Abel Slattin shrugged1 his shoulders, racially, and returned to the armchair which he had just quitted. He reseated himself, placing his hat and cane2 upon my writing-table.
Smith raised himself up out of the white cane chair, and, bending forward over a corner of the table, scribbled4 busily upon a sheet of notepaper with my fountain-pen.
The while he did so, I covertly5 studied our visitor. He lay back in the armchair, his heavy eyelids6 lowered deceptively. He was a thought overdressed—a big man, dark-haired and well-groomed, who toyed with a monocle most unsuitable to his type. During the preceding conversation, I had been vaguely7 surprised to note Mr. Abel Slattin's marked American accent.
Sometimes, when Slattin moved, a big diamond which he wore upon the third finger of his right hand glittered magnificently. There was a sort of bluish tint8 underlying9 the dusky skin, noticeable even in his hands but proclaiming itself significantly in his puffy face and especially under the eyes. I diagnosed a labouring valve somewhere in the heart system.
Nayland Smith's pen scratched on. My glance strayed from our Semitic caller to his cane, lying upon the red leather before me. It was of most unusual workmanship, apparently10 Indian, being
[58]
made of some kind of dark brown, mottled wood, bearing a marked resemblance to a snake's skin; and the top of the cane was carved in conformity11, to represent the head of what I took to be a puff-adder, fragments of stone, or beads12, being inserted to represent the eyes, and the whole thing being finished with an artistic13 realism almost startling.
When Smith had tossed the written page to Slattin, and he, having read it with an appearance of carelessness, had folded it neatly14 and placed it in his pocket, I said:
"You have a curio here?"
Our visitor, whose dark eyes revealed all the satisfaction which, by his manner, he sought to conceal15, nodded and took up the cane in his hand.
"It comes from Australia, doctor," he replied; "it's aboriginal16 work, and was given to me by a client. You thought it was Indian? Everybody does. It's my mascot17."
"Really?"
"It is indeed. Its former owner ascribed magical powers to it! In fact, I believe he thought that it was one of those staffs mentioned in biblical history—"
"Aaron's rod?" suggested Smith, glancing at the cane.
"You will 'phone us, then?" asked my friend.
"You will hear from me to-morrow," was the reply.
Smith returned to the cane armchair, and Slattin, bowing to both of us, made his way to the door as I rang for the girl to show him out.
"Considering the importance of his proposal," I began, as the door closed, "you hardly received our visitor with cordiality."
"I hate to have any relations with him," answered my friend; "but we must not be squeamish respecting
[59]
our instruments in dealing19 with Dr. Fu-Manchu. Slattin has a rotten reputation—even for a private inquiry20 agent. He is little better than a blackmailer—"
"How do you know?"
"Because I called on our friend Weymouth at the Yard yesterday and looked up the man's record."
"Whatever for?"
"I knew that he was concerning himself, for some reason, in the case. Beyond doubt he has established some sort of communication with the Chinese group; I am only wondering—"
"You don't mean—"
"Yes—I do, Petrie! I tell you he is unscrupulous enough to stoop even to that."
No doubt Slattin knew that this gaunt, eager-eyed Burmese commissioner21 was vested with ultimate authority in his quest of the mighty22 Chinaman who represented things unutterable, whose potentialities for evil were boundless23 as his genius, who personified a secret danger, the extent and nature of which none of us truly understood. And, learning of these things, with unerring Semitic instinct he had sought an opening in this glittering Rialto. But there were two bidders24!
"You think he may have sunk so low as to become a creature of Fu-Manchu?" I asked, aghast.
"Exactly! If it paid him well I do not doubt that he would serve that master as readily as any other. His record is about as black as it well could be. Slattin is, of course, an assumed name; he was known as Lieutenant25 Pepley when he belonged to the New York Police, and he was kicked out of the service for complicity in an unsavoury Chinatown case."
"Chinatown!"
"Yes, Petrie, it made me wonder, too; and we must not forget that he is undeniably a clever scoundrel."
[60]
"Shall you keep any appointment which he may suggest?"
"Undoubtedly26. But I shall not wait until to-morrow."
"What!"
"I propose to pay a little informal visit to Mr. Abel Slattin to-night."
"At his office?"
"No; at his private residence. If, as I more than suspect, his object is to draw us into some trap, he will probably report his favourable27 progress to his employer to-night!"
"Then we should have followed him!"
"He has been followed, Petrie," he replied, with one of his rare smiles. "Two C.I.D. men have been watching the house all night!"
"By the way," I said, "you saw Eltham this morning. He will soon be convalescent. Where, in Heaven's name, can he—"
"Don't be alarmed on his behalf, Petrie," interrupted Smith. "His life is no longer in danger."
I stared, stupidly.
"No longer in danger!"
"He received, some time yesterday, a letter, written in Chinese, upon Chinese paper, and enclosed in an ordinary business envelope, having a typewritten address and bearing a London postmark."
"Well?"
"As nearly as I can render the message in English it reads: 'Although, because you are a brave man, you would not betray your correspondent in China, he has been discovered. He was a mandarin30, and as I cannot write the name of a traitor31, I may not name him. He was executed four days ago. I salute32 you and pray for your speedy recovery.—Fu-Manchu.'"
[61]
"Fu-Manchu! But it is almost certainly a trap."
"On the contrary, Petrie, Fu-Manchu would not have written in Chinese unless he were sincere; and, to clear all doubt, I received a cable this morning reporting that the Mandarin Yen-Sun-Yat was assassinated33 in his own garden, in Nan-Yang, one day last week."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
cane
|
|
| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
scribbled
|
|
| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
covertly
|
|
| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
eyelids
|
|
| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
tint
|
|
| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
underlying
|
|
| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
conformity
|
|
| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
beads
|
|
| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
artistic
|
|
| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
aboriginal
|
|
| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
mascot
|
|
| n.福神，吉祥的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
commissioner
|
|
| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
boundless
|
|
| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
bidders
|
|
| n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
favourable
|
|
| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
divested
|
|
| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
Mandarin
|
|
| n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
traitor
|
|
| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
salute
|
|
| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
assassinated
|
|
| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |