"Our latest acquisition, gentlemen," said Mr. Mostyn, the curator, speaking in a low tone to the distinguished3 Oriental scholars around him. "It has been left to the Institution by the late Professor Deeping. He describes it in a document furnished by his solicitor4 as one of the slippers5 worn by the Prophet Mohammed, but gives us no further particulars. I myself cannot quite place the relic6."
"Nor I," interrupted one of the group. "It is not mentioned by any of the Arabian historians to my knowledge—that is, if it comes from Mecca, as I understand it does."
"I cannot possibly assert that it comes from Mecca, Dr. Nicholson," Mostyn replied. "The Professor may have taken it from Al-Madinah—perhaps from the mysterious inner passage of the baldaquin where the treasures of the place lie. But I can assure you that what little we do know of its history is sufficiently7 unsavoury."
I fancied that the curator's tired cultured voice faltered8 as he spoke9; and now, without apparent reason, he moved a step to the right and glanced oddly along the room. I followed the direction of his glance, and saw a tall man in conventional morning dress, irreproachable10 in every detail, whose head was instantly bent11 upon his catalogue. But before his eyes fell I knew that their long almond shape, as well as the peculiar12 burnt pallor of his countenance13, were undoubtedly14 those of an Oriental.
"There have been mysterious outrages15 committed, I believe, upon many of those who have come in contact with the slipper?" asked one of the savants.
"Exactly. Professor Deeping was undoubtedly among the victims. His instructions were explicit16 that the relic should be brought here by a Moslem17, but for a long time we failed to discover any Moslem who would undertake the task; and, as you are aware, while the slipper remained at the Professor's house attempts were made to steal it."
He ceased uneasily, and glanced at the tall Eastern figure. It had edged a little nearer; the head was still bowed and the fine yellow waxen fingers of the hand from which he had removed his glove fumbled18 with the catalogue's leaves. It may well have been that in those days I read menace in every eye, yet I felt assured that the yellow visitor was eavesdropping—was malignantly19 attentive20 to the conversation.
The curator spoke lower than ever now; no one beyond the circle could possibly hear him as he proceeded—
"We discovered an Alexandrian Greek who, for personal reasons, not unconnected with matrimony, had turned Moslem! He carried the slipper here, strongly escorted, and placed it where you now see it. No other hand has touched it." (The speaker's voice was raised ever so slightly.) "You will note that there is a rail around the case, to prevent visitors from touching21 even the glass."
"Ah," said Dr. Nicholson quizzically, "And has anything untoward22 happened to our Graeco-Moslem friend?"
The straight, military figure of the well-known Scotland Yard man was conspicuous24 among the group of distinguished—and mostly round-shouldered—scholars.
"Sorry, gentlemen," he said, smiling, "but Mr. Acepulos has vanished from his tobacco shop in Soho. I am not apprehensive25 that he had been kidnapped or anything of that kind. I think rather that the date of his disappearance26 tallies27 with that on which he cashed his cheque for service rendered! His present wife is getting most unbeautifully fat, too."
"What precautions," someone asked, "are being taken to guard the slipper?"
"Well," Mostyn answered, "though we have only the bare word of the late Professor Deeping that the slipper was actually worn by Mohammed, it has certainly an enormous value according to Moslem ideas. There can be no doubt that a group of fanatics29 known as Hashishin are in London engaged in an extraordinary endeavour to recover it."
Mostyn's voice sank to an impressive whisper. My gaze sought again the tall Eastern visitor and was held fascinated by the baffled straining in those velvet30 eyes. But the lids fell as I looked; and the effect was that of a fire suddenly extinguished. I determined31 to draw Bristol's attention to the man.
"Accordingly," Mostyn continued, "we have placed it in this room, from which I fancy it would puzzle the most accomplished32 thief to remove it."
The party, myself included, stared about the place, as he went on to explain—
"We have four large windows here; as you see. The Burton Room occupies the end of a wing; there is only one door; it communicates with the next room, which in turn opens into the main building by another door on the landing. We are on the first floor; these two east windows afford a view of the lawn before the main entrance; those two west ones face Orpington Square; all are heavily barred as you see. During the day there is a man always on duty in these two rooms. At night that communicating door is locked. Short of erecting33 a ladder in full view either of the Square or of Great Orchard35 Street, filing through four iron bars and breaking the window and the case, I fail to see how anybody can get at the slipper here."
"If a duplicate key to the safe—" another voice struck in; I knew it afterward36 for that of Professor Rhys-Jenkyns.
"Impossible to procure37 one, Professor," cried Mostyn, his eyes sparkling with an almost boyish interest. "Mr. Cavanagh here holds the keys of the case, under the will of the late Professor Deeping. They are of foreign workmanship and more than a little complicated."
The eyes of the savants were turned now in my direction.
"I suppose you have them in a place of safety?" said Dr. Nicholson.
"They are at my bankers," I replied.
"Then I venture to predict," said the celebrated38 Orientalist, "that the slipper of the Prophet will rest here undisturbed."
He linked his arm into that of a brother scholar and the little group straggled away, Mostyn accompanying them to the main entrance.
But I saw Inspector Bristol scratching his chin; he looked very much as if he doubted the accuracy of the doctor's prediction. He had already had some experience of the implacable devotion of the Moslem group to this treasure of the Faithful.
"The real danger begins," I suggested to him, "when the general public is admitted—after to-day, is it not?"
"Yes. All to-day's people are specially39 invited, or are using special invitation cards," he replied. "The people who received them often give their tickets away to those who will be likely really to appreciate the opportunity."
I looked around for the tall Oriental. He seemed to have vanished, and for some reason I hesitated to speak of him to Bristol; for my gaze fell upon an excessively thin, keen-faced man whose curiously wide-open eyes met mine smilingly, whose gray suit spoke Stein-Bloch, whose felt was a Boss raw-edge unmistakably of a kind that only Philadelphia can produce. At the height of the season such visitors are not rare, but this one had an odd personality, and moreover his keen gaze was raking the place from ceiling to floor.
Where had I met him before? To the best of my recollection I had never set eyes upon the man prior to that moment; and since he was so palpably an American I had no reason for assuming him to be associated with the Hashishin. But I remembered—indeed, I could never forget—how, in the recent past, I had met with an apparent associate of the Moslems as evidently European as this curiously alert visitor was American. Moreover ... there was something tauntingly40 familiar, yet elusive41, about that gaunt face.
Was it not upon the eve of the death of Professor Deeping that the girl with the violet eyes had first intruded42 her fascinating personality into my tangled43 affairs? Patently, she had then been seeking the holy slipper, and by craft had endeavoured to bend me to her will. Then had I not encountered her again, meeting the glance of her unforgettable violet eyes outside a Strand44 hotel? The encounter had presaged45 a further attempt upon the slipper! Certainly she acted on behalf of someone interested in it; and since neither Bristol nor I could conceive of any one seeking to possess the bloodstained thing except the mysterious leader of the Hashishin—Hassan of Aleppo—as a creature of that awful fanatic28 being I had written her down.
Why, then, if the mysterious Eastern employed a European girl, should he not also employ an American man? It might well be that the relic, in entering the doors of the impregnable Antiquarian Museum, had passed where the diabolical46 arts of the Hashishin had no power to reach it—where the beauty of Western women and the craft of Eastern man were equally useless weapons. Perhaps Hassan's campaign was entering upon a new phase.
Was it a shirking of plain duty on my part that wish—that ever-present hope—that the murderous company of fanatics who had pursued the stolen slipper from its ancient resting-place to London, should succeed in recovering it? I leave you to judge.
The crescent of Islam fades to-day and grows pale, but there are yet fierce Believers, alust for the blood of the infidel. In such as these a faith dies the death of an adder34, and is more venomous in its death-throes than in the full pulse of life. The ghastly indiscretion of Professor Deeping, in rifling a Moslem Sacristy, had led to the mutilation of many who, unwittingly, had touched the looted relic, had brought about his own end, had established a league of fantastic assassins in the heart of the metropolis47.
Only once had I seen the venerable Hassan of Aleppo—a stately, gentle old man; but I knew that the velvet eyes could blaze into a passionate48 fury that seemed to scorch49 whom it fell upon. I knew that the saintly Hassan was Sheikh of the Hashishin. And familiarity with that dreadful organization had by no means bred contempt. I was the holder51 of the key, and my fear of the fanatics grew like a magic mango, darkened the sunlight of each day, and filled the night with indefinable dread50.
You, who have not read poor Deeping's "Assyrian Mythology52", cannot picture a creature with a huge, distorted head, and a tiny, dwarfed53 body—a thing inhuman54, yet human—a man stunted55 and malformed by the cruel arts of brother men—a thing obnoxious56 to life, with but one passion, the passion to kill. You cannot conceive of the years of agony spent by that creature strapped57 to a wooden frame—in order to prevent his growth! You cannot conceive of his fierce hatred58 of all humanity, inflamed59 to madness by the Eastern drug, hashish, and directed against the enemies of Islam—the holders60 of the slipper—by the wonderful power of Hassan of Aleppo.
But I had not only read of such beings, I had encountered one!
And he was but one of the many instruments of the Hashishin. Perhaps the girl with the violet eyes was another. What else to be dreaded61 Hassan might hold in store for us I could not conjecture62.
Do you wonder that I feared? Do you wonder that I hoped (I confess it), hoped that the slipper might be recovered without further bloodshed?
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1
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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slipper
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| n.拖鞋 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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7
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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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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10
irreproachable
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| adj.不可指责的，无过失的 | |
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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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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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16
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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malignantly
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| 怀恶意地； 恶毒地； 有害地； 恶性地 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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27
tallies
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| n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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28
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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fanatics
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| 狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 ) | |
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30
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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32
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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adder
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| n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇 | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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tauntingly
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| 嘲笑地，辱骂地； 嘲骂地 | |
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elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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42
intruded
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| n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于 | |
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43
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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45
presaged
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| v.预示，预兆( presage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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48
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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49
scorch
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| v.烧焦，烤焦；高速疾驶；n.烧焦处，焦痕 | |
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50
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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51
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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52
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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53
dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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54
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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55
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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56
obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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57
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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58
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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59
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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61
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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62
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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