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第43节

classic mystery and detective stories-第43节

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

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Stanton;〃come and view a purchase I have made。〃  Stanton absently

alighted; and followed him across a small paved court; the other

person followed。  〃In troth; Cousin;〃 said Stanton; 〃your choice

appears not to have been discreetly made; your house has somewhat

of a gloomy aspect。〃〃Hold you content; Cousin;〃 replied the

other; 〃I shall take order that you like it better; when you have

been some time a dweller therein。〃  Some attendants of a mean

appearance; and with most suspicious visages; awaited them on their

entrance; and they ascended a narrow staircase; which led to a room

meanly furnished。  〃Wait here;〃 said the kinsman; to the man who

accompanied them; 〃till I go for company to divertise my cousin in

his loneliness。〃  They were left alone。  Stanton took no notice of

his companion; but as usual seized the first book near him; and

began to read。  It was a volume in manuscript;they were then much

more common than now。



The first lines struck him as indicating insanity in the writer。

It was a wild proposal (written apparently after the great fire of

London) to rebuild it with stone; and attempting to prove; on a

calculation wild; false; and yet sometimes plausible; that this

could be done out of the colossal fragments of Stonehenge; which

the writer proposed to remove for that purpose。  Subjoined were

several grotesque drawings of engines designed to remove those

massive blocks; and in a corner of the page was a note;〃I would

have drawn these more accurately; but was not allowed a KNIFE to

mend my pen。〃



The next was entitled; 〃A modest proposal for the spreading of

Christianity in foreign parts; whereby it is hoped its

entertainment will become general all over the world。〃This modest

proposal was; to convert the Turkish ambassadors (who had been in

London a few years before); by offering them their choice of being

strangled on the spot; or becoming Christians。  Of course the

writer reckoned on their embracing the easier alternative; but even

this was to be clogged with a heavy condition;namely; that they

must be bound before a magistrate to convert twenty Mussulmans a

day; on their return to Turkey。  The rest of the pamphlet was

reasoned very much in the conclusive style of Captain Bobadil;

these twenty will convert twenty more apiece; and these two hundred

converts; converting their due number in the same time; all Turkey

would be converted before the Grand Signior knew where he was。

Then comes the coup d'eclat;one fine morning; every minaret in

Constantinople was to ring out with bells; instead of the cry of

the Muezzins; and the Imaum; coming out to see what was the matter;

was to be encountered by the Archbishop of Canterbury; in

pontificalibus; performing Cathedral service in the church of St。

Sophia; which was to finish the business。  Here an objection

appeared to arise; which the ingenuity of the writer had

anticipated。〃It may be redargued;〃 saith he; 〃by those who have

more spleen than brain; that forasmuch as the Archbishop preacheth

in English; he will not thereby much edify the Turkish folk; who do

altogether hold in a vain gabble of their own。〃  But this (to use

his own language) he 〃evites;〃 by judiciously observing; that where

service was performed in an unknown tongue; the devotion of the

people was always observed to be much increased thereby; as; for

instance; in the church of Rome;that St。 Augustine; with his

monks; advanced to meet King Ethelbert singing litanies (in a

language his majesty could not possibly have understood); and

converted him and his whole court on the spot;that the sybilline

books。 。 。 。



        。        。        。        。        。



Cum multis aliis。



Between the pages were cut most exquisitely in paper the likenesses

of some of these Turkish ambassadors; the hair of the beards; in

particular; was feathered with a delicacy of touch that seemed the

work of fairy fingers;but the pages ended with a complaint of the

operator; that his scissors had been taken from him。  However; he

consoled himself and the reader with the assurance; that he would

that night catch a moonbeam as it entered through the grating; and;

when he had whetted it on the iron knobs of his door; would do

wonders with it。  In the next page was found a melancholy proof of

powerful but prostrated intellect。  It contained some insane lines;

ascribed to Lee the dramatic poet; commencing;





     〃O that my lungs could bleat like buttered pease;〃 &c。





There is no proof whatever that these miserable lines were really

written by Lee; except that the measure is the fashionable quatrain

of the period。  It is singular that Stanton read on without

suspicion of his own danger; quite absorbed in the album of a

madhouse; without ever reflecting on the place where he was; and

which such compositions too manifestly designated。



It was after a long interval that he looked round; and perceived

that his companion was gone。  Bells were unusual then。  He

proceeded to the door;it was fastened。  He called aloud;his

voice was echoed in a moment by many others; but in tones so wild

and discordant; that he desisted in involuntary terror。  As the day

advanced; and no one approached; he tried the window; and then

perceived for the first time it was grated。  It looked out on the

narrow flagged yard; in which no human being was; and if there had;

from such a being no human feeling could have been extracted。



Sickening with unspeakable horror; he sunk rather than sat down

beside the miserable window; and 〃wished for day。〃



        。        。        。        。        。



At midnight he started from a doze; half a swoon; half a sleep;

which probably the hardness of his seat; and of the deal table on

which he leaned; had not contributed to prolong。



He was in complete darkness; the horror of his situation struck him

at once; and for a moment he was indeed almost qualified for an

inmate of that dreadful mansion。  He felt his way to the door;

shook it with desperate strength; and uttered the most frightful

cries; mixed with expostulations and commands。  His cries were in a

moment echoed by a hundred voices。  In maniacs there is a peculiar

malignity; accompanied by an extraordinary acuteness of some of the

senses; particularly in distinguishing the voice of a stranger。

The cries that he heard on every side seemed like a wild and

infernal yell of joy; that their mansion of misery had obtained

another tenant。



He paused; exhausted;a quick and thundering step was heard in the

passage。  The door was opened; and a man of savage appearance stood

at the entrance;two more were seen indistinctly in the passage。

〃Release me; villain!〃〃Stop; my fine fellow; what's all this

noise for?〃  〃Where am I?〃  〃Where you ought to be。〃  〃Will you

dare to detain me?〃〃Yes; and a little more than that;〃 answered

the ruffian; applying a loaded horsewhip to his back and shoulders;

till the patient soon fell to the ground convulsed with rage and

pain。  〃Now you see you are where you ought to be;〃 repeated the

ruffian; brandishing the horsewhip over him; 〃and now take the

advice of a friend; and make no more noise。  The lads are ready for

you with the darbies; and they'll clink them on in the crack of

this whip; unless you prefer another touch of it first。〃  They then

were advancing into the room as he spoke; with fetters in their

hands (strait waistcoats being then little known or used); and

showed; by their frightful countenances and gestures; no

unwillingness to apply them。  Their harsh rattle on the stone

pavement made Stanton's blood run cold; the effect; however; was

useful。  He had the presence of mind to acknowledge his (supposed)

miserable condition; to supplicate the forbearance of the ruthless

keeper; and promise complete submission to his orders。  This

pacified the ruffian; and he retired。



Stanton collected all his resolution to encounter the horrible

night; he saw all that was before him; and summoned himself to meet

it。  After much agitated deliberation; he conceived it best to

continue the same appearance of submission and tranquillity; hoping

that thus he might in time either propitiate the wretches in whose

hands he was; or; by his apparent inoffensiveness; procure such

opportunities of indulgence; as might perhaps ultimately facilitate

his escape。  He therefore determined to conduct himself with the

utmost tranquillity; and never to let his voice be heard in the

house; and he laid down several other resolutions with a degree of

prudence which he already shuddered to think might be the cunning

of incipient madness; or the beginning result of the horrid habits

of the place。



These resolutions were put to desperate trial that very night。

Just next to Stanton's apartment were lodged two most uncongenial

neighbors。  One of them was a puritanical weaver; who had been

driven mad by a single sermon from the celebra

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