Behind him, far away where the white caps marked the encircling mountains of the Simplon, the storm must be raging furiously, he thought. More than once a gust2 of the wind, tearing through a breach3 of the southern spurs, had flung him headlong, as a leaf is whirled by the winter blast. There had been a time when all sensation left him, when hands and feet were stiff and powerless; when the very skin of his face was as dried parchment. He made light of that, for the kindlier country lay before him, and if he gained it, this were not too high a price to pay.
His landmarks4 were few. He had set off from Sierre while the twilight5 remained and had crossed the pass above Brigue at a great height and remote from danger of the peaks. He turned thence a little to the southward, and saw the smiling country for an instant as the sun sank finally, and the night crept about him. For an hour afterwards there had been the black darkness, the biting cold, the anger of the winds. Then a spell of silence intervened. He seemed to be lost in the shadows, gone from the world, drifted to the eternal darkness. But he held on resolutely6, praying for the light.
When the light came at last, no panorama7 of a splendid imagination could have surpassed the wonder of it. It was as though an unseen hand cleft8 a wall before him and showed him a magic city. Countless9 stars glowed beneath a panoply10 of mountains. To the right, to the left, look where he would, the lamps shone a welcome—here in clusters to speak of a town; there apart to tell of a high road. And Benny knew that they were lights about Lake Maggiore, and that the battle was won.
Such good fortune as this had been in his mind from the outset, and he reckoned upon the chance. Let him espy11 the lights of the lake from a sufficient altitude, and his own skill would do the rest. The shanty12 lay almost opposite to Magadino, and if a man could not name Magadino when the lake lay illuminated13 far beneath him, then was he no fit pilot for an airship.
Benny placed the town at once, working up from the southward, past the islands of the Borromeos to Locarno and the mountains. He thought that he could have dropped a stone upon the very shanty—and laughed at himself for the boast.
There was a great acetylene lamp at the prow14 of his ship, and it burned brightly enough as he began to sweep down toward the lake. Long afterwards the simple folk were to tell how a star had fallen from the north and shone gloriously above the Virgin's Church at Ascona. Others would have it that a fireball, monstrous15 beyond any of the fables16, had come down and settled a while upon the slope of the mountain opposite Magadino. The whole country round about was golden with the flame of it, they said, while the sounds attending it were unlike anything earthly. But one old fellow, and he a fisherman of Losone, actually saw the machine descend; he believed that the veritable dragon, which the saint slew17, had come to life again, and he ran headlong.
Benny landed about a third of a mile from the chalet. He chose a gentle slope of the hill, and came down without much damage—but he could not help the reflection that the flight might cost him a good deal of money before he had done with it, and that it would be no light undertaking18 to get the machine across the pass again. This, however, was the thought of an instant, and when he had seen to his engine, turned off the petrol, and done what he could to make things ship-shape, he went on to the shanty without further delay, and was at its garden gate in less than twenty minutes from the time of his descent.
It was a pretty little house, gabled and covered in summer with the great flowers of the begonia. Possessing a good frontage to the lake, there was also a boathouse and landing-stage—the former having a smoking-room built right out over the water. On the other side there ran the high road to Losone on the one hand, and to Ronco on the other. In summer this road was alive with the motor cars of the Americans doing Europe in five-and-twenty minutes; but a night of winter found it deserted19 enough, and not a soul was to be discerned, either in the little village above the shanty or upon the highway itself. Benny had hoped to meet some friend or neighbour among the villagers who would have helped him to guard the airship; but finding none, he determined21 to telephone to Ascone directly it was safe to do so—and with that in his head he opened the garden gate and went in.
The consummation of a perilous22 emprise is often commonplace to the point of banality23, and this is especially the case when the quest of man or woman is the objective. Benny had crossed the Simplon that he might reach the lake before another—and having reached it, might warn a madman of his danger. To do that, he had imperilled his own life as many times as there had been minutes in his journey; he had run the risk of being frozen alive or dashed to instant death in the chasms24 of the pass. And now that it was done he went up to the door of the house like any ordinary traveller, stood an instant while his eyes searched the unlighted windows, then rang the bell upon the right-hand side of the porch, and waited quietly. All the excitement of the quest appeared to have subsided25 at this time. He thought nothing of his victory; he did not even remember that it had been a victory!
The bell was unanswered, not a little to his surprise. He had looked at his watch before he left the ship, and had discovered that it was just a quarter-past seven. By all rights, Sir Luton should have been then at his dinner, and it occurred to him that the old woman who kept the shanty might be so busy in her kitchen that she did not hear him. Against this was the black fact of the unlighted windows, and the silence. Benny could hear the splash of the waves as they ebbed26 and flowed upon the shore of the lake, but no other sound save that of the distant bells of Losone. It began to force itself upon his mind that this silence was prophetic, and, with a shiver of apprehension27 different from any he had yet experienced, he rang a second time, and listened to the jangling reverberations and their diminuendos. Again the summons was unanswered. It was plain that there was no one in the house, and that his errand had been in vain.
He would not admit this at the beginning, or even contemplate28 a house of shadows. Knowing Luton Delayne, he thought it very likely that he had gone to one of the neighbouring towns for his dinner; while the old woman, taking advantage of his absence, would have run down to the village to her home there. Going round to the back of the house, which looked upon the lake, he found it shut and barred, and no evidence of occupation whatever—but the bars were no obstacle to such a wit as his, and forcing the kitchen window, he climbed in and began to search the place. A fleck29 of fire reddened in the grate; there were dirty plates upon a bare table, with a candle and a box of matches. Benny lit the candle, and passed on into the hall. The shanty had been occupied that day, so much was evident.
It was here that a strange hallucination took possession of him, and one he had some little difficulty to stifle30. Suddenly, and without warning, he thought that he heard Luton Delayne's voice from one of the inner rooms; but when he entered it there was no sign of occupation whatever, no evidence that it had been used for many months. This should have set his mind at rest, but no such result followed upon the discovery. For the second time he heard the voice calling him from another quarter of the house; and, refusing to believe that he could be mistaken a second time, he crossed the narrow hall, and entered the room he had used as his study. Here at last were those visible evidences of occupation he had sought vainly elsewhere. The remains31 of such a meal as a man would have ordered were still upon the table. A fire burned in the grate, and a flask32 of red wine stood upon a side table. Whoever had occupied this room had left it during the day, and, what was more, he had written a letter shortly before he left.
Benny set down the candle upon the side table, and knelt to warm himself before the fire, upon which he heaped fresh logs. The window showed him the broad expanse of the lake with the mountains upon the far side of it, and the star cluster of Magadino at their feet. A man of indomitable courage, he was astonished to discover how greatly the hallucination of the voice had shaken him, and how real it had seemed when it called him. He had never realised the remoteness of the shanty before, nor its isolation33 from the towns by the lakeside. Presently a fit of shivering seized him, and he started up fearing that he was about to be ill, and determined that his will should master the situation. He heaped up the logs until the fire roared in the chimney, and then searching the kitchen for candles made such an illumination as that little room had never witnessed before. The light cheered him—he drank what was left of the wine in the flask, and ate of the bread and butter upon the table.
He had pipe and tobacco, and these had ever been his good friends in every kind of emergency. A long smoke by the fireside cleared his brain of the cobwebs, and gave him a clearer vision. And first he said that Luton had left the house, and it was doubtful if he would return. Had it been otherwise, had he gone across to dine at one of the neighbouring towns, assuredly the beldame would have returned to her kitchen by this time and made her preparations for the night. So it was clear that Delayne had left the shanty, and that he, Benny, had come too late. Whether this were a good thing or a bad he had as yet no means of knowing. The darker suggestion that the man had been arrested by the police, and that the old woman had fled the shanty in consequence, was not to be put aside. That seemed a very likely thing to have happened; but if it had happened, he would hear of it soon enough, and so would every newspaper in Switzerland.
This latter thought grew with the minutes and awakened34 every instinct to the danger. He wondered that it had not occurred to him directly he found the shanty deserted, and was going on to say that it was the absolutely obvious thing, when a sound arose which chilled him to the very marrow35. A moment later he laughed aloud, and picked up one of the candles. Of course, the telephone still ran to the shanty. There is hardly a decent house in Switzerland which does not possess it.
A telephone bell ringing clearly in the silence of the house! Well, it was a thing to give a man a start—and his nerves were not what they should be! Not until he had the receiver in his hand, and began to reply to the unknown at the other end of the wire, did he bethink him that here was companionship of a sort after all. This telephone would summon help from Ascona, if he needed it. He took heart at the thought, and cried "Halloa" in his old tone. This was the Benny of yesterday—the man who had done what no man had ever done before.
"Halloa—halloa!—this is the Villa20 Favorita—who do you say you are?—I don't hear you!—Halloa—halloa!—the Abbé Villari?—Good God! Abbé—how did you know that I was here?—What, you didn't know?—then that's the rummest go of all—You wanted Sir Luton Delayne—Well, I'm d——d!"
He dropped the instrument and laughed aloud. His talk had been half in French, half in English, and he remembered that the abbé understood both tongues perfectly36. But it was no time to apologise. The news was too astounding37; he would not lose a word of it.
"You heard all about it from Susette—yes, I suppose she would tell a priest—And you warned the man this morning?—I wish you'd told me, Abbé—it would have saved me a matter of five thousand pounds. Of course, it was done for the best—all that's granted.—Did you say you were at Brigue?—going up to the Hospice?—Yes, I remember, now—well, he's away all right—the bird has flown.—Oh, I don't know where—I hope it's south—you'll understand that—You haven38't seen Lady Delayne?—Ah! you never did like that charming lady, did you, Reverence39?—Speak up a little, I don't quite catch that.—The boy, Philip, has gone over the pass, did you say?—He might have been here, for all I know—I shall try to find out in the morning—Let me know if you hear anything of Lady Delayne—It was a big thing for you to do, and a very kind thing under the circumstances.—She won't forget it, nor will I.—Good night, sir—and don't forget to ring up in the morning."
He stood a little while when the abbé had ceased to speak, holding the instrument in his hand, and realising anew the weird40 stillness of the house. It was as though he remained incredulous, and could not grasp the meaning of the few words which had come across the mountains upon the frail41 wire—words which revealed in a twinkling the acumen42 of the little abbé and the reality of his friendship. Benny could have sworn that the priest did not know one word of the story, had hardly heard Sir Luton's name, and would as soon have thought of connecting it with the episode upon the Zaat as with his own flight across Mont Blanc. And now the abbé had undeceived him in an instant, and spoken of his own shrewdness and perception beyond possibility of question.
Of course, the girl, Susette, would have told him. Benny recollected44 that she was a Catholic, and his odd notions about the ancient faith included the belief that nothing is kept secret, not even the most trivial things of a common day. So he argued that Susette would have "confessed," and the gendarme45, Philip, have done the same, putting the abbé in possession of all the facts, and dictating46 this friendly intervention47. The priest had been the man to warn Sir Luton. Possibly he had done so directly Philip Gaillarde left Andana. And if it were so, then the baronet was safe, and this journey had been vain indeed.
He had come to this conclusion anew when he heard someone open the front door of the shanty, and presently recognised the hacking48 cough of the beldame who should have been keeping it. Her feminine outburst when she discovered him, the muttered oath and then the trembling recognition were brushed aside while he asked her of his guest and heard her garrulous49 answer. Ah, that Englishman!—what she had suffered at his hands! And now he had gone—he went at eleven o'clock. This very morning, Bajazet, the postboy from the inn, had driven him; he would know all about it. For her part, Mother of God, she was glad that the house was quit of him. Such a man to serve—such anger, such words! She hoped that he would never return; but now that the master was come again she could be content. Which being said, she began with the method of a Swiss to set the house in order, and to justify50 her existence. It blazed with lights from garret to kitchen before half an hour had passed; fires roared in the grates; pots were steaming upon the hob. And while she worked she repeated her story that the Englishman had driven away at eleven o'clock, and that Bajazet could say where he had gone.
Benny let her have her say, and then went to the telephone to ring up the inn as she advised him. Being answered immediately, he asked for help to get his airship into shelter, and begged them to send up Cordivet, the gendarme, and as many young fellows of the place as they could summon. As to Bajazet, he must come to the villa immediately, if he could; and there would be ten francs for him if he hurried. Which being done, and the woman instructed to have supper ready within the hour, he went out to the lakeside and there waited for the postboy.
The night had fallen clear and the heavy clouds were now breaking to show a monstrous moon, shining full and round upon the sleeping water. By here and there the siren of a steamer could be heard, and the voices of young people who sang as they rowed; while from the village inn, some third of a mile up the road, the music of fiddles51 and a harp52 floated down upon the still air. Such a contrast to the rigour and cold of the heights was hardly to be imagined, and it seemed to Benny to stand for such a haven of rest as a man might win when he had crossed the pass and emerged victorious53.
For himself, he knew that he was at the crisis of his life, and faced it with all the resolution he could command. To-night, or if not to-night, to-morrow, would tell him plainly enough whither his road lay, and to what house of fortune it would lead. Luton Delayne's possible flight had been in his calculations vaguely54 when he set out for Andana. He knew that his desire for this man's safety was honest, and that he would have contrived55 it whatever the sacrifice had cost him. Henceforth these people must lead their own lives. He perceived that it would be better that he should not see Lily again, and that she had been wise to leave Andana without a word to him. If the very fact led also to another conclusion, he strove to turn from it at such a moment. The vanity of his secret hopes was not to be disguised. Sometimes he had been ready to say that this sense of inglorious defeat, this merciless rebuke56 which fortune administered to him was well deserved. What had he, born to so humble57 a station, to do with such a friendship or its privileges? When he answered that his attainments58 had given him every right, he flushed secretly, as though someone overheard him. Success found him a shy lover, though he had wooed her daringly enough.
This passed at the lakeside, but the interlude of waiting galled59 him, and he found himself impelled60 resistlessly to act—he knew now how. When the coachman, Bajazet, appeared, he was greeted as an old friend: taken apart and made much of, and wine commanded for him. It seemed good to be talking to a man who had played a part, however humble, in the drama of the day. Benny led him to the little study and poured out a tumbler of red wine with his own hands, while he asked him twenty questions and hardly waited for an answer.
"So milord went away at eleven o'clock, Bajazet?"
"He did, Monsieur—it was just before the hour."
"He was very anxious to go?"
Bajazet raised his eyes to the ceiling.
"All the time, all the time, he gave me no rest! I know your countrymen, but not many such as he, thanks be to God! He is at Domo d'Ossola this night. May he remain there many years!"
Benny looked at him as though he had been lying.
"At Domo d'Ossola? But you are not speaking wisely, Bajazet; you make some mistake? A man who goes to Domo d'Ossola is returning to Switzerland. It is impossible to believe it—of my friend! Think again, and tell me truly."
The fellow shook his head, and drank a little more wine.
"I know what I am saying. Milord wished to go by the railway, but the trains were not running. Very well, then, he will cross the pass. Why should he not do so, Monsieur? There are many who wish to see it; why should not your countryman be among the number? I tell you, I left him at the posthouse. He was engaging horses for the journey; perhaps he is at the Hospice to-night. Should you wish to know that the telephone will inform you. What I have said is of my own knowledge, Monsieur; the rest is with God!"
He laughed, and reached out his hand to the flask. Upon the road without the light of many lanterns was to be seen, and, anon, the voice of Cordivet, the gendarme, to be heard. A little company of men and boys had come up from the inn to do the Englishman's bidding, and Cordivet marshalled them as though they had been an army. Soon these were grouped about the airship; their eyes staring at the glistening61 steel of its tubes; their tongues loosed in wonder. Had they been English the buffoons62 among them would have worked a mischief63; but the love of things mechanical waxes strong among the Swiss even in the villages to-day, and these youths understood very well what was asked of them. Willing lads were sent hither and thither64 for tarpaulins65 to cover the machinery66; strong arms helped to wheel the ship down toward the garden by the lake. These good folk had heard of the great Flight, and they stood awed67 before the master who held the key to the secrets. Every word they spoke43 was a tribute to his achievement—every gesture honoured him.
Benny saw the machine safely anchored, and then went in to eat the supper prepared before him. His mind was already made up, and he had determined that the worthy68 Bajazet should drive him immediately to Domo d'Ossola, and afterwards, if need be, to the summit of the Simplon. For had not the fellow said that Luton Delayne would cross the pass, and if that mad purpose were filled, who would save the man from the penalties of his folly69?
Benny had the vague idea that he might yet be in time—he knew not how! But he promised Bajazet a hundred francs if his work were well done, and they went at a gallop70, blindly in the silence of the night toward the mighty71 high road which must speak eternally of Napoleon and his genius.
点击收听单词发音
1 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 gust | |
n.阵风,突然一阵(雨、烟等),(感情的)迸发 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 landmarks | |
n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 );目标;(标志重要阶段的)里程碑 ~ (in sth);有历史意义的建筑物(或遗址) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 panorama | |
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置] | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 cleft | |
n.裂缝;adj.裂开的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 panoply | |
n.全副甲胄,礼服 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 espy | |
v.(从远处等)突然看到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 shanty | |
n.小屋,棚屋;船工号子 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 fables | |
n.寓言( fable的名词复数 );神话,传说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 slew | |
v.(使)旋转;n.大量,许多 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 undertaking | |
n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 villa | |
n.别墅,城郊小屋 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 banality | |
n.陈腐;平庸;陈词滥调 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 chasms | |
裂缝( chasm的名词复数 ); 裂口; 分歧; 差别 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 subsided | |
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 ebbed | |
(指潮水)退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 ); 落; 减少; 衰落 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 fleck | |
n.斑点,微粒 vt.使有斑点,使成斑驳 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 stifle | |
vt.使窒息;闷死;扼杀;抑止,阻止 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 flask | |
n.瓶,火药筒,砂箱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 isolation | |
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 marrow | |
n.骨髓;精华;活力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 astounding | |
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 haven | |
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 reverence | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 weird | |
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 acumen | |
n.敏锐,聪明 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 spoke | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 recollected | |
adj.冷静的;镇定的;被回忆起的;沉思默想的v.记起,想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 gendarme | |
n.宪兵 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 dictating | |
v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 intervention | |
n.介入,干涉,干预 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 hacking | |
n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 garrulous | |
adj.唠叨的,多话的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 fiddles | |
n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 );欺诈;(需要运用手指功夫的)细巧活动;当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 );篡改;骗取;修理或稍作改动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 harp | |
n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 rebuke | |
v.指责,非难,斥责 [反]praise | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 attainments | |
成就,造诣; 获得( attainment的名词复数 ); 达到; 造诣; 成就 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 galled | |
v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 );擦伤;烦扰;侮辱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 impelled | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 glistening | |
adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 buffoons | |
n.愚蠢的人( buffoon的名词复数 );傻瓜;逗乐小丑;滑稽的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 tarpaulins | |
n.防水帆布,防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 awed | |
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 gallop | |
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |