I thought that this morning I would do a little prospecting6 on my own account. Accordingly I left my bicycle in the wood and went a long circuit, keeping in the shadow of the woods where possible, and elsewhere stealing behind the hedgerows, till I got to the far side of the hill or spur which came nearest to the old chapel. This was one of the hills up whose base the trees ran in flame-shaped patches. Half way up, the woods ceased, and there was a belt of barrenness—outcropping rock fringed with green grass. The top, like most of the hills or[238] mounds7 around the castle, was covered with woods, close-growing masses of pine which made a dusk even in the noonday.
I took my way up the back of the hill and stole through the wood, carefully keeping a watchful8 look out all round me, for I feared the presence of either of the sets of spies. At the very top I came upon a good sized circle of masonry9, low but heavily built of massive stones completely covered with rich green lichen10. The circle was some fifteen feet diameter, and the top was slightly arched as though forming a roof. Leaning over it I could hear a faint trickle11 of water; this was evidently the source of the castle supply.
I walked round it, examining it carefully; anything which had any direct communication with the castle was at present of possibly the supremest importance. There was no flaw or opening anywhere; and from the unbroken covering of the stones by the lichen, it was apparent that there had been no disturbance12 for years.
I sat down on the edge of the stonework and for a long time thought over matters of probability. If underneath13 me, as was almost to be taken for granted, lay the reservoir of the castle, it must have been made coevally14 with Crom itself, or even with the older castle on whose ruins it was built. It must be fed by springs in the rock which formed the base of the hill and cropped out all over it; and if it was not approachable from without, there must be some way of reaching the water from within. It might be that the chamber15 which contained the reservoir had some other entrance from the hill top, or from some lower level. Accordingly I made as I conceived a bee line for the castle, till I came to the very base of the hill, for I knew that in matters of water conduit the direct way is always chosen where work has to be done. As I went, I conned16 the ground carefully; not merely the[239] surface for that was an uniform thick coating of brown pine needles, but the general conformation. Where a trench17 has been made, there is ever after some trace of it to be found. Even if the workmen level the trench most carefully there and then, the percolation18 of rain through the softer broken earth will make discovery of the change by shrinkage. Here, however, there was no such sign; the ground, so far as one could judge, had never been opened. The trees grew irregularly, and there was no gap such as would be, had one ever been removed. Here and there particles of rock cropped out amongst the pine needles just as anywhere else. If any opening existed it was not on the direct line between the reservoir and the castle.
Back again I went to the reservoir, and, using it as a base, began to cast around for some opening or sign. I made circles in all directions, just as a retriever does when looking for a fallen partridge in a dry stubble when the scent19 is killed by heat.
At last I came upon something, though whether or no it might have any point of contact with my purpose, I could not at once decide. It was a rude monument of some kind, a boulder20 placed endwise on a slab21 of rock roughly hewn to form a sort of square plinth. This again was surrounded on the outside, for the whole monument was on the very edge of a steeply-dipping crag, by a few tiers of rough masonry. The stones were roughly cut and laid together without mortar22; or if mortar or cement there had ever been, time and weather had washed it away. In one respect this structure was in contrast to that above the reservoir, there was not a sign of moss23 or lichen about it. The trees of the wood came close up behind it; in front it was shut out from view below by the branches of a few pine trees which grew crookedly24 from a precarious25 foothold amongst the ledges27 of rock beneath. As[240] I stood in front of it, I could see nothing immediately below me; however, when I had scrambled28 to a ledge26 a few feet lower down, the back wall of the old chapel became visible, though partly obscured by trunks and branches of intervening trees. I searched all over the monument for some inscription29, but could see none. Then I stood on the plinth to see if there might be any inscription on the top of the boulder. As I stood, looking over the top of it from the bank, I could just see through a natural alleyway amongst the tree tops, the top of one corner of the castle, that on the side of, and farthest from the old chapel. As I looked, a bright thought struck me. Here was a place from which one might correspond with the castle, unseen by any one save at the one spot. I determined30 then and there, that Marjory and I should arrange some method of signalling to one another.
Somehow this place impressed me, possibly because it was the only thing, except the reservoir, which seemed to have a purpose in the whole scheme of the hill top. Where there was labour and manifest purpose, there must surely be some connection. I examined all round the place minutely, scrambling31 down the rocks below and on either side, but always keeping a bright look out in case of spies. The only thing I noticed was that there seemed a trace of some kind of a pathway through the wood here. It was not sufficiently32 marked to allow one to accept it with certainty as a pathway; but there is something about a place which is even occasionally trodden, which marks it from its surroundings virgin33 of footsteps. I could not find where the path ended or where it began. It seemed to grow from the monument, but here underfoot was stone and hard gravel34; and the wind coming over the steep slope swept the fallen pine needles back amongst the shelter of the trees. After a few hundred yards any suggestion of a pathway disappeared, lost in the aisles35 of[241] the pine trees spreading round on every side. There was no need of a pathway here where all was open. Once or twice as I searched the thought came to me that there might be some opening here to a secret way or hiding place; but look how I would, I could not find the faintest trace or suggestion of any opening. In the end I had to take it that the erection was merely a monument or mark of some kind, whose original purpose was probably lost in time.
At last, as the day was well on, I made my way back to where my bicycle was hidden, always taking care to keep from observation. Then emerging on the road, I went as usual through the old ruined gateway36 and the long winding37 avenue to the castle.
Marjory met me with an anxious look, and hung on to my arm lovingly as she said:
“Oh, you are late! I have been quite nervous all the morning lest anything should have happened to you!” Mrs. Jack38, after we had greeted, discreetly39 left us alone; and I told my wife of all that I had thought since we had parted, and of what I had seen on the hill top. She was delighted at the idea of a means of signalling; and insisted on my coming at once to the roof to make further arrangements and discoveries.
We found the spot which I had indicated admirably adapted for our purpose. One could sit on the stone roof, well back from the wall, and through one of the openings in the castellation see the top of the monument amongst the tree tops; and could yet be unobserved oneself from any other spot around. The angles of the castellation of the various walls shut out the tops of the other hills or mounds on every side. As the signs of our code were already complete we had only to fix on some means of signalling ‘A’ and ‘B’. This we did by deciding that by daylight A should be signified by red and B by white[242] and at night A by red and B by green. Thus by daylight two pocket handkerchiefs of red and white or two flowers of white and red; or a piece of paper and a red leaf or flower would suffice. We fixed40 on colour as the best representative, as the distance made simplicity41 necessary. By night an ordinary bicycle lamp with the lens covered could be used; the ordinary red and green side lights could be shown as required. Then and there we arranged that that very afternoon when I had left the castle I should steal back to the monument and we should make a trial of our signalling.
Then we talked of other things. Alone there on the roof we could talk freely; and the moments flew swiftly by in a sweet companionship. Even if the subjects which we had to discuss were grim ones of danger and intrigue42; of secret passages and malignant43 enemies; of spies and possibilities of harm to one or both of us, still mutuality44 of our troubles and dangers made their existence to us sweet. That we shared in common even such matters was dear to us both. I could not but be conscious of Marjory’s growing love for me; and if I had to restrain myself now and again from throwing my arms round her and pressing her beautiful body close to me and sweeping45 her face with kisses, I was repaid when, as we descended46 she put both her hands in mine and said:
“Oh Archie! you are good to me! and—and—I love you so!” Then she sank into my arms and our mouths met in a long, loving kiss.
We decided47 that as there must be some hidden opening in the old chapel, we should make search for it the next day. I was to come soon after sunrise, for this we judged would be the time when the spies of both kinds would least expect movement from the castle. I was to come by the grass path between the trees into the old[243] chapel where she would meet me and we should make our investigations48 together.
After tea I came away. Marjory came out on the steps with me to see me off. As we bade each other good-bye she said aloud in case any one might be listening:
“Remember, you are to come to tea to-morrow and to bring me the book. I am quite anxious to know how it ends. It is too bad of the librarian not to send us all the volumes at once!”
When I got to the road I hid my bicycle in the old place, and took my way secretly to the monument. Marjory had been much struck by the suggestion of the footpath49, and, woman-like, had made up her mind on the subject. She had suggested that we should test whether any one came or went by it, and to this end gave me a spool50 of the finest thread so that I might lay a trap. Before I should leave the place I was to stretch threads across it here and there between the tree trunks. If on the next visit I should find them broken, we might take it that some one had been there.
From the top of the boulder I made signal and was immediately answered. My own signal was simply the expression of my heart’s feeling:
“I love you, my wife!” The answer came quickly back filling me with joy:
“I love you, my husband! Don’t forget me! Think of me!”
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1
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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lichen
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| n.地衣, 青苔 | |
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trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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12
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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coevally
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| 同时代地 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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conned
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| adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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percolation
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| n.过滤，浸透；渗滤；渗漏 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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crookedly
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| adv. 弯曲地，不诚实地 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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41
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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42
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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43
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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44
mutuality
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| n.相互关系，相互依存 | |
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45
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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46
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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47
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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48
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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49
footpath
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| n.小路，人行道 | |
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50
spool
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| n.（缠录音带等的）卷盘（轴）；v.把…绕在卷轴上 | |
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