章节正文
As I went out Mr. Poynter remarked:
``You will clear some four hundred easy.
Write to the professor. Bring my receipt
to the office next week, and we will settle.''
We settled. I tore up his receipt and gave
him one for fifteen hundred dollars, and
received in notes five hundred dollars.
In a day or so I had a note from the
professor stating that Miss Poynter was in no
peril; that she was, as he thought, worried,
and had only a mild bronchial trouble. He
advised me to do so-and-so, and had ventured
to reassure my young patient. Now, this
was a little more than I wanted. However,
I wrote Mr. Poynter that the professor thought
she had bronchitis, that in her case tubercle
would be very apt to follow, and that at present,
and until she was safe, we considered
marriage undesirable.
Mr. Poynter said it might have been put
stronger, but he would make it do. He made
it. The first effect was an attack of hysterics.
The final result was that she eloped with
her lover, because if she was to die, as she
wrote her aunt, she wished to die in her
husband's arms. Human nature plus hysteria
will defy all knowledge of character. This
was what our old professor of practice used
to say.
Mr. Poynter had now to account for a
large trust estate which had somehow dwindled.
Unhappily, princes are not the only
people in whom you must not put your trust.
As to myself, Professor L. somehow got to
know the facts, and cut me dead. It was
unpleasant, but I had my five hundred
dollars, and--I needed them. I do not see how
I could have been more careful.
After this things got worse. Mr. Poynter
broke, and did not even pay my last bill. I
had to accept several rather doubtful cases,
and once a policeman I knew advised me
that I had better be on my guard.
But, really, so long as I adhered to the
common code of my profession I was in danger
of going without my dinner.
Just as I was at my worst and in despair
something always turned up, but it was sure
to be risky; and now my aunt refused to see
me, and Peninnah wrote me goody-goody
letters, and said Aunt Rachel had been unable
to find certain bank-notes she had hidden,
and vowed I had taken them. This Peninnah
did not think possible. I agreed
with her. The notes were found somewhat
later by Peninnah in the toes of a pair of my
aunt's old slippers. Of course I wrote an
indignant letter. My aunt declared that
Peninnah had stolen the notes, and restored
them when they were missed. Poor Peninnah!
This did not seem to me very likely,
but Peninnah did love fine clothes.
One night, as I was debating with myself
as to how I was to improve my position, I
heard a knock on my shutter, and, going to
the door, let in a broad-shouldered man with
a whisky face and a great hooked nose. He
wore a heavy black beard and mustache, and
looked like the wolf in the pictures of Red
Riding-hood which I had seen as a child.
``Your name's Sanderaft?'' said the man.
``Yes; that's my name--Dr. Sanderaft.''
As he sat down he shook the snow over
everything, and said coolly: ``Set down, doc;
I want to talk with you.''
``What can I do for you?'' said I.
The man looked around the room rather
scornfully, at the same time throwing back
his coat and displaying a red neckerchief
and a huge garnet pin. ``Guess you're not
overly rich,'' he said.
``Not especially,'' said I. ``What's that
your business?''
He did not answer, but merely said,
``Know Simon Stagers?''
``Can't say I do,'' said I, cautiously. Simon
was a burglar who had blown off two fingers
when mining a safe. I had attended him
while he was hiding.
``Can't say you do. Well, you can lie, and
no mistake. Come, now, doc. Simon says
you're safe, and I want to have a leetle
plain talk with you.''
With this he laid ten gold eagles on the
table. I put out my hand instinctively.
``Let 'em alone,'' cried the man, sharply.
``They're easy earned, and ten more like 'em.''
``For doing what?'' I said.
The man paused a moment, and looked
around him; next he stared at me, and loosened
his cravat with a hasty pull. ``You're
the coroner,'' said he.
``I! What do you mean?''
``Yes, you're the coroner; don't you
understand?'' and so saying, he shoved the gold
pieces toward me.
``Very good,'' said I; ``we will suppose I'm
the coroner. What next?''
``And being the coroner,'' said he, ``you get
this note, which requests you to call at No. 9
Blank street to examine the body of a young
man which is supposed--only supposed, you
see--to have--well, to have died under
suspicious circumstances.''
``Go on,'' said I.
``No,'' he returned; ``not till I know how
you like it. Stagers and another knows it;
and it wouldn't be very safe for you to split,
besides not making nothing out of it. But
what I say is this, Do you like the business
of coroner?''
I did not like it; but just then two
hundred in gold was life to me, so I said: ``Let
me hear the whole of it first. I am safe.''
``That's square enough,'' said the man.
``My wife's got''--correcting himself with
a shivery shrug--``my wife had a brother
that took to cutting up rough because when
I'd been up too late I handled her a leetle
hard now and again.
``Luckily he fell sick with typhoid just
then--you see, he lived with us. When he
got better I guessed he'd drop all that; but
somehow he was worse than ever--clean off
his head, and strong as an ox. My wife said
to put him away in an asylum. I didn't
think that would do. At last he tried to get
out. He was going to see the police about--
well--the thing was awful serious, and my
wife carrying on like mad, and wanting
doctors. I had no mind to run, and something
had got to be done. So Simon Stagers and
I talked it over. The end of it was, he took
worse of a sudden, and got so he didn't know
nothing. Then I rushed for a doctor. He
said it was a perforation, and there ought to
have been a doctor when he was first took sick.
``Well, the man died, and as I kept about
the house, my wife had no chance to talk.
The doctor fussed a bit, but at last he gave a
certificate. I thought we were done with it.
But my wife she writes a note and gives it to
a boy in the alley to put in the post. We
suspicioned her, and Stagers was on the
watch. After the boy got away a bit, Simon
bribed him with a quarter to give him the
note, which wasn't no less than a request to
the coroner to come to the house to-morrow
and make an examination, as foul play was
suspected--and poison.''
When the man quit talking he glared at
me. I sat still. I was cold all over. I was
afraid to go on, and afraid to go back, besides
which, I did not doubt that there was a good
deal of money in the case.
``Of course,'' said I, ``it's nonsense; only
I suppose you don't want the officers about,
and a fuss, and that sort of thing.''
``Exactly,'' said my friend. ``It's all bosh
about poison. You're the coroner. You
take this note and come to my house. Says
you: `Mrs. File, are you the woman that
wrote this note? Because in that case I must
examine the body.' ''
``I see,'' said I; ``she needn't know who I
am, or anything else; but if I tell her it's all
right, do you think she won't want to know
why there isn't a jury, and so on?''
``Bless you,'' said the man, ``the girl isn't
over seventeen, and doesn't know no more
than a baby. As we live up-town miles
away, she won't know anything about you.''
``I'll do it,'' said I, suddenly, for, as I saw,
it involved no sort of risk; ``but I must have
three hundred dollars.''
``And fifty,'' added the wolf, ``if you do it
well.''
Then I knew it was serious.
With this the man buttoned about him a
shaggy gray overcoat, and took his leave
without a single word in addition.
A minute later he came back and said:
``Stagers is in this business, and I was to
remind you of Lou Wilson,--I forgot that,--
the woman that died last year. That's all.''
Then he went away, leaving me in a cold
sweat. I knew now I had no choice. I
understood why I had been selected.
For the first time in my life, that night I
couldn't sleep. I thought to myself, at last,
that I would get up early, pack a few clothes,
``You will clear some four hundred easy.
Write to the professor. Bring my receipt
to the office next week, and we will settle.''
We settled. I tore up his receipt and gave
him one for fifteen hundred dollars, and
received in notes five hundred dollars.
In a day or so I had a note from the
professor stating that Miss Poynter was in no
peril; that she was, as he thought, worried,
and had only a mild bronchial trouble. He
advised me to do so-and-so, and had ventured
to reassure my young patient. Now, this
was a little more than I wanted. However,
I wrote Mr. Poynter that the professor thought
she had bronchitis, that in her case tubercle
would be very apt to follow, and that at present,
and until she was safe, we considered
marriage undesirable.
Mr. Poynter said it might have been put
stronger, but he would make it do. He made
it. The first effect was an attack of hysterics.
The final result was that she eloped with
her lover, because if she was to die, as she
wrote her aunt, she wished to die in her
husband's arms. Human nature plus hysteria
will defy all knowledge of character. This
was what our old professor of practice used
to say.
Mr. Poynter had now to account for a
large trust estate which had somehow dwindled.
Unhappily, princes are not the only
people in whom you must not put your trust.
As to myself, Professor L. somehow got to
know the facts, and cut me dead. It was
unpleasant, but I had my five hundred
dollars, and--I needed them. I do not see how
I could have been more careful.
After this things got worse. Mr. Poynter
broke, and did not even pay my last bill. I
had to accept several rather doubtful cases,
and once a policeman I knew advised me
that I had better be on my guard.
But, really, so long as I adhered to the
common code of my profession I was in danger
of going without my dinner.
Just as I was at my worst and in despair
something always turned up, but it was sure
to be risky; and now my aunt refused to see
me, and Peninnah wrote me goody-goody
letters, and said Aunt Rachel had been unable
to find certain bank-notes she had hidden,
and vowed I had taken them. This Peninnah
did not think possible. I agreed
with her. The notes were found somewhat
later by Peninnah in the toes of a pair of my
aunt's old slippers. Of course I wrote an
indignant letter. My aunt declared that
Peninnah had stolen the notes, and restored
them when they were missed. Poor Peninnah!
This did not seem to me very likely,
but Peninnah did love fine clothes.
One night, as I was debating with myself
as to how I was to improve my position, I
heard a knock on my shutter, and, going to
the door, let in a broad-shouldered man with
a whisky face and a great hooked nose. He
wore a heavy black beard and mustache, and
looked like the wolf in the pictures of Red
Riding-hood which I had seen as a child.
``Your name's Sanderaft?'' said the man.
``Yes; that's my name--Dr. Sanderaft.''
As he sat down he shook the snow over
everything, and said coolly: ``Set down, doc;
I want to talk with you.''
``What can I do for you?'' said I.
The man looked around the room rather
scornfully, at the same time throwing back
his coat and displaying a red neckerchief
and a huge garnet pin. ``Guess you're not
overly rich,'' he said.
``Not especially,'' said I. ``What's that
your business?''
He did not answer, but merely said,
``Know Simon Stagers?''
``Can't say I do,'' said I, cautiously. Simon
was a burglar who had blown off two fingers
when mining a safe. I had attended him
while he was hiding.
``Can't say you do. Well, you can lie, and
no mistake. Come, now, doc. Simon says
you're safe, and I want to have a leetle
plain talk with you.''
With this he laid ten gold eagles on the
table. I put out my hand instinctively.
``Let 'em alone,'' cried the man, sharply.
``They're easy earned, and ten more like 'em.''
``For doing what?'' I said.
The man paused a moment, and looked
around him; next he stared at me, and loosened
his cravat with a hasty pull. ``You're
the coroner,'' said he.
``I! What do you mean?''
``Yes, you're the coroner; don't you
understand?'' and so saying, he shoved the gold
pieces toward me.
``Very good,'' said I; ``we will suppose I'm
the coroner. What next?''
``And being the coroner,'' said he, ``you get
this note, which requests you to call at No. 9
Blank street to examine the body of a young
man which is supposed--only supposed, you
see--to have--well, to have died under
suspicious circumstances.''
``Go on,'' said I.
``No,'' he returned; ``not till I know how
you like it. Stagers and another knows it;
and it wouldn't be very safe for you to split,
besides not making nothing out of it. But
what I say is this, Do you like the business
of coroner?''
I did not like it; but just then two
hundred in gold was life to me, so I said: ``Let
me hear the whole of it first. I am safe.''
``That's square enough,'' said the man.
``My wife's got''--correcting himself with
a shivery shrug--``my wife had a brother
that took to cutting up rough because when
I'd been up too late I handled her a leetle
hard now and again.
``Luckily he fell sick with typhoid just
then--you see, he lived with us. When he
got better I guessed he'd drop all that; but
somehow he was worse than ever--clean off
his head, and strong as an ox. My wife said
to put him away in an asylum. I didn't
think that would do. At last he tried to get
out. He was going to see the police about--
well--the thing was awful serious, and my
wife carrying on like mad, and wanting
doctors. I had no mind to run, and something
had got to be done. So Simon Stagers and
I talked it over. The end of it was, he took
worse of a sudden, and got so he didn't know
nothing. Then I rushed for a doctor. He
said it was a perforation, and there ought to
have been a doctor when he was first took sick.
``Well, the man died, and as I kept about
the house, my wife had no chance to talk.
The doctor fussed a bit, but at last he gave a
certificate. I thought we were done with it.
But my wife she writes a note and gives it to
a boy in the alley to put in the post. We
suspicioned her, and Stagers was on the
watch. After the boy got away a bit, Simon
bribed him with a quarter to give him the
note, which wasn't no less than a request to
the coroner to come to the house to-morrow
and make an examination, as foul play was
suspected--and poison.''
When the man quit talking he glared at
me. I sat still. I was cold all over. I was
afraid to go on, and afraid to go back, besides
which, I did not doubt that there was a good
deal of money in the case.
``Of course,'' said I, ``it's nonsense; only
I suppose you don't want the officers about,
and a fuss, and that sort of thing.''
``Exactly,'' said my friend. ``It's all bosh
about poison. You're the coroner. You
take this note and come to my house. Says
you: `Mrs. File, are you the woman that
wrote this note? Because in that case I must
examine the body.' ''
``I see,'' said I; ``she needn't know who I
am, or anything else; but if I tell her it's all
right, do you think she won't want to know
why there isn't a jury, and so on?''
``Bless you,'' said the man, ``the girl isn't
over seventeen, and doesn't know no more
than a baby. As we live up-town miles
away, she won't know anything about you.''
``I'll do it,'' said I, suddenly, for, as I saw,
it involved no sort of risk; ``but I must have
three hundred dollars.''
``And fifty,'' added the wolf, ``if you do it
well.''
Then I knew it was serious.
With this the man buttoned about him a
shaggy gray overcoat, and took his leave
without a single word in addition.
A minute later he came back and said:
``Stagers is in this business, and I was to
remind you of Lou Wilson,--I forgot that,--
the woman that died last year. That's all.''
Then he went away, leaving me in a cold
sweat. I knew now I had no choice. I
understood why I had been selected.
For the first time in my life, that night I
couldn't sleep. I thought to myself, at last,
that I would get up early, pack a few clothes,
- receipt [ri´si:t]
n.收到；收据 (初中英语单词) - character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)
- policeman [pə´li:smən] n.警察 (初中英语单词)
- profession [prə´feʃən] n.职业；声明；表白 (初中英语单词)
- stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- hooked [hukt] a.钩状的；上瘾的 (初中英语单词)
- supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
- examination [ig,zæmi´neiʃən] n.检查；考试；检验 (初中英语单词)
- poison [´pɔizən] n.毒物 v.毒害 a.有毒的 (初中英语单词)
- reassure [,ri:ə´ʃuə] vt.使放心 (高中英语单词)
- doubtful [´dautful] a.怀疑的，可疑的 (高中英语单词)
- shutter [´ʃʌtə] n.百叶窗；(相机)快门 (高中英语单词)
- cautiously [´kɔ:ʃəsli] ad.小心地；谨慎地 (高中英语单词)
- mining [´mainiŋ] n.采矿；矿业 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- nonsense [´nɔnsəns] n.胡说 int.胡说!废话 (高中英语单词)
- overcoat [´əuvəkəut] n.大衣 (高中英语单词)
- mustache [mə´stɑ:ʃ] n.髭，小胡子 (英语四级单词)
- coolly [´ku:li] ad.冷(静地)，沉着地 (英语四级单词)
- burglar [´bə:glə] n.(入室行窃的)盗贼 (英语四级单词)
- typhoid [´taifɔid] a.伤寒性的 n.伤寒 (英语四级单词)
- cravat [krə´væt] n.领带；围巾 (英语六级单词)
- asylum [ə´sailəm] n.避难所，收容所 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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