福尔摩斯第三部 福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第9章Part12

福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第9章Part12  

"I'll wipe my hand across your face if you say such words to me!" cried McGinty hotly.
"You are right
Councillor
" said McMurdo meekly. "I should apologize. I spoke without thought. Well
I know that I am safe in your hands. Look at that clipPing."
McGinty glanced his eyes over the account of the shooting of one Jonas Pinto
in the Lake Saloon
Market Street
Chicago
in the New Year week of 1874.
"Your work?" he asked
as he handed back the paper.
McMurdo nodded.
"Why did you shoot him?"
"I was helping Uncle Sam to make dollars. Maybe mine were not as good gold as his
but they looked as well and were cheaper to make. This man Pinto helped me to shove the queer--"
"To do what?"
"Well
it means to pass the dollars out into circulation. Then he said he would split. Maybe he did split. I didn't wait to see. I just killed him and lighted out for the coal country."
"Why the coal country?"
"'Cause I'd read in the papers that they weren't too particular in those parts."
McGinty laughed. "You were first a coiner and then a murderer
and you came to these parts because you thought you'd be wele."
"That's about the size of it
" McMurdo answered.
"Well
I guess you'll go far. Say
can you make those dollars yet?"
McMurdo took half a dozen from his pocket. "Those never passed the Philadelphia mint
" said he.
"You don't say!" McGinty held them to the light in his enormous hand
which was hairy as a gorilla's. "I can see no difference. Gar! you'll be a mighty useful brother
I'm thinking! We can do with a bad man or o among us
Friend McMurdo: for there are times when we have to take our own part. We'd soon be against the wall if we didn't shove back at those that were pushing us."
"Well
I guess I'll do my share of shoving with the rest of the boys."
"You seem to have a good nerve. You didn't squirm when I shoved this gun at you."
"It was not me that was in danger."
"Who then?"