登陆注册
5230100000090

第90章 CHAPTER XXXI(1)

Karlov, upon forcing his way past Kitty's barricade, stared at her doubtfully. This was a clever girl; she had proved her cleverness frequently. She might have some reason other than fear in keeping him out. So he put a fresh candle in the sconce and began to prowl.

He pierced the attic windows with a ranging glance; no one was in the yard or on the Street. The dust on the windows had not been disturbed.

To Kitty the suspense was intolerable. At any moment Cutty might tap a query to her. How to warn him that all was not well? A scream would do it; but in that event when Cutty arrived there would be no Kitty Conover. Something that would sound unusual to Cutty and accidental to Karlov. She hit upon it. She seized a plank from her barricade, raised it to a perpendicular position, then flung it down violently. Would Cutty hear and comprehend that she was warning him? As a matter of fact, Cutty never heard the crash, for at that particular minute he was standing up to get the kinks out of his knees.

Karlov whirled on his heels, ran to Kitty, and snatched her wrist.

"Why did you do that?"

Kitty remained mute. "Answer !" - with a cruel twist.

"You hurt!" she gasped. Anything to gain time. She tried to break away.

"Why did you do that?"

"I was going to thrust it through a window to attract attention.

It was too heavy."

This explanation was within bounds of reason. It is possible that Karlov - who had merely come up with a fresh candle - would have departed but for a peculiarly grim burst of humour on the part of Fate.

Tap - tap - tap? inquired the unsuspecting man on the roof - exactly to Kitty like some innocent, inquisitive child embarrassing the family before company.

Karlov flung her aside roughly, stepped under the trap, and cupped an ear. He required no explanations from Kitty, who shrank to the wall and remained pinned there by terror. Karlov's intuition was keen. Men on the roof held but one significance. The house was surrounded by Federal agents. For a space he wavered between two desires, the political and the private vengeance.

A call down the stairs, and five minutes afterward there would be nothing on the spot but a jumble of smoking wood and brick. But not to see them die!

His subsequent acts, cold and methodical, fascinated Kitty. He took a step toward her. The scream died in her throat. But he did not go beyond that step. The picture of her terror decided his future actions. He would see them die, here, with the girl looking on. A full measure. Well enough he knew who were digging away the cement of the trap. What gave lodgment to this conviction he did not bother to analyze. The man he had not yet seen, who had balked him, now here, now there, from that first night; and who but the last of that branch of the hated house should be with him? To rend, batter, crush, kill! If he were bound for hell, to go there with the satisfaction of knowing that his private vengeance had been cancelled. The full reckoning for Anna's degradation: Stefani Gregor, broken and dying, and all the others dead!

He would shoot them as they dropped through the trap. Not to kill, but to maim, render helpless; then he would taunt them and grind his heels in their faces. Up there, the two he most hated of all living men!

First he restored Kitty's barricade - to keep assistance from entering before his work was completed. The butt of the first plank he pushed under the door knob. The other planks he laid flat, end to end, with the butt of the last snug against the brick chimney. The door would never give as a whole; it would have to be smashed in by axes. He then set the candle on the floor, backed by an up-ended soapbox. His enemies would drop into a pool of light, while they would not be able to see him at once. The girl would not matter. Her terror would hold her for some time.

These manoeuvres completed, he answered the signal, sat down on another box and waited, reminding Kitty of some grotesque Mongolian idol.

Kitty saw the inevitable. Thereupon her terror ceased to bind her.

As Cutty flung back the trap she would cry out a warning. Karlov might - and probably would - kill her. Her share in this night's work - her incredible folly - required full payment. Having decided to die with Cutty, all her courage returned. This is the normal result of any sublime resolve. But with the return of her courage she evolved another plan. She measured the distance between herself and Karlov, calculating there would be three strides. As Cutty dropped she would fling herself upon the madman. The act would at least give Cutty something like equal terms. What became of Kitty Conover thereafter was of no importance to the world.

Sounds. She became conscious of noises elsewhere in the house. The floor trembled. There came a creaking and snapping of wood, and she heard the trap fall. Karlov stood up, menacing, terrible. She saw where Cutty would drop, and now understood the cunning of the manoeuvre of placing the candle in front of the soapbox. Cutty would be an absolute mark for Karlov, protected by the shadow. She set herself, as a runner at the tape.

Karlov was not the type criminal, which when cornered, thinks only of personal safety. He was a political fanatic. All who opposed his beliefs must not be permitted to survive. There was a touch of Torquemada of the Inquisition in his cosmos. He could not kill directly; he had to torture first.

He knew by the ascending sounds that there would be no way out of this for him. To the American, Russia was an outlaw. He would be treated as a dangerous alien enemy and locked up. Boris Karlov should never live to eat his heart out behind bars.

Unique angle of thought, he mused. He wanted mud to trample them in, Russian mud. The same mud that had filled the mouth of Anna's destroyer.

同类推荐
  • 增订十药神书

    增订十药神书

    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。
  • 佛冤禅师语录

    佛冤禅师语录

    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。
  • 素问要旨论

    素问要旨论

    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。
  • 窦娥冤

    窦娥冤

    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。
  • L'Allegro,Il Penseroso,Comus,and Lycidas

    L'Allegro,Il Penseroso,Comus,and Lycidas

    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
  • 特工太子妃:忽悠一个江山玩

    特工太子妃:忽悠一个江山玩

    初遇那晚,我与他携手同醉。我指着夜空说:唐楚,我来数星星。你智商差点儿,就数月亮吧!抱着一颗琼瑶的心来对待穿越新生,结果还是金庸了。好吧,既然摆脱不了打杀的命运,那就让我来助你开疆拓土,忽悠一整片江山!咱轻轻的来再轻轻的走,挥一挥衣袖,不留一个活口!
  • 千城悔首思歌浸

    千城悔首思歌浸

    “世道百转,无论是你的前世,还是你的今生,我千忆城永远爱的是现在的是,这一世的,唯一的,你……”他怀中抱着只剩着一丝微弱呼吸的女孩,她笑了,笑得如海棠花一般:“我也是……”
  • 弗洛伊德10:达·芬奇的童年回忆

    弗洛伊德10:达·芬奇的童年回忆

    此卷包含七部分内容,是弗洛伊德关于美学方面的重要论著。《戏剧中的变态人物》(1942)以精神分析观点解释了戏剧活动。《詹森的〈格拉迪沃〉中的幻觉与梦》(1907)揭示了压抑、幻觉、梦的形成。《作家与白日梦》(1908)提出了一种特殊的幻想活动。《达·芬奇的童年回忆》(1910)介绍了达·芬奇童年以来的感情生活,分析了其性心理的发展,阐释了他的艺术与科学活动的心理起源。《米开朗基罗的摩西》(1914)阐释了米开朗基罗所创作的摩西这一艺术作品。《陀思妥耶夫斯基与弑父者》(1928)探讨了陀思妥耶夫斯基的文艺创作。《非专业者的分析问题》(1926)指出了精神分析技术不是神秘的,更不是医生的专利。
  • 男人成大事的5种能力

    男人成大事的5种能力

    《男人成大事的5种能力》成功的创业者必定是一个想当元帅的士兵,对成功的强烈渴望是成大事最基本的条件,在如此快节奏、高竞争的现代社会中,如果你自己不渴望成功,那么幸运的光环又如何能罩在你的头上呢?因此,你不能固守于现在,必须有开拓的精神、学习的劲头,从容面对职场风云。不论做什么事,你必须竭尽全力,这种精神的有无可以决定一个人事业上的成功与失败。一个人做事业时,如果能以生生不息的精神、火焰般的热忱,充分发挥自己的特长,那么不论做什么事业,都会走上成功之路。把自己喜欢的并且乐在其中的事业当成使命来做,就能发掘出自己特有的能力。其中,最重要的是能保持一种积极的心态,以充分的热忱去做最平凡的工作。
  • 洪恩灵济真君集福晚朝仪

    洪恩灵济真君集福晚朝仪

    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。
  • 小人物的华娱

    小人物的华娱

    那一年,陈歌的初中刚刚读完,爷爷病逝,高中学费还差四百块钱;那一年,影视城初建,一个龙套一天的出工费是28元……(平行时空,偏现实,不小白,不脑残)
  • 非常性心理的自我诊疗

    非常性心理的自我诊疗

    本书以心理学理论为基础,并以多年来临床行医的大量成功例证为依据,全面深入地阐述了了性和性心理,以及如何处理性心理问题的可行性和具体方法,通俗易懂,切实可行,可以为那些正在受性心理问题困扰的人们指点迷津。
  • 复仇新娘

    复仇新娘

    展牧风发现柳亨盗用公款,却害死了柳亨。为了弥补柳亨的女儿柳月儿,他不惜用一生做堵住娶柳月儿为妻。可是怎么知道在不知不觉当中竟然爱上了柳月儿,当他发现的时候已经不可自拔。柳月儿万万没想到深爱的男人竟然是杀害父亲的凶手,更加没有料到在这个时候竟然会怀孕。这是天意还是上天对自己的惩罚,自己怎么对得起九泉之下的父亲?
  • 午夜撞见狄更斯

    午夜撞见狄更斯

    “狄式”惊悚悬疑小说带给人的不仅仅是心脏骤然紧绷,更有对人性的深刻反思。在一个个看似怪异荒诞的故事背后,深藏着社会中的荒谬和冷漠,也隐含了人性中的贪婪与险恶,当然也有世界上的真挚、善良和温情。
  • 苏浅活命记

    苏浅活命记

    一朝穿越成有医术的古代女子,为昏庸皇帝治病才能活命。遇各种稀奇古怪的事,被拉扯到一场夺权中,加入一个组织后被迫到青楼暂居,实则暗地里收集情报。在过程中找到又失去了唯一的亲人,九死一生与他一同患难。上战场、跨雪原只为帮他抢回皇位。她的师兄惨死在她封后的前一晚,同时她也知道了许多,亲人的惨死,数次九死一生,一身的伤疤,都是那个枕边人做的!她还能原谅他吗?她会杀掉他吗?只是可惜了从始至终都维护她的师兄……只不过由于女主光环,一切也许还不晚。(此文不虐,看起来不费脑子,女主角不是被虐狂,不是圣母心)