From a darkness punctuated1 with throbbing2 stabs of fire, Tommy draggedhis senses slowly back to life. When he at last opened his eyes, he was con-scious of nothing but an excruciating pain through his temples. He wasvaguely aware of unfamiliar3 surroundings. Where was he? What hadhappened? He blinked feebly. This was not his bedroom at the Ritz. Andwhat the devil was the matter with his head?
“Damn!” said Tommy, and tried to sit up. He had remembered. He wasin that sinister4 house in Soho. He uttered a groan5 and fell back. Throughhis almost-closed eyelids6 he reconnoitred carefully.
“He is coming to,” remarked a voice very near Tommy’s ear. He recog-nized it at once for that of the bearded and efficient German, and layartistically inert7. He felt that it would be a pity to come round too soon;and until the pain in his head became a little less acute, he felt quite incap-able of collecting his wits. Painfully he tried to puzzle out what hadhappened. Obviously somebody must have crept up behind him as helistened and struck him down with a blow on the head. They knew himnow for a spy, and would in all probability give him short shrift. Un-doubtedly he was in a tight place. Nobody knew where he was, thereforehe need expect no outside assistance, and must depend solely8 on his ownwits.
“Well, here goes,” murmured Tommy to himself, and repeated hisformer remark.
“Damn!” he observed, and this time succeeded in sitting up.
In a minute the German stepped forward and placed a glass to his lips,with the brief command “Drink.” Tommy obeyed. The potency10 of thedraught made him choke, but it cleared his brain in a marvellous manner.
He was lying on a couch in the room in which the meeting had beenheld. On one side of him was the German, on the other the villainous-faced doorkeeper who had let him in. The others were grouped together ata little distance away. But Tommy missed one face. The man known asNumber One was no longer of the company.
“Feel better?” asked the German, as he removed the empty glass.
“Yes, thanks,” returned Tommy cheerfully.
“Ah, my young friend, it is lucky for you your skull11 is so thick. The goodConrad struck hard.” He indicated the evil-faced doorkeeper by a nod.
The man grinned.
Tommy twisted his head round with an effort.
“Oh,” he said, “so you’re Conrad, are you? It strikes me the thickness ofmy skull was lucky for you too. When I look at you I feel it’s almost a pityI’ve enabled you to cheat the hangman.”
The man snarled12, and the bearded man said quietly:
“He would have run no risk of that.”
“Just as you like,” replied Tommy. “I know it’s the fashion to run downthe police. I rather believe in them myself.”
His manner was nonchalant to the last degree. Tommy Beresford wasone of those young Englishmen not distinguished13 by any special intellec-tual ability, but who are emphatically at their best in what is known as a“tight place.” Their natural diffidence and caution falls from them thenlike a glove. Tommy realized perfectly14 that in his own wits lay the onlychance of escape, and behind his casual manner he was racking his brainsfuriously.
The cold accents of the German took up the conversation:
“Have you anything to say before you are put to death as a spy?”
“Simply lots of things,” replied Tommy with the same urbanity as be-fore.
“Do you deny that you were listening at that door?”
“I do not. I must really apologize—but your conversation was so inter-esting that it overcame my scruples15.”
“How did you get in?”
“Dear old Conrad here.” Tommy smiled deprecatingly at him. “I hesitateto suggest pensioning off a faithful servant, but you really ought to have abetter16 watchdog.”
Conrad snarled impotently, and said sullenly17, as the man with the beardswung round upon him:
“He gave the word. How was I to know?”
“Yes,” Tommy chimed in. “How was he to know? Don’t blame the poorfellow. His hasty action has given me the pleasure of seeing you all face toface.”
He fancied that his words caused some discomposure among the group,but the watchful18 German stilled it with a wave of his hand.
“Dead men tell no tales,” he said evenly.
“Ah,” said Tommy, “but I’m not dead yet!”
“You soon will be, my young friend,” said the German.
An assenting19 murmur9 came from the others.
Tommy’s heart beat faster, but his casual pleasantness did not waver.
“I think not,” he said firmly. “I should have a great objection to dying.”
He had got them puzzled, he saw that by the look on his captor’s face.
“Can you give us any reason why we should not put you to death?”
asked the German.
“Several,” replied Tommy. “Look here, you’ve been asking me a lot ofquestions. Let me ask you one for a change. Why didn’t you kill me off atonce before I regained20 consciousness?”
The German hesitated, and Tommy seized his advantage.
“Because you didn’t know how much I knew—and where I obtained thatknowledge. If you kill me now, you never will know.”
But here the emotions of Boris became too much for him. He steppedforward waving his arms.
“You hellhound of a spy,” he screamed. “We will give you short shrift.
Kill him! Kill him!”
There was a roar of applause.
“You hear?” said the German, his eyes on Tommy. “What have you gotto say to that?”
“Say?” Tommy shrugged21 his shoulders. “Pack of fools. Let them askthemselves a few questions. How did I get into this place? Remember whatdear old Conrad said—with your own password, wasn’t it? How did I gethold of that? You don’t suppose I came up those steps haphazard22 and saidthe first thing that came into my head?”
Tommy was pleased with the concluding words of this speech. His onlyregret was that Tuppence was not present to appreciate its full flavour.
“That is true,” said the working man suddenly. “Comrades, we havebeen betrayed!”
An ugly murmur arose. Tommy smiled at them encouragingly.
“That’s better. How can you hope to make a success of any job if youdon’t use your brains?”
“You will tell us who has betrayed us,” said the German. “But that shallnot save you — oh, no! You shall tell us all that you know. Boris, here,knows pretty ways of making people speak!”
“Bah!” said Tommy scornfully, fighting down a singularly unpleasantfeeling in the pit of his stomach. “You will neither torture me nor kill me.”
“And why not?” asked Boris.
“Because you’d kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” replied Tommyquietly.
There was a momentary23 pause. It seemed as though Tommy’s persistentassurance was at last conquering. They were no longer completely sure ofthemselves. The man in the shabby clothes stared at Tommy searchingly.
“He’s bluffing24 you, Boris,” he said quietly.
Tommy hated him. Had the man seen through him?
The German, with an effort, turned roughly to Tommy.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean?” parried Tommy, searching desperately25 inhis own mind.
Suddenly Boris stepped forward, and shook his fist in Tommy’s face.
“Speak, you swine of an Englishman—speak!”
“Don’t get so excited, my good fellow,” said Tommy calmly. “That’s theworst of you foreigners. You can’t keep calm. Now, I ask you, do I look asthough I thought there were the least chance of your killing26 me?”
He looked confidently round, and was glad they could not hear the per-sistent beating of his heart which gave the lie to his words.
“No,” admitted Boris at last sullenly, “you do not.”
“Thank God, he’s not a mind reader,” thought Tommy. Aloud he pursuedhis advantage:
“And why am I so confident? Because I know something that puts me ina position to propose a bargain.”
“A bargain?” The bearded man took him up sharply.
“Yes—a bargain. My life and liberty against—” He paused.
“Against what?”
The group pressed forward. You could have heard a pin drop.
Slowly Tommy spoke27.
“The papers that Danvers brought over from America in the Lusitania.”
The effect of his words was electrical. Everyone was on his feet. TheGerman waved them back. He leaned over Tommy, his face purple withexcitement.
“Himmel! You have got them, then?”
With magnificent calm Tommy shook his head.
“You know where they are?” persisted the German.
Again Tommy shook his head. “Not in the least.”
“Then—then—” angry and baffled, the words failed him.
Tommy looked round. He saw anger and bewilderment on every face,but his calm assurance had done its work—no one doubted but that some-thing lay behind his words.
“I don’t know where the papers are—but I believe that I can find them. Ihave a theory—”
“Pah!”
Tommy raised his hand, and silenced the clamours of disgust.
“I call it a theory—but I’m pretty sure of my facts—facts that are knownto no one but myself. In any case what do you lose? If I can produce thepapers—you give me my life and liberty in exchange. Is it a bargain?”
“And if we refuse?” said the German quietly.
Tommy lay back on the couch.
“The 29th,” he said thoughtfully, “is less than a fortnight ahead—”
For a moment the German hesitated. Then he made a sign to Conrad.
“Take him into the other room.”
For five minutes Tommy sat on the bed in the dingy28 room next door. Hisheart was beating violently. He had risked all on this throw. How wouldthey decide? And all the while that this agonized29 questioning went onwithin him, he talked flippantly to Conrad, enraging30 the cross- graineddoorkeeper to the point of homicidal mania31.
At last the door opened, and the German called imperiously to Conrad toreturn.
“Let’s hope the judge hasn’t put his black cap on,” remarked Tommyfrivolously. “That’s right, Conrad, march me in. The prisoner is at the bar,gentlemen.”
The German was seated once more behind the table. He motioned toTommy to sit down opposite to him.
“We accept,” he said harshly, “on terms. The papers must be deliveredto us before you go free.”
“Idiot!” said Tommy amiably32. “How do you think I can look for them ifyou keep me tied by the leg here?”
“What do you expect, then?”
“I must have liberty to go about the business in my own way.”
The German laughed.
“Do you think we are little children to let you walk out of here leavingus a pretty story full of promises?”
“No,” said Tommy thoughtfully. “Though infinitely33 simpler for me, I didnot really think you would agree to that plan. Very well, we must arrangea compromise. How would it be if you attached little Conrad here to myperson. He’s a faithful fellow, and very ready with the fist.”
“We prefer,” said the German coldly, “that you should remain here. Oneof our number will carry out your instructions minutely. If the operationsare complicated, he will return to you with a report and you can instructhim further.”
“You’re trying my hands,” complained Tommy. “It’s a very delicate af-fair, and the other fellow will muff it up as likely as not, and then whereshall I be? I don’t believe one of you has got an ounce of tact34.”
The German rapped the table.
“Those are our terms. Otherwise, death!”
Tommy leaned back wearily.
“I like your style. Curt35, but attractive. So be it, then. But one thing is es-sential, I must see the girl.”
“What girl?”
“Jane Finn, of course.”
The other looked at him curiously36 for some minutes, then he saidslowly, and as though choosing his words with care:
“Do you not know that she can tell you nothing?”
Tommy’s heart beat a little faster. Would he succeed in coming face toface with the girl he was seeking?
“I shall not ask her to tell me anything,” he said quietly. “Not in so manywords, that is.”
“Then why see her?”
Tommy paused.
“To watch her face when I ask her one question,” he replied at last.
Again there was a look in the German’s eyes that Tommy did not quiteunderstand.
“She will not be able to answer your question.”
“That does not matter. I shall have seen her face when I ask it.”
“And you think that will tell you anything?” He gave a short disagree-able laugh. More than ever, Tommy felt that there was a factor some-where that he did not understand. The German looked at him searchingly.
“I wonder whether, after all, you know as much as we think?” he saidsoftly.
Tommy felt his ascendancy37 less sure than a moment before. His holdhad slipped a little. But he was puzzled. What had he said wrong? Hespoke out on the impulse of the moment.
“There may be things that you know which I do not. I have not preten-ded to be aware of all the details of your show. But equally I’ve got some-thing up my sleeve that you don’t know about. And that’s where I mean toscore. Danvers was a damned clever fellow—” He broke off as if he hadsaid too much.
But the German’s face had lightened a little.
“Danvers,” he murmured. I see—” He paused a minute, then waved toConrad. “Take him away. Upstairs—you know.”
“Wait a minute,” said Tommy. “What about the girl?”
“That may perhaps be arranged.”
“It must be.”
“We will see about it. Only one person can decide that.”
“Who?” asked Tommy. But he knew the answer.
“Mr. Brown—”
“Shall I see him?”
“Perhaps.”
“Come,” said Conrad harshly.
Tommy rose obediently. Outside the door his gaoler motioned to him tomount the stairs. He himself followed close behind. On the floor aboveConrad opened a door and Tommy passed into a small room. Conrad lit ahissing gas burner and went out. Tommy heard the sound of the key beingturned in the lock.
He set to work to examine his prison. It was a smaller room than theone downstairs, and there was something peculiarly airless about the at-mosphere of it. Then he realized that there was no window. He walkedround it. The walls were filthily38 dirty, as everywhere else. Four pictureshung crookedly39 on the wall representing scenes from “Faust,” Margueritewith her box of jewels, the church scene, Siebel and his flowers, and Faustand Mephistopheles. The latter brought Tommy’s mind back to Mr. Brownagain. In this sealed and closed chamber40, with its close-fitting heavy door,he felt cut off from the world, and the sinister power of the arch-criminalseemed more real. Shout as he would, no one could ever hear him. Theplace was a living tomb. .?.?.
With an effort Tommy pulled himself together. He sank on to the bedand gave himself up to reflection. His head ached badly; also, he washungry. The silence of the place was dispiriting.
“Anyway,” said Tommy, trying to cheer himself, “I shall see the chief—the mysterious Mr. Brown, and with a bit of luck in bluffing I shall see themysterious Jane Finn also. After that—”
After that Tommy was forced to admit the prospect41 looked dreary42.
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1
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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2
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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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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6
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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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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10
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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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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13
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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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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15
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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abetter
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| n.教唆者，怂恿者 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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19
assenting
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| 同意，赞成( assent的现在分词 ) | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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24
bluffing
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| n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式 | |
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25
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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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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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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28
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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enraging
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| 使暴怒( enrage的现在分词 ) | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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32
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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35
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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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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ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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filthily
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| adv.污秽地，丑恶地，不洁地 | |
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crookedly
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| adv. 弯曲地，不诚实地 | |
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40
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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