nothing more happened for a day or two, except that Von Lindheim received a letter asking him to send word as soon as possible when he would be able to resume his duties, the Hof-Artzt having reported his opinion that the indisposition was only temporary. The letter concluded with a compliment to Von Lindheim’s ability, and an expression of regret that the bureau should be deprived of his valued services at a time when their loss was being particularly felt.

“They want to entice¹ me back,” he said. “So much for their fair words. That is a stroke of the Jaguar’s soft paw with the claws ready to spring out. I know him.”

His impression was, that he had puzzled, if not quite deceived, Doctor Beckmeister. He flattered himself that he had played his part well.

“If they think I am really off my head they may treat me as a neglectable factor, and so give me a chance of escape.”

Then there was the question of Szalay. We had no opportunity of learning how his disappearance² had been taken. Of course his presence at Sch?nval was a distinct source of danger, inasmuch as it absolutely contradicted the part Von Lindheim was playing, if only it were known. This, however, we hoped was not the case. We had elaborated his disguise, and even the Chancellor’s suspicious eye could hardly have recognized in the dark, sleek-looking attendant on the [Pg 73]invalid the red-haired, bristling³, lively Szalay of our Buyda days. Our plan was to wait awhile, and then to take an opportunity of sending him out of the country to some friends who lived on the other side of the Alps.

But as every day safely passed was making us more hopeful of ultimate escape from those vicious claws, our hopes were dashed by an extraordinary occurrence which revived our worst fears, and which I will relate in detail.

It will be understood that I ignored all necessity for keeping myself a prisoner, as the others had to do. Personally, although at times I conceived it quite possible that Rallenstein might not be sorry for a plausible⁴ opportunity of putting me out of the way, I felt no fear, and went about the place as I felt inclined, merely taking the precaution of carrying loaded in my pocket the small revolver with which I always travelled. I walked about the village, rode over the country round, but never saw anything suspicious, nothing in which could be discerned the Jaguar’s watching eye, until the evening I am about to speak of.

I had strolled out after dinner, as was my wont⁵, in company with a favourite dog of Von Lindheim’s, a fine wolf-hound, which I often took with me on my rides. My evening strolls were as much in the nature of a patrol as a constitutional, but, as I have said, I had never detected anything to warrant them. On this occasion I went across the garden, then through a belt of plantation⁶, and so on to a long terraced walk, lined on either hand with conifers, and having on one side occasional gaps, giving on to an arable⁷ field sloping down to a road some quarter of a mile below. These openings had been made to afford passing glimpses of what was a charming view, with a small river winding⁸ its course on the other side of the road, [Pg 74]and, beyond, the pine woods stretching away in broken masses as far as the eye could reach. The land between our terrace and the road was divided into small fields by hedges running longitudinally, useless divisions, except that they broke up the stretch of furrow⁹, and so improved the landscape. The fields were now green with springing wheat, and dotted here and there over them were dummy¹⁰ scarecrows, a very necessary, if feeble defence, against the multitudes of birds that were harboured in the woods beyond. I mention all these details as being necessary to the comprehension of what follows.

I strolled along the walk thinking of the situation, the dog running now behind now in front of me. We had been getting more hopeful; our plan now being that we should wait a little longer, and then all three make our way out of the country. The two men would take up their abode¹¹ in Paris, or possibly go to England with me, not to return to their home until Rallenstein’s power was at an end, or at least until the turn of political events gave them assurance that they could breathe their native air in safety.

I had taken a turn and a half along the terrace when a sharp, low bark of suspicion from the dog broke the silence round, and aroused my attention. “Hey, Fritz, old fellow! What’s the matter?” I cried.

The dog was running to and fro with his nose to earth, growling¹² and whining¹⁴ excitedly. I went through the opening to the edge of the field and stood watching him. It was now dusk, and nothing could be clearly seen beyond a distance of, say, fifty yards. The dog was evidently on the scent¹⁵ of something; on a strange scent, I thought; one, to judge by his manner, that aroused his instinctive¹⁶ suspicion. He was evidently trying to find where the scent led away, but in this for a while he was in fault. Suddenly, [Pg 75]however, he gave louder tongue and darted¹⁷ off. I went through the opening, and ran along the crest¹⁸ of the hill in the direction Fritz had taken. He had got some distance ahead, and I could see nothing of him in the gathering¹⁹ darkness. After going some way, I stopped and whistled. There was no response to that, but a few seconds after, as I was about to call again, there came a loud, angry bark, with a deep cry (I could not swear, but it seemed to me human), and the snarling²⁰ growl¹³ of a dog in the act of seizure²¹, abruptly²² stopping, then silence.

“By George, he has caught something!” I cried, and ran towards the point whence the noise had come. Nothing unusual was to be seen.

“Fritz!” I called, then whistled. No answer. Dead silence. Fairly puzzled now, I ran on. Then thinking that I had gone too far, I wheeled round and went back towards the terrace, walking slowly, and looking well about me. Suddenly in the semi-darkness I sprang forward with a cry of anger. The mystery of the silence at least was solved.

This is what I came upon.

An overthrown²³ scarecrow, and Fritz lying stretched on the ground beside it. I called him, although something told me it was useless, he would never move again. So it was. There was a great wound in his throat, and his head lay in a pool of blood.

What had happened? I jumped up and looked round, pulling out my revolver. I listened intently. Not a sound. I ran down the field to the road, keeping as sharp a look-out as was possible. No one was to be seen. I broke through the hedge and searched the bank of the river, but with no greater result. Then returning to the sloping field, I beat the hedges that crossed it, but came across neither man nor beast.

So at last there was nothing for it but to abandon [Pg 76]the search, and take in the uncomfortable tidings to Von Lindheim, since there was no chance of hiding them from him, Fritz being his favourite companion. Both men were greatly perturbed²⁴.

“Don’t let us alarm ourselves unnecessarily,” I said. “Poor Fritz may have fallen a victim to one of his natural enemies—a boar from the forest. At the same time it might be wise for us to accept it as a sign of danger.”

For I had little doubt in my own mind that the unfortunate dog’s death-wound had been given by no boar’s tusk²⁵, but by a human hand.

1 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

2 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

3 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

4 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

5 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

6 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

7 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

8 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

9 furrow   

n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹

参考例句：

• The tractor has make deep furrow in the loose sand.拖拉机在松软的沙土上留下了深深的车辙。
• Mei did not weep.She only bit her lips,and the furrow in her brow deepened.梅埋下头，她咬了咬嘴唇皮，额上的皱纹显得更深了。

10 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

11 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

12 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

13 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

14 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

15 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

16 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

17 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

19 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

20 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

21 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

22 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

23 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

24 perturbed   

adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I am deeply perturbed by the alarming way the situation developing. 我对形势令人忧虑的发展深感不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother was much perturbed by my illness. 母亲为我的病甚感烦恼不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

25 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。