Smith leapt around in a whirl of excitement.
"Come in, Petrie!" he cried, seizing my arm. "You remain here,
Weymouth; don't leave these rooms whatever happens!"
We ran out into the corridor. For my own part I had not the vaguest idea what we were about. My mind was not yet fully3 recovered from the frightful4 shock which it had sustained; and the strange words of the dying man—"the golden pomegranates"—had increased my mental confusion. Smith apparently5 had not heard them, for he remained grimly silent, as side by side we raced down the marble stairs to the corridor immediately below our own.
Although, amid the hideous6 turmoil7 to which I had awakened8, I had noted9 nothing of the hour, evidently the night was far advanced. Not a soul was to be seen from end to end of the vast corridor in which we stood … until on the right-hand side and about half-way along, a door opened and a woman came out hurriedly, carrying a small hand-bag.
She wore a veil, so that her features were but vaguely10 distinguished11, but her every movement was agitated12; and this agitation13 perceptibly increased when, turning, she perceived the two of us bearing down upon her.
Nayland Smith, who had been audibly counting the doors along the corridor as we passed them, seized the woman's arm without ceremony, and pulled her into the apartment she had been on the point of quitting, closing the door behind us as we entered.
"Smith!" I began, "for Heaven's sake what are you about?"
"You shall see, Petrie!" he snapped.
He released the woman's arm, and pointing to an arm-chair near by—
"Be seated," he said sternly.
Speechless with amazement14, I stood, with my back to the door, watching this singular scene. Our captive, who wore a smart walking costume and whose appearance was indicative of elegance15 and culture, so far had uttered no word of protest, no cry.
Now, whilst Smith stood rigidly16 pointing to the chair, she seated herself with something very like composure and placed the leather bag upon the floor beside her. The room in which I found myself was one of a suite17 almost identical with our own, but from what I had gathered in a hasty glance around, it bore no signs of recent tenancy. The window was widely opened, and upon the floor lay a strange-looking contrivance apparently made of aluminum18. A large grip, open, stood beside it, and from this some portions of a black coat and other garments protruded19.
"Now, madame," said Nayland Smith, "will you be good enough to raise your veil?"
Silently, unprotestingly, the woman obeyed him, raising her gloved hands and lifting the veil from her face.
The features revealed were handsome in a hard fashion, but heavily made-up. Our captive was younger than I had hitherto supposed; a blonde; her hair artificially reduced to the so-called Titian tint20. But, despite her youth, her eyes, with the blackened lashes21, were full of a world weariness. Now she smiled cynically23.
"Are you satisfied," she said, speaking unemotionally, "or," holding up her wrists, "would you like to handcuff me?"
Nayland Smith, glancing from the open grip and the appliance beside it to the face of the speaker, began clicking his teeth together, whereby I knew him to be perplexed24. Then he stared across at me.
"You appear bemused, Petrie," he said, with a certain irritation25. "Is this what mystifies you?"
Stooping, he picked up the metal contrivance, and almost savagely26 jerked open the top section. It was a telescopic ladder, and more ingeniously designed than anything of the kind I had seen before. There was a sort of clamp attached to the base, and two sharply pointed27 hooks at the top.
"For reaching windows on an upper floor," snapped my friend, dropping the thing with a clatter28 upon the carpet. "An American device which forms part of the equipment of the modern hotel thief!"
He seemed to be disappointed—fiercely disappointed; and I found his attitude inexplicable29. He turned to the woman—who sat regarding him with that fixed30 cynical22 smile.
"Who are you?" he demanded; "and what business have you with the Si-Fan?"
The woman's eyes opened more widely, and the smile disappeared from her face.
"The Si-Fan!" she repeated slowly. "I don't know what you mean,
"I am not an Inspector," snapped Smith, "and you know it well enough. You have one chance—your last. To whom were you to deliver the box? when and where?"
But the blue eyes remained upraised to the grim tanned face with a look of wonder in them, which, if assumed, marked the woman a consummate32 actress.
"Who are you?" she asked in a low voice, "and what are you talking about?"
Inactive, I stood by the door watching my friend, and his face was a fruitful study in perplexity. He seemed upon the point of an angry outburst, then, staring intently into the questioning eyes upraised to his, he checked the words he would have uttered and began to click his teeth together again.
"You are some servant of Dr. Fu-Manchu!" he said.
The girl frowned with a bewilderment which I could have sworn was not assumed. Then—
"You said I had one chance a moment ago," she replied. "But if you referred to my answering any of your questions, it is no chance at all. We have gone under, and I know it. I am not complaining; it's all in the game. There's a clear enough case against us, and I am sorry"—suddenly, unexpectedly, her eyes became filled with tears, which coursed down her cheeks, leaving little wakes of blackness from the make-up upon her lashes. Her lips trembled, and her voice shook. "I am sorry I let him do it. He'd never done anything—not anything big like this—before, and he never would have done if he had not met me…."
The look of perplexity upon Smith's face was increasing with every word that the girl uttered.
"You don't seem to know me," she continued, her emotion growing momentarily greater, "and I don't know you; but they will know me at Bow Street. I urged him to do it, when he told me about the box to-day at lunch. He said that if it contained half as much as the Kûren treasure-chest, we could sail for America and be on the straight all the rest of our lives…."
And now something which had hitherto been puzzling me became suddenly evident. I had not removed the wig33 worn by the dead man, but I knew that he had fair hair, and when in his last moments he had opened his eyes, there had been in the contorted face something faintly familiar.
"Smith!" I cried excitedly, "it is Lewison, Meyerstein's clerk! Don't you understand? don't you understand?"
Smith brought his teeth together with a snap and stared me hard in the face.
"He was tempted36 by the possibility of the box containing treasure," I ran on, "and his acquaintance with this—lady—who is evidently no stranger to felonious operations, led him to make the attempt with her assistance. But"—I found myself confronted by a new problem—"what caused his death?"
"His … death!"
As a wild, hysterical37 shriek38 the words smote39 upon my ears. I turned, to see the girl rise, tottering40, from her seat. She began groping in front of her, blindly, as though a darkness had descended41.
"You did not say he was dead?" she whispered, "not dead!—not …"
The words were lost in a wild peal42 of laughter. Clutching at her throat she swayed and would have fallen had I not caught her in my arms. As I laid her insensible upon the settee I met Smith's glance.
"I think I know that, too, Petrie," he said gravely.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
frightful
|
|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
turmoil
|
|
| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
rigidly
|
|
| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
suite
|
|
| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
aluminum
|
|
| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
protruded
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
tint
|
|
| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
lashes
|
|
| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
cynical
|
|
| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
cynically
|
|
| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
perplexed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
savagely
|
|
| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
clatter
|
|
| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
inexplicable
|
|
| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
inspector
|
|
| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
consummate
|
|
| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
wig
|
|
| n.假发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
hysterical
|
|
| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
shriek
|
|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
smote
|
|
| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
tottering
|
|
| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
peal
|
|
| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |