福尔摩斯探案全集哪个版本最好 福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第7章Part6

福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第7章Part6  

Holmes laughed. "Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life
" said he. "Some touch of the artist wells up within me
and calls insistently for a well-staged performance. Surely our profession
Mr. Mac
would be a drab and sordid one if we did not sometimes set the scene so as to glorify our results. The blunt accusation
the brutal tap upon the shoulder--what can one make of such a denouement? But the quick inference
the subtle trap
the clever forecast of ing events
the triumphant vindication of bold theories--are these not the pride and the justification of our life's work? At the present moment you thrill with the glamour of the situation and the anticipation of the hunt. Where would be that thrill if I had been as definite as a timetable? I only ask a little patience
Mr. Mac
and all will be clear to you."
"Well
I hope the pride and justification and the rest of it will e before we all get our death of cold
" said the London detective with ic resignation.
We all had good reason to join in the aspiration; for our vigil was a long and bitter one. Slowly the shadows darkened over the long
sombre face of the old house. A cold
damp reek from the moat chilled us to the bones and set our teeth chattering. There was a single lamp over the gateway and a steady globe of light in the fatal study. Everything else was dark and still.
"How long is this to last?" asked the inspector finally. "And what is it we are watching for?"
"I have no more notion than you how long it is to last
" Holmes answered with some asperity. "If criminals would always schedule their movements like railway trains
it would certainly be more convenient for all of us. As to what it is we--Well
THAT'S what we are watching for!"
As he spoke the bright
yellow light in the study was obscured by somebody passing to and fro before it. The laurels among which we lay were immediately opposite the window and not more than a hundred feet from it. Presently it was thrown open with a whining of hinges
and we could dimly see the dark outline of a man's head and shoulders looking out into the gloom. For some minutes he peered forth in furtive
stealthy fashion
as one who wishes to be assured that he is unobserved. Then he leaned forward
and in the intense silence we were aware of the soft lapping of agitated water. He seemed to be stirring up the moat with something which he held in his hand. Then suddenly he hauled something in as a fisherman lands a fish--some large
round object which obscured the light as it was dragged through the open casement.
"Now!" cried Holmes. "Now!"
We were all upon our feet
staggering after him with our stiffened limbs
while he ran swiftly across the bridge and rang violently at the bell. There was the rasping of bolts from the other side
and the amazed Ames stood in the entrance. Holmes brushed him aside without a word and
followed by all of us
rushed into the room which had been occupied by the man whom we had been watching.
The oil lamp on the table represented the glow which we had seen from outside. It was now in the hand of Cecil Barker
who held it towards us as we entered. Its light shone upon his strong
resolute
clean-shaved face and his menacing eyes.
"What the devil is the meaning of all this?" he cried. "What are you after
anyhow?"
Holmes took a swift glance round
and then pounced upon a sodden bundle tied together with cord which lay where it had been thrust under the writing table.
"This is what we are after
Mr. Barker--this bundle
weighted with a dumb-bell
which you have just raised from the bottom of the moat."
Barker stared at Holmes with amazement in his face. "How in thunder came you to know anything about it?" he asked.
"Simply that I put it there."
"You put it there! You!"