Their adieux to Fifi and Nini were elaborate and complicated by bursts of laughter. The Tziganes recommended Captain Sengoun to go home and seek further adventures on his pillow; and had it not been for the gay babble1 of the fountain and the persistent2 perfume of flowers, he might have followed their advice.
It was after the two young men had left the Jardin Russe that Captain Sengoun positively3 but affectionately refused to relinquish4 possession of Neeland’s arm.
“Dear friend,” he explained, “I am just waking up and I do not wish to go to bed for days and days.”
“But I do,” returned Neeland, laughing. “Where do you want to go now, Prince Erlik?”
The champagne5 was singing loudly in the Cossack’s handsome head; the distant brilliancy beyond the Place de la Concorde riveted6 his roving eyes.
“Over there,” he said joyously7. “Listen, old fellow, I’ll teach you the skating step as we cross the Place! Then, in the first Bal, you shall try it on the fairest form since Helen fell and Troy burned—or Troy fell and Helen burned—it’s all the same, old fellow—what you call fifty-fifty, eh?”
Neeland tried to free his arm—to excuse himself; two policemen laughed; but Sengoun, linking his arm more firmly in Neeland’s, crossed the Place in a series of Dutch rolls and outer edges, in which Neeland was compelled to join. The Russian was as light and graceful8 348on his feet as one of the dancers of his own country; Neeland’s knowledge of skating aided his own less agile9 steps. There was sympathetic applause from passing taxis and fiacres; and they might, apparently10, have had any number of fair partners for the asking, along the way, except for Sengoun’s headlong dive toward the brightest of the boulevard lights beyond.
In the rue11 Royal, however, Sengoun desisted with sudden access of dignity, remarking that such gambols12 were not worthy13 of the best traditions of his Embassy; and he attempted to bribe14 the drivers of a couple of hansom cabs to permit him and his comrade to take the reins15 and race to the Arc de Triomphe.
Failing in this, he became profusely16 autobiographical, informing Neeland of his birth, education, aims, aspirations17.
“When I was twelve,” he said, “I had known already the happiness of the battle-shock against Kurd, Mongol, and Tartar. At eighteen my ambition was to slap the faces of three human monsters. I told everybody that I was making arrangements to do this, and I started for Brusa after my first monster—Fehim Effendi—but the Vali telegraphed to the Grand Vizier, and the Grand Vizier ran to Abdul the Damned, and Abdul yelled for Sir Nicholas O’Connor; and they caught me in the Pera Palace and handed me over to my Embassy.”
Neeland shouted with laughter:
“Who were the other monsters?” he asked.
“The other two whose countenances19 I desired to slap? Oh, one was Abdul Houda, the Sultan’s star-reader, who chattered20 about my Dark Star horoscope in the Yildiz. And the other was the Sultan.”
“Who?”349
“Abdul Hamid.”
“What? You wished to slap his face?”
“You’d have lost your life,” remarked Neeland.
“Yes. But then war would surely have come, and today my Emperor would have held the Dardanelles where the Turkish flag is now flying over German guns and German gunners.”
He shook his head:
“Great mistake on my part,” he muttered. “Should have pulled Abdul’s lop ears. Now, everything in Turkey is ‘Yasak’ except what Germans do and say; and God knows we are farther than ever from St. Sophia.... I’m very thirsty with thinking so much, old fellow. Did you ever drink German champagne?”
“I believe not––”
“Come on, then. You shall drink several gallons and never feel it. It’s the only thing German I could ever swallow.”
“Prince Erlik, you have had considerable refreshment22 already.”
“Copain, t’en fais pas!”
The spectacle of two young fellows in evening dress, in a friendly tug-of-war under the lamp-posts of the Boulevard, amused the passing populace; and Sengoun, noticing this, was inclined to mount a boulevard bench and address the wayfarers23, but Neeland pulled him down and persuaded him into a quieter street, the rue Vilna.
“There’s a German place, now!” exclaimed Sengoun, delighted.
And Neeland, turning to look, perceived the illuminated24 sign of the Café des Bulgars.350
German champagne had now become Sengoun’s fixed25 idea; nothing could dissuade26 him from it, nothing persuade him into a homeward bound taxi. So Neeland, with a rather hazy27 idea that he ought not to do it, entered the café with Senguon; and they seated themselves on a leather wall-lounge before one of the numerous marble-topped tables.
“Listen,” he said in a low voice to his companion, “this is a German café, and we must be careful what we say. I’m not any too prudent28 and I may forget this; but don’t you!”
“Quite right, old fellow!” replied Sengoun, giving him an owlish look. “I must never forget I’m a diplomat29 among these sales Boches––”
“Be careful, Sengoun! That expression is not diplomatic.”
“Careful is the word, mon vieux,” returned the other loudly and cheerfully. “I’ll bet you a dollar, three kopeks, and two sous that I go over there and kiss the cashier––”
“No! Be a real diplomat, Sengoun!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Neeland, because she’s unusually pretty. And we might establish a triple entente30 until you find some Argive Helen to quadruple it. Aha! Here is our German champagne! Positively the only thing German a Russian can––”
“Listen! This won’t do. People are looking at us––”
“Right, old fellow—always right! You know, Neeland, this friendship of ours is the most precious, most delightful31, and most inspiring experience of my life. Here’s a full goblet32 to our friendship! Hurrah33! As for Enver Pasha, may Erlik seize him!”
After they had honoured the toast, Sengoun looked 351about him pleasantly, receptive, ready for any eventuality. And observing no symptoms of any eventuality whatever, he suggested creating one.
“Dear comrade,” he said, “I think I shall arise and make an incendiary address––”
“No!”
“Very well, if you feel that way about it. But there is another way to render the evening agreeable. You see that sideboard?” he continued, pointing to a huge carved buffet34 piled to the ceiling with porcelain35 and crystal. “What will you wager36 that I can not push it over with one hand?”
But Neeland declined the wager with an impatient gesture, and kept his eyes riveted on a man who had just entered the café. He could see only the stranger’s well-groomed back, but when, a moment later, the man turned to seat himself, Neeland was not surprised to find himself looking at Doc Curfoot.
“Sengoun,” he said under his breath, “that type who just came in is an American gambler named Doc Curfoot; and he is here with other gamblers for the purpose of obtaining political information for some government other than my own.”
“That worm? Oh, well, every city in Europe swarms38 with such maggots, you know. It would be quite funny if he tries any blandishments on us, wouldn’t it?”
“He may. He’s a capper. He’s looking at us now. I believe he remembers having seen me in the train.”
“As for an hour or two at chemin-de-fer, baccarat, or roulette,” remarked Sengoun, “I am not averse39 to a––”
“Watch him! The waiter who is taking his order 352may know who you are—may be telling that gambler.... I believe he did! Now, let us see what happens....”
Sengoun, delighted at the prospect40 of an eventuality, blandly41 emptied his goblet and smiled generally upon everybody.
“I hope he will make our acquaintance and ask us to play,” he said. “I’m very lucky at chemin-de-fer. And if I lose I shall conclude that there is trickery. Which would make it very lively for everybody,” he added with a boyish smile. But his dark eyes began to glitter and he showed his beautiful, even teeth when he laughed.
“Ha!” he said. “A little what you call a mix-up might not come amiss! That gives one an appetite; that permits one to perspire42; that does good to everybody and makes one sleep soundly! Shall we, as you say in America, start something?”
Neeland, thinking of Ali-Baba and Golden Beard and of their undoubted instigation by telegraph of the morning’s robbery, wondered whether the rendezvous43 of the robbers might not possibly be here in the Café des Bulgars.
The gang of Americans in the train had named Kestner, Breslau, and Weishelm—the one man of the gang whom he had never seen—as prospective44 partners in this enterprise.
Here, somewhere in this building, were their gambling45 headquarters. Was there any possible chance that the stolen box and its contents might have been brought here for temporary safety?
Might it not now be hidden somewhere in this very building by men too cunning to risk leaving the city when every train and every road would be watched 353within an hour of the time that the robbery was committed?
Leaning back carelessly on the lounge and keeping his eyes on the people in the café, Neeland imparted these ideas to Sengoun in a low voice—told him everything he knew in regard to the affair, and asked his opinion.
“My opinion,” said Sengoun, who was enchanted46 at any prospect of trouble, “is that this house is ‘suspect’ and is worth searching. Of course the Prefect could be notified, arrangements made, and a search by the secret police managed. But, Neeland, my friend, think of what pleasure we should be deprived!”
“How do you mean?”
“Why not search the place ourselves?”
“How?”
“Well, of course, we could be picturesque47, go to my Embassy, and fill our pockets with automatic pistols, and come back here and—well, make them stand around and see how high they could reach with both hands.”
Neeland laughed.
“That would be a funny jest, wouldn’t it?” said Sengoun.
“Very funny. But––” He nudged Sengoun and directed his attention toward the terrace outside, where waiters were already removing the little iron tables and the chairs, and the few lingering guests were coming inside the café.
“I see,” muttered Sengoun; “it is already Sunday morning, and they’re closing. It’s too late to go to the Embassy. They’d not let us in here when we returned.”
Neeland summoned a waiter with a nod:
“When do you close up inside here?”354
“Tomorrow being Sunday, the terrace closes now, monsieur; but the café remains48 open all night,” explained the waiter with a noticeable German accent.
“Thank you.” And, to Sengoun: “I’d certainly like to go upstairs. I’d like to see what it looks like up there—take a glance around.”
“Very well, let us go up––”
“We ought to have some excuse––”
“Wait a moment! It would only mean a fight––”
“All fights,” explained Sengoun seriously, “are agreeable—some more so. So if you are ready, dear comrade––”
“But a row will do us no good––”
“Pardon, dear friend, I have been in serious need of one for an hour or two––”
“I don’t mean that sort of ‘good,’” explained Neeland, laughing. “I mean that I wish to look about up there—explore––”
“Quite right, old fellow—always right! But—here’s an idea! I could stand at the head of the stairs and throw them down as they mounted, while you had leisure to look around for your stolen box––”
“My dear Prince Erlik, we’ve nothing to shoot with, and it’s likely they have. There’s only one way to get upstairs with any chance of learning anything useful. And that is to start a row between ourselves.” And, raising his voice as though irritated, he called for the reckoning, adding in a tone perfectly50 audible to anybody in the vicinity that he knew where roulette was played, and that he was going whether or not his friend accompanied him.
Sengoun, delighted, recognised his cue and protested 355in loud, nasal tones that the house to which his comrade referred was suspected of unfair play; and a noisy dispute began, listened to attentively51 by the pretty but brightly painted cashier, the waiters, the gérant, and every guest in the neighbourhood.
“As for me,” cried Sengoun, feigning52 to lose his temper, “I have no intention of being tricked. I was not born yesterday—not I! If there is to be found an honest wheel in Paris that would suit me. Otherwise, I go home to bed!”
“It is an honest wheel, I tell you––”
“It is not! I know that place!”
“Be reasonable––”
“Reasonable!” repeated Sengoun appealingly to the people around them. “Permit me to ask these unusually intelligent gentlemen whether it is reasonable to play roulette in a place where the wheel is notoriously controlled and the management a dishonest one! Could a gentleman be expected to frequent or even to countenance18 places of evil repute? Messieurs, I await your verdict!” And he folded his arms dramatically.
Somebody said, from a neighbouring table:
“Vous avez parfaitement raison, monsieur!”
“I thank you,” cried Sengoun, with an admirably dramatic bow. “Therefore, I shall now go home to bed!”
Neeland, maintaining his gravity with difficulty, followed Sengoun toward the door, still pretending to plead with him; and the gérant, a tall, blond, rosy53 and unmistakable German, stepped forward to unlock the door.
As he laid his hand on the bolt he said in a whisper:
“If the gentlemen desire the privilege of an exclusive 356club where everything is unquestionably conducted––”
“On the third floor, monsieur.”
“Here?”
“Certainly, sir. If the gentlemen will honour me with their names, and will be seated for one little moment, I shall see what can be accomplished55.”
“Very well,” said Sengoun, with a short, incredulous laugh. “I’m Prince Erlik, of the Mongol Embassy, and my comrade is Mr. Neeland, Consul56 General of the United States of America in the Grand Duchy of Gerolstein!”
The gérant smiled. After he had gone away toward the further room in the café, Neeland remarked to Sengoun that doubtless their real names were perfectly well known, and Sengoun disdainfully shrugged57 his indifference58:
“What can one expect in this dirty rat-nest of Europe? Abdul the Damned employed one hundred thousand spies in Constantinople alone! And William the Sudden admired him. Why, Neeland, mon ami, I never take a step in the streets without being absolutely certain that I am watched and followed. What do I care! Except that towns make me sick. But the only cure is a Khirgiz horse and a thousand lances. God send them. I’m sick of cities.”
A few moments later the gérant returned and, in a low voice, requested them to accompany him.
They passed leisurely59 through the café, between tables where lowered eyes seemed to deny any curiosity; but guests and waiters looked after them after they had passed, and here and there people whispered together—particularly two men who had followed them 357from the sun-dial fountain in the rue Soleil d’Or to the Jardin Russe, across the Place de la Concorde, and into the Café des Bulgars in the rue Vilna.
On the stairs Neeland heard Sengoun still muttering to himself:
“Certainly I am sick of cities and narrow strips of sky. What I need is a thousand lances at a gallop60, and a little Kirghiz horse between my knees.”
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收听单词发音
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1
babble
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| v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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3
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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6
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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8
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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12
gambols
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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14
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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15
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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16
profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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18
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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21
gendarmes
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| n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 ) | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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23
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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24
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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25
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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dissuade
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| v.劝阻，阻止 | |
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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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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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diplomat
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| n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人 | |
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30
entente
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| n.协定；有协定关系的各国 | |
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31
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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32
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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buffet
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| n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台 | |
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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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36
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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42
perspire
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| vi.出汗，流汗 | |
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43
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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44
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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45
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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46
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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48
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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49
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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50
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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51
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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52
feigning
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| 假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等） | |
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53
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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54
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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55
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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56
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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57
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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58
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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59
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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60
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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