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The Merry Men-Part15_ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON(1850-1894)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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planks might yield under his foot like quicksands and detain him in

their clutch; ay, and there were soberer accidents that might



destroy him: if, for instance, the house should fall and imprison

him beside the body of his victim; or the house next door should



fly on fire, and the firemen invade him from all sides. These

things he feared; and, in a sense, these things might be called the



hands of God reached forth against sin. But about God himself he

was at ease; his act was doubtlessexceptional, but so were his



excuses, which God knew; it was there, and not among men, that he

felt sure of justice.



When he had got safe into the drawing-room, and shut the door

behind him, he was aware of a respite from alarms. The room was



quite dismantled, uncarpeted besides, and strewn with packing cases

and incongruous furniture; several great pier-glasses, in which he



beheld himself at various angles, like an actor on a stage; many

pictures, framed and unframed, standing, with their faces to the



wall; a fine Sheraton sideboard, a cabinet of marquetry, and a

great old bed, with tapestry hangings. The windows opened to the



floor; but by great good fortune the lower part of the shutters had

been closed, and this concealed him from the neighbours. Here,



then, Markheim drew in a packing case before the cabinet, and began

to search among the keys. It was a long business, for there were



many; and it was irksome, besides; for, after all, there might be

nothing in the cabinet, and time was on the wing. But the



closeness of the occupation sobered him. With the tail of his eye

he saw the door - even glanced at it from time to time directly,



like a besieged commander pleased to verify the good estate of his

defences. But in truth he was at peace. The rain falling in the



street sounded natural and pleasant. Presently, on the other side,

the notes of a piano were wakened to the music of a hymn, and the



voices of many children took up the air and words. How stately,

how comfortable was the melody! How fresh the youthful voices!



Markheim gave ear to it smilingly, as he sorted out the keys; and

his mind was thronged with answerable ideas and images; church-



going children and the pealing of the high organ; children afield,

bathers by the brookside, ramblers on the brambly common, kite-



flyers in the windy and cloud-navigated sky; and then, at another

cadence of the hymn, back again to church, and the somnolence of



summer Sundays, and the high genteel voice of the parson (which he

smiled a little to recall) and the painted Jacobean tombs, and the



dim lettering of the Ten Commandments in the chancel.

And as he sat thus, at once busy and absent, he was startled to his



feet. A flash of ice, a flash of fire, a bursting gush of blood,

went over him, and then he stood transfixed and thrilling. A step



mounted the stair slowly and steadily, and presently a hand was

laid upon the knob, and the lock clicked, and the door opened.



Fear held Markheim in a vice. What to expect he knew not, whether

the dead man walking, or the official ministers of human justice,



or some chance witnessblindly stumbling in to consign him to the

gallows. But when a face was thrust into the aperture, glanced



round the room, looked at him, nodded and smiled as if in friendly

recognition, and then withdrew again, and the door closed behind



it, his fear broke loose from his control in a hoarse cry. At the

sound of this the visitant returned.



'Did you call me?' he asked, pleasantly, and with that he entered

the room and closed the door behind him.



Markheim stood and gazed at him with all his eyes. Perhaps there

was a film upon his sight, but the outlines of the new comer seemed



to change and waver like those of the idols in the wavering candle-

light of the shop; and at times he thought he knew him; and at



times he thought he bore a likeness to himself; and always, like a

lump of living terror, there lay in his bosom the conviction that



this thing was not of the earth and not of God.

And yet the creature had a strange air of the commonplace, as he






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