I had declined the services of the several taxi-drivers who had accosted1 me and had determined2 to walk a part of the distance homeward, in order to check the fever of excitement which consumed me.
Already I was ashamed of the strange fears which had been mine during the journey, but I wanted to reflect, to conquer my mood, and the midnight solitude3 of the land of Squares which lay between me and Hyde Park appealed quite irresistibly4.
There is a distinct pleasure to be derived5 from a solitary6 walk through London, in the small hours of an April morning, provided one is so situated7 as to be capable of enjoying it. To appreciate the solitude and mystery of the sleeping city, a certain sense of prosperity—a knowledge that one is immune from the necessity of being abroad at that hour—is requisite8. The tramp, the night policeman and the coffee-stall keeper know more of London by night than most people—but of the romance of the dark hours they know little. Romance succumbs9 before necessity.
I had good reason to be keenly alive to the aroma10 of mystery which pervades11 the most commonplace thoroughfare after the hum of the traffic has subsided—when the rare pedestrian and the rarer cab alone traverse the deserted12 highway. With more intimate cares seeking to claim my mind, it was good to tramp along the echoing, empty streets and to indulge in imaginative speculation13 regarding the strange things that night must shroud14 in every big city. I have known the solitude of deserts, but the solitude of London is equally fascinating.
He whose business or pleasure had led him to traverse the route which was mine on this memorable15 night must have observed how each of the squares composing that residential16 chain which links the outer with the inner Society has a popular and an exclusive side. The angle used by vehicular traffic in crossing the square from corner to corner invariably is rich in a crop of black board bearing house-agent's announcements.
In the shadow of such a board I paused, taking out my case an leisurely17 selecting a cigar. So many of the houses in the southwest angle were unoccupied, that I found myself taking quite an interest in one a little way ahead; from the hall door and from the long conservatory18 over the porch light streamed out.
Excepting these illuminations, there was no light elsewhere in the square to show which houses were inhabited and which vacant. I might have stood in a street of Pompeii or Thebes—a street of the dead past. I permitted my imagination to dwell upon this idea as I fumbled19 for matches and gazed about me. I wondered if a day would come when some savant of a future land, in a future age, should stand where I stood and endeavor to reconstruct, from the crumbling20 ruins, this typical London square. A slight breeze set the hatchet-board creaking above my head, as I held my gloved hands about the pine-vesta.
At that moment some one or something whistled close beside me!
I turned, in a flash, dropping the match upon the pavement. There was no lamp near the spot whereat I stood, and the gateway21 and porch of the deserted residence seemed to be empty. I stood there peering in the direction from which the mysterious whistle had come.
The drone of a taxicab, approaching from the north, increased in volume, as the vehicle came spinning around the angle of the square, passed me, and went droning on its way. I watched it swing around the distant corner … and, in the new stillness, the whistle was repeated!
This time the sound chilled me. The whistle was pitched in a curious, inhuman22 key, and it possessed23 a mocking note that was strangely uncanny.
Listening intently and peering towards the porch of the empty house, I struck a second match, pushed the iron gate open and made for the steps, sheltering the feeble flame with upraised hand. As I did so, the whistle was again repeated, but from some spot further away, to the left of the porch, and from low down upon the ground.
Just as I glimpsed something moving under the lee of the porch, the match was blown out, for I was hampered24 by the handbag which I carried. Thus reminded of its presence, however, I recollected25 that my pocket-lamp was in it. Quickly opening the bag, I took out the lamp, and, passing around the corner of the steps, directed a ray of light into the narrow passage which communicated with the rear of the building.
Half-way along the passage, looking back at me over its shoulder, and whistling angrily, was a little marmoset!
I pulled up as sharply as though the point of a sword had been held at my throat. One marmoset is sufficiently26 like another to deceive the ordinary observer, but unless I was permitting a not unnatural27 prejudice to influence my opinion, this particular specimen28 was the pet of Dr. Fu-Manchu!
Excitement, not untinged with fear, began to grow up within me. Hyde Park was no far cry, this was near to the heart of social London; yet, somewhere close at hand, it might be, watching me as I stood—lurked, perhaps, the great and evil being who dreamed of overthrowing29 the entire white race!
With a grotesque30 grimace31 and a final, chattering32 whistle, the little creature leapt away out of the beam of light cast by my lamp. Its sudden disappearance33 brought me to my senses and reminded me of my plain duty. I set off along the passage briskly, arrived at a small, square yard … and was just in time to see the ape leap into a well-like opening before a basement window. I stepped to the brink34, directing the light down into the well.
I saw a collection of rotten leaves, waste paper, and miscellaneous rubbish—but the marmoset was not visible. Then I perceived that practically all the glass in the window had been broken. A sound of shrill35 chattering reached me from the blackness of the underground apartment.
Again I hesitated. What did the darkness mask?
The note of a distant motor-horn rose clearly above the vague throbbing36 which is the only silence known to the town-dweller.
Gripping the unlighted cigar between my teeth, I placed my bag upon the ground and dropped into the well before the broken window. To raise the sash was a simple matter, and, having accomplished37 it, I inspected the room within.
The light showed a large kitchen, with torn wall-paper and decorator's litter strewn about the floor, a whitewash38 pail in one corner, and nothing else.
I climbed in, and, taking from my pocket the Browning pistol without which I had never traveled since the return of the dreadful Chinaman to England, I crossed to the door, which was ajar, and looked out into the passage beyond.
The next moment I had forced a laugh to my lips … as the marmoset turned and went gamboling up the stairs. The house was profoundly silent. I crossed the passage and followed the creature, which now was proceeding41, I thought, with more of a set purpose.
Out into a spacious42 and deserted hallway it led me, where my cautious footsteps echoed eerily43, and ghostly faces seemed to peer down upon me from the galleries above. I should have liked to have unbarred the street door, in order to have opened a safe line of retreat in the event of its being required, but the marmoset suddenly sprang up the main stairway at a great speed, and went racing44 around the gallery overhead toward the front of the house.
Determined, if possible, to keep the creature in view, I started in pursuit. Up the uncarpeted stairs I went, and, from the rail of the landing, looked down into the blackness of the hallway apprehensively45. Nothing stirred below. The marmoset had disappeared between the half-opened leaves of a large folding door. Casting the beam of light ahead of me I followed. I found myself in a long, lofty apartment, evidently a drawing-room.
Of the quarry46 I could detect no sign; but the only other door of the room was closed; therefore, since the creature had entered, it must, I argued, undoubtedly47 be concealed48 somewhere in the apartment. Flashing the light about to right and left, I presently perceived that a conservatory (no doubt facing on the square) ran parallel with one side of the room. French windows gave access to either end of it; and it was through one of these, which was slightly open, that the questioning ray had intruded49.
I stepped into the conservatory. Linen50 blinds covered the windows, but a faint light from outside found access to the bare, tiled apartment. Ten paces on my right, from an aperture51 once closed by a square wooden panel that now lay upon the floor, the marmoset was grimacing52 at me.
Realizing that the ray of my lamp must be visible through the blinds from outside, I extinguished it … and, a moving silhouette53 against a faintly luminous54 square, I could clearly distinguish the marmoset watching me.
There was a light in the room beyond!
The marmoset disappeared—and I became aware of a faint, incense55-like perfume. Where had I met with it before? Nothing disturbed the silence of the empty house wherein I stood; yet I hesitated for several seconds to pursue the chase further. The realization56 came to me that the hole in the wall communicated with the conservatory of the corner house in the square, the house with the lighted windows.
Determined to see the thing through, I discarded my overcoat—and crawled through the gap. The smell of burning perfume became almost overpowering, as I stood upright, to find myself almost touching57 curtains of some semi-transparent golden fabric58 draped in the door between the conservatory and the drawing-room.
Cautiously, inch by inch, I approached my eyes to the slight gap in the draperies, as, from somewhere in the house below, sounded the clangor of a brazen59 gong. Seven times its ominous60 note boomed out. I shrank back into my sanctuary61; the incense seemed to be stifling me.
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1
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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3
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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4
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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5
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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6
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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7
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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8
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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9
succumbs
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的第三人称单数 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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10
aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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11
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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13
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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14
shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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15
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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16
residential
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| adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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18
conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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19
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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20
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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21
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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22
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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23
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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24
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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27
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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28
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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29
overthrowing
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| v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止 | |
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30
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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31
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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32
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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33
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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34
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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35
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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36
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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37
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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38
whitewash
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| v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰 | |
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39
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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40
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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41
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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42
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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43
eerily
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| adv.引起神秘感或害怕地 | |
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44
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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45
apprehensively
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| adv.担心地 | |
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46
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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47
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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48
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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49
intruded
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| n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于 | |
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50
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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51
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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52
grimacing
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的现在分词 ) | |
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53
silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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54
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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55
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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56
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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57
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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58
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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59
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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60
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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61
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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