Yet here he stood before me again, the man as I had known him in the past, ruthless-looking, formidable, sinister4 in his clumsy, ill-fitting suit of black. Again I noted5 the immense bulk which, with the overlong sinewy6 arms, the bushy eyebrows7 and the black-tufted cheek-bones irresistibly8 suggested some fierce and gigantic man-ape. Beneath the right eye a red and angry scar, a deep indentation in the cheek-bone, solved at a glance the mystery which had almost paralysed my brain. My brother's aim had failed. That hideous9 cicatrice, accentuating10 the leer of the bold menacing eyes and of the cruel mouth, told me beyond all possibility of doubt, that, out of the dim, dark past, Clubfoot had again arisen to confront me.
A sort of cold despair settled down upon me. That Clubfoot would, in his good time, shoot and shoot to kill I made no doubt; for we had been mortal enemies and quarter did not ever come into Grundt's reckoning. All kinds of odd scenes from my crowded life swarmed11 into my mind; dear old Francis serving in the tennis-court at Prince's; a juggler12 on the Maidan at Calcutta, when I was a subaltern in India; Do?a Luisa, standing13 in Bard's gardens and rolling her white eyeballs at me....
Then Clubfoot laughed, a dry mirthless chuckle14. The sound was forbidding enough but it braced15 me like a tonic16. I had beaten this man before; I would beat him again. I dropped my eyes, seeking to locate my pistol.
"Five paces back, if you please, Herr Major," rang out a commanding voice from the rock. "And, to save misunderstanding, let me say that it would add to the decorum of the proceedings17 if you renounced18 any attempt to find your weapon...." He spoke19 in German in accents of deadly suavity20. "On the occasion of our last meeting you—or was it your brother?—showed that your hand is the prompt servant of your brain, an invaluable21 asset (let me add in parenthesis) to the big-game hunter, but disconcerting in civilised society...."
What a commanding presence this man had! Again I was conscious of it as, before his slow and searching gaze, I fell back as ordered. He seemed to fill that narrow glen. This effect was not produced by his bulk (which was considerable) but by his amazing animal vitality22, the mental and physical vigour23 of some great beast of prey24.
Keeping me covered with his pistol, he lowered himself to a sitting position on the rock and with surprising agility25 in one crippled as he was, dropped heavily on to the slab26. In a lightning motion he stooped and whipped up my automatic which, with a whirling motion of the left hand, he sent flying away into the bush.
"Now, Okewood," he remarked, "you can sit down! But be good enough to keep your hands above your head!"
He gave me the lead by seating himself on the rocky slab. I followed his example and dropped on to the ground.
"Would you mind," I asked, "if I clasped my hands behind my head? Otherwise, the position is fatiguing27...."
"Not in the least," retorted Clubfoot, baring his teeth with a gleam of gold, "as long as you remember that I shoot quickly—and straight!"
He measured the distance between us with his eye and then, as though in deliberate challenge, laid his pistol down on the rock beside him. He produced a cigar case from his pocket.
"Nor do I!" he rejoined. "I believe you will find these as good as any that ever came out of Havana. Not long ago I was a highly respected member of the Club there!"
And he tossed his case across to me, after selecting a cigar for himself. I let it lie. I was not taking favours from this man.
Grundt raised his eyebrows and shrugged32 his shoulders. But he made no comment on my ungraciousness.
"Herr Major!" he said as he bit off the end of his cigar, "I must once more congratulate you on the supreme33 excellence34 of your country's Secret Service! The intelligence system which located this remote island as the hiding-place, real or imaginary, of treasure, is remarkable35! The resource you displayed in acquiring the document which now rests in the letter-case in your pocket does credit both to the service and yourself. My congratulations!"
Here he paused to light his cigar from a pocket-lighter and with lips pursed up, noisily exhaled36 a long puff37 of smoke, cocking his head to watch the smoke drift aloft. It was nonchalantly done. But I knew that in reality he was watching me.
I felt puzzled. Obviously, he was feeling his way; ergo, he was not sure of his ground. And he had no inkling, apparently38, of the aimless way in which I had stumbled upon this amazing adventure. He seemed to believe that I was en service commandé. Well, I could put up a bit of bluff39 on that....
"You will at least do us the justice," he resumed, "of not withholding40 your admiration41 of the way in which, as the result of careful planning, this pleasant reunion of to-day was achieved. The luck was on your side that night at Rodriguez, Herr Major; if my orders had been carried out, we should have spared ourselves—and you—this cruise in the Pacific...."
"You mean," I retorted, "that, if your spy had done his work properly, he would have cut my throat as well as that other poor fellow's and the woman's...."
"I can honestly say," observed Clubfoot, blinking his eyes benignly42 at me, "that I should have sincerely deplored43 such an eventuality...."—he paused and smiled expansively;—"at hands other than my own...."
My brain was working rapidly. Grundt was apparently alone. But, knowing the man, I guessed he had help in the vicinity to summon at need. Therefore, even if I could get past that gun of his, a frontal attack was out of the question. I wondered whether, if my return to camp were over-long delayed, Garth or Carstairs would come out in search of me. At best we were only three. Against how many? So far I only knew of two, the stranger at the graveside and Black Pablo. But to have brought a ship here from Rodriguez argued a crew. In any case we were hopelessly outnumbered....
"Now, Okewood," he said leaning forward and looking sharply at me, "I don't have to tell a man of your intuition and.... and imagination that the game is up. I shall be quite frank with you, jawohl. We are fourteen against you and your two companions. I am well acquainted with your movements, you see. And, to remove any misapprehension from your mind, let me say at once that I am not the only German in our company. You are not dealing45 exclusively with men of the calibre of Black Pablo whose minds are a confusion of murder and the soft allurements46 of love. You will be wise to capitulate gracefully47 and hand over that message which, incidentally, was never meant for you. And perhaps, since two heads are better than one—and, I have, as you know, the highest opinion of your intelligence—I might consider allowing you to help in working out the clue...."
Again that note of doubt! Then I realised that I was, after all, the only man, barring Dutchey who was dead, who had spoken to Adams. Apparently Clubfoot believed that I might have information as to the hiding-place of the treasure additional to the indications in the message. Now I began to understand the meaning of his honeyed words, his deadly suavity. And I guessed that he could not afford to kill me—at least, not yet.
"Grundt," said I, speaking with all the decision I could command, "if you think I'm going to work in with you, you're making a big mistake. On the contrary, I'm going to show you what it means for a German, after the Armistice48, to lay hands on an Allied49 subject. Your knowledge of our Intelligence service will tell you that it does not leave its agents unprotected...."
I broke off significantly and looked at him. Mine were brave words enough, though, the Lord knows, my heart was in my boots. But bluff, I have often noticed, has a heartening effect upon the bluffer50; and I was summoning all my strength to face whatever dark fate was in store for me. For I realised that, whether Grundt and his merry men found the treasure or not, either way my chances at long last of leaving the island alive were of the smallest.
"Quite, quite!" he observed carelessly. "But for the time being, my friend, let us not forget that you have to forgo52 that protection. An Engl?nder in the hand is worth two light cruisers in the Pacific. You take me?"
With his cigar thrust out at a defiant53 angle from his mouth, he planked his hairy hands palms downwards54 on his knees.
"I'll put the situation quite plainly before you!" he said. "You're in grave danger, Okewood. I've a rough lot of shipmates and they've got the treasure fever in their blood. My German companions have no liking55 for their dear English cousins. We have some survivors56 of von Spee's squadron; they are absurdly prejudiced against you and your race. The brother of the gentleman who wrote that message in your pocket is with me. He was an officer of the Gneisenau sunk by your Admiral Sturdee at the Falkland Islands...."
There came into my mind the picture of that blonde youth as I had seen him in the storm standing with bowed head at the grave.
"....We have the bo'sun of the Nürnberg, her sister vessel57, and a couple of Blaujacken of the Dresden who swam ashore58 after your Navy destroyed their ship off Juan Fernandez, besides various army veterans from France. And, my dear Okewood, I need scarcely tell you that, after the Somme and the Hindenburg Line, our brave 'eighty-fivers' dislike you British even as much as our sailormen do...."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"You must let me take my hands down, Herr Doktor," I said.
He glanced sharply at me, then picked up his pistol.
"Why?" he demanded fiercely.
"To get out my letter-case!"
"So, so!" he murmured, and his fleshy lips bared his yellow teeth in a cunning smile. "You have taken my advice. Gut61, gut!"
But then he flashed at me a look full of suspicion and menace.
"No tricks!" he warned in a harsh voice of command. "Himmelkreuzsakrament nochmal! If you play me false, you dog, I'll blow your brains all over the ravine! Now, bring your hands slowly down and remember, one suspicious gesture will cost you your life!"
"Calm yourself, Herr Doktor!" I rejoined. "I know when I am beaten!"
And I made to pitch the letter-case on to the slab at his side.
Ah, but he was the cautious one, was old Clubfoot.... cautious with that deadly thoroughness of the Germans that gave a fellow who fell into their hands in the war such a very slender chance. He was taking no risks. With an imperious gesture he stopped me and made me take out the message from the case myself.
"Now throw it on the ground in front of you and turn about!"
I dropped the little flannel-encased package at his feet and swung round. I heard the cripple grunt62 with excitement as he stooped; I could picture to myself the eagerness with which he snatched up the message. A moment's silence;—then he bade me face him again.
"I think you acted wisely," he said with his slow smile. "Bah! You hadn't a dog's chance. See....!"
He blew three short blasts on a silver whistle he drew from his waistcoat pocket. Immediately a little cloud of men broke out from the cover of the trees at his back.
There were, perhaps, half-a-dozen of them. They were a villainous-looking lot with the exception of a fresh-faced, clean-cut young man whose pink-and-white complexion63 and fair hair were in striking contrast with the swarthy features and stubbly chins of his companions. I knew him again for the man at the graveside. Another I particularly noticed was a squat64, obese65 fellow with a patch over one eye, the other dull and malevolent66. On his yellow jaundiced face a mass of blue-black stubble extended from the cheek-bones down to the loose folds of his double chin, while a twisted and flattened67 nose, which looked as though a heavy hand had tweaked it, lent a crowning touch of distortion to a face which was, I think, the vilest68 I have ever seen. From Adams's description I recognised Black Pablo.
Grundt halted them with an imperious gesture.
"Herr Major," he remarked sleekly69, "I need not detain you further. A word of advice to you, however, the counsel of a friend. Now that you will have the leisure to devote yourself to that Government survey work on which, of course, you came to Cock Island, I would suggest that you confine your activities to the shores of.... let me see, what was the name?.... ah yes, of Horseshoe Bay. The interior of this delightful70 island, so they tell me, is most unhealthy and I should be desolated71 were any accident to befall you."
He paused and meditatively72 fingered his heavy chin.
"Noch eins! If you should be tempted73 by some slight feeling of irritation74 at anything I have said or done to contemplate75 reprisals76 or anything calculated to interfere77 with the.... er, research work of myself and my companions, let me warn you that I have the means of very quickly bringing you...."—he stopped and added significantly,—"and your friend to your senses! Kinder!"
His voice rang triumphantly78 as he turned to his companions.
"Ich hab's!"
With a whoop79 of excitement the ragged80 band gathered about him. They had forgotten all about me, seemingly. I had a last glimpse of Grundt, leaning heavily on his stick, holding aloft in one great hairy paw the little square of oilsilk.
Dejectedly I slunk away.
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收听单词发音
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1
repudiate
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| v.拒绝，拒付，拒绝履行 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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obituary
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| n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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10
accentuating
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| v.重读( accentuate的现在分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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juggler
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| n. 变戏法者, 行骗者 | |
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13
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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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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15
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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18
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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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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20
suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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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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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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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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fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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32
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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40
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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42
benignly
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| adv.仁慈地，亲切地 | |
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43
deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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45
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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46
allurements
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| n.诱惑( allurement的名词复数 )；吸引；诱惑物；有诱惑力的事物 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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48
armistice
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| n.休战，停战协定 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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50
bluffer
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| n.用假像骗人的人 | |
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51
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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52
forgo
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| v.放弃，抛弃 | |
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53
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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54
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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55
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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56
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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57
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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58
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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59
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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sagely
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| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
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61
gut
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| n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏 | |
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62
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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63
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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64
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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obese
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| adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的 | |
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66
malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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68
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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69
sleekly
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| 光滑地，光泽地 | |
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70
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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71
desolated
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| adj.荒凉的，荒废的 | |
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72
meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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73
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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74
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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75
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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76
reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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77
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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78
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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79
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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80
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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