马斯格雷夫礼典15（在线收听）

“‘And under,’ he cried. ‘You have omitted the “and under.”’

“I had thought that it meant that we were to dig, but now, of course, I saw at  once that I was wrong. ‘There is a cellar under this then?’ I cried.

“‘Yes, and as old as the house. Down here, through this door.’

“We went down a winding stone stair, and my companion, striking a match, lit a  large lantern which stood on a barrel in the corner. In an instant it was  obvious that we had at last come upon the true place, and that we had not been  the only people to visit the spot recently.

“It had been used for the storage of wood, but the billets, which had evidently  been littered over the floor, were now piled at the sides, so as to leave a  clear space in the middle. In this space lay a large and heavy flagstone with a  rusted iron ring in the centre to which a thick shepherd's-check muffler was  attached.

“‘By Jove!’ cried my client. ‘That's Brunton's muffler. I have seen it on  him, and could swear to it. What has the villain been doing here?’

“At my suggestion a couple of the county police were summoned to be present,  and I then endeavored to raise the stone by pulling on the cravat. I could only  move it slightly, and it was with the aid of one of the constables that I  succeeded at last in carrying it to one side. A black hole yawned beneath into  which we all peered, while Musgrave, kneeling at the side, pushed down the  lantern.

“A small chamber about seven feet deep and four feet square lay open to us. At  one side of this was a squat, brass-bound wooden box, the lid of which was  hinged upwards, with this curious old-fashioned key projecting from the lock. It  was furred outside by a thick layer of dust, and damp and worms had eaten  through the wood, so that a crop of livid fungi was growing on the inside of it.  Several discs of metal, old coins apparently, such as I hold here, were  scattered over the bottom of the box, but it contained nothing else.

“At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest, for our eyes were  riveted upon that which crouched beside it. It was the figure of a man, clad in  a suit of black, who squatted down upon his hams with his forehead sunk upon the  edge of the box and his two arms thrown out on each side of it. The attitude had  drawn all the stagnant blood to the face, and no man could have recognized that  distorted liver-colored countenance; but his height, his dress, and his hair  were all sufficient to show my client, when we had drawn the body up, that it  was indeed his missing butler. He had been dead some days, but there was no  wound or bruise upon his person to show how he had met his dreadful end. When  his body had been carried from the cellar we found ourselves still confronted  with a problem which was almost as formidable as that with which we had started.

“‘就在下面，’他高声喊道，‘你忽略一句话：就在下面。’

“我原以为这是要我们进行挖掘呢，当然我立即明白我想错了。‘那么说，甬道下面有个地 下室吗？’我大声说道。

“‘是的，地下室和这些房屋一样古老，就在下面，从这扇门进去。’“我们走下迂回曲折 的石阶，我的同伴划了一根火柴，点着了放在墙角木桶上的提灯。一霎时我们就看清了，我 们来到了我们要找的地方，而且最近几天还有人来过此地。

“这里早被用作堆放木料的仓库，可是那些显然被人乱丢在地面的短木头，现在都已被人堆 积在两旁，以便在地下室中间腾出一块空地。空地上有一大块重石板，石板中央安着生锈的 铁环，铁环上缚着一条厚厚的黑白格子布围巾。

“‘天哪！’我的委托人惊呼道，‘那是布伦顿的围巾，我可以发誓看到他戴过这条围巾。 这个恶棍在这里干什么？’“按我的建议召来了两名当地警察，然后我抓住围巾，用力提石 板。可是我只挪动了一点点，还是靠一名警察帮助，我才勉强把石板挪到一旁。石板下露出 一个黑一洞一洞的地窖，我们都向下凝视着。马斯格雷夫跪在地窖旁，用提灯伸进去探照着 。

“我们看到这地窖大约七英尺深，四英尺见方，一边放着一个箍着黄铜箍的矮木箱，箱盖已 经打开了，锁孔上插着这把形状古怪的老式钥匙。箱子外面积尘很厚，受到蛀虫和潮一湿的 侵蚀，木板已经烂穿，里面长满了青灰色的木菌。一些象旧硬币那样的金属圆片，显然是旧 式硬币，象我手里拿的这些，散放在箱底，其他一无所有。

“然而，这时我们就顾不上这个旧木箱了，因为我们的目光落到一件东西上。那东西蜷缩在 木箱旁边，是一个人形，穿着一身黑衣服，蹲在那里，前额抵在箱子边上，两臂抱着箱子。 这个姿势使他全身血液都凝聚在脸上，没有一个人能够认出这个扭曲了的猪肝色的面容究竟 是谁。但当我们把一尸一体拉过来时，那身材、衣着和头发，一切都向我们的委托人说明， 死者的确是那个失踪的管家。这个人已经死了几天，但身上并无伤痕能说明他是怎样落到这 个下场的。一尸一体运出地下室，但我们仍然面临着一个难题，这难题就象开始时遇到的那 个一样难于解决。