CHAPTER XXVI. THE AWAKENING OF REMORSE.

 “Have you done the trick?”

 

Stone dropped back on the soft cushions of the car and passed his hands across his eyes. It had been a hasty and disordered flight that had followed his act, and had carried him down the fire escape. On reaching the lower platform, he had crawled through the ladder opening and let himself down and dropped to the pavement of the court. Then he had sped across the courtyard and out into the side street. There he had moderated his pace for fear of attracting attention, if a passing policeman should see him. He had still hurried along, however, blindly and fearfully, until he saw the waiting machine.

 

Follansbee’s head had been thrust out of the closed car for a moment as Stone approached, then the door had been opened, and the miner had jumped in.

 

“Where is the syringe?” Follansbee asked.

 

Stone mechanically thrust his hand into his pocket and withdrew the leather case. There was a look of satisfaction in the physician’s eyes as he took charge of his property again.

 

“I was worried for fear you might have left that behind,” he said, in his thin voice. “The most careful of us make slips now and then.”

 

“I made no slip,” came the answer, in a strange voice. “If that thing was charged with death as you told me, then Winthrop Crawford is doomed¹.”

 

“You need have no fear of the potency² of my preparation,” Follansbee assured him. “From to-night you may look upon yourself as virtually a millionaire.”

 

“I don’t care so much about that,” the miner began. “It was——”

 

His tall, raw-boned form stiffened³ suddenly, and he drew in a deep, noisy breath—just such a breath as a man might take when awakened⁴ from a long sleep. He turned swiftly upon the astonished Follansbee, and the latter involuntarily shrank away. He feared that Stone might do him some harm, and knew that he was far from a physical match for the hard-muscled miner.

 

Nothing was further from Stone’s thoughts, though. His unexpected move had another meaning. “What was it that made me want to kill my best friend?” he demanded, in tragic⁵ bewilderment.

 

Quick as a flash the truth burst on Doctor Follansbee. The strain and intense excitement under which Stone had labored⁶ must have wrought⁷ a startling but by no means unprecedented⁸ change in his mental condition. He was indeed a sleeper⁹ awakened. It had probably been some subtle excitement that had unhinged his brain in the first place, and now, thanks to the law of balance, a more powerful excitement had come near to bringing him back to his senses.

 

“What was it? What was it?” the poor fellow gasped¹⁰, leaning forward and peering at Follansbee through the half gloom of the limousine¹¹. “Why didI want to kill Win? By heavens, man, speak—speak! There must have been a reason!”

 

The strained voice rose almost to a shriek¹², and Follansbee began to fear that his companion might attract attention and call down a demand to stop the car for an investigation¹³. Although it was past three o’clock in the morning, the streets were not quite empty, for New York’s streets rarely are. They flashed past a brightly lighted corner, and the doctor saw the uniformed figure of a policeman pacing slowly along and looking in their direction. At any moment Stone might burst out into a storm of self-reproach, and there was no telling to what lengths his remorse¹⁴ might carry him. It was a situation which required a master hand, and the way in which Follansbee tackled it was typical of his shrewdness and lack of conscience.

 

Instead of attempting to explain to Stone, he leaned forward suddenly and gave the miner a hearty¹⁵ clap on the shoulder.

 

“At last!” he ejaculated, in tones of the greatest relief and satisfaction. “Thank Heaven you’ve come back to your senses.”

 

He was playing a deep game now, and the way in which the haggard eyes of his companion turned upon him might have touched his heart had anything been there to touch.

 

“Come back to my senses!” Stone repeated uncomprehendingly. “What do you mean by that?”

 

Then a great hope flamed up in his eyes. Had Follansbee been merely humoring him, seeming to fall in with his madness? Had the hypodermic been harmless after all?

 

1 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

2 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

3 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

4 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 labored   

adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
• They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句

7 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

10 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

12 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

15 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。