“Come along quick; it’s simply awful standing6 here in the light of day in this filthy7 state. It won’t feel half so bad in the dark passage!” Without more ado I lit my lamp, and having, of course, closed the entrance behind us, we went back into the cavern8.
The tramp back through the tunnel did not seem nearly so long or so difficult as at first. It may have been that comparative familiarity made it easier; it certainly eased its terrors. Or it is possible that our companionship, each to the other, made the bearing of fears and difficulties lighter9.
Anyhow, it was something of a surprise to both of us to find ourselves so quickly in the rude chamber10 whence[261] the steps led up to the old chapel. Before we left this, we made a rough examination of it, turning the lantern over walls and floor and ceiling; for I had an idea that the passage from the castle, which I was satisfied must exist, made its exit here. We could not, however, see any external sign of an opening; the walls were built up of massive unmortared stones, and were seemingly as solid as the rock itself.
When we got into the chapel we found the utility of Marjory’s foresight11. In a corner was her little basket with soap and towel, water and clothes brush; and together we restored her to some semblance12 of decency13. Then she went back to the castle and got in unobserved, as I, watching from the shelter of the trees, could see. I took my way back through the passage; and so to the wood where my bicycle was hidden. I washed my hands in the stream and lay down in the shelter of a thick grove14 of hazel, where I slept till breakfast time. When I rode up to the castle, I found Marjory with her kodak on the sweep outside, taking views of its various points.
The morning was intensely hot; and here, in the shelter of the little valley and the enclosing wood, the air was sultry, and the sun beat down pitilessly. We had a table set out under the shelter of the trees and breakfasted al fresco15.
When we were alone in her boudoir I settled with Marjory that we would on that evening attempt to find the treasure, as the tide would be out at midnight. So we went down to the library and got out Don de Escoban’s narrative16 and began to read it afresh, noting as we went every word and sign of the secret writing, in the hope that we might in thus doing stumble on some new secret or hidden meaning.
Whilst we were thus engaged a servant came looking for Mrs. Jack17, for whom a stranger had brought a letter.[262] Marjory told where she might be found, and for some time we went on with our work.
Suddenly the door opened, and Mrs. Jack entered, speaking over her shoulder as she came to a high-bred looking, dark man who followed her. As she saw us she stopped and said to Marjory:
“Oh! my dear, I didn’t know you were here. I thought you were in the ladies’ room.” This was what they usually called the big room at the top of the castle. We both rose, seeing a stranger. For my own part there was something in his face which set me thinking; as to Marjory I could not help noticing that she drew herself up to her full height, and held herself at tension in that haughty18 way which now and again marked her high spirit and breeding. There seemed so little cause for this attitude that my own thinking of the new-comer was lost in the contemplation of hers. Mrs. Jack noticed that there was some awkwardness, and spoke19 hurriedly:
“This is the gentleman, my dear, that the agent wrote about; and as he wanted to look over the house I brought him myself.” The stranger probably taking his cue from her apologetic tone spoke:
“I trust I have not disturbed the Senora; if I have, pardon! I have but come to renew my memory of a place, dear to me in my youth, and which through the passing of time and of some who were, is now my own heritage.” Marjory smiled, and swept him a curtsey as she said, but still in her distant arm’s-length manner:
“Then you are the owner of the castle, sir. I hope that we do not disturb you. Should you wish to be anywhere alone we shall gladly withdraw and wait your pleasure.” He raised a hand of eloquent20 protest, a well-kept, gentleman’s hand, as he said in tones sweet and deferent:
“Oh! I pray you, do not stir. May I say that when my house is graced with the presence of so much loveliness[263] I am all too full of gratitude21 to wish for any change. I shall but look around me, for I have a certain duty to do. Alas22! this my heritage comes not only as a joy, but with grave duties which I must fulfill23. Well I know this room. Many a time as a boy I have sat here with my kinsman24, then so old and distant from me in my race; and yet I am his next successor. Here has he told me of old times, and of my race of which we who have the name are so proud; and of the solemn duty which might some day come to me. Could I but tell....” Here he stopped suddenly.
His eyes had been wandering all over the room, up and down the bookshelves, and at the few pictures which the walls contained. When they rested on the table, a strange look came into them. Here lay the type-script which we had been reading, and the secret writing of the dotted printing. It was on the latter that his eyes were fixed25 absorbingly.
“Where did you get that?” he said suddenly, pointing to it. The question in its bald simplicity26 was in word rude, but his manner of asking it was so sweet and deferential27 that to me it robbed it of all offence. I was just about to answer when my eye caught that of Marjory, and I paused. There was such meaning in her eyes that my own began roving to find the cause of it. As I looked she put her hands on the table before her, and her fingers seemed to drum nervously28. To me, however, it was no nervous trifling29; she was speaking to me in our own cipher30.
“Be careful!” she spelled out “there is some mystery! Let me speak.” Then turning to the stranger she said:
“It is curious is it not?”
“Ah, Senora, though curious it be in itself, it is nothing to the strangeness of its being here. If you only knew how it had been searched for; how the whole castle[264] had been ransacked31 from roof to dungeon32 to find it, and always without avail. Did you but understand the import of that paper to me and mine—if indeed the surmises33 of many generations of anxious men availed aught—you would pardon my curiosity. In my own youth I assisted in a search of the whole place; no corner was left untouched, and even the secret places were opened afresh.” As he went on, Marjory’s eyes were resting on his face unflinchingly, but her fingers were spelling out comments to me.
“There are secret places, then; and he knows them. Wait” the stranger went on:
“See, I shall convince you that I speak from no idle curiosity, but from a deep conviction of a duty that was mine and my ancestors’ for ages.” There was a sternness mingled34 with his grave sweetness now; it was evident that he was somewhat chagrined35 or put out by our silence. Leaving the table he went over to one of the bookshelves, and after running his eye over it for a moment, put his hand up and from a shelf above his head took down a thick leather-covered volume. This he laid on the table before us. It was a beautiful, old black letter law book, with marginal notes in black letter and headings in roman type. The pagination was, I could see as he turned it over, by folios. He turned to the title-page, which was an important piece of printing in many types, explanatory of the matter of the book. He began to read the paragraphs, placed in the triangular36 in form in vogue37 at that day; following the text with his forefinger38 he read:
“A collection in English of the Statutes39 now in force, continued from the beginning of Magna Charta made in the 9. yeere of the reigne of King H. 3. until the ende of the Session of Parliament holden in the 28 yeere of the reigne of our gracious Queene Elizabeth under Titles[265] placed by order of Alphabet. Wherein is performed (touching the Statutes wherewith Justices of the Peace have to deale) so much as was promised in the Booke of their office lately published. For which purpose”—&c. &c.,—Then turning over the page he pointed40 to a piece of faded writing on the back of it which had been left blank of printing. We bent41 down and read in the ink, faded to pale brown by time:
“My sonnes herein you will find the law which binds42 the stranger in this land, wherein a stranger is a Vagabond. F. de E.
XXIII. X. MDLXLIX.”
Then he turned rapidly over the leaves, till towards the end there was a gap. On the right hand page, where the folio number was all along placed was the number 528.
XXIII. X. MDLXLIX.”
Then he turned rapidly over the leaves, till towards the end there was a gap. On the right hand page, where the folio number was all along placed was the number 528.
“See,” he said, turning back and pointing to the bottom of the title page “Anno 1588. Three hundred years, since first my people used it.”
Turning back he looked at the folio before the gap; it was 510. “See” he said, placing his hand on the pinmarked pages. “Folio 511 and the heading of ‘Vagabonds, Beggars, et cetera.’” He folded his arms in a dignified43 way and stood silent.
All along I had been following my own train of thought, even whilst I had been taking in the stranger’s argument, and at the same time noting Marjory’s warning. If this man who owned the Castle knew of the existence of the secret writing; whose ancestors had owned the book in which was the clue signed F. de E., surely then this could be none other than the descendant of the Don Bernardino who had hidden the treasure. This was his castle; no wonder that he knew its secret ways.
Matters were getting complicated. If this man were[266] now the hereditary44 guardian45 of the hidden treasure—and from his likeness46 to the ghostly Spaniard whom I had seen in the procession at Whinnyfold I saw no reason to doubt it—he might be an enemy with whom we should have to cope. I was all in a whirl, and for a few seconds I think quite lost my head. Then rushed over me the conviction that the mere47 lapse48 of time passed in these few minutes of agonised silence was betraying our secret. This brought me up with a round turn, and I looked about me. The strange man was standing still as marble; his face was set, and there was no sign of life in him except his eyes which blazed as they wandered around, taking everything in. Mrs. Jack saw that there was something going on which she did not understand, and tried to efface49 herself. Marjory was standing by the table, still, erect50 and white. Her fingers began to drum softly as she caught my eye, and spelled out:
“Give him the paper, from Mrs. Jack. Lately found in old oak chest. Say nothing of interpretation51.” This seemed such a doubtful move that with my eyes I queried52 it. She nodded in reply. So I gathered myself together and said:
“I’m afraid, sir, that there is some mystery here which I cannot undertake to understand. I think I may say, however, for my friend Mrs. Jack, that there will be no trouble in your having full possession of your book. I am told that these pages were lately found in an old oak chest. It is remarkable53 that they should have been missing so long. We were attracted by the funny marks. We thought that there might be some sort of cryptogram54; and I suppose I may take it, from the fact of your looking for them so long, that this is so?”
He grew suspicious in a moment, and stiffened55 all over. Marjory saw, and appreciated the reason. She smiled at me with her eyes as she drummed on the table:
[267]
“The herring is across his path!” As the awkward pause was this time with the stranger, we waited with comparative ease. I saw with a feeling of wonder that there was, through all her haughtiness56, a spice of malice57 in Marjory’s enjoyment58 of his discomfiture59. I looked at Mrs. Jack and said: “May I give these papers to Mr. ——” She answered promptly60:
“Why cert’nly! If Mr. Barnard wants them.” Marjory turned round suddenly and in a surprised voice said:
“Mr. Barnard?”
“That is the name given in the letter which he brought, my dear!” The stranger at once spoke out:
“I am Mr. Barnard here; but in my own country I am of an older name. I thank you, sir, and Madam” turning to Mrs. Jack “for your courteous61 offer. But it will be time enough for me to consider the lost pages when through the unhappiness of your departure from my house, I am enabled to come hither to live. In the meantime, all I shall ask is that the pages be replaced in this book and that it be put in its place on the shelf where none shall disturb it.” As he spoke in his sweet, deferential way there was something in his look or manner which did not accord with his words; a quick eager shifting of his eyes, and a breathing hard which were at variance62 with his words of patience. I did not pretend, however, to notice it; I had my own game to play. So without a word I placed the pages carefully in the book and put the latter back on the shelf from which he had taken it. There was an odd look in Marjory’s face which I did not quite understand; and as she gave me no clue to her thoughts by our sign language, I waited. Looking at the stranger haughtily63, and with a distinctly militant64 expression she said:
“The agent told us that the Barnard family owned[268] this castle!” He bowed gravely, but a hot, angry flush spread over his face as he replied:
“He spoke what truth he knew.” Marjory’s reply came quickly:
“But you say you are one of the family, and the very memorandum65 you pointed out was signed F. de E.” Again the hot flush swept his face; but passed in an instant, leaving him as pale as the dead. After a pause of a few moments he spoke in a tone of icy courtesy:
“I have already said, Senora, that in this country our name—my name, is Barnard. A name taken centuries ago when the freedom of the great land of England was not as now; when tolerance66 for the stranger was not. In my own land, the land of my birth, the cradle of my race, I am called Don Bernardino Yglesias Palealogue y Santordo y Castelnuova de Escoban, Count of Minurca and Marquis of Salvaterra!” As he rehearsed his titles he drew himself up to his full height; and pride of race seemed actually to shine or emanate67 from him. Marjory, too, on her side of the table drew herself up proudly as she said in a voice in which scorn struggled for mastery with dignity:
“Then you are a Spaniard!”
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1
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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2
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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3
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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4
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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5
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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6
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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7
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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8
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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9
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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10
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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11
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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14
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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15
fresco
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| n.壁画；vt.作壁画于 | |
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16
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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17
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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18
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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19
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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20
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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21
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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22
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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23
fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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24
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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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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26
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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27
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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28
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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29
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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30
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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31
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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32
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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33
surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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34
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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35
chagrined
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| adj.懊恼的，苦恼的v.使懊恼，使懊丧，使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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37
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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38
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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39
statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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40
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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41
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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42
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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43
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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44
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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45
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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46
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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47
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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48
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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49
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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50
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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51
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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52
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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53
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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54
cryptogram
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| n.密码 | |
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55
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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56
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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57
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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58
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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59
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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60
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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61
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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62
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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63
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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64
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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65
memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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66
tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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67
emanate
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| v.发自，来自，出自 | |
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