Nineteen（2）

II
“A message,” said Leblanc. “A message at last.”
His orderly had just entered and, after saluting¹, had laid a folded paperbefore him. He unfolded it, then spoke² excitedly.
“This is a report from one of our reconnaissance pilots. He has been op-erating over a selected square of territory in the High Atlas³. When flyingover a certain position in a mountainous region he observed a signal be-ing flashed. It was in Morse and was twice repeated. Here it is.”
He laid the enclosure before Jessop.
COGLEPROSIESL
He separated off the last two letters with a pencil.
“SL—that is our code for ‘Do not acknowledge.’ ”
“And COG with which the message starts,” said Jessop, “is our recogni-tion signal.”
“Then the rest is the actual message.” He underlined it. “LEPROSIE.” Hesurveyed it dubiously⁵.
“Leprosy?” said Jessop.
“And what does that mean?”
“Have you any important leper settlements? Or unimportant ones forthat matter?”
Leblanc spread out a large map in front of him. He pointed⁶ with astubby forefinger⁷ stained with nicotine⁸.
“Here,” he marked it off, “is the area over which our pilot was operat-ing. Let me see now. I seem to recall. .?.?.”
He left the room. Presently he returned.
“I have it,” he said. “There is a very famous medical research station,founded and endowed by well-known philanthropists and operating inthat area—a very deserted⁹ one, by the way. Valuable work has been donethere in the study of leprosy. There is a leper settlement there of abouttwo hundred people. There is also a cancer research station, and a tuber-cular sanatorium. But understand this, it is all of the highest authenticity¹⁰.
Its reputation is of the highest. The President of the Republic himself is itsPatron.”
“Yes,” said Jessop appreciatively. “Very nice work, in fact.”
“But it is open to inspection¹¹ at any time. Medical men who are interes-ted in these subjects visit there.”
“And see nothing they ought not to see! Why should they? There is nobetter camouflage¹² for dubious⁴ business than an atmosphere of the highestrespectability.”
“It could be,” Leblanc said dubiously, “I suppose, a halting place forparties of people bound on a journey. One or two of the mid-Europeandoctors, perhaps, have managed to arrange something like that. A smallparty of people, like the one we are tracking, could lie perdu there for afew weeks before continuing their journey.”
“I think it might be something more than that,” said Jessop. “I think itmight be—Journey’s End.”
“You think it is something—big?”
“A leper settlement seems to me very suggestive .?.?. I believe, undermodern treatment, leprosy nowadays is treated at home.”
“In civilized¹³ communities, perhaps. But one could not do that in thiscountry.”
“No. But the word leprosy still has its association with the Middle Ageswhen the leper carried his bell to warn away people from his path. Idlecuriosity does not bring people to a leper settlement; the people who comeare, as you say, the medical profession, interested only in the medical re-search done there, and possibly the social worker, anxious to report onthe conditions under which the lepers live—all of which are no doubt ad-mirable. Behind that facade¹⁴ of philanthropy and charity—anything mightgo on. Who, by the way, owns the place? Who are the philanthropists whoendowed it and set it up?”
“That is easily ascertained¹⁵. A little minute.”
He returned shortly, an official reference book in his hand.
“It was established by private enterprise. By a group of philanthropistsof whom the chief is Aristides. As you know, he is a man of fabulouswealth, and gives generously to charitable enterprises. He has foundedhospitals in Paris and also in Seville. This is, to all intents and purposes,his show—the other benefactors¹⁶ are a group of his associates.”
“So—it’s an Aristides enterprise. And Aristides was in Fez when Olive Bet-terton was there.”
“Aristides!” Leblanc savoured the full implication. “Mais—c’est colossal¹⁷!”
“Yes.”
“C’est fantastique!”
“Quite.”
“Enfin—c’est formidable!”
“Definitely.”
“But do you realize how formidable it is?” Leblanc shook an excitedforefinger in the other’s face. “This Aristides, he has a finger in every pie.
He is behind nearly everything. The banks, the Government, the manufac-turing industries, armaments, transport! One never sees him, one hardlyhears of him! He sits in a warm room in his Spanish castle, smoking, andsometimes he scrawls¹⁸ a few words on a little piece of paper and throws iton the ground, and a secretary crawls forward and picks it up, and a fewdays later an important banker in Paris blows his brains out! It is likethat!”
“How wonderfully dramatic you are, Leblanc. But it is really not verysurprising. Presidents and Ministers make important pronouncements,bankers sit back behind their sumptuous¹⁹ desks and roll out opulent state-ments—but one is never surprised to find out that behind the importanceand magnificence there is somewhere some scrubby little man who is thereal motive²⁰ power. It is really not at all surprising to find that Aristides isbehind all this disappearing business—in fact if we’d had any sense we’dhave thought of it before. The whole thing’s a vast commercial ramp²¹. It’snot political at all. The question is,” he added, “what are we going to doabout it?”
Leblanc’s face grew gloomy.
“It is not going to be easy, you understand. If we are wrong—I dare notthink of it! And even if we are right—we have got to prove we are right. Ifwe make investigations²²—those investigations can be called off—at thehighest level, you understand? No, it is not going to be easy .?.?. But,” hewagged an emphatic²³ stubby forefinger, “it will be done.”

1 saluting   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• 'Thank you kindly, sir,' replied Long John, again saluting. “万分感谢，先生。”高个子约翰说着又行了个礼。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• He approached the young woman and, without saluting, began at once to converse with her. 他走近那年青女郎，马上就和她攀谈起来了，连招呼都不打。 来自辞典例句

2 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：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

4 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

5 dubiously   

adv.可疑地，怀疑地

参考例句：

• "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去，撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 forefinger   

n.食指

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
• He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。

8 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。

9 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

10 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

11 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

12 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

13 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

14 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

15 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 benefactors   

n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人

参考例句：

• I rate him among my benefactors. 我认为他是我的一个恩人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We showed high respect to benefactors. 我们对捐助者表达了崇高的敬意。 来自辞典例句

17 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

18 scrawls   

潦草的笔迹( scrawl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He scrawls, and no one can recognize what he writes. 他写字像鬼画符，没人能认出来。

19 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

20 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

21 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

22 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

23 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。