That morning Sir Henry and Barrymore argued about Selden,the escaped prisoner.Barrymore said that it was wrong to try to catch Selden.
'But the man is dangerous,'said Sir Henry.'He'll do any thing.Nobody is safe until he is in prison again.We must tell the police.'
'I promise he won't break into any house,'said Barrymore,'and he won't cause any trouble.In a few days he will catch a boat for South America.Please don't tell the police about him.If you tell the police,my wife and I will be in serious trouble.'
'What do you say,Watson?' asked Sir Henry,turning to me.
'I don't think he will break into houses,or cause trouble.If he did,the police would know where to look for him and would catch him.He's not a stupid man.'
'I hope you're right,'said Sir Henry.'I'm sure we're breaking the law.But I don't want to get Barrymore and his wife into trouble,so I shall not tell the police.I shall leave Selden in peace.'
Barrymore could not find the words to thank Sir Henry enough.Then he said:'You have been so kind to us that I want to do something for you in return.I have never told any one else.I know something more about poor Sir Charles'death.'
Sir Henry and I jumped up at once.
'Do you know how he died?'Sir Henry asked.
'No,sir,I don't know that,but I know why he was waiting at the gate He was going to meet a woman.'
'Sir Charles was meeting a woman?Who was the woman?'
'I don't know her name,'Barrymore said,'but it begins with L.L.'
'How do you know this,Barrymore?'I asked.
'Well,Sir Charles got a letter on the morning of the day he died.It was from Newtown,and the address was in a woman's writing.I forgot all about it,but some time after Sir Charles died my wife was cleaning the fireplace in his study.She found a letter.Most of it was burned,but the bottom of one page was not burned.On it was written:“Please,please,burn this letter,and be at the gate by ten o'clock.L.L.”The paper fell into pieces as my wife went to move it.We don't know who L.L.is,but if you could find out,you might learn more about Sir Charles'death.We haven't told anyone else.We felt it would not be good for poor,kind Sir Charles.But we thought we ought to tell you,Sir Henry.'
The Barrymores left us and Sir Henry turned to me.'If we can find L.L.,the mystery may be at an end,'he said.'What do you think we should do,Watson?'
'I must write to Holmes at once,'I said,and I went straight to my room and wrote a letter to Holmes,which gave him all the details of Barrymore's story.
On the following day heavy rain fell without stopping.I put on my coat and went for a long walk on the moor.I thought of Selden out on the cold moor in this weather.And I thought of the other man,the mysterious watcher.
As I walked,Dr Mortimer drove past me.He stopped and said he would take me back to the Hall.
'I expect you know almost everybody living near here,'I said.'Do you know a woman whose names begin with the let ters L.L.?'
Dr Mortimer thought for a minute,and then he said:'Yes,Mrs Laura Lyons.She lives in Newtown.'
'Who is she?'I asked.
'She's Mr Frankland's daughter.'
'What,old Frankland who has the large telescope?'
'Yes,'said Dr Mortimer.'Laura married a painter called Lyons who came to paint pictures of the moor.But he was cruel to her,and after a while he left her.Her father will not speak to her,because she married against his wishes.So her husband and her father have made her life very unhappy.'
'How does she live?'I asked.
'Several people who knew her sad story have helped her.Stapleton and Sir Charles gave her some money.I gave a little myself.She used the money to start a typewriting business.'
Dr Mortimer wanted to know why I was asking about Mrs Lyons.However,I preferred to keep the reason secret,and we talked about other things for the rest of the journey.
Only one other thing of interest happened that day.In the evening after dinner I had a few words with Barrymore alone.I asked him whether Selden had left the country.
'I don't know,sir,'Barrymore replied.'I hope he has gone.But I've not heard anything of him since I last left food and some clothes for him,and that was three days ago.'
'Did you see him then?'
'No,sir,but the food and clothes were gone when I next went that way,'Barrymore told me.
'Then Selden was certainly there?'I asked.
'I think so,sir,unless the other man took everything.'
I sat very still and looked hard at Barrymore.'You know there is another man,then?Have you seen him?'
'No,sir,but Selden told me about him a week or more ago.He is hiding from someone,too,but he is not an escaped prisoner.I don't like it,sir.Something evil is going to happen,I'm sure.Sir Henry would be much safer in London.'
'Did Selden tell you anything more about the other man?'I asked.
'He looked like a gentleman.He was living in one of the old stone huts on the moor.A boy works for him and brings him all the food and things he needs.That's all Selden told me.'
I thanked him,and he left me.I went to the window and looked out at the rain and the clouds.It was a wild night.I knew the huts Barrymore had spoken about.There were many of them on the moor.They had been built many hundreds of years ago by the people who lived on the moor.They would not keep a man warm and dry in bad weather.Selden could not choose to live anywhere else,but why did the other man live in such conditions?
I sat and thought what I should do next.I decided I must try to find the man who had been watching us.Was he the en emy who had been following us since the very beginning in London? If he was,and I could catch him,perhaps our diffi culties would be at an end.
I also decided to hunt the man on my own.Sir Henry was still shaken by the terrible cry we had heard on the moor.I did not want to add to his troubles or to lead him into more danger.
次日陰晦多霧。莊園被低沉的濃霧包圍起來(lái)。它們時(shí)而散開(kāi)，露出晦暗而又寒冷的沼地及其濕漉漉、灰蒙蒙的巖石。天氣使得我們心情沉重。處于危險(xiǎn)之中時(shí)很難高興起來(lái)。我想起了查爾斯爵士的死，還有獵犬發(fā)出的可怕的吼聲，這種聲音我已聽(tīng)到過(guò)兩次了。福爾摩斯不相信世上會(huì)有一只超乎自然的獵犬存在。但是，事實(shí)總歸是事實(shí)，我本人也聽(tīng)到了獵犬的聲音。沼地上確有一只巨大的獵犬嗎？假如真有的話，那它藏在什么地方呢？它到哪里去找吃的呢？白天為何沒(méi)人看到過(guò)它呢？合乎自然的解釋幾乎和超乎自然的解釋一樣難以叫人接受。
那天早晨，亨利爵士與白瑞摩就那個(gè)逃犯塞爾登而爭(zhēng)辯了起來(lái)。白瑞摩說(shuō)去抓塞爾登是件錯(cuò)事。
“可是此人很危險(xiǎn)，”亨利說(shuō)道。“他什么事情都干得出來(lái)。直到他被重新關(guān)押起來(lái)，大家才會(huì)獲得安全。我們必須報(bào)告警方。”
“我保證他不會(huì)闖進(jìn)任何人家，”白瑞摩說(shuō)道，“他也不會(huì)惹任何麻煩。幾天之后他將乘船去南美。請(qǐng)別向警方告發(fā)他。您若報(bào)告了警方，我和我妻子就會(huì)有很大的麻煩。”
“華生，您有何高見(jiàn)？”亨利爵士轉(zhuǎn)身向我問(wèn)道。
“我認(rèn)為他不會(huì)闖進(jìn)任何人家或惹任何麻煩。否則的話，警方就會(huì)知道該在何處搜尋并抓獲他了。他并不是一個(gè)蠢貨。”
“我希望您是對(duì)的，”亨利爵士說(shuō)道。“我敢肯定我們現(xiàn)在是在犯法�？墒俏也幌胧拱兹鹉捌涮萦诶Ь持�，所以我是不會(huì)向警方告發(fā)的。我將不再過(guò)問(wèn)塞爾登的事情了。”
白瑞摩找不出足以用來(lái)感謝亨利爵士的話語(yǔ)。接著他說(shuō)道：“您對(duì)我們真是太好了，我因此想報(bào)答您一番。有件事我從未對(duì)旁人講過(guò)。關(guān)于不幸的查爾斯爵爺?shù)乃牢疫�知道些別的情況。”
我和亨利爵士立刻跳起身來(lái)。
“你知道他是怎么死的嗎？”亨利爵士問(wèn)道。
“不知道，爵爺，那個(gè)我可不知道；不過(guò)我知道他站在門口等人的緣由。他是為了和一位女士會(huì)面。”
“查爾斯爵士要和一位女士會(huì)面？那個(gè)女人是誰(shuí)？”
“我不知道她的姓名，”白瑞摩說(shuō)道，“但是它是以L．L．開(kāi)頭的。”
“你是如何知道這個(gè)的，白瑞摩？”我問(wèn)道。
“啊，查爾斯爵爺在他逝去的那天早上收到了一封來(lái)信。這封信發(fā)自紐頓，地址還是女人的筆跡。我已把這些忘得一干二凈了。但在查爾斯爵爺死去之后過(guò)了一段時(shí)間時(shí)，我妻子去清理他書房?jī)?nèi)的壁爐。她發(fā)現(xiàn)了一封信。大部分信已燒焦了，只有一頁(yè)信紙的底端還未被燒盡。上面寫著：‘請(qǐng)您千萬(wàn)將此信燒掉，并在10點(diǎn)鐘時(shí)到柵門那里去。L．L．’我妻子伸手去碰它時(shí)它就變成碎片了。我們不知道誰(shuí)是L．L．，但是您若能找到那位女士的話，您就會(huì)多知道些關(guān)于查爾斯爵爺?shù)乃赖那闆r了。我們從未把它告訴給別人。我們認(rèn)為把這件事兜出來(lái)對(duì)我們的那位可憐的、好心的查爾斯爵爺并沒(méi)有什么好處。但是我們已覺(jué)得應(yīng)該告訴給您，亨利爵爺。”
白瑞摩夫婦離開(kāi)了我們，亨利爵士向我轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)。“要是我們能夠查明L．L．這個(gè)人，整個(gè)疑團(tuán)就真相大白了。”他說(shuō)道，“您認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該干什么呢，華生？”
“我必須馬上給福爾摩斯寫信，”我說(shuō)道，于是便徑自到房間里給福爾摩斯寫信去了。那封信給他提供了白瑞摩所講的故事的種種細(xì)節(jié)。
第二天大雨終日。我穿上外衣，到沼地上長(zhǎng)途散步去了。我想到了在這種天氣里身處寒冷的沼地的塞爾登。我還想到了另一個(gè)人，那個(gè)神秘的監(jiān)視者。
我正走時(shí)，摩梯末醫(yī)生從我身旁驅(qū)車而過(guò)。他停了下來(lái)，還說(shuō)他將把我送回莊園。
“我覺(jué)得您認(rèn)識(shí)住在這兒附近的幾乎每個(gè)人。”我說(shuō)道，“您認(rèn)識(shí)姓名以L．L．字母開(kāi)頭的女士嗎？”
摩梯末醫(yī)生思考了片刻，然后說(shuō)道：“認(rèn)識(shí)，有一位勞拉·萊昂絲夫人。她住在紐頓。”
“她是誰(shuí)啊？”我問(wèn)道。
“她是弗蘭克蘭先生的女兒。”
“什么？就是那個(gè)有個(gè)大望遠(yuǎn)鏡的老弗蘭克蘭嗎？”
“是的，”摩梯末醫(yī)生講道。“勞拉曾和一位名叫萊昂絲的、到沼地寫生的畫家結(jié)了婚。但是他對(duì)她很殘暴，不日之后還離開(kāi)了她。她父親堅(jiān)決和她不講話了，因?yàn)樗?dāng)時(shí)是違背父親的意愿而結(jié)的婚。因此，她的丈夫和她的父親已使她的生活非常不幸福。”
“那她怎么生活呢？”我問(wèn)道。
“知曉她那悲慘故事的幾個(gè)人幫助著她。斯臺(tái)普頓與查爾斯爵士給過(guò)她一些錢。我本人也給過(guò)一點(diǎn)。她用這些錢開(kāi)始干打字的營(yíng)生。”
摩梯末醫(yī)生想知道我問(wèn)這些問(wèn)題的目的何在。然而，我還是喜歡把其中的原因保密起來(lái)，我們?cè)谟嘞碌穆猛局斜阏劻诵﹦e的事情。
那一天只發(fā)生了另一件有趣的事情。晚上，晚飯過(guò)后我私下與白瑞摩聊了幾句。我問(wèn)他塞爾登是否已經(jīng)離開(kāi)了這個(gè)國(guó)家。
“我不知道，先生，”白瑞摩應(yīng)答道。“我希望他已走了。但是，自從上次給他送食物和衣物以來(lái)，我便再也沒(méi)聽(tīng)到過(guò)關(guān)于他的情況。那已是三天之前的事了。”
“那一次你看到他了嗎？”
“沒(méi)有，先生，但是當(dāng)我再到那里去時(shí)，食物和衣物已經(jīng)不見(jiàn)了。”白瑞摩告訴我。
“那么說(shuō)，他一定還在那里嗎？”我問(wèn)道。
“我是這么認(rèn)為的，先生，除非是另外那個(gè)人拿走了一切東西。”
我靜坐著，眼睛直盯著白瑞摩。“那么說(shuō)，你是知道還有另外一個(gè)人的啰？你見(jiàn)過(guò)他嗎？”
“沒(méi)有，先生，但是塞爾登大約在一周之前或是更早些時(shí)告訴了我有關(guān)他的情況。他也在躲藏著呢，但是他并不是個(gè)逃犯。我并不喜歡這種局勢(shì)，先生。我敢肯定，這兒將要發(fā)生一件邪惡的事情。亨利爵爺在倫敦則要安全得多。”
“塞爾登還就另外那個(gè)人對(duì)你講了些什么？”我問(wèn)道。
“他看起來(lái)像位紳士。他住在沼地上的一個(gè)古老的小石屋中。有個(gè)小男孩為他服務(wù)，給他送來(lái)他所需要的食物和其他東西。塞爾登就告訴了我這么多。”
我謝過(guò)了他，他就走開(kāi)了。我走到窗前，望著屋外的雨和云彩。這是個(gè)暴風(fēng)雨夜。我知道白瑞摩談及的那些石屋。沼地上有許多石屋。它們是在數(shù)百年前由住在沼地上的那些人們修建的，天氣惡劣時(shí)不可能不讓里邊的住戶感到又冷又潮。塞爾登是別無(wú)他處可住才呆在那兒的，但是另外那個(gè)人為何要居住在那么惡劣的條件下呢？
我坐下來(lái)，思考著我下一步的舉動(dòng)。我已決定了，我一定要竭力找到一直監(jiān)視著我們的那個(gè)人。他是那個(gè)從倫敦便開(kāi)始跟蹤著我們的敵人嗎？如果是的話，如果我能將其抓獲的話，那么我們的困境也許就到頭了。
我還決定獨(dú)自去搜尋那個(gè)人。亨利爵士依舊因我們?cè)谡拥厣下?tīng)到的那個(gè)可怕的吼聲而心緒不寧。我不想再給他添什么麻煩或者把他引向更危險(xiǎn)的處境。
