"Sir Baldwin Frazer," said Fu-Manchu, interrupting a wild outburst from the former, "your refusal is dictated1 by insufficient2 knowledge of your surroundings. You find yourself in a place strange to you, a place to which no clue can lead your friends; in the absolute power of a man—myself—who knows no law other than his own and that of those associated with him. Virtually, Sir Baldwin, you stand in China; and in China we know how to exact obedience3. You will not refuse, for Dr. Petrie will tell you something of my wire-jackets and my files…."
I saw Sir Baldwin Frazer blanch4. He could not know what I knew of the significance of those words—"my wire-jackets, my files"—but perhaps something of my own horror communicated itself to him.
"You will not refuse" continued Fu-Manchu softly; "my only fear for you is that the operation my prove unsuccessful! In that event not even my own great clemency5 could save you, for by virtue6 of your failure I should be powerless to intervene." He paused for some moments, staring directly at the surgeon. "There are those within sound of my voice," he added sibilantly, "who would flay7 you alive in the lamentable8 event of your failure, who would cast your flayed9 body"—he paused, waving one quivering fist above his head, "to the rats—to the rats!"
Sir Baldwin's forehead was bathed in perspiration10 now. It was an incredible and a gruesome situation, a nightmare become reality. But, whatever my own case, I could see that Sir Baldwin Frazer was convinced, I could see that his consent would no longer be withheld11.
"You, my dear friend," said Fu-Manchu, turning to me and resuming his studied and painful composure of manner, "will also consent…."
Within my heart of hearts I could not doubt him; I knew that my courage was not of a quality high enough to sustain the frightful12 ordeals13 summoned up before my imagination by those words—"my files, my wire-jackets!"
"In the event, however, of any little obstinancy," he added, "another will plead with you."
A chill like that of death descended14 upon me—as, for the second time, Zarmi clapped her hands, pulled the curtain aside … and Kâramaneh was thrust into the room!
* * * * * * *
There comes a blank in my recollections. Long after Kâramaneh had been plucked out again by the two muscular brown hands which clutched her shoulders from the darkness beyond the doorway15, I seemed to see her standing16 there, in her close-fitting traveling dress. Her hair was unbound, disheveled, her lovely face pale to the lips—and her eyes, her glorious, terror-bright eyes, looked fully17 into mine….
Not a word did she utter, and I was stricken dumb as one who has plucked the Flower of Silence. Only those wondrous18 eyes seemed to look into my soul, searing, consuming me.
Fu-Manchu had been speaking for some time ere my brain began again to record his words.
"——and this magnanimity," came dully to my ears, "extends to you, Dr. Petrie, because of my esteem19. I have little cause to love Kâramaneh"—his voice quivered furiously—"but she can yet be of use to me, and I would not harm a hair of her beautiful head—except in the event of your obstinacy20. Shall we then determine your immediate21 future upon the turn of a card, as the gamester within me, within every one of my race, suggests?
I fought mentally to restore myself to a full knowledge of what was happening, and I realized that the last words had come from the lips of Sir Baldwin Frazer.
"Dr. Petrie," Frazer said, still in the same hoarse23 and unnatural24 voice, "what else can we do? At least take the chance of recovering your freedom, for how otherwise can you hope to serve—your friend…."
"God knows!" I said dully; "do as you wish"—and cared not to what I had agreed.
Plunging25 his hand beneath his white overall, the Chinaman who had been referred to as Li-King-Su calmly produced a pack of cards, unemotionally shuffled26 them and extended the pack to me.
I shook my head grimly, for my hands were tied. Picking up a lancet from the table, the Chinaman cut the cords which bound me, and again extended the pack. I took a card and laid it on my knee without even glancing at it. Fu-Manchu, with his left hand, in turn selected a card, looked at it and then turned its face towards me.
"It would seem, Dr. Petrie," he said calmly, "that you are fated to remain here as my guest. You will have the felicity of residing beneath the same roof with Kâramaneh."
Conscious of a sudden excitement, I snatched up the card from my knee. It was the Queen of Hearts! For a moment I tasted exultation28, then I tossed it upon the floor. I was not fool enough to suppose that the Chinese Doctor would pay his debt of honor and release me.
"Your star above mine," said Fu-Manchu, his calm unruffled. "I place myself in your hands, Sir Baldwin."
Assisted by his unemotional compatriot, Fu-Manchu discarded the yellow robe, revealing himself in a white singlet in all his gaunt ugliness, and extended his frame upon the operating-table.
Li-King-Su ignited the large lamp over the head of the table, and from his case took out a trephine.
* * * * * * *
"Other points for your guidance from my own considerable store of experience"—Fu-Manchu was speaking—"are written out clearly in the notebook which lies upon the table…."
His voice, now, was toneless, emotionless, as though his part in the critical operation about to be performed were that of a spectator. No trace of nervousness, of fear, could I discern; his pulse was practically normal.
* * * * * * *
"There is the bullet!—quick! … Steady, Petrie!"
Sir Baldwin Frazer, keen, cool, deft30, was metamorphosed, was the enthusiastic, brilliant surgeon whom I knew and revered31, and another than the nerveless captive who, but a few minutes ago, had stared, panic-stricken, at Dr. Fu-Manchu.
Although I had met him once or twice professionally, I had never hitherto seen him operate; and his method was little short of miraculous32. It was stimulating33, inspiring. With unerring touch he whittled34 madness, death, from the very throne of reason, of life.
Now was the crucial moment of his task … and, with its coming, every light in the room suddenly failed—went out!
"My God!" whispered Frazer, in the darkness, "quick! quick! lights! a match!—a candle!—something, anything!"
There came a faint click, and a beam of white light was directed, steadily35, upon the patient's skull36. Li-King-Su—unmoved—held an electric torch in his hand!
Frazer and I set to work, in a fierce battle to fend37 off Death, who already outstretched his pinions38 over the insensible man—to fend off Death from the arch-murderer, the enemy of the white races, who lay there at our mercy! …
* * * * * * *
"It seems you want a pick-me-up!" said Zarmi. Sir Baldwin Frazer collapsed39 into the cane40 arm-chair. Only a matting curtain separated us from the room wherein he had successfully performed perhaps the most wonderful operation of his career.
"I could not have lasted out another thirty seconds, Petrie!" he whispered. "The events which led up to it had exhausted41 my nerves and I had no reserve to call upon. If that last …"
He broke off, the sentence uncompleted, and eagerly seized the tumbler containing brandy and soda42, which the beautiful, wicked-eyed Eurasian passed to him. She turned, and prepared a drink for me, with the insolent43 insouciance44 which had never deserted45 her.
Even as I set the glass down I realized, too late, that it was the first drink I had ever permitted to pass my lips within an abode47 of Dr. Fu-Manchu….
I started to my feet.
"Frazer!" I muttered—"we've been drugged! we …"
"You sit down," came Zarmi's husky voice, and I felt her hands upon my breast, pushing me back into my seat. "You very tired … you go to sleep…."
* * * * * * *
"Petrie! Dr. Petrie!"
The words broke in through the curtain of unconsciousness. I strove to arouse myself. I felt cold and wet. I opened my eyes—and the world seemed to be swimming dizzily about me. Then a hand grasped my arm, roughly.
I was sitting beside Sir Baldwin Frazer on a wooden bench, under a leafless tree, from the ghostly limbs whereof rain trickled49 down upon me! In the gray light, which, I thought, must be the light of dawn, I discerned other trees about us and an open expanse, tree-dotted, stretching into the misty50 grayness.
"Where are we?" I muttered—"where …"
"Unless I am greatly mistaken," replied my bedraggled companion, "and
I don't think I am, for I attended a consultation51 in this neighborhood
less than a week ago, we somewhere on the west side of Wandsworth
Common!"
He ceased speaking; then uttered a suppressed cry. There came a jangling of coins, and dimly I saw him to be staring at a canvas bag of money which he held.
"Merciful heavens!" he said, "am I mad—or did I really perform that operation? And can this be my fee? …"
I laughed loudly, wildly, plunging my wet, cold hands into the pockets of my rain-soaked overcoat. In one of them, my fingers came in contact with a piece of cardboard. It had an unfamiliar52 feel, and I pulled it out, peering at it in the dim light.
"Well, I'm damned!" muttered Frazer—"then I'm not mad, after all!"
It was the Queen of Hearts!
点击收听单词发音
1 dictated | |
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
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2 insufficient | |
adj.(for,of)不足的,不够的 | |
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3 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
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4 blanch | |
v.漂白;使变白;使(植物)不见日光而变白 | |
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5 clemency | |
n.温和,仁慈,宽厚 | |
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6 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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7 flay | |
vt.剥皮;痛骂 | |
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8 lamentable | |
adj.令人惋惜的,悔恨的 | |
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9 flayed | |
v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 );把…打得皮开肉绽;剥(通常指动物)的皮;严厉批评 | |
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10 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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11 withheld | |
withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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12 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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13 ordeals | |
n.严峻的考验,苦难的经历( ordeal的名词复数 ) | |
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14 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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15 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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16 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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17 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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18 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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19 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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20 obstinacy | |
n.顽固;(病痛等)难治 | |
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21 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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22 hoarsely | |
adv.嘶哑地 | |
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23 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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24 unnatural | |
adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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25 plunging | |
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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26 shuffled | |
v.洗(纸牌)( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 );拖着脚步走;粗心地做;摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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27 knave | |
n.流氓;(纸牌中的)杰克 | |
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28 exultation | |
n.狂喜,得意 | |
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29 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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30 deft | |
adj.灵巧的,熟练的(a deft hand 能手) | |
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31 revered | |
v.崇敬,尊崇,敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32 miraculous | |
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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33 stimulating | |
adj.有启发性的,能激发人思考的 | |
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34 whittled | |
v.切,削(木头),使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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36 skull | |
n.头骨;颅骨 | |
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37 fend | |
v.照料(自己),(自己)谋生,挡开,避开 | |
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38 pinions | |
v.抓住[捆住](双臂)( pinion的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39 collapsed | |
adj.倒塌的 | |
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40 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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41 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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42 soda | |
n.苏打水;汽水 | |
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43 insolent | |
adj.傲慢的,无理的 | |
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44 insouciance | |
n.漠不关心 | |
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45 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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46 draught | |
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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47 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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48 brace | |
n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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49 trickled | |
v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动 | |
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50 misty | |
adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的 | |
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51 consultation | |
n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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52 unfamiliar | |
adj.陌生的,不熟悉的 | |
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