By moving my aching head to the left I could look down into the oily water; by moving it to the right I could catch a glimpse of the empurpled face of Inspector4 Weymouth, who, similarly bound and gagged, lay beside me, but only of the feet and legs of Nayland Smith. For I could not turn my head sufficiently5 far to see more.
We were aboard an electric launch. I heard the hated guttural voice of Fu-Manchu, subdued6 now to its habitual7 calm, and my heart leaped to hear the voice that answered him. It was that of Karamaneh. His triumph was complete. Clearly his plans for departure were complete; his slaughter8 of the police in the underground passages had been a final reckless demonstration9 of which the Chinaman's subtle cunning would have been incapable10 had he not known his escape from the country to be assured.
What fate was in store for us? How would he avenge11 himself upon the girl who had betrayed him to his enemies? What portion awaited those enemies? He seemed to have formed the singular determination to smuggle12 me into China—but what did he purpose in the case of Weymouth, and in the case of Nayland Smith?
All but silently we were feeling our way through the mist. Astern died the clangor of dock and wharf13 into a remote discord14. Ahead hung the foggy curtain veiling the traffic of the great waterway; but through it broke the calling of sirens, the tinkling15 of bells.
The gentle movement of the screw ceased altogether. The launch lay heaving slightly upon the swells16.
A bell rang and muffled20 by the fog a voice proclaimed itself—a voice which I knew. I felt Weymouth writhing21 impotently beside me; heard him mumbling22 incoherently; and I knew that he, too, had recognized the voice.
It was that of Inspector Ryman of the river police and their launch was within biscuit-throw of that upon which we lay!
"'Hoy! 'Hoy!"
I trembled. A feverish23 excitement claimed me. They were hailing us. We carried no lights; but now—and ignoring the pain which shot from my spine24 to my skull25 I craned my neck to the left—the port light of the police launch glowed angrily through the mist.
I was unable to utter any save mumbling sounds, and my companions were equally helpless. It was a desperate position. Had the police seen us or had they hailed at random26? The light drew nearer.
"Launch, 'hoy!"
They had seen us! Fu-Manchu's guttural voice spoke27 shortly—and our screw began to revolve28 again; we leaped ahead into the bank of darkness. Faint grew the light of the police launch—and was gone. But I heard Ryman's voice shouting.
"Full speed!" came faintly through the darkness. "Port! Port!"
Then the murk closed down, and with our friends far astern of us we were racing29 deeper into the fog banks—speeding seaward; though of this I was unable to judge at the time.
On we raced, and on, sweeping30 over growing swells. Once, a black, towering shape dropped down upon us. Far above, lights blazed, bells rang, vague cries pierced the fog. The launch pitched and rolled perilously32, but weathered the wash of the liner which so nearly had concluded this episode. It was such a journey as I had taken once before, early in our pursuit of the genius of the Yellow Peril31; but this was infinitely33 more terrible; for now we were utterly34 in Fu-Manchu's power.
A voice mumbled35 in my ear. I turned my bound-up face; and Inspector Weymouth raised his hands in the dimness and partly slipped the bandage from his mouth.
"I've been working at the cords since we left those filthy36 cellars," he whispered. "My wrists are all cut, but when I've got out a knife and freed my ankles—"
Smith had kicked him with his bound feet. The detective slipped the bandage back to position and placed his hands behind him again. Dr. Fu-Manchu, wearing a heavy overcoat but no hat, came aft. He was dragging Karamaneh by the wrists. He seated himself on the cushions near to us, pulling the girl down beside him. Now, I could see her face—and the expression in her beautiful eyes made me writhe37.
Fu-Manchu was watching us, his discolored teeth faintly visible in the dim light, to which my eyes were becoming accustomed.
"Dr. Petrie," he said, "you shall be my honored guest at my home in China. You shall assist me to revolutionize chemistry. Mr. Smith, I fear you know more of my plans than I had deemed it possible for you to have learned, and I am anxious to know if you have a confidant. Where your memory fails you, and my files and wire jackets prove ineffectual, Inspector Weymouth's recollections may prove more accurate."
"In my hands, Doctor," he continued, "I hold a needle charged with a rare culture. It is the link between the bacilli and the fungi40. You have seemed to display an undue41 interest in the peach and pearl which render my Karamaneh so delightful42, In the supple43 grace of her movements and the sparkle of her eyes. You can never devote your whole mind to those studies which I have planned for you whilst such distractions44 exist. A touch of this keen point, and the laughing Karamaneh becomes the shrieking45 hag—the maniacal46, mowing—"
Then, with an ox-like rush, Weymouth was upon him!
Karamaneh, wrought47 upon past endurance, with a sobbing48 cry, sank to the deck—and lay still. I managed to writhe into a half-sitting posture49, and Smith rolled aside as the detective and the Chinaman crashed down together.
Weymouth had one big hand at the Doctor's yellow throat; with his left he grasped the Chinaman's right. It held the needle.
Now, I could look along the length of the little craft, and, so far as it was possible to make out in the fog, only one other was aboard—the half-clad brown man who navigated50 her—and who had carried us through the cellars. The murk had grown denser51 and now shut us in like a box. The throb18 of the motor—the hissing52 breath of the two who fought—with so much at issue—these sounds and the wash of the water alone broke the eerie53 stillness.
By slow degrees, and with a reptilian54 agility55 horrible to watch, Fu-Manchu was neutralizing56 the advantage gained by Weymouth. His clawish fingers were fast in the big man's throat; the right hand with its deadly needle was forcing down the left of his opponent. He had been underneath57, but now he was gaining the upper place. His powers of physical endurance must have been truly marvelous. His breath was whistling through his nostrils58 significantly, but Weymouth was palpably tiring.
The latter suddenly changed his tactics. By a supreme59 effort, to which he was spurred, I think, by the growing proximity60 of the needle, he raised Fu-Manchu—by the throat and arm—and pitched him sideways.
The Chinaman's grip did not relax, and the two wrestlers dropped, a writhing mass, upon the port cushions. The launch heeled over, and my cry of horror was crushed back into my throat by the bandage. For, as Fu-Manchu sought to extricate61 himself, he overbalanced—fell back—and, bearing Weymouth with him—slid into the river!
The mist swallowed them up.
There are moments of which no man can recall his mental impressions, moments so acutely horrible that, mercifully, our memory retains nothing of the emotions they occasioned. This was one of them. A chaos63 ruled in my mind. I had a vague belief that the Burman, forward, glanced back. Then the course of the launch was changed. How long intervened between the tragic64 end of that Gargantuan65 struggle and the time when a black wall leaped suddenly up before us I cannot pretend to state.
With a sickening jerk we ran aground. A loud explosion ensued, and I clearly remember seeing the brown man leap out into the fog—which was the last I saw of him.
Water began to wash aboard.
Fully62 alive to our imminent66 peril, I fought with the cords that bound me; but I lacked poor Weymouth's strength of wrist, and I began to accept as a horrible and imminent possibility, a death from drowning, within six feet of the bank.
Beside me, Nayland Smith was straining and twisting. I think his object was to touch Karamaneh, in the hope of arousing her. Where he failed in his project, the inflowing water succeeded. A silent prayer of thankfulness came from my very soul when I saw her stir—when I saw her raise her hands to her head—and saw the big, horror-bright eyes gleam through the mist veil.
点击收听单词发音
1 culmination | |
n.顶点;最高潮 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 fumes | |
n.(强烈而刺激的)气味,气体 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 inhaled | |
v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 inspector | |
n.检查员,监察员,视察员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 demonstration | |
n.表明,示范,论证,示威 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 avenge | |
v.为...复仇,为...报仇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 smuggle | |
vt.私运;vi.走私 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 wharf | |
n.码头,停泊处 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 discord | |
n.不和,意见不合,争论,(音乐)不和谐 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 tinkling | |
n.丁当作响声 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 swells | |
增强( swell的第三人称单数 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 throbbing | |
a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 throb | |
v.震颤,颤动;(急速强烈地)跳动,搏动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 haze | |
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 muffled | |
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) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 writhing | |
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 mumbling | |
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 feverish | |
adj.发烧的,狂热的,兴奋的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 spine | |
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 skull | |
n.头骨;颅骨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 random | |
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 spoke | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 revolve | |
vi.(使)旋转;循环出现 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 racing | |
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 perilously | |
adv.充满危险地,危机四伏地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 mumbled | |
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 filthy | |
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 writhe | |
vt.挣扎,痛苦地扭曲;vi.扭曲,翻腾,受苦;n.翻腾,苦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 cowering | |
v.畏缩,抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 abject | |
adj.极可怜的,卑屈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 fungi | |
n.真菌,霉菌 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 undue | |
adj.过分的;不适当的;未到期的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 supple | |
adj.柔软的,易弯的,逢迎的,顺从的,灵活的;vt.使柔软,使柔顺,使顺从;vi.变柔软,变柔顺 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 distractions | |
n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 );娱乐,消遣;心烦意乱;精神错乱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 shrieking | |
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 maniacal | |
adj.发疯的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 sobbing | |
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 navigated | |
v.给(船舶、飞机等)引航,导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 );(从海上、空中等)横越;横渡;飞跃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 denser | |
adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 hissing | |
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 eerie | |
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 reptilian | |
adj.(像)爬行动物的;(像)爬虫的;卑躬屈节的;卑鄙的n.两栖动物;卑劣的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 agility | |
n.敏捷,活泼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 neutralizing | |
v.使失效( neutralize的现在分词 );抵消;中和;使(一个国家)中立化 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 underneath | |
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 proximity | |
n.接近,邻近 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 extricate | |
v.拯救,救出;解脱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 chaos | |
n.混乱,无秩序 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 gargantuan | |
adj.巨大的,庞大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 imminent | |
adj.即将发生的,临近的,逼近的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |