登陆注册
5189800000134

第134章

The old sense of unreality was strong upon him again.He was listening to the Tocsin's story.It was strange that he should be doing that--that it could be really so! It seemed as though magically he had been transported out of the world where for years past he had lived with danger lurking at every turn, where men set watch about his house to trap him, where the denizens of the underworld yowled like starving beasts to sink their fangs in him, where the police were ceaselessly upon his trail to wreak an insensate vengeance upon him; it seemed as though he had been transported away from all that to something that he had dreamed might, perhaps, sometime happen, that he had hoped might happen, that he had longed for always, but now that it was his, that it also was full of the sense of the unreal.And yet as his mind followed the thread of her story, and leaped ahead and vaguely glimpsed what was to come, be was conscious in a sort of premonitory way of a vaster peril than any he had ever known, as though forces, for the moment masked, were arrayed against him whose strength and whose malignity were beyond human parallel.In what a strange, almost incoherent way his brain was working! He roused himself a little and looked around him--and, with a shock, the starkness of the room, the abject, pitiful air of destitution brought home to him with terrific, startling force the significance of the scene in which he was playing a part.His face set suddenly in hard lines.That she should have been brought to assume such a life as this--forced out of her environment of wealth and refinement, forced in her purity to rub shoulders with the vile, the dissolute, forced to exist as such a creature amid the crime and vice, the wretched horror of the underworld that swirled around her! There was anger now upon him, burning, hot--a merciless craving that was a savage, hungry lust for vengeance.

And then she was speaking again:

"Father's death occurred very shortly after my uncle's message advising us to postpone our trip was received.On his death, Travers, very naturally, as father's lawyer, cabled my uncle to come to New York at once; and my uncle replied, saying that he was coming by the first steamer."She paused again--but only for an instant, as though to frame her thoughts in words.

"I have told you that I had never seen my uncle, that even my father had not seen him for twenty years; and I have told you that the man you know as Henry LaSalle is an impostor--I am using the word 'uncle' now when I refer to him simply to avoid confusion.You are, perhaps, expecting me to say that I took a distinctive dislike to him from the moment he arrived? On the contrary, I had every reason to be predisposed toward him; and, indeed, was rather agreeably surprised than otherwise--he was not nearly so uncouth and unpolished as, somehow, I had pictured his life would have made him.

Do you understand, Jimmie? He was kind, sympathetic; and, in an apathetic way, I liked him.I say 'apathetic' because I think that best describes my own attitude toward every one and everything following father's death until--THAT NIGHT."She rose abruptly from her chair, as though a passive position of any kind had suddenly become intolerable.

"Why tell you what my father and I were to each other!" she cried out in a low, passionate voice."It seemed as though everything that meant anything had gone out of my life.I became worn out, nervous; and though the days were bad enough, the nights were a source of dread.I began to suffer from insomnia--I could not sleep.This was even before my supposed uncle came.I used to read for hours and hours in my room after I had gone to bed.But"--she flung out her hand with an impatient gesture--"there is no need to dwell on that.One night, about a week after that man had arrived, and a little over a month after father had died, I was in my room and had finished a book I was reading.I remember that it was well after midnight.I had not the slightest inclination to sleep.Ipicked up another book--and after that another.There were plenty in my room; but, irrationally, of course, none pleased me.Idecided to go down to the library--not that I think I really expected to find anything that I actually wanted, but more because it was an impulse, and furnished me for the moment with some definite objective, something to do.I got up, slipped on a dressing gown, and went downstairs.The lights were all out.I was just on the point of switching on those in the reception hall, when suddenly it seemed as though I had not strength to lift my hand, and I remember that for an instant I grew terribly cold with dread and fear.From the room on my right a voice had reached me.The door was closed, but the voice was raised in an outburst of profanity.

I--I could hear every word.

"'If she's out of the way, there's no come-back,' the voice snarled.

'I won't listen to anything else! Do you hear! Why, you fool, what are you trying to do--hand me one! Turn everything into cash, and divvy, and beat it--eh? And I'm the goat, and I get caught and get twenty years for stealing trust funds--and the rest of you get the coin!' He swore terribly again.'Who's taken the risk in this for the last five years! There'll be no smart Aleck lawyer tricks--there'll be no halfway measures! And who are you to dictate! She goes out--that's safe--I inherit as next of kin, with no one to dispute it, and that's all there is to it!'

"I stood there and could not move.It was the voice of the man Iknew as my uncle! My heart seemed to have stopped beating.I tried to tell myself that I was dreaming, that it was too horrible, too incredible to be real; that they could not really mean to--to MURDERme.And then I recognised Hilton Travers' voice.

"'I am not dictating, and you are not serious, of course,' he said, with what seemed an uneasy laugh.'I am only warning you that you are forgetting to take the real Henry LaSalle into account.He is bound to hear of this eventually, and then--'

"Another voice broke in--one I did not recognise.

同类推荐
  • 幼科释谜

    幼科释谜

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 自治官书

    自治官书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 神农本草经读

    神农本草经读

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明雩篇

    明雩篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 敲爻歌

    敲爻歌

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 北大情绪掌控课

    北大情绪掌控课

    在现代社会,学子面临着前所未有的挑战与机遇,对人才的要求也达到了一个前所未有的高度:智商、情商、财商、逆商……其实,归根究底,除了具有先天性因素的智商外,其余的都是人对自己的情绪的掌控。卡耐基说:“如果一个人是对的,他的世界就是对的。”充分说明了情绪对我们的影响有多大。《北大情绪掌控课》详细阐述了情绪掌控的必要性与方法,所举的例子大部分都是闻名中国乃至世界的北大人的故事,而另一部分则来自北大学子亲身经历。
  • 如果这是宋史4:南渡北望

    如果这是宋史4:南渡北望

    本书中再现的两宋之交这段历史,更像是一部魔幻悬疑大剧,充斥着意料之外、荒诞不经的大逆转,令人时而热血奔涌,时而义愤填膺,却总是欲罢不能。富足、繁华、文明的北宋盛极一时,传至徽宗已是八世,统治集团奢华腐化严重,历经四代革新无果,大厦将倾。六贼的出现是历史的必然,他们主导实施的一连串错误的重大举措,彻底掏空了北宋的国势。与此同时,金国崛起,挥师灭辽,国势正盛,与北宋形成鲜明对比,靖康之变在所难免。尽管有岳飞、韩世忠、吴玠等悍将强兵的血战,有黄天荡、仙人关、朱仙镇等振奋人心的大捷,看似扭转了南宋的劣势,实则不然,这些还不足以撼动南宋统治集团的偏安理念,他们心目中的北伐,目的不是北归,而是北望。
  • 老年生活咨询手册

    老年生活咨询手册

    全书共分八个部分:政策咨询、权益保障、养生益寿、运动健身、家庭保健、防病抗衰、休闲娱乐、老龄知识,本书既有生活常识、技能、窍门方面内容,又有修身养性、延年益寿内容,涉及老年生活的方方面面。本书尽量做到覆盖面广、内容翔实、集知识性、趣味性、实用性为一体,力求使老年朋友喜爱,并有所收获。考虑到老年朋友人特殊阅读需求,本书采用大号字排版,努力做到文字短(每条大都在三四百字左右)、实用性强(一书在手,便可获得简便易行的技能、通俗易懂的知识和自我保护的武器)、价位低、便于随身携带等特点。
  • 假戏真做:宠妃别猖狂

    假戏真做:宠妃别猖狂

    如果时间可以倒流,千代不知道她是会对着那年樱花曼舞树下的红衣少年浅言嬉笑;还是披上华贵的宫服,与那个温玉痴情的皇帝一起共享人间繁华。命运的齿轮即将倒流,只是发生过的虐恋还会继续,情深缘浅。情浅缘深。 —— “千千,我终究还是要负你了。”阳光下,红衣男子不复往常的魅惑风采,声音低哑。对立的绝色女子,满是针孔的双手终是落下,地面上遮下一片光晕。一身龙袍的帝王对着面前陷入昏迷的女子呢喃。只是,回应他的却是女子眼角无意识的滑下的泪珠。
  • 浴血孤城

    浴血孤城

    本书以1937年日军大规模进攻中国首都南京为大背景,以广阔的南京及周边阵地为舞台,以两名孤胆英雄为主角,以人道主义斗士拉贝与日军暗中较量为故事主线,生动、形象地反映了全民族艰苦卓绝的抗战心灵史,讴歌了孤胆英雄们的爱国主义情怀和为民族大义舍身捐躯的牺牲精神,是一曲用生命和鲜血谱成的民族忠魂曲和热血壮士歌。
  • 一本书读完管理学名著

    一本书读完管理学名著

    本书介绍了从管理学成为一门真正意义上的科学开始的50部西方管理学经典名著,内容涵盖全面,兼顾了全方位的管理学知识。从时间上看,成书的时间主要集中在20世纪;从国别上看,则主要集中了欧美国家管理大师的著作。通过对本书的阅读,你可以轻松地学习到各种管理知识。
  • 默示录学院

    默示录学院

    食堂着火又不关我事,那是电线想要自焚。什么?!要我退学?!!!不用这样吧。切!退就退,本小姐才不稀罕。默示录学院对能力研究???我去好了!!!
  • 韩愈集

    韩愈集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 卓越员工的12项修炼

    卓越员工的12项修炼

    在企业的发展过程中,员工就是企业的根本,是企业的第一生产力。一个企业要想发展,要想成就一番伟业,就必须要有一群卓越的员工为之而奋斗。然而,在绝大部分的企业里,员工的素质良莠不齐,有高有低,有好有差。众所周知,一只木桶的容量不是由那块最长的木板决定的,而是取决于那块最短的木板。
  • 傲娇萌妻:腹黑总裁,要抱抱

    傲娇萌妻:腹黑总裁,要抱抱

    她,外貌+智商皆优的富家千金女。他,跨国集团一把手,冷酷邪魅强势霸道。当霸道总裁遇上高智商富家女,你的专制配不上我的傲娇,且看他们如何强者与强者碰撞,上演一出追逐与被追逐的好戏。