太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > classic mystery and detective stories >

第15节

classic mystery and detective stories-第15节

小说: classic mystery and detective stories 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!




flatness of frontal; the tapering elegance of contour disguising

the strength of the deadly jaw; the long; large; terrible eye;

glittering and green as the emerald;and withal a certain ruthless

calm; as if from the consciousness of an immense power。



Mechanically I turned round the miniature to examine the back of

it; and on the back was engraved a pentacle; in the middle of the

pentacle a ladder; and the third step of the ladder was formed by

the date 1765。  Examining still more minutely; I detected a spring;

this; on being pressed; opened the back of the miniature as a lid。

Within…side the lid were engraved; 〃Marianna to thee。  Be faithful

in life and in death to 。〃  Here follows a name that I will not

mention; but it was not unfamiliar to me。  I had heard it spoken of

by old men in my childhood as the name borne by a dazzling

charlatan who had made a great sensation in London for a year or

so; and had fled the country on the charge of a double murder

within his own house;that of his mistress and his rival。  I said

nothing of this to Mr。 J; to whom reluctantly I resigned the

miniature。



We had found no difficulty in opening the first drawer within the

iron safe; we found great difficulty in opening the second: it was

not locked; but it resisted all efforts; till we inserted in the

chinks the edge of a chisel。  When we had thus drawn it forth; we

found a very singular apparatus in the nicest order。  Upon a small;

thin book; or rather tablet; was placed a saucer of crystal; this

saucer was filled with a clear liquid;on that liquid floated a

kind of compass; with a needle shifting rapidly round; but instead

of the usual points of a compass were seven strange characters; not

very unlike those used by astrologers to denote the planets。  A

peculiar but not strong nor displeasing odor came from this drawer;

which was lined with a wood that we afterwards discovered to be

hazel。  Whatever the cause of this odor; it produced a material

effect on the nerves。  We all felt it; even the two workmen who

were in the room;a creeping; tingling sensation from the tips of

the fingers to the roots of the hair。  Impatient to examine the

tablet; I removed the saucer。  As I did so the needle of the

compass went round and round with exceeding swiftness; and I felt a

shock that ran through my whole frame; so that I dropped the saucer

on the floor。  The liquid was spilled; the saucer was broken; the

compass rolled to the end of the room; and at that instant the

walls shook to and fro; as if a giant had swayed and rocked them。



The two workmen were so frightened that they ran up the ladder by

which we had descended from the trapdoor; but seeing that nothing

more happened; they were easily induced to return。



Meanwhile I had opened the tablet: it was bound in plain red

leather; with a silver clasp; it contained but one sheet of thick

vellum; and on that sheet were inscribed; within a double pentacle;

words in old monkish Latin; which are literally to be translated

thus: 〃On all that it can reach within these walls; sentient or

inanimate; living or dead; as moves the needle; so works my will!

Accursed be the house; and restless be the dwellers therein。〃



We found no more。  Mr。 J burned the tablet and its anathema。

He razed to the foundations the part of the building containing the

secret room with the chamber over it。  He had then the courage to

inhabit the house himself for a month; and a quieter; better…

conditioned house could not be found in all London。  Subsequently

he let it to advantage; and his tenant has made no complaints。







A drowning man clutching at a strawsuch is Dr。 Fenwick; hero of

Bulwer…Lytton's 〃Strange Story〃 when he determines to lend himself

to alleged 〃magic〃 in the hope of saving his suffering wife from

the physical dangers which have succeeded her mental disease。  The

proposition has been made to him by Margrave; a wanderer in many

countries; who has followed the Fenwicks from England to Australia。

Margrave declares that he needs an accomplice to secure an 〃elixir

of life〃 which his own failing strength demands。  His mysterious

mesmeric or hypnotic influence over Mrs。 Fenwick had in former days

been marked; and on the basis of this undeniable fact; he has

endeavored to show that his own welfare and Mrs。 Fenwick's are; in

some occult fashion; knit together; and that only by aiding him in

some extraordinary experiment can the physician snatch his beloved

Lilian from her impending doom。



As the first chapter opens; Fenwick is learning his wife's

condition from his friend; Dr。 Faber。







Bulwer…Lytton





The Incantation





I





〃I believe that for at least twelve hours there will be no change

in her state。  I believe also that if she recover from it; calm and

refreshed; as from a sleep; the danger of death will have passed

away。〃



〃And for twelve hours my presence would be hurtful?〃



〃Rather say fatal; if my diagnosis be right。〃



I wrung my friend's hand; and we parted。



Oh; to lose her now; now that her love and her reason had both

returned; each more vivid than before!  Futile; indeed; might be

Margrave's boasted secret; but at least in that secret was hope。

In recognized science I saw only despair。



And at that thought all dread of this mysterious visitor vanished

all anxiety to question more of his attributes or his history。  His

life itself became to me dear and precious。  What if it should fail

me in the steps of the process; whatever that was; by which the

life of my Lilian might be saved!



The shades of evening were now closing in。  I remembered that I had

left Margrave without even food for many hours。  I stole round to

the back of the house; filled a basket with elements more generous

than those of the former day; extracted fresh drugs from my stores;

and; thus laden; hurried back to the hut。  I found Margrave in the

room below; seated on his mysterious coffer; leaning his face on

his hand。  When I entered; he looked up; and said:



〃You have neglected me。  My strength is waning。  Give me more of

the cordial; for we have work before us tonight; and I need

support。〃



He took for granted my assent to his wild experiment; and he was

right。



I administered the cordial。  I placed food before him; and this

time he did not eat with repugnance。  I poured out wine; and he

drank it sparingly; but with ready compliance; saying; 〃In perfect

health; I looked upon wine as poison; now it is like a foretaste of

the glorious elixir。〃



After he had thus recruited himself; he seemed to acquire an energy

that startlingly contrasted with his languor the day before; the

effort of breathing was scarcely perceptible; the color came back

to his cheeks; his bended frame rose elastic and erect。



〃If I understood you rightly;〃 said I; 〃the experiment you ask me

to aid can be accomplished in a single night?〃



〃In a single nightthis night。〃



〃Command me。  Why not begin at once?  What apparatus or chemical

agencies do you need?〃



〃Ah!〃 said Margrave。  〃Formerly; how I was misled!  Formerly; how

my conjectures blundered!  I thought; when I asked you to give a

month to the experiment I wish to make; that I should need the

subtlest skill of the chemist。  I then believed; with Van Helmont;

that the principle of life is a gas; and that the secret was but in

the mode by which the gas might be rightly administered。  But now;

all that I need is contained in this coffer; save one very simple

materialfuel sufficient for a steady fire for six hours。  I see

even that is at hand; piled up in your outhouse。  And now for the

substance itselfto that you must guide me。〃



〃Explain。〃



〃Near this very spot is there not goldin mines yet undiscovered

and gold of the purest metal?〃



〃There is。  What then?  Do you; with the alchemists; blend in one

discovery; gold and life?〃



〃No。  But it is only where the chemistry of earth or of man

produces gold; that the substance from which the great pabulum of

life is extracted by ferment can be found。  Possibly; in the

attempts at that transmutation of metals; which I think your own

great chemist; Sir Humphry Davy; allowed might be possible; but

held not to be worth the cost of the processpossibly; in those

attempts; some scanty grains of this substance were found by the

alchemists; in the crucible; with grains of the metal as niggardly

yielded by pitiful mimicry of Nature's stupendous laboratory; and

from such grains enough of the essence might; perhaps; have been

drawn forth; to add a few years of existence to some feeble

graybeardgranting; what rests on no proofs; that some of the

alchemists reached an age rarely given to man。  But it is not in

the miserly crucible; it is in the matrix of Nature herself; that

we must seek in prolific abundance Nature's grand principlelife。

As the loadstone is rife with the mag

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的