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蓝宝石十字架 The Blue Cross（第3页）

&wogentsinbla，”saidthewaiter;“twoofthnparsonsthatarerunningabout。Theyhadadquietlittleluneofthempaidforitaheotherwasjustgoingouttojoinhimwhemychargeagainandfoundhe’dpaidmemorethaoomuch。‘Here，’Isaystothechapwhowasofthedoor，’you’vepaidtoomuch。’‘Oh，’hesays，verycool，‘havewe?’Yes，’Isays，andpicksupthebilltoshowhim。Well，thatwasaknock-out。”

“Whatdoyoumeaerlocutor。

“Well，I’dhaveswornonseveI’dput4s。onthatbill。Butnout14s。，asplainaspaint。”

“Well?”criedValentin，movingslowly，butwithburhen?”

“Theparsonatthedoorsaysallsereofuseyourats，butit’llpayfortheindow?’Isays。‘TheoneI’mgoingtobreak，’hesays，ablessedpahhisumbrella。”

Allthreeinquirersmadeaioorsaidunderhisbreath，“Areweafteresatics?”Theithsomerelishfortheridiculousstory:

“Iwassoknockedsillyforased，I’tdoanything。Themaofthepladjoinedhisfriendjustroundtheer。ThesoquickupBullockStreetthatI’tcatchthem，thoughIranrouodoit。”

“BullockStreet，”saidthedetedshotupthatthhfareasquicklyasthestrangecouplehepursued。

Theirjourookthemthroughbarebrickwaysliketuhfewlightsahfes;streetsthatseemedbuiltoutoftheblankbacksandeverywhere。Duskening，anditwasheLondooguessidiretheyweretreadior，horettythattheywouldeventuallystrikesomepartofHampsteadHeath。Abruptlyonebulginggas-litwihebluetwilightlikeabull’s-eyelanteroppedaninstalegarishsweetstuffshop。Afteraninstaioioodamidthegaudycoloursoftheerywitheyandboughtthirteenchocolatecigarswithacare。Hearihedidnotneedone。

Anangular，elderlyyoungwomanintheshardedhiselegantappearahamerelyautomatiquiry;butwhehedoorbehindhimblockedwiththeblueuniformoftheior，hereyesseemedto>

“Oh，”shesaid，“ifyou’veeaboutforthatparcel，I’vesentitoffalready。”

“Parcel?”repeatedValentin;anditwashisturntol。

&heparcelthegehegentleman。”

“Foodness’sake，”saidValentin，leaningforwardwithhisfirstrealofeagerness，“forHeaveellusely。”

“Well，”saidthewomafully，“theabouthalfanhoandboughtsomepeppermintsa，aowardstheHeath。Butasedafter，ohemrunsbatotheshopandsays，HaveIleftaparcel!’Well，Ilookedeverywhereand’tseeone;sohesays，Nevermind;butifitshouldturittothisaddress，’aheaddressandashillingformytrouble。AhoughIthoughtI’dlookedeverywhere，Ifouabroarcel，soIpostedittotheplacehesaid。I’tremembertheaddressnohereier。Butasthethingseemedsoimportant，Ithoughtperhapsthepolieaboutit。”

“Sotheyhave，”saidValentinshortly。“IsHampsteadHeathnearhere?”

“Straightonforfifteehewoman，“andyou’llerightoutontheopen。”

&insprangoutoftheshopaoruherdetectivesfollowedhimatareluttrot。

&heythreadedwassonarrowandshutinbyshadowsthatwhentheycameoutuothevoidonandvastskytheywerestartledtofiillsolightandclear。Aperfeeofpeasankintogoldamidtheblagtreesandthedarkvioletdistaheglowiwasjustdeepenoughtopipointsofeortwostars。AllthatwasleftofthedaylightlayieracrosstheedgeofHampsteadandthatpopularhollowwhichiscalledtheValeofHealth。Theholidaymakerswhorionhadnotwhollydispersed;afewcouplessatshapelesslyonbendhereaantgirlstillshriekediheswings。Thegloryofheavendeepenedanddarkenedaroundthesublimevulgarityofman。

Standingontheslopeandlookingacrossthevalley，Valehingwhichhesought。

Amongthebladbreakinggroupsinthatdistaneespeciallyblackwhiroupoftwofiguresclericallyclad。Thoughtheyseemedassmallasis，Valentiohemwasmuchsmallerthahoughtheotherhadastudent’sstoopandaninanner，hecouldseethatthemanwaswelloversixfeethigh。Heshuthisteethaforward，whirlinghisstickimpatiently。Bythetimehehadsubstantiallydimiandmagwoblackfiguresasinavastmicroscope，hehadperethihingwhichstartledhim，awhichhehadsomehowexpected。Whoeverriest，thereodoubtabouttheidentityoftheshortowashisfriendoftheHarwi，thestumpylittlecureofEssexwhomhehadwarhisbroarcels。

Now，sofarasthiswehingfittedinfinallyandrationallyenough。ValentinhadlearnedbyhisimthataFatherBrownfromEssexwasbringingupasilvercrosshires，arelisiderablevalue，toshowsomehegress。Thisuhe“silverwithbluestones”；andFatherBrowhelittlegreenhorrain。hingwonderfulaboutthefactthatwhatValentinhadfoundoutFlambeauhadalsofoundout;Flambeaufouhing。AlsotherewasnothihefactthatwhenFlambeauheardofasapphirecrossheshouldtrytostealit;thatwastheminallnaturalhistory。AherewasnothingwonderfulaboutthefactthatFlambeaushouldhaveitallhisoithsuchasillysheepasthemanwiththeumbrellaandtheparcels。HewasthesortofmanwhomcouldleadanybodytothewasnthatanactorlikeFlambeau，dressedasa，couldleadhimtoHampsteadHeath。Sofarthecrimeseemedough;aectivepitiedthepriestforhishelplessdespisedFlambeaufordingtosogullibleavictim。Butwhehoughtofallthathadhappeween，ofallthathadledhimtohistriumph，herackedhisbrairhymeorreasoninit。Whathadthestealingofablue-and-silverapriestfromEssextodowithgsoupater?Whathadittodowithutses，orwithpayingforwindowsfirstahemafterwards?Hehadetotheendofhischase;yetsomehowhehadmissedthemiddleofit。Whenhefailed（whichwasseldom），hehadusuallygraspedtheclue，buthelessmissedtheal。Herehehadgraspedtheal，butstillheotgrasptheclue。

&wofiguresthattheyfollolinglikeblackfliesacrossthehugegreentourofahill。Theywereevidentlysunkiion，andperhapsdidheyweregoing;buttheywerelygoingtothewilderaheightsoftheHeath。Astheirpursuersgaihelatterhadtousetheuudesofthedeer-stalker，tocroudclumpsoftreesaocrawlprostrateindeepgrass。Bytheseungaihehuntersevencameoughtothequarrytohearthemurmurofthedis，butnowordcouldbedistiheword“reasfrequentlyinahighandalmostchildishvoiabruptdipoflandaahickets，thedetectivesactuallylostthetwofigurestheywerefollowifirailagainfoes，aledroundthebrowofagreatdomeofhillareofriddesolatesusderatreeinthisaedspotwasanoldramshacklewoodehisseatsatthetwopriestsstillinseriousspeechtoldstillgthorizon;butthedomeabovewasturningslowlyfrompeatopeacock-blue，aarsdetachedthemselvesmoreandmorelikesolidjewels。Mutelymotioningtohisfollowers，Valentiocreepupbehindthebigbrangtree，and，standihlysilehewordsepriestsforthefirsttime。

Afterhehadlistenedforaminuteandahalf，heedbyadevilishdoubt。PerhapshehaddraggedthetwoEnglishpolitothewastesofanoalheathonanerrahanseekingfigsonitsthistles。Forthetwopriestsweretalkilylikepriests，piously，withlearningahemmasoftheology。ThelittleEssexpriestspokethemoresimply，withhisroutheningstars;theothertalkedwithhisheadbowed，asifhewerehytolookatthem。Butlycleriversationcouldhavebeenheardinaaliancloisterorblaishcathedral。

&heheardwasthetailofoherBrowences，whided:“……whattheyreallymeantintheMiddleAgesbytheheavensbeingincorruptible。”

&allerpriestnoddedhisbowedheadandsaid:“Ah，yes，thesemoderninfidelsappealtotheirreason;butwholookatthosemillionsofworldsaheremaywellbewonderfuluniversesaboveuswherereasonisutterlyunreasonable?”

“No，”saidtheotherpriest;“reasonisalwaysreasohelastlimbo，iborderlandofthings。IknolechargetheChurchwithlreason，butitisjusttheotherway。AloheChurchmakesreasonreallysupreme。AloheChurchaffirmsthatGodhimselfisboundbyreason。”

&herpriestraisedhisausterefacetothespangledskyandsaid:“Yetwhoknowsifinthatinfiniteuniverse-？”

“Onlyinfinitephysically，”saidthelittlepriest，turningsharplyiihesenseofesthelawsoftruth。”