Three doors we passed, two upon the left and one upon the right. We tried them all. All were unfastened, and the rooms into which they opened bare and deserted2. Then we came upon a short, descending3 stair, at its foot a massive oaken door.
Carneta glided4 down, noiseless as a ghost, and to one of the blackened panels applied5 an ingenious little instrument which she carried in her knapsack. It was not unlike a stethoscope; and as I watched her listening, by means of this arrangement, for any sound beyond the oaken door, I reflected how almost every advance made by science places a new tool in the hand of the criminal.
No word had been spoken since we had discovered this door; none had been necessary. For we both knew that the place beyond was that from which proceeded the mysterious red light.
I directed the ray of the electric torch upon Carneta, as she stood there listening, and against that sombre oaken background her face and profile stood out with startling beauty. She seemed half perplexed6 and half fearful. Then she abruptly7 removed the apparatus8, and, stooping to the knapsack, replaced it and took out a bunch of wire keys, signing to me to hand her the lamp.
As I crept down the steps I saw her pause, glancing back over her shoulder toward the door. The expression upon her face induced me to direct the light in the same direction.
Why neither of us had observed the fact before I cannot conjecture9; but a key was in the lock!
Perhaps the traffic of the night afforded no more dramatic moment than this. The house which we were come prepared burglariously to enter was thrown open, it would seem, to us, inviting10 our inspection11!
Looking back upon that moment, it seems almost incredible that the sight of a key in a lock should have so thrilled me. But at the time I perceived something sinister12 in this failure of the Lord of the Hashishin to close his doors to intruders. That Carneta shared my doubts and fears was to be read in her face; but her training had been peculiar13, I learned, and such as establishes a surprising resoluteness14 of character.
Quite noiselessly she turned the key, and holding a dainty pocket revolver in her hand, pushed the door open slowly!
An odour, sickly sweet and vaguely15 familiar, was borne to my nostrils16. Carneta became outlined in dim, reddish light. Bending forward slightly, she entered the room, and I, with muscles tensed nervously17, advanced and stood beside her.
I perceived that this was a cellar; indeed, I doubt not that in some past age it had served as a dungeon18. From the stone roof hung the first evidence of Eastern occupation which the Gate House had yielded; in the form of an Oriental lantern, or fanoos, of rose-coloured waxed paper upon a copper19 frame. Its vague light revealed the interior of the hideous20 place upon whose threshold we stood.
Straight before us, deep set in the stone wall, was the tiny square window, iron-barred without, and glazed21 with red glass, the light from which had so deeply mystified us. Within a niche22 in the wall, a little to the left of the window, rested an object which, at that moment, claimed our undivided attention the sight of which so wrought23 upon us that temporarily all else was forgotten.
"My God!" whispered Carneta—"my God!"—and clutched at me, swaying dizzily.
A few inches from our feet the floor became depressed25, how deeply I could not determine, for it was filled with water, water filthy26 and slimy! The strange, nauseating27 odour had grown all but unsupportable; it seemingly proceeded from this fetid pool which, occupying the floor of the dungeon, offered a barrier, since its depth was unknown, of fully28 twelve feet between ourselves and the farther wall.
There was a faint, dripping sound: a whispering, echoing drip-drip of falling water. I could not tell from whence it proceeded.
Almost supporting my companion, whose courage seemed suddenly to have failed her, I stared fascinatedly at that blood-stained relic29. Something then induced me to look behind; I suppose a warning instinct of that sort which is unexplainable. I only know that upholding Carneta with my left arm, and nervously grasping my revolver in my right, I turned and glanced over my shoulder.
Very slowly, but with a constant, regular motion, the massive door was closing!
I snatched away my arm; in my left hand I held the electric torch, and springing sharply about I directed the searching ray into the black gap of the stairway. A yellow face, a malignant30 Oriental face, came suddenly, fully, into view! Instantly I recognized it for that of the man who had driven Hassan's car!
Acting31 upon the determination with which I had entered the Gate House, I raised my revolver and fired straight between the evil eyes! To the fact that I dropped my left hand in the act of pulling the trigger with my right, and thus lost my mark, the servant of Hassan of Aleppo owed his escape. I missed him. He uttered a shrill32 cry of fear and went racing33 up the wooden stair. I followed him with the light and fired twice at the retreating figure. I heard him stumble and a second time cry out. But, though I doubt not he was hit, he recovered himself, for I heard his tread in the corridor above.
Propping34 wide the door with my foot, I turned to Carneta. Her face was drawn35 and haggard; but her mouth set in a sort of grim determination.
"Earl is dead!" she said, in a queer, toneless voice. "He died trying to get—that thing! I will get it, and destroy it!"
Before I could detain her, even had I sought to do so, she stepped into the filthy water, struggled to recover her foothold, and sank above her waist into its sliminess. Without hesitation36 she began to advance toward the niche which contained the slipper. In the middle of the pool she stopped.
What memory it was which supplied the clue to the identity of that nauseating smell, heaven alone knows; but as the girl stopped and drew herself up rigidly—then turned and leapt wildly back toward the door—I knew what occasioned that sickly odour!
She screamed once, dreadfully—shrilly—a scream of agonizing37 fear that I can never forget. Then, roughly I grasped her, for the need was urgent—and dragged her out on to the floor beside me. With her wet garments clinging to her limbs, she fell prostrate38 on the stones.
A yard from the brink39 the slimy water parted, and the yellow snout of a huge crocodile was raised above the surface! The saurian eyes, hungrily malevolent40, rose next to view!
The extremity41 of our danger found me suddenly cool. As the thing drew its slimy body up out of the poor I waited. The jaws42 were extended toward the prostrate body, were but inches removed from it, dripped their saliva43 upon the soddened44 skirt—when I bent45 forward, and at a range of some ten inches emptied the remaining three loaded chambers46 of my revolver into the creature's left eye!
Upchurned in bloody47 foam48 became the water of that dreadful place.... As one recalls the incidents of a fevered dream, I recall dragging Carneta away from the contorted body of the death-stricken reptile49. A nightmare chaos50 of horrid51, revolting sights and sounds forms my only recollection of quitting the dungeon of the slipper.
I succeeded in carrying her up the stairs and out through the empty rooms on to the verandah; but there, from sheer exhaustion52, I laid her down. I had no means of reviving her and I lacked the strength to carry her farther. Having recharged my revolver, I stood watching her where she lay, wanly53 beautiful in the dim light.
There was no doubt in my mind respecting the fate of Earl Dexter, nor could I doubt that the slipper in the dungeon below was a duplicate of the real one. It was a death-trap into which he had lured54 Dexter and which he had left baited for whomsoever might trace the cracksman to the Gate House. Why Hassan should have remained behind, unless from fanatic55 lust56 of killing57, I could not imagine.
When at last the fresher night air had its effect, and Carneta opened her eyes, I led her to the gates, nor did she offer the slightest resistance, but looked dully before her, muttering over and over again, "Earl, Earl!"
The gates were open; we passed out on to the open road. No man pursued us, and the night was gravely still.
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1
eerily
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| adv.引起神秘感或害怕地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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5
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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8
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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10
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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11
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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12
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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13
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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14
resoluteness
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15
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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16
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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17
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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18
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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19
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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20
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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21
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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22
niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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23
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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24
slipper
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| n.拖鞋 | |
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25
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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27
nauseating
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| adj.令人恶心的，使人厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的现在分词 ) | |
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28
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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29
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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30
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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31
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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32
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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33
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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34
propping
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| 支撑 | |
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35
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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36
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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37
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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38
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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39
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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40
malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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41
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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42
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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43
saliva
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| n.唾液，口水 | |
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44
soddened
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| v.（液体）沸腾( seethe的过去分词 )( sodden的过去分词 )；激动，大怒；强压怒火；生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
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45
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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46
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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47
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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48
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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49
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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50
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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51
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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52
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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53
wanly
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| adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地 | |
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54
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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55
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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56
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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57
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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