Our chronicle must here split into three separate and distinct portions.
The night was to prove an eventful one and each of the three persons in-volved saw it from his or her own individual angle.
We will begin with that pleasant and engaging youth, Mr. JimmyThesiger, at a moment when he has at last exchanged final good nightswith his fellow conspirator1, Bill Eversleigh.
“Don’t forget,” said Bill, “three a.m. If you’re still alive, that is,” he addedkindly.
“I may be an ass2,” said Jimmy, with rancorous remembrance of the re-mark Bundle had repeated to him, “but I’m not nearly so much of an assas I look.”
“That’s what you said about Gerry Wade3,” said Bill slowly. “Do you re-member? And that very night he—”
“Shut up, you damned fool,” said Jimmy. “Haven’t you got any tact4?”
“Of course I’ve got tact,” said Bill. “I’m a budding diplomatist. All diplo-matists have tact.”
“Ah!” said Jimmy. “You must be still in what they call the larval stage.”
“I can’t get over Bundle,” said Bill, reverting5 abruptly6 to a former topic.
“I should certainly have said that she’d be—well, difficult. Bundle’s im-proved. She’s improved very much.”
“That’s what your Chief was saying,” said Jimmy. “He said he was agree-ably surprised.”
“I thought Bundle was laying it on a bit thick myself,” said Bill. “But Cod-ders is such an ass he’d swallow anything. Well, night-night. I expect you’llhave a bit of a job waking me when the times comes—but stick to it.”
“It won’t be much good if you’ve taken a leaf out of Gerry Wade’s book,”
said Jimmy maliciously7.
Bill looked at him reproachfully.
“What the hell do you want to go and make a chap uncomfortable for?”
he demanded.
“I’m only getting my own back,” said Jimmy. “Toddle along.”
But Bill lingered. He stood uncomfortably, first on one foot and then onthe other.
“Look here,” he said.
“Yes?”
“What I mean to say is—well, I mean you’ll be all right and all that,won’t you? It’s all very well ragging but when I think of poor Gerry—andthen poor old Ronny—”
Jimmy gazed at him in exasperation8. Bill was one of those who un-doubtedly meant well, but the result of his efforts would not be describedas heartening.
“I see,” he remarked, “that I shall have to show you Leopold.”
He slipped his hand into the pocket of the dark-blue suit into which hehad just changed and held out something for Bill’s inspection9.
“A real, genuine, bluenosed automatic,” he said with modest pride.
“No. I say,” said Bill, “is it really?”
He was undoubtedly10 impressed.
“Stevens, my man, got him for me. Warranted clean and methodical inhis habits. You press the button and Leopold does the rest.”
“Oh!” said Bill. “I say, Jimmy?”
“Yes?”
“Be careful, won’t you? I mean, don’t go loosing that thing off at any-body. Pretty awkward if you shot old Digby walking in his sleep.”
“That’s all right,” said Jimmy. “Naturally, I want to get value out of oldLeopold now I’ve bought him, but I’ll curb11 my bloodthirsty instincts as faras possible.”
“Well, night-night,” said Bill for the fourteenth time, and this time reallydid depart.
Jimmy was left alone to take up his vigil.
Sir Stanley Digby occupied a room at the extremity12 of the west wing. Abathroom adjoined it on one side, and on the other a communicating doorled into a smaller room, which was tenanted by Mr. Terence O’Rourke.
The doors of these three rooms gave on to a short corridor. The watcherhad a simple task. A chair placed inconspicuously in the shadow of an oakpress just where the corridor ran into the main gallery formed a perfectvantage ground. There was no other way into the west wing, and anyonegoing to or from it could not fail to be seen. One electric light was still on.
Jimmy ensconced himself comfortably, crossed his legs and waited. Leo-pold lay in readiness across his knee.
He glanced at his watch. It was twenty minutes to one—just an hoursince the household had retired13 to rest. Not a sound broke the stillness, ex-cept for the far-off ticking of a clock somewhere.
Somehow or other, Jimmy did not much care for that sound. It recalledthings. Gerald Wade—and those seven ticking clocks on the mantelpiece.?.?. Whose hand had placed them there, and why? He shivered.
It was a creepy business, this waiting. He didn’t wonder that thingshappened at spiritualistic séances. Sitting in the gloom, one got all workedup—ready to start at the least sound. And unpleasant thoughts came in ona fellow.
Ronny Devereux! Ronny Devereux and Gerry Wade! Both young, bothfull of life and energy; ordinary, jolly, healthy young men. And now,where were they? Dank earth .?.?. worms getting them .?.?. Ugh! whycouldn’t he put these horrible thoughts out of his mind?
He looked again at his watch. Twenty minutes past one only. How thetime crawled.
Extraordinary girl, Bundle! Fancy having the nerve and daring actuallyto get into the midst of that Seven Dials place. Why hadn’t he had thenerve and initiative to think of that? He supposed because the thing was sofantastic.
No 7. Who the hell could No 7 be? Was he, perhaps, in the house at thisminute? Disguised as a servant. He couldn’t, surely, be one of the guests.
No, that was impossible. But then, the whole thing was impossible. If hehadn’t believed Bundle to be essentially14 truthful—well, he would havethought she had invented the whole thing.
He yawned. Queer, to feel sleepy, and yet at the same time strung up. Helooked again at his watch. Ten minutes to two. Time was getting on.
And then, suddenly, he held his breath and leaned forward, listening.
He had heard something.
The minutes went past .?.?. There it was again. The creak of a board .?.?.
But it came from downstairs somewhere. There it was again! A slight,ominous creak. Somebody was moving stealthily about the house.
Jimmy sprang noiselessly to his feet. He crept silently to the head of thestaircase. Everything seemed perfectly15 quiet. Yet he was quite certain hehad really heard that stealthy sound. It was not imagination.
Very quietly and cautiously he crept down the staircase, Leopoldclasped tightly in his right hand. Not a sound in the big hall. If he had beencorrect in assuming that the muffled16 sound came from directly beneathhim, then it must have come from the library.
Jimmy stole to the door of it, listened, but heard nothing; then, suddenlyflinging open the door, he switched on the lights.
Nothing! The big room was flooded with light. But it was empty.
Jimmy frowned.
“I could have sworn—” he murmured to himself.
The library was a large room with three windows which opened on tothe terrace. Jimmy strode across the room. The middle window was un-latched.
He opened it and stepped out on to the terrace, looking from end to endof it. Nothing!
“Looks all right,” he murmured to himself. “And yet—”
He remained for a minute lost in thought. Then he stepped back into thelibrary. Crossing to the door, he locked it and put the key in his pocket.
Then he switched off the light. He stood for a minute listening, thencrossed softly to the open window and stood there, Leopold ready in hishand.
Was there, or was there not, a soft patter of feet along the terrace? No—his imagination. He grasped Leopold tightly and stood listening. .?.?.
In the distance a stable clock chimed two.
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收听单词发音
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1
conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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3
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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4
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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5
reverting
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| 恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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6
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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7
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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8
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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9
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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10
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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11
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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12
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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13
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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14
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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15
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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16
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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