【国外英文文学】The Amateur Cracksman.doc

《【国外英文文学】The Amateur Cracksman.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《【国外英文文学】The Amateur Cracksman.doc（178页珍藏版）》请在淘文阁 - 分享文档赚钱的网站上搜索。

1、【国外英文文学】The Amateur CracksmanTitle: The Amateur CracksmanAuthor: E. W. HornungPosting Date: August 3, 2008 EBook #706Release Date: November, 1996Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCII* START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN *Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Ha

2、ines.THE AMATEUR CRACKSMANBYE. W. HORNUNG TO A. C. D. THIS FORM OF FLATTERYTHE AMATEUR CRACKSMANCONTENTS THE IDES OF MARCH A COSTUME PIECE GENTLEMEN AND PLAYERS LE PREMIER PAS WILFUL MURDER NINE POINTS OF THE LAW THE RETURN MATCH THE GIFT OF THE EMPERORTHE IDES OF MARCHIIt was half-past twelve when

3、I returned to the Albany as a lastdesperate resort. The scene of my disaster was much as I had left it.The baccarat-counters still strewed the table, with the empty glassesand the loaded ash-trays. A window had been opened to let the smokeout, and was letting in the fog instead. Raffles himself had

4、merelydiscarded his dining jacket for one of his innumerable blazers. Yet hearched his eyebrows as though I had dragged him from his bed.Forgotten something? said he, when he saw me on his mat.No, said I, pushing past him without ceremony. And I led the wayinto his room with an impudence amazing to

5、myself.Not come back for your revenge, have you? Because Im afraid I cantgive it to you single-handed. I was sorry myself that the others-We were face to face by his fireside, and I cut him short.Raffles, said I, you may well be surprised at my coming back in thisway and at this hour. I hardly know

6、you. I was never in your roomsbefore to-night. But I fagged for you at school, and you said youremembered me. Of course thats no excuse; but will you listen tome-for two minutes?In my emotion I had at first to struggle for every word; but his facereassured me as I went on, and I was not mistaken in

7、its expression.Certainly, my dear man, said he; as many minutes as you like. Havea Sullivan and sit down. And he handed me his silver cigarette-case.No, said I, finding a full voice as I shook my head; no, I wontsmoke, and I wont sit down, thank you. Nor will you ask me to doeither when youve heard

8、what I have to say.Really? said he, lighting his own cigarette with one clear blue eyeupon me. How do you know?Because youll probably show me the door, I cried bitterly; and youwill be justified in doing it! But its no use beating about the bush.You know I dropped over two hundred just now?He nodded

9、.I hadnt the money in my pocket.I remember.But I had my check-book, and I wrote each of you a check at that desk.Well?Not one of them was worth the paper it was written on, Raffles. I amoverdrawn already at my bank!Surely only for the moment?No. I have spent everything.But somebody told me you were

10、so well off. I heard you had come in formoney?So I did. Three years ago. It has been my curse; now its allgone-every penny! Yes, Ive been a fool; there never was nor will besuch a fool as Ive been. Isnt this enough for you? Why dont youturn me out? He was walking up and down with a very long face in

11、stead.Couldnt your people do anything? he asked at length.Thank God, I cried, I have no people! I was an only child. I camein for everything there was. My one comfort is that theyre gone, andwill never know.I cast myself into a chair and hid my face. Raffles continued to pacethe rich carpet that was

12、 of a piece with everything else in his rooms.There was no variation in his soft and even footfalls.You used to be a literary little cuss, he said at length; didnt youedit the mag. before you left? Anyway I recollect fagging you to do myverses; and literature of all sorts is the very thing nowadays;

13、 anyfool can make a living at it.I shook my head. Any fool couldnt write off my debts, said I.Then you have a flat somewhere? he went on.Yes, in Mount Street.Well, what about the furniture?I laughed aloud in my misery. Theres been a bill of sale on everystick for months!And at that Raffles stood sti

14、ll, with raised eyebrows and stern eyesthat I could meet the better now that he knew the worst; then, with ashrug, he resumed his walk, and for some minutes neither of us spoke.But in his handsome, unmoved face I read my fate and death-warrant; andwith every breath I cursed my folly and my cowardice

15、 in coming to himat all. Because he had been kind to me at school, when he was captainof the eleven, and I his fag, I had dared to look for kindness from himnow; because I was ruined, and he rich enough to play cricket all thesummer, and do nothing for the rest of the year, I had fatuouslycounted on

16、 his mercy, his sympathy, his help! Yes, I had relied on himin my heart, for all my outward diffidence and humility; and I wasrightly served. There was as little of mercy as of sympathy in thatcurling nostril, that rigid jaw, that cold blue eye which never glancedmy way. I caught up my hat. I blunde

17、red to my feet. I would havegone without a word; but Raffles stood between me and the door.Where are you going? said he.Thats my business, I replied. I wont trouble YOU any more.Then how am I to help you?I didnt ask your help.Then why come to me?Why, indeed! I echoed. Will you let me pass?Not until

18、you tell me where you are going and what you mean to do.Cant you guess? I cried. And for many seconds we stood staring ineach others eyes.Have you got the pluck? said he, breaking the spell in a tone socynical that it brought my last drop of blood to the boil.You shall see, said I, as I stepped back

19、 and whipped the pistol frommy overcoat pocket. Now, will you let me pass or shall I do it here?The barrel touched my temple, and my thumb the trigger. Mad withexcitement as I was, ruined, dishonored, and now finally determined tomake an end of my misspent life, my only surprise to this day is that

20、Idid not do so then and there. The despicable satisfaction of involvinganother in ones destruction added its miserable appeal to my baseregoism; and had fear or horror flown to my companions face, I shudderto think I might have died diabolically happy with that look for mylast impious consolation. I

21、t was the look that came instead which heldmy hand. Neither fear nor horror were in it; only wonder, admiration,and such a measure of pleased expectancy as caused me after all topocket my revolver with an oath.You devil! I said. I believe you wanted me to do it!Not quite, was the reply, made with a

22、little start, and a change ofcolor that came too late. To tell you the truth, though, I halfthought you meant it, and I was never more fascinated in my life. Inever dreamt you had such stuff in you, Bunny! No, Im hanged if I letyou go now. And youd better not try that game again, for you wontcatch m

23、e stand and look on a second time. We must think of some wayout of the mess. I had no idea you were a chap of that sort! There,let me have the gun.One of his hands fell kindly on my shoulder, while the other slippedinto my overcoat pocket, and I suffered him to deprive me of my weaponwithout a murmu

24、r. Nor was this simply because Raffles had the subtlepower of making himself irresistible at will. He was beyond comparisonthe most masterful man whom I have ever known; yet my acquiescence wasdue to more than the mere subjection of the weaker nature to thestronger. The forlorn hope which had brough

25、t me to the Albany wasturned as by magic into an almost staggering sense of safety. Raffleswould help me after all! A. J. Raffles would be my friend! It was asthough all the world had come round suddenly to my side; so fartherefore from resisting his action, I caught and clasped his hand witha fervo

26、r as uncontrollable as the frenzy which had preceded it.God bless you! I cried. Forgive me for everything. I will tell youthe truth. I DID think you might help me in my extremity, though Iwell knew that I had no claim upon you. Still-for the old schoolssake-the sake of old times-I thought you might

27、give me anotherchance. If you wouldnt I meant to blow out my brains-and will stillif you change your mind!In truth I feared that it was changing, with his expression, even as Ispoke, and in spite of his kindly tone and kindlier use of my oldschool nickname. His next words showed me my mistake.What a

28、 boy it is for jumping to conclusions! I have my vices, Bunny,but backing and filling is not one of them. Sit down, my good fellow,and have a cigarette to soothe your nerves. I insist. Whiskey? Theworst thing for you; heres some coffee that I was brewing when youcame in. Now listen to me. You speak

29、of another chance. What doyou mean? Another chance at baccarat? Not if I know it! You thinkthe luck must turn; suppose it didnt? We should only have made badworse. No, my dear chap, youve plunged enough. Do you put yourself inmy hands or do you not? Very well, then you plunge no more, and Iundertake

30、 not to present my check. Unfortunately there are the othermen; and still more unfortunately, Bunny, Im as hard up at this momentas you are yourself!It was my turn to stare at Raffles. You? I vociferated. You hardup? How am I to sit here and believe that?Did I refuse to believe it of you? he returne

31、d, smiling. And, withyour own experience, do you think that because a fellow has rooms inthis place, and belongs to a club or two, and plays a little cricket,he must necessarily have a balance at the bank? I tell you, my dearman, that at this moment Im as hard up as you ever were. I havenothing but

32、my wits to live on-absolutely nothing else. It was asnecessary for me to win some money this evening as it was for you.Were in the same boat, Bunny; wed better pull together.Together! I jumped at it. Ill do anything in this world for you,Raffles, I said, if you really mean that you wont give me away

33、.Think of anything you like, and Ill do it! I was a desperate man whenI came here, and Im just as desperate now. I dont mind what I do ifonly I can get out of this without a scandal.Again I see him, leaning back in one of the luxurious chairs with whichhis room was furnished. I see his indolent, ath

34、letic figure; his pale,sharp, clean-shaven features; his curly black hair; his strong,unscrupulous mouth. And again I feel the clear beam of his wonderfuleye, cold and luminous as a star, shining into my brain-sifting thevery secrets of my heart.I wonder if you mean all that! he said at length. You

35、do in yourpresent mood; but who can back his mood to last? Still, theres hopewhen a chap takes that tone. Now I think of it, too, you were a pluckylittle devil at school; you once did me rather a good turn, Irecollect. Remember it, Bunny? Well, wait a bit, and perhaps Ill beable to do you a better o

36、ne. Give me time to think.He got up, lit a fresh cigarette, and fell to pacing the room oncemore, but with a slower and more thoughtful step, and for a much longerperiod than before. Twice he stopped at my chair as though on thepoint of speaking, but each time he checked himself and resumed hisstrid

37、e in silence. Once he threw up the window, which he had shut sometime since, and stood for some moments leaning out into the fog whichfilled the Albany courtyard. Meanwhile a clock on the chimney-piecestruck one, and one again for the half-hour, without a word between us.Yet I not only kept my chair

38、 with patience, but I acquired anincongruous equanimity in that half-hour. Insensibly I had shifted myburden to the broad shoulders of this splendid friend, and my thoughtswandered with my eyes as the minutes passed. The room was thegood-sized, square one, with the folding doors, the marblemantel-pi

39、ece, and the gloomy, old-fashioned distinction peculiar to theAlbany. It was charmingly furnished and arranged, with the rightamount of negligence and the right amount of taste. What struck memost, however, was the absence of the usual insignia of a cricketersden. Instead of the conventional rack of

40、 war-worn bats, a carved oakbookcase, with every shelf in a litter, filled the better part of onewall; and where I looked for cricketing groups, I found reproductionsof such works as Love and Death and The Blessed Damozel, in dustyframes and different parallels. The man might have been a minor poeti

41、nstead of an athlete of the first water. But there had always been afine streak of aestheticism in his complex composition; some of thesevery pictures I had myself dusted in his study at school; and they setme thinking of yet another of his many sides-and of the littleincident to which he had just r

42、eferred.Everybody knows how largely the tone of a public school depends on thatof the eleven, and on the character of the captain of cricket inparticular; and I have never heard it denied that in A. J. Rafflesstime our tone was good, or that such influence as he troubled to exertwas on the side of t

43、he angels. Yet it was whispered in the school thathe was in the habit of parading the town at night in loud checks and afalse beard. It was whispered, and disbelieved. I alone knew it for afact; for night after night had I pulled the rope up after him when therest of the dormitory were asleep, and k

44、ept awake by the hour to let itdown again on a given signal. Well, one night he was over-bold, andwithin an ace of ignominious expulsion in the hey-day of his fame.Consummate daring and extraordinary nerve on his part, aided,doubtless, by some little presence of mind on mine, averted theuntoward res

45、ult; and no more need be said of a discreditable incident.But I cannot pretend to have forgotten it in throwing myself on thismans mercy in my desperation. And I was wondering how much of hisleniency was owing to the fact that Raffles had not forgotten iteither, when he stopped and stood over my cha

46、ir once more.Ive been thinking of that night we had the narrow squeak, he began.Why do you start?I was thinking of it too.He smiled, as though he had read my thoughts.Well, you were the right sort of little beggar then, Bunny; you didnttalk and you didnt flinch. You asked no questions and you told notales. I wonder if youre like that now?I dont know, said I, slightly puzzled by his tone. Ive made sucha mess of my own affairs that I trust myself about as lit