巴斯克维尔的猎犬 华生医生的第二份报告（24）

 

　　I wished to go in that direction and to search the tor, but it was some distance away. Thebaronet's nerves were still quivering from that cry, which recalled the dark story of his family, andhe was not in the mood for fresh adventures. He had not seen this lonely man upon the tor andcould not feel the thrill which his strange presence and his commanding attitude had given to me.

　　"A warder, no doubl," said he. "The moor has been thick with them since this fellow escaped."Well, perhaps his explanation may be the right one, but I should like to have some further proof ofit. To-day we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where they should look for theirmissing man, but it is hard lines that we have not actually had the triumph of bringing him back asour own prisoner. Such are the adventures of last night, and you must acknowledge, my dearHolmes, that I have done you very well in the matter of a report. Much of what I tell you is nodoubt quite irrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have all the facts and leaveyou to select for yourself those which will be of most service to you in helping you to yourconclusilons. We are certainly making some progress. So far as the Barrymores go we have foundthe motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation very much. But the moor with itsmysteries and its strange inhabitants remains as inscrutable as ever. Perhaps in my next I may beable to throw some light upon this also. Best of all would it be if you could come down to us. Inany case you will hear from me again in the course of the next few days.

　　我本想向那方向走去， 把那岩岗搜索一下， 可是距离相当远。 从听到那使他回想起他家庭可怕的故事的叫声以后， 准男爵的神经还一直在震颤， 因此他已无心再作冒险了。 他并没有看到岩顶上的那个孤独的人， 因此他还不能体会那人的怪异的出现和他那威风凛凛的神气所给予我的毛骨悚然的感觉。“是个狱卒， 没错。” 他说道，“从这家伙逃脱之后， 沼地里到处都是他们。” 嗯， 也许他的解释是正确的， 可是没有更进一步的证明， 我是不会相信的。

　　今天， 我们打算给王子镇的人们打个电报， 告诉他们应当到那里去找他们那个逃犯。 说起来也真倒霉， 我们竟没有能当真胜利地把他作为我们的俘虏带回来。 这就是我们昨晚所作的冒险。 你得承认， 我亲爱的福尔摩斯， 就拿给你作报告这件事来说吧， 我已经为你做得很不错了。 在我所告诉你的东西里， 有很多无疑是很离题了， 可是我总觉得最好还是让我把一切事实都告诉你， 让你自己去选择哪些是最能帮助你得出结论的东西吧。 当然我们已经有了一些进展， 就白瑞摩来说， 我们已经找出了他的行为的动机， 这就使整个的情况澄清了不少。 可是神秘的沼地和那里的奇特的居民则依旧是使人莫测高深的， 也许在下一次的报告里， 我将能把这一点也稍加澄清。 最好还是你到我们这里来。 无论如何， 几天之内你就会又接到我的信了。