Published previously1 as “The Boomerang Clue”
To Christopher Mallock
in memory of Hinds2
One THE ACCIDENT
Bobby Jones teed up his ball, gave a short preliminary waggle, took theclub back slowly, then brought it down and through with the rapidity oflightning.
Did the ball fly down the fairway straight and true, rising as it went andsoaring over the bunker to land within an easy mashie shot of the four-teenth green?
No, it did not. Badly topped, it scudded3 along the ground and embeddeditself firmly in the bunker!
There were no eager crowds to groan4 with dismay. The solitary5 witnessof the shot manifested no surprise. And that is easily explained—for it wasnot the American-born master of the game who had played the shot, butmerely the fourth son of the Vicar of Marchbolt—a small seaside town onthe coast of Wales.
Bobby uttered a decidedly profane6 ejaculation.
He was an amiable-looking young man of about eight and twenty. Hisbest friend could not have said that he was handsome, but his face was aneminently likeable one, and his eyes had the honest brown friendliness7 ofa dog’s.
“I get worse every day,” he muttered dejectedly.
“You press,” said his companion.
Dr. Thomas was a middle-aged8 man with grey hair and a red cheerfulface. He himself never took a full swing. He played short straight shotsdown the middle, and usually beat more brilliant but more erratic9 players.
Bobby attacked his ball fiercely with a niblick. The third time was suc-cessful. The ball lay a short distance from the green which Dr. Thomas hadreached with two creditable iron shots.
“Your hole,” said Bobby.
They proceeded to the next tee.
The doctor drove first—a nice straight shot, but with no great distanceabout it.
Bobby sighed, teed his ball, reteed it, waggled his club a long time, tookback stiffly, shut his eyes, raised his head, depressed10 his right shoulder,did everything he ought not to have done—and hit a screamer down themiddle of the course.
He drew a deep breath of satisfaction. The well-known golfer’s gloompassed from his eloquent11 face to be succeeded by the equally well-knowngolfer’s exultation12.
“I know now what I’ve been doing,” said Bobby—quite untruthfully.
A perfect iron shot, a little chip with a mashie and Bobby lay dead. Heachieved a birdie four and Dr. Thomas was reduced to one up.
Full of confidence, Bobby stepped on to the sixteenth tee. He again dideverything he should not have done, and this time no miracle occurred. Aterrific, a magnificent, an almost superhuman slice happened! The ballwent round at right angles.
“If that had been straight—whew!” said Dr. Thomas.
“If,” said Bobby bitterly. “Hullo, I thought I heard a shout! Hope the balldidn’t hit anyone.”
He peered out to the right. It was a difficult light. The sun was on thepoint of setting, and, looking straight into it, it was hard to see anythingdistinctly. Also there was a slight mist rising from the sea. The edge of thecliff was a few hundred yards away.
“The footpath13 runs along there,” said Bobby. “But the ball can’t possiblyhave travelled as far as that. All the same, I did think I heard a cry. Didyou?”
But the doctor had heard nothing.
Bobby went after his ball. He had some difficulty in finding it, but ran itto earth at last. It was practically unplayable—embedded in a furze bush.
He had a couple of hacks14 at it, then picked it up and called out to his com-panion that he gave up the hole.
The doctor came over towards him since the next tee was right on theedge of the cliff.
The seventeenth was Bobby’s particular bugbear. At it you had to driveover a chasm15. The distance was not actually so great, but the attraction ofthe depths below was overpowering.
They had crossed the footpath which now ran inland to their left, skirt-ing the very edge of the cliff.
The doctor took an iron and just landed on the other side.
Bobby took a deep breath and drove. The ball scudded forward and dis-appeared over the lip of the abyss.
“Every single dashed time,” said Bobby bitterly. “I do the same dashedidiotic thing.”
He skirted the chasm, peering over. Far below the sea sparkled, but notevery ball was lost in its depths. The drop was sheer at the top, but belowit shelved gradually.
Bobby walked slowly along. There was, he knew, one place where onecould scramble16 down fairly easily. Caddies did so, hurling17 themselves overthe edge and reappearing triumphant18 and panting with the missing ball.
Suddenly Bobby stiffened19 and called to his companion.
“I say, doctor, come here. What do you make of that?”
Some forty feet below was a dark heap of something that looked like oldclothes.
The doctor caught his breath.
“By Jove,” he said. “Somebody’s fallen over the cliff. We must get downto him.”
Side by side the two men scrambled20 down the rock, the more athleticBobby helping21 the other. At last they reached the ominous22 dark bundle. Itwas a man of about forty, and he was still breathing, though unconscious.
The doctor examined him, touching23 his limbs, feeling his pulse, drawingdown the lids of his eyes. He knelt down beside him and completed his ex-amination. Then he looked up at Bobby, who was standing24 there feelingrather sick, and slowly shook his head.
“Nothing to be done,” he said. “His number’s up, poor fellow. His back’sbroken. Well, well. I suppose he wasn’t familiar with the path, and whenthe mist came up he walked over the edge. I’ve told the council more thanonce there ought to be a railing just here.”
He stood up again.
“I’ll go off and get help,” he said. “Make arrangements to have the bodygot up. It’ll be dark before we know where we are. Will you stay here?”
Bobby nodded.
“There’s nothing to be done for him, I suppose?” he asked.
The doctor shook his head.
“Nothing. It won’t be long—the pulse is weakening fast. He’ll last an-other twenty minutes at most. Just possible he may recover consciousnessbefore the end; but very likely he won’t. Still—”
“Rather,” said Bobby quickly. “I’ll stay. You get along. If he does come to,there’s no drug or anything—” he hesitated.
The doctor shook his head.
“There’ll be no pain,” he said. “No pain at all.”
Turning away, he began rapidly to climb up the cliff again. Bobbywatched him till he disappeared over the top with a wave of his hand.
Bobby moved a step or two along the narrow ledge25, sat down on a pro-jection in the rock and lit a cigarette. The business had shaken him. Up tonow he had never come in contact with illness or death.
What rotten luck there was in the world! A swirl26 of mist on a fine even-ing, a false step—and life came to an end. Fine healthy-looking fellow too—probably never known a day’s illness in his life. The pallor of approach-ing death couldn’t disguise the deep tan of the skin. A man who had livedan out-of-door life—abroad, perhaps. Bobby studied him more closely—the crisp curling chestnut27 hair just touched with grey at the temples, thebig nose, the strong jaw28, the white teeth just showing through the partedlips. Then the broad shoulders and the fine sinewy29 hands. The legs weretwisted at a curious angle. Bobby shuddered31 and brought his eyes upagain to the face. An attractive face, humorous, determined32, resourceful.
The eyes, he thought, were probably blue—
And just as he reached that point in his thoughts, the eyes suddenlyopened.
They were blue—a clear deep blue. They looked straight at Bobby. Therewas nothing uncertain or hazy33 about them. They seemed completely con-scious. They were watchful34 and at the same time they seemed to be askinga question.
Bobby got up quickly and came towards the man. Before he got there,the other spoke35. His voice was not weak—it came out clear and resonant36.
“Why didn’t they ask Evans?” he said.
And then a queer little shudder30 passed over him, the eyelids37 dropped,the jaw fell .?.?.
The man was dead.

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1
previously
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adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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hinds
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n.(常指动物腿)后面的( hind的名词复数 );在后的;(通常与can或could连用)唠叨不停;滔滔不绝 | |
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scudded
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v.(尤指船、舰或云彩)笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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groan
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vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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solitary
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adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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profane
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adj.亵神的,亵渎的;vt.亵渎,玷污 | |
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friendliness
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n.友谊,亲切,亲密 | |
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middle-aged
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adj.中年的 | |
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erratic
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adj.古怪的,反复无常的,不稳定的 | |
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depressed
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adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的 | |
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eloquent
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adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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exultation
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n.狂喜,得意 | |
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footpath
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n.小路,人行道 | |
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hacks
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黑客 | |
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chasm
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n.深坑,断层,裂口,大分岐,利害冲突 | |
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scramble
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v.爬行,攀爬,杂乱蔓延,碎片,片段,废料 | |
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hurling
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n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的现在分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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triumphant
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adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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stiffened
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加强的 | |
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scrambled
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v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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helping
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ominous
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adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的 | |
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touching
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adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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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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ledge
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n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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swirl
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v.(使)打漩,(使)涡卷;n.漩涡,螺旋形 | |
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chestnut
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n.栗树,栗子 | |
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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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sinewy
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adj.多腱的,强壮有力的 | |
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shudder
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v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动 | |
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shuddered
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v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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determined
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adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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hazy
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adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的 | |
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watchful
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adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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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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resonant
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adj.(声音)洪亮的,共鸣的 | |
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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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