沼地上的那個人-巴斯克維爾獵犬

巴斯克維爾獵犬目錄12 沼地上的那個人 The Man on the Moor I drove out of Newtown and went to begin my search for the mysterious man on the moor.There were hundreds of the old stone huts on the moor.Barrymore did not know in which of them the mysterious man was living.I had seen the man on the night when Sir Henry and I had chased Selden,so I decided to start my search near that place.
The path I took ran past Mr Frankland's house,and I saw him standing at his gate He called to me,and invited me to go in and have a drink with him.He had been arguing with the police,and was angry with them.He began to tell me about it.
'But they will be sorry,'he said.'I could tell them where to look for the escaped prisoner,but I am not going to help them.You see,I have been searching the moors with my telescope,and although I have not actually seen the prisoner,I have seen the person who is taking him food.'
I thought of Barrymore and Mrs Barrymore's worried faces.But Mr Frankland's next words showed me that I did not need to worry.
'You will be surprised to hear that a young boy takes food to the prisoner.The boy goes by at about the same time each day,and he is always carrying a bag.Who else can he be going to see—except the prisoner?Come and look through my tele scope,and you will see that I am right.It is about this time each day that the boy goes by.'
We went up onto the roof,and we did not have to wait long.There was someone moving on a hill in front of the house.I looked through the telescope and saw a small boy with a bag over his shoulder.He looked around to make sure that noboay was following him,and then he disappeared over the hill.
'Remember that I don't want the police to know my secret,Dr Watson,'Frankland reminded me.'I'm too angry with them at the moment to help them.'
I agreed not to tell the police,and said goodbye.I walked along the road while Frankland was watching me,but as soon as I was round the corner,I went towards the hill where we had seen the boy.
The sun was already going down when I reached the top of the hill.I could not see the boy,and there was nothing else in that lonely place Beneath me on the other side of the hill was a circle of old stone huts.In the middle of the circle was one hut that had a better roof than the others,so it would keep out the wind and the rain.This must be the place where the mysteri ous man was hiding!I would soon know his secret.
As I walked towards the hut,I saw that someone had certainly been using it.A path had been worn up to the door.I took my revolver out of my pocket,and checked that it was ready to fire.I walked quickly and quietly up to the hut,and looked inside.The place was empty.
But this was certainly where the man lived.As I looked round the hut,I knew that the mysterious man must have a very strong character.No other person could live in conditions as bad as these.There were some blankets on a flat stone where the man slept.There had been a fire in one corner.There were some cooking pots,and a large bowl half full of wa ter.In the middle of the hut was another large flat stone which was used as a table,and on it was the bag the boy had been carrying.Under the bag I saw a piece of paper with writing on it.Quickly,I picked up the paper and read what was written on it.It said:'Dr Watson has gone to Newtown.'
I realized that the mysterious man had told someone to watch me,and this was a message from his spy.Was the man a dangerous enemy? Or was he a friend who was watching us to make sure we were safe?I decided I would not leave the hut until I knew.
Outside,the sun was low in the sky.Everything looked calm and peaceful in the golden evening light.But I did not feel peaceful or calm.I felt frightened as I waited for the mysterious man.
Then I heard footsteps coming towards the hut.As they came closer,I moved into the darkest corner of the hut.I did not want the man to see me until I had looked closely at him.The footsteps stopped,and I could hear nothing at all.Then the man began to move again,and the footsteps came closer.A shadow fell across the door of the hut.
'It's a lovely evening,my dear Watson,'said a voice I knew well.'I really think you will enjoy it more out here.' 我駛出了紐頓，去開始搜尋沼地上的那位神秘人士。沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。白瑞摩不知道那位神秘人士住在其中的哪一棟裏。在我與查爾斯爵士追趕塞爾登的那個晚上我曾見過那個人，所以我決定從那個地方附近開始找起。
我所走的這條小路經過弗蘭克蘭先生的家，我還看到他正站在門口。他叫我一聲，並邀請我進屋和他喝一杯。他一直與警方爭訟著，而且對警方十分氣憤。他開始告訴我這些事情。
“但是他們將會後悔的，”他說道。“我本來能告訴他們該到哪裏去找那個逃犯，但是我不想幫他們的忙。您是知道的，我一直在用我的望遠鏡搜尋這些沼地，而且雖然我沒有真正地看到過那個罪犯，但是我已經看見了給他帶飯的那個人。”
我想到了白瑞摩及其太太焦慮的面容。但是，弗蘭克蘭下邊的話語向我表明我不必為此擔憂了。
“當您聽到一個小男孩給罪犯送食物的時候，您一定會感到吃驚吧。那個男孩每天都在同一時間經過，還總提著一個包。他還會去見誰呢——除了那個罪犯之外？過來，向我的望遠鏡裏瞧瞧，您就會知道我是對的。每天就在這個時分那個男孩路過此處。”
我們到了屋頂上，我們並不需久等。有人正在屋前的小山上移動著。我透過望遠鏡觀察並看到肩上扛著一個包的小男孩。他向四處張望著以確保沒人跟蹤他，後來就在山那邊不見了。
“記住：我不想叫警方知道我的秘密，華生醫生，”費蘭克蘭提醒我說。“我現在對他們太生氣了，以至於都不想幫他們的忙。”
我同意不告訴警方並道了別。弗蘭克蘭望著我時我便順著大路走，但是一轉過彎我就朝著看到小男孩的那座小山走去。
當我到達山頂時，太陽已經就要落山了。我看不見那個小男孩，在這個荒涼的地方也沒有旁人。在我下面的山坡的另一旁有一些圍成一圈的古老的石屋。中間有一棟屋頂比其他的要好一些的石屋，因此它可以擋風避雨。這一定就是那位神秘人士的藏身之處了。我不久就可知曉他的秘密了。
當我朝著石屋走去時，我意識到一定有人用過這地方。一條小路已被人踩出，一直通向房門。我從衣兜裏取出了左輪****，並確認它可以隨時射發了。我快速、輕盈地向小屋走去，並向屋裏望了望。裏面空空如也。
但是這顯然是那個人居住的地方。我在石屋四周察看著，知道那位神秘人士一定有著堅強的性格。再無旁人可以在如此惡劣的條件下住下去了。在那人睡覺的石板上放著幾條毛毯。小屋的一角曾生過火。屋角有一些餐鍋和一個裝了半碗水的大碗。在小屋的中央另有一塊平平的、被當做桌子用了的石板，桌上放著那個男孩扛著的那個包。我在包下看到了一張寫著字的紙。我趕快拿起紙來，看看上面寫些什麽內容。上面寫著：“華生醫生已去紐頓了。”
我意識到那位神秘人士已叫人去監視我，這便是從他的密探那裏得來的消息。那他是個危險的敵人呢，還是密切關註著我們以確保我們安全的朋友呢？我下定決心，不弄清一切決不離開這小屋。
外面，太陽已經落得很低了。在金色的夕陽的照耀下，一切都顯得那麽安詳、恬靜。可是我絲毫感受不到這種寧靜。我在等待那位神秘人士之時感到很害怕。
後來，我聽到了走向小屋的腳步聲。當聲音逼近時，我挪到了小屋裏最陰暗的角落。在我沒有仔細看清那人之前我並不想叫他看見我。腳步聲停住了，我也什麽都聽不到了。後來，那個人又開始走動起來，腳步聲也愈來愈近了。一條黑影由石屋的門那裏投射進來。
“真是個可愛的傍晚，我親愛的華生，”我很熟悉的一個聲音說道。“我真覺得你到外邊這兒來要享受些。”