CHAPTER IX—SMELLING DEATH

 Adam Salton, though he talked little, did not let the grass grow under his feet in any matter which he had undertaken, or in which he was interested.  He had agreed with Sir Nathaniel that they should not do anything with regard to the mystery of Lady Arabella’s fear of the mongoose, but he steadily¹ pursued his course in being prepared to act whenever the opportunity might come.  He was in his own mind perpetually casting about for information or clues which might lead to possible lines of action.  Baffled by the killing² of the mongoose, he looked around for another line to follow.  He was fascinated by the idea of there being a mysterious link between the woman and the animal, but he was already preparing a second string to his bow.  His new idea was to use the faculties³ of Oolanga, so far as he could, in the service of discovery.  His first move was to send Davenport to Liverpool to try to find the steward⁴ of the West African, who had told him about Oolanga, and if possible secure any further information, and then try to induce (by bribery⁵ or other means) the nigger to come to the Brow.  So soon as he himself could have speech of the Voodoo-man he would be able to learn from him something useful.  Davenport was successful in his missions, for he had to get another mongoose, and he was able to tell Adam that he had seen the steward, who told him much that he wanted to know, and had also arranged for Oolanga to come to Lesser⁶ Hill the following day.  At this point Adam saw his way sufficiently⁷ clear to admit Davenport to some extent into his confidence.  He had come to the conclusion that it would be better—certainly at first—not himself to appear in the matter, with which Davenport was fully⁸ competent to deal.  It would be time for himself to take a personal part when matters had advanced a little further.

 

If what the nigger said was in any wise true, the man had a rare gift which might be useful in the quest they were after.  He could, as it were, “smell death.”  If any one was dead, if any one had died, or if a place had been used in connection with death, he seemed to know the broad fact by intuition.  Adam made up his mind that to test this faculty⁹ with regard to several places would be his first task.  Naturally he was anxious, and the time passed slowly.  The only comfort was the arrival the next morning of a strong packing case, locked, from Ross, the key being in the custody¹⁰ of Davenport.  In the case were two smaller boxes, both locked.  One of them contained a mongoose to replace that killed by Lady Arabella; the other was the special mongoose which had already killed the king-cobra in Nepaul.  When both the animals had been safely put under lock and key, he felt that he might breathe more freely.  No one was allowed to know the secret of their existence in the house, except himself and Davenport.  He arranged that Davenport should take Oolanga round the neighbourhood for a walk, stopping at each of the places which he designated.  Having gone all along the Brow, he was to return the same way and induce him to touch on the same subjects in talking with Adam, who was to meet them as if by chance at the farthest part—that beyond Mercy Farm.

 

The incidents of the day proved much as Adam expected.  At Mercy Farm, at Diana’s Grove¹¹, at Castra Regis, and a few other spots, the negro stopped and, opening his wide nostrils¹² as if to sniff¹³ boldly, said that he smelled death.  It was not always in the same form.  At Mercy Farm he said there were many small deaths.  At Diana’s Grove his bearing was different.  There was a distinct sense of enjoyment¹⁴ about him, especially when he spoke¹⁵ of many great deaths.  Here, too, he sniffed¹⁶ in a strange way, like a bloodhound at check, and looked puzzled.  He said no word in either praise or disparagement¹⁷, but in the centre of the Grove, where, hidden amongst ancient oak stumps¹⁸, was a block of granite¹⁹ slightly hollowed on the top, he bent²⁰ low and placed his forehead on the ground.  This was the only place where he showed distinct reverence²¹.  At the Castle, though he spoke of much death, he showed no sign of respect.

 

There was evidently something about Diana’s Grove which both interested and baffled him.  Before leaving, he moved all over the place unsatisfied, and in one spot, close to the edge of the Brow, where there was a deep hollow, he appeared to be afraid.  After returning several times to this place, he suddenly turned and ran in a panic of fear to the higher ground, crossing as he did so the outcropping rock.  Then he seemed to breathe more freely, and recovered some of his jaunty²² impudence²³.

 

All this seemed to satisfy Adam’s expectations.  He went back to Lesser Hill with a serene²⁴ and settled calm upon him.  Sir Nathaniel followed him into his study.

 

“By the way, I forgot to ask you details about one thing.  When that extraordinary staring episode of Mr. Caswall went on, how did Lilla take it—how did she bear herself?”

 

“She looked frightened, and trembled just as I have seen a pigeon with a hawk²⁵, or a bird with a serpent.”

 

“Thanks.  It is just as I expected.  There have been circumstances in the Caswall family which lead one to believe that they have had from the earliest times some extraordinary mesmeric or hypnotic faculty.  Indeed, a skilled eye could read so much in their physiognomy.  That shot of yours, whether by instinct or intention, of the hawk and the pigeon was peculiarly apposite.  I think we may settle on that as a fixed²⁶ trait to be accepted throughout our investigation²⁷.”

 

When dusk had fallen, Adam took the new mongoose—not the one from Nepaul—and, carrying the box slung²⁸ over his shoulder, strolled towards Diana’s Grove.  Close to the gateway²⁹ he met Lady Arabella, clad as usual in tightly fitting white, which showed off her slim figure.

 

To his intense astonishment³⁰ the mongoose allowed her to pet him, take him up in her arms and fondle him.  As she was going in his direction, they walked on together.

 

Round the roadway between the entrances of Diana’s Grove and Lesser Hill were many trees, with not much foliage³¹ except at the top.  In the dusk this place was shadowy, and the view was hampered³² by the clustering trunks.  In the uncertain, tremulous light which fell through the tree-tops, it was hard to distinguish anything clearly, and at last, somehow, he lost sight of her altogether, and turned back on his track to find her.  Presently he came across her close to her own gate.  She was leaning over the paling of split oak branches which formed the paling of the avenue.  He could not see the mongoose, so he asked her where it had gone.

 

“He slipt out of my arms while I was petting him,” she answered, “and disappeared under the hedges.”

 

They found him at a place where the avenue widened so as to let carriages pass each other.  The little creature seemed quite changed.  He had been ebulliently³³ active; now he was dull and spiritless—seemed to be dazed.  He allowed himself to be lifted by either of the pair; but when he was alone with Lady Arabella he kept looking round him in a strange way, as though trying to escape.  When they had come out on the roadway Adam held the mongoose tight to him, and, lifting his hat to his companion, moved quickly towards Lesser Hill; he and Lady Arabella lost sight of each other in the thickening gloom.

 

When Adam got home, he put the mongoose in his box, and locked the door of the room.  The other mongoose—the one from Nepaul—was safely locked in his own box, but he lay quiet and did not stir.  When he got to his study Sir Nathaniel came in, shutting the door behind him.

 

“I have come,” he said, “while we have an opportunity of being alone, to tell you something of the Caswall family which I think will interest you.  There is, or used to be, a belief in this part of the world that the Caswall family had some strange power of making the wills of other persons subservient³⁴ to their own.  There are many allusions³⁵ to the subject in memoirs³⁶ and other unimportant works, but I only know of one where the subject is spoken of definitely.  It is Mercia and its Worthies³⁷, written by Ezra Toms more than a hundred years ago.  The author goes into the question of the close association of the then Edgar Caswall with Mesmer in Paris.  He speaks of Caswall being a pupil and the fellow worker of Mesmer, and states that though, when the latter left France, he took away with him a vast quantity of philosophical³⁸ and electric instruments, he was never known to use them again.  He once made it known to a friend that he had given them to his old pupil.  The term he used was odd, for it was ‘bequeathed,’ but no such bequest³⁹ of Mesmer was ever made known.  At any rate the instruments were missing, and never turned up.”

 

A servant came into the room to tell Adam that there was some strange noise coming from the locked room into which he had gone when he came in.  He hurried off to the place at once, Sir Nathaniel going with him.  Having locked the door behind them, Adam opened the packing-case where the boxes of the two mongooses were locked up.  There was no sound from one of them, but from the other a queer restless struggling.  Having opened both boxes, he found that the noise was from the Nepaul animal, which, however, became quiet at once.  In the other box the new mongoose lay dead, with every appearance of having been strangled!

该作者的其它作品
《Dracula》

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

5 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

6 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

10 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

11 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

12 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

13 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

14 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

15 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：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 disparagement   

n.轻视，轻蔑

参考例句：

• He was humble and meek, filled with self-disparagement and abasement. 他谦卑、恭顺，满怀自我贬斥与压抑。 来自互联网
• Faint praise is disparagement. 敷衍勉强的恭维等于轻蔑。 来自互联网

18 stumps   

（被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。

19 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

20 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

21 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：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

22 jaunty   

adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She cocked her hat at a jaunty angle.她把帽子歪戴成俏皮的样子。
• The happy boy walked with jaunty steps.这个快乐的孩子以轻快活泼的步子走着。

23 impudence   

n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼

参考例句：

• His impudence provoked her into slapping his face.他的粗暴让她气愤地给了他一耳光。
• What knocks me is his impudence.他的厚颜无耻使我感到吃惊。

24 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

25 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

26 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

27 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

28 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

29 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

30 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

31 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

32 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

33 ebulliently   

参考例句：

• Khrushchev ebulliently promised to supply rockets for the protection of Cuba against American aggression. 赫鲁晓夫激动地承诺要提供给古巴火箭以抵抗美国的侵略。 来自互联网

34 subservient   

adj.卑屈的，阿谀的

参考例句：

• He was subservient and servile.他低声下气、卑躬屈膝。
• It was horrible to have to be affable and subservient.不得不强作欢颜卖弄风骚，真是太可怕了。

35 allusions   

暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We should not use proverbs and allusions indiscriminately. 不要滥用成语典故。
• The background lent itself to allusions to European scenes. 眼前的情景容易使人联想到欧洲风光。

36 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

37 worthies   

应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征

参考例句：

• The world is peopled with worthies, and workers, useful and clever. 世界上住着高尚的人，劳动的人，有用又聪明。
• The former worthies have left us a rich cultural heritage. 前贤给我们留下了丰富的文化遗产。

38 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

39 bequest   

n.遗赠；遗产，遗物

参考例句：

• In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
• The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。