工程师的拇指 The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb （三）

"'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know the clerks are

sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk

in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to

stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look.

"A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun

to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man.

Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from

showing my impatience.

"'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time

is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the

words came to my lips.

"'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked.

"'Most admirably.'

"'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I

simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which

has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon

set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as

that?'

"'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.'

"'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last

train.'

"'Where to?'

"'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders

of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a

train from Paddington which would bring you there at about

11:15.'

"'Very good.'

"'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.'

"'There is a drive, then?'

"'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good

seven miles from Eyford Station.'

"'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there

would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop

the night.'

"'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.'

"'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient

hour?'

"'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to

recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a

young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the

very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would

like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do

so.'

"I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they

would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to

accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to

understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to

do.'

"'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which

we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I

have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all

laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from

eavesdroppers?'

"'Entirely.'

"'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that

fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found

in one or two places in England?'

"'I have heard so.'

"'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small

place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to

discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my

fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a

comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two

very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them,

however, in the grounds of my neighbors. These good people were

absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was

quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my

interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value,

but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I

took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they

suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little

deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would

enable us to buy the neighboring fields. This we have now been

doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we

erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already

explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the

subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it

once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our

little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts

came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these

fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you

promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are

going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?'

"'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not

quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press

in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out

like gravel from a pit.'

"'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress

the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing

what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully

into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I

trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at

Eyford at 11:15.'

"'I shall certainly be there.'

"'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long,

questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank

grasp, he hurried from the room.