Presently he caught sight of what he sought—the big bulk of St. Swithin’s Hospital, which occupied an entire block. He quickened his pace and approached the great building. In the reception room, however, a disappointment awaited him. When he asked for Doctor Stephen Follansbee, he was told that that distinguished2 individual had not yet arrived at the hospital that day. But after some argument he obtained Follansbee’s private address, which proved to be also on Amsterdam Avenue and not more than half a dozen blocks away.
The stranger retraced3 his steps, therefore, and sought the new number. He soon found it over the door of a house that was one of a row of solid but by no means impressive residences.
A maid admitted him and asked if he had an appointment with the doctor. When informed that he had not, she invited him into the empty reception room and told him Doctor Follansbee was busy, but that he would be free in a few minutes. The visitor seated himself, picked up a magazine, and began mechanically glancing it over. After ten or fifteen minutes, the folding doors at the rear of the reception room were opened and a patient emerged. Over the latter’s shoulder the waiting man caught a glimpse of a stern, repellent figure in the doorway4.
The caller rose expectantly, but before he had a chance to step forward or utter a word he was greeted in an unexpected, almost uncanny, fashion.
“Come in, Mr. Stone!” were the words which came from the man in the doorway.
With a start, James Stone grasped his hat and stepped forward. He could not imagine by what black art the master of the house knew his name, and he eyed his host apprehensively5 as he passed him and entered the room beyond.
He was doubtless face to face with the famous Doctor Stephen Follansbee, but it was hard, indeed, to believe it. The man before him could not have been more than five feet high. His head was as bare as a billiard ball and curiously6 elongated7 in shape. The vulturelike face, the almost fringeless eyelids8, and the long, thin, hawklike9 nose held him mute.
Into the black, beady eyes there flickered10 a sudden mirth, and the thin lips twisted into what was the ghost of a smile.
“It’s all right, Stone!” the extraordinary individual declared. “You have come to the right place. You may not think it, but I’m Doctor Follansbee.”
Was it possible? The man looked like some sinister11 bird of prey12, and yet he was at the head of a celebrated13 hospital and enjoyed the most enviable reputation as an authority whose fame was countrywide.
In response to a gesture from Follansbee the visitor dropped into a chair close beside a small desk that stood by a window. The specialist crossed the room with quick, birdlike steps and took his seat behind the desk. In the momentary14 pause that followed, the two men eyed each other, but what their thoughts were remained their respective secrets. At least, Stone could not read the physician’s.
“You expected to see some one very different, I suppose?” Follansbee remarked, with a mocking smile. “A big, well-groomed figurehead with an impressive manner and a carefully trimmed Vandyke beard? Confess, now.”
Stone relaxed and laughed. It was a short, grating laugh, and the physician’s eyes dilated15 slightly as he heard it.
It was hardly the laugh of a sane16 person, and as Follansbee leaned forward he noted17 that the pupils of Stone’s eyes were fixed18 and round, a sign which the initiated19 always searches for in mental cases.
“That’s about it,” the visitor admitted, in his harsh voice. “The—the young man who spoke20 to me about you told me that you were the head of a big hospital, and I’ve just been there.”
Follansbee nodded.
“I understand,” he said. “I can assure you that your friend was quite correct, as you’ve doubtless found out for yourself, if you’ve been at St. Swithin’s. I’ve never been called handsome, but I haven’t found that a drawback, and I suspect that you didn’t come to see me for my looks. Did you have a pleasant voyage on the Cortez?”
“What do you know about me?” he demanded. “You nearly floored me by calling me by my name, and now you——”
“Oh, that isn’t all I know about you,” Follansbee assured him maliciously22. “I can tell you all about the Condor23 Mine and of your partner, Winthrop Crawford—or shall we call him your ex-partner? I know that you and he recently sold the Condor for a million, and that you have both come back to your old stamping ground after an absence of a quarter of a century or so. I know several other things, too, but we won’t speak of them just yet.”
Stone bit his lip and paled a little under his tan.
“Well, I’ll be hanged!” he muttered. “I suppose Floyd must have written to you about me. How in thunder you knew me, though, when I came in, is more than I can understand.”
His visitor looked at him in bewilderment, but again failed to read that baffling countenance25.
“Why, he’s the young American doctor down in Brazil who advised me to come to you,” he explained wonderingly. “He said he had studied under you in medical school.”
“Indeed! That’s very interesting,” murmured the specialist. “Hundreds of young men have studied under me, however. I suppose I might say thousands. It is gratifying to be remembered by one of them, of course, but I cannot be expected——”
“Then how in the world——”
“Let’s not waste time over things out of our immediate26 concern,” Follansbee interrupted. “Please remember that my time is valuable, very valuable. You seem to be slow in getting to the point. I’ll help you out. I happen to know the nature of your errand, but am also perfectly27 well aware that your heart isn’t in it. Your real desires are of a very different sort. Isn’t that so?”
James Stone looked alarmed, as well he might. His conscience was by no means clear, and the conversation seemed to be getting on decidedly dangerous ground.
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he faltered28, moistening his lips. “Doctor Floyd had a fool notion that I was going crazy, or something like that. I naturally didn’t take very kindly29 to the idea, but I was more or less under obligations to him, and he was so insistent30 that I promised to look you up. He said you would help me. Of course, I don’t think I need any help—of that sort—but I’m a man of my word, and that’s why I’m here.”
“Very commendable31!” murmured the head of St. Swithin’s. “Doctor Boyd, or whatever his name is, was quite right. I can help you, in more ways than one, and I perceive that what you really want is to be rid of your former partner, Winthrop Crawford. Have I hit the nail on the head?”
A meaning smile crossed the sinister face, and Follansbee leaned back in his chair, the glance from his hard little eyes playing over his caller’s face.
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1
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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apprehensively
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| adv.担心地 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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7
elongated
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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hawklike
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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13
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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15
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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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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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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condor
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| n.秃鹰；秃鹰金币 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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28
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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29
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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31
commendable
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| adj.值得称赞的 | |
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