Chapter 1 David meets his uncle

It was early in the month of June，1751，when I shut the door of our house behind me for the last time．All my life I had lived in the quiet little village of Essendean，in the Lowlands of Scotland，where my father had been the dominie，or schoolteacher．But now that he and my mother were both dead，I had to leave the house．The new dominie would soon arrive，and he would teach at the school and live in the dominie's house．So，although I was only seventeen，there was nowhere for me to live，and no reason for me to stay in Essendean．

But my heart was beating with excitement as I walked down the road，because in my hand I carried the letter that my father had given me just before he died．‘Davie，’he had said，‘when I am dead，take this to the house of Shaws，near Cramond．That's where I came from，and that's where you must go．Put this letter into the hands of Ebenezer Balfour．’

Balfour！The same name as my own！It was the first time I had heard of any of our family outside Essendean．

So I decided to walk to Cramond，hoping that perhaps this Mr Balfour，in his fine big house，would receive me kindly，and help me to become a rich man one day．With my plaid over my shoulder，I walked fast up the hill away from the village．What an adventure，to leave that sleepy place，where nothing ever happened，and go to a great，busy house，to be with rich and important people of my own name and blood！But when I reached the top of the hill，I turned a little sadly，to take my last look at the dominie's house，and Essendean churchyard，where my father and mother lay．

My journey northwards took almost two days．By midday on the second day I could see the smoking chimneys of Edinburgh in front of me，and soon I arrived in Cramond．

Now I began to ask people on the road for the house of Shaws．Their answers worried me a little．Some people seemed surprised，some afraid，and some angry，when I spoke the name of Ebenezer Balfour．I could not understand this，but it was too far to go back to Essendean that day， and I wanted to find the rest of the Balfour family very much So I continued on my way，and when I met a dark，wild-looking woman coming towards me，I asked her where the house of Shaws was She took me to the top of the next hill，and showed me a large building standing alone in the bottom of the next valley．Although the fields around were green，and the farmland was excellent，the house itself looked unfinished and empty．Part of its roof was missing．There was no road to it，and no smoke coming from any of its chimneys，nor was there any garden． ‘That！’I cried．‘No，it can't be！’ ‘It is！’cried the woman angrily．‘That is the house of Shaws！Blood built it，blood stopped the building of if，and blood shall bring it down！Black is the heart of Ebenezer Balfour！Ye can tell him from me that I hope to see him die，and his house fall down around him！’ The woman turned and disappeared．I stood where she left me，shaking like a leaf，and looking down at the house for a long time．But when it began to get dark，I noticed some smoke coming out of the chimney，and felt a little more hope ful．‘There must be a fire，and cooking，and people in the house，’I thought．So I walked up to the front door．The house seemed locked up and unwelcoming，but there was fire light shining through the kitchen window，and I could hear someone talking quietly to himself．Bravely，I lifted my hand and knocked loudly on the strong wooden door．The house was suddenly silent，and there was no reply．I knocked and knocked，and shouted as loudly as I could．Finally，the win dow opened，and a man holding a gun put his head out．

‘What do ye want？’he asked．

‘I've come here with a letter for Mr Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws．Is he here？’

‘Who is it from？’asked the man with the gun．

‘That's none of your business，’I replied，getting angry．

‘Well，put the letter down by the door，and leave．’

‘I will not！’I answered sharply．‘I'm going to give it to Mr Balfour himself．The letter introduces me to him．’

‘Who are ye then？’was the next question．

‘I'm not ashamed of my name． It's David Balfour．’

The man almost dropped his gun．After a long while，he asked in a changed voice，‘Is your father dead？’I was too surprised to answer，but he continued，‘Aye，he must be dead，and that's why ye have come．Well，man，I'll let ye in，’and he disappeared from the window．

Now the door was unlocked，and a voice from the darkness said，‘Go into the kitchen and touch nothing．’I obeyed，while the man locked the heavy door carefully again．I found myself in the emptiest kitchen that I had ever seen．There was a fire，but no other light．On the table was a bowl of porridge and a glass of water，in front of the only chair．Around the walls were several locked chests．There was no other furniture．The man who now appeared in the kitchen was small，mean-looking and white-faced，between fifty and sev enty years old，and wearing a dirty old nightshirt．The worst thing about him was that he could neither take his eyes away from me，nor look straight into my face．

‘If ye're hungry，’he said，‘ye can eat that porridge．It's grand food，porridge！Let me see the letter！’

‘It's for Mr Balfour，not you，’I replied．

‘And who do ye think I am？Give me Alexander's letter！Ye may not like me or my house or my porridge，but I'm your born uncle，Davie，my man！’

This was the end of all my hopes．I was too tired and miser able to speak，so I silently gave him the letter，and sat down to eat the porridge．

‘Your father's been dead a long time？’he asked，giving me a quick look from his sharp eyes．

‘Three weeks，sir，’I said．

‘He was a secretive man，Alexander was．Perhaps he didn't talk much about me？ Or about the house of Shaws？’

‘I never knew he had a brother，sir，or ever heard the name of Shaws．’

‘To think of that！’he replied．‘A strange man！’But he seemed very pleased，and began to look at me with more inter est．Soon he jumped up and said，‘We're going to get on well，Davie！What's mine is yours，man，and what's yours is mine．Blood's thicker than water，and there's only ye and me of the name of Balfour． Now I'll show ye to your bed．’

He took me up some dark stairs and showed me into a room．I could not see anything． ‘Can I have a light，sir？’I asked． ‘No，ye can't．No lights in this house！I'm afraid of fires，ye see．Good night to ye，Davie，my man．’And before I had time to reply，he pulled the door shut and locked it from the outside．The room was very cold，but luckily I had my plaid with me，so I covered myself with it like a blanket，and soon fell asleep．

The next day my uncle and I had a small bowl of porridge and a glass of water for breakfast，lunch and supper．He did not speak much to me，but was clearly thinking hard．I often noticed him looking at me，while pretending to do something different， and he never left me alone in the kitchen with the locked chests，in which，I supposed，he kept his money．I did not like the way he looked at me，and began to wonder if he was a little crazy，and perhaps dangerous．

After supper he said suddenly，‘Davie，I've been thinking．I promised your father a bit of money for ye before ye were born．A promise is a promise—and so I'm going to give ye…forty pounds！’ These last words seemed very painful to him．He added，in a kind of scream，‘Scots！’

A Scottish pound was the same as an English shilling．I could see that his story was a lie，so I laughed at him，saying，‘Oh，think again，sir！English pounds，surely！’

‘That's what I said，'replied my uncle quickly．‘Go outside for a moment，and I'll get the money for ye．’

I was smiling as I went out，sure that he would give me nothing at all．It was a dark night，and I could hear wind in the hills．‘There may be thunder later，’I thought，not knowing how important the weather would be to me that night．

But when my uncle called me in again，he counted thirty eight English pounds in gold into my hands．It clearly hurt him to do it，and he kept back the last two pounds，but I did not mind that．Surprised and pleased，I thanked him warmly．

‘Now，’he said，looking cleverly at me，‘ye can give me something，Davie．I'm getting old now，and I need help．’

‘Of course，sir，’I answered．‘What can I do？’

‘Well，go outside and climb the stairs at the other end of the house，where the building isn't finished yet．Go up to the room at the top，and bring down the chest that ye'll find there．It's got valuable papers in it．’

‘Can I have a light，sir？’I asked．

‘No，’he said sharply．‘No lights in my house！’ ‘Very well，sir．Are the stairs good？’

‘They're grand，’ said he．‘The stairs are grand．Out I went into the night．As I was feeling my way along the outside wall，there was a sudden flash of lightning，then darkness again．I found the stairs and started climbing．I was about fifteen metres above the ground，when there was another flash of lightning．That was lucky for me，because it showed me that the steps were uneven， and that I could easily fall to my death．‘These are the grand stairs！’I thought．‘Perhaps my uncle wants me to die！’Now I was very careful，and I felt each step with my hands before I put my foot on it．A few steps later my hand felt cold stone，and then nothing more．The stairs ended there，twenty metres above the ground．I felt cold with fear，when I thought of the danger that I had been in．Sending a stranger up those stairs in the dark was sending him straight to his death．

Angrily，I turned and felt my way down．There was a crash of thunder，and suddenly the rain came down．At the bottom of the stairs I looked towards the kitchen，and could see，in the next flash of lightning，a figure standing still in the doorway，listening． When the thunder sounded again，louder than before，he ran back inside，and I followed as softly as I could．I found him sitting in the kitchen，drinking whisky straight from the bottle，and shaking with fear．Quietly I came up behind him，and，putting my hands sud denly on his shoulders，cried，‘Ah！’

My uncle gave a kind of broken cry，and fell to the floor like a dead man．His face was a strange blue colour，and I began to think that he really was dead．At last his eyes opened，and he looked up and saw me．‘Oh man，are ye alive or a ghost？’he cried ‘Get me my medicine，Davie—it's for my heart．’I found the medicine bottle and gave him some．He soon began to look a little better． ‘Why did you lie to me？’I asked angrily．‘Why did you give me money？ And why did you try to kill me？ Answer me！’

‘I'll tell ye tomorrow，Davie，I promise．Help me to bed now，will ye？’He still looked very ill，so I could not refuse．But this time I locked his bedroom door，and went to sleep in front of the kitchen fire．

When I woke up in the morning，I felt very pleased with myself．‘He thinks he's cleverer than me，but he isn't！’I thought．When I let my uncle out of his room，I asked him again for an explanation After a while，he said，‘Davie，I have some business with a ship's captain at Queensferry．Now，we could walk over there，and when I've done my business，we could visit the lawyer，Mr Rankeillor．He'll answer all your questions．He's an honest man，and he knew your father．What do ye say to that？’

I thought for a moment．I had never seen the sea，but had always wanted to！‘It's a grand idea，’I said．

It was a morning's walk to Queensferry，Which was west of Edinburgh，but we did not say a word to each other on the way．Suddenly，at the top of a hill，we could see the Firth of Forth below us，blue and calm，with white sails on it．

‘Ye see that public house？’asked my uncle．‘Captain Hoseason's there，to do business with me．There's the ship's boat on the beach，waiting to take him to the ship．And there's the ship itself！A grand ship！’

I had to agree with him．The sailors were getting the ship ready for sailing，and I thought what an exciting adventure that would be—to sail away to a foreign country．

We walked down the hill to the public house and met the captain there．He was a tall，dark，serious-looking man，who shook hands politely with me．Stupidly，I left these two men to their business，and ran down to the beach，to talk to the sailors and look at the boats．It was all new and very interest ing to me．

As I was coming back，I met the owner of the public house．

‘Good morning，’he said．‘Did ye come with Ebenezer？’

‘I did，’I replied．‘He isn't well liked，I understand．’

‘That's true，’he answered．‘Nobody speaks well of him．It all started with that story about Mr Alexander，his brother．’

‘What story？’I asked．

‘Oh，just that Ebenezer had killed him．Did ye never hear that？’

‘And why would he kill my f—，I mean，Alexander？’

‘To get the house，of course，the house of Shaws．’

‘Aye，man？Was my—was Alexander older than Ebenezer？’

‘Indeed he was！No other reason for killing him！’

This was a great surprise to me！I had thought that my fa ther was the younger brother，and I now understood why my uncle had lied to me，and wanted to kill me．The house of Shaws had belonged to my father，not my uncle，and now I had inherited it．The poor country boy who had walked from Essendean was the owner of a fine house and farmland！My head was full of the wonderful things that I could do in my life，as I looked，unseeing，at the sea．

Just then my uncle and the captain came out of the public house．The captain smiled in a friendly way as he spoke to me．‘Sir，’he said，‘Mr Balfour has told me a lot about ye．I'm only sorry I haven't time to get to know ye better．But I'd like ye to come on to my ship for half an hour，before we sail，and have a drink with me．’

Now，more than anything in the world，I wanted to see the inside of a ship，but I remembered that I had to be careful．‘My uncle and I have to see the lawyer，sir，’I replied，‘so I'm afraid we may not have enough time．’

‘Aye，aye，’he answered，‘I know，but ye see，the ship's boat can put ye both down near Rankeillor's house，after ye've seen the ship，so ye won't lose any time．’ Suddenly he said quietly in my ear，‘Watch out for the old man—he wants to hurt ye．Come and talk about it．’Putting his arm in mine，he said loudly，‘What can I bring ye back from my travels？ A friend of Mr Balfour's is a friend of mine！’

By this time we were on the beach， and he was helping my uncle and me into the boat．I thought that I had found a good friend and helper，and I was very excited as we came closer to the great ship，full of busy，noisy sailors．The captain and I were the first to climb up the ship's side，and at the top the captain immediately put his arm through mine and began to talk about the ship．

‘But where is my uncle？’I asked suddenly．I pulled myself away from the captain's arm，and ran to the side of the ship．Sure enough，there was the boat returning to Queensferry，with my uncle sitting in it．I screamed，‘Help， help！Murder！’and my uncle slowly turned to look at me．

I did not see any more．Already strong hands were pulling me away．Then something hit my head；I saw a great flash of fire，and fell to the ground．

1 戴维见到了叔叔

 

我最后一次关上身后我们家的那扇门时，那正是1751年6月的头几天。我一直生活在苏格兰低地的埃森丁这个安静的小村庄里。我的父亲曾经是那儿的教师。但既然他和我的母亲都去世了，我就不得不离开那幢房子。新教师很快就要到了，他将在学校里教课并住在供教师住的房子里。所以说虽然我只有17岁，但已经没有我的栖身之地了，我也没有理由待在埃森丁了。

但是我走在路上时心激动地跳着，因为我手中拿着我父亲临终前给我的那封信。“戴维，”他曾说，“我去世以后，拿着这封信去克莱蒙德附近的肖家大院。那儿是我的出生地，也是你应该去的地方。把这封信亲手交给埃比尼泽·鲍尔弗。”

鲍尔弗！和我一样的姓氏！这是我第一次听说埃森丁地域以外我的家族成员。

于是我决定走到克莱蒙德去，盼着有一天这个鲍尔弗先生能在他的豪华的大房子里友好地接待我并帮我变成富人。方格肩巾披在肩上，我大步流星地走上山岗，离开了那个小村庄。离开那寂静的、从未发生过什么事的小村庄而去一个热闹的大宅院里与姓氏和血缘和我相同的、有钱有势的人待在一起，这可真是一次历险！但当我到达山顶时，我带着一丝悲哀转身看了最后一眼供教师住的房子和我父母长眠着的埃森丁墓地。

我往北差不多走了两天。到第二天中午时我能看见前面爱丁堡冒烟的烟囱，很快我就到了克莱蒙德。

我开始向路上的行人打听肖家大院。他们的回答使我心里有点儿担忧。当我说出埃比尼泽·鲍尔弗这个名字时，一些人显得惊讶，一些人恐惧，一些人愤怒。我不明白这个，但那天回埃森丁是太远了，而且我也特别想找到鲍尔弗家族其余的人。于是我继续走着走着；而且当我看见一位皮肤黝黑、看似野蛮的老妇人向我走过来时，我向她打听肖家大院在哪儿。她把我领到下一座小山的顶峰，指给我看下一个山谷里的一幢孤零零的建筑物。虽然四周的田野一片葱绿，庄稼长势很好，但那幢房子本身好像没有建完，也显得空旷。有部分屋顶不见了。没有路通到那儿，烟囱里没有烟冒出来，也没有花园。

“那个？！”我惊呼着，“不，绝对不是！”

“就是！”那个女人愤恨地说道，“那就是肖家！它是用血筑成的，血停止了修建，血还将把它给毁掉！埃比尼泽·鲍尔弗的心是黑的！你可以告诉他我说我希望看到他死了并看到他的房子塌下来把他给埋了！”

那个女人转身不见了。我在她离开我之处站着原地不动，像一片树叶一样颤抖，久久地俯视着那幢房子。但当暮色开始降临时，我发现有烟从那幢房子的烟囱冒出来，便感到稍微有点希望了。“那里面一定有火，有人在做饭，也一定有人，”我心想。于是我走到前门。房子似乎紧锁着，不欢迎来访者的样子，但是厨房的窗口透着火光，而且我能听到屋里有人悄声自言自语。鼓起勇气，我举起手，在那扇结实的木门上大声地敲起来。屋子忽然间静了下来，没有人回答。我敲了又敲，还使劲地喊起来。最后，窗户开了，一个手握一枝枪的男人探出头来。

“你要什么？”他问道。

“我带来一封给埃比尼泽·鲍尔弗·肖先生的信。他在吗？”

“谁的？”持枪的男人问道。

“那与你无关。”我答道，变得生气了。

“好，把信放到门边，走。”

“我不！”我厉声答道，“我准备把信交给鲍尔弗先生本人。这封信把我引荐给他。”

“那么，你是谁？”这是下一个问题。

“我才不为我自己的名字而感到害臊呢。我叫戴维·鲍尔弗。”

那个男人差一点把他的枪扔了。过了好一阵子，他才变了腔道问道：“你父亲去世了吗？”我因太惊讶了而回答不出来，但他继续道：“对，他一定是死了，那也是你来的原因。好吧，伙计，我会让你进来，”并从窗户那儿消失了。

门现在打开了，黑暗中有个声音说道：“到厨房来，不准碰任何东西。”我照着他说的做了，与此同时那个男人小心翼翼地又把那扇沉沉的门锁上了。我发现自己站在我所见过的最空荡荡的厨房里。那儿有一堆火，但除此以外再没有别的光线了。唯一的一把椅子前的桌子上面放着一碗粥和一杯水。墙的四周摆放着几个锁着的柜子。除此以外，没有别的什么家具。现在在厨房里出现的那个男人身材矮小，形象猥琐，脸色苍白，约在五十岁到七十岁之间，穿着一件脏兮兮的旧睡衣。最糟糕的是他既不把视线从我身上移开，也不直视我的脸。

“如果你饿了，”他说道，“你可以吃那碗粥。粥，可是好东西！让我看看信！”

“信是给鲍尔弗先生的，不是给你的，”我说道。

“那么你以为我是谁啊？把亚历山大的信给我！你可能不喜欢我、不喜欢我的房子或者不喜欢我的粥，但我是你的亲伯伯，戴维，我的伙计！”

我所有的希望破灭了。我因太劳累、太难受而什么话也说不出来，于是我默默地把信交给他并坐下来喝粥。

“你父亲死了很久了？”他一边问，一边用他那双厉害的眼睛飞快地扫视我。

“三周了，先生，”我道。

“他是个爱遮遮掩掩的人，对，亚历山大是。也许他没有怎么说起过我？或说起过肖家这房子？”

“我从不知道他有一个兄弟，先生，也没听说过肖这个名字。”

“想想看！”他回答道，“真是一个奇怪的人！”但是他看起来很高兴，并且也开始更饶有兴趣地打量着我。不一会儿他跳起身来，说道：“我们将会合得来的，戴维！我的就是你的，伙计，你的也是我的。血浓于水，鲍尔弗家只有你和我两个人。现在我要把你带到睡觉处去。”

他带着我上了黑黝黝的楼梯，把我带到一个房间里。我什么也看不到。

“我能有盏灯吗，先生？”我问道。

“不，你不能。这房子里不准有灯！你明白我怕火。晚安，戴维，我的伙计。”我还没有来得及回答，他已把门关上并从外面锁上了。房间里很冷，但幸运的是我随身带着肩巾，于是我用它像用毯子一样地把自己盖起来，很快我便睡着了。

第二天早、中、晚饭我和我的叔叔都只喝了一小碗粥和一杯水。他对我讲话不多，但很明显地他在使劲想什么。我经常注意到他一边假装干别的事一边看我，他也从来没有让我一个人单独待在放有锁着的柜子的厨房里。我想他一定在里面放了钱。我不喜欢他看我的那种样子，开始想他是不是有点神经不正常，而且或许是个危险人物。

吃过晚饭他突然说：“戴维，我一直在思考。你出生前我曾答应过你父亲给你一点钱。承诺就是承诺——我现在要给你……40镑！”最后的话语对他来说显得非常痛苦。他用一种尖叫的声音补充道：“苏格兰镑！”

一个苏格兰镑相当于一个英格兰先令。我能看得出他在说谎，于是我嘲笑他，说：“噢，再想想，先生！英镑，确定无疑！”

“那是我说的。”我叔叔很快答道，“出去一会儿，我给你拿钱。”

我出去时微笑着，敢肯定他什么也不会给我。夜晚天黑黑的，我能听到山野里的风声。“之后可能会打雷，”我想，不知道那晚的天气对我来说将是何等重要。

但当我叔叔把我又叫进去时，他将价值38英镑的金币数着放在我的手里。显然他是不情愿那么做的，他扣了最后两个英镑，但是我没有在意。我又惊又喜，热烈地感谢他。

“那么，”他狡黠地看着我说道，“你可以给我一些东西，戴维。我现在变老了，我需要帮助。”

“当然可以，先生，”我回答道，“我能做什么？”

“好的，出去，爬上在那个还未建完的房子的另一端的楼梯。爬到位于房子的顶层的房间去，把你在那儿发现的柜子拿下来。里面有重要的文件。”

“我能点盏灯吗，先生？”我问道。

“不，”他厉声说道，“我的房子里不能点灯！”

“好吧，先生。楼梯是好的吗？”

“好的，”他说，“楼梯是好的。”

我走进夜色中。我沿着外墙摸索着时，一道闪电忽然闪过，紧接着又是黑黝黝的。我找到了楼梯并且开始爬起来。我已离地大约十五米高，这时又有一道闪电闪过。那对我来说是幸运的，因为它向我表明楼梯是不平的，我很容易摔死。“这就是不错的楼梯！”我想道，“我伯伯可能想让我死掉！”现在我很当心起来，踩每一脚前都用手仔细地摸摸踏脚处。又爬了几步之后，我的手碰到了冰冷的石头，然后再也没有东西了。搂梯到头了，离地20米高。我一想起我所处的险境就害怕得直发冷。让一个陌生人在黑暗中上那楼梯，就是把他直接送到死神面前。

我气呼呼地掉转过头，摸索着往下爬。雷电轰鸣，忽然间下起雨来。我站在楼梯的底端往厨房看，借助下一道闪电的光亮看见一个人静静地站在门口倾听着。当雷声又响起而且雷声大过以前时，他跑回里面，我尽可能悄悄地跟着他。我发现他坐在厨房里，直接用酒瓶喝着威士忌，身体因害怕而在发抖。我轻轻地从他身后走上前去，忽然间把手放到他的肩上，大声叫道：“啊！”

我叔叔急促地尖叫起来并摔倒在地上，像一个死人一样。他的脸色显现出一种奇怪的蓝色，我开始琢磨他是不是真的死了。最后他的双眼睁开了，他抬起头看着我。“噢，伙计，你到底是活着还是个幽灵？”他叫道。“把我的药给我，戴维——治疗我的心脏用的那种。”我找到药瓶，给了他一些药。他很快就开始看着好一点了。

“你为什么对我扯谎？”我生气地问道。“你为什么给我钱？你为什么还想杀死我？回答我！”

“明天我会告诉你的，戴维，我发誓。现在帮忙把我扶到床上，行吗？”他看起来仍病得很厉害，所以我不能拒绝。但这一次我锁上了他的卧室的门，然后在厨房的炉火前睡了。

第二天早晨当我醒来时，我对自己感到很高兴。“他以为他比我聪明，但他不是！”我想。当我把我叔叔放出房间时，我又要他解释一下。过了一会儿，他说道：“戴维，我和昆斯费里的一个船长有笔生意。现在我们走到那儿去，我做完生意时我们可以拜访一下律师兰基勒先生。他将解答你所有的问题。他是一个诚实的人，他认识你父亲。那么做你意下如何？”

我想了一下。我从未见过大海，但一直想见！“是个好主意，”我说道。

昆斯费里位于爱丁堡西侧，我们走了一上午才到，但一路上我们没有互相说话。猛然，在山顶上，我们看见了下面的福斯湾，湛蓝湛蓝的，又风平浪静，白帆点点。

“你看见了那个小酒店吗？”我叔叔问道，“霍齐亚森船长在那儿，要和我做生意。海滩上有船上的小艇，等着把他带到船上去。那就是那船本身！一条大船！”

我得同意他的。水手们正在把船收拾停当以备远航。我想着远航去一个遥远的国度将是一次多么激动人心的历险啊。

我们走下山到了小酒店，在那儿见到了船长。他是个大高个儿，皮肤黝黑，表情严肃。他有礼貌地和我握握手。傻呵呵地，我让这两个人去干他们自己的事，自己跑到海滩上去和水手们聊天并去看那些小艇。这对我来说都是新鲜事，都很令人感兴趣。

我正往回走时，遇到了小酒店的主人。

“早晨好。”他说道，“你是和埃比尼泽一块来的吗？”

“是的，”我回答道，“他不招人喜欢，我明白。”

“那是真的。”他回答道，“没有人说他好话。这得从他兄弟亚历山大的故事说起。”

“什么故事？”我问道。

“噢，就是埃比尼泽杀害了他。你从未听说过那事吗？”

“他为什么要杀我父——我是说，亚历山大？”

“当然是为了房子，肖家大院。”

“伙计，什么？难道我的——亚历山大比埃比尼泽年长吗？”

“他就是！杀他再也没有别的原因了！”

这对我来说真是件惊奇事！我过去一直以为我父亲是年幼的兄弟，现在我明白了为什么我的叔叔对我扯了谎而且要杀死我。肖家大院本来属于我父亲，不是我叔叔的，现在我继承了它。从埃森丁走出来的可怜的乡下男孩成了大房子和农田的主人！我视而不见地望着大海，脑袋里全是我想像的、我这一辈子可能干的美妙的事儿。

正在那时我叔叔和船长从小酒店出来。船长边跟我说话边友好地冲我微笑。“先生，”他说道，“鲍尔弗先生告诉了我很多关于你的事。我只是感到有点遗憾，我没有足够的时间来更好地了解你。但是我想请你在我们开航前到我船上来半小时并和我喝上一杯。

现在，在这个世界上我最想做的就是去看看船的内部构造，但是我记着我得小心。“我和我叔叔得去见律师，先生，”我答道，“所以恐怕我们可能没有足够的时间。”

“对，对，”他回答道，“我知道，但是你明白，船上的小艇能够在你们看完之后让你们二人在兰基勒家附近的地方下船，所以你不会没时间的。”忽然间他对我轻声耳语道：“当心这个老家伙——他想害你。来谈谈。”他挽着我的臂，大声说：“我旅行回来给你带什么？鲍尔弗先生的朋友也是我的朋友！”

到这时我们已在海滩上，他帮着我和叔叔进了小艇。我心想我找到了一个好朋友，一个可以帮忙的人；而且当我们更加走近到处是忙忙碌碌、吵吵嚷嚷的水手的大船时，我心里很激动。我和船长率先爬过船舷，在顶上船长立即用臂挽住我，开始谈起船来。

“可我叔叔在哪儿？”我忽然间问道。我挣脱开船长挽我的胳膊，跑到船舷。千真万确，一艘小艇正驶回昆斯费里，我叔叔就坐在里边。我尖叫道：“救命，救命！有人要杀我！”而我叔叔慢慢地回头看看我。

我再没看见什么。强有力的手已把我拖开了。接着什么东西打了我的头；我眼冒金星，接着倒在地上。