海军协定（38）

I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my advice, though I knew from his excited manner that there was not much hope of sleep for him. Indeed, his mood was infectious¹, for I lay tossing² half the night myself, brooding³ over this strange problem, and inventing a hundred theories, each of which was more impossible than the last. Why had Holmes remained at Woking? Why had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the sick-room all day? Why had he been so careful not to inform the people at Briarbrae that he intended to remain near them? I cudgelled my brains until I fell asleep in the endeavor⁴ to find some explanation which would cover all these facts.

It was seven o'clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for Phelps's room, to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless⁵ night. His first question was whether Holmes had arrived yet.

“He'll be here when he promised,” said I, “and not an instant sooner or later.”

And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed up to the door and our friend got out of it. Standing⁶ in the window we saw that his left hand was swathed in a bandage and that his face was very grim⁷ and pale. He entered the house, but it was some little time before he came upstairs.

“He looks like a beaten man,” cried Phelps.

I was forced to confess that he was right. “After all,” said I, “the clue of the matter lies probably here in town.”

我终于说服我的同伴接受了我的劝告，但我从他激动的神态看出，他是没有希望安睡的。确实，他的情绪也影响了我，我自己也在一床一上辗转了半夜，不能入睡，仔细盘算这个奇怪的问题，作了无数的推论，一个比一个不能成立。福尔摩斯为什么留在沃金呢？为什么他要哈里森小一姐整天留在病房里呢？为什么他那么小心谨慎，不让布里尔布雷的人知道他打算留在他们附近呢？我绞尽脑汁竭力寻找符合这一切事实的解答，最后才渐渐入睡。

我一觉醒来，已经七点钟了，便立即起身到费尔普斯房里，发现他容颜憔悴，一定是彻夜未眠。他第一句话就问福尔摩斯是否已经回来。

“他既然答应来，”我说道，“就一定会准时来的。”

我的话果然不错，八点刚过，一辆马车疾驰到门前，我的朋友从车上跳下来。我们站在窗前，看到他左手缠着绷带，面色严肃而苍白。他走进宅内，过了一会才来到楼上。

“他似乎一精一疲力尽了，”费尔普斯喊道。

我不得不承认他说得对。“毕竟，”我说道，“这件案子的线索可能还是在城里。”

1 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

2 tossing   

v.（轻轻或漫不经心地）扔( toss的现在分词 )；（使）摇荡；摇匀；（为…）掷硬币决定

参考例句：

• Poor Joan has been tossing around all night with that fever. 可怜的琼因发烧而一整夜辗转不能入睡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The two boys agreed to decide the matter by tossing a coin. 这两个孩子同意用掷硬币的方法来决定这件事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 brooding   

n.孵卵 adj.沉思的,笼罩的 动词brood的现在分词

参考例句：

• You're not still brooding over what he said, are you? 你不是还在为他的话闷闷不乐吧？
• The hen is brooding her eggs. 母鸡正在孵小鸡。

4 endeavor   

vt.／n.努力，尽力，尝试

参考例句：

• Thereupon,we knew,our endeavor was valuable.于是，我们知道，我们的努力是有价值的。
• We endeavor to make our customers satisfied.我们力图使顾客都满意。

5 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 grim   

adj.严酷的，令人害怕的，不愉快的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• I've had a grim day.我过了不愉快的一天。
• His expression was grim when he told them they had lost their jobs.当他告诉他们说他们已被解雇时，他的表情十分冷酷。