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Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 5. Three Broken Threads

Sherlock Holmes had, in a very remark‧able 非凡的；奇异的；引人注目的 degree, the power of detaching 分离 his mind at will. For two hours the strange business in which we had been involved appeared to be forgotten forget, and he was entirely absorbed 吸收 in the pictures of the modern Belgian masters. He would talk of nothing but art, of which he had the crudest 原油 ideas, from our leaving the gallery 画廊 until we found ourselves 我们自己 at the Northumberland Hotel.

“ Sir 先生 Henry Baskerville is upstairs 楼上 expecting you,” said the clerk 店员. “He asked me to show you up at once when you came.”

“Have you any objection 反对 to my looking at your register 寄存器?” said Holmes.

“Not in the least.”

The book showed that two names had been added after that of Baskerville. One was Theophilus Johnson and family, of Newcastle; the other Mrs. Oldmore and maid 女佣, of High Lodge 存放, Alton.

“Surely that must be the same Johnson whom 谁 I used to know,” said Holmes to the porter 搬运工. “A lawyer, is he not, gray-headed, and walks with a limp 跛行?”

“No, sir 先生, this is Mr. Johnson, the coal 煤-owner, a very active gentle‧man 先生, not older than your‧self 你自己.”

“Surely you are mistaken 错误 about his trade?”

“No, sir! he has used this hotel for many years, and he is very well known to us.”

“Ah, that settles it. Mrs. Oldmore, too; I seem to remember the name. Excuse 原谅 my curiosity 好奇心, but often in calling upon one friend one finds another.”

“She is an invalid 无效 lady, sir 3. Her husband was once mayor 市长 of Gloucester. She always comes to us when she is in town.”

“Thank you; I am afraid I cannot claim her acquaintance 熟人. We have established 建立 a most important fact by these questions, Watson,” he continued in a low voice as we went upstairs 楼上 together. “We know now that the people who are so interested in our friend have not settled down in his own hotel. That means that while they are, as we have seen, very anxious 焦急的 to watch him, they are equally anxious that he should not see them. Now, this is a most suggestive 提示 fact.”

“What does it suggest?”

“It suggests—halloa, my dear fellow, what on earth is the matter?”

As we came round the top of the stairs 楼梯 we had run up against Sir Henry Baskerville himself. His face was flushed 红晕 with anger 生气, and he held an old and dusty 尘土飞扬 boot 靴；鞋 in one of his hands. So furious 狂怒 was he that he was hardly articulate 说出, and when he did speak it was in a much broader and more Western dialect 方言 than any which we had heard from him in the morning.

“Seems to me they are playing me for a sucker 吮吸 in this hotel,” he cried. “They’ll find they’ve started in to monkey 猴 with the wrong man unless they are careful 小心. By thunder 雷声, if that chap 皴裂 can’t find my missing boot 靴；鞋 there will be trouble. I can take a joke 笑话 with the best, Mr. Holmes, but they’ve got a bit 一点 over the mark this time.”

“Still looking for your boot?”

“Yes, sir, and mean to find it.”

“But, surely, you said that it was a new brown boot?”

“So it was, sir. And now it’s an old black one.”

“What! you don’t mean to say—?”

“That’s just what I do mean to say. I only had three pairs in the world—the new brown, the old black, and the patent 专利 leathers 皮, which I am wearing. Last night they took one of my brown ones, and today they have sneaked 潜行 one of the black. Well, have you got it? Speak out, man, and don’t stand staring!”

An agitated 激荡 German waiter 侍者 had appeared upon the scene.

“No, sir; I have made inquiry 调查 all over the hotel, but I can hear no word of it.”

“Well, either that boot 4 comes back before sun‧down 太阳‧往下 or I’ll see the manager and tell him that I go right straight out of this hotel.”

“It shall be found, sir—I promise you that if you will have a little patience 耐心 it will be found.”

“Mind it is, for it’s the last thing of mine that I’ll lose in this den 巢穴 of thieves. Well, well, Mr. Holmes, you’ll excuse 原谅 my troubling you about such a trifle 琐事—”

“I think it’s well worth troubling about.”

“Why, you look very serious over it.”

“How do you explain it?”

“I just don’t attempt to explain it. It seems the very maddest 疯狂的, queerest 奇怪 thing that ever happened to me.”

“The queerest 奇怪 perhaps—” said Holmes thoughtfully 沉思地.

“What do you make of it your‧self 你自己?”

“Well, I don’t profess 宣称 to understand it yet. This case of yours is very complex 复杂, Sir Henry. When taken in conjunction 连词 with your uncle 叔叔’s death I am not sure that of all the five hundred 百 cases of capital importance which I have handled there is one which cuts so deep. But we hold several threads 线 in our hands, and the odds 奇 are that one or other of them guides us to the truth. We may waste time in following the wrong one, but sooner or later we must come upon the right.”

We had a pleasant luncheon 午餐 in which little was said of the business which had brought us together. It was in the private sitting-room to which we after‧ward 之后 repaired 修理 that Holmes asked Baskerville what were his intentions.

“To go to Baskerville Hall.”

“And when?”

“At the end of the week.”

“On the whole,” said Holmes, “I think that your decision is a wise 明智的；聪明的 one. I have ample 充足 evidence 证据 that you are being dogged in London, and amid 际 the millions of this great city it is difficult to discover who these people are or what their object can be. If their intentions are evil they might do you a mischief 恶作剧, and we should be power‧less 无力 to prevent it. You did not know, Dr. Mortimer, that you were followed this morning from my house?”

Dr. Mortimer started violently 猛烈. “Followed! By whom 谁?”

“That, unfortunately 不幸, is what I cannot tell you. Have you among your neighbours or acquaintances 熟人 on Dartmoor any man with a black, full beard 胡须?”

“No—or, let me see—why, yes. Barrymore, Sir Charles’s butler 男管家, is a man with a full, black beard.”

“Ha! Where is Barrymore?”

“He is in charge of the Hall.”

“We had best ascertain 探明 if he is really there, or if by any possibility 可能性 he might be in London.”

“How can you do that?”

“Give me a telegraph 电报 form. ‘Is all ready for Sir Henry?’ That will do. Address to Mr. Barrymore, Baskerville Hall. What is the nearest telegraph-office? Grimpen. Very good, we will send a second wire to the post‧master 邮件‧主人；硕士, Grimpen: ‘Telegram to Mr. Barrymore to be delivered into his own hand. If absent 缺席的, please return wire to Sir Henry Baskerville, Northumberland Hotel.’ That should let us know before evening whether Barrymore is at his post in Devonshire or not.”

“That’s so,” said Baskerville. “By the way, Dr. Mortimer, who is this Barrymore, anyhow 总之?”

“He is the son of the old care‧taker 管理人, who is dead. They have looked after the Hall for four generations 代 now. So far as I know, he and his wife are as respect‧able 可敬 a couple as any in the county 县.”

“At the same time,” said Baskerville, “it’s clear enough that so long as there are none of the family at the Hall these people have a mighty 威武 fine home and nothing to do.”

“That is true.”

“Did Barrymore profit at all by Sir Charles’s will?” asked Holmes.

“He and his wife had five hundred 百 pounds each.”

“Ha! Did they know that they would receive this?”

“Yes; Sir Charles was very fond 喜欢的 of talking about the provisions 规定 of his will.”

“That is very interesting.”

“I hope,” said Dr. Mortimer, “that you do not look with suspicious 可疑的 eyes upon everyone who received a legacy 遗产 from Sir Charles, for I also had a thou‧sand 千 pounds left to me.”

“Indeed! And anyone else?”

“There were many insignificant 微不足道 sums 和 to individuals, and a large number of public charities 慈善. The residue 残留 all went to Sir Henry.”

“And how much was the residue 残留?”

“Seven 七 hundred 百 and forty 四十 thou‧sand 千 pounds.”

Holmes raised his eye‧brow 眉 in surprise. “I had no idea that so gigantic 巨大 a sum 和 was involved,” said he.

“Sir Charles had the reputation 名气 of being rich, but we did not know how very rich he was until we came to examine his securities 安全. The total value of the estate 房地产 was close on to a million.”

“Dear me! It is a stake 赌注 for which a man might well play a desperate 殊死 game. And one more question, Dr. Mortimer. Supposing that anything happened to our young friend here—you will for‧give 原谅 the unpleasant 不愉快 hypothesis 假设!—who would inherit 继承 the estate 房地产?”

“Since Rodger Baskerville, Sir Charles’s younger brother died unmarried 未婚, the estate 房地产 would descend 下来 to the Desmonds, who are distant 遥远的 cousins. James Desmond is an elderly 年老的；上了年纪的 clergy‧man 牧师 in Westmoreland.”

“Thank you. These details are all of great interest. Have you met Mr. James Desmond?”

“Yes; he once came down to visit Sir Charles. He is a man of venerable 可敬 appearance and of saintly 圣 life. I remember that he refused to accept any settlement 沉降 from Sir Charles, though he pressed it upon him.”

“And this man of simple tastes would be the heir 继承者 to Sir Charles’s thou‧sand 千.”

“He would be the heir 继承者 to the estate 房地产 because that is entailed 意味着. He would also be the heir 继承者 to the money unless it were willed otherwise by the present owner, who can, of course, do what he likes with it.”

“And have you made your will, Sir Henry?”

“No, Mr. Holmes, I have not. I’ve had no time, for it was only yesterday that I learned learn how matters stood. But in any case I feel that the money should go with the title and estate 房地产. That was my poor uncle 叔叔’s idea. How is the owner going to restore 修复；使复位；使复职 the glories 光荣 of the Baskervilles if he has not money enough to keep up the property? House, land, and dollars must go together.”

“Quite so. Well, Sir Henry, I am of one mind with you as to the advisability of your going down to Devonshire without delay 延迟. There is only one provision 规定 which I must make. You certainly must not go alone.”

“Dr. Mortimer returns with me.”

“But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles away from yours. With all the good‧will 善意 in the world he may be unable 无法 to help you. No, Sir Henry, you must take with you someone, a trusty man, who will be always by your side.”

“Is it possible that you could come your‧self 你自己, Mr. Holmes?”

“If matters came to a crisis 危机 I should endeavour to be present in person; but you can understand that, with my extensive 广阔的 consulting 咨询；请教；查阅 practice and with the constant 不变 appeals 上诉 which reach me from many quarters, it is impossible for me to be absent 缺席的 from London for an indefinite 不定 time. At the present instant 瞬间 one of the most revered 尊敬 names in England is being besmirched by a black‧mail 勒索, and only I can stop a disastrous 惨重 scandal 丑闻. You will see how impossible it is for me to go to Dartmoor.”

“ Whom 谁 would you recommend, then?”

Holmes laid his hand upon my arm. “If my friend would under‧take 承担 it there is no man who is better worth having at your side when you are in a tight 紧的 place. No one can say so more confidently 确信的 than I.”

The pro‧position 主张 took me completely by surprise, but before I had time to answer, Baskerville seized 抓住 me by the hand and wrung it heartily 爽朗.

“Well, now, that is real kind of you, Dr. Watson,” said he. “You see how it is with me, and you know just as much about the matter as I do. If you will come down to Baskerville Hall and see me through I’ll never forget it.”

The promise of adventure 冒险活动 had always a fascination 魅力 for me, and I was complimented 赞扬 by the words of Holmes and by the eagerness with which the baronet hailed 冰雹 me as a companion 同伴.

“I will come, with pleasure,” said I. “I do not know how I could employ my time better.”

“And you will report very carefully 小心 to me,” said Holmes. “When a crisis 危机 comes, as it will do, I will direct how you shall act. I suppose that by Saturday all might be ready?”

“Would that suit Dr. Watson?”

“Perfectly.”

“Then on Saturday, unless you hear to the contrary 相反, we shall meet at the ten 十-thirty 三十 train from Paddington.”

We had risen rise to depart 离开 when Baskerville gave a cry, of triumph 胜利, and diving 潜水 into one of the corners of the room he drew draw a brown boot 5 from under a cabinet 内阁.

“My missing boot!” he cried.

“May all our difficulties vanish 消失 as easily!” said Sherlock Holmes.

“But it is a very singular 单数 thing,” Dr. Mortimer remarked. “I searched this room carefully 小心 before lunch 午餐.”

“And so did I,” said Baskerville. “Every inch of it.”

“There was certainly no boot in it then.”

“In that case the waiter 侍者 must have placed it there while we were lunching 午餐.”

The German was sent send for but professed 宣称 to know nothing of the matter, nor could any inquiry 调查 clear it up. Another item 项目 had been added to that constant 不变 and apparently 据…所知；看来；据说；听说 purpose‧less 目的‧少 series 系列 of small mysteries which had succeeded each other so rapidly. Setting aside the whole grim 严峻 story of Sir Charles’s death, we had a line of inexplicable incidents 事件 all within the limits of two days, which included the receipt 收据 of the printed letter, the black-bearded 胡须 spy 间谍 in the hansom, the loss of the new brown boot, the loss of the old black boot, and now the return of the new brown boot. Holmes sat sit in silence in the cab 出租车 as we drove drive back to Baker Street, and I knew from his drawn draw brows 眉头 and keen 热切的 face that his mind, like my own, was busy in endeavouring to frame some scheme 方案 into which all these strange and apparently disconnected 断开 episodes 事件 could be fitted. All afternoon and late into the evening he sat lost in tobacco 烟草 and thought.

Just before dinner two telegrams 电报 were handed in. The first ran:

Have just heard that Barrymore is at the Hall. BASKERVILLE.

The second:

Visited twenty 二十-three hotels as directed, but sorry 对不起的, to report unable 无法 to trace 跟踪 cut sheet of Times. CARTWRIGHT.

“There go two of my threads, Watson. There is nothing more stimulating 刺激 than a case where everything goes against you. We must cast 投 round for another scent 香味.”

“We have still the cabman who drove the spy 间谍.”

“Exactly. I have wired to get his name and address from the Official Registry. I should not be surprised if this were an answer to my question.”

The ring at the bell 钟 proved to be something even more satisfactory 满意 than an answer, however, for the door opened and a rough-looking fellow entered who was evidently 明显地 the man himself.

“I got a message from the head office that a gent at this address had been inquiring 打听 for No. 2704,” said he. “I’ve driven drive my cab 出租车 this seven 七 years and never a word of complaint 抱怨. I came here straight from the Yard to ask you to your face what you had against me.”

“I have nothing in the world against you, my good man,” said Holmes. “On the contrary 相反, I have half a sovereign 君主 for you if you will give me a clear answer to my questions.”

“Well, I’ve had a good day and no mistake,” said the cabman with a grin 微笑. “What was it you wanted to ask, sir?”

“First of all your name and address, in case I want you again.”

“John Clayton, 3 Turpey Street, the Borough. My cab 出租车 is out of Shipley’s Yard, near Waterloo Station.”

Sherlock Holmes made a note of it.

“Now, Clayton, tell me all about the fare 票价 who came and watched this house at ten 十 o’ clock 钟 this morning and after‧ward 之后 followed the two gentlemen down Regent Street.”

The man looked surprised and a little embarrassed 阻碍. “Why, there’s no good my telling you things, for you seem to know as much as I do already,” said he. “The truth is that the gentle‧man 先生 told me that he was a detective 侦探 and that I was to say nothing about him to anyone.”

“My good fellow; this is a very serious business, and you may find your‧self 你自己 in a pretty bad position if you try to hide anything from me. You say that your fare 票价 told you that he was a detective 侦探?”

“Yes, he did.”

“When did he say this?”

“When he left me.”

“Did he say anything more?”

“He mentioned his name.”

Holmes cast 投 a swift 迅速 glance 一瞥 of triumph 胜利 at me. “Oh, he mentioned his name, did he? That was imprudent. What was the name that he mentioned?”

“His name,” said the cabman, “was Mr. Sherlock Holmes.”

Never have I seen my friend more completely taken aback 吓了一跳 than by the cabman’s reply. For an instant 瞬间 he sat in silent amazement 惊愕. Then he burst 爆裂 into a hearty 爽朗 laugh.

“A touch, Watson—an undeniable 不可否认 touch!” said he. “I feel a foil 挫败 as quick and supple as my own. He got home upon me very prettily that time. So his name was Sherlock Holmes, was it?”

“Yes, sir, that was the gentleman’s name.”

“Excellent! Tell me where you picked him up and all that occurred 发生.”

“He hailed 冰雹 me at half-past nine 九 in Trafalgar Square. He said that he was a detective 侦探, and he offered me two guineas 几内亚 if I would do exactly what he wanted all day and ask no questions. I was glad 高兴的 enough to agree. First we drove down to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there until two gentlemen came out and took a cab 出租车 from the rank 排列. We followed their cab 出租车 until it pulled up somewhere near here.”

“This very door,” said Holmes.

“Well, I couldn’t be sure of that, but I dare 敢 say my fare 票价 knew all about it. We pulled up half‧way 半 down the street and waited an hour and a half. Then the two gentlemen passed us, walking, and we followed down Baker Street and along—”

“I know,” said Holmes.

“Until we got three-quarters down Regent Street. Then my gentleman threw throw up the trap 陷阱；诱骗, and he cried that I should drive right away to Waterloo Station as hard as I could go. I whipped 鞭打 up the mare 母马 and we were there under the ten 十 minutes. Then he paid up his two guineas 几内亚, like a good one, and away he went into the station. Only just as he was leaving he turned round and he said: ‘It might interest you to know that you have been driving Mr. Sherlock Holmes.’ That’s how I come to know the name.”

“I see. And you saw no more of him?”

“Not after he went into the station.”

“And how would you describe Mr. Sherlock Holmes?”

The cabman scratched 刮 his head. “Well, he wasn’t altogether 全部地 such an easy gentleman to describe. I’d put him at forty 四十 years of age, and he was of a middle height 高度, two or three inches shorter than you, sir. He was dressed like a toff, and he had a black beard 胡须, cut square at the end, and a pale face. I don’t know as I could say more than that.”

“Colour of his eyes?”

“No, I can’t say that.”

“Nothing more that you can remember?”

“No, sir; nothing.”

“Well, then, here is your half-sovereign 君主. There’s another one waiting for you if you can bring any more information. Good-night!”

“Good-night, sir, and thank you!”

John Clayton departed 离开 chuckling 暗笑, and Holmes turned to me with a shrug 耸 of his shoulders and a rueful smile.

“Snap goes our third thread 线, and we end where we began,” said he. “The cunning 狡猾 rascal! He knew our number, knew that Sir Henry Baskerville had consulted 咨询；请教；查阅 me, spotted who I was in Regent Street, conjectured 推测 that I had got the number of the cab 出租车 and would lay lie my hands on the driver, and so sent back this audacious message. I tell you, Watson, this time we have got a foeman who is worthy 值得 of our steel 钢. I’ve been checkmated in London. I can only wish you better luck in Devonshire. But I’m not easy in my mind about it.”

“About what?”

“About sending you. It’s an ugly 难看的 business, Watson, an ugly dangerous 危险 business, and the more I see of it the less I like it. Yes, my dear fellow, you may laugh, but I give you my word that I shall be very glad 高兴的 to have you back safe and sound in Baker Street once more.”

Chapter 6. Baskerville Hall

Sir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed day, and we started as arranged for Devonshire. Mr. Sherlock Holmes drove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions 禁令 and advice 劝告.

“I will not bias 偏压 your mind by suggesting theories 理论 or suspicions 怀疑, Watson,” said he; “I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest possible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing 建构理论.”

“What sort of facts?” I asked.

“Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect 间接 upon the case, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his neighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles. I have made some inquiries 调查 myself 我 in the last few days, but the results have, I fear, been negative 负. One thing only appears to be certain, and that is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir 继承者, is an elderly gentleman of a very amiable 可亲 disposition 性格, so that this persecution 迫害 does not arise from him. I really think that we may eliminate 排除；消除；清除 him entirely from our calculations 计算. There remain the people who will actually surround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor 泊.”

“Would it not be well in the first place to get rid 使摆脱 of this Barrymore couple?”

“By no means. You could not make a greater mistake. If they are innocent 无辜 it would be a cruel 残酷的 injustice 不公正, and if they are guilty 有罪的；内疚的 we should be giving up all chance of bringing it home to them. No, no, we will preserve them upon our list of suspects 怀疑；嫌疑犯. Then there is a groom 马夫 at the Hall, if I remember right. There are two moor‧land 泊‧陆地；着陆 farmers. There is our friend Dr. Mortimer, whom 谁 I believe to be entirely honest 诚实的, and there is his wife, of whom 4 we know nothing. There is this naturalist, Stapleton, and there is his sister 姐妹, who is said to be a young lady of attractions 吸引. There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown 未知 factor 因子, and there are one or two other neighbours. These are the folk 民间 who must be your very special study.”

“I will do my best.”

“You have arms, I suppose?”

“Yes, I thought it as well to take them.”

“Most certainly. Keep your revolver 围绕 near you night and day, and never relax 放松 your pre‧caution 预防.”

Our friends had already secured 安全 a first-class carriage 运输 and were waiting for us upon the platform 平台.

“No, we have no news of any kind,” said Dr. Mortimer in answer to my friend’s questions. “I can swear 发誓 to one thing, and that is that we have not been shadowed during the last two days. We have never gone out without keeping a sharp watch, and no one could have escaped our notice.”

“You have always kept together, I presume 假设?”

“Except yesterday afternoon. I usually give up one day to pure amusement 娱乐 when I come to town, so I spent spend it at the Museum 博物馆 of the College of Surgeons.”

“And I went to look at the folk 民间 in the park,” said Baskerville.

“But we had no trouble of any kind.”

“It was imprudent, all the same,” said Holmes, shaking his head and looking very grave 坟墓；严重的. “I beg 乞讨, Sir Henry, that you will not go about alone. Some great misfortune 不幸 will befall you if you do. Did you get your other boot?”

“No, sir, it is gone for‧ever 永远.”

“Indeed. That is very interesting. Well, good-bye 再见,” he added as the train began to glide 滑行 down the platform 平台. “Bear in mind, Sir Henry, one of the phrases 短语 in that queer 奇怪 old legend 传说 which Dr. Mortimer has read to us, and avoid the moor 泊 in those hours of darkness 黑暗 when the powers of evil are exalted.”

I looked back at the platform when we had left it far behind and saw the tall, austere figure of Holmes standing motion‧less 运动‧少 and gazing 凝视 after us.

The journey 旅行 was a swift 迅速 and pleasant one, and I spent it in making the more intimate 亲密 acquaintance 熟人 of my two companions 同伴 and in playing with Dr. Mortimer’s spaniel. In a very few hours the brown earth had become ruddy, the brick 砖 had changed to granite 花岗岩, and red cows 奶牛 grazed 轻擦 in well-hedged 树篱 fields where the lush 青葱的 grasses 草 and more luxuriant vegetation 植被 spoke speak of a richer, if a damper 微湿的, climate 气候. Young Baskerville stared eagerly 渴望的 out of the window and cried aloud 高声 with delight as he recognized the familiar features 特征 of the Devon scenery 风景.

“I’ve been over a good part of the world since I left it, Dr. Watson,” said he; “but I have never seen a place to compare with it.”

“I never saw a Devonshire man who did not swear 发誓 by his county 县,” I remarked.

“It depends upon the breed 养育；繁殖 of men quite as much as on the county 县,” said Dr. Mortimer. “A glance 一瞥 at our friend here reveals 揭示 the rounded head of the Celt, which carries inside it the Celtic enthusiasm 热情 and power of attachment 附件. Poor Sir Charles’s head was of a very rare type, half Gaelic, half Ivernian in its characteristics 特性. But you were very young when you last saw Baskerville Hall, were you not?”

“I was a boy in my teens 青少年 at the time of my father’s death and had never seen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage 小屋 on the South Coast. Thence I went straight to a friend in America. I tell you it is all as new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I’m as keen 热切的 as possible to see the moor 泊.”

“Are you? Then your wish is easily granted 发放, for there is your first sight of the moor 泊,” said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage 运输 window.

Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose rise in the distance a gray, melancholy 愁绪 hill, with a strange jagged 乱切 summit 首脑, dim 暗淡 and vague 模糊 in the distance, like some fantastic 奇妙 landscape 景观 in a dream. Baskerville sat for a long time, his eyes fixed upon it, and I read upon his eager 渴望的 face how much it meant to him, this first sight of that strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway 摇摆 so long and left their mark so deep. There he sat, with his tweed suit and his American accent 口音, in the corner of a prosaic rail‧way 铁路- carriage 运输, and yet as I looked at his dark and expressive 表现的 face I felt more than ever how true a descendant 后代 he was of that long line of high-blooded, fiery 火热, and masterful men. There were pride 自尊, valour, and strength in his thick brows 眉头, his sensitive nostrils 鼻孔, and his large hazel eyes. If on that forbidding 禁止 moor 泊 a difficult and dangerous 危险 quest 寻求 should lie before us, this was at least a comrade 同志 for whom 5 one might venture 企业；投机活动；商业冒险 to take a risk with the certainty 确定性 that he would bravely 勇敢的 share it.

The train pulled up at a small way‧side 路；方法‧边；面 station and we all descended 下来. Outside, beyond the low, white fence 栅栏, a wagonette with a pair of cobs was waiting. Our coming was evidently 明显地 a great event, for station-master and porters 搬运工 clustered 簇 round us to carry out our luggage 行李. It was a sweet, simple country spot, but I was surprised to observe that by the gate 门 there stood two soldierly men in dark uniforms 制服 who leaned lean upon their short rifles 步枪 and glanced 一瞥 keenly 热切的 at us as we passed. The coach‧man 教师‧男人, a hard-faced, gnarled little fellow, saluted 礼炮 Sir Henry Baskerville, and in a few minutes we were flying swiftly 如飞 down the broad, white road. Rolling pasture 牧场 lands curved upward 向上 on either side of us, and old gabled houses peeped 窥视 out from amid 际 the thick green foliage 叶子, but behind the peaceful 平静的 and sunlit country‧side 农村 there rose ever, dark against the evening sky, the long, gloomy 阴沉 curve of the moor 泊, broken break by the jagged 乱切 and sinister 险恶 hills.

The wagonette swung swing round into a side road, and we curved upward 向上 through deep lanes 车道 worn wear by centuries of wheels, high banks on either side, heavy with dripping 滴 moss 苔藓 and fleshy hart’s-tongue 舌头 ferns 蕨类. Bronzing bracken and mottled bramble gleamed 闪光 in the light of the sinking 淹没 sun. Still steadily rising, we passed over a narrow granite 花岗岩 bridge and skirted 裙子 a noisy 嘈杂 stream which gushed 喷 swiftly 如飞 down, foaming 泡沫 and roaring 咆哮 amid 际 the gray boulders 漂砾. Both road and stream wound 创伤 up through a valley dense 稠密 with scrub 擦洗 oak 橡木 and fir 冷杉. At every turn Baskerville gave an exclamation of delight, looking eagerly about him and asking count‧less 无数 questions. To his eyes all seemed beautiful 美丽, but to me a tinge of melancholy 愁绪 lay upon the country‧side 农村, which bore bear so clearly the mark of the waning 没落 year. Yellow leaves carpeted 地毯 the lanes 车道 and fluttered 扑 down upon us as we passed. The rattle 霸王鞭 of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts 漂移 of rotting 腐烂 vegetation 植被— sad 悲哀的 gifts 赠品, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw before the carriage 3 of the returning heir 继承者 of the Baskervilles.

“Halloa!” cried Dr. Mortimer, “what is this?”

A steep 陡峭的 curve of heath 健康-clad 包层的 land, an outlying spur 骨刺 of the moor 泊, lay in front of us. On the summit 首脑, hard and clear like an equestrian statue 雕像 upon its pedestal, was a mounted 增加 soldier, dark and stern 严肃, his rifle 步枪 poised 平衡 ready over his fore‧arm 前臂. He was watching the road along which we travelled.

“What is this, Perkins?” asked Dr. Mortimer.

Our driver half turned in his seat. “There’s a convict 定罪 escaped from Princetown, sir. He’s been out three days now, and the warders watch every road and every station, but they’ve had no sight of him yet. The farmers about here don’t like it, sir, and that’s a fact.”

“Well, I understand that they get five pounds if they can give information.”

“Yes, sir, but the chance of five pounds is but a poor thing compared to the chance of having your throat cut. You see, it isn’t like any ordinary convict 定罪. This is a man that would stick at nothing.”

“Who is he, then?”

“It is Selden, the Notting Hill murderer.”

I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an interest on account of the peculiar 奇怪的 ferocity of the crime 罪行 and the wanton brutality 残酷 which had marked all the actions of the assassin 刺客. The commutation of his death sentence 句子 had been due to some doubts as to his complete sanity 明智, so atrocious was his conduct 进行. Our wagonette had topped a rise and in front of us rose the huge 巨大 expanse 广阔 of the moor 泊, mottled with gnarled and craggy cairns and tors. A cold wind swept sweep down from it and set us shivering 发抖. Somewhere there, on that desolate 荒凉 plain, was lurking 匿伏 this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow 地洞 like a wild beast 野兽, his heart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast 投 him out. It needed but this to complete the grim 严峻 suggestiveness of the barren 荒芜 waste, the chilling 寒意 wind, and the darkling sky. Even Baskerville fell fall silent and pulled his over‧coat 之上‧上衣 more closely around him.

We had left the fertile 沃 country behind and beneath 之下 us. We looked back on it now, the slanting 倾斜 rays 光束 of a low sun turning the streams to threads of gold 金 and glowing 辉光 on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad tangle 纠纷 of the wood‧land 林地. The road in front of us grew grow bleaker 苍凉 and wilder over huge 巨大 russet and olive 橄榄 slopes 斜坡, sprinkled 撒 with giant 巨人 boulders 漂砾. Now and then we passed a moor‧land 泊‧陆地；着陆 cottage 小屋, walled and roofed with stone, with no creeper 爬行 to break its harsh 苛刻 out‧line 概述；轮廓线. Suddenly we looked down into a cup‧like 杯子‧喜欢；象 depression 忧闷，压抑，不快乐, patched 补丁 with stunted 特技 oaks 橡木 and firs 冷杉 which had been twisted 扭成一束 and bent bend by the fury 愤怒 of years of storm 暴风雨. Two high, narrow towers 塔 rose over the trees. The driver pointed with his whip 鞭打.

“Baskerville Hall,” said he.

Its master had risen and was staring with flushed 红晕 cheeks 脸颊 and shining 发光 eyes. A few minutes later we had reached the lodge 存放-gates 门, a maze 迷宫 of fantastic 奇妙 tracery in wrought 锻 iron 铁器, with weather-bitten 咬 pillars 支柱 on either side, blotched with lichens, and surmounted by the boars 公猪’ heads of the Baskervilles. The lodge was a ruin 破坏 of black granite 花岗岩 and bared 光秃秃的 ribs 肋骨 of rafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed 构造, the first fruit of Sir Charles’s South African gold 金.

Through the gate‧way 网关 we passed into the avenue, where the wheels were again hushed 嘘 amid 际 the leaves, and the old trees shot shoot their branches in a sombre tunnel 隧道 over our heads. Baskerville shuddered 不寒而栗 as he looked up the long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost 鬼 at the farther end.

“Was it here?” he asked in a low voice.

“No, no, the yew alley 胡同 is on the other side.”

The young heir 继承者 glanced 一瞥 round with a gloomy 阴沉 face.

“It’s no wonder my uncle felt as if trouble were coming on him in such a place as this,” said he. “It’s enough to scare 惊恐 any man. I’ll have a row 行 of electric lamps 灯 up here inside of six months, and you won win’t know it again, with a thou‧sand 千 candle 蜡烛-power Swan and Edison right here in front of the hall door.”

The avenue opened into a broad expanse 广阔 of turf 草皮, and the house lay before us. In the fading 褪去 light I could see that the centre was a heavy block of building from which a porch 门廊 projected 项目. The whole front was draped 悬垂 in ivy, with a patch 补丁 clipped 夹 bare 光秃秃的 here and there where a window or a coat of arms broke break through the dark veil 面纱. From this central 中央 block rose the twin 双胞胎之一 towers, ancient, crenelated, and pierced 刺穿 with many loop‧hole 漏洞. To right and left of the turrets were more modern wings 翅膀 of black granite 花岗岩. A dull 钝的；没兴趣 light shone 发光:shine through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high chimneys 烟囱 which rose from the steep 陡峭的, high-angled roof there sprang a single black column 柱 of smoke.

“Welcome, Sir Henry! Welcome to Baskerville Hall!”

A tall man had stepped from the shadow of the porch 门廊 to open the door of the wagonette. The figure of a woman was silhouetted 轮廓 against the yellow light of the hall. She came out and helped the man to hand down our bags 袋.

“You don’t mind my driving straight home, Sir Henry?” said Dr. Mortimer. “My wife is expecting me.”

“Surely you will stay and have some dinner?”

“No, I must go. I shall probably find some work awaiting 等待 me. I would stay to show you over the house, but Barrymore will be a better guide than I. Good-bye 再见, and never hesitate 犹豫 night or day to send for me if I can be of service.”

The wheels died away down the drive while Sir Henry and I turned into the hall, and the door clanged heavily 很大，沉重地 behind us. It was a fine apartment in which we found ourselves 我们自己, large, lofty 高远, and heavily raftered with huge 巨大 baulks of age-blackened 黩 oak 橡木. In the great old-fashioned fire‧place 壁炉 behind the high iron 铁器 dogs a log 记录-fire crackled 裂纹 and snapped 卡. Sir Henry and I held out our hands to it, for we were numb 麻木 from our long drive. Then we gazed 凝视 round us at the high, thin window of old stained glass, the oak 橡木 panelling 面板, the stags’ heads, the coats of arms upon the walls, all dim 暗淡 and sombre in the subdued 征服 light of the central 中央 lamp 灯.

“It’s just as I imagined it,” said Sir Henry. “Is it not the very picture of an old family home? To think that this should be the same hall in which for five hundred 百 years my people have lived. It strikes me solemn 庄严的 to think of it.”

I saw his dark face lit up with a boyish enthusiasm 热情 as he gazed 凝视 about him. The light beat upon him where he stood, but long shadows trailed 乡间小道 down the walls and hung like a black canopy 华盖 above him. Barrymore had returned from taking our luggage 行李 to our rooms. He stood in front of us now with the subdued 征服 manner of a well-trained servant 仆人. He was a remark‧able 非凡的；奇异的；引人注目的-looking man, tall, hand‧some 英俊, with a square black beard 3 and pale, distinguished features 特征.

“Would you wish dinner to be served at once, sir?”

“Is it ready?”

“In a very few minutes, sir. You will find hot water in your rooms. My wife and I will be happy, Sir Henry, to stay with you until you have made your fresh arrangements 安排, but you will understand that under the new conditions this house will require a consider‧able 大量 staff.”

“What new conditions?”

“I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we were able to look after his wants. You would, naturally 自然地, wish to have more company, and so you will need changes in your house‧hold 家庭.”

“Do you mean that your wife and you wish to leave?”

“Only when it is quite convenient 方便的 to you, sir.”

“But your family have been with us for several generations 代, have they not? I should be sorry 对不起的 to begin my life here by breaking an old family connection.”

I seemed to discern 辨别 some signs of emotion 情感 upon the butler 男管家’s white face.

“I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife. But to tell the truth, sir, we were both very much attached 连接 to Sir Charles, and his death gave us a shock and made these surroundings very painful 痛苦 to us. I fear that we shall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall.”

“But what do you intend to do?”

“I have no doubt, sir, that we shall succeed in establishing 建立 ourselves 我们自己 in some business. Sir Charles’s generosity 慷慨 has given us the means to do so. And now, sir, perhaps I had best show you to your rooms.”

A square balustraded gallery 画廊 ran round the top of the old hall, approached by a double stair 楼梯. From this central 中央 point two long corridors 走廊 extended the whole length of the building, from which all the bed‧room 卧室 opened. My own was in the same wing 翅膀 as Baskerville’s and almost next door to it. These rooms appeared to be much more modern than the central 中央 part of the house, and the bright paper and numerous 很多的 candles 蜡烛 did something to remove 去掉 the sombre impression 印象 which our arrival 到达 had left upon my mind.

But the dining 吃饭-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow and gloom 愁云. It was a long chamber 室 with a step separating the dais where the family sat from the lower portion 一部分；一份 reserved for their dependents. At one end a minstrel’s gallery 画廊 over‧look 俯瞰 it. Black beams 梁 shot across above our heads, with a smoke-darkened 变暗 ceiling 天花板 beyond them. With rows 行 of flaring 闪光 torches 火炬 to light it up, and the colour and rude 粗鲁的 hilarity of an old-time banquet 宴会, it might have softened 软的:soft; but now, when two black-clothed gentlemen sat in the little circle of light thrown throw by a shaded 遮阳；阴 lamp 灯, one’s voice became hushed 嘘 and one’s spirit subdued 征服. A dim 暗淡 line of ancestors 祖先, in every variety of dress, from the Elizabethan knight 骑士 to the buck 降压 of the Regency, stared down upon us and daunted 吓住 us by their silent company. We talked little, and I for one was glad when the meal 餐 was over and we were able to retire into the modern billiard-room and smoke a cigarette 香烟，纸烟.

“My word, it isn’t a very cheerful 快乐 place,” said Sir Henry. “I suppose one can tone 音 down to it, but I feel a bit 一点 out of the picture at present. I don’t wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone in such a house as this. However, if it suits you, we will retire early tonight 今晚, and perhaps things may seem more cheerful 快乐 in the morning.”

I drew aside my curtains 窗帘 before I went to bed and looked out from my window. It opened upon the grassy 绿色的 space which lay in front of the hall door. Beyond, two copses of trees moaned 呻吟 and swung in a rising wind. A half moon broke through the rifts 裂痕 of racing clouds. In its cold light I saw beyond the trees a broken fringe 边缘 of rocks, and the long, low curve of the melancholy 愁绪 moor 泊. I closed the curtain 窗帘, feeling that my last impression 印象 was in keeping with the rest.

And yet it was not quite the last. I found myself 我 weary 厌倦 and yet wakeful, tossing 折腾 rest‧less 不安 from side to side, seeking 寻求 for the sleep which would not come. Far away a chiming 钟 clock 钟 struck strike out the quarters of the hours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house. And then suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable 明白的. It was the sob 哭泣 of a woman, the muffled, strangling 扼杀 gasp 喘气 of one who is torn tear by an uncontrollable sorrow 悲痛. I sat up in bed and listened intently 意图. The noise 噪音 could not have been far away and was certainly in the house. For half an hour I waited with every nerve 神经 on the alert 警报, but there came no other sound save the chiming 钟 clock 钟 and the rustle 沙沙 of the ivy on the wall.

Chapter 7. The Stapletons of Merripit House

The fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from our minds the grim 严峻 and gray impression 印象 which had been left upon both of us by our first experience of Baskerville Hall. As Sir Henry and I sat at break‧fast 早餐 the sun‧light 阳光 flooded 洪水 in through the high mullioned windows, throwing watery 含水 patches 补丁 of colour from the coats of arms which covered them. The dark panelling 面板 glowed 辉光 like bronze 青铜 in the golden 金色的 rays, and it was hard to realize that this was indeed the chamber 室 which had struck such a gloom 愁云 into our souls upon the evening before.

“I guess it is ourselves 我们自己 and not the house that we have to blame 指责!” said the baronet. “We were tired with our journey 旅行 and chilled 寒意 by our drive, so we took a gray view of the place. Now we are fresh and well, so it is all cheerful 快乐 once more.”

“And yet it was not entirely a question of imagination 想像力,” I answered. “Did you, for example, happen to hear someone, a woman I think, sobbing 哭泣 in the night?”

“That is curious, for I did when I was half asleep 睡着的 fancy 想像 that I heard something of the sort. I waited quite a time, but there was no more of it, so I concluded 得出结论 that it was all a dream.”

“I heard it distinctly 历历, and I am sure that it was really the sob 哭泣 of a woman.”

“We must ask about this right away.” He rang the bell 钟 and asked Barrymore whether he could account for our experience. It seemed to me that the pallid features 特征 of the butler 男管家 turned a shade 遮阳；阴 paler still as he listened to his master’s question.

“There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry,” he answered. “One is the scullery-maid 女佣, who sleeps in the other wing 翅膀. The other is my wife, and I can answer for it that the sound could not have come from her.”

And yet he lied lie as he said it, for it chanced that after break‧fast 早餐 I met Mrs. Barrymore in the long corridor 走廊 with the sun full upon her face. She was a large, impassive, heavy-featured 特征 woman with a stern 严肃 set expression of mouth. But her tell‧tale 告诉‧故事，不实之词 eyes were red and glanced 一瞥 at me from between swollen 膨胀；增强:swell lids 盖子. It was she, then, who wept weep in the night, and if she did so her husband must know it. Yet he had taken the obvious 明显 risk of discovery 发现 in declaring that it was not so. Why had he done this? And why did she weep so bitterly? Already round this pale-faced, hand‧some 英俊, black-bearded man there was gathering an atmosphere 大气层 of mystery and of gloom 愁云. It was he who had been the first to discover the body of Sir Charles, and we had only his word for all the circumstances 环境 which led up to the old man’s death. Was it possible that it was Barrymore, after all, whom we had seen in the cab 出租车 in Regent Street? The beard might well have been the same. The cabman had described a some‧what 有些 shorter man, but such an impression 印象 might easily have been erroneous 错误. How could I settle the point for‧ever 永远? Obviously 明显 the first thing to do was to see the Grimpen post‧master 邮件‧主人；硕士 and find whether the test telegram 电报 had really been placed in Barrymore’s own hands. Be the answer what it might, I should at least have something to report to Sherlock Holmes.

Sir Henry had numerous 很多的 papers to examine after breakfast, so that the time was propitious for my excursion 短途旅行. It was a pleasant walk of four miles along the edge of the moor 泊, leading me at last to a small gray hamlet 村庄, in which two larger buildings, which proved to be the inn 小旅馆 and the house of Dr. Mortimer, stood high above the rest. The post‧master 邮件‧主人；硕士, who was also the village grocer, had a clear recollection 回忆 of the telegram 电报.

“Certainly, sir,” said he, “I had the telegram 电报 delivered to Mr. Barrymore exactly as directed.”

“Who delivered it?”

“My boy here. James, you delivered that telegram 电报 to Mr. Barrymore at the Hall last week, did you not?”

“Yes, father, I delivered it.”

“Into his own hands?” I asked.

“Well, he was up in the loft 阁楼 at the time, so that I could not put it into his own hands, but I gave it into Mrs. Barrymore’s hands, and she promised to deliver it at once.”

“Did you see Mr. Barrymore?”

“No, sir; I tell you he was in the loft 阁楼.”

“If you didn’t see him, how do you know he was in the loft 阁楼?”

“Well, surely his own wife ought to know where he is,” said the post‧master 邮件‧主人；硕士 testily. “Didn’t he get the telegram 电报? If there is any mistake it is for Mr. Barrymore himself to complain 抱怨.”

It seemed hope‧less 绝望 to pursue 追求 the inquiry 调查 any farther, but it was clear that in spite 恶意 of Holmes’s ruse we had no proof 证明 that Barrymore had not been in London all the time. Suppose that it were so—suppose that the same man had been the last who had seen Sir Charles alive 活的；有生命的, and the first to dog the new heir 继承者 when he returned to England. What then? Was he the agent of others or had he some sinister 险恶 design of his own? What interest could he have in persecuting 迫害 the Baskerville family? I thought of the strange warning clipped 夹 out of the leading article of the Times. Was that his work or was it possibly the doing of someone who was bent upon counter‧act 抵消 his schemes 方案? The only conceivable 可以想象 motive 动机 was that which had been suggested by Sir Henry, that if the family could be scared 惊恐 away a comfort‧able 舒服；自在 and permanent 永久 home would be secured 安全 for the Barrymores. But surely such an explanation 说明 as that would be quite inadequate 不足 to account for the deep and subtle 微妙 scheming 方案 which seemed to be weaving 编 an invisible 无形 net 网 round the young baronet. Holmes himself had said that no more complex 复杂 case had come to him in all the long series 系列 of his sensational 轰动的 investigations 调查. I prayed, as I walked back along the gray, lonely 孤独的 road, that my friend might soon be freed from his preoccupations 当务之急 and able to come down to take this heavy burden 负荷，重负 of responsibility 责任 from my shoulders.

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted 打断 by the sound of running feet behind me and by a voice which called me by name. I turned, expecting to see Dr. Mortimer, but to my surprise it was a stranger who was pursuing 追求 me. He was a small, slim 瘦, clean-shaven, prim-faced man, flaxen-haired and leanjawed, between thirty 三十 and forty 四十 years of age, dressed in a gray suit and wearing a straw 稻草 hat. A tin 锡 box for botanical specimens 标本 hung over his shoulder and he carried a green butter‧fly 蝴蝶- net 网 in one of his hands.

“You will, I am sure, excuse 原谅 my presumption 假定, Dr. Watson,” said he as he came panting 喘气 up to where I stood. “Here on the moor 泊 we are homely folk 民间 and do not wait for formal introductions 介绍. You may possibly have heard my name from our mutual 相互 friend, Mortimer. I am Stapleton, of Merripit House.”

“Your net and box would have told me as much,” said I, “for I knew that Mr. Stapleton was a naturalist. But how did you know me?”

“I have been calling on Mortimer, and he pointed you out to me from the window of his surgery 医疗手术 as you passed. As our road lay the same way I thought that I would overtake you and introduce myself 我. I trust that Sir Henry is none the worse for his journey 旅行?”

“He is very well, thank you.”

“We were all rather afraid that after the sad 悲哀的 death of Sir Charles the new baronet might refuse to live here. It is asking much of a wealthy 富裕 man to come down and bury 埋葬 himself in a place of this kind, but I need not tell you that it means a very great deal to the country‧side 农村. Sir Henry has, I suppose, no superstitious fears in the matter?”

“I do not think that it is likely.”

“Of course you know the legend 传说 of the fiend dog which haunts 出没 the family?”

“I have heard it.”

“It is extra‧ordinary 非凡的 how credulous the peasants 农 are about here! Any number of them are ready to swear 发誓 that they have seen such a creature 动物；生物 upon the moor 泊.” He spoke with a smile, but I seemed to read in his eyes that he took the matter more seriously. “The story took a great hold upon the imagination 想像力 of Sir Charles, and I have no doubt that it led to his tragic 悲惨 end.”

“But how?”

“His nerves 神经 were so worked up that the appearance of any dog might have had a fatal 致命 effect upon his diseased heart. I fancy 想像 that he really did see something of the kind upon that last night in the yew alley 胡同. I feared that some disaster 灾难，大祸 might occur 发生, for I was very fond 喜欢的 of the old man, and I knew that his heart was weak.”

“How did you know that?”

“My friend Mortimer told me.”

“You think, then, that some dog pursued 追求 Sir Charles, and that he died of fright 恐怖 in consequence 后果?”

“Have you any better explanation 说明?”

“I have not come to any conclusion 结论.”

“Has Mr. Sherlock Holmes?”

The words took away my breath for an instant but a glance 一瞥 at the placid face and steadfast eyes of my companion 同伴 showed that no surprise was intended.

“It is use‧less 无用 for us to pretend 假装 that we do not know you, Dr. Watson,” said he. “The records of your detective 侦探 have reached us here, and you could not celebrate 庆祝 him without being known your‧self 你自己. When Mortimer told me your name he could not deny 拒绝 your identity 身分. If you are here, then it follows that Mr. Sherlock Holmes is interesting himself in the matter, and I am naturally 自然地 curious to know what view he may take.”

“I am afraid that I cannot answer that question.”

“May I ask if he is going to honour us with a visit himself?”

“He cannot leave town at present. He has other cases which engage 从事 his attention.”

“What a pity 怜悯! He might throw some light on that which is so dark to us. But as to your own researches, if there is any possible way in which I can be of service to you I trust that you will command me. If I had any indication 迹象 of the nature of your suspicions or how you propose to investigate 调查 the case, I might perhaps even now give you some aid 援助 or advice 劝告.”

“I assure 向…保证；肯定地说 you that I am simply here upon a visit to my friend, Sir Henry, and that I need no help of any kind.”

“Excellent!” said Stapleton. “You are perfectly right to be wary 警惕 and discreet 慎重. I am justly reproved for what I feel was an unjustifiable intrusion 侵扰, and I promise you that I will not mention the matter again.”

We had come to a point where a narrow grassy 绿色的 path 小路 struck off from the road and wound 创伤 away across the moor 泊. A steep 陡峭的, boulder 漂砾-sprinkled 撒 hill lay upon the right which had in bygone days been cut into a granite 花岗岩 quarry 采石场. The face which was turned towards us formed a dark cliff 悬崖, with ferns 蕨类 and brambles growing in its niches 壁龛. From over a distant 遥远的 rise there floated 漂浮 a gray plume 羽 of smoke.

“A mode‧rate 有节制的 walk along this moor 泊- path 小路 brings us to Merripit House,” said he. “Perhaps you will spare 节省；多余的；备用件 an hour that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to my sister 姐妹.”

My first thought was that I should be by Sir Henry’s side. But then I remembered the pile 堆 of papers and bills with which his study table was littered 窝. It was certain that I could not help with those. And Holmes had expressly said that I should study the neighbours upon the moor 泊. I accepted Stapleton’s invitation 邀请, and we turned together down the path.

“It is a wonderful 精彩 place, the moor 泊,” said he, looking round over the undulating downs, long green rollers 滚筒, with crests 波峰 of jagged 乱切 granite 花岗岩 foaming 泡沫 up into fantastic 奇妙 surges 浪涌. “You never tire of the moor 泊. You cannot think the wonderful 精彩 secrets which it contains. It is so vast 广大, and so barren 荒芜, and so mysterious 神秘.”

“You know it well, then?”

“I have only been here two years. The residents 居民 would call me a newcomer 新人. We came shortly after Sir Charles settled. But my tastes led me to explore every part of the country round, and I should think that there are few men who know it better than I do.”

“Is it hard to know?”

“Very hard. You see, for example, this great plain to the north here with the queer 奇怪 hills breaking out of it. Do you observe anything remark‧able 非凡的；奇异的；引人注目的 about that?”

“It would be a rare place for a gallop 驰骋.”

“You would naturally 自然地 think so and the thought has cost several their lives before now. You notice those bright green spots scattered 散落 thickly over it?”

“Yes, they seem more fertile 沃 than the rest.”

Stapleton laughed. “That is the great Grimpen Mire,” said he. “A false 虚伪的 step yonder means death to man or beast 野兽. Only yesterday I saw one of the moor 泊 ponies 小马 wander 漫步 into it. He never came out. I saw his head for quite a long time craning 起重机 out of the bog 沼泽-hole, but it sucked 吮吸 him down at last. Even in dry seasons it is a danger to cross it, but after these autumn 秋 rains it is an awful 糟糕的 place. And yet I can find my way to the very heart of it and return alive 活的；有生命的. By George, there is another of those miserable 悲惨的 ponies 小马!”

Something brown was rolling and tossing 折腾 among the green sedges. Then a long, agonized 烦恼, writhing neck shot upward 向上 and a dreadful 可怕 cry echoed 回声 over the moor 泊. It turned me cold with horror 恐怖, but my companion 同伴’s nerves 神经 seemed to be stronger than mine.

“It’s gone!” said he. “The mire has him. Two in two days, and many more, perhaps, for they get in the way of going there in the dry weather and never know the difference until the mire has them in its clutches 离合器. It’s a bad place, the great Grimpen Mire.”

“And you say you can penetrate 穿透 it?”

“Yes, there are one or two paths 小路 which a very active man can take. I have found them out.”

“But why should you wish to go into so horrible 可怕 a place?”

“Well, you see the hills beyond? They are really islands cut off on all sides by the impassable mire, which has crawled 爬行 round them in the course of years. That is where the rare plants and the butter‧fly 蝴蝶 are, if you have the wit 风趣 to reach them.”

“I shall try my luck some day.”

He looked at me with a surprised face. “For God’s sake 缘故 put such an idea out of your mind,” said he. “Your blood would be upon my head. I assure 向…保证；肯定地说 you that there would not be the least chance of your coming back alive. It is only by remembering certain complex 复杂 land‧mark 里程碑 that I am able to do it.”

“Halloa!” I cried. “What is that?”

A long, low moan 呻吟, indescribably sad, swept over the moor 泊. It filled the whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a dull 钝的；没兴趣 murmur 私语 it swelled 膨胀；增强:swell into a deep roar 咆哮, and then sank 淹没:sink back into a melancholy 愁绪, throbbing 搏动 murmur 私语 once again. Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.

“Queer place, the moor 泊!” said he.

“But what is it?”

“The peasants 农 say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its prey 猎物. I’ve heard it once or twice 两次 before, but never quite so loud 响亮的.”

I looked round, with a chill 寒意 of fear in my heart, at the huge 巨大 swelling 膨胀；增强 plain, mottled with the green patches 补丁 of rushes 仓促. Nothing stirred 搅动 over the vast 广大 expanse 广阔 save a pair of ravens, which croaked loudly 响亮的 from a tor behind us.

“You are an educated 教育 man. You don’t believe such non‧sense 废话 as that?” said I. “What do you think is the cause of so strange a sound?”

“Bogs make queer 奇怪 noises 噪音 sometimes. It’s the mud 泥 settling, or the water rising, or something.”

“No, no, that was a living voice.”

“Well, perhaps it was. Did you ever hear a bittern booming 繁荣?”

“No, I never did.”

“It’s a very rare bird—practically extinct 绝种—in England now, but all things are possible upon the moor 泊. Yes, I should not be surprised to learn that what we have heard is the cry of the last of the bitterns.”

“It’s the weirdest 奇怪的, strangest thing that ever I heard in my life.”

“Yes, it’s rather an uncanny 神秘的 place altogether 全部地. Look at the hill‧side 山坡 yonder. What do you make of those?”

The whole steep 3 slope 斜坡 was covered with gray circular 圆形的 rings of stone, a score 得分了 of them at least.

“What are they? Sheep 羊-pens 笔?”

“No, they are the homes of our worthy 值得 ancestors 祖先. Prehistoric man lived thickly on the moor 泊, and as no one in particular has lived there since, we find all his little arrangements 安排 exactly as he left them. These are his wigwams with the roofs off. You can even see his hearth 炉 and his couch 长椅 if you have the curiosity 好奇心 to go inside.

“But it is quite a town. When was it inhabited 居住于?”

“Neolithic man—no date.”

“What did he do?”

“He grazed 轻擦 his cattle on these slopes, and he learned to dig 挖 for tin 锡 when the bronze 青铜 sword 剑 began to supersede 取而代之 the stone axe 斧子. Look at the great trench 沟 in the opposite hill. That is his mark. Yes, you will find some very singular 单数 points about the moor 泊, Dr. Watson. Oh, excuse 3 me an instant! It is surely Cyclopides.”

A small fly or moth 蛾 had fluttered 扑 across our path, and in an instant Stapleton was rushing 仓促 with extra‧ordinary 非凡的 energy 能源 and speed in pursuit 追求 of it. To my dismay 沮丧 the creature 动物；生物 flew fly straight for the great mire, and my acquaintance 熟人 never paused 暂停 for an instant, bounding 必定；跳 from tuft to tuft behind it, his green net waving in the air. His gray clothes and jerky, zigzag, irregular 不规则 progress made him not unlike 不像 some huge 巨大 moth 蛾 himself. I was standing watching his pursuit 追求 with a mixture 混合 of admiration 钦佩 for his extra‧ordinary 非凡的 activity and fear lest 免得 he should lose his footing in the treacherous 奸诈 mire, when I heard the sound of steps and, turning round, found a woman near me upon the path. She had come from the direction in which the plume 羽 of smoke indicated 表明 the position of Merripit House, but the dip 浸 of the moor 泊 had hid hide her until she was quite close.

I could not doubt that this was the Miss Stapleton of whom I had been told, since ladies of any sort must be few upon the moor 泊, and I remembered that I had heard someone describe her as being a beauty. The woman who approached me was certainly that, and of a most uncommon 罕见 type. There could not have been a greater contrast 对比 between brother and sister, for Stapleton was neutral 中性 tinted 着色, with light hair and gray eyes, while she was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England—slim 瘦, elegant 优雅, and tall. She had a proud, finely cut face, so regular that it might have seemed impassive were it not for the sensitive mouth and the beautiful 美丽 dark, eager 渴望的 eyes. With her perfect figure and elegant 优雅 dress she was, indeed, a strange apparition upon a lonely 孤独的 moor‧land 泊‧陆地；着陆 path. Her eyes were on her brother as I turned, and then she quickened 加速 her pace 步伐，速度 towards me. I had raised my hat and was about to make some explanatory 解释性 remark when her own words turned all my thoughts into a new channel 渠道.

“Go back!” she said. “Go straight back to London, instantly 瞬间.”

I could only stare at her in stupid 愚蠢的 surprise. Her eyes blazed 火焰 at me, and she tapped 敲；龙头；汲取（液体） the ground grind impatiently 不耐烦 with her foot.

“Why should I go back?” I asked.

“I cannot explain.” She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp in her utterance 发声. “But for God’s sake 缘故 do what I ask you. Go back and never set foot upon the moor 泊 again.”

“But I have only just come.”

“Man, man!” she cried. “Can you not tell when a warning is for your own good? Go back to London! Start tonight 今晚! Get away from this place at all costs! Hush, my brother is coming! Not a word of what I have said. Would you mind getting that orchid for me among the mare 母马’s-tails 尾 yonder? We are very rich in orchids on the moor 泊, though, of course, you are rather late to see the beauties of the place.”

Stapleton had abandoned 放弃 the chase 追 and came back to us breathing 呼吸 hard and flushed 红晕 with his exertions.

“Halloa, Beryl!” said he, and it seemed to me that the tone 音 of his greeting 欢迎 was not altogether 全部地 a cordial one.

“Well, Jack, you are very hot.”

“Yes, I was chasing 追 a Cyclopides. He is very rare and seldom 很少 found in the late autumn 秋. What a pity 怜悯 that I should have missed him!” He spoke unconcernedly, but his small light eyes glanced 一瞥 incessantly from the girl to me.

“You have introduced yourselves, I can see.”

“Yes. I was telling Sir Henry that it was rather late for him to see the true beauties of the moor 泊.”

“Why, who do you think this is?”

“I imagine that it must be Sir Henry Baskerville.”

“No, no,” said I. “Only a humble 谦逊的 commoner, but his friend. My name is Dr. Watson.”

A flush 红晕 of vexation passed over her expressive 表现的 face. “We have been talking at cross purposes,” said she.

“Why, you had not very much time for talk,” her brother remarked with the same questioning eyes.

“I talked as if Dr. Watson were a resident 居民 instead of being merely a visitor 访问者,” said she. “It cannot much matter to him whether it is early or late for the orchids. But you will come on, will you not, and see Merripit House?”

A short walk brought us to it, a bleak 苍凉 moor‧land 泊‧陆地；着陆 house, once the farm of some grazier in the old prosperous 繁荣 days, but now put into repair 修理 and turned into a modern dwelling 住. An orchard 果园 surrounded it, but the trees, as is usual upon the moor 泊, were stunted 特技 and nipped 掐, and the effect of the whole place was mean and melancholy 愁绪. We were admitted by a strange, wizened, rusty 生疏-coated old man‧servant 男人‧仆人, who seemed in keeping with the house. Inside, however, there were large rooms furnished with an elegance 优雅 in which I seemed to recognize the taste of the lady. As I looked from their windows at the interminable granite 花岗岩-flecked moor 泊 rolling unbroken to the farthest horizon 地平线 I could not but marvel 奇迹 at what could have brought this highly educated man and this beautiful 美丽 woman to live in such a place.

“Queer spot to choose, is it not?” said he as if in answer to my thought. “And yet we manage to make ourselves 我们自己 fairly happy, do we not, Beryl?”

“Quite happy,” said she, but there was no ring of conviction 定罪 in her words.

“I had a school,” said Stapleton. “It was in the north country. The work to a man of my temperament 气质 was mechanical 机械 and uninteresting, but the privilege 特权 of living with youth, of helping to mould those young minds, and of impressing 给…留下深刻印象；使钦佩 them with one’s own character and ideals was very dear to me. However, the fates 命运 were against us. A serious epidemic 疫情 broke out in the school and three of the boys died. It never recovered 恢复 from the blow, and much of my capital was irretrievably swallowed 吞 up. And yet, if it were not for the loss of the charming 魔力；使陶醉 companion‧ship 伙伴关系 of the boys, I could rejoice 欢庆 over my own misfortune 不幸, for, with my strong tastes for botany and zoology, I find an unlimited 无限 field of work here, and my sister is as devoted 奉献 to Nature as I am. All this, Dr. Watson, has been brought upon your head by your expression as you surveyed 调查 the moor 泊 out of our window.”

“It certainly did cross my mind that it might be a little dull 钝的；没兴趣—less for you, perhaps, than for your sister.”

“No, no, I am never dull 3,” said she quickly.

“We have books, we have our studies, and we have interesting neighbours. Dr. Mortimer is a most learned man in his own line. Poor Sir Charles was also an admirable 令人钦佩 companion 3. We knew him well and miss him more than I can tell. Do you think that I should intrude 侵入 if I were to call this afternoon and make the acquaintance 熟人 of Sir Henry?”

“I am sure that he would be delighted.”

“Then perhaps you would mention that I propose to do so. We may in our humble 谦逊的 way do something to make things more easy for him until he becomes accustomed 使习惯 to his new surroundings. Will you come upstairs 楼上, Dr. Watson, and inspect 检查 my collection of Lepidoptera? I think it is the most complete one in the south-west of England. By the time that you have looked through them lunch 午餐 will be almost ready.”

But I was eager to get back to my charge. The melancholy 愁绪 of the moor 泊, the death of the unfortunate 不幸的 pony 小马, the weird 奇怪的 sound which had been associated 关联 with the grim 严峻 legend 传说 of the Baskervilles, all these things tinged my thoughts with sadness 悲. Then on the top of these more or less vague 模糊 impressions 印象 there had come the definite 定 and distinct 不同 warning of Miss Stapleton, delivered with such intense 强烈的，极度的 earnestness that I could not doubt that some grave 坟墓；严重的 and deep reason lay behind it. I resisted 抵抗 all pressure to stay for lunch 午餐, and I set off at once upon my return journey 3, taking the grass 草-grown grow path by which we had come.

It seems, however, that there must have been some short cut for those who knew it, for before I had reached the road I was astounded 惊奇 to see Miss Stapleton sitting upon a rock by the side of the track 小路. Her face was beautifully 精美 flushed 红晕 with her exertions and she held her hand to her side.

“I have run all the way in order to cut you off, Dr. Watson,” said she. “I had not even time to put on my hat. I must not stop, or my brother may miss me. I wanted to say to you how sorry I am about the stupid 愚蠢的 mistake I made in thinking that you were Sir Henry. Please forget the words I said, which have no application whatever to you.”

“But I can’t forget them, Miss Stapleton,” said I. “I am Sir Henry’s friend, and his welfare 津贴，福利 is a very close concern of mine. Tell me why it was that you were so eager that Sir Henry should return to London.”

“A woman’s whim 怪念头, Dr. Watson. When you know me better you will understand that I cannot always give reasons for what I say or do.”

“No, no. I remember the thrill 颤抖 in your voice. I remember the look in your eyes. Please, please, be frank 坦率 with me, Miss Stapleton, for ever since I have been here I have been conscious of shadows all round me. Life has become like that great Grimpen Mire, with little green patches 补丁 every‧where 到处 into which one may sink 淹没 and with no guide to point the track 小路. Tell me then what it was that you meant, and I will promise to convey 传达 your warning to Sir Henry.”

An expression of irresolution passed for an instant over her face, but her eyes had hardened 使硬化 again when she answered me.

“You make too much of it, Dr. Watson,” said she. “My brother and I were very much shocked by the death of Sir Charles. We knew him very intimately 密切, for his favourite walk was over the moor 泊 to our house. He was deeply impressed 给…留下深刻印象；使钦佩 with the curse 诅咒 which hung over the family, and when this tragedy 悲剧 came I naturally 自然地 felt that there must be some grounds for the fears which he had expressed. I was distressed 苦难 therefore when another member of the family came down to live here, and I felt that he should be warned of the danger which he will run. That was all which I intended to convey 传达.

“But what is the danger?”

“You know the story of the hound 猎犬?”

“I do not believe in such non‧sense 废话.”

“But I do. If you have any influence with Sir Henry, take him away from a place which has always been fatal 致命 to his family. The world is wide. Why should he wish to live at the place of danger?”

“Because it is the place of danger. That is Sir Henry’s nature. I fear that unless you can give me some more definite 定 information than this it would be impossible to get him to move.”

“I cannot say anything definite 定, for I do not know anything definite 定.”

“I would ask you one more question, Miss Stapleton. If you meant no more than this when you first spoke to me, why should you not wish your brother to over‧hear 偷听 what you said? There is nothing to which he, or anyone else, could object.”

“My brother is very anxious 焦急的 to have the Hall inhabited 居住于, for he thinks it is for the good of the poor folk 民间 upon the moor 泊. He would be very angry 生气的 if he knew that I have said anything which might induce 促使 Sir Henry to go away. But I have done my duty now and I will say no more. I must go back, or he will miss me and suspect 怀疑；嫌疑犯 that I have seen you. Good-bye 再见!” She turned and had disappeared 不见 in a few minutes among the scattered boulders 漂砾, while I, with my soul full of vague 模糊 fears, pursued 追求 my way to Baskerville Hall.

Chapter 8. First Report of Dr. Watson

From this point onward 向前 I will follow the course of events by transcribing 录制 my own letters to Mr. Sherlock Holmes which lie before me on the table. One page is missing, but otherwise they are exactly as written and show my feelings and suspicions of the moment more accurately 准确的；精确的；正确的 than my memory, clear as it is upon these tragic 悲惨 events, can possibly do.

Baskerville Hall, October 13th. MY DEAR HOLMES: My previous 以前 letters and telegrams 电报 have kept you pretty well up to date as to all that has occurred 发生 in this most God-forsaken corner of the world. The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor 泊 sink 淹没 into one’s soul, its vastness, and also its grim 严峻 charm 魔力；使陶醉. When you are once out upon its bosom you have left all traces 跟踪 of modern England behind you, but, on the other hand, you are conscious every‧where 到处 of the homes and the work of the pre‧historic 史前 people. On all sides of you as you walk are the houses of these forgotten folk 民间, with their graves 坟墓；严重的 and the huge 巨大 monoliths which are supposed to have marked their temples 庙. As you look at their gray stone huts 小屋 against the scarred 瘢痕 hill‧side 山坡 you leave your own age behind you, and if you were to see a skin 皮-clad 包层的, hairy 毛茸茸 man crawl 爬行 out from the low door fitting a flint-tipped 尖；窍门 arrow 箭头；矢 on to the string 绳子 of his bow 弓, you would feel that his presence there was more natural 自然 than your own. The strange thing is that they should have lived so thickly on what must always have been most unfruitful soil. I am no antiquarian, but I could imagine that they were some unwarlike and harried race who were forced to accept that which none other would occupy 占据.

All this, however, is foreign to the mission 任务 on which you sent me and will probably be very uninteresting to your severely 严峻的 practical mind. I can still remember your complete indifference 漠不关心 as to whether the sun moved round the earth or the earth round the sun. Let me, therefore, return to the facts concerning Sir Henry Baskerville.

If you have not had any report within the last few days it is because up to today there was nothing of importance to relate. Then a very surprising circumstance 环境 occurred 发生, which I shall tell you in due course. But, first of all, I must keep you in touch with some of the other factors 因子 in the situation.

One of these, concerning which I have said little, is the escaped convict 定罪 upon the moor 泊. There is strong reason now to believe that he has got right away, which is a consider‧able 大量 relief to the lonely 孤独的 householders of this district. A fort‧night 两星期 has passed since his flight 飞行, during which he has not been seen and nothing has been heard of him. It is surely inconceivable that he could have held out upon the moor 泊 during all that time. Of course, so far as his concealment goes there is no difficulty at all. Any one of these stone huts would give him a hiding-place. But there is nothing to eat unless he were to catch and slaughter 屠宰 one of the moor 泊 sheep 羊. We think, therefore, that he has gone, and the outlying farmers sleep the better in consequence 后果.

We are four able-bodied men in this house‧hold 家庭, so that we could take good care of ourselves 我们自己, but I confess 供认 that I have had uneasy 不安 moments when I have thought of the Stapletons. They live miles from any help. There are one maid 女佣, an old man‧servant 男人‧仆人, the sister, and the brother, the latter not a very strong man. They would be help‧less 无助 in the hands of a desperate 殊死 fellow like this Notting Hill criminal 罪犯 if he could once effect an entrance 入口. Both Sir Henry and I were concerned at their situation, and it was suggested that Perkins the groom 马夫 should go over to sleep there, but Stapleton would not hear of it.

The fact is that our friend, the baronet, begins to display 显示 a consider‧able 大量 interest in our fair neighbour. It is not to be wondered at, for time hangs heavily 很大，沉重地 in this lonely 3 spot to an active man like him, and she is a very fascinating 深深吸引；迷住 and beautiful 美丽 woman. There is something tropical 热带 and exotic 异国情调 about her which forms a singular 单数 contrast 对比 to her cool and unemotional brother. Yet he also gives the idea of hidden hide fires. He has certainly a very marked influence over her, for I have seen her continually 不断 glance 一瞥 at him as she talked as if seeking 寻求 approbation for what she said. I trust that he is kind to her. There is a dry glitter 闪光 in his eyes and a firm set of his thin lips, which goes with a positive 正 and possibly a harsh 苛刻 nature. You would find him an interesting study.

He came over to call upon Baskerville on that first day, and the very next morning he took us both to show us the spot where the legend 传说 of the wicked 邪恶的 Hugo is supposed to have had its origin. It was an excursion 短途旅行 of some miles across the moor 泊 to a place which is so dismal 惨淡 that it might have suggested the story. We found a short valley between rugged 小块地毯 tors which led to an open, grassy 绿色的 space flecked over with the white cotton 棉 grass 草. In the middle of it rose two great stones, worn and sharpened 使锐利 at the upper end until they looked like the huge 巨大 corroding fangs of some monstrous 滔天 beast 野兽. In every way it corresponded 对应 with the scene of the old tragedy 悲剧. Sir Henry was much interested and asked Stapleton more than once whether he did really believe in the possibility 可能性 of the interference 干涉 of the super‧natural 超自然 in the affairs of men. He spoke lightly, but it was evident 明显 that he was very much in earnest 热心的. Stapleton was guarded in his replies, but it was easy to see that he said less than he might, and that he would not express his whole opinion out of consideration 考虑 for the feelings of the baronet. He told us of similar 类似 cases, where families had suffered from some evil influence, and he left us with the impression 印象 that he shared the popular view upon the matter.

On our way back we stayed for lunch 3 at Merripit House, and it was there that Sir Henry made the acquaintance 熟人 of Miss Stapleton. From the first moment that he saw her he appeared to be strongly attracted 吸引 by her, and I am much mistaken 错误 if the feeling was not mutual 相互. He referred to her again and again on our walk home, and since then hardly a day has passed that we have not seen something of the brother and sister. They dine 吃饭 here tonight 今晚, and there is some talk of our going to them next week. One would imagine that such a match would be very welcome to Stapleton, and yet I have more than once caught catch a look of the strongest disapprobation in his face when Sir Henry has been paying some attention to his sister. He is much attached 连接 to her, no doubt, and would lead a lonely life without her, but it would seem the height 高度 of selfishness if he were to stand in the way of her making so brilliant 出色的 a marriage. Yet I am certain that he does not wish their intimacy 亲密关系 to ripen 变熟 into love, and I have several times observed that he has taken pains to prevent them from being tete-a-tete. By the way, your instructions 指令 to me never to allow Sir Henry to go out alone will become very much more onerous if a love affair were to be added to our other difficulties. My popularity 声望 would soon suffer if I were to carry out your orders to the letter.

The other day—Thursday, to be more exact—Dr. Mortimer lunched 午餐 with us. He has been excavating 挖掘 a barrow at Long Down and has got a pre‧historic 史前 skull 头骨 which fills him with great joy 喜悦. Never was there such a single-minded enthusiast 爱好者 as he! The Stapletons came in after‧ward 之后, and the good doctor took us all to the yew alley 胡同 at Sir Henry’s request to show us exactly how everything occurred 发生 upon that fatal 致命 night. It is a long, dismal 惨淡 walk, the yew alley 胡同, between two high walls of clipped 夹 hedge 树篱, with a narrow band of grass upon either side. At the far end is an old tumble 下跌-down summer-house. Halfway down is the moor 泊- gate 门, where the old gentleman left his cigar 雪茄-ash 灰. It is a white wooden 木制的 gate with a latch 闩. Beyond it lies the wide moor 泊. I remembered your theory 理论 of the affair and tried to picture all that had occurred 发生. As the old man stood there he saw something coming across the moor 泊, something which terrified 惊吓 him so that he lost his wits 风趣 and ran and ran until he died of sheer horror 恐怖 and exhaustion 衰竭. There was the long, gloomy 阴沉 tunnel 隧道 down which he fled. And from what? A sheep 羊-dog of the moor 泊? Or a spectral 光谱 hound 猎犬, black, silent, and monstrous 滔天? Was there a human agency in the matter? Did the pale, watchful Barrymore know more than he cared to say? It was all dim 暗淡 and vague 模糊, but always there is the dark shadow of crime 罪行 behind it.

One other neighbour I have met since I wrote last. This is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who lives some four miles to the south of us. He is an elderly man, red-faced, white-haired, and choleric. His passion 激情，热情；强烈情感 is for the British law, and he has spent a large for‧tune 命运 in litigation 诉讼. He fights for the mere pleasure of fighting and is equally ready to take up either side of a question, so that it is no wonder that he has found it a costly amusement 娱乐. Sometimes he will shut 关闭 up a right of way and defy 违抗 the parish 教区 to make him open it. At others he will with his own hands tear down some other man’s gate and declare that a path has existed there from time immemorial, defying 违抗 the owner to prosecute 起诉 him for trespass. He is learned in old manorial and communal 公社 rights, and he applies his knowledge sometimes in favour of the villagers 村民 of Fernworthy and sometimes against them, so that he is periodically 定期 either carried in triumph 胜利 down the village street or else burned burn in effigy, according to his latest exploit 利用. He is said to have about seven 七 law‧suit 诉讼 upon his hands at present, which will probably swallow 吞 up the remainder 余 of his for‧tune 命运 and so draw his sting 叮 and leave him harm‧less 无害 for the future. Apart 相隔 from the law he seems a kindly, good-natured person, and I only mention him because you were particular that I should send some description of the people who surround us. He is curiously employed at present, for, being an amateur 业余 astronomer 天文学家, he has an excellent telescope 望远镜, with which he lies upon the roof of his own house and sweeps the moor 泊 all day in the hope of catching a glimpse 一瞥 of the escaped convict 定罪. If he would con‧fine 局限 his energies 能源 to this all would be well, but there are rumours that he intends to prosecute 起诉 Dr. Mortimer for opening a grave without the consent 同意 of the next of kin 亲属 because he dug 挖:dig up the Neolithic skull 头骨 in the barrow on Long Down. He helps to keep our lives from being monotonous and gives a little comic 滑稽 relief where it is badly 很糟地 needed.

And now, having brought you up to date in the escaped convict 定罪, the Stapletons, Dr. Mortimer, and Frankland, of Lafter Hall, let me end on that which is most important and tell you more about the Barrymores, and especially about the surprising development of last night.

First of all about the test telegram 电报, which you sent from London in order to make sure that Barrymore was really here. I have already explained that the testimony 见证 of the post‧master 邮件‧主人；硕士 shows that the test was worth‧less 无用 and that we have no proof 证明 one way or the other. I told Sir Henry how the matter stood, and he at once, in his down‧right 彻头彻尾 fashion, had Barrymore up and asked him whether he had received the telegram 电报 himself. Barrymore said that he had.

“Did the boy deliver it into your own hands?” asked Sir Henry.

Barrymore looked surprised, and considered for a little time.

“No,” said he, “I was in the box-room at the time, and my wife brought it up to me.”

“Did you answer it your‧self 你自己?”

“No; I told my wife what to answer and she went down to write it.”

In the evening he recurred 复发 to the subject of his own accord.

“I could not quite understand the object of your questions this morning, Sir Henry,” said he. “I trust that they do not mean that I have done anything to forfeit 丧失 your confidence 信心?”

Sir Henry had to assure 向…保证；肯定地说 him that it was not so and pacify him by giving him a consider‧able 大量 part of his old wardrobe 衣柜, the London outfit 配备 having now all arrived.

Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me. She is a heavy, solid person, very limited, intensely 强烈的，极度的 respect‧able 可敬, and inclined 倾斜 to be puritanical. You could hardly conceive 构想 a less emotional 情绪化 subject. Yet I have told you how, on the first night here, I heard her sobbing 哭泣 bitterly, and since then I have more than once observed traces 跟踪 of tears upon her face. Some deep sorrow 悲痛 gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty 有罪的；内疚的 memory which haunts 出没 her, and sometimes I suspect 怀疑；嫌疑犯 Barrymore of being a domestic 国内 tyrant. I have always felt that there was something singular 单数 and question‧able 可疑的 in this man’s character, but the adventure 冒险活动 of last night brings all my suspicions to a head.

And yet it may seem a small matter in itself 本身. You are aware 知道的 that I am not a very sound sleeper, and since I have been on guard in this house my slumbers have been lighter than ever. Last night, about two in the morning, I was aroused 引起 by a steal‧thy 偷，拿‧你的 step passing my room. I rose, opened my door, and peeped 窥视 out. A long black shadow was trailing 乡间小道 down the corridor 走廊. It was thrown by a man who walked softly down the passage with a candle 蜡烛 held in his hand. He was in shirt 衬衫 and trousers 长裤, with no covering to his feet. I could merely see the out‧line 概述；轮廓线, but his height told me that it was Barrymore. He walked very slowly and circumspectly, and there was something indescribably guilty 有罪的；内疚的 and furtive in his whole appearance.

I have told you that the corridor 走廊 is broken by the balcony 阳台 which runs round the hall, but that it is resumed 恢复 upon the farther side. I waited until he had passed out of sight and then I followed him. When I came round the balcony 阳台 he had reached the end of the farther corridor 走廊, and I could see from the glimmer of light through an open door that he had entered one of the rooms. Now, all these rooms are unfurnished and unoccupied so that his expedition 远征 became more mysterious 神秘 than ever. The light shone 发光:shine steadily as if he were standing motion‧less 运动‧少. I crept 爬行:creep down the passage as noiselessly as I could and peeped 窥视 round the corner of the door.

Barrymore was crouching 蹲伏 at the window with the candle 蜡烛 held against the glass. His profile 简短的描述 was half turned towards me, and his face seemed to be rigid 死板 with expectation 期望 as he stared out into the blackness 黑 of the moor 泊. For some minutes he stood watching intently 意图. Then he gave a deep groan 呻吟 and with an impatient 不耐烦 gesture 手势 he put out the light. Instantly I made my way back to my room, and very shortly came the steal‧thy 偷，拿‧你的 steps passing once more upon their return journey. Long after‧ward 之后 when I had fallen fall into a light sleep I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but I could not tell whence the sound came. What it all means I cannot guess, but there is some secret business going on in this house of gloom 愁云 which sooner or later we shall get to the bottom of. I do not trouble you with my theories 理论, for you asked me to furnish you only with facts. I have had a long talk with Sir Henry this morning, and we have made a plan of campaign 运动 founded upon my observations 意见 of last night. I will not speak about it just now, but it should make my next report interesting reading.