四签名 76凶手的末日（9）

"Yes, it is your boy," I cried. "I can see him plainly."

我喊道：“不错，那就是你派的小帮手，我看得很清楚。”

"And there is the Aurora¹," exclaimed Holmes, "and going like the devil!

福尔摩斯喊道："那就是"曙光"号，你看它的速度真快。

Full speed ahead, engineer. Make after that launch with the yellow light.

机师，咱们加速前进，紧追着那有黄灯的汽船。

By heaven, I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us!"

假若咱们追不上它，我是永远不能原谅自己的。"

She had slipped unseen through the yard-entrance and passed between two or three small craft,

"曙光"号已经从船坞开了出去，被两三条小船遮得看不见了。

so that she had fairly got her speed up before we saw her.

等到我们再看见它的时候，它已经驶得相当快了。

Now she was flying down the stream, near in to the shore, going at a tremendous rate.

它在沿着河岸向下游急进，

Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head.

琼斯看了只是摇头，

"She is very fast," he said. "I doubt if we shall catch her."

说道："这船神速极了，咱们恐怕追不上它。"

"We must catch her!" cried Holmes between his teeth.

福尔摩斯叫道："咱们必须追上它。

"Heap it on, stokers! Make her do all she can! If we burn the boat we must have them!"

火夫，快快地加煤！尽全力赶上去！就是把咱们的船烧了，也要赶上它！"

We were fairly after her now. The furnaces roared, and the powerful engines whizzed and clanked like a great metallic² heart.

我们紧追在后面，锅炉火势凶猛。马力强大的引擎，气喘吁吁，铿锵作响，好似一具钢铁的心脏，

Her sharp, steep prow³ cut through the still river-water and sent two rolling waves to right and to left of us.

尖尖的船头划破平静的河水，向左右两侧各自冲起一股滚滚的浪花来，

With every throb⁴ of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing.

随着发动机的每一次悸动，船身在震颤、跃进，就象是一个有生命的东西似的。

One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long, flickering⁵ funnel⁶ of light in front of us.

船舷上的一盏大黄灯向前方射出了长长的闪烁的光束。

Right ahead a dark blur⁷ upon the water showed where the Aurora lay,

前面远远的一个黑点，就是"曙光"号，

and the swirl⁸ of white foam⁹ behind her spoke¹⁰ of the pace at which she was going.

它后边有两行白色浪花，说明了它航行的神速。

We flashed past barges¹¹, steamers, merchant-vessels, in and out, behind this one and round the other.

那时河上的大小船只很多，我们横穿侧绕着飞掠过去。

Voices hailed us out of the darkness, but still the Aurora thundered on, and still we followed close upon her track.

可是"曙光"号还是那样的飞快，我们紧紧钉在它的后面。

1 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

2 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

3 prow   

n.(飞机)机头，船头

参考例句：

• The prow of the motor-boat cut through the water like a knife.汽艇的船头像一把刀子劈开水面向前行驶。
• He stands on the prow looking at the seadj.他站在船首看着大海。

4 throb   

v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动

参考例句：

• She felt her heart give a great throb.她感到自己的心怦地跳了一下。
• The drums seemed to throb in his ears.阵阵鼓声彷佛在他耳边震响。

5 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

6 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

7 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

8 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

9 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。