T. X. came from Downing Street at 11 o'clock one night, and hisheart was filled with joy and gratitude1.
He swung his stick to the common danger of the public, but thepoliceman on point duty at the end of the street, who saw him,recognized and saluted2 him, did not think it fit to issue anyofficial warning.
He ran up the stairs to his office, and found Mansus reading theevening paper.
"My poor, dumb beast," said T. X. "I am afraid I have kept youwaiting for a very long time, but tomorrow you and I will take alittle journey to Devonshire. It will be good for you, Mansus -where did you get that ridiculous name, by the way!""M. or N.," replied Mansus, laconically3.
"I repeat that there is the dawn of an intellect in you," said T.
X., offensively.
He became more serious as he took from a pocket inside hiswaistcoat a long blue envelope containing the paper which had costhim so much to secure.
"Finding the revolver was a master-stroke of yours, Mansus," hesaid, and he was in earnest as he spoke4.
The man coloured with pleasure for the subordinates of T. X. lovedhim, and a word of praise was almost equal to promotion5. It wason the advice of Mansus that the road from London to Lewes hadbeen carefully covered and such streams as passed beneath thatroad had been searched.
The revolver had been found after the third attempt betweenGatwick and Horsley. Its identification was made easier by thefact that Vassalaro's name was engraved6 on the butt7. It wasrather an ornate affair and in its earlier days had been silverplated; the handle was of mother-o'-pearl,"Obviously the gift of one brigand8 to another," was T. X.'scomment.
Armed with this, his task would have been fairly easy, but when tothis evidence he added a rough draft of the threatening letterwhich he had found amongst Vassalaro's belongings9, and which hadevidently been taken down at dictation, since some of the wordswere misspelt and had been corrected by another hand, the case wascomplete.
But what clinched10 the matter was the finding of a wad of thatpeculiar chemical paper, a number of sheets of which T. X. hadignited for the information of the Chief Commissioner11 and the HomeSecretary by simply exposing them for a few seconds to the lightof an electric lamp.
Instantly it had filled the Home Secretary's office with a pungentand most disagreeable smoke, for which he was heartily12 cursed byhis superiors. But it had rounded off the argument.
He looked at his watch.
"I wonder if it is too late to see Mrs. Lexman," he said.
"I don't think any hour would be too late," suggested Mansus.
"You shall come and chaperon me," said his superior.
But a disappointment awaited. Mrs. Lexman was not in and neitherthe ringing at her electric bell nor vigorous applications to theknocker brought any response. The hall porter of the flats whereshe lived was under the impression that Mrs. Lexman had gone outof town. She frequently went out on Saturdays and returned on theMonday and, he thought, occasionally on Tuesdays.
It happened that this particular night was a Monday night and T.
X. was faced with a dilemma13. The night porter, who had only thevaguest information on the subject, thought that the day portermight know more, and aroused him from his sleep.
Yes, Mrs. Lexman had gone. She went on the Sunday, an unusual dayto pay a week-end visit, and she had taken with her two bags. Theporter ventured the opinion that she was rather excited, but whenasked to define the symptoms relapsed into a chaos14 of incoherent"you-knows" and "what-I-means.""I don't like this," said T. X.,suddenly. "Does anybody know thatwe have made these discoveries?""Nobody outside the office," said Mansus, "unless, unless . . . ""Unless what?" asked the other, irritably15. "Don't be a jimp,Mansus. Get it off your mind. What is it?""I am wondering," said Mansus slowly, "if the landlord at GreatJames Street said anything. He knows we have made a search.""We can easily find that out," said T. X.
They hailed a taxi and drove to Great James Street. Thatrespectable thoroughfare was wrapped in sleep and it was some timebefore the landlord could be aroused. Recognizing T. X. hechecked his sarcasm16, which he had prepared for a keyless lodger,and led the way into the drawing room.
"You didn't tell me not to speak about it, Mr. Meredith," he said,in an aggrieved17 tone, "and as a matter of fact I have spoken tonobody except the gentleman who called the same day.""What did he want?" asked T. X.
"He said he had only just discovered that Mr. Vassalaro had stayedwith me and he wanted to pay whatever rent was due," replied theother.
"What like of man was he?" asked T. X.
The brief description the man gave sent a cold chill to theCommissioner's heart.
"Kara for a ducat!" he said, and swore long and variously.
"Cadogan Square," he ordered.
His ring was answered promptly18. Mr. Kara was out of town, hadindeed been out of town since Saturday. This much the man-servantexplained with a suspicious eye upon his visitors, rememberingthat his predecessor19 had lost his job from a too confidingfriendliness with spurious electric fitters. He did not know whenMr. Kara would return, perhaps it would be a long time and perhapsa short time. He might come back that night or he might not.
"You are wasting your young life," said T. X. bitterly. "Youought to be a fortune teller20.""This settles the matter," he said, in the cab on the way back.
"Find out the first train for Tavistock in the morning and wirethe George Hotel to have a car waiting.""Why not go to-night?" suggested the other. "There is themidnight train. It is rather slow, but it will get you there bysix or seven in the morning.""Too late," he said, "unless you can invent a method of gettingfrom here to Paddington in about fifty seconds."The morning journey to Devonshire was a dispiriting one despitethe fineness of the day. T. X. had an uncomfortable sense thatsomething distressing21 had happened. The run across the moor22 inthe fresh spring air revived him a little.
As they spun23 down to the valley of the Dart24, Mansus touched hisarm.
"Look at that," he said, and pointed25 to the blue heavens where, amile above their heads, a white-winged aeroplane, looking nolarger than a very distant dragon fly, shimmered26 in the sunlight.
"By Jove!" said T. X. "What an excellent way for a man to escape!""It's about the only way," said Mansus.
The significance of the aeroplane was borne in upon T. X. a fewminutes later when he was held up by an armed guard. A glance athis card was enough to pass him.
"What is the matter?" he asked.
"A prisoner has escaped," said the sentry27.
"Escaped - by aeroplane?" asked T. X.
"I don't know anything about aeroplanes, sir. All I know is thatone of the working party got away."The car came to the gates of the prison and T. X. sprang out,followed by his assistant. He had no difficulty in finding theGovernor, a greatly perturbed28 man, for an escape is a very seriousmatter.
The official was inclined to be brusque in his manner, but againthe magic card produced a soothing29 effect.
"I am rather rattled," said the Governor. "One of my men has gotaway. I suppose you know that?""And I am afraid another of your men is going away, sir," said T.
X., who had a curious reverence30 for military authority. Heproduced his paper and laid it on the governor's table.
"This is an order for the release of John Lexman, convicted undersentence of fifteen years penal31 servitude."The Governor looked at it.
"Dated last night," he said, and breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Thank the Lord! - that is the man who escaped!"
收听单词发音 |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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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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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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