"Preopojensky, but by a circuitous1 route," said Malinkoff, speaking across the chauffeur2. "What about the wires?"
He looked up at the telegraph lines, looping from pole to pole, and Malcolm thrust his head into the window of the limousine3 to communicate this danger to the sybaritic Mr. Bim, who was spraying himself with perfume from a bottle he had found in the well-equipped interior of the car.
"Stop," said Cherry. "We're well away from Moscow."
At a word from Malinkoff the chauffeur brought the car to a standstill and Cherry slipped out, revolver in hand.
Then to the amazement4 of Malcolm and the unfeigned admiration5 of the general, Cherry Bim made good his boast. Four times his gun cracked and at each shot a line broke.
"To be repeated at intervals," said Cherry, climbing into the car. "Wake me in half an hour," and, curling himself up in the luxurious6 depths of swansdown cushions, he fell asleep.
Happily Malinkoff knew the country to an inch. They were not able to avoid the villages without avoiding the roads, but they circumnavigated the towns. At nightfall they were in the depths of a wood which ran down to the edge of the big lake on which the holy village of Preopojensky stands.
"The chauffeur is not the difficulty I thought he would be," reported Malinkoff; "he used to drive Korniloff in the days when he was a divisional general, and he is willing to throw in his lot with ours."
"Can you trust him!" asked Malcolm.
"I think so," said Malinkoff, "unless we shoot him we simply must trust him--what do you think, Mr. Bim?"
"You can call me Cherry," said that worthy7. He was eating bread and sour cheese which had been bought at a fabulous8 price in one of the villages through which they had passed. Here again they might have been compelled to an act which would have called attention to their lawless character, for they had no money, had it not been for Cherry. He financed the party from the lining9 of his waistcoat (Malcolm remembered that the little man had never discarded this garment, sleeping or waking) and made a casual reference to the diamonds which had gone to his account via a soi-disant princess and the favourite of a Commissary.
"Anyway," he said, "we could have got it from the chauffeur--he's open to reason."
They did not ask him what argument he would have employed, but were glad subsequently that these arguments had not been used.
What was as necessary as food was petrol. Peter the chauffeur said that there were big army supplies in Preopojensky itself, and undertook to steal sufficient to keep the car running for a week.
They waited until it was dark before they left the cover of the wood, and walked in single file along a cart-track to the half a dozen blinking lights that stood for Preopojensky.
The car they had pulled into deeper cover, marking the place with a splinter of mirror broken from its silver frame.
"Nothing like a mirror," explained Cherry Bim. "You've only to strike a match, and it shows a light for you."
The way was a long one, but presently they came to a good road which crossed the track at right angles, but which curved round until it ran parallel with the path they had followed.
"There is the military store," whispered the chauffeur. "I will go now, my little general."
"I trust you, _drushka_," said Malinkoff.
"By the head of my mother I will not betray you," said the man, and disappeared in the darkness.
After this they held a council of war.
"So far as I can remember, Petroff is the silk merchant," said Malinkoff, "and his house is the first big residence we reach coming from this direction. I remember it because I was on duty at the Coronation of the Emperor, and his Imperial Majesty10 came to Preopojensky, which is a sacred place for the Royal House. Peter the Great lived here."
Luck was with them, for they had not gone far before they heard a voice bellowing11 a mournful song, and came up with its owner, a worker in the silk mills (they had long since ceased to work) who was under the influence of methylated spirit--a favourite tipple12 since vodka had been ukased out of existence.
"Ivan Petroff, son of Ivan?" he hiccoughed.
"Yes, my little dove, it is there. He is a boorjoo and an aristocrat13, and there is no Czar and no God!--_prikanzerio_--it is ordered by the Soviet14!..."
And he began to weep
"No Czar and no God! Long live the Revolution! Evivo! No blessed saints and no Czar! And I was of the Rasholnik!..."
They left him weeping by the roadside.
"The Rasholniks are the dissenters15 of Russia--this village was a hotbed of them, but they've gone the way of the rest," said Malinkoff sadly.
The house they approached was a big wooden structure ornamented16 with perfectly17 useless cupolas and domes18, so that Malcolm thought at first that this was one of the innumerable churches in which the village abounded19.
There was a broad flight of wooden stairs leading to the door, but this they avoided. A handful of gravel20 at a likely-looking upper window seemed a solution. The response was immediate21. Though no light appeared, the window swung open and a voice asked softly:
"Who is that?"
"We are from Irene," answered Malcolm in the same tone.
The window closed, and presently they heard a door unfastened and followed the sound along the path which ran close to the house. It was a small side door that was opened, and Malcolm led the way through.
Their invisible host closed the door behind them, and they heard the clink of a chain.
"If you have not been here before, keep straight on, touching22 the wall with your right hand. Where it stops turn sharply to the right," said the unknown rapidly.
They followed his directions, and found the branch passage.
"Wait," said the voice.
The man passed them. They heard him turn a handle.
"Straight ahead you will find the door."
They obeyed, and their conductor struck a match and lit an oil lamp. They were in the long room--they guessed that by the glow of the closed stove they had seen as they entered.
The windows were heavily shuttered and curtained, and even the door was hidden under a thick portiere. The man who had brought them in was middle-aged23 and poorly dressed, but then this was a time when everybody in Russia was poorly dressed, and his shabbiness did not preclude24 the possibility of his being the proprietor25 of the house, as indeed he was.
He was eyeing them with suspicion, not wholly unjustified, for the patent respectability of Cherry's Derby hat was no compensation for the armoury belted about his rotund middle.
But when the man's eyes fell upon Malinkoff, his whole demeanour changed, and he advanced with outstretched hand.
"General Malinkoff," he said, "you remember me; I entertained you at----"
"At Kieff! Of course!" smiled Malinkoff. "I did not know the Ivan Petroff of Moscow was the Ivan of the Ukraine."
"Now, gentlemen, what is your wish?" asked the man, and Malinkoff explained the object of the visit.
Petroff looked serious.
"Of course, I will do anything her Highness wishes," he said. "I saw her yesterday, and she told me that she had a dear friend in St. Basil." Malcolm tried to look unconcerned under Malinkoff's swift scrutiny26 and failed. "But I think she wished you to meet another--guest."
He paused.
"He has gone into Moscow to-night against my wishes," he said with trouble in his face; "such an old man----"
"Kensky?" said Malcolm quickly.
"Kensky." The tone was short. "I told him that no good would come of it--her Highness was married to-night."
Malcolm took a step forward, but it was an unsteady step.
"Married?" he repeated. "To whom was she married?"
Petroff looked down at the floor as though he dare not meet the eye of any man and say so monstrous27 a thing.
"To the servant Boolba," he said.
收听单词发音 |
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circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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limousine
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| n.豪华轿车 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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tipple
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| n.常喝的酒；v.不断喝，饮烈酒 | |
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aristocrat
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| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
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Soviet
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| adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃 | |
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dissenters
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| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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preclude
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| vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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