福尔摩斯探案集第5季 福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第10章Part5

福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第10章Part5  

"Windle has never refused us when we have had occasion to ask for the loan of a man or o
and it is not for us to refuse him." McGinty paused and looked round the room with his dull
malevolent eyes. "Who will volunteer for the job?"
Several young fellows held up their hands. The Bodymaster looked at them with an approving smile.
"You'll do
Tiger Cormac. If you handle it as well as you did the last
you won't be wrong. And you
Wilson."
"I've no pistol
" said the volunteer
a mere boy in his teens.
"It's your first
is it not? Well
you have to be blooded some time. It will be a great start for you. As to the pistol
you'll find it waiting for you
or I'm mistaken. If you report yourselves on Monday
it will be time enough. You'll get a great wele when you return."
"Any reward this time?" asked Cormac
a thick-set
dark-faced
brutal-looking young man
whose ferocity had earned him the nickname of "Tiger."
"Never mind the reward. You just do it for the honour of the thing. Maybe when it is done there will be a few odd dollars at the bottom of the box."
"What has the man done?" asked young Wilson.
"Sure
it's not for the likes of you to ask what the man has done. He has been judged over there. That's no business of ours. All we have to do is to carry it out for them
same as they would for us. Speaking of that
o brothers from the Merton lodge are ing over to us next week to do some business in this quarter."
"Who are they?" asked someone.
"Faith
it is wiser not to ask. If you know nothing
you can testify nothing
and no trouble can e of it. But they are men who will make a clean job when they are about it."
"And time
too!" cried Ted Baldwin. "Folk are gettin' out of hand in these parts. It was only last week that three of our men were turned off by Foreman Blaker. It's been owing him a long time
and he'll get it full and proper."
"Get what?" McMurdo whispered to his neighbour.
"The business end of a buckshot cartridge!" cried the man with a loud laugh. "What think you of our ways
Brother?"
McMurdo's criminal soul seemed to have already absorbed the spirit of the vile association of which he was now a member. "I like it well
" said he. "'Tis a proper place for a lad of mettle."
Several of those who sat around heard his words and applauded them.
"What's that?" cried the black-maned Bodymaster from the end of the table.
"'Tis our new brother
sir
who finds our ways to his taste."
McMurdo rose to his feet for an instant. "I would say
Eminent Bodymaster
that if a man should be wanted I should take it as an honour to be chosen to help the lodge."