"For Heaven's sake!" I cried, "what is the Si-Fan?"
"The greatest mystery of the mysterious East, Petrie. Think. You know, as I know, that a malignant4 being, Dr. Fu-Manchu, was for some time in England, engaged in 'paving the way' (I believe those words were my own) for nothing less than a giant Yellow Empire. That dream is what millions of Europeans and Americans term 'the Yellow Peril5! Very good. Such an empire needs must have——"
"An emperor!"
Nayland Smith stopped his restless pacing immediately in front of me.
"Why not an empress, Petrie!" he rapped.
His words were something of a verbal thunderbolt; I found myself at loss for any suitable reply.
"You will perhaps remind me," he continued rapidly, "of the lowly place held by women in the East. I can cite notable exceptions, ancient and modern. In fact, a moment's consideration by a hypothetical body of Eastern dynast-makers not of an emperor but of an empress. Finally, there is a persistent6 tradition throughout the Far East that such a woman will one day rule over the known peoples. I was assured some years ago, by a very learned pundit7, that a princess of incalculably ancient lineage, residing in some secret monastery8 in Tartary or Tibet, was to be the future empress of the world. I believe this tradition, or the extensive group who seek to keep it alive and potent9, to be what is called the Si-Fan!"
"This lady can be no longer young, then?" I asked.
"On the contrary, Petrie, she remains11 always young and beautiful by means of a continuous series of reincarnations; also she thus conserves12 the collated13 wisdom of many ages. In short, she is the archetype of Lamaism. The real secret of Lama celibacy14 is the existence of this immaculate ruler, of whom the Grand Lama is merely a high priest. She has, as attendants, maidens16 of good family, selected for their personal charms, and rendered dumb in order that they may never report what they see and hear."
"Her body slaves are not only mute, but blind; for it is death to look upon her beauty unveiled."
I stood up impatiently.
"You are amusing yourself," I said.
Nayland Smith clapped his hands upon my shoulders, in his own impulsive18 fashion, and looked earnestly into my eyes.
"Forgive me, old man," he said, "if I have related all these fantastic particulars as though I gave them credence19. Much of this is legendary20, I know, some of it mere15 superstition21, but—I am serious now, Petrie— part of it is true."
I stared at the square-cut, sun-tanned face; and no trace of a smile lurked22 about that grim mouth. "Such a woman may actually exist, Petrie, only in legend; but, nevertheless, she forms the head center of that giant conspiracy23 in which the activities of Dr. Fu-Manchu were merely a part. Hale blundered on to this stupendous business; and from what I have gathered from Beeton and what I have seen for myself, it is evident that in yonder coffer"—he pointed24 to the brass25 chest standing26 hard by—"Hale got hold of something indispensable to the success of this vast Yellow conspiracy. That he was followed here, to the very hotel, by agents of this mystic Unknown is evident. But," he added grimly, "they have failed in their object!"
A thousand outrageous27 possibilities fought for precedence in my mind.
"Smith!" I cried, "the half-caste woman whom I saw in the hotel …"
"Probably, as M. Samarkan suggests, an ayah!" he said; but there was an odd note in his voice and an odd look in his eyes.
"Then again, I am almost certain that Hale's warning concerning 'the man with the limp' was no empty one. Shall you open the brass chest?"
"At present, decidedly no. Hale's fate renders his warning one that
I dare not neglect. For I was with him when he died; and they cannot
know how much I know. How did he die? How did he die? How was the
Flower of Silence introduced into his closely guarded room?"
"The Flower of Silence?"
Smith laughed shortly and unmirthfully.
"I was once sent for," he said, "during the time that I was stationed in Upper Burma, to see a stranger—a sort of itinerant30 Buddhist31 priest, so I understood, who had desired to communicate some message to me personally. He was dying—in a dirty hut on the outskirts32 of Manipur, up in the hills. When I arrived I say at a glance that the man was a Tibetan monk33. He must have crossed the river and come down through Assam; but the nature of his message I never knew. He had lost the power of speech! He was gurgling, inarticulate, just like poor Hale. A few moments after my arrival he breathed his last. The fellow who had guided me to the place bent34 over him—I shall always remember the scene—then fell back as though he had stepped upon an adder35.
"'He holds the Flower Silence in his hand!' he cried—'the Si-Fan! the
Si-Fan!'—and bolted from the hut."
"When I went to examine the dead man, sure enough he held in one hand a little crumpled36 spray of flowers. I did not touch it with my fingers naturally, but I managed to loop a piece of twine37 around the stem, and by that means I gingerly removed the flowers and carried them to an orchid38-hunter of my acquaintance who chanced to be visiting Manipur.
"Grahame—that was my orchid man's name—pronounced the specimen39 to be an unclassified species of jatropha; belonging to the Curcas family. He discovered a sort of hollow thorn, almost like a fang40, amongst the blooms, but was unable to surmise41 the nature of its functions. He extracted enough of a certain fixed42 oil from the flowers, however, to have poisoned the pair of us!"
"Probably the breaking of a bloom …"
"Ejects some of this acrid43 oil through the thorn? Practically the uncanny thing stings when it is hurt? That is my own idea, Petrie. And I can understand how these Eastern fanatics45 accept their sentence— silence and death—when they have deserved it, at the hands of their mysterious organization, and commit this novel form of hara-kiri. But I shall not sleep soundly with that brass coffer in my possession until I know by what means Sir Gregory was induced to touch a Flower of Silence, and by what means it was placed in his room!"
"But, Smith, why did you direct me to-night to repeat the words,
'Sâkya Mûni'?"
Smith smiled in a very grim fashion.
"It was after the episode I have just related that I made the acquaintance of that pundit, some of whose statements I have already quoted for your enlightenment. He admitted that the Flower of Silence was an instrument frequently employed by a certain group, adding that, according to some authorities, one who had touched the flower might escape death by immediately pronouncing the sacred name of Buddha46. He was no fanatic44 himself, however, and, marking my incredulity, he explained that the truth was this;—
"No one whose powers of speech were imperfect could possibly pronounce correctly the words 'Sâkya Mûni.' Therefore, since the first effects of this damnable thing is instantly to tie the tongue, the uttering of the sacred name of Buddha becomes practically a test whereby the victim my learn whether the venom47 has entered his system or not!"
"Smith," I said slowly, "we must be on our guard," for at last I had run to earth that elusive50 memory. "Unless I am strangely mistaken, the 'man' who so mysteriously entered Hale's room and the supposed ayah whom I met downstairs are one and the same. Two, at least, of the Yellow group are actually here in the New Louvre!"
The light of the shaded lamp shone down upon the brass coffer on the table beside me. The fog seemed to have cleared from the room somewhat, but since in the midnight stillness I could detect the muffled51 sounds of sirens from the river and the reports of fog signals from the railways, I concluded that the night was not yet wholly clear of the choking mist. In accordance with a pre-arranged scheme we had decided29 to guard "the key of India" (whatever it might be) turn and turn about through the night. In a word—we feared to sleep unguarded. Now my watch informed me that four o'clock approached, at which hour I was to arouse Smith and retire to sleep to my own bedroom.
Nothing had disturbed my vigil—that is, nothing definite. True once, about half an hour earlier, I had thought I heard the dragging and tapping sound from somewhere up above me; but since the corridor overhead was unfinished and none of the rooms opening upon it yet habitable, I concluded that I had been mistaken. The stairway at the end of our corridor, which communicated with that above, was still blocked with bags of cement and slabs52 of marble, in fact.
Faintly to my ears came the booming of London's clocks, beating out the hour of four. But still I sat beside the mysterious coffer, indisposed to awaken53 my friend any sooner than was necessary, particularly since I felt in no way sleepy myself.
I was to learn a lesson that night: the lesson of strict adherence54 to a compact. I had arranged to awaken Nayland Smith at four; and because I dallied55, determined56 to finish my pipe ere entering his bedroom, almost it happened that Fate placed it beyond my power ever to awaken him again.
At ten minutes past four, amid a stillness so intense that the creaking of my slippers57 seemed a loud disturbance58, I crossed the room and pushed open the door of Smith's bedroom. It was in darkness, but as I entered I depressed59 the switch immediately inside the door, lighting60 the lamp which swung form the center of the ceiling.
Glancing towards the bed, I immediately perceived that there was something different in its aspect, but at first I found this difference difficult to define. I stood for a moment in doubt. Then I realized the nature of the change which had taken place.
A lamp hung above the bed, attached to a movable fitting, which enabled it to be raised or lowered at the pleasure of the occupant. When Smith had retired61 he was in no reading mood, and he had not even lighted the reading-lamp, but had left it pushed high up against the ceiling.
It was the position of this lamp which had changed. For now it swung so low over the pillow that the silken fringe of the shade almost touched my friend's face as he lay soundly asleep with one lean brown hand outstretched upon the coverlet.
I stood in the doorway62 staring, mystified, at this phenomenon; I might have stood there without intervening, until intervention63 had been too late, were it not that, glancing upward toward the wooden block from which ordinarily the pendant hung, I perceived that no block was visible, but only a round, black cavity from which the white flex64 supporting the lamp swung out.
Then, uttering a horse cry which rose unbidden to my lips, I sprang wildly across the room … for now I had seen something else!
Attached to one of the four silken tassels65 which ornamented66 the lamp-shade, so as almost to rest upon the cheek of the sleeping man, was a little corymb of bloom … the Flower of Silence!
Grasping the shade with my left hand I seized the flex with my right, and as Smith sprang upright in bed, eyes wildly glaring, I wrenched67 with all my might. Upward my gaze was set; and I glimpsed a yellow hand, with long, pointed finger nails. There came a loud resounding68 snap; an electric spark spat69 venomously from the circular opening above the bed; and, with the cord and lamp still fast in my grip, I went rolling across the carpet—as the other lamp became instantly extinguished.
"Petrie, Petrie!" he cried, "where are you? what has happened?"
A laugh, little short of hysterical71, escaped me. I gathered myself up and made for the lighted sitting-room.
"Quick, Smith!" I said—but I did not recognize my own voice. "Quick— come out of that room."
I crossed to the settee, and shaking in every limb, sank down upon it. Nayland Smith, still wild-eyed, and his face a mask of bewilderment, came out of the bedroom and stood watching me.
"For God's sake what has happened, Petrie?" he demanded, and began clutching at the lobe72 of his left ear and looking all about the room dazedly73.
"The Flower of Silence!" I said; "some one has been at work in the top corridor…. Heaven knows when, for since we engaged these rooms we have not been much away from them … the same device as in the case of poor Hale…. You would have tried to brush the thing away …"
A light of understanding began to dawn in my friend's eyes. He drew himself stiffly upright, and in a loud, harsh voice uttered the words: "Sâkya Mûni"—and again: "Sâkya Mûni."
"Thank God!" I said shakily. "I was not too late."
"_Ssh!_what's that?" he whispered.
He stood, tense, listening, his head cast slightly to one side.
A very faint sound of shuffling76 and tapping was perceptible, coming, as I thought, from the incomplete stairway communicating with the upper corridor.
"The man with the limp!" whispered Smith.
He bounded to the door and actually had one hand upon the bolt, when he turned, and fixed his gaze upon the brass box.
Neither of us must leave these rooms to-night!"
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1
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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3
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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6
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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7
pundit
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| n.博学之人；权威 | |
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8
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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9
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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11
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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12
conserves
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| n.（含有大块或整块水果的）果酱，蜜饯( conserve的名词复数 )v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13
collated
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| v.校对( collate的过去式和过去分词 )；整理；核对；整理（文件或书等） | |
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14
celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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15
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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16
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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17
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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19
credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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22
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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23
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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24
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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25
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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26
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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27
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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28
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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29
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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30
itinerant
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| adj.巡回的；流动的 | |
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31
Buddhist
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| adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒 | |
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32
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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33
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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34
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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35
adder
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| n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇 | |
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36
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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38
orchid
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| n.兰花，淡紫色 | |
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39
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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40
fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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41
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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42
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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43
acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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44
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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46
Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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47
venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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48
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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49
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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50
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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51
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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52
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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53
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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54
adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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55
dallied
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| v.随随便便地对待( dally的过去式和过去分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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57
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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58
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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60
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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61
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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62
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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63
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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64
flex
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| n.皮线，花线；vt.弯曲或伸展 | |
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65
tassels
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| n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰 | |
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66
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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68
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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69
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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70
pyjamas
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| n.（宽大的）睡衣裤 | |
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71
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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72
lobe
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| n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶 | |
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73
dazedly
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| 头昏眼花地，眼花缭乱地，茫然地 | |
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74
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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75
pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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76
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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77
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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