工程师的拇指 The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb （五）

"The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man

with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double

chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson.

"'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the

way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just

now. I fear that you have felt the draught.'

"'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I

felt the room to be a little close.'

"He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had

better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I

will take you up to see the machine.'

"'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.'

"'Oh, no, it is in the house.'

"'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?'

"'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that.

All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us

know what is wrong with it.'

"We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the

fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house,

with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little

low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the

generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no

signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster

was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in

green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an

air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the

lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon

my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent

man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at

least a fellow-countryman.

"Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which

he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three

of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside,

and the colonel ushered me in.

"'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and

it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were

to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the

end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of

many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns

of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and

multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine

goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working

of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will

have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set

it right.'

"I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very

thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of

exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and

pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by

the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed

a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An

examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was

round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to

fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause

of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who

followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical

questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I

had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the

machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity.

It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth

was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose

that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a

purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a

large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a

crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was

scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a

muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the

colonel looking down at me.

"'What are you doing there?' he asked.

"I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as

that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,'

said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to

your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it

was used.'

"The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of

my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in

his gray eyes.

"'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He

took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key

in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it

was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and

shoves. 'Hello!' I yelled. 'Hello! Colonel! Let me out!'

"And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my

heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish

of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp

still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining

the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming

down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than

myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a

shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and

dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let

me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my

cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with

my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it

flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend

very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my

face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to

think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and

yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black

shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand

erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope

back to my heart.

"I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the

walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw

a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which

broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For

an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door

which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself

through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had

closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few

moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me

how narrow had been my escape.

"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and

I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor,

while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand,

while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend

whose warning I had so foolishly rejected.

"'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a

moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste

the so-precious time, but come!'

"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to

my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding

stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we

reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of

two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we

were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about

her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door

which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon

was shining brightly.

"'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be

that you can jump it.'

"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the

passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark

rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a

butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom,

flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and

wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be

more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I

hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between

my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used,

then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance.

The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at

the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round

him and tried to hold him back.

"'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise

after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be

silent! Oh, he will be silent!'

"'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from

her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me

pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the

window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and

was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was

conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the

garden below.

"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and

rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I

understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly,

however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me.

I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and

then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and

that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavored to tie my

handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my

ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the

rose-bushes.