By this time the Vigilante organization had pretty well succeeded in eliminating the few Law and Order sympathizers who had been bold enough to attempt to play the part of spy by signing the rolls. These had not been many, and their warning had been sufficient. But Morrell had, in a measure, escaped distrust even if he had not gained confidence. He had had the sense not to join the organization; and his attitude of the slightly supercilious1, veiledly contemptuous Britisher, scorning all things about him, was sufficient guarantee of his neutrality. This breed was then very common. He left his conference with Jimmy Ware2 thoroughly3 instructed, quite acquiescent4, but revolving5 matters in his own mind to see if somehow he could not turn them to his advantage. For Morrell was, as always, in need of money. In addition, he had a personal score to settle with Keith for, although he had apparently6 forgotten their last interview regarding "loans," the memory rankled7. And Morrell had not forgotten that before all this Vigilante business broke he had been made a good offer by Cora's counsel to get Keith out of the way. Cora was now very dead, to be sure; but on sounding Jimmy Ware, Morrell learned that Keith's removal would still be pleasant to the powers that pay.
If he could work these things all in together--Cogitating absorbedly, he glanced up to see Ben Sansome sauntering down the street, his malacca cane8 at the proper angle, his cylindrical9 hat resting lightly on his sleek10 locks, his whole person spick with the indescribably complete appointment of the dandy. Sansome was mixed up with the Keiths--perhaps he could be used--On impulse Morrell hailed him genially11, and invited him to take a drink. The exquisite12 brightened, and perceptibly hastened his step. Morrell's rather ultra-Anglicism always fascinated him. They turned in at the El Dorado, and there seated themselves at the most remote of the small tables.
"Well," said Morrell cheerfully, after preliminary small talk had been disposed of, "how goes the fair Nancy?"
Sansome's effeminately handsome face darkened. Things had in reality gone very badly with the fair Nancy. Her revulsion against Sansome at the time of the capture of the jail had been complete; and as is the case with real revulsions, she had not attempted to conceal13 it. Sansome's careful structure, which had gained so lofty an elevation14, had collapsed15 like the proverbial house of cards. His vanity had been cruelly rasped. And what had been more or less merely a dilettante's attraction had been thereby16 changed into a thwarted17 passion.
"Damn the fair Nancy!" he cried, in answer to Morrell's question.
Morrell's eyes narrowed, and he motioned quietly to the waiting black to replenish18 the glasses.
"With all my heart, damn her!" said he. "I agree with you; she's a snippy, cold little piece. Not my style at all. Not worth the serious attention of a man like yourself. Who is it now, you sly dog?"
Sansome sipped19 at his drink; sighed sentimentally20.
"Cold--yes--but if the right man could awaken21 her--" he murmured.
"Look here, Sansome, do you want that woman?"
Sansome looked at his companion haughtily22; his eye fell; he drew circles with the bottom of his glass.
"By gad23!" he cried with a sudden queer burst of fire; "I've got to have her!"
And then he turned slowly red, actually started to wriggle24, concealed25 his embarrassment26 under cover of his cigar.
"H'm," observed Morrell speculatively27, without looking across at Sansome. "Tell me, Ben, does she still care for her husband?"
"No; that I'll swear!" replied Sansome eagerly.
"If you're sure of that one essential little fact, and you really want her, why don't you take her?"
"Damn it, ain't I telling you? She won't see me."
"Tell me about it," urged Morrell, settling back, and again motioning for fresh drinks.
Sansome, whose soul was ripe for sympathy, needed little more urging. He poured out his tale, sometimes rushingly and passionately28, again, as his submerged but still conventional self-consciousness straggled to the surface, with shamefaced bravado29. "By Gad!" he finished. "You know, I feel like a raw schoolboy, talkin' like this!"
Morrell leaned forward, his reserve of manner laid aside, his whole being radiating sympathetic charm.
"My dear chap, don't," he begged, laying his hand on Sansome's forearm. "A genuine passion is the most glorious thing on earth even in callow youth! But when we old men of the world--" The pause was eloquent30. "She's a headstrong filly," he went on in a more matter-of-fact tone, after a moment, "takes a bit of handling. You'll pardon me, old chap, if I suggest that you've gone about things a bit wrong."
"How is that?" asked Sansome. Under the influence of drinks, confession31, and sympathy, he was in a glow of fellow-feeling.
"Believe me, I know women and horses! You've ridden this one too much on the snaffle. Try the curb32. That high-spirited sort takes a bit of handling. They like to feel themselves dominated. You've been too gentle, too refined. She's gentle and refined for two. What she wants is the brute-- 'Rape33 of the Sabines' principle. Savage34 her a bit, and she'll come to heel like a dog. Not at once, perhaps. Give her a week."
"That's all very well," objected Sansome, whose eyes were shining, "but how about that week? She'll run to that beast of a husband with her story--"
"And be sorry for it afterward--"
"Too late."
Morrell appeared to think.
"There's something in that. But suppose we arranged to get the husband out of the way, where she couldn't run to him at once--" he suggested.
They had more drinks. At first Morrell was only sardonically35 amused; but as his imagination got to working and the creative power awoke, his interest became more genuine. It was all too wildly improbable for words--and yet, was anything improbable in this impossible place? At least it was amusing, the whole thing was amusing--this super-refined exquisite awakened36, to an emotion so genuine that what judgment37 he had was now obscured by the eagerness of his passion; the situation apparently so easily malleable38; the beautiful safety of it all for himself. And it did not really matter if the whole fantastic plot failed!
"I tell you, no," he broke his thoughts to reply to some ill-considered suggestion, "The good old simple methods are the best--they're all laid out for us by the Drury Lane melodramas39. You leave it to me to get rid of him. Then we'll send the usual message to her that he is lying wounded somewhere--say at Jake's road house--"
"Won't that get her to thinking too much of him?" interrupted Sansome anxiously.
Morrell, momentarily taken aback, gained time for a reply by pouring Sansome another drink, "He's more sense left than I thought," he said to himself; and aloud: "All you want is to get her out to Jake's. She'll go simply as a matter of wifely duty, and all that. Don't worry. Once she's there, it's your affair; and unless I mistake my man, I believe you'll know how to manage the situation"--he winked41 slyly--"she's really mad about you, but, like most women, she's hemmed42 in by convention. Boldly break through the convention, and she'll come around."
Sansome was plainly fascinated by the idea, but in a trepidation43 of doubt, nevertheless.
"But suppose she doesn't come around?" he objected vaguely44.
Morrell threw aside his cigarette and arose with an air of decision.
"I thought you were so crazy mad about her?" he said in tones that cut. "What are you wasting my time for?"
"No, no! Hold on!" cried Sansome, at once all fire again. "I'll do it--hold on!"
"As a matter of fact," observed Morrell, reseating himself, and speaking as though there had been no interruption, "I imagine you have little to fear from that."
He went into the street a little later, his vision somewhat blurred45, but his mind clear. Sansome, by now very pot-valiant, swaggered alongside.
"By the way, Ben," said Morrell suddenly, "I hope you go armed--these are bad times."
"I have always carried a derringer--and I can use it, too!" boasted Sansome, swinging his cane.
Morrell, left alone, stood on the corner for some time diligently46 engaged in getting control of himself. He laughed a little.
"Regular bally melodrama40, conspiracy47 and all, right off the blood-and- thunder stage," said he. "Wonder if it works in real life? We'll see."
After his head had cleared, he set to work methodically to find Keith, but when he finally met that individual it was most casually48. Morrell was apparently in a hurry, but as he saw Keith he appeared to hesitate, then, making up his mind, he approached the young lawyer.
"Look here, Keith, a word with you," he said. "I have stumbled on some information which may be important. I was on my way to the committee with it, but I'm in a hurry. The governor is shipping49 arms into the city to- morrow night from Benicia, by a small sloop50."
"Are you sure of this?" asked Keith.
"Certain."
"Where did you get the information?"
"That I cannot tell you."
Keith still hesitated; Morrell turned on his heel.
"Well, I've told you. You can do as you please, but you'd better let the committee decide whether to take the tip or not." He walked away without once looking back, certain that Keith would end by reporting the information,
"Chances are he'll go with the capturing party," ran the trend of his thoughts, "and so he'll be out of reach of this little abduction. But I don't care much. If he follows them out to Jake's by any chance, Sansome will shoot him--or he'll shoot Sansome. Doesn't matter which. Shootin's none too healthy these days _for either side!_ Oh, Lord, most amusin'!"
He thought a while, then turned up the hill toward his own house. A new refinement51 of the plot had occurred to the artist's soul too much drink had released in him.
Mrs. Morrell was vastly surprised to see him. She was clad in a formless pink silk wrapper, was reclining on a sofa, and was settling down to relaxation52 of mind and body by means of French novels and cigarettes,
"Well, what are you doing here at this time of day?" was her greeting.
"Came to bask53 in the light of your smiles, my dear," he replied with elephantine irony54.
"Nonsense!" she rejoined sharply, "You've been drinking again!"
"To be sure; but not enough to hurt." His manner suddenly became businesslike, "Look here," he asked her, "are you game to make a tidy bit of money?"
"Always!" she replied promptly55, also becoming businesslike.
He explained in detail. She listened in silence at first with a slight smile of contempt on her lips. As he progressed, however, the smile faded.
"Where do I come in?" she asked finally.
"You must be there when the message comes to her. She might not go out to Jake's alone--probably wouldn't. I don't know her well enough to judge. Hurry her into it."
"I see." She laughed suddenly. "Lord, she'll be surprised when I call on her! Take some doing, that!" She thought a few moments. "My appearance will connect us with it. Won't do."
"If the thing goes through we won't be here," he pointed56 out. "If it doesn't go through all right, we'll arrange a little comedy. Have you bound and gagged--before her eyes--or something like that."
"Thanks," she replied to this.
Morrell was not entirely57 open. He did not tell her that money or no money, plot or no plot, he had resolved to flee the city, at least for a time. Investigations58 were getting too close to some of his past activities. He did not offer in words what he nevertheless knew to be the most potent59 of his arguments--namely, the implacable hate Mrs. Morrell bore Keith. Morrell's knowledge of this hate was accurate, though his analysis of its cause was faulty. He thought his wife to be Keith's discarded mistress, and did not greatly care. Nor did he mention the possibility which, however, Mrs. Morrell now voiced.
"Suppose Keith follows them out to Jake's?" she suggested.
"One of them will kill, and the Stranglers will hang the other," he said briefly60.
She looked up.
"I don't care for that!"
"In that event, you will not be present. Your job will be to duck out." He paused, then went on slowly: "Would you grieve at the demise61 of either--or all three?"
Her face hardened.
"But," he went on slowly, "the chances of it are very remote. If there is any killing62, it will come later. Keith will be kept out of the way."
"And after?"
"You hint of an assignation. I will arrange for witnesses."
"Where does the money come in?" she demanded. Morrell floundered for a moment. He had lost sight of the money.
"It comes from certain parties who want Keith put out of the way," he said.
"And suppose Keith is not put out of the way?" she began, her facile mind pouncing63 on the weakness of this statement. "Never mind," she interrupted herself. "I'll do it!" Her face had hardened again, "Can you depend on Sansome to go through with it?"
"Only if he's fairly drunk."
"Yes?"
"I'll attend to that. That is my job. You may not see me to-morrow; but go in the evening to call on her."
"It looks absolutely preposterous," she said at last, "but it may work. And, if any part of it works, that'll be enough."
"Yes," said he.
They had both forgotten the money.
收听单词发音 |
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supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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acquiescent
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| adj.默许的，默认的 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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rankled
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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replenish
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| vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满 | |
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sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sentimentally
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| adv.富情感地 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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gad
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| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
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wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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speculatively
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| adv.思考地，思索地；投机地 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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malleable
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| adj.(金属)可锻的;有延展性的；(性格)可训练的 | |
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melodramas
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| 情节剧( melodrama的名词复数 ) | |
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melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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trepidation
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| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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52
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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54
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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55
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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56
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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58
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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61
demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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62
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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pouncing
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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