There were four long windows opening on to a veranda6 which commanded a view of part of the rose garden and of three terraced lawns descending8 to a lake upon which I perceived a number of swans. Beyond, in the valley, lay verdant9 pastures, where cattle grazed. A lark10 hung carolling blithely11 far above, and the sky was almost cloudless. I could hear a steam reaper12 at work somewhere in the distance. This, with the more intimate rattle13 of a lawn-mower wielded14 by a gardener who was not visible from where I stood, alone disturbed the serene15 silence, except that presently I detected the droning of many bees among the roses. Sunlight flooded the prospect16; but the veranda lay in shadow, and that long, oaken room was refreshingly17 cool and laden18 with the heavy perfume of the flowers.
From the windows, then, one beheld19 a typical English summer-scape, but the library itself struck an altogether more exotic note. There were many glazed20 bookcases of a garish21 design in ebony and gilt22, and these were laden with a vast collection of works in almost every European language, reflecting perhaps the cosmopolitan23 character of the colonel’s household. There was strange Spanish furniture upholstered in perforated leather and again displaying much gilt. There were suits of black armour24 and a great number of Moorish25 ornaments26. The pictures were fine but sombre, and all of the Spanish school.
One Velasquez in particular I noted27 with surprise, reflecting that, assuming it to be an authentic28 work of the master, my entire worldly possessions could not have enabled me to buy it. It was the portrait of a typical Spanish cavalier and beyond doubt a Menendez. In fact, the resemblance between the haughty29 Spanish grandee30, who seemed about to step out of the canvas and pick a quarrel with the spectator, and Colonel Don Juan himself was almost startling. Evidently, our host had imported most of his belongings31 from Cuba.
“Gentlemen,” he said, as we entered, “make yourselves quite at home, I beg. All my poor establishment contains is for your entertainment and service.”
He drew up two long, low lounge chairs, the arms provided with receptacles to contain cooling drinks; and the mere32 sight of these chairs mentally translated me to the Spanish Main, where I pictured them set upon the veranda of that hacienda which had formerly33 been our host’s residence.
Harley and I became seated and Colonel Menendez disposed himself upon a leather-covered couch, nodding apologetically as he did so.
“My health requires that I should recline for a certain number of hours every day,” he explained. “So you will please forgive me.”
“My dear Colonel Menendez,” said Harley, “I feel sure that you are interrupting your siesta34 in order to discuss the unpleasant business which finds us in such pleasant surroundings. Allow me once again to suggest that we postpone35 this matter until, shall we say, after dinner?”
“No, no! No, no,” protested the Colonel, waving his hand deprecatingly. “Here is Pedro with coffee and some curaçao of a kind which I can really recommend, although you may be unfamiliar36 with it.”
I was certainly unfamiliar with the liqueur which he insisted we must taste, and which was contained in a sort of square, opaque37 bottle unknown, I think, to English wine merchants. Beyond doubt it was potent38 stuff; and some cigars which the Spaniard produced on this occasion and which were enclosed in little glass cylinders39 resembling test-tubes and elaborately sealed, I recognized to be priceless. They convinced me, if conviction had not visited me already, that Colonel Don Juan Sarmiento Menendez belonged to that old school of West Indian planters by whom the tradition of the Golden Americas had been for long preserved in the Spanish Main.
We discussed indifferent matters for a while, sipping40 this wonderful curaçao of our host’s. The effect created by the Colonel’s story faded entirely41, and when, the latter being unable to conceal42 his drowsiness43, Harley stood up, I took the hint with gratitude44; for at that moment I did not feel in the mood to discuss serious business or indeed business of any kind.
“Gentlemen,” said the Colonel, also rising, in spite of our protests, “I will observe your wishes. My guests’ wishes are mine. We will meet the ladies for tea on the terrace.”
Harley and I walked out into the garden together, our courteous45 host standing46 in the open window, and bowing in that exaggerated fashion which in another might have been ridiculous but which was possible in Colonel Menendez, because of the peculiar grace of deportment which was his.
As we descended47 the steps I turned and glanced back, I know not why. But the impression which I derived48 of the Colonel’s face as he stood there in the shadow of the veranda was one I can never forget.
His expression had changed utterly49, or so it seemed to me. He no longer resembled Velasquez’ haughty cavalier; gone, too, was the debonnaire bearing, I turned my head aside swiftly, hoping that he had not detected my backward glance.
I felt that I had violated hospitality. I felt that I had seen what I should not have seen. And the result was to bring about that which no story of West Indian magic could ever have wrought50 in my mind.
The look which I had detected upon his face was an indefinable, an indescribable look; but I had seen it in the eyes of one who had been bitten by a poisonous reptile52 and who knew his hours to be numbered. It was uncanny, unnerving; and whereas at first the atmosphere of Colonel Menendez’s home had seemed to be laden with prosperous security, now that sense of ease and restfulness was gone—and gone for ever.
“Harley,” I said, speaking almost at random53, “this promises to be the strangest case you have ever handled.”
“Promises?” Paul Harley laughed shortly. “It is the strangest case, Knox. It is a case of wheels within wheels, of mystery crowning mystery. Have you studied our host?”
“Closely.”
“And what conclusion have you formed?”
“None at the moment; but I think one is slowly crystalizing.”
“Hm,” muttered Harley, as we paced slowly on amid the rose trees. “Of one thing I am satisfied.”
“What is that?”
“That Colonel Menendez is not afraid of Bat Wing, whoever or whatever Bat Wing may be.”
“Not afraid?”
“Certainly he is not afraid, Knox. He has possibly been afraid in the past, but now he is resigned.”
“Resigned to what?”
“Resigned to death!”
“Good God, Harley, you are right!” I cried. “You are right! I saw it in his eyes as we left the library.”
Harley stopped and turned to me sharply.
“You saw this in the Colonel’s eyes?” he challenged.
“I did.”
“Which corroborates54 my theory,” he said, softly; “for I had seen it elsewhere.”
“Where do you mean, Harley?”
“In the face of Madame de Stämer.”
“What?”
“Knox”—Harley rested his hand upon my arm and looked about him cautiously—“she knows.”
“But knows what?”
“That is the question which we are here to answer, but I am as sure as it is humanly possible to be sure of anything that whatever Colonel Menendez may tell us to-night, one point at least he will withhold55.”
“What do you expect him to withhold?”
“The meaning of the sign of the Bat Wing.”
“Then you think he knows its meaning?”
“He has told us that it is the death-token of Voodoo.”
I stared at Harley in perplexity.
“Then you believe his explanation to be false?”
“Not necessarily, Knox. It may be what he claims for it. But he is keeping something back. He speaks all the time from behind a barrier which he, himself, has deliberately56 erected57 against me.”
“I cannot understand why he should do so,” I declared, as he looked at me steadily58. “Within the last few moments I have become definitely convinced that his appeal to you was no idle one. Therefore, why should he not offer you every aid in his power?”
“Why, indeed?” muttered Harley.
“The same thing,” I continued, “applies to Madame de Stämer. If ever I have seen love-light in a woman’s eyes I have seen it in hers, to-day, whenever her glance has rested upon Colonel Menendez. Harley, I believe she literally59 worships the ground he walks upon.”
“She does, she does!” cried my companion, and emphasized the words with beats of his clenched60 fist. “It is utterly, damnably mystifying. But I tell you, she knows, Knox, she knows!”
“You mean she knows that he is a doomed man?”
Harley nodded rapidly.
He glanced at me swiftly, and his bronzed face wore a peculiar expression.
“Yes,” I said. “Surely you remember that you found me chatting with her when you returned from your inspection63 of the tower.”
“I remember perfectly64 well, but I thought you might have just met. Now it appears to me, Knox, that you have quickly established yourself in the good books of a very charming girl. My only reason for visiting the tower was to afford you just this opportunity! Don’t frown. Beyond reminding you of the fact that she has been on intimate terms with Madame de Stämer for some years, I will not intrude65 in any way upon your private plans in that direction.”
I stared at him, and I suppose my expression was an angry one.
“Surely you don’t misunderstand me?” he said. “A cultured English girl of that type cannot possibly have lived with these people without learning something of the matters which are puzzling us so badly. Am I asking too much?”
“I see what you mean,” I said, slowly. “No, I suppose you are right, Harley.”
“Good,” he muttered. “I will leave that side of the enquiry in your very capable hands, Knox.”
He paused, and began to stare about him.
“From this point,” said he, “we have an unobstructed view of the tower.”
We turned and stood looking up at the unsightly gray structure, with its geometrical rows of windows and the minaret-like gallery at the top.
“Of course”—I broke a silence of some moments duration—“the entire scheme of Cray’s Folly is peculiar, but the rooms, except for a uniformity which is monotonous66, and an unimaginative scheme of decoration which makes them all seem alike, are airy and well lighted, eminently67 sane68 and substantial. The tower, however, is quite inexcusable, unless the idea was to enable the occupant to look over the tops of the trees in all directions.”
“Yes,” agreed Harley, “it is an ugly landmark69. But yonder up the slope I can see the corner of what seems to be a very picturesque70 house of some kind.”
“I caught a glimpse of it earlier to-day,” I replied. “Yes, from this point a little more of it is visible. Apparently71 quite an old place.”
I paused, staring up the hillside, but Harley, hands locked behind him and chin lowered reflectively, was pacing on. I joined him, and we proceeded for some little distance in silence, passing a gardener who touched his cap respectfully and to whom I thought at first my companion was about to address some remark. Harley passed on, however, still occupied, it seemed, with his reflections, and coming to a gravel72 path which, bordering one side of the lawns, led down from terrace to terrace into the valley, turned, and began to descend7.
“Let us go and interview the swans,” he murmured absently.
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1
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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7
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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8
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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9
verdant
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| adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的 | |
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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11
blithely
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| adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地 | |
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reaper
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| n.收割者，收割机 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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14
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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15
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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refreshingly
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| adv.清爽地，有精神地 | |
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18
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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19
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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20
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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21
garish
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| adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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23
cosmopolitan
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| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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24
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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moorish
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| adj.沼地的，荒野的，生[住]在沼地的 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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grandee
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| n.贵族；大公 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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siesta
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| n.午睡 | |
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postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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38
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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40
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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41
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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42
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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43
drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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46
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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47
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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48
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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49
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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50
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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51
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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52
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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53
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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54
corroborates
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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55
withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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57
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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58
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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60
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
divulge
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| v.泄漏(秘密等)；宣布，公布 | |
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62
enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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66
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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69
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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70
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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71
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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