The “Gloria Scott”

Arthur Conan Doyle

“I have some papers here,” said my friend Sherlock Holmes, as we sat one winter's night on either side of the fire, “which I really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over. These are the documents in the extraordinary case of the Gloria Scott, and this is the message which struck Justice of the Peace Trevor dead with horror when he read it.”

He had picked from a drawer a little tarnished cylinder, and, undoing the tape, he handed me a short note scrawled upon a half-sheet of slate gray-paper.

“The supply of game for London is going steadily up,” it ran. “Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant's life.”

As I glanced up from reading this enigmatical message, I saw Holmes chuckling at the expression upon my face.

“You look a little bewildered,” said he.

“I cannot see how such a message as this could inspire horror. It seems to me to be rather grotesque than otherwise.”

“Very likely. Yet the fact remains that the reader, who was a fine, robust old man, was knocked clean down by it as if it had been the butt end of a pistol.”

“You arouse my curiosity,” said I. “But why did you say just now that there were very particular reasons why I should study this case?”

“Because it was the first in which I was ever engaged.”

I had often endeavored to elicit from my companion what had first turned his mind in the direction of criminal research, but had never caught him before in a communicative humor. Now he sat forward in his arm-chair and spread out the documents upon his knees. Then he lit his pipe and sat for some time smoking and turning them over.

“You never heard me talk of Victor Trevor?” he asked. “He was the only friend I made during the two years I was at college. I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson, always rather fond of moping in my rooms and working out my own little methods of thought, so that I never mixed much with the men of my year. Bar fencing and boxing I had few athletic tastes, and then my line of study was quite distinct from that of the other fellows, so that we had no points of contact at all. Trevor was the only man I knew, and that only through the accident of his bull terrier freezing on to my ankle one morning as I went down to chapel.

“It was a prosaic way of forming a friendship, but it was effective. I was laid by the heels for ten days, but Trevor used to come in to inquire after me. At first it was only a minute's chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of the term we were close friends. He was a hearty, full-blooded fellow, full of spirits and energy, the very opposite to me in most respects, but we had some subjects in common, and it was a bond of union when I found that he was as friendless as I. Finally, he invited me down to his father's place at Donnithorpe, in Norfolk, and I accepted his hospitality for a month of the long vacation.

“Old Trevor was evidently a man of some wealth and consideration, a J.P., and a landed proprietor. Donnithorpe is a little hamlet just to the north of Langmere, in the country of the Broads. The house was an old-fashioned, wide-spread, oak-beamed brick building, with a fine lime-lined avenue leading up to it. There was excellent wild-duck shooting in the fens, remarkably good fishing, a small but select library, taken over, as I understood, from a former occupant, and a tolerable cook, so that he would be a fastidious man who could not put in a pleasant month there.

“Trevor senior was a widower, and my friend his only son.

“There had been a daughter, I heard, but she had died of diphtheria while on a visit to Birmingham. The father interested me extremely. He was a man of little culture, but with a considerable amount of rude strength, both physically and mentally. He knew hardly any books, but he had traveled far, had seen much of the world. And had remembered all that he had learned. In person he was a thick-set, burly man with a shock of grizzled hair, a brown, weather-beaten face, and blue eyes which were keen to the verge of fierceness. Yet he had a reputation for kindness and charity on the country-side, and was noted for the leniency of his sentences from the bench.

“One evening, shortly after my arrival, we were sitting over a glass of port after dinner, when young Trevor began to talk about those habits of observation and inference which I had already formed into a system, although I had not yet appreciated the part which they were to play in my life. The old man evidently thought that his son was exaggerating in his description of one or two trivial feats which I had performed.

“‘Come, now, Mr. Holmes,’ said he, laughing good-humoredly. ‘I'm an excellent subject, if you can deduce anything from me.’

“‘I fear there is not very much,’ I answered; ‘I might suggest that you have gone about in fear of some personal attack within the last twelve months.’

“The laugh faded from his lips, and he stared at me in great surprise.

“‘Well, that's true enough,’ said he. ‘You know, Victor,’ turning to his son, ‘when we broke up that poaching gang they swore to knife us, and Sir Edward Holly has actually been attacked. I've always been on my guard since then, though I have no idea how you know it.’

“‘You have a very handsome stick,’ I answered. ‘By the inscription I observed that you had not had it more than a year. But you have taken some pains to bore the head of it and pour melted lead into the hole so as to make it a formidable weapon. I argued that you would not take such precautions unless you had some danger to fear.’

“‘Anything else?’ he asked, smiling.

“‘You have boxed a good deal in your youth.’

“‘Right again. How did you know it? Is my nose knocked a little out of the straight?’

“‘No,’ said I. ‘It is your ears. They have the peculiar flattening and thickening which marks the boxing man.’

“‘Anything else?’

“‘You have done a good deal of digging by your callosities.’

“‘Made all my money at the gold fields.’

“‘You have been in New Zealand.’

“‘Right again.’

“‘You have visited Japan.’

“‘Quite true.’

“‘And you have been most intimately associated with some one whose initials were J. A., and whom you afterwards were eager to entirely forget.’

“Mr. Trevor stood slowly up, fixed his large blue eyes upon me with a strange wild stare, and then pitched forward, with his face among the nutshells which strewed the cloth, in a dead faint.

“You can imagine, Watson, how shocked both his son and I were. His attack did not last long, however, for when we undid his collar, and sprinkled the water from one of the finger-glasses over his face, he gave a gasp or two and sat up.

“‘Ah, boys,’ said he, forcing a smile, ‘I hope I haven't frightened you. Strong as I look, there is a weak place in my heart, and it does not take much to knock me over. I don't know how you manage this, Mr. Holmes, but it seems to me that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands. That's your line of life, sir, and you may take the word of a man who has seen something of the world.’

“And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my ability with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me, Watson, the very first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby. At the moment, however, I was too much concerned at the sudden illness of my host to think of anything else.

“‘I hope that I have said nothing to pain you?’ said I.

“‘Well, you certainly touched upon rather a tender point. Might I ask how you know, and how much you know?’ He spoke now in a half-jesting fashion, but a look of terror still lurked at the back of his eyes.

“‘It is simplicity itself,’ said I. ‘When you bared your arm to draw that fish into the boat I saw that J. A. had been tattooed in the bend of the elbow. The letters were still legible, but it was perfectly clear from their blurred appearance, and from the staining of the skin round them, that efforts had been made to obliterate them. It was obvious, then, that those initials had once been very familiar to you, and that you had afterwards wished to forget them.’

“‘What an eye you have!’ he cried, with a sigh of relief. ‘It is just as you say. But we won't talk of it. Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old lovers are the worst. Come into the billiard-room and have a quiet cigar.’

“From that day, amid all his cordiality, there was always a touch of suspicion in Mr. Trevor's manner towards me. Even his son remarked it. ‘You've given the governor such a turn,’ said he, ‘that he'll never be sure again of what you know and what you don't know.’ He did not mean to show it, I am sure, but it was so strongly in his mind that it peeped out at every action. At last I became so convinced that I was causing him uneasiness that I drew my visit to a close. On the very day, however, before I left, an incident occurred which proved in the sequel to be of importance.

“We were sitting out upon the lawn on garden chairs, the three of us, basking in the sun and admiring the view across the Broads, when a maid came out to say that there was a man at the door who wanted to see Mr. Trevor.

“‘What is his name?’ asked my host.

“‘He would not give any.’

“‘What does he want, then?’

“‘He says that you know him, and that he only wants a moment's conversation.’

“‘Show him round here.’ An instant afterwards there appeared a little wizened fellow with a cringing manner and a shambling style of walking. He wore an open jacket, with a splotch of tar on the sleeve, a red-and-black check shirt, dungaree trousers, and heavy boots badly worn. His face was thin and brown and crafty, with a perpetual smile upon it, which showed an irregular line of yellow teeth, and his crinkled hands were half closed in a way that is distinctive of sailors. As he came slouching across the lawn I heard Mr. Trevor make a sort of hiccoughing noise in his throat, and jumping out of his chair, he ran into the house. He was back in a moment, and I smelt a strong reek of brandy as he passed me.

“‘Well, my man,’ said he. ‘What can I do for you?’

“The sailor stood looking at him with puckered eyes, and with the same loose-lipped smile upon his face.

“‘You don't know me?’ he asked.

“‘Why, dear me, it is surely Hudson,’ said Mr. Trevor in a tone of surprise.

“‘Hudson it is, sir,’ said the seaman. ‘Why, it's thirty year and more since I saw you last. Here you are in your house, and me still picking my salt meat out of the harness cask.’

“‘Tut, you will find that I have not forgotten old times,’ cried Mr. Trevor, and, walking towards the sailor, he said something in a low voice. ‘Go into the kitchen,’ he continued out loud, ‘and you will get food and drink. I have no doubt that I shall find you a situation.’

“‘Thank you, sir,’ said the seaman, touching his fore-lock. ‘I'm just off a two-yearer in an eight-knot tramp, short-handed at that, and I wants a rest. I thought I'd get it either with Mr. Beddoes or with you.’

“‘Ah!’ cried Trevor. ‘You know where Mr. Beddoes is?’

“‘Bless you, sir, I know where all my old friends are,’ said the fellow with a sinister smile, and he slouched off after the maid to the kitchen. Mr. Trevor mumbled something to us about having been shipmate with the man when he was going back to the diggings, and then, leaving us on the lawn, he went indoors. An hour later, when we entered the house, we found him stretched dead drunk upon the dining-room sofa. The whole incident left a most ugly impression upon my mind, and I was not sorry next day to leave Donnithorpe behind me, for I felt that my presence must be a source of embarrassment to my friend.

“All this occurred during the first month of the long vacation. I went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks working out a few experiments in organic chemistry. One day, however, when the autumn was far advanced and the vacation drawing to a close, I received a telegram from my friend imploring me to return to Donnithorpe, and saying that he was in great need of my advice and assistance. Of course I dropped everything and set out for the North once more.

“He met me with the dog-cart at the station, and I saw at a glance that the last two months had been very trying ones for him. He had grown thin and careworn, and had lost the loud, cheery manner for which he had been remarkable.

“‘The governor is dying,’ were the first words he said.

“‘Impossible!’ I cried. ‘What is the matter?’

“‘Apoplexy. Nervous shock, He's been on the verge all day. I doubt if we shall find him alive.’

“I was, as you may think, Watson, horrified at this unexpected news.

“‘What has caused it?’ I asked.

“‘Ah, that is the point. Jump in and we can talk it over while we drive. You remember that fellow who came upon the evening before you left us?’

“‘Perfectly.’

“‘Do you know who it was that we let into the house that day?’

“‘I have no idea.’

“‘It was the devil, Holmes,’ he cried.

“I stared at him in astonishment.

“‘Yes, it was the devil himself. We have not had a peaceful hour since—not one. The governor has never held up his head from that evening, and now the life has been crushed out of him and his heart broken, all through this accursed Hudson.’

“‘What power had he, then?’

“‘Ah, that is what I would give so much to know. The kindly, charitable, good old governor—how could he have fallen into the clutches of such a ruffian! But I am so glad that you have come, Holmes. I trust very much to your judgment and discretion, and I know that you will advise me for the best.’

“We were dashing along the smooth white country road, with the long stretch of the Broads in front of us glimmering in the red light of the setting sun. From a grove upon our left I could already see the high chimneys and the flag-staff which marked the squire's dwelling.

“‘My father made the fellow gardener,’ said my companion, ‘and then, as that did not satisfy him, he was promoted to be butler. The house seemed to be at his mercy, and he wandered about and did what he chose in it. The maids complained of his drunken habits and his vile language. The dad raised their wages all round to recompense them for the annoyance. The fellow would take the boat and my father's best gun and treat himself to little shooting trips. And all this with such a sneering, leering, insolent face that I would have knocked him down twenty times over if he had been a man of my own age. I tell you, Holmes, I have had to keep a tight hold upon myself all this time; and now I am asking myself whether, if I had let myself go a little more, I might not have been a wiser man.

“‘Well, matters went from bad to worse with us, and this animal Hudson became more and more intrusive, until at last, on making some insolent reply to my father in my presence one day, I took him by the shoulders and turned him out of the room. He slunk away with a livid face and two venomous eyes which uttered more threats than his tongue could do. I don't know what passed between the poor dad and him after that, but the dad came to me next day and asked me whether I would mind apologizing to Hudson. I refused, as you can imagine, and asked my father how he could allow such a wretch to take such liberties with himself and his household.

“‘“Ah, my boy,” said he, “it is all very well to talk, but you don't know how I am placed. But you shall know, Victor. I'll see that you shall know, come what may. You wouldn't believe harm of your poor old father, would you, lad?” He was very much moved, and shut himself up in the study all day, where I could see through the window that he was writing busily.

“‘That evening there came what seemed to me to be a grand release, for Hudson told us that he was going to leave us. He walked into the dining-room as we sat after dinner, and announced his intention in the thick voice of a half-drunken man.

“‘“I've had enough of Norfolk,” said he. “I'll run down to Mr. Beddoes in Hampshire. He'll be as glad to see me as you were, I dare say.”

“‘“You're not going away in any kind of spirit, Hudson, I hope,” said my father, with a tameness which mad my blood boil.

“‘“I've not had my 'pology,” said he sulkily, glancing in my direction.

“‘“Victor, you will acknowledge that you have used this worthy fellow rather roughly,” said the dad, turning to me.

“‘“On the contrary, I think that we have both shown extraordinary patience towards him,” I answered.

“‘“Oh, you do, do you?” he snarls. “Very good, mate. We'll see about that!”

“‘He slouched out of the room, and half an hour afterwards left the house, leaving my father in a state of pitiable nervousness. Night after night I heard him pacing his room, and it was just as he was recovering his confidence that the blow did at last fall.’

“‘And how?’ I asked eagerly.

“‘In a most extraordinary fashion. A letter arrived for my father yesterday evening, bearing the Fordingbridge post-mark. My father read it, clapped both his hands to his head, and began running round the room in little circles like a man who has been driven out of his senses. When I at last drew him down on to the sofa, his mouth and eyelids were all puckered on one side, and I saw that he had a stroke. Dr. Fordham came over at once. We put him to bed; but the paralysis has spread, he has shown no sign of returning consciousness, and I think that we shall hardly find him alive.’

“‘You horrify me, Trevor!’ I cried. ‘What then could have been in this letter to cause so dreadful a result?’

“‘Nothing. There lies the inexplicable part of it. The message was absurd and trivial. Ah, my God, it is as I feared!’

“As he spoke we came round the curve of the avenue, and saw in the fading light that every blind in the house had been drawn down. As we dashed up to the door, my friend's face convulsed with grief, a gentleman in black emerged from it.

“‘When did it happen, doctor?’ asked Trevor.

“‘Almost immediately after you left.’

“‘Did he recover consciousness?’

“‘For an instant before the end.’

“‘Any message for me?’

“‘Only that the papers were in the back drawer of the Japanese cabinet.’

“My friend ascended with the doctor to the chamber of death, while I remained in the study, turning the whole matter over and over in my head, and feeling as sombre as ever I had done in my life. What was the past of this Trevor, pugilist, traveler, and gold-digger, and how had he placed himself in the power of this acid-faced seaman? Why, too, should he faint at an allusion to the half-effaced initials upon his arm, and die of fright when he had a letter from Fordingham? Then I remembered that Fordingham was in Hampshire, and that this Mr. Beddoes, whom the seaman had gone to visit and presumably to blackmail, had also been mentioned as living in Hampshire. The letter, then, might either come from Hudson, the seaman, saying that he had betrayed the guilty secret which appeared to exist, or it might come from Beddoes, warning an old confederate that such a betrayal was imminent. So far it seemed clear enough. But then how could this letter be trivial and grotesque, as described by the son? He must have misread it. If so, it must have been one of those ingenious secret codes which mean one thing while they seem to mean another. I must see this letter. If there were a hidden meaning in it, I was confident that I could pluck it forth. For an hour I sat pondering over it in the gloom, until at last a weeping maid brought in a lamp, and close at her heels came my friend Trevor, pale but composed, with these very papers which lie upon my knee held in his grasp. He sat down opposite to me, drew the lamp to the edge of the table, and handed me a short note scribbled, as you see, upon a single sheet of gray paper. ‘The supply of game for London is going steadily up,’ it ran. ‘Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant's life.’

“I dare say my face looked as bewildered as yours did just now when first I read this message. Then I reread it very carefully. It was evidently as I had thought, and some secret meaning must lie buried in this strange combination of words. Or could it be that there was a prearranged significance to such phrases as ‘fly-paper’ and ‘hen-pheasant’? Such a meaning would be arbitrary and could not be deduced in any way. And yet I was loath to believe that this was the case, and the presence of the word Hudson seemed to show that the subject of the message was as I had guessed, and that it was from Beddoes rather than the sailor. I tried it backwards, but the combination ‘life pheasant's hen’ was not encouraging. Then I tried alternate words, but neither ‘the of for’ nor ‘supply game London’ promised to throw any light upon it.

“And then in an instant the key of the riddle was in my hands, and I saw that every third word, beginning with the first, would give a message which might well drive old Trevor to despair.

“It was short and terse, the warning, as I now read it to my companion:

“‘The game is up. Hudson has told all. Fly for your life.’

“Victor Trevor sank his face into his shaking hands, ‘It must be that, I suppose,’ said he. “This is worse than death, for it means disgrace as well. But what is the meaning of these “head-keepers” and “hen-pheasants”?

“‘It means nothing to the message, but it might mean a good deal to us if we had no other means of discovering the sender. You see that he has begun by writing “The … game … is,” and so on. Afterwards he had, to fulfill the prearranged cipher, to fill in any two words in each space. He would naturally use the first words which came to his mind, and if there were so many which referred to sport among them, you may be tolerably sure that he is either an ardent shot or interested in breeding. Do you know anything of this Beddoes?’

“‘Why, now that you mention it,’ said he, ‘I remember that my poor father used to have an invitation from him to shoot over his preserves every autumn.’

“‘Then it is undoubtedly from him that the note comes,’ said I. ‘It only remains for us to find out what this secret was which the sailor Hudson seems to have held over the heads of these two wealthy and respected men.’

“‘Alas, Holmes, I fear that it is one of sin and shame!’ cried my friend. ‘But from you I shall have no secrets. Here is the statement which was drawn up by my father when he knew that the danger from Hudson had become imminent. I found it in the Japanese cabinet, as he told the doctor. Take it and read it to me, for I have neither the strength nor the courage to do it myself.’

“These are the very papers, Watson, which he handed to me, and I will read them to you, as I read them in the old study that night to him. They are endorsed outside, as you see, ‘Some particulars of the voyage of the bark Gloria Scott, from her leaving Falmouth on the 8th October, 1855, to her destruction in N. Lat. 15° 20', W. Long. 25° 14' on Nov. 6th.’ It is in the form of a letter, and runs in this way:

“‘My dear, dear son, now that approaching disgrace begins to darken the closing years of my life, I can write with all truth and honesty that it is not the terror of the law, it is not the loss of my position in the county, nor is it my fall in the eyes of all who have known me, which cuts me to the heart; but it is the thought that you should come to blush for me—you who love me and who have seldom, I hope, had reason to do other than respect me. But if the blow falls which is forever hanging over me, then I should wish you to read this, that you may know straight from me how far I have been to blame. On the other hand, if all should go well (which may kind God Almighty grant!), then if by any chance this paper should be still undestroyed and should fall into your hands, I conjure you, by all you hold sacred, by the memory of your dear mother, and by the love which had been between us, to hurl it into the fire and to never give one thought to it again.

“‘If then your eye goes onto read this line, I know that I shall already have been exposed and dragged from my home, or as is more likely, for you know that my heart is weak, by lying with my tongue sealed forever in death. In either case the time for suppression is past, and every word which I tell you is the naked truth, and this I swear as I hope for mercy.

“‘My name, dear lad, is not Trevor. I was James Armitage in my younger days, and you can understand now the shock that it was to me a few weeks ago when your college friend addressed me in words which seemed to imply that he had surprised my secret. As Armitage it was that I entered a London banking-house, and as Armitage I was convicted of breaking my country's laws, and was sentenced to transportation. Do not think very harshly of me, laddie. It was a debt of honor, so called, which I had to pay, and I used money which was not my own to do it, in the certainty that I could replace it before there could be any possibility of its being missed. But the most dreadful ill-luck pursued me. The money which I had reckoned upon never came to hand, and a premature examination of accounts exposed my deficit. The case might have been dealt leniently with, but the laws were more harshly administered thirty years ago than now, and on my twenty-third birthday I found myself chained as a felon with thirty-seven other convicts in 'tween-decks of the bark Gloria Scott, bound for Australia.

“‘It was the year '55 when the Crimean war was at its height, and the old convict ships had been largely used as transports in the Black Sea. The government was compelled, therefore, to use smaller and less suitable vessels for sending out their prisoners. The Gloria Scott had been in the Chinese tea-trade, but she was an old-fashioned, heavy-bowed, broad-beamed craft, and the new clippers had cut her out. She was a five-hundred-ton boat; and besides her thirty-eight jail-birds, she carried twenty-six of a crew, eighteen soldiers, a captain, three mates, a doctor, a chaplain, and four warders. Nearly a hundred souls were in her, all told, when we set sail from Falmouth.

“‘The partitions between the cells of the convicts, instead of being of thick oak, as is usual in convict-ships, were quite thin and frail. The man next to me, upon the aft side, was one whom I had particularly noticed when we were led down the quay. He was a young man with a clear, hairless face, a long, thin nose, and rather nut-cracker jaws. He carried his head very jauntily in the air, had a swaggering style of walking, and was, above all else, remarkable for his extraordinary height. I don't think any of our heads would have come up to his shoulder, and I am sure that he could not have measured less than six and a half feet. It was strange among so many sad and weary faces to see one which was full of energy and resolution. The sight of it was to me like a fire in a snow-storm. I was glad, then, to find that he was my neighbor, and gladder still when, in the dead of the night, I heard a whisper close to my ear, and found that he had managed to cut an opening in the board which separated us.

“‘“Hullo, chummy!” said he, “what's your name, and what are you here for?”

“‘I answered him, and asked in turn who I was talking with.

“‘“I'm Jack Prendergast,” said he, “and by God! You'll learn to bless my name before you've done with me.”

“‘I remembered hearing of his case, for it was one which had made an immense sensation throughout the country some time before my own arrest. He was a man of good family and of great ability, but of incurably vicious habits, who had, by an ingenious system of fraud, obtained huge sums of money from the leading London merchants.

“‘“Ha, ha! You remember my case!” said he proudly.

“‘“Very well, indeed.”

“‘“Then maybe you remember something queer about it?”

“‘“What was that, then?”

“‘“I'd had nearly a quarter of a million, hadn't I?”

“‘“So it was said.”

“‘“But none was recovered, eh?”

“‘“No.”

“‘“Well, where d'ye suppose the balance is?” he asked.

“‘“I have no idea,” said I.

“‘“Right between my finger and thumb,” he cried. “By God! I've got more pounds to my name than you've hairs on your head. And if you've money, my son, and know how to handle it and spread it, you can do anything. Now, you don't think it likely that a man who could do anything is going to wear his breeches out sitting in the stinking hold of a rat-gutted, beetle-ridden, mouldy old coffin of a Chin China coaster. No, sir, such a man will look after himself and will look after his chums. You may lay to that! You hold on to him, and you may kiss the book that he'll haul you through.”

“‘That was his style of talk, and at first I thought it meant nothing; but after a while, when he had tested me and sworn me in with all possible solemnity, he let me understand that there really was a plot to gain command of the vessel. A dozen of the prisoners had hatched it before they came aboard, Prendergast was the leader, and his money was the motive power.

“‘“I'd a partner,” said he, “a rare good man, as true as a stock to a barrel. He's got the dibbs, he has, and where do you think he is at this moment? Why, he's the chaplain of this ship—the chaplain, no less! He came aboard with a black coat, and his papers right, and money enough in his box to buy the thing right up from keel to main-truck. The crew are his, body and soul. He could buy 'em at so much a gross with a cash discount, and he did it before ever they signed on. He's got two of the warders and Mercer, the second mate, and he'd get the captain himself, if he thought him worth it.”

“‘“What are we to do, then?” I asked.

“‘“What do you think?” said he. “We'll make the coats of some of these soldiers redder than ever the tailor did.”

“‘“But they are armed,” said I.

“‘“And so shall we be, my boy. There's a brace of pistols for every mother's son of us, and if we can't carry this ship, with the crew at our back, it's time we were all sent to a young misses' boarding-school. You speak to your mate upon the left to-night, and see if he is to be trusted.”

“‘I did so, and found my other neighbor to be a young fellow in much the same position as myself, whose crime had been forgery. His name was Evans, but he afterwards changed it, like myself, and he is now a rich and prosperous man in the south of England. He was ready enough to join the conspiracy, as the only means of saving ourselves, and before we had crossed the Bay there were only two of the prisoners who were not in the secret. One of these was of weak mind, and we did not dare to trust him, and the other was suffering from jaundice, and could not be of any use to us.

“‘From the beginning there was really nothing to prevent us from taking possession of the ship. The crew were a set of ruffians, specially picked for the job. The sham chaplain came into our cells to exhort us, carrying a black bag, supposed to be full of tracts, and so often did he come that by the third day we had each stowed away at the foot of our beds a file, a brace of pistols, a pound of powder, and twenty slugs. Two of the warders were agents of Prendergast, and the second mate was his right-hand man. The captain, the two mates, two warders Lieutenant Martin, his eighteen soldiers, and the doctor were all that we had against us. Yet, safe as it was, we determined to neglect no precaution, and to make our attack suddenly by night. It came, however, more quickly than we expected, and in this way.

“‘One evening, about the third week after our start, the doctor had come down to see one of the prisoners who was ill, and putting his hand down on the bottom of his bunk he felt the outline of the pistols. If he had been silent he might have blown the whole thing, but he was a nervous little chap, so he gave a cry of surprise and turned so pale that the man knew what was up in an instant and seized him. He was gagged before he could give the alarm, and tied down upon the bed. He had unlocked the door that led to the deck, and we were through it in a rush. The two sentries were shot down, and so was a corporal who came running to see what was the matter. There were two more soldiers at the door of the state-room, and their muskets seemed not to be loaded, for they never fired upon us, and they were shot while trying to fix their bayonets. Then we rushed on into the captain's cabin, but as we pushed open the door there was an explosion from within, and there he lay with his brains smeared over the chart of the Atlantic which was pinned upon the table, while the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand at his elbow. The two mates had both been seized by the crew, and the whole business seemed to be settled.

“‘The state-room was next the cabin, and we flocked in there and flopped down on the settees, all speaking together, for we were just mad with the feeling that we were free once more. There were lockers all round, and Wilson, the sham chaplain, knocked one of them in, and pulled out a dozen of brown sherry. We cracked off the necks of the bottles, poured the stuff out into tumblers, and were just tossing them off, when in an instant without warning there came the roar of muskets in our ears, and the saloon was so full of smoke that we could not see across the table. When it cleared again the place was a shambles. Wilson and eight others were wriggling on the top of each other on the floor, and the blood and the brown sherry on that table turn me sick now when I think of it. We were so cowed by the sight that I think we should have given the job up if had not been for Prendergast. He bellowed like a bull and rushed for the door with all that were left alive at his heels. Out we ran, and there on the poop were the lieutenent and ten of his men. The swing skylights above the saloon table had been a bit open, and they had fired on us through the slit. We got on them before they could load, and they stood to it like men; but we had the upper hand of them, and in five minutes it was all over. My God! Was there ever a slaughter-house like that ship! Predergast was like a raging devil, and he picked the soldiers up as if they had been children and threw them overboard alive or dead. There was one sergeant that was horribly wounded and yet kept on swimming for a surprising time, until some one in mercy blew out his brains. When the fighting was over there was no one left of our enemies except just the warders, the mates, and the doctor.

“‘It was over them that the great quarrel arose. There were many of us who were glad enough to win back our freedom, and yet who had no wish to have murder on our souls. It was one thing to knock the soldiers over with their muskets in their hands, and it was another to stand by while men were being killed in cold blood. Eight of us, five convicts and three sailors, said that we would not see it done. But there was no moving Predergast and those who were with him. Our only chance of safety lay in making a clean job of it, said he, and he would not leave a tongue with power to wag in a witness-box. It nearly came to our sharing the fate of the prisoners, but at last he said that if we wished we might take a boat and go. We jumped at the offer, for we were already sick of these blookthirsty doings, and we saw that there would be worse before it was done. We were given a suit of sailor togs each, a barrel of water, two casks, one of junk and one of biscuits, and a compass. Prendergast threw us over a chart, told us that we were shipwrecked mariners whose ship had foundered in Lat. 15° and Long. 25° west, and then cut the painter and let us go.

“‘And now I come to the most surprising part of my story, my dear son. The seamen had hauled the fore-yard aback during the rising, but now as we left them they brought it square again, and as there was a light wind from the north and east the bark began to draw slowly away from us. Our boat lay, rising and falling, upon the long, smooth rollers, and Evans and I, who were the most educated of the party, were sitting in the sheets working out our position and planning what coast we should make for. It was a nice question, for the Cape de Verds were about five hundred miles to the north of us, and the African coast about seven hundred to the east. On the whole, as the wind was coming round to the north, we thought that Sierra Leone might be best, and turned our head in that direction, the bark being at that time nearly hull down on our starboard quarter. Suddenly as we looked at her we saw a dense black cloud of smoke shoot up from her, which hung like a monstrous tree upon the sky line. A few seconds later a roar like thunder burst upon our ears, and as the smoke thinned away there was no sign left of the Gloria Scott. In an instant we swept the boat's head round again and pulled with all our strength for the place where the haze still trailing over the water marked the scene of this catastrophe.

“‘It was a long hour before we reached it, and at first we feared that we had come too late to save any one. A splintered boat and a number of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling on the waves showed us where the vessel had foundered; but there was no sign of life, and we had turned away in despair when we heard a cry for help, and saw at some distance a piece of wreckage with a man lying stretched across it. When we pulled him aboard the boat he proved to be a young seaman of the name of Hudson, who was so burned and exhausted that he could give us no account of what had happened until the following morning.

“‘It seemed that after we had left, Prendergast and his gang had proceeded to put to death the five remaining prisoners. The two warders had been shot and thrown overboard, and so also had the third mate. Prendergast then descended into the 'tween-decks and with his own hands cut the throat of the unfortunate surgeon. There only remained the first mate, who was a bold and active man. When he saw the convict approaching him with the bloody knife in his hand he kicked off his bonds, which he had somehow contrived to loosen, and rushing down the deck he plunged into the after-hold. A dozen convicts, who descended with their pistols in search of him, found him with a match-box in his hand seated beside an open powder-barrel, which was one of a hundred carried on board, and swearing that he would blow all hands up if he were in any way molested. An instant later the explosion occurred, though Hudson thought it was caused by the misdirected bullet of one of the convicts rather than the mate's match. Be the cause what I may, it was the end of the Gloria Scott and of the rabble who held command of her.

“‘Such, in a few words, my dear boy, is the history of this terrible business in which I was involved. Next day we were picked up by the brig Hotspur, bound for Australia, whose captain found no difficulty in believing that we were the survivors of a passenger ship which had foundered. The transport ship Gloria Scott was set down by the Admiralty as being lost at sea, and no word has ever leaked out as to her true fate. After an excellent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney, where Evans and I changed our names and made our way to the diggings, where, among the crowds who were gathered from all nations, we had no difficulty in losing our former identities. The rest I need not relate. We prospered, we traveled, we came back as rich colonials to England, and we bought country estates. For more than twenty years we have led peaceful and useful lives, and we hoped that our past was forever buried. Imagine, then, my feelings when in the seaman who came to us I recognized instantly the man who had been picked off the wreck. He had tracked us down somehow, and had set himself to live upon our fears. You will understand now how it was that I strove to keep the peace with him, and you will in some measure sympathize with me in the fears which fill me, now that he has gone from me to his other victim with threats upon his tongue.’

“Underneath is written in a hand so shaky as to be hardly legible, ‘Beddoes writes in cipher to say H. has told all. Sweet Lord, have mercy on our souls!’

“That was the narrative which I read that night to young Trevor, and I think, Watson, that under the circumstances it was a dramatic one. The good fellow was heart-broken at it, and went out to the Terai tea planting, where I hear that he is doing well. As to the sailor and Beddoes, neither of them was ever heard of again after that day on which the letter of warning was written. They both disappeared utterly and completely. No complaint had been lodged with the police, so that Beddoes had mistaken a threat for a deed. Hudson had been seen lurking about, and it was believed by the police that he had done away with Beddoes and had fled. For myself I believe that the truth was exactly the opposite. I think that it is most probable that Beddoes, pushed to desperation and believing himself to have been already betrayed, had revenged himself upon Hudson, and had fled from the country with as much money as he could lay his hands on. Those are the facts of the case, Doctor, and if they are of any use to your collection, I am sure that they are very heartily at your service.”

“格洛里亚斯科特”号三桅帆船

一个冬天的黄昏，我和我的朋友歇洛克-福尔摩斯对坐在壁炉两侧，福尔摩斯说道：“华生，我这里有几个文件，我确实认为很值得你一读。这些文件和‘格洛里亚斯科特’号三桅帆船奇案有关系。治安官老特雷佛就是因读了这些文件惊吓而死的。”

福尔摩斯从一抽一屉里取出一个颜色晦暗的小圆纸筒，解一开绳带，一交一给我一张石青色的纸，这是一封字迹潦草的短简，上面写着：

ThesupplyofgameforLondonisgoingsteadilyup(itran).HeadkeeperHudson,Webelieve,hasbeennowtoldtoreeiveallordersforfly-paperand-for-preservationofyourhen-pheasant'slife.

（按字面可译为：伦敦野味供应正稳步上升。我们相信总保管赫德森现已奉命接受一切粘蝇纸的订货单并保存你的雌雉的生命——译者）

读完这封莫名其妙的短简，我抬起头，看见福尔摩斯正在观看我的表情，还抿着嘴发笑。

“你似乎有点弄糊涂了吧？”他说道。

“我看不出象这样的一份短简怎么能把人吓死。在我看来其内容只不过是荒唐一胡一言罢了。”

“不错。可是事实上，那位健壮的老人，读完这封短简，竟如手槍射中的靶子一样，应声而倒一命呜呼了。”

“你倒惹起了我的好奇心，”我说道，“可是刚才你为什么说，我有特别的原因，一定要研究这件案子呢？”

“因为这是我着手承办的第一桩案件啊。”

我一直都在设法探问我的同伴，想让他讲讲当初是什么原因使他下决心转向侦探犯罪活动的，可是他一直也没有兴致讲。这时他俯身坐在扶手椅上，把文件铺在膝盖上，然后点起烟斗吸了一阵子，并把文件翻来覆去地察看着。

“你从来没听我谈起过维克托-特雷佛么？”他问道，“他是我在大学两年中结识的唯一好友。我本来极不善一交一游，华生，总喜欢一个人愁眉苦脸地呆在房里，训练自己的思想方法，所以极少与同年人一交一往。除了击剑和拳术以外，我也不很一爱一好体育，而那时我的学一习一方法与别人也截然不同。因此，我们根本没有往来的必要。特雷佛是我唯一结识的人。这是因为有一天早晨，我到小教堂去，他的猛犬咬了我的踝骨，这样一件意外的事使我们相识了。

“开始一交一往虽很平淡，但令人难忘。我在一床一上躺了十天，特雷佛常来看望我。最初他闲聊几分钟就走，可是不久，我们一交一谈的时间延长了。到那学期结束以前，我们已成了莫逆之一交一。他一精一神饱满，血气方刚，一精一力充沛，在许多方面和我恰恰相反，但我们也有一些相同之处。当我发现他也和我一样落落寡合时，我们便越加亲密。后来他请我到他父亲那里去，他父亲住在诺福克郡的敦尼索普村，我接受了他的邀请，去度一个月的假期。

“老特雷佛是治安官，又是一个地主，显然有钱有势。敦尼索普村在布罗德市郊外，是朗麦尔北部的一个小村落。特雷佛的宅邸是一所老式的、面积很大的栎木梁砖瓦房，门前有一条通道，两旁是茂盛的菩提树。附近有许多沼泽地，那是狩猎野鸭的绝妙场所，更是垂钓的好地方。有一个小而一精一致的藏书室，我听说，是从原来的房主手中随房屋一起购买的。此外，有一位还算不错的厨子。故而一个人在这里度一个月假，倘若仍不能心满意足，那他就是一个过分挑剔的人了。

“老特雷佛妻子已故，我朋友是他的独生子。

“我听说，他原来还有一个女儿，但在去伯明翰途中，患白喉死去。老特雷佛使我非常感兴趣。他知识并不多，可是体力和脑力都相当强。他对书本所知甚少，但曾经远游，见过许多世面，对于所见所闻，都能牢记不忘。从外貌上看，他体格很结实，身材粗一壮，一头蓬乱的灰白头发，一张饱经风霜的褐色面孔，一双蓝色的眼睛，眼光锐利得近乎凶残。但他在乡中却以和蔼、慈善著称，盛传他在法院理案时也以宽大为怀。

“在我到他家不久，一天傍晚，饭后我们正坐在一起喝葡萄酒，小特雷佛忽然谈到我所养成的那些观察和推理一习一惯。那时我已经把它归纳成一种方法，虽然还未体会到它对我一生将起的作用。这位老人显然认为他的儿子言过其实，把我的一点雕虫小技过分夸大了。

“‘那么，福尔摩斯先生，’他兴致勃勃地笑着说，‘我正是一个绝妙的题材，看你能不能从我身上推断点什么东西出来。’

“‘恐怕我推断不出多少来，’我回答道，‘我推测你在过去一年里担心有人对你进行袭击。’

“这位老人嘴角上的笑意顿时消失贻尽，大吃一惊，两眼盯着我。

“‘啊呀，确实是这样，’他说道，‘维克托，你知道，’老人转身向他儿子说道，‘在我们把来沼泽地偷猎的那伙人赶走以后，他们立誓要杀死我们，而一爱一德华-霍利先生果真遭到了偷袭。从那以后我总是小心提防，但不知你是怎么知道这事的呢？’

“‘你有一根非常漂亮的手杖，’我答道，‘我从杖上刻着的字看出，你买它不超过一年。可是你却下了不少工夫把手杖头上凿个洞，灌上熔化了的铅，把它做成可怕的武器。我料想你若不担心有什么危险，是绝不会采取这种预防措施的。’

“‘还有呢？’他微笑着问道。

“‘你年轻时还经常参加拳击。’

“‘这也说对了。你怎么知道的呢？是不是我的鼻子有些被打歪了？’

“‘不是，’我说道，‘我是从你耳朵上知道的。你的耳朵特别扁平宽厚，那是拳击家的特征。’

“‘还有呢？’

“‘从你手上的老茧看，你曾做过许多采掘工作。’

“‘我确实是从金矿上致富的。’

“‘你曾经到过新西兰。’

“‘这也不错。’

“‘你去过日本。’

“‘十分正确。’

“‘你曾经和一个人一交一往得非常密切，那个人姓名的缩写字母是Ｊ．Ａ．，可是后来，你却极力想把他彻底忘掉。’

“这时老特雷佛先生慢慢地站起身来，把那双蓝色的大眼睛瞪得圆圆的，用奇怪而疯狂的眼神死盯着我，然后一头向前栽去，他的脸撞在桌布上的硬果壳堆里，昏迷不省人事。

“华生，你可想而知，当时我和他儿子两人是多么震惊了。

可是，他失去知觉的时间并不长，因为正当我们给他解一开衣领，把洗指杯中的冷水浇到他脸上时，他喘了一口气就坐起来了。

“‘啊，孩子们，’他强作笑脸说道，‘但愿没有吓着你们。我的外貌看起来很强壮，可是心脏很弱，毫不费力就可使我昏倒。福尔摩斯先生，我不知道你是怎么推断出来的，不过我觉得，那些实际存在的侦探也好，虚构出来的侦探也好，在你手下，都只不过象一些小孩子罢了。先生，你可以把它做为你一生的职业。你可以记住我这个饱经世事的人所说的话。’

“华生，请你相信这点。当时，搞推断仅仅是我的业余一爱一好，首先促使我想到这种一爱一好可以作为终生职业的，就是他的劝告以及对我的能力的言过其实的评价。然而，当时，我对东道主突然生病靶到非常不安，顾不得去想别的事。

“‘我希望我没有说什么使你痛苦的话。’我说道。

“‘啊，你当真触到了我的痛处。但我想问一下，你是怎样知道的，你知道了多少情况？’现在他半开玩笑地说道，可是双眼依然残留着惊骇的神情。

“‘这是很简单的，’我说道，‘那天我们在小艇中，你卷起袖子去捉鱼，我见你胳臂弯上刺着Ｊ．Ａ．二字，字形仍然清晰可辨，但笔划已弄得模糊了。字的四周又染着墨迹，分明后来你曾设法要把那字迹抹去。由此可见这两个缩写字母，你本来十分熟悉，后来却想忘掉它。’

“‘你的眼力好厉害啊！’他放心地松了一口气，说道，‘这事正象你所说的那样。不过我们不必去谈论它了。一切鬼魂之中，我们旧相知的一陰一魂是最凶恶的。我们到弹子房去安静地吸一支烟吧。’

“从那天以后，虽然老特雷佛对我的态度仍然非常亲切，但亲切中总带有几分疑虑。这一点连他的儿子也觉察出来了。

‘你可把爸爸吓了一跳，’小特雷佛说道，‘他再也弄不清，什么事你知道，什么事你不知道了。’依我看，老特雷佛虽然不愿流露出他的疑虑，但他心里的疑虑却非常强烈，一举一动都隐约流露出来。我终于确信是我引起了他的不安，便决定向他们告辞。可是就在我离开的前一天，发生了一件小事，这事后来证明是非常重要的。

“那时我们三个人坐在花园草坪的椅子上晒太一陽一，欣赏布罗德的景色，一个女仆走过来说有一个人在门外求见老特雷佛先生。

“‘他叫什么名字？’我的东道主问道。

“‘他不说。’

“‘那么，他要干什么呢？’

“‘他说你认识他，他只要同你谈一谈。’

“‘那么领他到这里来。’过了一会儿，便有一个瘦小枯槁的人走进来，此人形容猥琐，步履拖沓，身着一件夹克敞着怀，袖口上有一块柏油污痕，里面是一件红花格衬衫，棉布裤子，一双长统靴已破旧不堪。他那棕色的脸庞瘦削，显出狡猾的样子，总带着笑容，露出一排不整齐的黄牙。他的双手满布皱纹，半握拳，显然是水手们常有的姿态。在他无一精一打彩地穿过草坪向我们走过来时，我听到老特雷佛喉中发出一种类似打呃的声音，从椅子上跳下来，奔向屋里。转瞬间又跑回来，当他经过我面前时，我闻到一股浓烈的白兰地酒味。

“‘喂，朋友，’他说道，‘你找我有什么事？’

“那个水手站在那里，双眼惶惑地望着老特雷佛，依然咧嘴微笑。

“‘你不认识我了吗？’水手问道。

“‘啊，哎呀，这一定是赫德森了，’老特雷佛惊异地说道。

“‘我正是赫德森，先生，’这个水手说道，‘喂，从我上次见到你，三十多年过去了。你现在已安居在你的家园里，而我仍生活于困苦之中。’“‘唉，你应该知道我并没有忘记过去的日子，’老特雷佛大声说，一面向水手走过去，低声说了几句，然后又提高嗓门说道，‘请到厨房里，先吃点喝点，我肯定可以给你安排一个位置。’

“‘谢谢你，先生，’水手掠一掠他的额发说道，‘我刚刚下了航速为八海里的不定期货船，在那上面我干了两年，偏偏人手又少，所以需要休息。我想我只好去找贝多斯先生或来找你了。’

“‘啊，’老特雷佛大声喊道，‘你知道贝多斯先生在哪里吗？’

“‘谢天谢地，先生，我的老朋友在哪儿，我全都知道，’这个人狞笑道，匆匆跟在女仆身后向厨房走去。老特雷佛先生含糊地向我们说，他去采矿时，曾和这个人同船而行。说罢他就把我们丢在草坪上，自己走进屋里去。过了一小时我们才进屋去，发现老特雷佛烂醉如泥、直一挺一挺地躺在餐室的沙发上。这整个事件，在我心中留下了非常恶劣的印象。因此，第二天我离开敦尼索普村时，丝毫不感到惋惜。因为我觉得，我住在他家，一定是使我的朋友感到为难的根源。

“所有这一切发生在漫长的假期中的第一个月。我又回到了伦敦住所，用七个星期时间做了一些有机化学实验。然而，深秋中某一天，假期即将结束，我收到我朋友的一封电报，请我回到敦尼索普村去，并说他非常需要我的指教和协助。我当然又把别的事丢开，立即赶回北方去了。

“他坐在一辆双轮单马车上在车站等我，我一眼就能看出，这两个月来，他备受磨难，变得消瘦异常，失去了平时特有的高声谈笑兴高采烈的一性一格。

“‘爸爸危在旦夕，’他第一句话便说道。

“‘不可能！’我叫喊道，‘怎么回事？’

“‘他中了风，是神经受了严重刺激。今天一直处在危险中，我看他现在未必还活着。’

“华生，你可以想见，我听到这意外的消息，是多么惊骇。

“‘是什么引起的呢？’我问道。

“‘啊，这就是要害之处。请你上车，我们路上详细谈一谈。你还记得你走的前一天晚上来的那个家伙吗？’

“‘当然记得了。’

“‘你知道那天我们请进屋里的是什么人吗？’

“‘不知道。’

“‘福尔摩斯，那是一个魔鬼，’他大声喊道。

“我吃惊地呆望着他。

“‘正是，他确实是一个魔鬼，自从他来了以后，我们没有一时一刻安宁过，一点也没有。从那天夜晚起爸爸就没有抬头之时，现在他的生命危在旦夕，他的心也碎了。这都是因为那个该死的赫德森。’

“‘那么，他有什么势力呢？’

“‘啊，这正是我要设法知道的。象爸爸这样慈祥、宽厚的善良长者，怎么会落到那样一种恶棍的魔爪中去呢！不过，福尔摩斯，我很高兴你能前来。我非常相信你的判断和处事能力，我知道你能给我想出一个最好的办法。’

“我们的马车疾驰在乡间洁净而平坦的大路上，在我们的前方是布罗德的一展平一陽一，隐现在落日红霞之中。在左手边的一片小树林后面，我已遥望到那位治安官屋上高高的烟囱和旗杆了。

“‘爸爸让这家伙作园丁，’他的同伴说道，‘后来，那人很不满意，便被提升为管家。全家似乎完全在他控制之下，他整日游荡，为所欲为。女仆们向我父亲诉说他酗酒成一性一，语言卑鄙。爸爸便多方提高她们的薪水，来补偿她们遇到的麻烦。这家伙经常划着小船，带上我爸爸最好的猎槍去游猎。而在他这样干时，脸上总是带着讽刺挖苦、侧目斜视、目无一切的神情，假使他是一个和我同样年纪的人，我早已把他打翻在地上不止二十次了。福尔摩斯，我告诉你，在这段时间里，我只有拚命克制自己，现在我自问，假如我不克制自己，可能情况反而会好些。

“‘唉，我们的境况越来越坏。赫德森这个畜牲越来越嚣张，有一天，他竟当着我的面，傲慢无礼地回答我父亲，我便抓住他肩膀把他推出门去。他一声不响地溜走了，发青的面孔和两只恶狠狠的眼睛，露出一种恫吓的神情。在这以后，我不知道可怜的父亲同这个人又作过什么一交一涉，但第二天父亲来找我，要我向赫德森道歉。你可以想象到，我当然拒绝了，并且问父亲为什么要容许这样一个坏蛋对他和我们全家这样放肆无礼。

“‘我父亲说道：“啊，我的孩子，你说得完全对，可是你不知道我的处境啊。不过你一定会知道，维克托。不管发生什么事，我都要设法让你知道。但你现在总不愿使你可怜的老爸爸伤心罢？孩子。”

“‘爸爸非常激动，整天把自己关在书房里，我从窗户望见他正在忙于书写。

“‘那天晚上，发生了一件使我如释重负的事，因为赫德森对我们说，他打算离开我们。我们吃过午饭后，正在餐室坐着，他走进来，喝得半醉，声音沙哑地说出了他的打算。

“‘他说道：“我在诺福克受够了，我要到汉普郡贝多斯先生那里去。我敢说，他一定象你那样高兴见到我。”

“‘“赫德森，我希望你不是怀着恶感离开这儿的。”我父亲卑躬屈节地说，这使我浑身血液沸腾起来。

“‘“他还没有向我赔礼道歉呢，”他瞟了我一眼，绷着脸说道。

“‘爸爸转身对我说道：“维克托，你应该承认，你对这位可敬的朋友确实失了礼。”

“‘我回答道：“恰恰相反，我认为我们父子对他容忍得太过分了。”

“‘赫德森咆哮如雷地说道：“啊，你认为是这样么，是不是？那好极了，伙计。我们走着瞧吧！”

“‘他无一精一打采地走出屋去，半小时以后便离开我家，使爸爸处于可怜的担惊受怕的状态。我听到爸爸一一夜又一一夜地在室内踱来踱去，而在他刚刚恢复信心时，灾祸终于从天而降。’“‘究竟是怎么回事？’我急忙问道。

“‘非常怪。昨晚爸爸收到一封信，信上盖着福丁炳姆的邮戳。爸爸看过之后，双手轻轻拍打着头部，好象失魂落魄的人一样，开始在室内绕圈子。后来我把他扶到沙发上，他的嘴和眼皮都歪向一侧。我看他是中了风，立即请来福德哈姆医生，和我一起把爸爸扶到一床一上，可是他瘫痪越来越厉害，一点也没有恢复知觉的迹象，我想我们很难看到他活着了。’

“‘小特雷佛，你简直是在吓唬我！’我大声说道，‘那么，那封信里究竟有什么东西能引起这样可怕的恶果呢？’

“‘没有什么。这就是莫名其妙的地方。这封信荒诞而琐碎。啊，我的上帝，我所担心的事果然来了！’

“他说时，我们已走到林荫路转弯处，看到在微弱的灯光下，房子的窗帘都放下了。我们走到门口，我朋友显出满面悲痛，一位黑衣绅士走了出来。

“‘医生，我爸爸什么时候故去的？’特雷佛问道。

“‘几乎就在你刚刚离去的时候。’

“‘他可曾苏醒过？’

“‘临终之前苏醒过一会儿。’

“‘给我留下什么话吗？’

“‘他只说那些纸都在日本柜子的后一抽一屉里。’

“我的朋友和医生一同向死者的住房走去，我却留在书房一中，脑子里不住翻腾这全