福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第13章Part3

"Maybe he won't come. Maybe he'll get a sniff of danger," said the secretary.
"He'll come, never fear," McMurdo answered. "He is as eager to come as you can be to see him. Hark to that!"
They all sat like wax figures, some with their glasses arrested halfway to their lips. Three loud knocks had sounded at the door.
"Hush!" McMurdo raised his hand in caution. An exulting glance went round the circle, and hands were laid upon their weapons.
"Not a sound, for your lives!" McMurdo whispered, as he went from the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
With strained ears the murderers waited. They counted the steps of their comrade down the passage. Then they heard him open the outer door. There were a few words as of greeting. Then they were aware of a strange step inside and of an unfamiliar voice. An instant later came the slam of the door and the turning of the key in the lock. Their prey was safe within the trap. Tiger Cormac laughed horribly, and Boss McGinty clapped his great hand across his mouth.
"Be quiet, you fool!" he whispered. "You'll be the undoing of us yet!"
There was a mutter of conversation from the next room. It seemed interminable. Then the door opened, and McMurdo appeared, his finger upon his lip.
He came to the end of the table and looked round at them. A subtle change had come over him. His manner was as of one who has great work to do. His face had set into granite firmness. His eyes shone with a fierce excitement behind his spectacles. He had become a visible leader of men. They stared at him with eager interest; but he said nothing. Still with the same singular gaze he looked from man to man.
"Well!" cried Boss McGinty at last. "Is he here? Is Birdy Edwards here?"
"Yes," McMurdo answered slowly. "Birdy Edwards is here. I am Birdy Edwards!"
There were ten seconds after that brief speech during which the room might have been empty, so profound was the silence. The hissing of a kettle upon the stove rose sharp and strident to the ear. Seven white faces, all turned upward to this man who dominated them, were set motionless with utter terror. Then, with a sudden shivering of glass, a bristle of glistening rifle barrels broke through each window, while the curtains were torn from their hangings.
At the sight Boss McGinty gave the roar of a wounded bear and plunged for the half-opened door. A levelled revolver met him there with the stern blue eyes of Captain Marvin of the Mine Police gleaming behind the sights. The Boss recoiled and fell back into his chair.
"You're safer there, Councillor," said the man whom they had known as McMurdo. "And you, Baldwin, if you don't take your hand off your pistol, you'll cheat the hangman yet. Pull it out, or by the Lord that made me--There, that will do. There are forty armed men round this house, and you can figure it out for yourself what chance you have. Take their pistols, Marvin!"
There was no possible resistance under the menace of those rifles. The men were disarmed. Sulky, sheepish, and amazed, they still sat round the table.

“也許他覺察出有危險，可能不來吧，"哈拉威說道。
“不用怕，他要來的，"麥克默多答道，“象你們急於見到他一樣，他也急於到這裏來。你們聽！”
他們都象蠟人一樣坐着不動，有幾個人正把酒杯送往脣邊，這時也停了下來。只聽門上重重地響了三下。
“不要作聲，"麥克默多舉手示警，這些人欣喜欲狂，都暗暗握住手槍。
“爲了你們的生命安全，不要出一點聲音！"麥克默多低聲說道，從室內走出去，小心翼翼地把門關上。
這些兇手都拉長了耳朵等候着。他們數着這位夥伴走向過道的腳步聲，聽到他打開大門，好象說了幾句寒暄話，然後是一陣陌生的腳步聲和一個生人的話聲。過了一會兒，門砰地響了一下，接着是鑰匙鎖門的聲音。他們的獵物已經完全陷入牢籠。老虎科馬克發出一陣獰笑，於是首領麥金蒂用他的大手掩住科馬克的嘴。
“別出聲，你這蠢貨！"麥金蒂低聲說道，“你要壞我們的事了！”
鄰室中傳來模糊不清的低語聲，談個沒完，令人難以忍耐。後來門打開了，麥克默多走進來，把手指放到脣上。
麥克默多走到桌子一頭，把他們打量了一番。他的面容起了令人捉摸不定的變化，這時他的神情似乎是一個着手辦大事的人，面容堅決果敢，雙目從眼鏡後面射出極其激動的光彩。他顯然成了一個領導人。這些人急切地望着他，可是麥克默多一言不發，依然打量着他們每一個人。
“喂！"麥金蒂終於大聲喊到，“他來了嗎？伯爾弟·愛德華在這裏嗎？”
“不錯，"麥克默多不慌不忙地答道，“伯爾弟·愛德華在此。我就是伯爾弟·愛德華！”
這短短的幾句話說出以後，室中頓時象空曠無人一般的寂靜無聲，只聽到火爐上水壺的沸騰聲。七個人面色慘白，十分驚恐，呆望着這位掃視他們的人。接着，隨着一陣窗玻璃的破裂聲，許多閃閃發亮的來複槍筒從窗口伸進來，窗簾也全被撕破了。
這時首領麥金蒂象一頭受傷的熊，咆哮了一聲，跳到半開的門前。一支手槍正在那裏對準了他，煤礦警察隊長馬文兩隻藍色的大眼睛正灼灼有神地向他望着。這位首領只好退後，倒在他的座位上。
“參議員先生，你在那裏還是比較安全的，"他們一直把他叫做麥克默多的那個人說道，“還有你，鮑德溫，如果你不把手離開你的手槍，那你就用不着劊子手了。把手拿出來，不然，我只好……放在那裏，行了。這所房子已經被四十名全副武裝的人包圍了，你們自己可以想想你們還有什麼機會逃走。馬文，下掉他們的手槍！”
在這麼多來複槍的威脅下，絲毫沒有反抗的可能。這些人全被繳了械，他們面色陰沉、馴順而驚訝地依然圍坐在桌旁。