空屋（10）

 “My dear Watson,” said the well-remembered voice, “I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected.”

I gripped him by the arm.

“Holmes!” I cried. “Is it really you? Can it indeed be that you are alive? Is it possible that you succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss?”

“Wait a moment,” said he. “Are you sure that you are really fit to discuss things? I have given you a serious shock by my unnecessarily dramatic reappearance.”

“I am all right, but indeed, Holmes, I can hardly believe my eyes. Good heavens, to think that you—you of all men—should be standing in my study!” Again I gripped him by the sleeve and felt the thin, sinewy arm beneath it. “Well, you're not a spirit, anyhow,” said I. “My dear chap, I am overjoyed to see you. Sit down and tell me how you came alive out of that dreadful chasm.”

He sat opposite to me and lit a cigarette in his old nonchalant manner. He was dressed in the seedy frock-coat of the book merchant, but the rest of that individual lay in a pile of white hair and old books upon the table. Holmes looked even thinner and keener than of old, but there was a dead-white tinge in his aquiline face which told me that his life recently had not been a healthy one.

“亲爱的华生，"一个很熟的声音说，"我万分抱歉。我一点也没想到你会这样经受不住。”

我紧紧一抓住他的双臂。

“福尔摩斯！"我大喊了一声，"真的是你？难道你还活着？你怎么可能从那可怕的深渊中爬出来？”

“等一等，"他说，“你现在真觉得有一精一神来谈这事儿了吗？瞧我这多此一举的戏剧一性一的出现给了你多大的刺激。”

“我好了。可是说真的，福尔摩斯，我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。天哪！世界上这么多人，单单会是你在我书房一中站着。"我又抓其他的一只袖子，摸一着里面那只一精一瘦而有力的胳臂。"可是不管怎样，你不是鬼，"我说，"亲一爱一的朋友，看到你我太高兴了。坐下来，告诉我你是怎样从那可怕的峡谷中逃生的。”

他面对着我坐下来，照老样儿若无其事地点燃了一支烟。他全身裹在一件卖书商人穿的破旧长外套里，剩下看得见的只有那一堆白发和放在桌上的旧书。福尔摩斯显得比以前更加清瘦、机警，但他那张鹰似的脸上带着一丝苍白的颜色，使我看出来他最近一阵子生活不规律。