孤身骑车人（17）

“There was a quarrel between you. He left you in a  rage, and began to make his own plans independently of  you.”

“It strikes me, Williamson, there isn't very much that  we can tell this gentleman,” cried Carruthers, with a  bitter laugh. “Yes, we quarreled, and he knocked me  down. I am level with him on that, anyhow. Then I lost  sight of him. That was when he picked up with this cast  padre here. I found that they had set up house-keeping  together at this place on the line that she had to pass  for the station. I kept my eye on her after that, for I  knew there was some devilry in the wind. I saw them  from time to time, for I was anxious to know what they  were after. Two days ago Woodley came up to my house  with this cable, which showed that Ralph Smith was  dead. He asked me if I would stand by the bargain. I  said I would not. He asked me if I would marry the girl  myself and give him a share. I said I would willingly  do so, but that she would not have me. He said, ‘Let  us get her married first, and after a week or two she  may see things a bit different.’ I said I would have  nothing to do with violence. So he went off cursing,  like the foul-mouthed blackguard that he was, and  swearing that he would have her yet. She was leaving me  this week-end, and I had got a trap to take her to the  station, but I was so uneasy in my mind that I followed  her on my bicycle. She had got a start, however, and  before I could catch her the mischief was done. The  first thing I knew about it was when I saw you two  gentlemen driving back in her dog-cart.”

Holmes rose and tossed the end of his cigarette into  the grate. “I have been very obtuse, Watson,” said  he. “When in your report you said that you had seen  the cyclist as you thought arrange his necktie in the  shrubbery, that alone should have told me all. However,  we may congratulate ourselves upon a curious and in  some respects a unique case. I perceive three of the  county constabulary in the drive, and I am glad to see  that the little ostler is able to keep pace with them;  so it is likely that neither he nor the interesting  bridegroom will be permanently damaged by their  morning's adventures. I think, Watson, that in your  medical capacity you might wait upon Miss Smith and  tell her that if she is sufficiently recovered we shall  be happy to escort her to her mother's home. If she is  not quite convalescent you will find that a hint that  we were about to telegraph to a young electrician in  the Midlands would probably complete the cure. As to  you, Mr. Carruthers, I think that you have done what  you could to make amends for your share in an evil  plot. There is my card, sir, and if my evidence can be  of help to you in your trial it shall be at your  disposal.”

In the whirl of our incessant activity it has often  been difficult for me, as the reader has probably  observed, to round off my narratives, and to give those  final details which the curious might expect. Each case  has been the prelude to another, and the crisis once  over the actors have passed for ever out of our busy  lives. I find, however, a short note at the end of my  manuscripts dealing with this case, in which I have put  it upon record that Miss Violet Smith did indeed  inherit a large fortune, and that she is now the wife  of Cyril Morton, the senior partner of Morton &  Kennedy, the famous Westminster electricians.  Williamson and Woodley were both tried for abduction  and assault, the former getting seven years and the  latter ten. Of the fate of Carruthers I have no record,  but I am sure that his assault was not viewed very  gravely by the Court, since Woodley had the reputation  of being a most dangerous ruffian, and I think that a  few months were sufficient to satisfy the demands of  justice.

“于是你们争吵起来。他一怒之下就走了，把你起在一边，自己打主意了。”

“威廉森，我看，我们要说的这位先生都说了，已经所剩无几了，"卡拉瑟斯苦笑着大声喊道，"对，我们争吵过，他把我打倒了。不管怎样，在打架方面，我和他是不相上下的。后来我就见不到他了。原来那时他在这里结识了这位被免职的牧师。我发现他们俩在这儿租了房子，这正是她去车站的必经之路。在这以后我就留心照料她，因为我知道风声邪恶啊。我一次又一次地去看他们，因为很想知道他们在追求什么。两天以前伍德利带着这封电报到我家来，电报说拉尔夫·史密斯已经去世。伍德利问我是不是遵守讲好的一交一易条件。我说我不愿意。他问我是不是自己想娶那姑一娘一，然后分给他一部分财产。我说我倒是愿意这么办，可是姑一娘一不答应。伍德利说，'让我们先把她娶到手，过一两个星期，她对事情的看法就会有所不同了。'我说我不愿意动用武力。所以他就现出那出言下流的无赖本色，骂骂咧咧地走了，并且发誓说，一定要把她弄到手。她打算这个周末离开我，我弄到一辆轻便马车送她去车站，可总是放心不下，所以骑自行车赶来。然而，她已经动身了，还没等我追上她，祸事就发生了。我一看到你们两位先生把她乘坐的马车赶回来，我就立即知道情况不妙了。”

福尔摩斯站起来，把烟蒂扔进壁炉。"我的感觉一直很迟钝，华生，"他说道，"当你报告说你见骑车人好象在灌木丛中整理领带，光是这一件事就早已向我说明了一切。不过，我们还可以庆幸我们通到这样一桩希奇古怪的、在某些方面又是独一无二的案子。我看见车道上来了三名区警察，我很高兴看到那个小马夫也能跟他们走得一样快，所以，看来，不管是牧师，还是那个有趣的新郎，由于他们今天早晨的非法行动，将永无出头之日了。华生，我想，凭你的医务能力，你可以拜访史密斯小一姐，告诉她，假如她恢复了健康，我们就送她回一娘一家去。如果她还没有完全复原，你可以暗示说，我们准备给米得兰公司的一位年轻电学家打电报，这多半可以把她治愈。至于你，卡拉瑟斯先生，我想你对你参加的罪恶一陰一谋活动，已经力所能及地进行了补救。这是我的名片，先生，如果在审判你的时候，我的证词对你有益的话，请随意使用好了。”

在我们那层出不穷的活动中，读者可能已经察觉，我往往很难对我的记叙文加以润色，并且写出读者可能期望的那些希奇古怪的最终详细情节。每一案件都是另一案件的序幕，而决定一性一时刻一过，那些登台人物就从我们的忙乱生活中永远退场。然而，我找到了我记叙这件案子的手稿，手稿的结尾有一段简要的记载，我在记载中报告说，维奥莱特·史密斯小一姐果真继承了一大笔遗产，现在她已经是莫顿和肯尼迪公司的大股东，著名的威斯敏斯特电学家西里尔·莫顿的妻子。威廉森和伍德利两个人都因诱拐和伤害罪受审，威廉森被判七年徒刑，伍德利被判十年徒刑。我没有得到卡拉瑟斯结果如何的报告，不过我相信，既然伍德利是一个声名狼藉的十分危险的恶棍，法庭是不会十分严重地看待卡拉瑟斯所犯的伤害罪的，我想法官判他几个月监禁也就足够了。