Wizard Hermann turned about, half-stunned from his interview with Jessie Stirling, and went back to his laboratory, where he had been reading a new treatise1 on one of his favorite hobbies—the transmutation of the baser metals into gold. The man had no more heart or conscience than a clam2, and his interest in chemistry was greater than his love for humanity.
The greatest aim he had in life was to prosecute3 to a successful issue the two[Pg 19] hobbies that had been the ruling passion of his life, to invent a magic elixir4 of life, and to create fabulous5 riches to sustain a life so lengthened6 in luxury.
He was mad for gold wherewith to purchase the smallest specimen7 of a newly discovered mineral called radium, to which was ascribed the most remarkable8 properties ever heard of, but the price of this treasure was fabulous to a man in his situation, impoverished9 by a lifetime spent in this costly10 and vain pursuit of the unattainable.
His great plan and hope had been to pay off the mortgage on the place, and to immediately place another upon it, so as to invest a portion in the new mineral, from which so much was hoped and predicted in the scientific world.
His rage at the failure of his plan was deep and bitter. With Leola dead, all his plans would come to naught11. Old Bennett would foreclose the mortgage and ruin him. In his old age he must go forth12 a beggar into the world, friendless, and without a place to lay his head.
Through this terrible trick of fate all his plans and aspirations13 must be wrecked14, and science lose, perhaps, the magnificent discoveries to which he had devoted15 his life.
No wonder he was filled with a blind fury against Chester Olyphant, through whose treachery Leola’s death had come to pass, thus thwarting16 all his plans for future gain.
He shut the treatise, whose reading had been so fatefully interrupted, and went out to watch for Chester Olyphant with murder in his heart.
But while he had been talking with Jessie, and putting away his precious treatise, time had slipped faster than he knew. Olyphant, who had met the doctor close by in the road, had quickly returned with him, and he had gone up to Leola’s room.
The young man, himself a prey17 to the bitterest anxiety, with hope and fear commingled18, was waiting in the wide, sunny hall for news, when he came face to face with the grim master of the house, like a ravening19 lion seeking for prey.
“Ah. Mr. Hermann, I have been wishing to see you, sir. I”—
He got no further, for Wizard Hermann, temporarily mad with baffled hope and bitter resentment21, suddenly raised his hand, in whose clenched22 fingers gleamed a heavy iron instrument, and in an access of fury struck unerringly at the brown, curly head bent23 courteously24 before him.
It was a blow that might have felled an ox.
Chester Olyphant, taken off guard, ignorant of the fact that he was in the presence of one temporarily or morally insane, received the blow full, and went down before it without a struggle, yielding up life in one short, choking gasp25, that was like a thunder-clap in the ears of his foe26.
For, all in a moment, there came over the frenzied27 murderer a wild realization28 of his deadly crime, and bending down to peer at the still, white face of the fallen man, he groaned29 in horror of his sin and its consequences:
“Dead! dead! Why, I did not mean to strike so hard! I—I—never thought one blow could kill! What shall I do? No one must find me here. I must fly”—
At this incoherent moment, while he was rising from the body of his victim, there came slouching through the wide, sunny hall the figure of his man of all work, Joslyn, a strange, hideous30, taciturn man, yet devoted to his master’s service through many thankless years.
Joslyn stopped and stared in bewilderment, glaring at the uncanny scene.
Wizard Hermann, peering up at him in consternation31, whimpered like a beaten hound:
“I didn’t mean to hit so hard. He—he—was too easy to kill! If they find me here they’ll hang me for murder! Save me! save me! Joslyn!”
At any moment some one might come in at the open door, and one glance meant detection of the hideous crime his master had wrought33.
Joslyn looked stupid, but his master knew it was only in looks. His brain was keen and alert, as he had proved many a time before.
Just one moment he paused, hesitated; then his dull eyes gleamed beneath the bushy brows, and he was prepared for action.
They were just in front of the library door, and, swooping34 down like an eagle on his prey, he caught up Chester Olyphant’s limp body in his long, wiry arms, and dragged him inside the room. Hermann staggered after him with quaking limbs and a ghastly face; then Joslyn softly shut and locked the door.
The two old men, who had grown gray in each other’s confidence and service—grim old men, who had outgrown35 pity or interest in youth and love and all that was sweetest in the world, now stood face to face, and between them, on the floor, that limp body that, now cold and senseless, had been but a little while ago a picture of manly36 strength and splendor37, with a heart throbbing38 fast with the passion of youth.
“Who saw you do it?” Joslyn demanded, gruffly.
“Not a soul!” whimpered the craven wretch39. “You see, I did it in a passion before I thought, because he”—
But Joslyn’s coarse, hairy hand, upraised, commanded silence.
“Don’t waste time now to tell why ’twas done. The thing is that you did it, and that you must hide it or swing for it,” he said, with rough emphasis that made his master cower40 again like a beaten hound.
The servant knelt down and examined the silent victim.
“Dead as a door-nail, an’ gittin’ cold a’ready! You hit him a turrible whack41, sir, on his head! Must have fractured his skull42, the way it feels.”
“I didn’t know I had such strength. I hit harder than I meant. I—I”—began Hermann, weakly, but the man shut him off.
“No use cryin’ over spilt milk. What’s done is done, an’ now we got to hide the corp, an’ let it go as one of the myster’ous disappearances43 we read about every week in the newspapers!”
“Joslyn, how clever you are! Oh, if we can only manage it! But I cannot think clearly. My brain’s on fire ever since Jessie came with her terrible story, and[Pg 20] tempted44 me to kill him because of the hearts he had broken—hers and Leola’s, too, so that she wanted vengeance45 on him for their wrongs. So I seized that iron wedge and went to watch for him, and the minute he spoke46 to me I struck, and he fell. He’s dead, and he deserved it. I am not sorry, only I don’t want to be found out,” Hermann mumbled47 on, unheeded by the other, who stood with his brows wrinkled in profound thought.
“You have a thought, clever Joslyn; you will save me!”
“Perhaps so, sir, if I can work out my plan.”
“Yes, yes?”
“You know what’s under this floor, sir?”
“The underground passage where my ancestors used to hide from the Indians—yes, yes. Can we drop him through?”
“Sure, if I can get the tools in here to rip up some flooring and put it back. Will you stay here, locked in, while I push them into the window, for I daren’t bring them into the hall.”
“Yes, go, quickly,” and he let him out and closed and locked the door again, waiting, with a chill of horror at his heart, of that white and silent thing lying at his feet.
Presently there was a noise outside the window, and he went and took in the tools that Joslyn reached up to him. Then he admitted him, and they went at their grewsome work of hiding the mute witness of that terrible crime.
In the midst of their task came a light rap on the door.
“Uncle Hermann, I want you!” Jessie said, excitedly.
“All right,” she answered, after a moment’s hesitation51; “I only wanted to tell you about Leola. Doctor Barnes says she is not dead, after all, and he is bringing her around; do you hear?”
“Yes, I hear, Jessie. Now go away, like a good girl; I cannot be disturbed,” he assured her, turning back to Joslyn in time to see him lift Chester Olyphant’s body and let it fall through the opening in the floor.
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收听单词发音
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1
treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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clam
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| n.蛤，蛤肉 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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elixir
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| n.长生不老药，万能药 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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thwarting
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| 阻挠( thwart的现在分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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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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commingled
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ravening
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| a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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40
cower
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| v.畏缩，退缩，抖缩 | |
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41
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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42
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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disappearances
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| n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案 | |
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44
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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45
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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46
spoke
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| 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 | |
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47
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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50
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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51
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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