"Hold tight," I bade her, "and whatever you do don't look down!"—for at that height the clear drop down the side of the cliff was enough to make an Alpine1 guide dizzy. Looking steadfastly2 ahead and fighting down a horrible feeling of giddiness I carried the girl up the path and at length stood upon the ledge3.
It curved round the face of the rock, a mere4 shelf not more than two paces wide but slanting5 inwards, which improved one's foothold. From it the face of the cliff dropped sheerly to the nullah hundreds of feet below. I ventured a peep over the side and my brain fairly swam; for I am no hand at heights. From somewhere above us a great bird suddenly went up with a vast flutter and, with a few strokes of its powerful wings, propelled itself through the air until level with us it hovered7 motionless at an immense height above the stony8 valley.
"I'm going to set you down now," I said to the girl. "Lie quite still and don't move until I come back. I'm going along the ledge a bit to see if it broadens out at all or if there's a cave."
As gently as I could I put her down. The wind blew invigoratingly on the pinnacle9 of the crag and I hoped it would revive her. I stood and listened. No sound came from below. But I knew that until I found a spot from which we could survey the ascent10 we should not be safe.
I edged my way along the shelf as it curved round the rock. A few steps brought me in sight of its termination. It ended in nothing; but what caught my eyes was the tall pillar chiselled11 out of the rock upon which the flash from my mirror had rested. Beside it was a low opening in the back wall of the cliff.
The pillar was merely a high expanse of "dressed" stone, as the masons say, which had been carved out of the soft surface of the peak. From pictures I had seen of the images on Easter Island I knew it to be the first state of one of those uncouth12 effigies13, relics14 of a departed era, which are found in more than one island of the Southern Seas. The pillar was not inscribed15 or carved in any way. It stood just as some native mason had left it waiting for the sculptor's hand.
A touch on my shoulder; Marjorie stood at my side.
"I'm a poor kind of soldier, partner," she said, "to fail you at the critical moment. I was at the last gasp16 when you picked me up. How ever did you manage to bring me up here?"
"Don't ask me," I laughed. "I was terrified for fear you'd look over and get scared...."
"I don't mind heights," the girl rejoined simply, "we live a great part of the year in our place in Wales, you know, and I've done quite a lot of climbing in my time. Oh! Look! Did you ever see anything so wonderful?"
We were side by side on the ledge with our backs to the pillar and as she spoke17 she stretched forth18 her hand and pointed19 across the valley. Above the jagged crests21 of various isolated22 peaks in the foreground a gigantic solitary23 image raised its tall black form against the deep azure24 of the ocean which was spread out to the horizon. Its back set to the sea, its features, stern and enigmatic in expression, turned towards us, and clearly visible in that transparent25 atmosphere, it dominated the little rocky plateau on which it stood, dwarfing26 the tremendous blocks of stone strewn about its base. Before it, as if from a sacrificial altar, a thin spiral of black smoke slowly mounted aloft against the blue sky. It seemed to rise from the ground at the foot of the effigy27.
It was, in truth, a wonderful sight, a spectacle of sheer majesty28. That lonely Colossus with its cruel face seemed to embody29 the suggestion of sinister30 mystery which, I had felt from the first, brooded over Cock Island....
"This island frightens me!" she said. "To think of that awful-looking image standing32 there gazing out across the valley for all these hundreds of years as if it were waiting for something. Somehow it reminds me of that club-footed man, so hard, so ruthless, so.... patient! Grundt makes my blood run cold!...."
He had not molested33 her, it appeared. When I had left her to enter our cave on the beach, men had suddenly surrounded her and carried her away to the sheds. There she had been handed to the custody34 of the mulatto who had locked her in the room behind the galley35 where I had found her.
"At meal-times," she added, "they brought me out to their open-air mess in the space between the huts. No one spoke to me. But they eyed me silently, especially Dr. Grundt. He always seems to be thinking, that man, and I'm sure his thoughts are wicked. And the man they call Black Pablo! He kept edging towards me and leering with his one eye. Oh! It was horrible...." She had seen nothing of Custrin since her encounter with him in the forest.
Clubfoot, she told me, had had some trouble with his men. They were grumbling36 at him for having let me go. The Germans, especially the blonde young officer, were particularly bitter. But Clubfoot had rounded on them and said that, as long as there were trees on the island to hang mutineers on, he would have no questioning of his authority.
Somewhere in the green tangle37 of woods far below us a single shot rang out sharply. The report went reverberating38 down the valley and from the tree-tops a cloud of birds swooped39 up affrighted. I did not hear the flight of the bullet so I could not see that the shot was meant for us. Yet there were only Clubfoot's men on the island now. Was Grundt asserting his authority?
The girl had dropped to her knees, and now seated herself cross-legged on the ground.
"If you and I are partners," said she, "don't you think the time has come to take me into your confidence?"
She invited me with a gesture to seat myself by her side. I glanced down at the valley. Below us and to the left the ascending40 path twice wound into view. From our coign of vantage one might infallibly pick off anyone who tried to push our position from the path. Though I was inclined to think that the gang had had their fill of fighting for the day, I was glad to be in a position from which their next move must be unerringly revealed to me.
I followed the girl's invitation; for I was very weary. To tell the truth, I welcomed the chance of resting quietly for a spell. I needed to think out the grave difficulties besetting41 us. It was clear that we could not stay where we were, for I had only five rounds of ammunition42 left. And Marjorie, who sat by my side, her rich brown hair blowing out in the wind, her eyes fixed43 dreamily on the hideous44 image staring sardonically45 across the valley at us; I had to think of her. Henceforth, any risk I took must inevitably46 imperil her safety.... it was a horrid47 thought.
When would the Naomi come back? And could we risk holding out till the promised gun announced her return? She could not arrive at the earliest before the evening, I calculated.
I brought out the meat and bread I had taken from the galley and we ate it together, side by side. Although the sun had not long risen, there was already a heat in its rays which warned me of what its noon-day fierceness would be. And I was keenly alive to the fact that we had no water.
"I can see by your face," said Marjorie suddenly, "that you are worrying about me. And I want to be a help, not an impediment. I made you an offer of partnership48 once before!"
"I know," I rejoined, "but I didn't know you then...."
"I was so anxious to help," she said. "And you would tell me nothing!"
"I'm afraid I don't know much about women," I said.
"Major Okewood," exclaimed the girl, turning round and looking me full in the face, "you surprise me!"
"It's true...." I began.
But Marjorie laughed merrily.
"You're too delightful49 for words," she said. "Why, my dear man, if you understood women you'd have...."
She broke off hastily and added:
"There are only two kinds of men: those who say they do understand women and don't and those who admit they don't and don't. But all the same don't you think it's rather insulting to one's intelligence to find a man locking up his secrets in his heart simply because he's read or heard somewhere that a woman is not to be trusted?"
I looked at her with interest. This young girl, with her ridiculous clump50 of reddish brown hair, her slim straight limbs, her calm child-like eyes, made me feel like a naughty little boy being reprimanded by his mummy.
"Yes," I said limply. "I suppose it is!"
For a minute her eyes encountered mine, and in them I read her reproach. She dropped them almost at once and a sort of embarrassment51 silenced us. Then it suddenly occurred to me that she and I were alone; I wondered to find that neither the prospect52 of spending the night, maybe several nights, in the company of a man of whom she knew next to nothing, nor the danger to which she was exposed, had shaken her out of her serenity53. This girl was full of character. My wish, that poor man's wish which I had hardly dared to admit to myself on board the Naomi, rose to my mind with such force that I felt the blood mount to my face.
But Marjorie took my hand and patted it as she might have patted a child's.
"Tell me about your mission!" she said.
I kept her hand and seated at her side in the shade of that ancient pillar, with the fresh breeze caressing54 our faces, I told her how Fate had put into my hands the message left by Ulrich von Hagel for Clubfoot and his gang. I described to her my efforts to unravel55 the cipher56 which I repeated to her.
"How does it go in German?" she asked; for I had given her the English version.
"You know German?" said I.
She nodded.
"I used to have a German Fr?ulein," she answered. "She was a dear old thing and as a small girl I often went over to Boppard to stay with her people. I knew German rather well."
"Well," said I, "here goes!"
"Flimmer', flimmer' viel
"Die Garnison von Kiel
"Mit Kompass dann am besten
"Am Zuckerhut vorbei
"Siehst Du die Lorelei...."
I broke off suddenly.
"By Jove!" I exclaimed. "By—Jove!"
I have spoken of the peaks which stood up in the valley between us and the stone image. The words of von Hagel's doggerel58 sent my gaze roving interrogatively across the open space and presently it fell upon a tall slender rock with a smoothly59 rounded crest20 which raised itself erect60 in the foreground. And it dawned upon me that there was The Sugar Loaf of which von Hagel spoke.
I glanced across the valley from right to left, past the image frowning through the wisp of smoke at its foot, to where other peaks raised their crests aloft to the blue sky.
Suddenly I turned to Marjorie.
"If you've been to Boppard," I said, "you must know the Lorelei. Look where I am pointing and tell me if you see any rock which resembles it!"
Leaning over until her hair brushed my cheek the girl followed my pointing finger.
"Why, yes!" she exclaimed, "that square grey rock leaning over is rather like the Lorelei...."
At last I felt that I was within measurable distance of the end of my quest. But between me and my goal was interposed that unsurmountable four-barred obstacle, those enigmatical notes of music.
I had identified the peaks, but what did they signify? What bearing had they on the hiding place of the treasure? I felt utterly61 nonplussed62 and, for the first time, discouraged.
"What does it mean?" asked Marjorie at my elbow. "What has the Lorelei to do with the treasure?"
I laughed rather bitterly.
"If I were a musician," I answered, "I should probably be able to tell you. As I am not...."
"Please don't be mysterious," the girl bade me. "Tell me what you mean."
I told her of the four bars of music.
"They're part of some German tune63 or other," I told her. "It's vaguely64 familiar to me, but I'm blessed if I can put any words to it. And I take it that the words are the thing!"
"Can you hum the melody over to me?" asked Marjorie.
Singing is not my forte65. A combination of bashfulness and a cigarette-smoker's throat produce from my larynx when I attempt to sing sounds which I have always felt must be acutely distressing66 to my hearers. But Marjorie listening gravely with her head on one side, made me repeat my performance.
Then she said:
"But do you know you're trying to sing a song that was all the rage in Germany when I was there just before the war. Listen! I'll sing it to you!"
And in a clear young voice she sang:
"Püppchen, Du bist mein Augenstern
"Püppchen, hab' Dich zum Essen gern."
Then she checked herself suddenly and clutched my arm. "'Püppchen!'" she said. "Oh, partner, don't you see?"
"No!" I replied dejectedly. "I confess I don't! I know that 'püppchen' means a 'doll' or a 'little doll' but I really don't see...."
Marjorie raised her hand and pointed a slender finger at the saturnine67 image on the opposite side of the valley, seen between the Lorelei on the left and the Sugar Loaf on the right.
"There's your doll!" she said.
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收听单词发音
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1
alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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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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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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7
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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8
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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chiselled
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| adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 ) | |
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12
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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effigies
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| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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15
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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16
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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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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18
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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21
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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22
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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24
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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25
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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26
dwarfing
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| n.矮化病 | |
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27
effigy
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| n.肖像 | |
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28
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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29
embody
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| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
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30
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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31
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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32
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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33
molested
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| v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵 | |
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34
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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35
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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36
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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38
reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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39
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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41
besetting
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| adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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42
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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43
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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44
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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45
sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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46
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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47
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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48
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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49
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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50
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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51
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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52
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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53
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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54
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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55
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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56
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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57
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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58
doggerel
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| n.拙劣的诗，打油诗 | |
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59
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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60
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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61
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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62
nonplussed
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| adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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64
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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65
forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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66
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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67
saturnine
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| adj.忧郁的，沉默寡言的，阴沉的，感染铅毒的 | |
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68
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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