太晚了-巴斯克維爾獵犬

巴斯克維爾獵犬目錄13 太晚了 Too Late For a moment or two I could neither breathe nor move.
Then I felt my fear and unhappiness disappear,as I knew that I was no longer alone in my responsibility for Sir Henry.The dangers all around me did not seem so frightening.The cool voice could belong to only one man in the world.'Holmes!'I cried.'Holmes!'
I went outside the hut,and there was Holmes.He was sit ting on a stone,and his grey eyes were dancing with amuse ment.He was thin and worn,but bright and wideawake.His skin was brown from the wind and the sun.But his chin was smooth,and his shirt was white.He did not look like a man who had been living in the middle of the moor.
'I have never been so glad to see anyone in my life,'I said,'nor so surprised.'
'I am surprised,too,'Holmes said,as he shook me warmly by the hand.'How did you find me?'
I told him about Frankland,and how I had seen the boy with the food.
Holmes went into the hut,and looked at the food,and at the note with it.' I guess that you have been to see Mrs Laura Lyons,' he said,and when I told him that he was right,he went on:' When we put together everything that each of us has discovered,I expect we shall know almost everything about this case.'
'But how did you get here?'I asked him.'And what have you been doing? I thought you had to finish your case in Lon don.'
'That is what I wanted you to think,'he said.
'Then you have tricked me,and have no confidence in me,' I said.I was upset and angry because he had not told me his plans.
'I am sorry if it seems I have tricked you,my dear Watson.I did not want our enemy to know I was here,but I wanted to be near enough to make sure that you and Sir Henry were safe.You are a kind person—too kind to leave me alone out here in bad weather.Our enemy would guess I was here if he saw you coming out with food,or with important news.You have been a very real help to me.Your letters with all their valuable information have been brought to me.You have done excellent work,and without you I would not have all the im portant details I needed.'
Holmes' warm words of thanks made me feel much happier,and I saw that he was right.
'That's better,'he said,as he saw the shadow lift from my face.'Now tell me about your visit to Mrs Laura Lyons.'
I told Holmes everything Mrs Lyons had said.
This is all very important,'Holmes said.'It answers ques tions I have been unable to answer、Did you know that Mrs Lyons and Stapleton are very close friends? They often meet,and they write to each other.Perhaps I can use this informa tion to turn Stapleton's wife against him…'
'His wife?'I asked.'Who and where is she?'
'The lady called Miss Stapleton,who pretends to be his sister,is really his wife,'said Holmes.
'Good heavens,Holmes!Are you sure?If she is his wife,why did Stapleton allow Sir Henry to fall in love with her?' 'Sir Henry hurt nobody except himself when he fell in love with her.Stapleton took care that Sir Henry did not make love to her.I repeat that the lady is his wife,and not his sister.They came here only two years ago,and before that he had owned a school in the north of England.He told you that,and you told me in your letter.I checked on the school,and found that the man who had owned it went away with his wife when the school closed.They changed their name,but the couple who were described to me were without doubt the Stapletons.''But why do they pretend to be brother and sister?' I asked.'Because Stapleton thought that she would be very much more useful to him if she appeared to be a free woman.'
Suddenly I saw behind Stapleton's smiling face a heart with murder in it.'So he is our enemy!He is the man who followed us in London! And the warning note to Sir Henry came form Miss Stapleton.'
'Exactly,'said Holmes.
'But if Miss Stapleton is really his wife,why is he a close friend of Mrs Laura Lyons?'
'Your excellent work has given us the answer to that ques tion,Watson When you told me that Mrs Lyons was getting a divorce,I realized that she hoped to marry Stapleton.He told her that he was unmarried,and that he wanted to make her his wife.When she learns the truth,she may decide to help us.We must go and see her tomorrow.'
'One last question,Holmes,'I said.'What is Stapleton try ing to do?'
Holmes dropped his voice as he answered:'Murder,cold blooded murder.That is what Stapleton is trying to do.Do not ask me for details.I am about to catch him in a trap.There is only one danger——that he will act before I am ready.Another day,or perhaps two,and I shall complete my case.Until then you must guard Sir Henry very closely.You should be with him today.However,what you have discovered is very valuable.'
As he finished speaking,an awful scream——a long cry of pain and horror——broke the silence of the moor.The sound turned my blood to ice.
'Oh,my God,'I whispered.'What is that?'
Holmes had jumped to his feet.'Where is it,Watson?' he whispered,and I could see that he was shaken by the scream.
The hopeless cry came again,louder,nearer,and more terrible than before.With it came a new sound——deep and frightening.'The hound!'cried Holmes.'Come,Watson,come!Great heavens!If we are too late…' 有那麽一小會兒我既喘不過氣來也動彈不了身子。後來，我覺得我的恐怖與不快之情消失了，因為我知道我不再是獨自承擔對亨利爵士的責任了。四伏的危機似乎不那麽令人恐懼了。這種冷冰冰的聲音在世上只可能屬於一個人。
“福爾摩斯！”我喊道。“福爾摩斯！”
我走出小屋，那兒便是福爾摩斯。他正坐在一塊石頭上，他那灰色的眼珠高興地轉動起來。他顯得又瘦又累，可是既機靈又清醒。他的皮膚由於風沙和日曬的侵襲變成了棕色。但是他的下巴刮得光光的，襯衫也很幹凈。他看上去並不像是一位在沼地裏居住的人。
“在我的一生裏，還從來沒有因為看見任何人這麽快活過，”我說道。“也從來沒有這麽吃驚過。”
“我也感到很吃驚，”福爾摩斯一邊說著，一邊溫和地與我握手。“你是如何找到我的？”
我告訴他有關弗蘭克蘭的事情，還有我是如何看到帶著食品的男孩的。
福爾摩斯進了石屋，並看了看食品．還看了看與它在一起的那個紙條。“我揣測你已去見過勞拉·萊昂絲太太了，”他說道，並在我告訴他他說對了時繼續說道：“如果我們把每人發現的一切湊到一起，我期望我們就能知道有關這個案子的幾乎一切內情了。”
“可是你是怎麽到這兒來的呢？”我對他問道。“還有，你一直在幹什麽？我以為你得在倫敦辦完你手頭的那個案子呢。”
“那正是我希望你所想的，”他說道。
“那麽說，你是在騙我，並不信任我呵！”我說道。我因他沒有告訴我他的計劃而又煩又惱。
“如果看上去是我對你耍了什麽花招的話，那就請你原諒我吧，我親愛的華生。我不想叫咱們的對手知道我就在此地，但是我又想在此附近來保證你和亨利爵士安然無恙。你是個好心腸的人——好得都到了不能容忍我獨自一人在此身處惡劣的露天環境之中。如果咱們的對手看到你帶著食物出來了或帶著重要的消息出來了，他就會猜到我在此地。你一直對我來說是種無可估量的幫助。你的那些有著價值無比的信息的信件都已被送到我這兒。你幹得很出色，要是沒有你我就不會得到我所需要的那一切詳情了。”
福爾摩斯的那些溫暖的感謝話語使我覺得高興多了，我還意識到他是對的。
“這樣就好了，”他看到陰影已從我的臉上消失時這麽說道。“現在告訴我你造訪勞拉·萊昂絲太太的情況吧。”
我把萊昂絲太太所講的全部內容告訴了福爾摩斯。
“這點至關重要，”福爾摩斯說道。“它回答了我一直不能回答的那些問題。你已知道萊昂絲太太和斯臺普頓是關系密切的朋友了吧？他們常見面，還常通信。也許我可以用這條信息使斯臺普頓的妻子與他作對……”
“他的妻子？”我問道。“她是誰，又在哪兒呢？”
“那位被稱做斯臺普頓小姐、裝作是他妹妹的女士其實是他的妻子，”福爾摩斯講道。
“天哪，福爾摩斯！你敢肯定嗎？如果她是他的妻子的話，他為何讓亨利爵士愛上了她呢？”
“亨利爵士墜入情網之時，他除了對本人之外對誰都不會構成傷害。斯臺普頓曾特別留意避免亨利爵士對她調情。我再說一遍，那位女士就是他的妻子，而不是他的妹妹。他們在兩年之前才來到這兒，但是在那之前他曾在英格蘭北部辦過一所學校。他告訴你那些事，你又在信中講給了我。我將那個學校調查了一下，還發現辦學校的那個男子在學校跨臺之後就和他的妻子一道遠走高飛了。他們更改了姓名，但是被描述給我的那對夫婦無疑就是斯臺普頓一家。”
“但是，他們為何要裝扮成兄妹呢？”我問道。
“因為斯臺普頓早就想到了，如果她看似一個單身的自由女子就會對他要有用得多。”
我突然從斯臺普頓的笑臉之後看到了他那暗藏殺機的狠毒心腸。“那麽說他就是我們的敵人啰！他就是在倫敦尾隨咱們的那個人！還有，送給亨利爵士的那個警告性的紙條是由斯臺普頓小姐發出的。”
“正是，”福爾摩斯講道。
“但是，如果斯臺普頓小姐真是他的妻子的話，他為何會是勞拉·萊昂絲太太的親密的朋友呢？”
“你傑出的工作已給我們提供了這個問題的答案，華生。當你告訴我萊昂斯太太計劃離婚時，我便意識到她是希望嫁給斯臺普頓的。他告訴她他還是未婚，而且想娶她為妻。她獲悉事情的真相時，也許會下定決心幫助我們。我們明天必須去見她。”
“還有最後一個問題，福爾摩斯。”我講道，“斯臺普頓到底想幹什麽呢？”
福爾摩斯在回答時放低了聲調：
“謀殺，殘忍至極的謀殺。那便是斯臺普頓的企圖所在。別問我細節了。我將設個陷阱將其抓獲。現在只有一個危險了——他說不定會在我準備就緒之前就行動了。再過一天，或者也許是兩天，我就要辦完這個案子。在那以前，你必須註意保護好亨利爵士。你今天就該和他在一起。不過，你的發現很有價值。”
他說完話時，一聲可怕的尖叫聲——一聲很長的、痛苦和恐懼的喊叫打破了沼地上的沈靜。這個聲音使我毛骨悚然。
“哦，我的上帝，”我低聲說道。“那是怎麽回事？”
福爾摩斯已猛地站了起來。“是哪一邊，華生？”他低聲問道，我知道他被尖叫聲震驚了。
絕望的喊聲又傳來了，比以往更大些，距離更近些，也更恐怖些。和它一起傳來的還有一種新的聲音——既低沈又恐怖。
“是獵犬！”福爾摩斯喊道。“來呀，華生，來呀！天哪！要是咱們來不及……”