When Captain Bream, as before mentioned, was obliged to hurry off to London, and forsake1 the Miss Seawards, as well as his theological studies, he hastened to that portion of the city where merchants and brokers2, and money-lenders, and men of the law do love to congregate3.
Turning down Cheapside the captain sought for one of the many labyrinths4 of narrow streets and lanes that blush unseen in that busy part of the Great Hive.
“Only a penny, sir, only a penny.”
The speaker was an ill-conditioned man, and the object offered for sale was a climbing monkey of easily deranged7 mechanism8.
“Do you suppose,” said the captain, who, being full of anxious thought was for the moment irascible, “do you suppose that I am a baby?”
“Oh! dear no, sir. From appearances I should say you’ve bin6 weaned some little time—only a penny, sir. A nice little gift for the missus, sir, if you ain’t got no child’n.”
“Can you direct me,” said the captain with a bland9 look—for his tempers were short-lived—“to Brockley Court?”
“First to the left, sir, second to the right, straight on an’ ask again—only a penny, sir, climbs like all alive, sir.”
Dropping a penny into the man’s hand with a hope that it might help the monkeys to climb, Captain Bream turned into the labyrinth5, and soon after found himself in a dark little room which was surrounded by piles of japanned tin boxes, and littered with bundles of documents, betokening10 the daily haunt of a man-of-law.
The lawyer himself—a bland man with a rugged11 head, a Roman nose and a sharp eye—sat on a hard-bottomed chair in front of a square desk. Why should business men, by the way, subject themselves to voluntary martyrdom by using polished seats of hard-wood? Is it with a view to doing penance12 for the sins of the class to which they belong?
“Have you found her, Mr Saker?” asked Captain Bream, eagerly, on entering.
“No, not got quite so far as that yet—pray sit down; but we have reason to believe that we have got a clue—a slight one, indeed, but then, the information we have to go upon in our profession is frequently very slight—very slight indeed.”
“True, too true,” assented13 the captain. “I sometimes wonder how, with so little to work on at times, you ever begin to go about an investigation14.”
The lawyer smiled modestly in acknowledgment of the implied compliment.
“We do, indeed, proceed on our investigations15 occasionally with exceeding little information to go upon, but then, my dear sir, investigation may be said to be a branch of our profession for which we are in a manner specially16 trained. Let me see, now.”
He took up a paper, and, opening it, began to read with a running commentary:—
“Fair hair, slightly grey; delicate features, complexion17 rather pale, brown eyes, gentle manners.”
“That’s her—that’s her!” from the captain.
“Age apparently18 a little over thirty. You said, I think, that your sister was—”
“Yes, yes,” interrupted the captain in some excitement, “she was considerably19 younger than me, poor girl!”
“Let me, however, caution you, my dear sir, not to be too sanguine20,” said the man-of-law, looking over his spectacles at his client; “you have no idea how deceptive21 descriptions are. People are so prone22 to receive them according to their desires rather than according to fact.”
“Well, but,” returned the captain, with some asperity23, “you tell me that this woman has fair hair slightly grey, delicate features, pale complexion, brown eyes, and gentle manners, all of which are facts!”
“True, my dear sir, but they are facts applicable to many women,” replied the solicitor24. “Still, I confess I have some hope that we have hit upon the right scent25 at last. If you could only have given us the name of her husband, our difficulty would have been comparatively slight. I suppose you have no means of hunting that up now. No distant relative or—”
“No, none whatever. All my relations are dead. She lived with an old aunt at the time, who died soon after the poor girl’s foolish elopement, leaving no reference to the matter behind her. It is now fifteen years since then. I was away on a long voyage at the time. On my return, the old lady, as I have said, was dead, and her neighbours knew nothing except that my sister was reported to have run away with a seafaring man. Some who had seen him about the place said he seemed to be beneath her in station but none knew his name.”
“Is it not strange,” asked the solicitor, “that she has never in all these years made inquiries26 about you at the mercantile house which employed you?”
“Well, not so strange as it would seem, for my sister’s memory for names was a bad one. She used constantly to forget the name of the ship I commanded, and, as far as I can remember, did not trouble herself about the owners. I have no doubt she must have made many efforts to discover me—unless she was ashamed of having made a low match. At all events,” added the captain, with a weary sigh, “I have never ceased to make inquiries about her, although I have not until now made the attempt through a lawyer. But where is this person you have heard of to be found?”
“On board of an emigrant27 ship,” said the solicitor.
“Where bound for?” demanded the captain in peat surprise.
“For Australia, and she sails the day after to-morrow, I am told.”
“Her name!” cried the captain, starting up.
“Calm yourself, my dear sir. I have made all needful arrangements for your going off to-morrow. It is too late to-day. Sit down and let me explain; and, above all, bear in mind that this may turn out to be a wrong scent after all. Of course you may surmise28 that we lawyers obtain our information from many and various sources. The source whence the information concerning your matter has come is peculiar29, namely, a lay-missionary who is going to visit the ship to-morrow—having some friends on board. Happening to meet the man the other day, I mentioned your matter to him. He is a very sharp-witted man, and one whose accuracy of observation I should trust implicitly30, even if his own interests were involved. Well, he said that on board of the steam-ship Talisman31, now lying off Gravesend, he saw that very day a woman among the steerage emigrants32 who answered to my description exactly, and added that he had heard her spoken of as the wife of a somewhat dissipated man, who had all the appearance of a seafaring person, named Richards. Of course I attach no importance to the name, as you say you never knew it, but his being a sailor-like man, and the fact that he was probably beneath his wife in station, coupled with the correct description of the wife, while it does not justify33 our being too sanguine, raises our hopes, you see—”
“I see, I see—yes. I beg that you will give me the agent’s name and address,” cried the captain, whose hopes, despite the guarded and cautious statements of the solicitor, had been raised to the highest point.
“Here is his name, with the part of the river where you are to meet him,” said the calm man of law, handing his client a slip of paper; “but let me, my dear sir, impress on you the advisability of not allowing yourself to become too sanguine. Disappointments are invariably more severe in cases where expectations have been too high; and I fear that you may be already building too trustfully upon the very slender foundation supplied by this information.”
Admitting the force of this truism, and putting the slip of paper in his purse, Captain Bream bade his solicitor good-bye, with many protestations of undying gratitude34, and left the room with the highest possible hopes of success.
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1
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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2
brokers
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| n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排… | |
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3
congregate
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| v.(使)集合，聚集 | |
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labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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6
bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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deranged
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| adj.疯狂的 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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9
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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betokening
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的现在分词 ) | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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13
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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16
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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17
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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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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implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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talisman
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| n.避邪物，护身符 | |
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32
emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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33
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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34
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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