Colonel Boundary, sitting at his desk the morning after, pushed a bell. It was answered by the thick-set Olaf. He was dressed, as usual, in black from head to foot and the colonel eyed him thoughtfully.
"Hanson," he said, "has Miss Marsh1 come?"
"Yes, she has come," said the other resentfully.
"Tell her I want her," said the colonel and then as the man was leaving the room: "Where did you get to last night when I wanted you?"
"I was out," said the man shortly. "I get some time for myself, I suppose?"
The colonel nodded slowly.
"Sure you do, Hanson."
His tone was mild, and that spelt danger to Hanson, had he known it. This was the third sign of rebellion which the man had shown in the past week.
"What's happened to your temper this morning, Hanson?" he asked.
"Everything," exploded the man and in his agitation2 his foreign origin was betrayed by his accent. "You tell me I shall haf plenty money, thousands of pounds! You say I go to my brother in America. Where is dot money? I go in March, I go in May, I go in July, still I am here!"
"My good friend," said the colonel, "you're too impatient. This is not a moment I can allow you to go away. You're getting nervous, that's what's the matter with you. Perhaps I'll let you have a holiday next week."
"Nervous!" roared the man. "Yes, I am. All the time I feel eyes on me! When I walk in the street, every man I meet is a policeman. When I go to bed, I hear nothing but footsteps creeping in the passage outside my room."
"Old Jack3, eh?" said the colonel, eyeing him narrowly.
Hanson shivered.
He had seen the Jack o' Judgment4 once. A figure in gossamer5 silk who had stood beside the bed in which the Scandinavian lay and had talked wisdom whilst Olaf quaked in a muck sweat of fear.
The colonel did not know this. He was under the impression that the appearance of the previous night had constituted the first of this mysterious menace.
So he nodded again.
"Send Miss Marsh to me," he said.
Hanson would have got on his nerves if he had nerves. The man, at any rate, was becoming an intolerable nuisance. The colonel marked him down as one of the problems calling for early solution.
The secretary had not been gone more than a few seconds before the door opened again and the girl came in. She was tall, pretty in a doll-like way, with an aura of golden hair about her small head. She might have been more than pretty but for her eyes, which were too light a shade of blue to be beautiful. She was expensively gowned and walked with the easy swing of one whose position was assured.
"Good morning, Lollie," said the colonel. "Did you see him again?"
She nodded.
"I got a pretty good view of him," she said.
"Did he see you?"
She smiled.
"I don't think so," she said; "besides, what does it matter if he did?"
"Was the girl with him?"
She shook her head.
"Well?" asked the colonel after a pause. "Can you do anything with him?"
She pursed her lips.
If she had expected the colonel to refer to their terrifying experience of the night before, she was to be disappointed. The hard eyes of the man compelled her to keep to the matter under discussion.
"He looks pretty hard," said the girl. "He is not the man to fall for that heart-to-heart stuff."
"What do you mean?" asked the colonel.
"Just that," said the girl with a shrug6. "I can't imagine his picking me up and taking me to dinner and pouring out the secrets of his young heart at the second bottle."
"Neither can I," said the colonel thoughtfully. "You're a pretty clever girl, Lollie, and I'm going to make it worth your while to get close to that fellow. He's the one man in Scotland Yard that we want to put out of business. Not that we've anything to be afraid of," he added vaguely7, "but he's just interfering8 with----"
He paused for a word.
"With business," said the girl. "Oh, come off it, colonel! Just tell me how far you want me to go."
"You've got to go to the limit," said the other decidedly. "You've got to put him as wrong as you can. He must be compromised up to his neck."
"What about my young reputation?" asked the girl with a grimace9.
"If you lose it, we'll buy you another," said the colonel drily, "and I reckon it's about time you had another one, Lollie."
The girl fingered her chin thoughtfully.
"It is not going to be easy," she said again. "It isn't going to be like young Spillsbury--Pinto Silva could have done that job without help--or Solomon White even."
"You can shut up about Spillsbury," growled10 the colonel. "I've told you to forget everything that has ever happened in our business! And I've told you a hundred times not to mention Pinto or any of the other men in this business! You can do as you're told! And take that look off your face!"
He rose with extraordinary agility11 and leant over, glowering12 at the girl.
"You've been getting a bit too fresh lately, Lollie, and giving yourself airs! You don't try any of that grand lady stuff with me, d'ye hear?"
There was nothing suave13 in the colonel's manner, nothing slow or ponderous14 or courtly. He spoke15 rapidly and harshly and revealed the brute16 that many suspected but few knew.
"I've no more respect for women than I have for men, understand! If you ever get gay with me, I'll take your neck in my hand like that," he clenched17 his two fists together with a horribly suggestive motion and the frightened girl watched him, fascinated. "I'll break you as if you were a bit of china! I'll tear you as if you were a rag! You needn't think you'll ever get away from me--I'll follow you to the ends of the earth. You're paid like a queen and treated like a queen and you play straight--there was a man called 'Snow' Gregory once----"
The trembling girl was on her feet now, her face ashen18 white.
"I'm sorry, colonel," she faltered19. "I didn't intend giving you offence. I--I----"
She was on the verge20 of tears when the colonel, with a quick gesture, motioned her back to the chair. His rage subsided21 as suddenly as it had risen.
"Now do as you're told, Lollie," he said calmly. "Get after that young fellow and don't come back to me until you've got him."
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and almost tiptoed from his dread22 presence.
At the door he stopped her.
"As to Maisie," he said, "why, you can leave Maisie to me."
收听单词发音 |
1
marsh
|
|
| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
gossamer
|
|
| n.薄纱，游丝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
shrug
|
|
| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
interfering
|
|
| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
grimace
|
|
| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
agility
|
|
| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
glowering
|
|
| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
suave
|
|
| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
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： |
|
|
|
|
16
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
clenched
|
|
| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
ashen
|
|
| adj.灰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
verge
|
|
| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
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： |
|
|
|
|
22
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |