If there had ever been any gendarmes8 bold enough to regularly patrol this gruesome thoroughfare, these heroes were certainly not in evidence now. They must either have gone directly to war[180] or were on guard in some more prosperous locality.
In fact, this dilapidated neighborhood appeared to be generally deserted9, for even of prowlers not a one up to the minute had given a sign of open movement in the long square.
There had been a lamplighter at the crossing, however, and that was something on which to hang a belief that there might be more of his kind further on.
“Say, Henri, I don’t believe graveyards10 were mentioned in the directions Gilbert gave you.”
“This is no joke, Jimmy, and you would never have seen the like in Paris if it wasn’t for the war. To save my life, though, I can’t imagine where all the people that belong here could have gone.”
“There are some that we might not care to meet after dark,” suggested Billy.
As they talked the boys were groping their way over the rough cobbles toward the one promise—meaning the lamp-post.
As they passed, single file, the blank front of a tenement11 where the crooked12 street curved inward, a crouching13, cat-like something leaped from the rear upon Henri’s shoulders, and clawing fingers sought his throat.
Henri wildly struggling to break the strangle hold of the wiry arms, and bewildered by the shock[181] of sudden assault, made no outcry, and Billy, next in line, did not realize for an instant or two what had happened to his comrade.
He felt a loose stone under his foot in the worn and broken pavement, in a second made a weapon of it, and poised14 alert to strike at the assailant of his chum. The streak15 of lamplight was so flickering16 and uncertain, and Henri being dragged further and further into the deepest shadow of the overhanging doorway—the web of the human spider—that Billy feared to risk a chance blow.
In the meantime, Jimmy and Reddy, warned by quick ears, had turned to face the shuffling18 charge of another creature of the night. There were more of the spiders, it seemed.
Billy found an opening to lay a sounding whack19 with the flat stone on the back of the writhing20 thing that hung upon the shoulders of his friend, and such was the force of the blow that Henri was freed for a moment from the horrid21 embrace.
He struck out blindly for himself and knocked the bundle of rags into a shrunken heap upon the pavement. The fallen creature uttered an acute, piercing sound, and slinking shapes responded, front and rear.
Reddy had used a French close-fighting trick, and planted a kick under the chin of the assailant with whom Jimmy and himself were contending, and the English boy made his count with a straight-from-the-shoulder[182] right blow right on the beak22 of another onrushing shape.
“Together, boys! Together!”
Billy’s fighting blood was up.
The four closed in, dashed forward several yards and backed against the door of the tenement just around the curve and where the street ran straight. This gave them the advantage of all the light the crossing lamp-post afforded. It was not much, but as Jimmy panted, it “helped some.”
The house where the boys presented determined23 front to the now swarming24 human spiders was apparently25 of a far better class than the tumble-down hovels in the row around the curve—a contrast so often presented in the big cities. It rose to a height of four stories, of brick with stone trimmings. But every shutter26 in the front was tightly closed, and if occupied there was no light nor sound to indicate the fact.
Hemmed27 in by the menacing circle, the boys mounted heel by heel, never turning their heads, the stone steps of the house, rising to the wide and solid oak door with a brass28 knocker projecting from its panels.
Here was the last stand against the spider crew—no way of retreat.
The ragged17 gang were muttering ugly threats in the mixed language of the slums, and knives were[183] gripped in every hand. They were preparing for an overpowering rush upon their prey.
The boys knew that without other defense29 than their fists and their feet they had no show at all to stop an attack in force.
“Give the high note for help, Reddy.”
Henri had heard the little Frenchman’s “high note” in the hills of the Meuse, and it was a ringer.
“Secours! Secours!” (Help! Help!)
The immediate31 response was the cast of a knife, which whizzed close to the head of the shrieker32 and struck, shivering, in a door panel.
“I’d give something big for a gun,” offered Billy when repeated yells for help in chorus had counted for nothing.
“Here they come!” shouted Henri.
“Let ’em think we’re still in the ring.”
Billy followed the words by heaving the paving stone, which he had retained for the finish, into the thick of the leaping spiders.
Pressed against the door, the boys gave up all hope of escaping the knives of their assailants.
Suddenly the door swung back, the boys fell into the opening like a cluster of ninepins scattered34 by a bowling35 ball, and as quickly the door slammed[184] shut in the faces of the baffled spiders. The boys heard the settling sound of heavy bolts in their sockets36.
The hall into which the four had tumbled with so little ceremony was sable37 black to the sight, and with the settling of the bolts as silent as the grave.
“If this isn’t about the rummest go yet, I don’t know what,” was Billy’s stage whisper, as he rubbed a bruised38 elbow.
“If there’s any next to this, lead me to it quick.”
“You have cause to be on your knees to the Power above that you were delivered from that canaille (mob) outside. They would have left only your bones for the rats to knaw.”
Thus were the boys solemnly addressed, in deep voice, by some person unseen, but near them, in the dark recesses40 of the hall.
The speaker was then revealed as he opened a door of a lighted room.
A man of almost imperial bearing, but white-haired and slightly bent41 with age, wearing a skull42 cap of velvet43 and a long study gown of the same material.
The room into which the boys were invited was typical of the scholar, the open books on the table,[185] under the shaded lamp, and the hundreds of volumes displayed in wall-cases.
Unknown to them, the boys stood in the presence of one of the most eminent44 philosophers of the age.
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1
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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gargoyle
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| n.笕嘴 | |
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glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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7
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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8
gendarmes
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| n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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10
graveyards
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| 墓地( graveyard的名词复数 )； 垃圾场； 废物堆积处； 收容所 | |
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tenement
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| n.公寓；房屋 | |
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12
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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14
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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15
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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16
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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19
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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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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beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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24
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 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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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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27
hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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29
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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30
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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31
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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32
shrieker
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| 尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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34
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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35
bowling
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| n.保龄球运动 | |
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36
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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38
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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39
aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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40
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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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
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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43
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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44
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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