We left the train at a sweet-smelling platform, on which the lights were being extinguished as we turned into a quiet road where bats flew over our heads between the lamp-posts, and a policeman was passing a disc of light over a jerry-built abuse of the name of Queen Anne. Our way led through quieter roads of larger houses standing15 further back, until at last we came to the enemy’s gates. They were wooden gates without a lodge16, yet the house set well beyond them, on the river’s brim, was a mansion17 of considerable size and still greater peculiarity18. It was really two houses, large and small, connected by a spine19 of white posts and joists and glimmering20 glass. In the more substantial building no lights were to be seen from the gates, but in the annex21 a large French window made a lighted square at right angles with the river and the road. We had set foot in the gravel22 drive; with a long line of poplars down one side, and on the other a wide lawn dotted with cedars23 and small shrubs24, when Raffles strode among these with a smothered25 exclamation26, and a wild figure started from the ground.
“What are you doing here?” demanded Raffles, with all the righteous austerity of a law-abiding citizen.
“Nutting, sare!” replied an alien tongue, a gleam of good teeth in the shadow of his great soft hat. “I been see Mistare Le-vie in ze ’ouse, on ze beezness, shentlemen.”
“Seen him, have you? Then if I were you I should make a decent departure,” said Raffles, “by the gate —” to which he pointed27 with increased severity of tone and bearing.
The weird28 figure uncovered a shaggy head of hair, made us a grotesque29 bow with his right hand melodramatically buried in the folds of a voluminous cape30, and stalked off in the starlight with much dignity. But we heard him running in the road before the gate had clicked behind him.
“Isn’t that the fellow we saw in Jermyn Street last Thursday?” I asked Raffles in a whisper.
“That’s the chap,” he whispered back. “I wonder if he spotted31 us, Bunny? Levy’s treated him scandalously, of course; it all came out in a torrent32 the other morning. I only hope he hasn’t been serving Dan Levy as Jack33 Rutter served old Baird! I could swear that was a weapon of sorts he’d got under his cloak.”
And as we stood together under the stars, listening to the last of the runaway34 footfalls, I recalled the killing35 of another and a less notorious usurer by a man we both knew, and had even helped to shield from the consequences of his crime. Yet the memory of our terrible discovery on that occasion had not the effect of making me shrink from such another now; nor could I echo the hope of Raffles in my heart of hearts. If Dan Levy also had come to a bad end — well, it was no more than he deserved, if only for his treachery to Raffles, and, at any rate, it would put a stop to our plunging36 from bad to worse in an adventure of which the sequel might well be worst of all. I do not say that I was wicked enough absolutely to desire the death of this sinner for our benefit; but I saw the benefit at least as plainly as the awful possibility, and it was not with unalloyed relief that I beheld37 a great figure stride through the lighted windows at our nearer approach.
Though his back was to the light before I saw his face, and the whole man might have been hacked38 out of ebony, it was every inch the living Levy who stood peering in our direction, one hand hollowed at an ear, the other shading both eyes.
“Is that you, boys?” he croaked39 in sepulchral40 salute41.
“It depends which boys you mean,” replied Raffles, marching into the zone of light. “There are so many of us about to-night!”
Levy’s arms dropped at his sides, and I heard him mutter “Raffles!” with a malediction42. Next moment he was inquiring whether we had come down alone, yet peering past us into the velvet43 night for his answer.
“I brought our friend Bunny,” said Raffles, “but that’s all.”
“Then what do you mean by saying there are so many of you about?”
“I was thinking of the gentleman who was here just before us.”
“Here just before you? Why, I haven’t seen a soul since my ‘ousehold went to bed.”
“But we met the fellow just this minute within your gates: a little foreign devil with a head like a mop and the cloak of an operatic conspirator44.”
“That beggar!” cried Levy, flying into a high state of excitement on the spot. “That blessed little beggar on my tracks down here! I’ve ‘ad him thrown out of the office in Jermyn Street; he’s threatened me by letter and telegram; so now he thinks he’ll come and try it on in person down ’ere. Seen me, eh? I wish I’d seen ‘im! I’m ready for biters like that, gentlemen. I’m not to be caught on the ‘op down here!”
And a plated revolver twinkled and flashed in the electric light as Levy drew it from his hip45 pocket and flourished it in our faces; he would have gone prowling through the grounds with it if Raffles had not assured him that the foreign foe46 had fled on our arrival. As it was the pistol was not put back in his pocket when Levy at length conducted us indoors; he placed it on an occasional table beside the glass that he drained on entering; and forthwith set his back to a fire which seemed in keeping with the advanced hour, and doubly welcome in an apartment so vast that the billiard table was a mere11 item at one end, and sundry47 trophies48 of travel and the chase a far more striking and unforeseen feature.
“Why, that’s a better grisly than the one at Lord’s!” exclaimed Raffles, pausing to admire a glorious fellow near the door, while I mixed myself the drink he had declined.
“Yes,” said Levy, “the man that shot all this lot used to go about saying he’d shoot me at one time; but I need ‘ardly tell you he gave it up as a bad job, and went an’ did what some folks call a worse instead. He didn’t get much show ’ere, I can tell you; that little foreign snipe won’t either, nor yet any other carrion49 that think they want my blood. I’d empty this shooter o’ mine into their in’ards as soon as look at ’em, I don’t give a curse who they are! Just as well I wasn’t brought up to your profession, eh, Raffles?”
“I don’t quite follow you, Mr. Levy.”
“Oh yes you do!” said the money-lender, with his gastric50 chuckle51. “How’ve you got on with that little bit o’ burgling?”
And I saw him screw up his bright eyes, and glance through the open windows into the outer darkness, as though there was still a hope in his mind that we had not come down alone. I formed the impression that Levy had returned by a fairly late train himself, for he was in morning dress, in dusty boots, and there was an abundant supply of sandwiches on the table with the drinks. But he seemed to have confined his own attentions to the bottle, and I liked to think that the sandwiches had been cut for the two emissaries for whom he was welcome to look out for all night.
“How did you get on?” he repeated when he had given them up for the present.
“For a first attempt,” replied Raffles, without a twinkle, “I don’t think I’ve done so badly.”
“Ah! I keep forgetting you’re a young beginner,” said Levy, catching52 the old note in his turn.
“A beginner who’s scarcely likely to go on, Mr. Levy, if all cribs are as easy to crack as that lawyers’ office of yours in Gray’s Inn Square.”
“As easy?”
Raffles recollected53 his pose.
“It was enormous fun,” said he. “Of course one couldn’t know that there would be no hitch54. There was an exciting moment towards the end. I have to thank you for quite a new thrill of sorts. But, my dear Mr. Levy, it was as easy as ringing the bell and being shown in; it only took rather longer.”
“What about the caretaker?” asked the usurer, with a curiosity no longer to be concealed55.
“He obliged me by taking his wife to the theatre.”
“At your expense?”
“No, Mr. Levy, the item will be debited56 to you in due course.”
“So you got in without any difficulty?”
“Over the roof.”
“And then?”
“I hit upon the right room.”
“And then, Raffles?”
“I opened the right safe.”
“Go on, man!”
But the man was only going on at his own rate, and the more Levy pressed him, the greater his apparent reluctance57 to go on at all.
“Well, I found the letter all right. Oh, yes, I made a copy of it. Was it a good copy? Almost too good, if you ask me.” Thus Raffles under increasing pressure.
“Well? Well? You left that one there, I suppose? What happened next?”
There was no longer any masking the moneylender’s eagerness to extract the dénouement of Raffles’s adventure; that it required extracting must have seemed a sufficient earnest of the ultimate misadventure so craftily58 plotted by Levy himself. His great nose glowed with the imminence59 of victory. His strong lips loosened their habitual60 hold upon each other, and there was an impressionist daub of yellow fang61 between. The brilliant little eyes were reduced to sparkling pinheads of malevolent62 glee. This was not the fighting face I knew better and despised less, it was the living epitome63 of low cunning and foul play.
“The next thing that happened,” said Raffles, in his most leisurely64 manner, “was the descent of Bunny like a bolt from the blue.”
“Had he gone in with you?”
“No; he came in after me as bold as blazes to say that a couple of common, low detectives were waiting for me down below in the square!”
“That was very kind of ’im,” snarled65 Levy, pouring a murderous fire upon my person from his little black eyes.
“Kind!” cried Raffles. “It saved the whole show.”
“It did, did it?”
“I had time to dodge66 the limbs of the law by getting out another way, and never letting them know that I had got out at all.”
“Then you left them there?”
“In their glory!” said Raffles, radiant in his own.
Though I must confess I could not see them at the time, there were excellent reasons for not stating there and then the delicious plight67 in which we had really left Levy’s myrmidons. I myself would have driven home our triumph and his treachery by throwing our winning cards upon the table and simultaneously68 exposing his false play. But Raffles was right, and I should have been wrong, as I was soon enough to see for myself.
“And you came away, I suppose,” suggested the money-lender, ironically, “with my original letter in your pocket?”
“Oh, no, I didn’t,” replied Raffles, with a reproving shake of the head.
“I thought not!” cried Levy in a gust69 of exultation70.
“I came away,” said Raffles, “if you’ll pardon the correction, with the letter you never dreamt of writing, Mr. Levy!”
The Jew turned a deeper shade of yellow; but he had the wisdom and the self-control otherwise to ignore the point against him. “You’d better let me see it,” said he, and flung out his open hand with a gesture of authority which it took a Raffles to resist.
Levy was still standing with his back to the fire, and I was at his feet in a saddle-bag chair, with my yellow beaker on the table at my elbow. But Raffles remained aloof71 upon his legs, and he withdrew still further from the fire as he unfolded a large sheet of office paper, stamped with the notorious address in Jermyn Street, and displayed it on high like a phylactery.
“You may see, by all means, Mr. Levy,” said Raffles, with a slight but sufficient emphasis on his verb.
“But I’m not to touch — is that it?”
“I’m afraid I must ask you to look first,” said Raffles, smiling. “I should suggest, however, that you exercise the same caution in showing me that part of your quid pro5 quo which you have doubtless in readiness; the other part is in my pocket ready for you to sign; and after that, the three little papers can change hands simultaneously.”
Nothing could have excelled the firmness of this intimation, except the exggravating delicacy72 with which it was conveyed. I saw Levy clench73 and unclench his great fists, and his canine74 jaw75 working protuberantly as he ground his teeth. But not a word escaped him, and I was admiring the monster’s self-control when of a sudden he swooped76 upon the table at my side, completely filled his empty glass with neat whiskey, and, spluttering and blinking from an enormous gulp77, made a lurch78 for Raffles with his drink in one hand and his plated pistol in the other.
“Now I’ll have a look,” he hiccoughed, “an’ a good look, unless you want a lump of lead in your liver!”
Raffles awaited his uncertain advance with a contemptuous smile.
“You’re not such a fool as all that, Mr. Levy, drunk or sober,” said he; but his eye was on the waving weapon, and so was mine; and I was wondering how a man could have got so very suddenly drunk, when the nobbler of crude spirit was hurled79 with most sober aim, glass and all, full in the face of Raffles, and the letter plucked from his grasp and flung upon the fire, while Raffles was still reeling in his blindness, and before I had struggled to my feet.
Raffles, for the moment, was absolutely blinded; as I say, his face was streaming with blood and whiskey, and the prince of traitors80 already crowing over his vile81 handiwork. But that was only for a moment, too; the blackguard had been fool enough to turn his back on me; and, first jumping upon my chair, I sprang upon him like any leopard82, and brought him down with my ten fingers in his neck, and such a crack on the parquet83 with his skull84 as left it a deadweight on my hands. I remember the rasping of his bristles85 as I disengaged my fingers and let the leaden head fall back; it fell sideways now, and if it had but looked less dead I believe I should have stamped the life out of the reptile86 on the spot.
I know that I rose exultant87 from my deed. . . .
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1
raffles
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| n.抽彩售物( raffle的名词复数 )v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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13
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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15
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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20
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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21
annex
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| vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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23
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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24
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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25
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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26
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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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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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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37
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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38
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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40
sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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41
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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42
malediction
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| n.诅咒 | |
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43
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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45
hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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46
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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48
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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49
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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gastric
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| adj.胃的 | |
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51
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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52
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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53
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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54
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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55
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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56
debited
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| v.记入（账户）的借方( debit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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58
craftily
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| 狡猾地，狡诈地 | |
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imminence
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| n.急迫，危急 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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66
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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67
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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73
clench
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| vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住 | |
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canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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75
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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76
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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78
lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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79
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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80
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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81
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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82
leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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83
parquet
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| n.镶木地板 | |
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84
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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85
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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86
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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87
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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