孤身骑车人（8）

However, it seemed to me that I had done a fairly good  morning's work, and I walked back in high spirits to  Farnham. The local house-agent could tell me nothing  about Charlington Hall, and referred me to a well-known  firm in Pall Mall. There I halted on my way home, and  met with courtesy from the representative. No, I could  not have Charlington Hall for the summer. I was just  too late. It had been let about a month ago. Mr.  Williamson was the name of the tenant. He was a  respectable elderly gentleman. The polite agent was  afraid he could say no more, as the affairs of his  clients were not matters which he could discuss.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes listened with attention to the long  report which I was able to present to him that evening,  but it did not elicit that word of curt praise which I  had hoped for and should have valued. On the contrary,  his austere face was even more severe than usual as he  commented upon the things that I had done and the  things that I had not.

“Your hiding-place, my dear Watson, was very faulty.  You should have been behind the hedge; then you would  have had a close view of this interesting person. As it  is you were some hundreds of yards away, and can tell  me even less than Miss Smith. She thinks she does not  know the man; I am convinced she does. Why, otherwise,  should he be so desperately anxious that she should not  get so near him as to see his features? You describe  him as bending over the handle-bar. Concealment again,  you see. You really have done remarkably badly. He  returns to the house and you want to find out who he  is. You come to a London house-agent!”

“What should I have done?” I cried, with some heat.

“Gone to the nearest public-house. That is the centre  of country gossip. They would have told you every name,  from the master to the scullery-maid. Williamson! It  conveys nothing to my mind. If he is an elderly man he  is not this active cyclist who sprints away from that  athletic young lady's pursuit. What have we gained by  your expedition? The knowledge that the girl's story is  true. I never doubted it. That there is a connection  between the cyclist and the Hall. I never doubted that  either. That the Hall is tenanted by Williamson. Who's  the better for that? Well, well, my dear sir, don't  look so depressed. We can do little more until next  Saturday, and in the meantime I may make one or two  inquiries myself.”

不过，我看我已经作了一件漂亮事，便兴致勃勃地徒步走回法纳姆。关于查林顿庄园，当地房产经纪人什么也说不出来，只好把我介绍到帕尔马尔的一家著名的公司。我在回家途中到那里停留了一阵，受到经纪人的殷勤接待。不行，我不能租用查林顿庄园避暑了，我来得太晚了，庄园一个月以前已经租出去，租给了一个叫威廉森先生的人。他是一个体面的老先生。那位颇有礼貌的经纪人客气地说他不能再告诉我什么了，因为他不能议论他顾主的事。

那天晚上，歇洛克·福尔摩斯先生注意地倾听了我向他作的冗长的报告。我本来期望受到称赞，而且很重视他的称赞，可是连一句赞许的话也没有听到。恰恰相反，在他评论我做过的事和没有做到的事时，他那严峻的面容甚至比平时更加严肃。

“我亲一爱一的华生，你那藏身之地是非常失算的。你本来应该藏到树篱后面，仔细看看那位有趣的人。事实上，你藏的地方离那儿几百码，告诉我的情况甚至比史密斯小一姐还要少。她认为她不认识那个人，我确信她是认识的。要不然，他为什么那样拼死拼活地担心，生怕那姑一娘一走近他，看清了他的面貌呢？你说他伏身在自行车把上，你看，这不又是为了隐藏面目吗？你确实作得十分不妙。他回到了那所宅院，你要查明他是谁，却跑到一个伦敦房产经纪人那里！”

“那我应该怎么办呢？"我有点头脑发一热地高声喊道。

“到离那儿最近的酒店里去，那里是村上扯闲话的中心。人家会告诉你每一个人的名字，从主人到帮厨的女仆。至于威廉森吗，我一点印象也没有。假如他是老年人，那么他就不是那个灵敏的骑车人，不是在那个姑一娘一迅速敏捷的追赶下翩然逃脱的人。你这次远行的收获是什么呢？知道了那姑一娘一所讲的是真事，这我从来都不怀疑。知道了骑车人和庄园有关系这我同样不曾怀疑过。知道了那庄园是由威廉森租用的。谁又能为这作保证呢？好了，好了，我亲一爱一的先生，不要显得那么灰心丧气。星期六以前我们还可以多干点事，这段时间我还可以亲自做一两次调查。”