孤身骑车人（15）（在线收听）

“Then you got it by a trick. But in any case a forced  marriage is no marriage, but it is a very serious  felony, as you will discover before you have finished.  You'll have time to think the point out during the next  ten years or so, unless I am mistaken. As to you,  Carruthers, you would have done better to keep your  pistol in your pocket.”

“I begin to think so, Mr. Holmes; but when I thought  of all the precaution I had taken to shield this girl— for I loved her, Mr. Holmes, and it is the only time  that ever I knew what love was—it fairly drove me mad  to think that she was in the power of the greatest  brute and bully in South Africa, a man whose name is a  holy terror from Kimberley to Johannesburg. Why, Mr.  Holmes, you'll hardly believe it, but ever since that  girl has been in my employment I never once let her go  past this house, where I knew these rascals were  lurking, without following her on my bicycle just to  see that she came to no harm. I kept my distance from  her, and I wore a beard so that she should not  recognise me, for she is a good and high-spirited girl,  and she wouldn't have stayed in my employment long if  she had thought that I was following her about the  country roads.”

“Why didn't you tell her of her danger?”

“Because then, again, she would have left me, and I  couldn't bear to face that. Even if she couldn't love  me it was a great deal to me just to see her dainty  form about the house, and to hear the sound of her  voice.”

“Well,” said I, “you call that love, Mr. Carruthers,  but I should call it selfishness.”

“Maybe the two things go together. Anyhow, I couldn't  let her go. Besides, with this crowd about, it was well  that she should have someone near to look after her.  Then when the cable came I knew they were bound to make  a move.”

“What cable?”

Carruthers took a telegram from his pocket.

“That's it,” said he.

It was short and concise:

The old man is dead.

“照此看来，你们是靠阴谋诡计弄来的。不管怎样来的，反正强迫婚姻绝对不是婚姻，而是十分严重的罪行。在你们完蛋以前，你会悟出这一点的。除非我弄错了，在今后十年左右，你是有时间想通这一点的。至于你，卡拉瑟斯，要是你不从衣袋里掏出槍来，你本来可以干得好一些的。”

“我现在才开始这样想，福尔摩斯先生，可是在我想到我为保护那姑一娘一所采取的一切预防措施时——因为我一爱一她，福尔摩斯先生，而这是我有生以来头一次知道什么叫做一爱一——想到她落入那个南非最残忍的暴徒的魔掌之中，而此人的名字从金伯利到约翰内斯堡人人惧怕，这简直使我发狂。啊，①福尔摩斯先生，你很难相信这些，我知道这些无赖潜伏一在这所宅子里，可是自从那姑一娘一受我聘请以来，她经过这所房子时，我没有一次不骑车护送她，亲眼看她不致受到伤害。我和她保持着一定距离，我戴上了一胡一子，以便使她认不出我来，因为她是一位善良而气质高贵的姑一娘一，如果她想到是我在村①金伯利及约翰内斯堡均为南非地名。——译者注路上尾随她，她就不会长期受我雇聘了。”

“你为什么不把危险告诉她呢？”

“因为那样一来，她还是要离开我的，可是我不愿意有这样的事。即使她不一爱一我，只要我能在家里看到她那秀丽的容貌，听到她的声音，那我就知足了。”

“喂，"我说道，"你把这叫做一爱一，卡拉瑟斯先生。可是我却把这叫做利己主义。”

“可能两者兼而有之。不管怎样，我不能让她离开。再说，她周围有这伙人，最好还是有人在身边照顾她好一些。后来，接到电报，我知道他们一定要有所行动了。”

“什么电报？”

卡拉瑟斯从口袋里拿出一份电报来。

“就是这个，"他说道。

电文非常简单明了：

老儿已死。