“Yes?” called Harley excitedly. “Was I right?”
“You were, Mr. Harley,” answered Wessex, who seemed to be no less excited than my companion. “I got the man's reply an hour ago.”
“I knew it!” said Harley shortly. “Get in, Wessex; we haven't a minute to waste.”
The Inspector joined us in the cab, having first given instructions to the chauffeur4. As we set out once more:
“You have had very little time to make the necessary arrangements,” continued my friend.
“Time enough,” replied Wessex. “They will not be expecting us.”
“I'm not so sure of it. One of the biggest villains5 in the civilized6 world recognized me three minutes before I called you up and then made good his escape. However, there is at least a fighting chance.”
Little more was said from that moment until the end of the drive, both my companions seeming to be consumed by an intense eagerness to reach our destination. At last the cab drew up in a deserted7 street. I had rather lost my bearings; but I knew that we were once more somewhere in the Chinatown area, and:
“Follow us until we get into the house,” Harley said to Inspector Wessex, “and wait out of sight. If you hear me blow this whistle, bring up the men you have posted—as quick as you like! But make it your particular business to see that no one gets out!”
Into a pitch-dark yard we turned, and I felt a shudder8 of apprehension9 upon observing that it was the entrance to a wharf10. Dully gleaming in the moonlight, the Thames, that grave of many a ghastly secret, flowed beneath us. Emerging from the shadow of the archway, we paused before a door in the wall on our left.
At that moment something gleamed through the air, whizzed past my ear, and fell with a metallic11 jingle12 on the stones!
Instinctively13 we both looked up.
“You were right!” I said. “Ali of Cairo has forestalled15 us!”
Harley stooped and picked up a knife with a broad and very curious blade. He slipped it into his pocket, nonchalantly.
“All evidence!” he said. “Keep in the shadow and bend down. I am going to stand on your shoulders and get into that window!”
Wondering at his daring, I nevertheless obeyed; and Harley succeeded, although not without difficulty, in achieving his purpose. A moment after he had disappeared in the blackness of the room above.
“Stand clear, Knox!” I heard.
Two of the cushion seats sometimes called “poof-ottomans” were thrown down, and:
“Up you come!” called Harley. “I'll grasp your hands if you can reach.”
It proved no easy task, but I finally managed to scramble16 up beside my friend—to find myself in a dark and stuffy17 little room.
“This way!” said Harley rapidly—“upstairs.”
He led the way without more ado, but it was with serious misgivings18 that I stumbled up a darkened stair in the rear of my greatly daring friend.
A pistol cracked in the darkness—and my fez was no longer on my head!
Harley's repeater answered, and we stumbled through a heavily curtained door into a heated room, the air of which was laden19 with some Eastern perfume. In the dim light from a silken-shaded lantern a figure showed, momentarily, darting20 across the place before us.
I had little enough opportunity to survey my surroundings; yet even in those brief, breathless moments I saw enough of the place wherein we stood to make me doubt the evidence of my senses! Outside, I knew, lay a dingy21 wharf, amid a maze22 of mean streets; here was an opulently furnished apartment with a strong Oriental note in the decorations!
Snatching an electric torch from his pocket, Harley leaped through a doorway23 draped with rich Persian tapestry24, and I came close on his heels. Outside was darkness. A strong draught25 met us; and, passing along a carpeted corridor, we never halted until we came to a room filled with the weirdest26 odds27 and ends, apparently28 collected from every quarter of the globe.
Crack!
“Good job he can't shoot straight!” rapped Harley.
The ray of the torch suddenly picked out the head and shoulders of a man who was descending30 through a trap in the floor! Ere we had time to shoot he was gone! I saw his brown fingers relax their hold—and a bundle which he had evidently hoped to take with him was left lying upon the floor.
Together we ran to the trap and looked down.
Slowly moving tidal water flowed darkly beneath us! For twenty breathless seconds we watched—but nothing showed upon the surface.
“I hope his swimming is no better than his shooting,” I said.
“It can avail him little,” replied Harley grimly; “a river-police boat is waiting for anyone who tries to escape from that side of the house. We are by no means alone in this affair, Knox. But, firstly, what have we here!” He took up the bundle which the fugitive31 had deserted. “Something incriminating when Ali of Cairo dared not stay to face it out! He would never have deserted this place in the ordinary way. That fellow who was such a bad shot was left behind, when the news of our approach reached here, to make a desperate attempt to remove some piece of evidence! I'll swear to it. But we were too soon for him!”
All the time he was busily removing the pieces of sacking and scraps32 of Oriental stuff with which the bundle was fastened; and finally he drew out a dress-suit, together with the linen33, collar, shoes, and underwear—a complete outfit34, in fact—and on top of the whole was a soft gray felt hat!
Eagerly Harley searched the garments for some name of a maker35 by which their owner might be identified. Presently, inside the lining36 of the breast pocket, where such a mark is usually found, he discovered the label of a well-known West End firm.
“The police can confirm it, Knox!” he said, looking up, his face slightly flushed with triumph; “but I, personally, have no doubt!”
“You may have no doubt, Harley,” I retorted, “but I am full of doubt! What is the significance of this discovery to which you seem to attach so much importance?”
“At the moment,” replied my friend, “never mind; I still have hopes—although they have grown somewhat slender—of making a much more important discovery.”
“Why not permit the police to aid in the search?”
“The police are more useful in their present occupation,” he replied. “We are dealing37 with the most cunning knave38 produced by East or West, and I don't mean to let him slip through my fingers if he is in this house! Nevertheless, Knox, I am submitting you to rather an appalling39 risk, I know; for our man is desperate, and if he is still in the place will prove as dangerous as a cornered rat.”
“But the man who dropped through the trap?”
“The man who dropped through the trap,” said Harley, “was not Ali of Cairo—and it is Ali of Cairo for whom I am looking!”
“The hunchback we saw to-night?”
Harley nodded, and having listened intently for a few moments, proceeded again to search the singular apartments of the abode40. In each was evidence of Oriental occupancy; indeed, some of the rooms possessed41 a sort of Arabian Nights atmosphere. But no living creature was to be seen or heard anywhere. It was while the two of us, having examined every inch of wall, I should think, in the building, were standing42 staring rather blankly at each other in the room with the lighted lantern, that I saw Harley's expression change.
“Why,” he muttered, “is this one room illuminated—and all the others in darkness?”
Even then the significance of this circumstance was not apparent to me. But Harley stared critically at an electric switch which was placed on the immediate43 right of the door and then up at the silk-shaded lantern which lighted the room. Crossing, he raised and lowered the switch rapidly, but the lamp continued to burn uninterruptedly!
“Ah!” he said—“a good trick!”
Grasping the wooden block to which the switch was attached, he turned it bodily—and I saw that it was a masked knob; for in the next moment he had pulled open the narrow section of wall—which proved to be nothing less than a cunningly fitted door!
A small, dimly lighted apartment was revealed, the Oriental note still predominant in its appointments, which, however, were few, and which I scarcely paused to note. For lying upon a mattress44 in this place was a pretty, fair-haired girl!
She lay on her side, having one white arm thrown out and resting limply on the floor, and she seemed to be in a semi-conscious condition, for although her fine eyes were widely opened, they had a glassy, witless look, and she was evidently unaware45 of our presence.
“Look at her pupils,” rapped Harley. “They have drugged her with bhang! Poor, pretty fool!”
“Good God!” I cried. “Who is this, Harley?”
“Molly Clayton!” he answered. “Thank heaven we have saved one victim from Ali of Cairo.”
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1
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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2
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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5
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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7
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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9
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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12
jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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13
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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14
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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15
forestalled
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| v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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17
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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24
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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25
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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26
weirdest
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| 怪诞的( weird的最高级 )； 神秘而可怕的； 超然的； 古怪的 | |
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27
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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31
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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32
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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33
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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34
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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38
knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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39
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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40
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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42
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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43
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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44
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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45
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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