“If you please, Mr. McIntyre, sir, would it trouble you to step up to the Hall?” he cried. “We are all frightened, sir, about master.”
Robert caught up his hat and started at a run, the frightened butler trotting3 heavily beside him. It had been a day of excitement and disaster. The young artist's heart was heavy within him, and the shadow of some crowning trouble seemed to have fallen upon his soul.
“What is the matter with your master, then?” he asked, as he slowed down into a walk.
“We don't know, sir; but we can't get an answer when we knock at the laboratory door. Yet he's there, for it's locked on the inside. It has given us all a scare, sir, that, and his goin's-on during the day.”
“His goings-on?”
“Yes, sir; for he came back this morning like a man demented, a-talkin' to himself, and with his eyes starin' so that it was dreadful to look at the poor dear gentleman. Then he walked about the passages a long time, and he wouldn't so much as look at his luncheon4, but he went into the museum, and gathered all his jewels and things, and carried them into the laboratory. We don't know what he's done since then, sir, but his furnace has been a-roarin', and his big chimney spoutin' smoke like a Birmingham factory. When night came we could see his figure against the light, a-workin' and a-heavin' like a man possessed5. No dinner would he have, but work, and work, and work. Now it's all quiet, and the furnace cold, and no smoke from above, but we can't get no answer from him, sir, so we are scared, and Miller6 has gone for the police, and I came away for you.”
They reached the Hall as the butler finished his explanation, and there outside the laboratory door stood the little knot of footmen and ostlers, while the village policeman, who had just arrived, was holding his bull's-eye to the keyhole, and endeavouring to peep through.
“The key is half-turned,” he said. “I can't see nothing except just the light.”
“Here's Mr. McIntyre,” cried half-a-dozen voices, as Robert came forward.
“We'll have to beat the door in, sir,” said the policeman. “We can't get any sort of answer, and there's something wrong.”
Twice and thrice they threw their united weights against it until at last with a sharp snap the lock broke, and they crowded into the narrow passage. The inner door was ajar, and the laboratory lay before them.
In the centre was an enormous heap of fluffy7 grey ash, reaching up half-way to the ceiling. Beside it was another heap, much smaller, of some brilliant scintillating8 dust, which shimmered9 brightly in the rays of the electric light. All round was a bewildering chaos10 of broken jars, shattered bottles, cracked machinery11, and tangled12 wires, all bent13 and draggled. And there in the midst of this universal ruin, leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped upon his lap, and the easy pose of one who rests after hard work safely carried through, sat Raffles14 Haw, the master of the house, and the richest of mankind, with the pallor of death upon his face. So easily he sat and so naturally, with such a serene15 expression upon his features, that it was not until they raised him, and touched his cold and rigid16 limbs, that they could realise that he had indeed passed away.
Reverently17 and slowly they bore him to his room, for he was beloved by all who had served him. Robert alone lingered with the policeman in the laboratory. Like a man in a dream he wandered about, marvelling18 at the universal destruction. A large broad-headed hammer lay upon the ground, and with this Haw had apparently19 set himself to destroy all his apparatus20, having first used his electrical machines to reduce to protyle all the stock of gold which he had accumulated. The treasure-room which had so dazzled Robert consisted now of merely four bare walls, while the gleaming dust upon the floor proclaimed the fate of that magnificent collection of gems21 which had alone amounted to a royal fortune. Of all the machinery no single piece remained intact, and even the glass table was shattered into three pieces. Strenuously22 earnest must have been the work which Raffles Haw had done that day.
And suddenly Robert thought of the secret which had been treasured in the casket within the iron-clamped box. It was to tell him the one last essential link which would make his knowledge of the process complete. Was it still there? Thrilling all over, he opened the great chest, and drew out the ivory box. It was locked, but the key was in it. He turned it and threw open the lid. There was a white slip of paper with his own name written upon it. With trembling fingers he unfolded it. Was he the heir to the riches of El Dorado, or was he destined23 to be a poor struggling artist? The note was dated that very evening, and ran in this way:
“MY DEAR ROBERT,—My secret shall never be used again. I cannot
both to yourself and others. For myself I have hardly had a happy
moment since I discovered it. This I could have borne had I been
deceivers and hypocrites. If this is the effect of my interference
on a small scale, I cannot hope for anything better were I to carry
out the plans which we have so often discussed. The schemes of my
life have all turned to nothing. For myself, you shall never see me
again. I shall go back to the student life from which I emerged.
There, at least, if I can do little good, I can do no harm. It is
my wish that such valuables as remain in the Hall should be sold,
and the proceeds divided amidst all the charities of Birmingham.
I shall leave tonight if I am well enough, but I have been much
troubled all day by a stabbing pain in my side. It is as if wealth
were as bad for health as it is for peace of mind. Good-bye,
Robert, and may you never have as sad a heart as I have to-night.
Yours very truly,
RAFFLES HAW.”
“Was it suicide, sir? Was it suicide?” broke in the policeman as Robert put the note in his pocket.
“No,” he answered; “I think it was a broken heart.”
And so the wonders of the New Hall were all dismantled30, the carvings31 and the gold, the books and the pictures, and many a struggling man or woman who had heard nothing of Raffles Haw during his life had cause to bless him after his death. The house has been bought by a company now, who have turned it into a hydropathic establishment, and of all the folk who frequent it in search of health or of pleasure there are few who know the strange story which is connected with it.
The blight32 which Haw's wealth cast around it seemed to last even after his death. Old McIntyre still raves33 in the County Lunatic Asylum34, and treasures up old scraps35 of wood and metal under the impression that they are all ingots of gold. Robert McIntyre is a moody36 and irritable37 man, for ever pursuing a quest which will always evade38 him. His art is forgotten, and he spends his whole small income upon chemical and electrical appliances, with which he vainly seeks to rediscover that one hidden link. His sister keeps house for him, a silent and brooding woman, still queenly and beautiful, but of a bitter, dissatisfied mind. Of late, however, she has devoted39 herself to charity, and has been of so much help to Mr. Spurling's new curate that it is thought that he may be tempted40 to secure her assistance for ever. So runs the gossip of the village, and in small places such gossip is seldom wrong. As to Hector Spurling, he is still in her Majesty's service, and seems inclined to abide41 by his father's wise advice, that he should not think of marrying until he was a Commander. It is possible that of all who were brought within the spell of Raffles Haw he was the only one who had occasion to bless it.
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1
moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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3
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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4
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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8
scintillating
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| adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的 | |
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9
shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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12
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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13
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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14
raffles
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| n.抽彩售物( raffle的名词复数 )v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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16
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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17
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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18
marvelling
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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19
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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20
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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21
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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23
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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24
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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25
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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26
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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27
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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28
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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29
parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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30
dismantled
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| 拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消 | |
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31
carvings
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| n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物 | |
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32
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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33
raves
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| n.狂欢晚会( rave的名词复数 )v.胡言乱语( rave的第三人称单数 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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34
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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35
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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36
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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37
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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38
evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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39
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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40
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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41
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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