巴斯克維爾莊園-巴斯克維爾獵犬

巴斯克維爾獵犬目錄7 巴斯克維爾莊園 Baskerville Hall Holmes came to Waterloo Station to say goodbye to us.Our friends told him that they were sure nobody had followed them since our last meeting.Sir Henry's other shoe had not reappeared.Holmes repeated his warning that Sir Hen ry should not go on the moor at night,and should not go any where alone.Then Holmes checked with me that I had my gun,an army revolver.
The journey was fast and enjoyable.We were met at New town Station and driven to Baskerville Hall.The countryside we drove through was beautiful,but behind it we could see the long,dark,frightening hills of the moor.
As we turned a corner,we were surprised to see a soldier on horseback.He was carrying a gun.
Dr Mortimer asked our driver why the soldier was there.
'A dangerous criminal has escaped from the prison,sir,'he told us.'He's been free for three days now,and people are frightened.His name is Selden.He's the man who did that murder in London.'
I remembered the case well.It had been a very cruel murder.I thought of this killer out on the empty,wild moor,and I felt more and more uncomfortable about my surroundings.The beautiful green fields with their thick hedges were behind us,and we were now on the cold,open moor.Everything was grey,hard and wild Huge rough stones stood on the hard ground.The tops of the hills stood sharply like cruel teeth against the sky.A cold wind was blowing,and night was falling.I saw Sir Henry pull his coat closer round him.
At last we reached the gates of Baskerville Hall.From the gates a long,dark road led up to the house,with the black shapes of old trees on each side of it.At the end of this road we could see the great house standing with a pale light round it like a ghost.
'I can understand why my uncle felt that trouble was com ing to him here.It's not a welcoming place,'said Sir Henry,and his voice shook as he spoke.
As we got closer,we could see that the Hall was a heavy,dark building with a large main entrance.Most of the building was old and was covered in dark green ivy,but some of it had been built more recently and was of grim,black stone.A dull light shone through the heavy windows.Black smoke was com ing from one of the high chimneys of the main building.
'Welcome,Sir Henry!Welcome to Baskerville Hall.'
Barrymore,the butler,and his wife were waiting on the steps at the main entrance They came down and took our suit cases into the house Dr Mortimer left us to go home,and we went into the hall,where a fire was burning.It was a fine room,large and high.
'It's exactly as I imagined an old family home,'Sir Henry said.
Barrymore showed us to our rooms He was a tall,handsome man,with a full black beard.After we had washed and changed our clothes,he brought us to dinner.The diningroom was not very welcoming.It needed more lights to make it brighter.On the walls were the pictures of the Baskervilles of the past.They looked down on us silently,and did nothing to make us feel happier.
After dinner we went to our rooms.Before I got into bed,I looked out of my window A strong wind sang sadly as it bent the trees in front of the Hall.A half moon shone through the dark,flying clouds onto the wild and empty moor.
I could not sleep.Then,suddenly,in the middle of the night I heard very clearly the sound of a woman crying.It was the crying of a person who was hurt by some deep sadness.The sound was not far away,and was certainly in the house.
福爾摩斯來滑鐵盧車站向我們道別。我們的朋友們告訴他，他們敢肯定，自從上次見面以來就再也沒有人跟蹤過他們了。亨利爵士的另一只鞋沒有再冒出來過。福爾摩斯再次警告亨利爵士不要在夜間到沼地上去，也不要單獨去什麽地方。接著，福爾摩斯又和我查看了一下我隨身帶的那把左輪****。
旅行迅速而又愉快。有人在紐敦車站迎接我們，並用車把我們送到了巴斯克維爾莊園。我們驅車經過的鄉間景色很美，可是我們能看得到遠處的沼地上的那些綿長、黝黑和令人驚恐的沼地山丘。
在拐彎處，我們驚奇地看到一個騎在馬上的士兵。他拿著一桿槍。
摩梯末醫生向車夫詢問了那個士兵在那裏的緣由。
“一個危險的罪犯越獄逃跑了，先生。”他告訴我們，“他已經逃出來三天了。他叫塞爾登。就是在倫敦殺人的那個家夥。”
那個案子我記得很清楚。殺人手段非常殘忍。我想到了在這片空曠、荒蕪的沼地上活動著的這個兇手，愈來愈覺得周圍的環境叫人不安。那些長著茂密的樹籬的、美麗的、綠色的田野已經被奔馳的馬車甩在我們身後了，我們現在到了既寒冷又空曠的沼地上。這裏的一切都灰蒙蒙、硬梆梆的，又很荒蕪。堅硬的地面上豎立著粗糙的巨石。山頂很尖，在天空的襯托下好像一排排獠牙。正刮著冷颼颼的風，夜幕正在降臨。我看到亨利爵士把大衣裹得更緊了些。
我們終於到了巴斯克維爾莊園的門口。大門那兒有一條漫長而又陰暗的路徑通向房屋，道路的兩旁是一些老樹的暗影。我們在道路的盡頭處看到一所像幽靈似地閃著微光的房屋。
“我能理解伯父為何在這兒時總是覺得要大難臨頭了。這並非一個友好的地方。”亨利爵士說道，講話時聲音都在顫抖著。
我們走近時，看到這是一棟結實而又幽暗、主入口處很大的建築。建築物的大部分都很古老了，墻壁上爬滿了深綠色的常春藤；可是某些部分卻是最近剛砌成的，材料是一些陰森的黑色石塊。陰暗的光線從結實的窗口透出來。黑煙從主樓的一個高高的煙囪裏噴了出來。
“歡迎歡迎，亨利爵爺！歡迎您到巴斯克維爾莊園來！”
總管白瑞摩和妻子正在主入口處的臺階上恭候著我們。他們走下來，把我們的行李箱提到了屋裏。摩梯末醫生離開我們回家去了。我們便進了大廳，那兒爐火正熊熊燃燒著。那是個華美的房間，又大又高。
“這正是我想像中的一個古老的家族的宅邸，”亨利爵士說道。
白瑞摩把我們帶到了各自的房間。他是個高大、英俊的男子，留著滿腮的黑胡子。在我們洗漱之後，他帶我們去進餐。飯廳不太招人喜歡。需要再點些蠟燭把它照亮些。墻上是巴斯克維爾家族的先輩們的畫像。它們消無聲息地俯視著我們，絲毫沒讓我們感覺快活一些。
晚飯過後我們便各自回房去了。我在上床之前向窗外眺望了一番。強風在外面悲鳴，同時還使莊園前面的樹木搖晃著。半輪月亮透過陰暗的、飛奔的雲朵照到了荒涼、空曠的沼地上。
我無法入睡。後來，突然之間，我在深夜裏清楚地聽到了一個女人的哭泣聲。那哭聲是一個陷入深深的悲傷之中的人發出的。聲音就在不遠處，可以肯定就在這棟房子裏。