Through the open window the moonlight poured in and spilled its pure luminance upon the filthy1 floor; but I kept religiously within the shadows, so posted, however, that I could command an uninterrupted view of the street from the point where it crossed the creek2 to that where it terminated at the gates of the deserted3 wharf4.
Above and below me the crazy building formerly6 known as the Joy-Shop and once the nightly resort of the Asiatic riff-raff from the docks— was silent, save for the squealing7 and scuffling of the rats. The melancholy8 lapping of the water frequently reached my ears, and a more or less continuous din5 from the wharves9 and workshops upon the further bank of the Thames; but in the narrow, dingy10 streets immediately surrounding the house, quietude reigned11 and no solitary12 footstep disturbed it.
Once, looking down in the direction of the bridge, I gave a great start, for a black patch of shadow moved swiftly across the path and merged13 into the other shadows bordering a high wall. My heart leapt momentarily, then, in another instant, the explanation of the mystery became apparent—in the presence of a gaunt and prowling cat. Bestowing14 a suspicious glance upward in my direction, the animal slunk away toward the path bordering the cutting.
By a devious15 route amid ghostly gasometers I had crept to my post in the early dusk, before the moon was risen, and already I was heartily16 weary of my passive part in the affair of the night. I had never before appreciated the multitudinous sounds, all of them weird17 and many of them horrible, which are within the compass of those great black rats who find their way to England with cargoes18 from Russia and elsewhere. From the rafters above my head, from the wall recesses19 about me, from the floor beneath my feet, proceeded a continuous and nerve-shattering concert, an unholy symphony which seemingly accompanied the eternal dance of the rats.
Sometimes a faint splash from below would tell of one of the revelers taking the water, but save for the more distant throbbing20 of riverside industry, and rarer note of shipping21, the mad discords22 of this rat saturnalia alone claimed the ear.
The hour was nigh now, when matters should begin to develop. I followed the chimes from the clock of some church nearby—I have never learnt its name; and was conscious of a thrill of excitement when they warned me that the hour was actually arrived….
A strange figure appeared noiselessly, from I knew not where, and stood fully23 within view upon the bridge crossing the cutting, peering to right and left, in an attitude of listening. It was the figure of a bedraggled old woman, gray-haired, and carrying a large bundle tied up in what appeared to be a red shawl. Of her face I could see little, since it was shaded by the brim of her black bonnet24, but she rested her bundle upon the low wall of the bridge, and to my intense surprise, sat down upon it!
She evidently intended to remain there.
I drew back further into the darkness; for the presence of this singular old woman at such a place, and at that hour, could not well be accidental. I was convinced that the first actor in the drama had already taken the stage. Whether I was mistaken or not must shortly appear.
Crisp footsteps sounded upon the roadway; distantly, and from my left. Nearer they approached and nearer. I saw the old woman, in the shadow of the wall, glance once rapidly in the direction of the approaching pedestrian. For some occult reason, the chorus of the rats was stilled. Only that firm and regular tread broke the intimate silence of the dreary25 spot.
Now the pedestrian came within my range of sight. It was Nayland Smith!
He wore a long tweed overcoat with which I was familiar, and a soft felt hat, the brim pulled down all around in a fashion characteristic of him, and probably acquired during the years spent beneath the merciless sun of Burma. He carried a heavy walking-cane26 which I knew to be a formidable weapon that he could wield27 to good effect. But, despite the stillness about me, a stillness which had reigned uninterruptedly (save for the danse macabre28 of the rats) since the coming of dusk, some voice within, ignoring these physical evidences of solitude29, spoke30 urgently of lurking31 assassins; of murderous Easterns armed with those curved knives which sometimes flashed before my eyes in dreams; of a deathly menace which hid in the shadows about me, in the many shadows cloaking the holes and corners of the ramshackle building, draping arches, crannies and portals to which the moonlight could not penetrate32.
He was abreast33 of the Joy-Shop now, and in sight of the ominous34 old witch huddled35 upon the bridge. He pulled up suddenly and stood looking at her. Coincident with his doing so, she began to moan and sway her body to right and left as if in pain; then—
"Kind gentleman," she whined36 in a sing-song voice, "thank God you came this way to help a poor old woman."
I clenched38 my fists. I could have cried out; I was indeed hard put to it to refrain from crying out—from warning him. But his injunctions had been explicit39, and I restrained myself by a great effort, preserving silence and crouching40 there at the window, but with every muscle tensed and a desire for action strong upon me.
"I tripped up on a rough stone, sir," whined the old creature, "and here I've been sitting waiting for a policeman or someone to help me, for more than an hour, I have."
Smith stood looking down at her, his arms behind him, and in one gloved hand swinging the cane.
"Where do you live, then?" he asked.
"Not a hundred steps from here, kind gentleman," she replied in the monotonous41 voice; "but I can't move my left foot. It's only just through the gates yonder."
"What!" snapped Smith, "on the wharf?"
"They let me have a room in the old building until it's let," she explained. "Be helping42 a poor old woman, and God bless you."
"Come along, then!"
Stooping, Smith placed his arm around her shoulders, and assisted her to her feet. She groaned43 as if in great pain, but gripped her red bundle, and leaning heavily upon the supporting arm, hobbled off across the bridge in the direction of the wharf gates at the end of the lane.
Now at last a little action became possible, and having seen my friend push open one of the gates and assist the old woman to enter, I crept rapidly across the crazy floor, found the doorway44, and, with little noise, for I wore rubber-soled shoes, stole down the stairs into what had formerly been the reception-room of the Joy-Shop, the malodorous sanctum of the old Chinaman, John Ki.
Utter darkness prevailed there, but momentarily flicking45 the light of a pocket-lamp upon the floor before me, I discovered the further steps that were to be negotiated, and descended46 into the square yard which gave access to the path skirting the creek.
The moonlight drew a sharp line of shadow along the wall of the house above me, but the yard itself was a well of darkness. I stumbled under the rotting brick archway, and stepped gingerly upon the muddy path that I must follow. One hand pressed to the damp wall, I worked my way cautiously along, for a false step had precipitated47 me into the foul48 water of the creek. In this fashion and still enveloped49 by dense50 shadows, I reached the angle of the building. Then—at risk of being perceived, for the wharf and the river both were bathed in moonlight— I peered along to the left….
Out onto the paved pathway communicating with the wharf came Smith, shepherding his tottering51 charge. I was too far away to hear any conversation that might take place between the two, but, unless Smith gave the pre-arranged signal, I must approach no closer. Thus, as one sees a drama upon the screen, I saw what now occurred—occurred with dramatic, lightning swiftness.
Releasing Smith's arm, the old woman suddenly stepped back … at the instant that another figure, a repellent figure which approached, stooping, apish, with a sort of loping gait, crossed from some spot invisible to me, and sprang like a wild animal upon Smith's back!
It was a Chinaman, wearing a short loose garment of the smock pattern, and having his head bare, so that I could see his pigtail coiled upon his yellow crown. That he carried a cord, I perceived in the instant of his spring, and that he had whipped it about Smith's throat with unerring dexterity52 was evidenced by the one, short, strangled cry that came from my friend's lips.
Then Smith was down, prone53 upon the crazy planking, with the ape-like figure of the Chinaman perched between his shoulders—bending forward— the wicked yellow fingers at work, tightening—tightening—tightening the strangling-cord!
Uttering a loud cry of horror, I went racing54 along the gangway which projected actually over the moving Thames waters, and gained the wharf. But, swift as I had been, another had been swifter!
A tall figure (despite the brilliant moon, I doubted the evidence of my sight), wearing a tweed overcoat and a soft felt hat with the brim turned down, sprang up, from nowhere as it seemed, swooped55 upon the horrible figure squatting56, simianesque, between Smith's shoulder-blades, and grasped him by the neck.
I pulled up shortly, one foot set upon the wharf. The new-comer was the double of Nayland Smith!
Seemingly exerting no effort whatever, he lifted the strangler in that remorseless grasp, so that the Chinaman's hands, after one quick convulsive upward movement, hung limply beside him like the paws of a rat in the grip of a terrier.
Releasing one hand from the neck of the limp figure, the speaker grasped the Chinaman by his loose, smock-like garment, swung him back, once—a mighty59 swing—and hurled60 him far out into the river as one might hurl61 a sack of rubbish!
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1
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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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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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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8
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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10
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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13
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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14
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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15
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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16
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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17
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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18
cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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19
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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20
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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21
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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discords
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| 不和（discord的复数形式） | |
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23
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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26
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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27
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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macabre
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| adj.骇人的，可怖的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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30
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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31
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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32
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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35
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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37
tersely
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| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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38
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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40
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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41
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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42
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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43
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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44
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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45
flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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46
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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47
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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48
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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49
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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51
tottering
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| 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 | |
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52
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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53
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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54
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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55
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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57
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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58
pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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59
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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60
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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61
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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