As it seemed highly improbable that there should have been a concerted action among so many wealthy and distinguished4 men to end their lives within a few weeks of each other, and all by the same method of drowning, we soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than that of suicide should have been rendered in the case of Henderson, Bigelow, and the other gentleman I have mentioned. Yet one fact, common to all these cases, pointed5 so conclusively6 to deliberate intention on the part of the sufferers that we hesitated to take action.
This was, that upon the body of each of the above-mentioned persons there were found, not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry7, but papers and memoranda8 of a nature calculated to fix the identity of the drowned man, in case the water should rob him of his personal characteristics. Consequently, we could not ascribe these deaths to a desire for plunder10 on the part of some unknown person.
I was a young man in those days, and full of ambition. So, though I said nothing, I did not let this matter drop when the others did, but kept my mind persistently11 upon it and waited, with odd results as you will hear, for another victim to be reported at police headquarters.
Meantime I sought to discover some bond or connection between the several men who had been found drowned, which would serve to explain their similar fate. But all my efforts in this direction were fruitless. There was no bond between them, and the matter remained for a while an unsolved mystery.
Suddenly one morning a clue was placed, not in my hands, but in those of a superior official who at that time exerted a great influence over the whole force. He was sitting in his private room, when there was ushered12 into his presence a young man of a dissipated but not unprepossessing appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment13, entered upon the following story:
“I don’t know whether or no I should offer an excuse for the communication I am about to make; but the matter I have to relate is simply this: Being hard up last night (for though a rich man’s son I often lack money), I went to a certain pawnshop in the Bowery where I had been told I could raise money on my prospects14. This place — you may see it some time, so I will not enlarge upon it — did not strike me favourably15; but, being very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, I wrote my name in a book which was brought to me from some unknown quarter and proceeded to follow the young woman who attended me into what she was pleased to call her good master’s private office.
“He may have been a good master, but he was anything but a good man. In short, sir, when he found out who I was, and how much I needed money, he suggested that I should make an appointment with my father at a place he called Groll’s in Grand Street, where, said he, ‘your little affair will be arranged, and you made a rich man within thirty days. That is,’ he slily added, ‘unless your father has already made a will, disinheriting you.’
“I was shocked, sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment16, not so much at his words, which I hardly understood, as at his looks, which had a world of evil suggestion in them; so I raised my fist and would have knocked him down, only that I found two young fellows at my elbows, who held me quiet for five minutes, while the old fellow talked to me. He asked me if I came to him on a fool’s errand or really to get money; and when I admitted that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew of but one way in which I could hope to get such an amount, and that if I was too squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in coming to his shop, which was no missionary17 institution, etc., etc.
“Not wishing to irritate him, for there was menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak show of being sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in Grand Street I should find this Groll.
“The retort was quick. ‘Groll is not his name,’ said he, ‘and Grand Street is not where you are to go to find him. I threw out a bait to see if you would snap at it, but I find you timid, and therefore advise you to drop the matter entirely18.’
“I was quite willing to do so, and answered him to this effect; whereupon, with a side glance I did not understand, but which made me more or less uneasy in regard to his intentions towards me, he motioned to the men who held my arms to let go their hold, which they at once did.
“‘We have your signature,’ growled19 the old man as I went out. ‘If you peach on us or trouble us in any way we will show it to your father and that will put an end to all your hopes of future fortune.’ Then raising his voice, he shouted to the girl in the outer office, ‘Let the young man see what he has signed.’
“She smiled and again brought forward the book in which I had so recklessly placed my name, and there at the top of the page I read these words: ‘For moneys received, I agree to notify Rube Goodman, within the month, of the death of my father, so that he may recover from me, without loss of time, the sum of ten thousand dollars as his part of the amount I am bound to receive as my father’s heir.’
“The sight of these lines knocked me hollow. But I am less of a coward morally than physically20, and I determined21 to acquaint my father at once with what I had done, and get his advice as to whether or not I should inform the police of my adventure. He heard me with more consideration than I expected, but insisted that I should immediately make known to you my experience in this Bowery pawnbroker23’s shop.”
The officer, highly interested, took down the young man’s statement in writing, and, after getting a more accurate description of the house itself, allowed his visitor to go.
Fortunately for me, I was in the building at the time, and was able to respond when a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking that I saw a connection between it and the various mysterious deaths of which I have previously24 spoken, I entered into the affair with much spirit. But, wishing to be sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions were correct, I took pains to inquire, before proceeding25 upon my errand, into the character of the heirs who had inherited the property of Elwood Henderson and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each case there was one among the rest who was well known for his profligacy26 and reckless expenditure27. It was a significant discovery, and increased, if possible, my interest in running down this nefarious28 trafficker in the lives of wealthy men.
Knowing that I could hope for no success in my character of detective, I made an arrangement with the father of the young gentleman before alluded29 to, by which I was to enter the pawnshop as an emissary of the latter. Accordingly, I appeared there, one dull November afternoon, in the garb30 of a certain Western sporting man, who, for a consideration, allowed me the temporary use of his name and credentials31.
Entering beneath the three golden balls, with the swagger and general air of ownership I thought most likely to impose upon the self-satisfied female who presided over the desk, I asked to see her boss.
“On your own business?” she queried32, glancing with suspicion at my short coat, which was rather more showy than elegant.
“No,” I returned, “not on my own business, but on that of a young gent ——”
“Any one whose name is written here?” she interposed, reaching towards me the famous book, over the top of which, however, she was careful to lay her arm.
I glanced down the page she had opened and instantly detected that of the young gentleman on whose behalf I was supposed to be there, and nodded “Yes,” with all the assurance of which I was capable.
“Come, then,” said she, ushering33 me without more ado into a den9 of discomfort34 where sat a man with a great beard and such heavy overhanging eyebrows35 that I could hardly detect the twinkle of his eyes, keen and incisive37 as they were.
Smiling upon him, but not in the same way I had upon the girl, I glanced behind me at the open door, and above me at the partitions, which failed to reach the ceiling. Then I shook my head and drew a step nearer.
“I have come,” I insinuatingly38 whispered, “on behalf of a certain party who left this place in a huff a day or so ago, but who since then has had time to think the matter over, and has sent me with an apology which he hopes”— here I put on a diabolical39 smile, copied, I declare to you, from the one I saw at that moment on his own lips —“you will accept.”
The old wretch40 regarded me for full two minutes in a way to unmask me had I possessed41 less confidence in my disguise and in my ability to support it.
“And what is this young gentleman’s name?” he finally asked.
For reply, I handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read the few lines written on it, after which he began to rub his palms softly together with an unction eminently43 in keeping with the stray glints of light that now and then found their way through his bushy eyebrows.
“And so the young gentleman had not the courage to come again himself?” he softly suggested, with just the suspicion of an ironical44 laugh. “Thought, perhaps, I would exact too much commission; or make him pay too roundly for his impertinent assurance.”
I shrugged45 my shoulders, but vouchsafed46 no immediate22 reply, and he saw that he had to open the business himself. He did it warily47 and with many an incisive question which would have tripped me up if I had not been very much on my guard; but it all ended, as such matters usually do, in mutual48 understanding, and a promise that if the young gentleman was willing to sign a certain paper, which, by the way, was not shown me, he would in exchange give him an address which, if made proper use of, would lead to my patron finding himself an independent man within a very few days.
As this address was the one thing I was most desirous of obtaining, I professed50 myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to hunt up my patron, as he was called. Informing him of the result of my visit, I asked if his interest in ferreting out these criminals was strong enough to lead him to sign the vile51 document which the pawnbroker would probably have in readiness for him on the morrow; and being told it was, we separated for that day, with the understanding that we were to meet the next morning at the spot chosen by the pawnbroker for the completion of his nefarious bargain.
Being certain that I was being followed in all my movements by the agents of this adept52 in villainy, I took care, upon leaving Mr. L— — to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I was personifying. Making myself square with the proprietor54 I took up my quarters in the room of my sporting friend, and the better to deceive any spy who might be lurking55 about, I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which, if they did not create confusion in the affairs of “The Plunger,” must at least have occasioned him no little work the next day.
Promptly57 at ten o’clock on the following morning I met my patron at the appointed place of rendezvous58; and when I tell you that this was no other than the ancient and now disused cemetery59 of which a portion is still to be seen off Chatham Square, you will understand the uncanny nature of this whole adventure, and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding death and horror. The scene, which in these days is disturbed by elevated railroad trains and the flapping of long lines of parti-coloured clothes strung high up across the quiet tombstones, was at that time one of peaceful rest, in the midst of a quarter devoted60 to everything for which that rest is the fitting and desirable end; and as we paused among the mossy stones, we found it hard to realise that in a few minutes there would be standing49 beside us the concentrated essence of all that was evil and despicable in human nature.
He arrived with a smile on his countenance61 that completed his ugliness, and would have frightened any honest man from his side at once. Merely glancing my way, he shuffled62 up to my companion, and leading him aside, drew out a paper which he laid on a flat tombstone with a gesture significant of his desire that the other should affix63 to it the required signature.
Meantime I stood guard, and while attempting to whistle a light air, was carelessly taking in the surroundings, and conjecturing64, as best I might, the reasons which had induced the old ghoul to make use of this spot for his diabolical business, and had about decided65 that it was because he was a ghoul, and thus felt at home among the symbols of mortality, when I caught sight of two or three young fellows who were lounging on the other side of the fence.
These were so evidently accomplices66 that I wondered if the two sly boys I had engaged to stand by me through this affair had spotted67 them, and would know enough to follow them back to their haunts.
A few minutes later, the old rascal68 came sneaking69 towards me, with a gleam of satisfaction in his half-closed eyes.
“You are not wanted any longer,” he grunted70. “The young gentleman told me to say that he could look out for himself now.”
“The young gentleman had better pay me the round fifty he promised me,” I grumbled71 in return, with that sudden change from indifference72 to menace which I thought best calculated to further my plans; and shouldering the miserable73 wretch aside, I stepped up to my companion, who was still lingering in a state of hesitation74 among the gravestones.
“Quick! Tell me the number and street which he has given you!” I whispered, in a tone quite out of keeping with the angry and reproachful air I had assumed.
He was about to answer, when the old fellow came sidling up behind us. Instantly the young man before me rose to the occasion, and putting on an air of conciliation75, said in a soothing76 tone:
“There, there, don’t bluster77. Do one thing more for me, and I will add another fifty to that I promised you. Conjure78 up an anonymous79 letter — you know how — and send it to my father, saying that if he wants to know where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to the place on the dock, opposite 5 South Street, some night shortly after nine. It would not work with most men, but it will with my father, and when he has been in and out of that place, and I succeed to the fortune he will leave me, then I will remember you, and ——”
“Say, too,” a sinister80 voice here added in my ear, “that if he wishes to effect an entrance into the gambling81 den which his son haunts, he must take the precaution of tying a bit of blue ribbon in his buttonhole. It is a signal meaning business, and must not be forgotten,” chuckled82 the old fellow, evidently deceived at last into thinking I was really one of his own kind.
I answered by a wink36, and taking care to attempt no further communication with my patron, I left the two, as soon as possible, and went back to the hotel, where I dropped “the sport,” and assumed a character and dress which enabled me to make my way undetected to the house of my young patron, where for two days I lay low, waiting for a suitable time in which to make my final attempt to penetrate83 this mystery.
I knew that for the adventure I was now contemplating84 considerable courage was required. But I did not hesitate. The time had come for me to show my mettle85. In the few communications I was enabled to hold with my superiors I told them of my progress and arranged with them my plan of work. As we all agreed that I was about to encounter no common villainy, these plans naturally partook of finesse86, as you will see if you follow my narrative87 to the end.
Early in the evening of a cool November day I sallied forth88 into the streets, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise42 of the wealthy old gentleman whose secret guest I had been for the last few days. As he was old and portly, and I young and spare, this disguise had cost me no little thought and labour. But assisted as I was by the darkness, I had but little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon the watch, especially as Mr. L—— had a peculiar89 walk, which, in my short stay with him, I had learned to imitate perfectly90. In the lapel of my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and, though for all I knew this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death, I walked along in a buoyant condition of mind, attributable, no doubt, to the excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers, even at the risk of my life.
It was nine o’clock when I reached South Street. It was no new region to me, nor was I ignorant of the specified91 drinking den on the dock to which I had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass of ship-prows and bow-rigging, and was possessed, besides, of a vague consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which had aroused my curiosity sufficiently92 in the past for me to have once formed the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which would allow me to give it some attention. But I never thought that the circumstances would involve my own life, impossible as it is for a detective to reckon upon the future or to foresee the events into which he will be hurried by the next crime which may be reported at police headquarters.
There were but few persons in the street when I crossed to The Heart’s Delight — so named from the heart-shaped opening in the framework of the door, through which shone a light, inviting93 enough to one chilled by the keen November air and oppressed by the desolate94 appearance of the almost deserted95 street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognised more than one familiar form, and felt reassured96 as to the watch which had been set upon the house.
The night was dark and the river especially so, but in the gloomy space beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than the rest, which I took for the police boat they had promised to have in readiness in case I needed rescue from the waterside. Otherwise the surroundings were as usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken sailor coming from a narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the somewhat lugubrious97 silence of this weird98 and forsaken100 spot.
Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which was about three stories high, and endeavoured to see what there was about it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the conclusion that it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet. And yet this beam was common to many a warehouse101 in the vicinity, though in none of them were there any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious mixture of sail loft102, boat shop, and drinking saloon, now before me. Could it be that the ban of criminality was upon the house, and that I had been conscious of this without being able to realise the cause of my interest?
Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and, finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For a moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere into which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague outlines of an oyster103 bar in the distance, and the motionless figures of some half-dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and card playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone, on the sanded floor near the door.
Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection104 of the place, I was struck by its picturesqueness105. It had evidently been once used as a ship chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly plastered, there still hung old bits of marlin, rusty106 rings, and such other evidences of former traffic as did not interfere107 with the present more lucrative108 business.
Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other at the lower end of the room near a window, through whose small, square panes110 I caught a glimpse of the coloured lights of a couple of ferryboats, passing each other in midstream.
At a table near me sat two men, grumbling111 at each other over a game of cards. They were large and powerful figures in the contracted space of this long and narrow room, and my heart gave a bound of joy as I recognised on them certain marks by which I was to know friend from foe112 in this possible den of thieves and murderers.
Two sailors at the bar were bona fide habitu?s of the place and so were the two other waterside characters I could faintly discern in one of the dim corners. Meantime a man was approaching me.
Let me see if I can describe him. He was about thirty, and had the complexion113 and figure of a consumptive, but his eye shone with the yellow glare of a beast of prey114, and in the cadaverous hollows of his ashen115 cheeks and amid the lines about his thin drawn116 lips there lay, for all his conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and yet so ferocious117 that I spotted him at once as the man to whose genius we were indebted for the new scheme of murder which I was jeopardising my life to understand. But I allowed none of the repugnance118 with which he inspired me to appear in my manner, and, greeting him with half a nod, waited for him to speak. His voice had that smooth quality which betrays the hypocrite.
“Has the gentleman any appointment here?” he asked, letting his glance fall for the merest instant on the lapel of my coat.
I returned a decided affirmative. “Or rather,” I went on, with a meaning look he evidently comprehended, “my son has, and I have made up my mind to know just what deviltry he is up to these days. I can make it worth your while to give me the opportunity.”
“Oh, I see,” he assented119 with a glance at the pocketbook I had just drawn out. “You want a private room from which you can watch the young scapegrace. I understand, I understand. But the private rooms are above. Gentlemen are not comfortable here.”
“I should say not,” I murmured, and drew from the pocketbook a bill which I slid quietly into his hand. “Now take me where I shall be safe,” I suggested, “and yet in full sight of the room where the young gentlemen play. I wish to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards ——”
“All will be well,” he finished smoothly120, with another glance at my blue ribbon. “You see I do not ask you the young gentleman’s name. I take your money and leave all the rest to you. Only don’t make a scandal, I pray, for my house has the name of being quiet.”
“Yes,” thought I, “too quiet!” and for an instant felt my spirits fail me. But it was only for an instant. I had friends about me and a pistol at half-cock in the pocket of my overcoat. Why should I fear any surprise, prepared as I was for every emergency?
“I will show you up in a moment,” said he; and left me to put up a heavy board shutter121 over the window opening on the river. Was this a signal or a precaution? I glanced towards my two friends playing cards, took another note of their broad shoulders and brawny122 arms, and prepared to follow my host, who now stood bowing at the other end of the room, before a covered staircase which was manifestly the sole means of reaching the floor above.
The staircase was quite a feature in the room. It ran from back to front, and was boarded all the way up to the ceiling. On these boards hung a few useless bits of chain, wire, and knotted ends of tarred ropes, which swung to and fro as the sharp November blast struck the building, giving out a weird and strangely muffled123 sound. Why did this sound, so easily to be accounted for, ring in my ears like a note of warning? I understand now, but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for developments out of the ordinary.
Crossing the room, I entered upon the staircase, in the wake of my companion. Though the two men at cards did not look up as I passed them, I noticed that they were alert and ready for any signal I might choose to give them. But I was not ready to give one yet. I must see danger before I summoned help, and there was no token of danger yet.
When we were about half-way up the stairs the faint light which had illuminated124 us from below suddenly vanished, and we found ourselves in total darkness. The door at the foot had been closed by a careful hand, and I felt, rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it.
My first impulse was to forsake99 my guide and rush back, but I subdued125 the unworthy impulse and stood quite still, while my companion, exclaiming, “Damn that fellow! What does he mean by shutting the door before we’re half-way up!” struck a match and lit a gas jet in the room above, which poured a flood of light upon the staircase.
Drawing my hand from the pocket in which I had put my revolver, I hastened after him into the small landing at the top of the stairs. An open door was before me, in which he stood bowing, with the half-burnt match in his hand. “This is the place, sir,” he announced, motioning me in.
I entered and he remained by the door, while I passed quickly about the room, which was bare of every article of furniture save a solitary126 table and chair. There was not even a window in it, with the exception of one small light situated127 so high up in the corner made by the jutting128 staircase that I wondered at its use, and was only relieved of extreme apprehension129 at the prison-like appearance of the place by the gleam of light which came through this dusty pane109, showing that I was not entirely removed from the presence of my foes130 if I was from that of my friends.
“Ah, you have spied the window,” remarked my host, advancing toward me with a countenance he vainly endeavoured to make reassuring131 and friendly. “That is your post of observation, sir,” he whispered, with a great show of mystery. “By mounting on the table you can peer into the room where my young friends sit securely at play.”
As it was not part of my scheme to show any special mistrust, I merely smiled a little grimly, and cast a glance at the table on which stood a bottle of brandy and one glass.
“Very good brandy,” he whispered; “not such stuff as we give those fellows downstairs.”
I shrugged my shoulders and he slowly backed towards the door.
“The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,” I suggested, with a careless wave of my hand towards the room he had mentioned.
“Oh, there is no one there yet. They begin to straggle in about ten o’clock.”
“Ah,” was my quiet rejoinder, “I am likely, then, to have use for your brandy.”
He smiled again and made a swift motion towards the door.
“If you want anything,” said he, “just step to the foot of the staircase and let me know. The whole establishment is at your service.” And with one final grin that remains in my mind as the most threatening and diabolical I have ever witnessed, he laid his hand on the knob of the door and slid quickly out.
It was done with such an air of final farewell that I felt my apprehensions132 take a positive form. Rushing towards the door through which he had just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his stealthy feet descend133 the stair. But when I sought to follow, I found myself for the second time overwhelmed by darkness. The gas jet, which had hitherto burned with great brightness in the small room, had been turned off from below, and beyond the faint glimmer134 which found its way through the small window of which I have spoken, not a ray of light now disturbed the heavy gloom of this gruesome apartment.
I had thought of every contingency135 but this, and for a few minutes my spirits were dashed. But I soon recovered some remnants of self-possession, and began feeling for the knob I could no longer see. Finding it after a few futile136 attempts, I was relieved to discover that this door at least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand, I listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered137 sound of men talking in the room below.
Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine as to how men passed from this room into the watery138 grave which was the evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon.
Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow, and in some way, in mortal peril139. Would it come in the form of a bullet, or a deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred140 constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavouring to trace to this den of iniquity141.
None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness and make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy. Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps — but why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing happened, signal my companions to raid the house.
Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry and overwhelmed, I leaped down, and, stretching out my hands till they touched the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the knob of the door, which I frantically142 clutched. But I did not turn it immediately, I was too anxious to catch these villains143 at work.
Would I be conscious of the harm they meditated144 against me, or would I imperceptibly yield to some influence of which I was not yet conscious, and drop to the floor before I could draw my revolver or put to my mouth the whistle upon which I depended for assistance and safety? It was hard to tell, but I determined to cling to my first intention a little longer, and so stood waiting and counting the minutes, while wondering if the captain of the police boat was not getting impatient, and whether I had not more to fear from the anxiety of my friends than the cupidity145 of my foes.
You see, I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat by certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us. But the lack of windows in the room had made all such arrangements futile, so I knew as little of their actions as they did of my sufferings; all of which did not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position.
However, I held out for a half-hour, listening, waiting, and watching in a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt, and when the suspense146 grew intolerable I struck a match and let its blue flame flicker147 for a moment over the face of my watch. But the matches soon gave out and with them my patience, if not my courage, and I determined to end the suspense by knocking at the door beneath.
This resolution taken, I pulled open the door before me and stepped out. Though I could see nothing, I remembered the narrow landing at the top of the stairs, and, stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding on either hand, guiding myself by it, and began to descend, when something rising, as it were, out of the cavernous darkness before me made me halt and draw back in mingled148 dread149 and horror.
But the impression, strong as it was, was only momentary150, and, resolved to be done with the matter, I precipitated151 myself downward, when suddenly, at about the middle of the staircase, my feet slipped and I slid forward, plunging152 and reaching out with hands whose frenzied153 grasp found nothing to cling to, down a steep inclined plane — or what to my bewildered senses appeared such — till I struck a yielding surface and passed with one sickening plunge56 into the icy waters of the river, which in another moment had closed dark and benumbing above my head.
It was all so rapid I did not think of uttering a cry. But happily for me the splash I made told the story, and I was rescued before I could sink a second time.
It was full half an hour before I had sufficiently recovered from the shock to relate my story. But when once I had made it known, you can imagine the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the house and confound the obliging host with a sight of my dripping garments and accusing face. And, indeed, in all my professional experience I have never beheld154 a more sudden merging155 of the bully156 into a coward than was to be seen in this slick villain53’s face, when I was suddenly pulled from the crowd and placed before him, with the old man’s wig157 gone from my head, and the tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat.
His game was up, and he saw it; and Ebenezer Gryce’s career had begun.
Like all destructive things the device by which I had been run into the river was simple enough when understood. In the first place it had been constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute. The latter was in plain sight when it was used by the sailmakers to run the finished sails into the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure, and for some time before, the possibilities of the place had been discovered by mine host, who had ingeniously put a partition up the entire stairway, dividing the steps from the smooth runway. At the upper part of the runway he had built a few steps, wherewith to lure158 the unwary far enough down to insure a fatal descent. To make sure of his game he had likewise ceiled the upper room all around, including the inclosure of the stairs.
The door to the chute and the door to the stairs were side by side, and being made of the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible when closed, while the single knob that was used, being transferable from one to the other, naturally gave the impression that there was but one door. When this adroit159 villain called my attention to the little window around the corner, he no doubt removed the knob from the stairs’ door and quickly placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another door, connecting the two similar landings without, explains how he got from the chute staircase into which he passed on leaving me, to the one communicating with the room below.
The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured; but to this day — and I am an old man now — I have not forgotten the horror of the moment when my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself sliding downward, without hope of rescue, into a pit of heaving waters, where so many men of conspicuous160 virtue161 had already ended their valuable lives.
Myriad162 thoughts flashed through my brain in that brief interval163, and among them the whole method of operating this death-trap, together with every detail of evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire gang.
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2
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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3
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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4
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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5
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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6
conclusively
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| adv.令人信服地，确凿地 | |
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7
jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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8
memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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9
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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10
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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11
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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12
ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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14
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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15
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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16
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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17
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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18
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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19
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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20
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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21
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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22
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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23
pawnbroker
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| n.典当商，当铺老板 | |
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24
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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25
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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26
profligacy
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| n.放荡，不检点，肆意挥霍 | |
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27
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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28
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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29
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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31
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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32
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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33
ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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34
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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35
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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36
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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37
incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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38
insinuatingly
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39
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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40
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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41
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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42
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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43
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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44
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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45
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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46
vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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47
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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48
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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49
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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50
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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51
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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52
adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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53
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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54
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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55
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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56
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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57
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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58
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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59
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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60
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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61
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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62
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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63
affix
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| n.附件，附录 vt.附贴，盖(章)，签署 | |
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64
conjecturing
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| v. & n. 推测，臆测 | |
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65
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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66
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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67
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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68
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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69
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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70
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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71
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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72
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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73
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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74
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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75
conciliation
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| n.调解，调停 | |
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76
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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77
bluster
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| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
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78
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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79
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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80
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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81
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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82
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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84
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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85
mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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86
finesse
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| n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕 | |
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87
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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88
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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89
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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90
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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91
specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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92
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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93
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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94
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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95
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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96
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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97
lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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98
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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99
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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100
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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101
warehouse
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| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
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102
loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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103
oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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104
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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105
picturesqueness
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106
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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107
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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108
lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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109
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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110
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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111
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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112
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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113
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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114
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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115
ashen
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| adj.灰的 | |
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116
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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117
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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118
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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119
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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120
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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121
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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122
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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123
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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124
illuminated
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|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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125
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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126
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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127
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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128
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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129
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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130
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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131
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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132
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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133
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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134
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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143
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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144
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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146
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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148
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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151
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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152
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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153
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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154
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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155
merging
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| 合并（分类） | |
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156
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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158
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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adroit
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| adj.熟练的，灵巧的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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161
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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162
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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