CHAPTER XXXVII. SETON PASHA REPORTS

 At about the time that the fearless Chief Inspector¹ was entering the establishment of Sam Tuk Seton Pasha was reporting to Lord Wrexborough in Whitehall. His nautical² disguise had served its purpose, and he had now finally abandoned it, recognizing that he had to deal with a criminal of genius to whom disguise merely afforded matter for amusement.

 

In his proper person, as Greville Seton, he afforded a marked contrast to that John Smiles, seaman³, who had sat in a top room in Limehouse with Chief Inspector Kerry. And although he had to report failure, the grim, bronzed face and bright grey eyes must have inspired in the heart of any thoughtful observer confidence in ultimate success. Lord Wrexborough, silver-haired, florid and dignified⁴, sat before a vast table laden⁵ with neatly⁶ arranged dispatch-boxes, books, documents tied with red tape, and the other impressive impedimenta which characterize the table of a Secretary of State. Quentin Gray, unable to conceal⁷ his condition of nervous excitement, stared from a window down into Whitehall.

 

“I take it, then, Seton,” Lord Wrexborough was saying, “that in your opinion—although perhaps it is somewhat hastily formed—there is and has been no connivance⁸ between officials and receivers of drugs?”

 

“That is my opinion, sir. The traffic has gradually and ingeniously been 'ringed' by a wealthy group. Smaller dealers⁹ have been bought out or driven out, and today I believe it would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain opium¹⁰, cocaine¹¹, or veronal illicitly¹² anywhere in London. Kazmah and Company had the available stock cornered. Of course, now that they are out of business, no doubt others will step in. It is a trade that can never be suppressed under existing laws.”

 

“I see, I see,” muttered Lord Wrexborough, adjusting his pince-nez. “You also believe that Kazmah and Company are in hiding within what you term”—he consulted a written page—“the 'Causeway area'? And you believe that the man called Sin Sin Wa is the head of the organization?”

 

“I believe the late Sir Lucien Pyne was the actual head of the group,” said Seton bluntly. “But Sin Sin Wa is the acting¹³ head. In view of his physical peculiarities¹⁴, I don't quite see how he's going to escape us, either, sir. His wife has a fighting chance, and as for Mohammed el-Kazmah, he might sail for anywhere tomorrow, and we should never know. You see, we have no description of the man.”

 

“His passports?” murmured Lord Wrexborough.

 

Seton Pasha smiled grimly.

 

“Not an insurmountable difficulty, sir,” he replied, “but Sin Sin Wa is a marked man. He has the longest and thickest pigtail which I ever saw on a human scalp. I take it he is a Southerner of the old school; therefore, he won't cut it off. He has also only one eye, and while there are many one-eyed Chinamen, there are few one-eyed Chinamen who possess pigtails like a battleship's hawser¹⁵. Furthermore, he travels with a talking raven¹⁶, and I'll swear he won't leave it behind. On the other hand, he is endowed with an amount of craft which comes very near to genius.”

 

“And—Mrs. Monte Irvin?”

 

Quentin Gray turned suddenly, and his boyish face was very pale.

 

“Seton, Seton!” he said. “For God's sake tell me the truth! Do you think—”

 

He stopped, choking emotionally. Seton Pasha watched him with that cool, confident stare which could either soothe¹⁷ or irritate; and:

 

“She was alive this morning, Gray,” he replied quietly, “we heard her. You may take it from me that they will offer her no violence. I shall say no more.”

 

Lord Wrexborough cleared his throat and took up a document from the table.

 

“Your remark raises another point, Quentin,” he said sternly, “which has to be settled today. Your appointment to Cairo was confirmed this morning. You sail on Tuesday.”

 

Quentin Gray turned again abruptly¹⁸ and stared out of the window.

 

“You're practically kicking me out, sir,” he said. “I don't know what I've done.”

 

“You have done nothing,” replied Lord Wrexborough “which an honorable man may not do. But in common with many others similarly circumstanced, you seem inclined, now that your military duties are at an end, to regard life as a sort of perpetual 'leave.' I speak frankly¹⁹ before Seton because I know that he agrees with me. My friend the Foreign Secretary has generously offered you an appointment which opens up a career that should not—I repeat, that should not prove less successful than his own.”

 

Gray turned, and his face had flushed deeply.

 

“I know that Margaret has been scaring you about Rita Irvin,” he said, “but on my word, sir, there was no need to do it.”

 

He met Seton Pasha's cool regard, and:

 

“Margaret's one of the best,” he added. “I know you agree with me?”

 

A faint suggestion of added color came into Seton's tanned cheeks.

 

“I do, Gray,” he answered quietly. “I believe you are good enough to look upon me as a real friend; therefore allow me to add my advice, for what it is worth, to that of Lord Wrexborough and your cousin: take the Egyptian appointment. I know where it will lead. You can do no good by remaining in London; and when we find Mrs. Irvin your presence would be an embarrassment²⁰ to the unhappy man who waits for news at Prince's Gate. I am frank, but it's my way.”

 

He held out his hand, smiling. Quentin Gray's mercurial²¹ complexion²² was changing again, but:

 

“Good old Seton!” he said, rather huskily, and gripped the outstretched hand. “For Irvin's sake, save her!”

 

He turned to his father.

 

“Thank you, sir,” he added, “you are always right. I shall be ready on Tuesday. I suppose you are off again, Seton?”

 

“I am,” was the reply. “Chief Inspector Kerry is moving heaven and earth to find the Kazmah establishment, and I don't want to come in a poor second.”

 

Lord Wrexborough cleared his throat and turned in the padded revolving²³ chair.

 

“Honestly, Seton,” he said, “what do you think of your chance of success?”

 

Seton Pasha smiled grimly.

 

“Many ascribe success to wit,” he replied, “and failure to bad luck; but the Arab says 'Kismet.'”

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

3 seaman   

n.海员，水手，水兵

参考例句：

• That young man is a experienced seaman.那个年轻人是一个经验丰富的水手。
• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。

4 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

5 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

6 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

7 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

8 connivance   

n.纵容；默许

参考例句：

• The criminals could not have escaped without your connivance.囚犯没有你的默契配合，是逃不掉的。
• He tried to bribe the police into connivance.他企图收买警察放他一马。

9 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

10 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

11 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

12 illicitly   

违法地，不正地

参考例句：

• That substance illicitly to fool quality-inspection testers because it can mimic the properties of protein. 乳制品之所以添加三聚氰胺是因为它可以虚增蛋白质含量、在质量测试中蒙混过关。
• Western governments international bodies should police Gaza's borders and crossing-points to stop weapons illicitly coming in. 西方政府和国际组织应该巡查加沙边界和交叉区域，阻止武器的非法流入。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

15 hawser   

n.大缆；大索

参考例句：

• The fingers were pinched under a hawser.手指被夹在了大缆绳下面。
• There's a new hawser faked down there.有条新铁索盘卷在那里。

16 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

17 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

18 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

19 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

20 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

21 mercurial   

adj.善变的，活泼的

参考例句：

• He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.他是个反复无常的人，因此对他的行为无法预言。
• Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers.我们的欲望与嫌恶是变化无常的统治者。

22 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

23 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。