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波思克姆比溪谷秘案 The Boscombe Valleymstery02（第3页）

Theoldmansankhisfahishands。“Godhelpme!”hecried。“ButIwouldheyoungmaiveyoumywordthatIokenoutifitwentagainsthimattheAssizes。”

“Iamgladtohearyousayso，”saidHolmesgravely。

“Iokennowhaditnotbeenfirl。Itwouldbreakherheart……itwillbreakherheartwheIamarrested。”

“Itmay，”saidHolmes。

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“Iamnooffit。Iuhatitwasyhterwhorequiredmypresencehere，andIamaheris。YoungMcCarthymustbegotoff，however。”

“Iamadyingman，”saidoldTurner。“Ihavehaddiabetesforyears。MydoctorsaysitisaquestioherIshallliveamoIwouldratherdieundermyownroofthaninagaol。”

Holmesroseandsatdowablewithhispeninhishandandabundleofpaperbeforehim。“Justtellusthetruth，”hesaid。“Ishalljotdows。Youwillsignit，andWatsohenIcouldproduceyouratthelastextremitytosaveyoungMcCarthy。IpromiseyouthatIshalluisabsolutelyneeded。”

“It’saswell，”saidtheoldman;“it’saquestioherIshalllivetotheAssizes，soitmatterslittletome，butIshouldwishtospareAlicetheshoowIwillmakethethioyou;ithasbeenaloheag，butwillnottakemelongtotell。

“Youdidn’tknowthisdeadman，McCarthy。Hewasadeviliellyouthat。Godkeepyououtoftheclutchesofsuashe。Hisgriphasbeewentyyears，andhehasblastedmylife。I’lltellyoufirsthowIcametobeinhispower。

“Itwasintheearly‘60’satthediggings。Iwasayoung，hot-bloodedandreckless，readytoturnmyhandatanything;Igotamongbadpanions，tooktodrink，hadnoluckwithmyclaim，tooktothebush，andinawordbecamewhatyouwouldcallhwayrobber。Thereweresixofus，andwehadawild，freelifeofit，stigupastationfromtimetthewagoothediggings。BlackJackofBallaratwastheunder，andourpartyisstillrememberedintheyastheBallaratGang。

“OnedayagoldedownfromBallarattoMelbourne，andwelayinwaitforitahereweresixtroopersandsixofus，soitwasag，butweemptiedfouroftheirsaddlesatthefirstvolley。Threeofourboyswerekilled，however，befotthesutmypistoltotheheadofthewagon-driver，whowasthisverymanMcCarthy。IwishtotheLordthatIhadshothimthen，butIsparedhim，thoughIsawhiswickedlittleeyesfixedohoughtoremembereveryfeature。iththegold，becamewealthymen，andmadeourwaylandwithoutbeihereIpartedfrommyoldpalsaosettledowntoaquietaablelife。Iboughtthisestate，whicedtobei，amyselftodoalittlegoodwithmymoomakeupforthewayinwhichIhadear。Imarried，too，andthoughmywifediedyoumemydearlittleAliwheababyherweehaoleadmedhtpathasnothingelsehadeverdone。Inaword，Iturnedoveranewleafanddidmybesttomakeupforthepast。AllwasgoingwellwhenMcCarthylaidhisgripuponme。

“Ihadgoownabouta，ahimiwithhardlyacoattohisbackoraboottohisfoot。

“‘Hereweare，Jack，’sayshe，tou;‘we’llbeasgoodasafamilytoyou。There’stwoofus，meandmyson，andyouhavethekeepingofus。Ifyoudon’t……it’safine，law-abidingtryisEngland，andthere’saloli>

“Well，dowothewesttry，therewasnoshakingthemoff，aheyhavelivedrentfreeolandeversiherewasforme，nopeaetfulurnwhereIwould，therewashisg，grimyelboorseasAlicegrewup，forhesoonsawIwasmoreafraidmypastthanofthepolice。Whateverhewahave，awasIgavehimwithoutquestion，land，moilatlastheaskedathingwhichIotgive。HeaskedforAlice。

“Hisson，yousee，hadgrownup，andsohadmygirl，andasIwasknowntobeiseemedafihathisladshouldstepintothewholeproperty。ButthereIwasfirm。IwouldnothavehisixedwithmiIhadahelad，buthisbloodwasinhim，andthatwasenough。Istoodfirm。McCarthythreatened。Ibravedhimtodohiseretomeetatthepoolmidwaybetweenourhousestotalkitover。

&downthereIfoundhimtalkingwithhisson，soIsmokedadwaitedbehiilheshouldbealoasIlisteohistalkallthatwasbladbitterioost。Hewasurginghisshterwithaslittleregardforwhatshemightthinkasifshewereaslutfromoffthestreets。ItdrovememadtothinkthatIandallthatIheldmostdearshouldbeinthepowerofsuasthis。otsnapthebond?Iwasalreadyadyingaeman。Thoughindandfairlystrongoflimb，Ikmyownfatewassealed。Butmymemoryandmygirl!BothcouldbesavedifIcouldbutsilefoultongue。Ididit，Mr。Holmes。Iwoulddoitagain。DeeplyasIhavesinned，Ihaveledalifeofmartyrdomtoato。ButthatmygirlshouldbeehesamemesheswhichheldmewasmorethanIcouldsuffer。Istruckhimdownwithionthanifhehadbeensomefoulandve。Hiscrybroughtba;butIhadgaihecoverofthewood，thoughIwasfobacktofetchthecloakedinmyflight。Thatisthetruestentlemen，ofallthatoccurred。”

&isojudgeyou，”saidHolmesastheoldmaatementwhichhadbeendrawnout。“Ipraythatwemayosuchatemptation。”

“Ipraynot，sir。Andwhatdoyouiodo?”

“Inviewofyourhealth，nothing。YouareyourselfawarethatyouwillsoooanswerforyourdeedatahighertheAssizes。Iwillkeepyour，andifMcCarthyisnedIshallbeforcedtouseit。Ifnot，itshallneverbeseenbymortaleye;a，whetheryoubealiveordead，shallbesafewithus。”

&hen，”saidtheoldmansolemnly。“Yourowhbeds，whentheye，willbetheeasierforthethoughtofthepeacewhichyouhavegiveeringandshakinginallhisgiaumbledslowlyfromtheroom。

“Godhelpus!”saidHolmesafteralongsilence。“Whydoesfateplaysuchtrickswithpoor，helplessworms?IneverhearofsuchacaseasthisthatIdonotthinkofBaxter’swords，andsay，‘There，butfod，goesSherloes。’”

&hywasacquitted2attheAssizesthofanumberofobjeswhichhadbeendrawnoutbyHolmesandsubmittedtothedefendiurnerlivedforsevenmoerview，butheishereiseveryprospectthatthesonanddaughtermayetolivehappilytheblackcloudwhichrestsupo。

一天清晨，我和妻子正在吃早饭，女仆送来了一份电报。电报是歇洛克·福尔摩斯发的，里面写着：

不知你这几天有没有空？我刚刚得到英国西部关于波思克姆比溪谷惨案的来电。你的到来将会使我欣喜万分。这个地方有着非常优美的景色和新鲜的空气。希望你可以十一时十五分从帕丁顿出发。

“亲爱的，你觉得如何？”餐桌另一边的妻子看了看我说，“你想去吗？”

“我也不知道该怎么说才好。我现在有很多事要做。”

“噢，安斯特鲁瑟会接替你的工作的。最近你的脸色总是有点苍白。我想，环境的改变对你也许会有好处的，再说了，对于歇洛克·福尔摩斯参与的案件你不是一直很有兴趣吗？”

“在办案过程中，我也确实学到了不少东西，就因为这个，如果他需要我帮助我不过去的确对不起他。”这时我回答道，“不过，要去那里，我现在就要开始收拾行李了，因为半个小时后就得出发。”

我曾经在阿富汗参过战，在那里学会了如何快速地行动，做出反应，以及随时起身就走。必须携带的生活用品并不是很多，因此半个小时后我就坐在出租车上，带着我的行李箱，车声辚辚地向帕丁顿车站行进。歇洛克·福尔摩斯在站台上徘徊着。他的上身穿一件长长的灰色旅行斗篷，头上戴一顶紧紧箍着头的便帽：这样的装束更加显现了他身材的瘦长。

“华生，你能来真是太好了，”他说道，“现在有一个可靠的人在我身边，情况就很不一样了。当地有关方面的协助有时候是毫无用处的，甚至还带有先入为主的偏见。你去占着那个角落里的两个空位置，我去买车票。”