fú 'ěr mó sī yī shēng bù xiǎng dì zuò liǎo hǎo jǐ gè zhōng tóu liǎo。 tā wān zhe shòu cháng de shēn zǐ， mái tóu dīng zhù tā miàn qián de yī zhǐ huà xué shì guǎn， shì guǎn lǐ zhèng zhǔ zhe yī zhǒng tè bié 'è chòu de huà hé wù。 tā nǎo dài chuí zài xiōng qián de yàng zǐ， cóng wǒ zhè lǐ wàng qù， jiù xiàng yī zhǐ shòu cháng de guài niǎo， quán shēn pī zhe shēn huī de yǔ máo， tóu shàng de guān máo què shì hēi de。
　　 tā hū rán shuō： “ huá shēng， yuán lái nǐ bù dǎ suàn zài nán fēi tóu zī liǎo， shì bù shì？ ”
　　 wǒ chī liǎo yī jīng。 suī rán wǒ yǐ xí guàn liǎo fú 'ěr mó sī de gè zhǒng qí tè běn lǐng， dàn tā zhè yàng tū rán dào pò wǒ de xīn shì， réng lìng wǒ wú fǎ jiě shì。
　　“ nǐ zěn me huì zhī dào？ " wǒ wèn tā。
　　 tā zài yuán dèng shàng zhuǎn guò shēn lái， shǒu lǐ ná zhe nà zhī mào qì de shì guǎn。 cóng tā shēn xiàn de yǎn jīng lǐ， wēi wēi lù chū xiǎng xiào chū lái de yàng zǐ。
　　“ xiàn zài， huá shēng， nǐ chéng rèn nǐ shì chī jīng liǎo， " tā shuō。
　　“ wǒ shì chī jīng liǎo。”
　　“ wǒ yīnggāi jiào nǐ bǎ zhè jù huà xiě xià lái， qiān shàng nǐ de míng zì。”
　　“ wèishénme？”
　　“ yīn wéi guò liǎo wǔ fēn zhōng， nǐ yòu huì shuō zhè tài jiǎn dān liǎo。”
　　“ wǒ yī dìng bù shuō。”
　　“ nǐ yào zhī dào， wǒ qīn 'ài de huá shēng， " tā bǎ shì guǎn fàng huí jià zǐ shàng qù， kāi shǐ yòng jiào shòu duì tā bān shàng de xué shēng jiǎng kè de kǒu qì wǎng xià shuō，“ zuò chū yī chuàn tuī lǐ lái， bìng qiě shǐ měi gè tuī lǐ qǔ jué yú tā qián miàn de nà gè tuī lǐ 'ér běn shēn yòu jiǎn dān míng liǎo， shí jì shàng zhè bìng bù nán。 rán hòu， zhǐ yào bǎ zhōng jiān de tuī lǐ tǒng tǒng qù diào， duì nǐ de tīng zhòng jǐn jǐn xuān bù qǐ diǎn hé jié lùn， jiù kě yǐ dé dào jīng rén de、 yě kě néng shì xū kuā de xiào guǒ。 suǒ yǐ， wǒ kàn liǎo nǐ zuǒ shǒu de hǔ kǒu， jiù jué dé yòu bǎ wò shuō nǐ méi yòu dǎ suàn bǎ nǐ nà yī xiǎo bǐ zī běn tóu dào jīn kuàng zhōng qù， zhè zhēn de bù nán tuī duàn chū lái。”
　　“ wǒ kàn bù chū yòu shénme guān xì。”
　　“ sì hū méi yòu， dàn shì wǒ kě yǐ mǎ shàng gào sù nǐ zhè yī mìqiè de guān xì。 zhè yī gēn fēi cháng jiǎn dān de liàn tiáo zhōng quē shǎo de huán jié shì： dì yī， zuó wǎn nǐ cóng jù lè bù huí lái， nǐ zuǒ shǒu hǔ kǒu shàng yòu bái fěn； dì 'èr， zhǐ yòu zài dǎ tái qiú de shí hòu， wèile wěn dìng qiú gān， nǐ cái zài hǔ kǒu shàng mǒ bái fěn； dì sān， méi yòu sè sī dùn zuò bàn， nǐ cóng bù dǎ tái qiú； dì sì， nǐ zài sì gè xīng qī yǐ qián gào sù guò wǒ， sè sī dùn yòu gòu mǎi mǒu xiàng nán fēi chǎn yè de tè quán， zài yòu yī gè yuè jiù dào qī liǎo， tā hěn xiǎng nǐ gēn tā gòng tóng shǐ yòng； dì wǔ， nǐ de zhī piào bù suǒ zài wǒ de chōu tì lǐ， nǐ yī zhí méi gēn wǒ yào guò yàoshì； dì liù， nǐ bù dǎ suàn bǎ qián tóu zī zài nán fēi。”
　　“ zhè tài jiǎn dān liǎo！ " wǒ jiào qǐ lái liǎo。
　　“ zhèng shì zhè yàng！ " tā yòu diǎn bù gāo xīng dì shuō， " měi gè wèn tí， yī dàn gěi nǐ jiě shì guò， jiù biàn dé hěn jiǎn dān。 zhè lǐ yòu gè hái bù míng bái de wèn tí。 nǐ kàn kàn zěn yàng néng jiě shì tā， wǒ de péng yǒu。 " tā bǎ yī zhāng zhǐ tiáo rēng zài zhuō shàng， yòu kāi shǐ zuò tā de fēn xī。
　　 wǒ kàn jiàn zhǐ tiáo shàng huà zhe yī xiē huāng dàn wú jī de fú hào， shí fēn chà yì。
　　“ hēi， fú 'ěr mó sī， zhè shì yī zhāng xiǎo hái zǐ de huà。”
　　“ ō， nà shì nǐ de xiǎng fǎ。”
　　“ nán dào huì shì bié de má？”
　　“ zhè zhèng shì xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng jí zhe xiǎng nòng míng bái de wèn tí。 tā zhù zài nuò fú kè jùn mǎ chǎng cūn zhuāng yuán。 zhè gè xiǎo mí yǔ shì jīn tiān zǎo bān yóu chē sòng lái de， tā běn rén zhǔn bèi chéng dì 'èr bān huǒ chē lái zhè 'ér。 mén líng xiǎng liǎo， huá shēng。 rú guǒ lái de rén jiù shì tā， wǒ bù huì gǎn dào yì wài。”
　　 lóu tī shàng xiǎng qǐ yī zhèn chén zhòng de jiǎo bù shēng， bù yī huì 'ér zǒu jìn lái yī gè shēn cái gāo dà、 tǐ gé jiàn zhuàng、 liǎn guā dé hěn gān jìng de shēn shì。 míng liàng de yǎn jīng， hóng rùn de miàn jiá， shuō míng tā shēng huó zài yī gè yuǎn lí bèi kè jiē de wù qì de dì fāng。 tā jìn mén de shí hòu， sì hū dài lái liǎo shǎo xǔ dōng hǎi 'àn nà zhǒng nóng yù、 xīn xiān、 liáng shuǎng de kōng qì。 tā gēn wǒ men wò guò shǒu， zhèng yào zuò xià lái de shí hòu， mù guāng luò zài nà zhāng huà zhe qí guài fú hào de zhǐ tiáo shàng， nà shì wǒ gāng cái zǎi xì kàn guò yǐ hòu fàng zài zhuō shàng de。
　　“ fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， nín zěn me jiě shì tā ní？ " tā dà shēng shuō， " tā men gào sù wǒ nín xǐ huān lí qí gǔ guài de dōng xī， wǒ kàn zài zhǎo bù dào bǐ zhè gèng lí qí de liǎo。 wǒ bǎ zhè zhāng zhǐ tiáo xiān jì lái， shì wéi liǎo ràng nín zài wǒ lái yǐ qián yòu shí jiān yán jiū tā。”
　　“ díquè shì yī jiàn hěn nán kàn dǒng de zuò pǐn， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " zhà yī kàn jiù xiàng hái zǐ men kāi de wán xiào， zài zhǐ shàng héng zhe huà liǎo xiē zài tiào wǔ de qí xíng guài zhuàng de xiǎo rén。 nín zěn me huì zhòng shì yī zhāng zhè yàng guài de huà ní？”
　　“ wǒ shì jué bù huì de， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng。 kě shì wǒ qī zǐ hěn zhòng shì。 zhè zhāng huà xià dé tā yào mìng。 tā shénme yě bù shuō， dàn shì wǒ néng cóng tā yǎn lǐ kàn chū lái tā hěn hài pà。 zhè jiù shì wǒ yào bǎ zhè jiàn shì chè dǐ nòng qīng chǔ de yuán yīn。”
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī bǎ zhǐ tiáo jǔ qǐ lái， ràng tài yáng guāng zhào zhe tā。 nà shì cóng jì shì běn shàng sī xià lái de yī yè， shàng miàn nà xiē tiào wǔ de rén shì yòng qiān bǐ huà de， pái liè chéng zhè yàng：
　　（ tú yī： twd1.gif）
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī zǎi xì kàn liǎo yī huì 'ér， rán hòu hěn xiǎo xīn dì bǎ zhǐ tiáo dié qǐ lái， fàng jìn tā de pí jiā zǐ lǐ。
　　“ zhè kě néng chéng wéi yī jiàn zuì yòu qù、 zuì bù píng cháng de 'àn zǐ， " tā shuō， " nín zài xìn shàng gào sù liǎo wǒ yī xiē xì jié， xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng。 dàn shì wǒ xiǎng qǐng nín zài gěi wǒ de péng yǒu huá shēng yī shēng jiǎng yī biàn。”
　　“ wǒ bù shì hěn huì jiǎng gù shì de rén， " zhè wèi kè rén shuō。 tā nà shuāng dà 'ér yòu lì de shǒu， shén jīng zhì dì yī huì 'ér jǐn wò， yī huì 'ér fàng kāi。 " rú guǒ yòu shénme jiǎng dé bù qīng chǔ de dì fāng， nín jìn guǎn wèn wǒ hǎo liǎo。 wǒ yào cóng qù nián wǒ jié hūn qián hòu kāi shǐ， dàn shì wǒ xiǎng xiān shuō yī xià， suī rán wǒ bù shì gè yòu qián de rén， wǒ men zhè yī jiā zhù zài mǎ chǎng cūn dà yuē yòu wǔ bǎi nián liǎo， zài nuò fú kè jùn yě méi yòu bǐ wǒ men yī jiā gèng chū míng de。 qù nián， wǒ dào lún dūn cān jiā wéi duō lì yà nǚ wáng jí wèi liù shí zhōu nián jì niàn， zhù zài luó sù guǎng chǎng yī jiā gōng yù lǐ， yīn wéi wǒ men jiào qū de pà kè mù shī zhù de jiù shì zhè jiā gōng yù。 zài zhè jiā gōng yù lǐ hái zhù liǎo yī gè nián qīng de měi guó xiǎo jiě， tā xìng pà tè lǐ kè， quán míng shì 'āi 'ěr qiàn · pà tè lǐ kè。 yú shì wǒ men chéng liǎo péng yǒu。 hái méi yòu děng dào wǒ zài lún dūn zhù mǎn yī gè yuè， wǒ yǐ jīng 'ài tā 'ài dào jí diǎn liǎo。 wǒ men qiāoqiāo zài dēng jì chù jié liǎo hūn， rán hòu zuò wéi fū fù huí dào liǎo nuò fú kè。 nín huì jué dé yī gè míng mén zǐ dì， jìng rán yǐ zhè zhǒng fāng shì qǔ yī gè shēn shì bù míng de qī zǐ， jiǎn zhí shì fā fēng bā， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng。 bù guò nín yào shì jiàn guò tā、 rèn shí tā de huà， nà jiù néng bāng zhù nín lǐ jiě zhè yī diǎn。
　　“ dāng shí tā zài zhè yī diǎn shàng hěn zhí shuǎng。 āi 'ěr qiàn díquè shì zhí shuǎng de。 wǒ bù néng shuō tā méi gěi wǒ gǎi biàn zhù yì de jī huì， dàn shì wǒ cóng méi yòu xiǎng dào yào gǎi biàn zhù yì。 tā duì wǒ shuō： ' wǒ yī shēng zhōng gēn yī xiē kě hèn de rén lái wǎng guò， xiàn zài zhǐ xiǎng bǎ tā mendōu wàng diào。 wǒ bù yuàn yì zài tí guò qù， yīn wéi zhè huì shǐ wǒ tòng kǔ。 rú guǒ nǐ qǔ wǒ de huà， xī 'ěr dùn， nǐ huì qǔ dào yī gè méi yòu zuò guò rèn hé shǐ zì jǐ gǎn dào xiū kuì de shì de nǚ rén。 dàn shì， nǐ bì xū mǎn zú yú wǒ de bǎo zhèng， bìng qiě yǔn xǔ wǒ duì zài jià gěi nǐ yǐ qián wǒ de yī qiē jīng lì bǎo chí chén mò。 yào shì zhè xiē tiáo jiàn tài kē kè liǎo， nà nǐ jiù huí nuò fú kè qù， ràng wǒ zhào jiù guò wǒ de gū jì shēng huó bā。 ' jiù zài wǒ men jié hūn de qián yī tiān， tā duì wǒ shuō liǎo zhè xiē huà。 wǒ gào sù tā wǒ yuàn yì yǐ tā de tiáo jiàn qǔ tā， wǒ yě yī zhí zūn shǒu zhe wǒ de nuò yán。
　　“ wǒ men jié hūn dào xiàn zài yǐ jīng yī nián liǎo， yī zhí guò dé hěn xìng fú。 kě shì， dà yuē yī gè yuè yǐ qián， jiù zài liù yuè dǐ， wǒ dì yī cì kàn jiàn liǎo fán nǎo de yù zhào。 nà tiān wǒ qī zǐ jiē dào yī fēng měi guó jì lái de xìn。 wǒ kàn dào shàng miàn tiē liǎo měi guó yóu piào。 tā liǎn biàn dé shàbái， bǎ xìn dú wán jiù rēng jìn huǒ lǐ shāo liǎo。 hòu lái tā bù tí zhè jiàn shì， wǒ yě méi tí， yīn wéi wǒ bì xū zūn shǒu nuò yán。 cóng nà shí hòu qǐ， tā jiù méi yòu guò piàn kè de 'ān níng， liǎn shàng zǒng dài zhe kǒng jù de yàng zǐ， hǎo xiàng tā zài děng dài zhe shénme。 dàn shì， chú fēi tā kāi kǒu， wǒ shénme dōubù biàn shuō。 qǐng zhù yì， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， tā shì yī gè lǎo shí rén。 bù lùn tā guò qù zài shēng huó zhōng yòu guò shénme bù xìng de shì， nà yě bù huì shì tā zì jǐ de guò cuò。 wǒ bù guò shì gè nuò fú kè de pǔ tōng xiāng shēn， dàn shì zài yīng guó zài méi yòu bié rén de jiā tíng shēng wàng néng gāo guò wǒ de liǎo。 tā hěn míng bái zhè yī diǎn， ér qiě zài méi yòu gēn wǒ jié hūn zhī qián， tā jiù hěn qīng chǔ。 tā jué bù yuàn yì gěi wǒ men yī jiā de shēng yù dài lái rèn hé wū diǎn， zhè wǒ wán quán xiāng xìn。
　　“ hǎo， xiàn zài wǒ tán zhè jiàn shì kě yí de dì fāng。 dà gài yī gè xīng qī yǐ qián， jiù shì shàng xīng qī 'èr， wǒ fā xiàn zài yī gè chuāng tái shàng huà liǎo yī xiē tiào wǔ de huá jī xiǎo rén， gēn nà zhāng zhǐ shàng de yī mó yī yàng， shì fěn bǐ huà de。 wǒ yǐ wéi shì xiǎo mǎ guān huà de， kě shì tā fā shì shuō tā yī diǎn dōubù zhī dào。 bù guǎn zěn yàng， nà xiē huá jī xiǎo rén shì zài yè lǐ huà shàng qù de。 wǒ bǎ tā men shuà diào liǎo， hòu lái cái gēn wǒ qī zǐ tí dào zhè jiàn shì。 shǐ wǒ jīng qí de shì， tā bǎ zhè jiàn shì kàn dé hěn yán zhòng， ér qiě qiú wǒ rú guǒ zài yòu zhè yàng de huà chū xiàn， ràng tā kàn yī kàn。 lián zhe yī gè xīng qī， shénme yě méi chū xiàn。 dào zuó tiān zǎo chén， wǒ zài huā yuán rì guǐ yí shàng zhǎo dào zhè zhāng zhǐ tiáo。 wǒ ná gěi 'āi 'ěr qiàn yī kàn， tā lì kè hūn dǎo liǎo。 yǐ hòu tā jiù xiàng zài zuò mèng yī yàng， jīng shén huǎng hū， yǎn jīng lǐ yī zhí chōng mǎn liǎo kǒng jù。 jiù zài nà gè shí hòu， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， wǒ xiě liǎo yī fēng xìn， lián nà zhāng zhǐ tiáo yī qǐ jì gěi liǎo nín。 wǒ bù néng bǎ zhè zhāng zhǐ tiáo jiāo gěi， yīn wéi tā men zhǔn yào xiào wǒ， dàn shì nín huì gào sù wǒ zěn me bàn。 wǒ bìng bù fù yòu， dàn wàn yī wǒ qī zǐ yòu shénme huò shì lín tóu， wǒ yuàn yì qīng jiā dàng chǎn lái bǎo hù tā。”
　　 tā shì gè zài yīng guó běn tǔ zhǎngdà de piào liàng nán zǐ héng héng chún pǔ、 zhèng zhí、 wén yǎ， yòu yī shuāng chéng shí de lán yǎn jīng hé yī zhāng qīng xiù de liǎn。 cóng tā de miàn róng zhōng， kě yǐ kàn chū tā duì qī zǐ de zhōng 'ài hé xìn rèn。 fú 'ěr mó sī jù jīng huì shén dì tīng tā jiǎng wán liǎo zhè duàn jīng guò yǐ hòu， zuò zhe chén sī liǎo yī huì 'ér。
　　“ nǐ bù jué dé， qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng， " tā zhōng yú shuō， " zuì hǎo de bàn fǎ hái shì zhí jiē qiú nǐ qī zǐ bǎ tā de mì mì gào sù nín？”
　　 xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè yáo liǎo yáo tóu。
　　“ nuò yán zǒng shì nuò yán， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng。 jiǎ rú 'āi 'ěr qiàn yuàn yì gào sù wǒ， tā jiù huì gào sù wǒ de。 jiǎ rú tā bù yuàn yì， wǒ bù qiǎngpò tā shuō chū lái。 bù guò， wǒ zì jǐ xiǎng bàn fǎ zǒng kě yǐ bā。 wǒ yī dìng dé xiǎng bàn fǎ。”
　　“ nà me wǒ hěn yuàn yì bāng zhù nín。 shǒu xiān， nín tīng shuō nín jiā lái guò mò shēng rén méi yòu？”
　　“ méi yòu。”
　　“ wǒ cāi nǐ nà yī dài shì gè hěn píng jìng de dì fāng， rèn hé mò shēng miàn kǒng chū xiàn dū huì yǐn rén zhù yì， shì má？”
　　“ zài hěn lín jìn de dì fāng shì zhè yàng de。 dàn shì， lí wǒ men nà 'ér bù tài yuǎn， yòu hǎo jǐ gè yǐn shēng kǒu de dì fāng， nà lǐ de nóng mín jīng cháng liú wài rén zhù sù。”
　　“ zhè xiē nán dǒng de fú hào xiǎn rán yòu qí hán yì。 jiǎ rú shì suí yì huà de， zán men duō bàn jiě shì bù liǎo。 cóng lìng yī fāng miàn kàn， jiǎ rú shì yòu xì tǒng de， wǒ xiāng xìn zán men huì bǎ tā chè dǐ nòng qīng chǔ。 dàn shì， jǐn yòu de zhè yī zhāng tài jiǎn duǎn， shǐ wǒ wú cóng zhuóshǒu。 nín tí gōng de zhè xiē qíng kuàng yòu tài mó hú， bù néng zuò wéi diào chá de jī chǔ。 wǒ jiàn yì nǐ huí nuò fú kè qù， mìqiè zhù shì， bǎ kě néng chū xiàn rèn hé xīn de tiào wǔ de rén zhào yuán yàng lín mó xià lái。 fēi cháng kě xī de shì， zǎo xiān nà xiē yòng fěn bǐ huà zài chuāng tái shàng de tiào wǔ de rén， zán men méi yòu yī zhāng fù zhì de。 nín hái yào xì xīn dǎ tīng yī xià， fù jìn lái guò shénme mò shēng rén。 nín jǐ shí shōu jí dào xīn de zhèng jù， jiù zài lái zhè 'ér。 wǒ xiàn zài néng gěi nín de jiù shì zhè xiē jiàn yì liǎo。 rú guǒ yòu shénme jǐn jí de xīn fā zhǎn， wǒ suí shí kě yǐ gǎn dào nuò fú kè nín jiā lǐ qù。”
　　 zhè yī cì de miàn tán shǐ fú 'ěr mó sī biàn dé fēi cháng chén mò。 yī lián shù tiān， wǒ jǐ cì jiàn tā cóng bǐ jì běn zhōng qǔ chū nà zhāng zhǐ tiáo， jiǔ jiǔ dì zǎi xì yán jiū shàng miàn xiě de nà xiē gǔ guài fú hào。 kě shì， tā jué kǒu bù tí zhè jiàn shì。 yī zhí dào chàbù duō liǎng gè xīng qī yǐ hòu， yòu yī tiān xià wǔ wǒ zhèng yào chū qù， tā bǎ wǒ jiào zhù liǎo。
　　“ huá shēng， nǐ zuì hǎo bié zǒu。”
　　“ zěn me lā？”
　　“ yīn wéi zǎo shàng wǒ shōu dào xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè de yī fèn diàn bào。 nǐ hái jì dé tā hé nà xiē tiào wǔ de rén má？ tā yīnggāi zài yī diǎn 'èr shí fēn dào lì wù pǔ jiē， suí shí kě néng dào zhè 'ér。 cóng tā de diàn bào zhōng， wǒ tuī cè yǐ jīng chū xiàn liǎo hěn zhòng yào de xīn qíng kuàng。”
　　 wǒ men méi yòu děng duō jiǔ， zhè wèi nuò fú kè de shēn shì zuò mǎ chē zhí jiē cóng chē zhàn gǎn lái liǎo。 tā xiàng shì yòu jiāo jí yòu jù sàng， mù guāng juàn fá， mǎn 'é zhòu wén。
　　“ zhè jiàn shì zhēn jiào wǒ shòu bù liǎo， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， " tā shuō zhe， jiù xiàng gè jīng pí lì jìn de rén yī pì gǔ zuò jìn yǐ zǐ lǐ。“ dāng nǐ gǎn jué dào wú xíng zhōng bèi rén bāo wéi， yòu bù qīng chǔ zài suàn jì nǐ de shì shuí， zhè jiù gòu zāo xīn de liǎo。 jiā shàng nǐ yòu kàn jiàn zhè jiàn shì zhèng zài yī diǎn yī diǎn dì zhé mó zì jǐ de qī zǐ， nà jiù bù shì xuè ròu zhī qū suǒ néng rěn shòu de。 tā gěi zhé mó dé xiāo shòu liǎo， wǒ yǎn jiàn tā shòu xià qù。”
　　“ tā shuō liǎo shénme méi yòu？”
　　“ méi yòu， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng。 tā hái méi shuō。 bù guò， yòu hǎo jǐ huí zhè gè kě lián de rén xiǎng yào shuō， yòu gǔ bù qǐ yǒng qì lái kāi zhè gè tóu。 wǒ yě shì zhe lái bāng zhù tā， dà gài wǒ zuò dé hěn bèn， fǎn 'ér xià dé tā bù gǎn shuō liǎo。 tā jiǎng dào guò wǒ de gǔ lǎo jiā tíng、 wǒ men zài quán jùn de míng piàn hé yǐn yǐ wéi zì háo de qīng bái shēng yù， zhè shí hòu wǒ zǒng yǐ wéi tā jiù huì shuō dào yào diǎn shàng lái liǎo， dàn shì bù zhī zěn me， huà hái méi yòu jiǎng dào nà 'ér jiù chà kāi liǎo。”
　　“ dàn shì nǐ zì jǐ yòu suǒ fā xiàn má？”
　　“ kě bù shǎo， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng。 wǒ gěi nín dài lái liǎo jǐ zhāng xīn de huà， gèng zhòng yào de shì wǒ kàn dào nà gè jiā huǒ liǎo。”
　　“ zěn me？ shì huà zhè xiē fú hào de nà gè rén má？”
　　“ jiù shì tā， wǒ kàn jiàn tā huà de。 hái shì yī qiēdōu 'àn shùn xù gēn nín shuō bā。 shàng cì wǒ lái bài fǎng nín yǐ hòu， huí dào jiā lǐ de dì 'èr tiān zǎo shàng， tóu yī jiàn jiàn dào de dōng xī jiù shì yīháng xīn de tiào wǔ de rén， shì yòng fěn bǐ huà zài gōng jù fáng mén shàng de。 zhè jiān gōng jù fáng 'āi zhe cǎo píng， zhèng duì zhe qián chuāng。 wǒ zhào yàng lín mó liǎo yī zhāng， jiù zài zhè 'ér。 " tā dǎ kāi yī zhāng dié zhe de zhǐ， bǎ tā fàng zài zhuō shàng。 xià miàn jiù shì tā lín mó xià lái de fú hào：
　　（ tú 2： twd2.gif）
　　“ tài miào liǎo！ " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō。 " tài miào liǎo！ qǐng jiē zhe shuō bā。”
　　“ lín mó wán liǎo， wǒ jiù bǎ mén shàng zhè xiē jì hào cā liǎo， dàn shì guò liǎo liǎng gè zǎo shàng， zhǐ chū xiàn liǎo xīn de。 wǒ zhè 'ér yě yòu yī zhāng lín mó de。”
　　（ tú 3： twd3.gif）
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī cuō zhe shuāng shǒu， gāo xīng dé qīng qīng xiào chū shēng lái。
　　“ zán men de zī liào jī lěi dé hěn kuài yā！ " tā shuō。
　　“ guò liǎo sān tiān， wǒ zài rì guǐ yí shàng zhǎo dào yī zhāng zhǐ tiáo， shàng miàn yā zhe yī kuài 'é luǎn shí。 zhǐ tiáo shàng hěn liáo cǎo dì huà liǎo yīháng xiǎo rén， gēn shàng yī cì de wán quán yī yàng。 cóng nà yǐ hòu， wǒ jué dìng zài yè lǐ shǒu zhe， yú shì qǔ chū liǎo wǒ de zuǒ lún， zuò zài shū fáng lǐ bù shuì， yīn wéi cóng nà 'ér kě yǐ wàng dào cǎo píng hé huā yuán。 dà yuē zài líng chén liǎng diǎn de shí hòu， wǒ tīng dào hòu miàn yòu jiǎo bù shēng， yuán lái shì wǒ qī zǐ chuānzhuó shuì yī zǒu lái liǎo。 tā yāng qiú wǒ qù shuì， wǒ jiù duì tā míng shuō yào qiáo qiáo shuí zài zhè yàng zhuō nòng wǒ men。 tā shuō zhè shì háo wú yì yì de 'è zuò jù， yào wǒ bù qù lǐ tā。
　　“ ' jiǎ rú zhēn jiào nǐ shēng qì de huà， xī 'ěr dùn， zán men liǎ kě yǐ chū qù lǚ xíng， duǒ kāi zhè zhǒng tǎo yàn de rén。 '
　　“ ' shénme？ ràng yī gè 'è zuò jù de jiā huǒ bǎ zán men cóng zhè 'ér niǎn zǒu？ '
　　“ ' qù shuì bā， ' tā shuō， ' zán men bái tiān zài shāng liàng。 '
　　“ tā zhèng shuō zhe， zài yuè guāng xià wǒ jiàn tā de liǎn hū rán biàn dé gèng jiā cāng bái， tā yī zhǐ shǒu jǐn zhuā zhù wǒ de jiān bǎng。 jiù zài duì guò gōng jù fáng de yīn yǐng lǐ， yòu shénme dōng xī zài yí dòng。 wǒ kàn jiàn gè hēi hú hú de rén yǐng， tōu tōu rào guò qiáng jiǎo zǒu dào gōng jù fáng mén qián dūn liǎo xià lái。 wǒ zhuā qǐ shǒu qiāng zhèng yào chōng chū qù， wǒ qī zǐ shǐ jìn bǎ wǒ bào zhù。 wǒ yòng lì xiǎng shuǎi tuō tā， tā pīn mìng bào zhù wǒ bù fàng shǒu。 zuì hòu， wǒ zhèng tuō liǎo。 děng wǒ dǎ kāi mén páo dào gōng jù fáng qián， nà jiā huǒ bù jiàn liǎo。 dàn shì tā liú xià liǎo hén jì， mén shàng yòu huà liǎo yīháng tiào wǔ de rén， pái liè gēn qián liǎng cì de wán quán xiāng tóng， wǒ yǐ jīng bǎ tā men lín mó zài nà zhāng zhǐ shàng。 wǒ bǎ yuàn zǐ gè chù dū zhǎo biàn liǎo， yě méi jiàn dào nà gè jiā huǒ de zōng yǐng。 kě zhè jiàn shì guài jiù guài zài tā bìng méi yòu zǒu kāi， yīn wéi zǎo shàng wǒ zài jiǎn chá nà shàn mén de shí hòu， fā xiàn chú liǎo wǒ yǐ jīng kàn dào guò de nà xíng xiǎo rén yǐ wài， yòu tiān liǎo jǐ gè xīn huà de。”
　　“ nà xiē xīn huà de nín yòu méi yòu？”
　　“ yòu， hěn duǎn， wǒ yě zhào yàng lín mó xià lái liǎo， jiù shì zhè yī zhāng。”
　　 tā yòu ná chū yī zhāng zhǐ lái。 tā jì xià de xīn wǔ dǎo shì zhè yàng de：
　　（ tú 4： twd4.gif）
　　“ qǐng gào sù wǒ， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， cóng tā yǎn shén zhōng kě yǐ kàn chū tā fēi cháng xīng fèn， " zhè shì huà zài shàng yīháng xià miàn de ní， hái shì wán quán fēn kāi de？”
　　“ shì huà zài lìng yī kuài mén bǎn shàng de。”
　　“ hǎo jí liǎo！ zhè yī diǎn duì zán men de yán jiū lái shuō zuì zhòng yào。 wǒ jué dé hěn yòu xī wàng liǎo。 xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng， qǐng jì xù jiǎng nín zhè yī duàn zuì yòu yì sī de jīng guò bā。”
　　“ zài méi yòu shénme yào jiǎng de liǎo， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， zhǐ shì nà tiān yè lǐ wǒ hěn shēng wǒ qī zǐ de qì， yīn wéi zhèng zài wǒ kě néng zhuā zhù nà gè tōu tōu liù jìn lái de liú máng de shí hòu， tā què bǎ wǒ lā zhù liǎo。 tā shuō shì pà wǒ huì zāo dào bù xìng。 dùn shí wǒ nǎo zǐ lǐ shǎn guò yī gè niàn tóu： yě xǔ tā dān xīn shì nà gè rén huì zāo dào bù xìng， yīn wéi wǒ yǐ jīng huái yí tā zhī dào nà gè rén shì shuí， ér qiě tā dǒng dé nà xiē gǔ guài fú hào shì shénme yì sī。 dàn shì， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， tā de huà yīn、 tā de yǎn shén dōubù róng zhì yí。 wǒ xiāng xìn tā xīn lǐ xiǎng díquè shí shì wǒ zì jǐ de 'ān quán。 zhè jiù shì quán bù qíng kuàng， xiàn zài wǒ xū yào nín zhǐ jiào wǒ gāi zěn me bàn。 wǒ zì jǐ xiǎng jiào wǔ、 liù gè nóng chǎng de xiǎo huǒ zǐ mái fú zài guàn mù cóng lǐ， děng nà gè jiā huǒ zài lái jiù hěn hěn zòu tā yī dùn， tā yǐ hòu jiù bù gǎn lái dǎ jiǎo wǒ men liǎo。”
　　“ zhè gè rén guò yú jiǎo huá， kǒng pà bù shì yòng zhè yàng jiǎn dān de bàn fǎ kě yǐ duì fù， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " nín néng zài lún dūn dāi duō jiǔ？”
　　“ jīn tiān wǒ bì xū huí qù。 wǒ jué bù fàng xīn ràng wǒ qī zǐ zhěng yè yī gè rén dāi zài jiā lǐ。 tā shén jīng hěn jǐn zhāng， yě yào qiú wǒ huí qù。”
　　“ yě xǔ nín huí qù shì duì de。 yào shì nín néng dāi zhù de huà， shuō bù dìng guò yī liǎng tiān wǒ kě yǐ gēn nín yī qǐ huí qù。 nín xiān bǎ zhè xiē zhǐ tiáo gěi wǒ， kě néng bù jiǔ wǒ huì qù bài fǎng nín， bāng zhe jiě jué yī xià nín de nán tí。”
　　 yī zhí dào wǒ men zhè wèi kè rén zǒu liǎo， fú 'ěr mó sī shǐ zhōng bǎo chí zhù tā nà zhǒng zhí yè xìng de chén zhe。 dàn shì wǒ hěn liǎo jiě tā， néng hěn róng yì dì kàn chū lái tā xīn lǐ shì shí fēn xīng fèn de。 xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè de kuān kuò bèi yǐng gāng cóng mén kǒu xiāo shī， wǒ de huǒ bàn jiù jí jí máng máng páo dào zhuō biān， bǎ suǒ yòu de zhǐ tiáo dū bǎi zài zì jǐ miàn qián， kāi shǐ jìn xíng jīng xì fù zá de fēn xī。 wǒ yī lián liǎng xiǎo shí kàn zhe tā bǎ huà zhe xiǎo rén hé xiě shàng zì mǔ de zhǐ tiáo， yī zhāng jiē yī zhāng dì lái huí diào huàn。 tā quán shén guàn zhù zài zhè xiàng gōng zuò shàng， wán quán wàng liǎo wǒ zài bàng biān。 tā gānde shùn shǒu de shí hòu， biàn yī huì 'ér chuī shào， yī huì 'ér chàng qǐ lái； yòu shí gěi nán zhù liǎo， jiù hǎo yī zhèn zǐ zhòu qǐ méi tóu、 liǎng yǎn fā dāi dì wàng zhe。 zuì hòu， tā mǎn yì dì jiào liǎo yī shēng， cóng yǐ zǐ shàng tiào qǐ lái， zài wū lǐ zǒu lái zǒu qù， bù zhù dì cuō zhe liǎng zhǐ shǒu。 hòu lái， tā zài diàn bào zhǐ shàng xiě liǎo yī zhāng hěn cháng de diàn bào。 " huá shēng， rú guǒ huí diàn zhōng yòu wǒ xī wàng dé dào de dá fù， nǐ jiù kě yǐ zài nǐ de jì lù zhōng tiān shàng yī jiàn fēi cháng yòu qù de 'àn zǐ liǎo， tā shuō， dào shǐ tā fán nǎo de yuán yīn。”
　　 shuō shí huà， wǒ dāng shí fēi cháng xiǎng wèn gè jiū jìng， dàn shì wǒ zhī dào fú 'ěr mó sī xǐ huān zài tā xuǎn hǎo de shí hòu， yǐ zì jǐ de fāng shì lái tán tā de fā xiàn。 suǒ yǐ wǒ děng zhe， zhí dào tā jué dé shì hé xiàng wǒ shuō míng yī qiē de nà tiān。
　　 kě shì， chí chí bù jiàn huí diàn。 wǒ men nài zhe xìng zǐ děng liǎo liǎng tiān。 zài zhè liǎng tiān lǐ， zhǐ yào mén líng yī xiǎng， fú 'ěr mó sī jiù cè zhe 'ěr duǒ tīng。 dì 'èr tiān de wǎn shàng， lái liǎo yī fēng xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè de xìn， shuō tā jiā lǐ píng jìng wú shì， zhǐ shì nà tiān qīng zǎo yòu kàn dào yī cháng xíng tiào wǔ de rén huà zài rì guǐ yí shàng。 tā lín mó liǎo yī zhāng， fù zài xìn lǐ jì lái liǎo：
　　（ tú 5： twd5.gif）
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī fú zài zhuō shàng， duì zhe zhè zhāng guài dàn de tú 'àn kàn liǎo jǐ fēn zhōng， měng rán zhàn qǐ lái， fā chū yī shēng jīng yì、 jù sàng de hǎn jiào。 jiāo jí shǐ tā liǎn sè qiáo cuì。
　　“ zhè jiàn shì zán men zài bù néng tīng qí zì rán liǎo， " tā shuō， " jīn tiān wǎn shàng yòu qù běi wò 'ěr shā mǔ de huǒ chē má？”
　　 wǒ zhǎo chū liǎo huǒ chē shí kè biǎo。 mò bān chē gāng gāng kāi zǒu。
　　“ nà mò zán men míng tiān tí qián chī zǎo fàn， zuò tóu bān chē qù， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō。
　　“ xiàn zài fēi zán men chū miàn bù kě liǎo。 ā， zán men pàn zhe de diàn bào lái liǎo。 děng yī děng， hè dé sēn tài tài， yě xǔ yào pāi gè huí diàn。 bù bì liǎo， wán quán bù chū wǒ suǒ liào。 kàn liǎo zhè fēng diàn bào， zán men gèng yào gǎn kuài ràng xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè zhī dào mù qián de qíng kuàng， duō dān wù yī xiǎo shí dōubù yīnggāi， yīn wéi zhè wèi nuò fú kè de hú tú shēn shì yǐ jīng xiàn rù liǎo qí guài 'ér wēi xiǎn de luó wǎng。”
　　 hòu lái zhèng míng qíng kuàng què shí rú cǐ。 xiàn zài kuài dào wǒ jié shù zhè gè dāng shí kàn lái shì yòu zhì kě xiào、 xī qí gǔ guài de gù shì de shí hòu， wǒ xīn lǐ yòu chōng mǎn liǎo wǒ dāng shí suǒ gǎn shòu dào de jīng 'ě hé kǒng bù。 suī rán wǒ hěn yuàn yì gěi wǒ de dú zhě yī gè duō shǎo dài diǎn xī wàng de jié wěi， dàn zuò wéi shì shí de jì lù， wǒ bì xū bǎ zhè yī lián chuàn de qí guài shì jiàn zhào shí jiǎng xià qù， yī zhí jiǎng dào tā men de bù xìng jié jú。 zhè xiē shì jiàn de fā shēng， shǐ " mǎ chǎng cūn zhuāng yuán " yī dù zài quán yīng guó chéng liǎo rén rén jiē zhī de míng cí liǎo。
　　 wǒ men zài běi wò 'ěr shā mǔ xià chē， gāng yī tí wǒ men yào qù de mùdì dì， zhàn cháng jiù jí máng cháo wǒ men zǒu lái。 " nǐ men liǎng wèi shì cóng lún dūn lái de zhēn tàn bā？ " tā shuō。
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī de liǎn shàng yòu diǎn yàn fán de yàng zǐ。
　　“ shénme shǐ nín xiǎng dào zhè gè？”
　　“ yīn wéi nuò wēi qí de mǎ dīng jǐng cháng gāng dǎ zhè 'ér guò。 yě xǔ nín 'èr wèi shì wài kē yī shēng bā。 tā hái méi sǐ， zhì shǎo zuì hòu de xiāo xī shì zhè yàng jiǎng de。 kě néng nǐ men gǎn dé shàng jiù tā， dàn yě zhǐ bù guò shì ràng tā huó zhe shàng jiǎo jià bà liǎo。”
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī de liǎn sè yīn chén， jiāo jí wàn fēn。
　　“ wǒ men yào qù mǎ chǎng cūn zhuāng yuán， " tā shuō， " bù guò wǒ men méi tīng shuō nà lǐ chū liǎo shénme shì。”
　　“ shì qíng kě pà jí liǎo， " zhàn cháng shuō， " xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè hé tā qī zǐ liǎng gèdōu gěi qiāng dǎ liǎo。 tā ná qiāng xiān dǎ zhàng fū， rán hòu dǎ zì jǐ， zhè shì tā men jiā de yōng rén shuō de。 nán de yǐ jīng sǐ liǎo， nǚ de yě méi yòu duō dà xī wàng liǎo。 ké， tā men yuán shì nuò fú kè jùn zuì lǎo、 zuì tǐ miàn de yī jiā！”
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī shénme yě méi shuō， gǎn jǐn shàng liǎo yī liàng mǎ chē。 zài zhè cháng dá qī yīng lǐ de tú zhōng， tā jiù méi yòu kāi guò kǒu。 wǒ hěn shǎo jiàn tā zhè yàng wán quán shī wàng guò。 wǒ men cóng lún dūn lái de yī lù shàng fú 'ěr mó sī dū xīn shén bù 'ān， tā zǎi xì dì zhú yè chá kàn gè zhǒng zǎo bào de shí hòu， wǒ jiù zhù yì dào tā shì nà me yōu xīn chōng chōng。 xiàn zài， tā suǒ dān xīn de zuì huài qíng kuàng tū rán biàn chéng shì shí， shǐ tā gǎn dào yī zhǒng máng rán de yōu yù。 tā kào zài zuò wèi shàng， mò mò xiǎng zhe zhè lìng rén jù sàng de biàn gù。 rán 'ér， zhè yī dài yòu xǔ duō shǐ wǒ men gǎn xīng qù de dōng xī， yīn wéi wǒ men zhèng chuān guò yī gè zài yīng guó suàn dé shàng shì dú yī wú 'èr de xiāng cūn， shǎo shù fēn sàn de nóng shè biǎo míng jīn tiān jù jū zài zhè yī dài de rén bù duō liǎo。 sì zhōu dōukě yǐ kàn dào fāng tǎ xíng de jiào táng， sǒng lì zài yī piàn píng tǎn qīng cōng de jǐng sè zhōng， shù shuō zhe xī rì dōng 'ān gé lì yà wáng guó de fán róng chāng shèng。 yī piàn lán zǐ sè de rì 'ěr màn hǎi zhōng yú chū xiàn zài nuò fú kè qīng cōng de 'àn biān， mǎ chē fū yòng biān zǐ zhǐ zhe cóng xiǎo shù lín zhōng lù chū de lǎo shì zhuān mù jié gòu de shān qiáng shuō： " nà 'ér jiù shì mǎ chǎng cūn zhuāng yuán。”
　　 mǎ chē yī shǐ dào dài yuán zhù mén láng de dà mén qián， wǒ jiù kàn jiàn liǎo qián miàn wǎng qiú chǎng biān nà jiān yǐn qǐ guò wǒ men zhǒng zhǒng qí guài lián xiǎng de hēi sè gōng jù fáng hé nà zuò rì guǐ yí。 yī gè duǎn xiǎo jīng hàn、 dòng zuò mǐn jié、 liú zhe hú zǐ de rén gāng cóng yī liàng yī pǐ mǎ lā de mǎ chē shàng zǒu xià lái， tā jiè shào zì jǐ shì nuò fú kè jú de mǎ dīng jǐng cháng。 dāng tā tīng dào wǒ tóng bàn de míng zì de shí hòu， lù chū hěn jīng yà de yàng zǐ。
　　“ ā， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， zhè jiàn 'àn zǐ shì jīn tiān líng chén sān diǎn fā shēng de。 nín zài lún dūn zěn me tīng dào de， ér qiě gēn wǒ yī yàng kuài jiù gǎn dào liǎo xiàn chǎng？”
　　“ wǒ yǐ jīng liào dào liǎo。 wǒ lái zhè 'ér shì xī wàng zǔ zhǐ tā fā shēng。”
　　“ nà nín yī dìng zhǎng wò liǎo zhòng yào de zhèng jù， zài zhè fāng miàn wǒ men yī wú suǒ zhī， yīn wéi jù shuō tā men shì yī duì zuì hé mù de fū qī。”
　　“ wǒ zhǐ yòu yī xiē tiào wǔ de rén zuò wéi wù zhèng， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " yǐ hòu wǒ zài xiàng nín jiě shì bā。 mù qián， jì rán méi lái dé jí bì miǎn zhè chǎng bēi jù， wǒ fēi cháng xī wàng lì yòng wǒ xiàn zài zhǎng wò de cái liào lái shēn zhāng zhèng yì。 nín shì yuàn yì ràng wǒ cān jiā nín de diào chá gōng zuò ní， hái shì nìngyuàn ràng wǒ zì yóu xíng dòng？”
　　“ rú guǒ zhēn de wǒ néng gēn nín gòng tóng xíng dòng de huà， wǒ huì gǎn dào hěn róng xìng， " jǐng cháng zhēn chéng dì shuō。
　　“ zhè yàng de huà， wǒ xī wàng mǎ shàng tīng qǔ zhèng cí， jìn xíng jiǎn chá， yī diǎn yě bù yào dān wù liǎo。”
　　 mǎ dīng jǐng cháng bù shī wéi míng zhì rén， tā ràng wǒ de péng yǒu zì xíng qí shì， zì jǐ zé mǎn zú yú bǎ jiēguǒ zǎi xì jì xià lái。 běn dì de wài kē yī shēng， shì gè mǎn tóu báifà de lǎo nián rén， tā gāng cóng qiū bǐ tè tài tài de wò shì xià lóu lái， bào gào shuō tā de shāng shì hěn yán zhòng， dàn bù yī dìng zhì mìng。 zǐ dàn shì cóng tā de qián 'é dǎ jìn qù de， duō bàn yào guò yī duàn shí jiān tā cái néng huī fù zhī jué。 zhì yú tā shì bèi dǎ shāng de hái shì zì shāng de wèn tí， tā bù gǎn mào mèi biǎo shì míng què de yì jiàn。 zhè yī qiāng kěn dìng shì cóng lí tā hěn jìn de dì fāng dǎ de。 zài fáng jiān lǐ zhǐ fā xiàn yī bǎ shǒu qiāng， lǐ miàn de zǐ dàn zhǐ dǎ liǎo liǎng fā。 xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng de xīn zàng bèi zǐ dàn dǎ chuān。 kě yǐ shè xiǎng wéi xī 'ěr dùn xiān kāi qiāng dǎ tā qī zǐ， yě kě yǐ shè xiǎng tā qī zǐ shì xiōng shǒu， yīn wéi nà zhī zuǒ lún jiù diào zài tā men zhèng zhōng jiān de dì bǎn shàng。
　　“ yòu méi yòu bǎ tā bān dòng guò？”
　　“ méi yòu， zhǐ bǎ tā qī zǐ tái chū qù liǎo。 wǒ men bù néng ràng tā shāng chéng nà yàng hái zài dì bǎn shàng tǎng zhe。”
　　“ nín dào zhè 'ér yòu duō jiǔ liǎo， dà fū？”
　　“ cóng sì diǎn zhōng yī zhí dào xiàn zài。”
　　“ hái yòu bié rén má？”
　　“ yòu de， jiù shì zhè wèi jǐng cháng。”
　　“ nín shénme dōuméi yòu pèng bā？”
　　“ méi yòu。”
　　“ nín kǎo lǜ dé hěn zhōu quán。 shì shuí qù qǐng nín lái de？”
　　“ zhè jiā de nǚ pú sāng dé sī。”
　　“ shì tā fā jué de？”
　　“ tā gēn chú zǐ jīn tài tài liǎng gè。”
　　“ xiàn zài tā men zài nǎ 'ér？”
　　“ zài chú fáng lǐ bā， wǒ xiǎng。”
　　“ wǒ kàn zán men zuì hǎo mǎ shàng tīng tīng tā men zěn me shuō。”
　　 zhè jiān yòu xiàng mù qiáng bǎn hé gāo chuāng hù de gǔ lǎo dà tīng biàn chéng liǎo diào chá tíng。 fú 'ěr mó sī zuò zài yī bǎ lǎo shì de dà yǐ zǐ shàng， liǎn sè qiáo cuì， tā nà shuāng bù kuān róng de yǎn jīng què shǎn shǎn fā liàng。 wǒ néng cóng tā yǎn jīng lǐ kàn chū jiān dìng bù yí de jué xīn， tā zhǔn bèi yòng bì shēng de lì liàng lái zhuī chá zhè jiàn 'àn zǐ， yī zhí dào wéi zhè wèi tā méi néng dā jiù de wěi tuō rén zuì hòu bào liǎo chóu wéi zhǐ。 zài dà tīng lǐ zuò zhe de nà yī huǒ qí guài de rén dāng zhōng， hái yòu yī zhe zhěng qí de mǎ dīng jǐng cháng， báifà cāng cāng de xiāng cūn yī shēng， wǒ zì jǐ hé yī gè dāi tóu dāi nǎo de běn cūn。
　　 zhè liǎng gè fù nǚ jiǎng dé shí fēn qīng chǔ。 yī shēng bào zhà bǎ tā men cóng shuì mèng zhōng jīng xǐng liǎo， jiē zhe yòu xiǎng liǎo yī shēng。 tā men shuì zài liǎng jiān lián zhe de fáng jiān lǐ， jīn tài tài zhè shí yǐ jīng páo dào sāng dé sī de fáng jiān lǐ lái liǎo。 tā men yī kuài 'ér xià liǎo lóu。 shū fáng mén shì chǎng kāi de， zhuō shàng diǎn zhe yī zhī là zhú。 zhù rén liǎn cháo xià pā zài shū fáng zhèng zhōng jiān， yǐ jīng sǐ liǎo。 tā de qī zǐ jiù zài 'āi jìn chuāng hù de dì fāng quán zhe、 nǎo dài kào zài qiáng shàng。 tā shāng dé fēi cháng zhòng qiě mǎn liǎn shì xuè， dà kǒu dà kǒu dì chuǎn zhe qì， dàn shì shuō bù chū huó lái。 zǒu láng hé shū fáng lǐ mǎn shì yān hé huǒ yào wèi 'ér。 chuāng hù shì guān zhe de， bìng qiě cóng lǐ miàn chā shàng liǎo。 zài zhè yī diǎn shàng， tā men liǎng réndōu shuō dé hěn kěn dìng。 tā men lì jí jiù jiào rén qù zhǎo yī shēng hé， rán hòu zài mǎ fū hé xiǎo mǎ guān de bāng zhù xià， tā men bǎ shòu shāng de nǚ zhù rén tái huí tā de wò shì。 chū shì qián fū qī liǎng gè yǐ jīng jiù qǐn liǎo， tā chuānzhuó yī fú， tā shuì yī de wài miàn tào zhe biàn páo。 shū fáng lǐ de dōng xī， dōuméi yòu dòng guò。 jiù tā men suǒ zhī， fū qī jiān cóng lái méi yòu chǎo guò jià。 tā men yī zhí bǎ tā men fū fù kàn zuò fēi cháng hé mù de yī duì。
　　 zhè xiē jiù shì liǎng gè nǚ pú de zhèng cí de yào diǎn。 zài huí dá mǎ dīng jǐng cháng de wèn tí shí， tā men kěn dìng dì shuō suǒ yòu de mén dū cóng lǐ miàn mén hǎo liǎo， shuí yě páo bù chū qù。 zài huí dá fú 'ěr mó sī de wèn tí shí， tā mendōu shuō jì dé gāng cóng dǐng lóu tā men wū lǐ páo chū lái jiù wén dào huǒ yào de qì wèi。 fú 'ěr mó sī duì tā de tóng xíng mǎ dīng jǐng cháng shuō： " wǒ qǐng nín zhù yì zhè gè shì shí。 xiàn zài， wǒ xiǎng zán men kě yǐ kāi shǐ chè dǐ jiǎn chá nà jiān wū zǐ liǎo。”
　　 yuán lái shū fáng bù dà， sān miàn kào qiáng dōushì shū。 duì zhe yī shàn cháo huā yuán kāi de chuāng hù， fàng zhe yī zhāng shū zhuō。 wǒ men shǒu xiān zhù yì de shì zhè wèi bù xìng shēn shì de yí tǐ。 tā nà kuí wěi de shēn qū sì zhī tān kāi dì héng tǎng zài wū lǐ。 zǐ dàn shì cóng zhèng miàn duì zhǔn tā shè chū de， chuān guò xīn zàng yǐ hòu jiù dāi zài shēn tǐ lǐ tóu， suǒ yǐ tā dāng shí jiù sǐ liǎo， méi yòu tòng kǔ。 tā de biàn páo shàng hé shǒu shàng dōuméi yòu huǒ yào hén jì。 jù zhè wèi xiāng cūn yī shēng shuō， nǚ zhù rén de liǎn shàng yòu huǒ yào hén jì， dàn shì shǒu shàng méi yòu。
　　“ méi yòu huǒ yào hén jì bìng bù shuō míng shénme， yào shì yòu de huà， qíng kuàng jiù wán quán bù tóng liǎo， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " chú fēi shì hěn bù hé shì de zǐ dàn， lǐ miàn de huǒ yào huì cháo hòu miàn pēn chū lái， fǒu zé dǎ duō shǎo qiāng yě bù huì liú xià hén jì de。 wǒ jiàn yì xiàn zài bù fáng bǎ qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng de yí tǐ bān zǒu。 dà fū， wǒ xiǎng nín hái méi yòu qǔ chū dǎ shāng nǚ zhù rén de nà kē zǐ dàn bā？”
　　“ xū yào zuò yī cì fù zá de shǒu shù， cái néng qǔ chū zǐ dàn lái。 dàn shì nà zhī zuǒ lún lǐ miàn hái yòu sì fā zǐ dàn， lìng liǎng fā yǐ jīng dǎ chū lái liǎo， zào chéng liǎo liǎng chù shāng kǒu， suǒ yǐ liù fā zǐ dàn dōuyòu liǎo xià luò。”
　　“ hǎo xiàng shì zhè yàng， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " yě xǔ nín yě néng jiě shì dǎ zài chuāng hù kuàng shàng de nà kē zǐ dàn bā？ " tā tū rán zhuǎn guò shēn qù， yòng tā de xì cháng de zhǐ tóu， zhǐ zhe lí chuāng hù kuàng dǐ biān yī yīng cùn dì fāng de yī gè xiǎo kū lóng。
　　“ yī diǎn bù cuò！ " jǐng cháng dà shēng shuō， " nín zěn me kàn jiàn de？”
　　“ yīn wéi wǒ zài zhǎo tā。”
　　“ jīng rén de fā xiàn！ " xiāng cūn yī shēng shuō， " nín wán quán duì， xiān shēng。 nà jiù shì dāng shí yī gòng fàng liǎo sān qiāng， yīn cǐ yī dìng yòu dì sān zhě zài chǎng。 dàn shì， zhè néng shì shuí ní？ tā shì zěn me páo diào de？”
　　“ zhè zhèng shì zán men jiù yào jiě dá de wèn tí， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō，“ mǎ dīng jǐng cháng， nín jì dé zài nà liǎng gè nǚ pú jiǎng dào tā men yī chū fáng mén jiù wén dào huǒ yào wèi 'ér de shí hòu， wǒ shuō guò zhè yī diǎn jí qí zhòng yào， shì bù shì？”
　　“ shì de， xiān shēng。 dàn shì， tǎn bái shuō， wǒ dāng shí bù dà dǒng nín de yì sī。”
　　“ zhè jiù shì shuō zài dǎ qiāng de shí hòu， mén chuāng quándōu shì kāi zhe de， fǒu zé huǒ yào de yān bù huì nà me kuài chuī dào lóu shàng qù。 zhè fēi dé shū fáng lǐ yòu chuān táng fēng bù xíng。 kě shì mén chuāng chǎng kāi de shí jiān hěn duǎn。”
　　“ zhè nín zěn me lái zhèng míng ní？”
　　“ yīn wéi nà zhī là zhú bìng méi yòu gěi fēng chuī dé tǎng xià là yóu lái。”
　　“ duì jí liǎo！ " jǐng cháng dà shēng shuō， " duì jí liǎo！”
　　“ wǒ kěn dìng liǎo zhè chǎng bēi jù fā shēng de shí hòu chuāng hù shì chǎng kāi de zhè yī diǎn yǐ hòu， jiù shè xiǎng dào qí zhōng kě néng yòu yī gè dì sān zhě， tā zhàn zài chuāng wài cháo wū lǐ kāi liǎo yī qiāng。 zhè shí hòu rú guǒ cóng wū lǐ duì zhǔn chuāng wài de rén kāi qiāng， jiù kě néng dǎ zhōng chuāng hù kuàng。 wǒ yī zhǎo， guǒ rán nà 'ér yòu gè dàn kǒng。”
　　“ dàn shì chuāng hù zěn me guān shàng de ní？”
　　“ nǚ zhù rén chū yú běn néng de dì yī gè dòng zuò dāng rán shì guān shàng chuāng hù。 ā， zhè shì shénme？”
　　 nà shì gè 'ě yú pí xiāng yín biān de nǚ yòng shǒu tí bāo， xiǎo qiǎo jīng zhì， jiù zài zhuō shàng fàng zhe。 fú 'ěr mó sī bǎ tā dǎ kāi， jiāng lǐ miàn de dōng xī dǎo liǎo chū lái。 shǒu tí bāo lǐ zhǐ zhuāng liǎo yī juàn yīng guó yínháng de chāo piào， wǔ shí bàng yī zhāng， yī gòng 'èr shí zhāng， yòng xiàng pí juàn gū zài yī qǐ， bié de méi yòu。
　　“ zhè gè shǒu tí bāo bì xū jiā yǐ bǎo guǎn， tā hái yào chū tíng zuò zhèng ní， " fú 'ěr mó sī yī biān shuō zhe yī biān bǎ shǒu tí bāo hé chāo piào jiāo gěi liǎo jǐng cháng。“ xiàn zài zán men bì xū xiǎng fǎ shuō míng zhè dì sān kē zǐ dàn。 cóng mù tóu de suì piàn lái kàn， zhè kē zǐ dàn míng míng shì cóng wū lǐ dǎ chū qù de。 wǒ xiǎng zài wèn yī wèn tā men de chú zǐ jīn tài tài。 jīn tài tài， nín shuō guò nín shì gěi hěn xiǎng de yī shēng bào zhà jīng xǐng de。 nín de yì sī shì bù shì zài nín tīng qǐ lái tā bǐ dì 'èr shēng gèng xiǎng？”
　　“ zěn me shuō， xiān shēng， wǒ shì shuì zhe liǎo gěi jīng xǐng de， suǒ yǐ hěn nán fēn biàn。 bù guò dāng shí tīng qǐ lái shì hěn xiǎng。”
　　“ nín bù jué dé kě néng nà shì chàbù duō tóng shí fàng de liǎng qiāng de shēng yīn？”
　　“ zhè wǒ kě shuō bù zhǔn， xiān shēng。”
　　“ wǒ rèn wéi nà de què shì liǎng qiāng de shēng yīn。 jǐng cháng， wǒ kàn zhè lǐ méi yòu shénme hái yào yán jiū de liǎo。 rú guǒ nín yuàn yì tóng wǒ yī qǐ qù de huà， zán men dào huā yuán lǐ qù kàn kàn yòu méi yòu shénme xīn de zhèng jù kě yǐ fā xiàn。”
　　 wài miàn yòu yī zuò huā tán yī zhí yán shēn dào shū fáng de chuāng qián。 dāng wǒ men zǒu jìn huā tán de shí hòu， dà jiā bù yuē 'ér tóng dì jīng jiào qǐ lái。 huā tán lǐ de huā cǎi dǎo liǎo， cháo shī de ní tǔ shàng mǎn shì jiǎo yìn。 nà shì nán rén de dà jiǎo yìn， jiǎo zhǐ tè bié xì cháng。 fú 'ěr mó sī xiàng liè quǎn zhǎo huí jī zhōng de niǎo nà yàng zài cǎo lǐ hé dì shàng de shù yè lǐ sōu xún。 hū rán， tā gāo xīng dì jiào liǎo yī shēng， wān xià yāo jiǎn qǐ lái yī gè tóng de xiǎo yuán tǒng。
　　“ bù chū wǒ suǒ liào， " tā shuō， " nà zhī zuǒ lún yòu tuī dǐng qì， zhè jiù shì dì sān qiāng de dàn ké。 mǎ dīng jǐng cháng， wǒ xiǎng zán men de 'àn zǐ chàbù duō bàn wán liǎo。”
　　 zài zhè wèi xiāng cūn jǐng cháng de liǎn shàng， xiǎn chū liǎo tā duì fú 'ěr mó sī shén sù qiǎo miào de zhēn chá gǎn dào wàn fēn jīng yà。 zuì chū tā hái lù chū guò yī diǎn xiǎng jiǎng jiǎng zì jǐ de zhù zhāng de yì sī， xiàn zài què shì bù shèng qīn pèi， yuàn yì háo wú yí wèn dì tīng cóng fú 'ěr mó sī。
　　“ nín cāi xiǎng shì shuí dǎ de ní？ " tā wèn。
　　“ wǒ yǐ hòu zài tán。 zài zhè gè wèn tí shàng， yòu jǐ diǎn wǒ hái duì nín jiě shì bù liǎo。 jì rán wǒ yǐ jīng zǒu dào zhè yī bù liǎo， wǒ zuì hǎo zhào zì jǐ de xiǎng fǎ jìn xíng， rán hòu bǎ zhè jiàn shì yī cì shuō gè qīng chǔ。”
　　“ suí nín biàn， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， zhǐ yào wǒ men néng zhuā dào xiōng shǒu jiù kě yǐ。”
　　“ wǒ yī diǎn bù xiǎng gù nòng xuán xū， kě shì zhèng zài xíng dòng de shí hòu jiù kāi shǐ zuò rǒng cháng fù zá de jiě shì， zhè shì zuò bù dào de。 yī qiē xiàn suǒ wǒdōu yòu liǎo。 jí shǐ zhè wèi nǚ zhù rén zài yě bù néng huī fù zhī jué， zán men réng jiù kě yǐ bǎ zuó tiān yè lǐ fā shēng de shì qíng yī yī shè xiǎng chū lái， bìng qiě bǎo zhèng shǐ xiōng shǒu shòu dào fǎ lǜ zhì cái。 shǒu xiān wǒ xiǎng zhī dào fù jìn shì fǒu yòu yī jiā jiào zuò ' āi 'ěr lǐ qí ' de xiǎo lǚ diàn？”
　　 suǒ yòu de yōng réndōu wèn guò liǎo， shuí yě méi yòu tīng shuō guò zhè me yī jiā lǚ diàn。 zài zhè gè wèn tí shàng， xiǎo mǎ guān bāng liǎo diǎn máng， tā jì qǐ yòu gè jiào 'āi 'ěr lǐ qí de nóng chǎng zhù， zhù zài dōng luó sī dùn nà biān， lí zhè lǐ zhǐ yòu jǐ yīng lǐ。
　　“ shì gè piān pì de nóng chǎng má？”
　　“ hěn piān pì， xiān shēng。”
　　“ yě xǔ nà 'ér de rén hái bù zhī dào zuó wǎn zhè lǐ fā shēng de shì qíng bā？”
　　“ yě xǔ bù zhī dào， xiān shēng。”
　　“ bèi hǎo yī pǐ mǎ， wǒ de hái zǐ， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " wǒ yào nǐ sòng fēng xìn dào 'āi 'ěr lǐ qí nóng chǎng qù。”
　　 tā cóng kǒu dài lǐ qǔ chū xǔ duō zhāng huà zhe tiào wǔ xiǎo rén de zhǐ tiáo， bǎ tā men bǎi zài shū zhuō shàng， zuò xià lái máng liǎo yī zhèn zǐ。 zuì hòu， tā jiāo gěi xiǎo mǎ guān yī fēng xìn， zhǔ fù tā bǎ xìn jiāo dào shōu xìn rén shǒu lǐ， tè bié jì zhù bù yào huí dá shōu xìn rén kě néng tí chū de rèn hé wèn tí。 wǒ kàn jiàn xìn wài miàn de dì zhǐ hé shōu xìn rén xìng míng xiě dé hěn líng luàn， bù xiàng fú 'ěr mó sī yī xiàng xiě de nà zhǒng yán jǐn de zì tǐ。 xìn shàng xiě de shì： nuò fú kè， dōng luó sī dùn， āi 'ěr lǐ qí nóng chǎng， ā bèi · sī lán ní xiān shēng。
　　“ jǐng cháng， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō，“ wǒ xiǎng nín bù fáng dǎ diàn bào qǐng qiú pài jǐng wèi lái。 yīn wéi nín kě néng yòu yī gè fēi cháng wēi xiǎn de fàn rén yào yā sòng dào jùn jiān yù qù， rú guǒ wǒ gū jì duì liǎo de huà。 sòng xìn de xiǎo hái jiù kě yǐ bǎ nín de diàn bào dài qù fā。 huá shēng， yào shì xià wǔ yòu qù lún dūn de huǒ chē， wǒ kàn zán men jiù gǎn zhè tàng chē， yīn wéi wǒ yòu yī xiàng pō yòu qù de huà xué fēn xī yào wán chéng， ér qiě zhè jiàn zhēn chá gōng zuò hěn kuài jiù yào jié shù liǎo。”
　　 fú 'ěr mó sī dǎ fā xiǎo mǎ guān qù sòng xìn liǎo， rán hòu fēn fù suǒ yòu de yōng rén： rú guǒ yòu rén lái kàn qiū bǐ tè tài tài， lì kè bǎ kè rén lǐng dào kè tīng lǐ， jué bù néng shuō chū qiū bǐ tè tài tài de shēn tǐ qíng kuàng。 tā fēi cháng rèn zhēn dīng zhǔ yōng rén jì zhù zhè xiē huà。 zuì hòu tā lǐng zhe wǒ men qù kè tīng， yī biān shuō xiàn zài de shì tài bù zài wǒ men kòng zhì zhī xià liǎo， dà jiā jìn liàng xiū xī yī xià， děng zhe qiáo jiū jìng huì fā shēng shénme。 xiāng cūn yī shēng yǐ jīng lí kāi zhè lǐ qù kàn tā de bìng rén liǎo， liú xià lái de zhǐ yòu jǐng cháng hé wǒ。
　　“ wǒ xiǎng wǒ néng gòu yòng yī zhǒng yòu qù yòu yòu yì de fāng fǎ， lái bāng nǐ men xiāo mó yī xiǎo shí， " fú 'ěr mó sī yī biān shuō yī biān bǎ tā de yǐ zǐ nuó jìn zhuō zǐ， yòu bǎ nà jǐ zhāng huà zhe huá jī xiǎo rén de zhǐ tiáo zài zì jǐ miàn qián bǎi kāi， " huá shēng， wǒ hái qiàn nǐ yī bǐ zhài， yīn wéi wǒ zhè me jiǔ bù ràng nǐ de hàoqí xīn dé dào mǎn zú。 zhì yú nín ní， jǐng cháng， zhè jiàn 'àn zǐ de quán bù jīng guò yě xǔ néng xī yǐn nín lái zuò yī cì bù píng cháng de yè wù tàn tǎo。 wǒ bì xū xiān gào sù nín yī xiē yòu qù de qíng kuàng， nà shì xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng liǎng cì lái bèi kè jiē zhǎo wǒ shāng liàng de shí hòu wǒ tīng tā shuō de。 " tā jiē zhe jiù bǎ wǒ qián miàn yǐ jīng shuō guò de nà xiē qíng kuàng， jiǎn dān 'ě yào dì chóngshù liǎo yī biàn。 " zài wǒ miàn qián bǎi zhe de， jiù shì zhè xiē hǎn jiàn de zuò pǐn。 yào bù shì tā men chéng liǎo zhè me kě pà de yīcháng bēi jù de xiān zhào， nà mò shuí jiàn liǎo yě huì yī xiào zhì zhī。 wǒ bǐ jiào shú xī gè zhǒng xíng shì de mì mì wén zì， yě xiě guò yī piān guān yú zhè gè wèn tí de cū qiǎn lùn wén， qí zhōng fēn xī liǎo yī bǎi liù shí zhǒng bù tóng de mì mǎ。 dàn shì zhè yī zhǒng wǒ hái shì dì yī cì jiàn dào。 xiǎng chū zhè yī tào fāng fǎ de rén， xiǎn rán shì wèile shǐ bié rén yǐ wéi tā shì suí shǒu tú mǒ de 'ér tóng huà， kàn bù chū zhè xiē fú hào chuán dá de xìn xī。 rán 'ér， zhǐ yào yī kàn chū liǎo zhè xiē fú hào shì dài biǎo zì mǔ de， zài yìng yòng mì mì wén zì de guī lǜ lái fēn xī， jiù bù nán zhǎo dào dá 'àn。 zài jiāo gěi wǒ de dì yī zhāng zhǐ tiáo shàng nà jù huà hěn duǎn， wǒ zhǐ néng shāo yòu bǎ wò jiǎ dìng（ tú 6） dài biǎo Ｅ。 nǐ men yě zhī dào， zài yīng wén zì mǔ zhōngＥ zuì cháng jiàn， tā chū xiàn de cì shù duō dào jí shǐ zài yī gè duǎn de jù zǐ zhōng yě shì zuì cháng jiàn de。 dì yī zhāng zhǐ tiáo shàng de shí wǔ gè fú hào， qí zhōng yòu sì gè wán quán yī yàng， yīn cǐ bǎ tā gū jì wéiＥ shì hé hū dào lǐ de。 zhè xiē tú xíng zhōng， yòu de hái dài yī miàn xiǎo qí， yòu de méi yòu xiǎo qí。 cóng xiǎo qí de fēn bù lái kàn， dài qí de tú xíng kě néng shì yòng lái bǎ zhè gè jù zǐ fēn chéng yī gè yī gè de dān cí。 wǒ bǎ zhè kàn zuò yī gè kě yǐ jiē shòu de jiǎ shè， tóng shí jì xiàＥ shì yòng（ tú 6） lái dài biǎo de。
　　“ kě shì， xiàn zài zuì nán de wèn tí lái liǎo。 yīn wéi， chú liǎoＥ yǐ wài， yīng wén zì mǔ chū xiàn cì shù de shùn xù bìng bù hěn qīng chǔ。 zhè zhǒng shùn xù， zài píng cháng yī yè yìn chū de wén zì lǐ hé yī gè duǎn jù zǐ lǐ， kě néng zhèng xiāng fǎn。 dà zhì shuō lái， zì mǔ 'àn chū xiàn cì shù pái liè de shùn xù shì Ｔ， Ａ， Ｏ， Ｉ， Ｎ， Ｓ， Ｈ， Ｒ， Ｄ， Ｌ； dàn shìＴ，Ａ，Ｏ，Ｉ， chū xiàn de cì shù jīhū bù xiāng shàng xià。 yào shì bǎ měi yī zhǒng zǔ hé dū shì yī biàn， zhí dào dé chū yī gè yì sī lái， nà huì shì yī xiàng wú zhǐ jìng de gōng zuò。 suǒ yǐ， wǒ zhǐ hǎo děng lái liǎo xīn cái liào zài shuō。 xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān shēng dì 'èr cì lái fǎng de shí hòu， guǒ zhēn gěi liǎo wǒ lìng wài liǎng gè duǎn jù zǐ hé sì hū zhǐ yòu yī gè dān cí de yī jù huà， jiù shì zhè jǐ gè bù dài xiǎo qí de fú hào。 zài zhè gè yóu wǔ gè fú hào zǔ hé de dān zì zhōng， wǒ zhǎo chū liǎo dì 'èr gè hé dì sì gèdōu shìＥ。 zhè gè dān cí kě néng shì ｓ ｅ ｖｅ ｒ（ qiē duàn）， yě kě néng shì ｌｅｖｅｒ（ gàng gān）， huò zhě ｎｅｖｅｒ（ jué bù）。 háo wú yí wèn， shǐ yòng mò liǎo zhè gè cí lái huí dá yī xiàng qǐng qiú de kě néng xìng jí dà， ér qiě zhǒng zhǒng qíng kuàng dū biǎo míng zhè shì qiū bǐ tè tài tài xiě de dá fù。 jiǎ rú zhè gè pàn duàn zhèng què， wǒ men xiàn zài jiù kě yǐ shuō， sān gè fú hào fēn bié dài biǎoＮ Ｖ、 héＲ。
　　“ shèn zhì zài zhè gè shí hòu wǒ de kùn nán réng rán hěn dà。 dàn shì， yī gè hěn miào de xiǎng fǎ shǐ wǒ zhī dào liǎo lìng wài jǐ gè zì mǔ。 wǒ xiǎng qí jiǎ rú zhè xiē kěn qiú shì lái zì yī gè zài qiū bǐ tè tài tài nián qīng shí hòu jiù gēn tā qīn jìn de rén de huà， nà mò yī gè liǎng tóu shìＥ， dāng zhōng yòu sān gè bié de zì mǔ de zǔ hé hěn kě néng jiù shìＥＬＳＩＥ（ āi 'ěr qiàn） zhè gè míng zì。 wǒ yī jiǎn chá， fā xiàn zhè gè zǔ hé céng jīng sān cì gòu chéng yī jù huà de jié wěi。 zhè yàng de yī jù huà kěn dìng shì duì ' āi 'ěr qiàn ' tí chū de kěn qiú。 zhè yī lái wǒ jiù zhǎo chū liǎoＬ、Ｓ héＩ。 kě shì， jiū jìng kěn qiú shénme ní？ zài ' āi 'ěr qiàn ' qián miàn de yī gè cí， zhǐ yòu sì gè zì mǔ， mò liǎo de shìＥ。 zhè gè cí bì dìng shì Ｃ ｏ ｍｅ（ lái） wú yí。 wǒ shì guò qí tā gè zhǒng yǐＥ jié wěi de sì gè zì mǔ， dōubù fú hé qíng kuàng。 zhè yàng wǒ jiù zhǎo chū liǎoＣ、Ｏ hé Ｍ， ér qiě xiàn zài wǒ kě yǐ zài lái fēn xī dì yī jù huà， bǎ tā fēn chéng dān cí， hái bù zhī dào de zì mǔ jiù yòng diǎn dài tì。 jīng guò zhè yàng de chǔlǐ， zhè jù huà jiù chéng liǎo zhè zhǒng yàng zǐ：
　　 ．Ｍ．ＥＲＥ．．ＥＳＬＮＥ．。
　　“ xiàn zài， dì yī gè zì mǔ zhǐ néng shìＡ。 zhè shì zuì yòu bāng zhù de fā xiàn， yīn wéi tā zài zhè gè duǎn jù zhōng chū xiàn liǎo sān cì。 dì 'èr gè cí de kāi tóu shìＨ yě shì xiǎn 'ér yì jiàn de。 zhè yī jù huà xiàn zài chéng liǎo：
　　ＡＭＨＥＲＥＡ．ＥＳＬＡＮＥ。
　　 zài bǎ míng zì zhōng suǒ quē de zì mǔ tiān shàng：
　　ＡＭＨＥＲＥＡ ＢＥＳＬＡＮＥ。
　　（ wǒ yǐ dào dá。 ā bèi · sī lán ní。）
　　 wǒ xiàn zài yòu liǎo zhè me duō zì mǔ， néng gòu hěn yòu bǎ wò dì jiě shì dì 'èr jù huà liǎo。 zhè yī jùdòu chū lái shì zhè yàng de：
　　Ａ．ＥＬＲＩ．ＥＳ。
　　 wǒ kàn zhè yī jù zhōng， wǒ zhǐ néng zài quē zì mǔ de dì fāng jiā shàngＴ hé Ｇ cái yòu yì yì（ yì wéi： zhù zài 'āi 'ěr lǐ qí。）， bìng qiě jiǎ dìng zhè gè míng zì shì xiě xìn rén zhù de dì fāng huò zhě lǚ diàn。”
　　 mǎ dīng jǐng cháng hé wǒ dài zhe hěn dà de xīng qù tīng wǒ de péng yǒu xiáng xì jiǎng tā rú hé zhǎo dào dá 'àn de jīng guò， zhè bǎ wǒ men de yī qiē yí wèn dū jiě dá liǎo。
　　“ hòu lái nǐ zěn me bàn， xiān shēng？ " jǐng cháng wèn。
　　“ wǒ yòu chōng fēn lǐ yóu cāi xiǎng 'ā bèi · sī lán ní shì měi guó rén， yīn wéi 'ā bèi shì gè měi guó shì de biān xiě， ér qiě zhè xiē má fán de qǐ yīn yòu shì cóng měi guó jì lái yī fēng xìn。 wǒ yě yòu chōng fēn lǐ yóu rèn wéi zhè jiàn shì dài yòu fàn zuì de nèi qíng。 nǚ zhù rén shuō de nà xiē 'àn shì tā de guò qù de huà hé tā jù jué bǎ shí qíng gào sù tā zhàng fū， dū shǐ wǒ cóng zhè fāng miàn qù xiǎng。 suǒ yǐ wǒ cái gěi niǔ yuē jú yī gè jiào wēi 'ěr xùn · hā gé lǐ fū de péng yǒu fā liǎo yī gè diàn bào， wèn tā shì fǒu zhī dào 'ā bèi · sī lán ní zhè gè míng zì。 zhè wèi péng yǒu bù zhǐ yī cì lì yòng guò wǒ suǒ zhī dào de yòu guān lún dūn de fàn zuì qíng kuàng。 tā de huí diàn shuō： ' cǐ rén shì zhī jiā gē zuì wēi xiǎn de piàn zǐ。 ' jiù zài wǒ jiē dào huí diàn de nà tiān wǎn shàng， xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè gěi wǒ jì lái liǎo 'ā bèi · sī lán ní zuì hòu huà de yīháng xiǎo rén。 yòng yǐ jīng zhī dào de zhè xiē zì mǔ yì chū lái jiù chéng liǎo zhè yàng de yī jù huà：
　　ＥＬＳＩＥ．ＲＥ．ＡＲＥＴＯＭＥＥＴＴＨ ＹＧＯ。
　　 zài tiān shàng Ｐ héＤ， zhè jù huà jiù wán zhěng liǎo（ yì wéi： āi 'ěr qiàn， zhǔn bèi jiàn shàng dì。）， ér qiě shuō míng liǎo zhè gè liú máng yǐ jīng yóu quàn yòu gǎi wéi kǒnghè。 duì zhī jiā gē de nà bāng dǎi tú wǒ hěn liǎo jiě， suǒ yǐ wǒ xiǎng tā kě néng huì hěn kuài bǎ kǒnghè de huà fù zhū xíng dòng。 wǒ lì kè hé wǒ de péng yǒu huá shēng yī shēng lái nuò fú kè， dàn bù xìng de shì， wǒ men gǎn dào zhè lǐ de shí hòu， zuì huài de qíng kuàng yǐ jīng fā shēng liǎo。”
　　“ néng gēn nín yī qǐ chǔlǐ yī jiàn 'àn zǐ， shǐ wǒ gǎn dào róng xìng， " jǐng cháng hěn rè qíng dì shuō， " bù guò， shù wǒ zhí yán， nín zhǐ duì nín zì jǐ fù zé， wǒ què yào duì wǒ de shàng jí fù zé。 jiǎ rú zhè gè zhù zài 'āi 'ěr lǐ qí nóng chǎng de 'ā bèi · sī lán ní zhēn shì xiōng shǒu de huà， tā yào shì jiù zài wǒ zuò zài zhè lǐ de shí hòu táo páo liǎo， nà wǒ zhǔn dé shòu yán lì de chǔfèn。”
　　“ nín bù bì dān xīn， tā bù huì táo páo de。”
　　“ nín zěn me zhī dào tā bù huì？”
　　“ táo páo jiù děng yú tā chéng rèn zì jǐ shì xiōng shǒu。”
　　“ nà jiù ràng wǒ men qù dài bǔ tā bā。”
　　“ wǒ xiǎng tā mǎ shàng jiù huì lái zhè 'ér。”
　　“ tā wèishénme yào lái ní？”
　　“ yīn wéi wǒ yǐ jīng xiě xìn qǐng tā lái。”
　　“ jiǎn zhí bù néng xiāng xìn， fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng！ wèishénme nín qǐng tā jiù dé lái ní？ zhè bù zhèng huì yǐn qí tā huái yí， shǐ tā táo zǒu má？”
　　“ wǒ bù shì biān chū liǎo nà fēng xìn má？ " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " yào shì wǒ méi yòu kàn cuò， zhè wèi xiān shēng zhèng wǎng zhè 'ér lái liǎo。 jiù zài mén wài de xiǎo lù shàng， yòu yī gè shēn cái gāo dà、 pí fū hēi hēi、 tǐng piào liàng de jiā huǒ zhèng mài zhe dà bù zǒu guò lái。 tā chuān liǎo yī shēn huī fǎ lán róng de yī fú， dài zhe yī dǐng bā ná mǎ cǎo mào， liǎngpiě dàolì hú zǐ， dà yīng gōu bí， yī biān zǒu yī biān huī dòng zhuóshǒu zhàng。
　　“ xiān shēng men， " fú 'ěr mó sī xiǎo shēng shuō， " wǒ kàn zán men zuì hǎo dū zhàn zài mén hòu miàn。 duì fù yī gè zhè yàng de jiā huǒ， hái dé duō jiā xiǎo xīn。 jǐng cháng， nín zhǔn bèi hǎo shǒu kào， ràng wǒ lái tóng tā tán。”
　　 wǒ men jìng jìng dì děng liǎo piàn kè， kě zhè shì nà zhǒng yǒng yuǎn bù huì wàng jì de piàn kè。 mén kāi liǎo， zhè rén zǒu liǎo jìn lái。 fú 'ěr mó sī lì kè yòng shǒu qiāng bǐng zhào tā de nǎo dài gěi liǎo yī xià， mǎ dīng yě bǎ shǒu kào tào shàng liǎo tā de wàn zǐ。 tā men de dòng zuò shì nà me kuài， nà me shú liàn， zhè jiā huǒ hái méi míng bái zěn me huí shì jiù wú fǎ dòng dàn liǎo。 tā dèng zhe yī shuāng hēi yǎn jīng， bǎ wǒ men yī gè gèdōu qiáo liǎo qiáo， tū rán kǔ xiào qǐ lái。
　　“ xiān shēng men， zhè cì nǐ men yíng lā。 hǎo xiàng shì wǒ zhuàng zài shénme yìng dōng xī shàng liǎo。 wǒ shì jiē dào xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè tài tài de xìn cái lái de。 zhè lǐ miàn bù zhì yú yòu tā bā？ nán dào shì tā bāng nǐ men gěi wǒ shè xià liǎo zhè gè juàn tào？”
　　“ xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè tài tài shòu liǎo zhòng shāng， xiàn zài kuài yào sǐ liǎo。”
　　 zhè rén fā chū yī shēng sī yǎ de jiào hǎn， xiǎng biàn liǎo quán wū。
　　“ nǐ hú shuō！ " tā pàn mìng rǎng zhe shuō， " shòu shāng de shì xī 'ěr dùn， bù shì tā。 shuí rěn xīn shāng hài xiǎo 'āi 'ěr qiàn？ wǒ kě néng wēi xié guò tā héng héng shàng dì ráo shù wǒ bā！ dàn shì wǒ jué bù huì pèng tā yī gēn tóu fā。 nǐ shōu huí zì jǐ de huà！ gào sù wǒ tā méi yòu shòu shāng！”
　　“ fā xiàn de shí hòu， tā yǐ jīng shāng dé hěn zhòng， jiù dǎo zài tā zhàng fū de bàng biān。”
　　 tā dài zhe yī shēng bēi shāng de wǎng cháng kào yǐ shàng yī zuò， yòng kào zhe de shuāng shǒu zhē zhù zì jǐ de liǎn， yī shēng bù xiǎng。 guò liǎo wǔ fēn zhōng， tā tái qǐ tóu lái， jué wàng dì shuō： " wǒ méi yòu shénme yào mán nǐ men de。 rú guǒ wǒ kāi qiāng dǎ yī gè xiān xiàng wǒ kāi qiāng de rén， jiù bù shì móu shā。 rú guǒ nǐ men rèn wéi wǒ huì shāng hài 'āi 'ěr qiàn， nà zhǐ shì nǐ men bù liǎo jiě wǒ， yě bù liǎo jiě tā。 shì jiè shàng què shí méi yòu dì 'èr gè nán rén néng xiàng wǒ 'ài tā nà yàng 'ài yī gè nǚ rén。 wǒ yòu quán qǔ tā。 hěn duō nián yǐ qián， tā jiù xiàng wǒ bǎo zhèng guò。 píng shénme zhè gè yīng guó rén yào lái fēn kāi wǒ men？ wǒ shì dì yī gè yòu quán qǔ tā de， wǒ yào qiú de zhǐ shì zì jǐ de quán lì。”
　　“ zài tā fā xiàn nǐ shì shénme yàng de rén yǐ hòu， tā jiù bǎi tuō liǎo nǐ de shì lì，” fú 'ěr mó sī yán lì dì shuō， " tā táo chū měi guó shì wéi liǎo duǒ kāi nǐ， bìng qiě zài yīng guó tóng yī wèi tǐ miàn de shēn shì jié liǎo hūn。 nǐ jǐn zhuī zhe tā， shǐ dé tā hěn tòng kǔ， nǐ shì wèile yǐn yòu tā pāo qì tā xīn 'ài de zhàng fū， gēn nǐ zhè gè tā jì hèn yòu pà de rén táo páo。 jiēguǒ nǐ shǐ yī gè guì zú sǐ yú fēi mìng， yòu bī dé tā de qī zǐ zì shā liǎo。 zhè jiù shì nǐ gān de zhè jiàn shì de jì lù， ā bèi · sī lán ní xiān shēng。 nǐ jiāng shòu dào fǎ lǜ de chéng chù。”
　　“ yào shì 'āi 'ěr qiàn sǐ liǎo， nà wǒ jiù shénme dōubù zài hū liǎo， " zhè gè měi guó rén shuō。 tā zhāng kāi yī zhǐ shǒu， kàn liǎo kàn tuán zài shǒu xīn lǐ de yī zhāng xìn zhǐ。 " āi， xiān shēng， " tā dà shēng shuō， yǎn jīng lǐ lù chū liǎo yī diǎn huái yí。 " nín bù shì zài xià hǔ wǒ bā？ rú guǒ tā nín shuō de shāng dé nà me zhòng de huà， xiě zhè fēng xìn de rén yòu shì shuí ní？ " tā bǎ xìn cháo zhe zhuō zǐ rēng liǎo guò lái。
　　“ shì wǒ xiě de， jiù wèile bǎ nǐ jiào lái。”
　　“ shì nín xiě de？ chú liǎo wǒ men bāng lǐ de rén yǐ wài， cóng lái méi yòu rén zhī dào tiào wǔ rén de mì mì。 nín zěn me xiě chū lái de？”
　　“ yòu rén fā míng， jiù yòu rén néng kàn dǒng。 " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " jiù yòu yī liàng mǎ chē lái bǎ nǐ dài dào nuò wēi qí qù， ā bèi · sī lán ní xiān shēng。 xiàn zài nǐ hái yòu shí jiān duì nǐ suǒ zào chéng de shāng hài shāo jiā mí bǔ。 qiū bǐ tè tài tài yǐ jīng shǐ zì jǐ méng shòu móu shā zhàng fū de zhòng dà xián yí， nǐ zhī dào má？ zhǐ shì yīn wéi wǒ jīn tiān zài chǎng hé wǒ 'ǒu rán zhǎng wò de cái liào， cái shǐ tā bù zhì shòu dào kòng gào。 wèile tā nǐ zhì shǎo yīnggāi zuò dào xiàng dà zhòng shuō míng： duì tā zhàng fū de cǎn sǐ， tā méi yòu rèn hé zhí jiē huò jiànjiē de zé rèn。”
　　“ zhè zhèng hé wǒ yì， " zhè gè měi guó rén shuō， " wǒ xiāng xìn zuì néng zhèng míng wǒ zì jǐ yòu lǐ de bàn fǎ， jiù shì bǎ quán bù shì shí dōushuō chū lái。”
　　“ wǒ yòu zé rèn jǐng gào nǐ： zhè yàng zuò yě kě néng duì nǐ bù lì， " jǐng cháng běn zhe yīng guó xíng fǎ gōng píng duì dài de yán sù jīng shén gāo shēng dì shuō。
　　 sī lán ní sǒng liǎo sǒng jiān bǎng。
　　“ wǒ yuàn yì mào zhè gè xiǎn， " tā shuō，“ wǒ shǒu xiān yào gào sù nǐ men jǐ wèi xiān shēng： wǒ cóng 'āi 'ěr qiàn shì gè hái zǐ de shí hòu jiù rèn shí tā。 dāng shí wǒ men yī gòng qī gè rén zài zhī jiā gē jié chéng yī bāng， āi 'ěr qiàn de fù qīn shì wǒ men de tóu zǐ。 lǎo pà tè lǐ kè shì gè hěn cōng míng de rén， tā fā míng liǎo zhè zhǒng mì mì wén zì。 chú fēi nǐ dǒng dé zhè zhǒng wén zì de jiě fǎ， bù rán jiù huì dāng tā shì xiǎo hái luàn tú de huà。 hòu lái， āi 'ěr qiàn duì wǒ men de shì qíng yòu suǒ wén， kě shì tā bù néng róng rěn zhè zhǒng hángdāng。 tā zì jǐ hái yòu yī xiē zhèng lù lái de qián， yú shì tā chèn wǒ mendōu bù fáng bèi de shí hòu liù zǒu， táo dào lún dūn lái liǎo。 tā yǐ jīng hé wǒ dìng hūn liǎo。 yào shì wǒ gān de shì lìng wài yīháng， wǒ xiāng xìn tā zǎo jiù gēn wǒ jié hūn liǎo。 tā wú lùn rú hé yě bù yuàn yì zhān shàng rèn hé bù zhèng dāng de zhí yè。 zài tā gēn zhè gè yīng guó rén jié hūn yǐ hòu， wǒ cái zhī dào tā zài shénme dì fāng。 wǒ gěi tā xiě guò xìn， dàn shì méi yòu dé dào huí xìn。 zhī hòu， wǒ lái dào liǎo yīng guó。 yīn wéi xiě xìn wú xiào， wǒ jiù bǎ yào shuō de huà xiě zài tā néng kàn dào de dì fāng。
　　“ wǒ lái zhè lǐ yǐ jīng yī gè yuè liǎo。 wǒ zhù zài nà gè nóng zhuāng lǐ， zū dào yī jiān lóu xià de wū zǐ。 měi tiān yè lǐ， wǒ néng gòu zì yóu jìn chū， shuídōu bù zhī dào。 wǒ xiǎng jìn bàn fǎ yào bǎ 'āi 'ěr qiàn piàn zǒu。 wǒ zhī dào tā kàn liǎo wǒ xiě de nà xiē huà， yīn wéi tā yòu yī cì jiù zài qí zhōng yī jù xià miàn xiě liǎo huí dá。 yú shì wǒ jí liǎo， biàn kāi shǐ wēi xié tā。 tā jiù jì gěi wǒ yī fēng xìn， kěn qiú wǒ zǒu kāi， bìng qiě shuō rú guǒ zhēn de sǔn hài dào tā zhàng fū de míng yù， nà jiù huì shǐ tā xīn suì de。 tā hái shuō zhǐ yào wǒ dāyìng lí kāi zhè lǐ， yǐ hòu bù zài lái chán mó tā， tā jiù huì zài zǎo shàng sān diǎn， děng tā zhàng fū shuì zhe liǎo， xià lóu lái zài zuì hòu miàn de nà shàn chuāng qián gēn wǒ shuō jǐ jù huà。 tā xià lái liǎo， hái dài zhe qián， xiǎng mǎi tōng wǒ zǒu。 wǒ qì jí liǎo， yī bǎ zhuā zhù tā de gēbei， xiǎng cóng chuāng hù lǐ bǎ tā zhuài chū lái。 jiù zài zhè shí hòu， tā zhàng fū shǒu lǐ ná zhe zuǒ lún chōng jìn wū lái。 āi 'ěr qiàn tān dǎo zài dì bǎn shàng， wǒ men liǎng gè jiù miàn duì miàn liǎo。 dāng shí wǒ shǒu lǐ yě yòu qiāng。 wǒ jǔ qǐ qiāng xiǎng bǎ tā xià páo， ràng wǒ táo zǒu。 tā kāi liǎo qiāng， méi yòu dǎ zhōng wǒ。 chàbù duō zài tóng yī shí kè， wǒ yě kāi liǎo qiāng， tā lì kè dǎo xià liǎo。 wǒ jí máng chuān guò huā yuán táo zǒu， zhè shí hái tīng jiàn bèi hòu guān chuāng de shēng yīn。 xiān shēng men， wǒ shuō de měi jù huà dōushì zhēn de。 hòu lái de shì qíng wǒdōu méi yòu tīng shuō， yī zhí dào nà gè xiǎo huǒ zǐ qí mǎ sòng lái yī fēng xìn， shǐ wǒ xiàng gè shǎ guā sì dì bù xíng dào zhè 'ér， bǎ wǒ zì jǐ jiāo dào nǐ men shǒu lǐ。”
　　 zài zhè gè měi guó rén shuō zhè fān huà de shí hòu， mǎ chē yǐ jīng dào liǎo， lǐ miàn zuò zhe liǎng míng chuān de。 mǎ dīng jǐng cháng zhàn liǎo qǐ lái， yòng shǒu pèng liǎo pèng fàn rén de jiān bǎng。
　　“ wǒ men gāi zǒu liǎo。”
　　“ wǒ kě yǐ xiān kàn kàn tā má？”
　　“ bù chéng， tā hái méi yòu huī fù zhī jué。 fú 'ěr mó sī xiān shēng， xià cì zài pèng dào zhòng dà 'àn zǐ， wǒ hái xī wàng pèng dào nín zài bàng biān de zhè zhǒng hǎo yùn qì。”
　　 wǒ men zhàn zài chuāng qián， wàng zhe mǎ chē shǐ qù。 wǒ zhuǎn guò shēn lái， kàn jiàn fàn rén rēng zài zhuō shàng de zhǐ tuán， nà jiù shì fú 'ěr mó sī céng jīng yòng lái yòu bǔ tā de xìn。
　　“ huá shēng， nǐ kàn shàng miàn xiě de shì shénme， " fú 'ěr mó sī xiào zhe shuō。
　　 xìn shàng méi yòu zì， zhǐ yòu zhè yàng yīháng tiào wǔ de rén：
　　“ rú guǒ nǐ shǐ yòng wǒ jiě shì guò de nà zhǒng mì mǎ， " fú 'ěr mó sī shuō， " nǐ huì fā xiàn tā de yì sī bù guò shì ' mǎ shàng dào zhè lǐ lái '。 dāng shí wǒ xiāng xìn zhè shì yī gè tā jué bù huì jù jué de yāo qǐng， yīn wéi tā xiǎng bù dào chú liǎo 'āi 'ěr qiàn yǐ wài， hái yòu bié rén néng xiě zhè yàng de xìn。 suǒ yǐ， wǒ qīn 'ài de huá shēng， jiēguǒ wǒ men bǎ zhè xiē zuò 'è duō duān de tiào wǔ xiǎo rén biàn chéng yòu yì de liǎo。 wǒ hái jué dé zì jǐ yǐ jīng lǚ xíng liǎo wǒ de nuò yán， gěi nǐ de bǐ jì běn tiān shàng yī xiē bù píng cháng de cái liào。 wǒ xiǎng zán men gāi chéng sān diǎn sì shí fēn de huǒ chē huí bèi kè jiē chī wǎn fàn liǎo。”
　　 zài shuō yī jù guān yú wěi shēng de huà： zài nuò wēi qí dōng jì dà shěn pàn zhōng， měi guó rén 'ā bèi · sī lán ní bèi pàn sǐ xíng， dàn shì kǎo lǜ dào yī xiē kě yǐ jiǎn qīng zuì xíng de qíng kuàng hé què shí shì xī 'ěr dùn · qiū bǐ tè xiān kāi qiāng de shì shí， gǎi pàn láo yì jiān jìn。 zhì yú qiū bǐ tè tài tài， wǒ zhǐ tīng shuō tā hòu lái wán quán fù yuán liǎo， xiàn zài réng jiù shuāng jū， yòng tā quán bù jīng lì bāng zhù qióng rén hé guǎn lǐ tā zhàng fū de jiā yè。

　　HOLMES had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing a particularly malodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast, and he looked from my point of view like a strange, lank bird, with dull grey plumage and a black top-knot.
　　
　　"So, Watson," said he, suddenly, "you do not propose to invest in South African securities?"
　　
　　I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I was to Holmes's curious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable.
　　
　　"How on earth do you know that?" I asked.
　　
　　He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes.
　　
　　"Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback," said he.
　　
　　"I am."
　　
　　"I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect."
　　
　　"Why?"
　　
　　"Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so absurdly simple."
　　
　　"I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind."
　　
　　"You see, my dear Watson" -- he propped his test-tube in the rack and began to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class -- "it is not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor and each simple in itself. If, after doing so, one simply knocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience with the starting-point and the conclusion, one may produce a startling, though possibly a meretricious, effect. Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did NOT propose to invest your small capital in the goldfields."
　　
　　"I see no connection."
　　
　　"Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection. Here are the missing links of the very simple chain: 1. You had chalk between your left finger and thumb when you returned from the club last night. 2. You put chalk there when you play billiards to steady the cue. 3. You never play billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me four weeks ago that Thurston had an option on some South African property which would expire in a month, and which he desired you to share with him. 5. Your cheque-book is locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for the key. 6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner."
　　
　　"How absurdly simple!" I cried.
　　
　　"Quite so!" said he, a little nettled. "Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you. Here is an unexplained one. See what you can make of that, friend Watson." He tossed a sheet of paper upon the table and turned once more to his chemical analysis.
　　
　　I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper.
　　
　　"Why, Holmes, it is a child's drawing," I cried.
　　
　　"Oh, that's your idea!"
　　
　　"What else should it be?"
　　
　　"That is what Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Riding Thorpe Manor, Norfolk, is very anxious to know. This little conundrum came by the first post, and he was to follow by the next train. There's a ring at the bell, Watson. I should not be very much surprised if this were he."
　　
　　A heavy step was heard upon the stairs, and an instant later there entered a tall, ruddy, clean-shaven gentleman, whose clear eyes and florid cheeks told of a life led far from the fogs of Baker Street. He seemed to bring a whiff of his strong, fresh, bracing, east-coast air with him as he entered. Having shaken hands with each of us, he was about to sit down when his eye rested upon the paper with the curious markings, which I had just examined and left upon the table.
　　
　　"Well, Mr. Holmes, what do you make of these?" he cried. "They told me that you were fond of queer mysteries, and I don't think you can find a queerer one than that. I sent the paper on ahead so that you might have time to study it before I came."
　　
　　"It is certainly rather a curious production," said Holmes. "At first sight it would appear to be some childish prank. It consists of a number of absurd little figures dancing across the paper upon which they are drawn. Why should you attribute any importance to so grotesque an object?"
　　
　　"I never should, Mr. Holmes. But my wife does. It is frightening her to death. She says nothing, but I can see terror in her eyes. That's why I want to sift the matter to the bottom."
　　
　　Holmes held up the paper so that the sunlight shone full upon it. It was a page torn from a note-book. The markings were done in pencil, and ran in this way:--
　　
　　GRAPHIC
　　
　　Holmes examined it for some time, and then, folding it carefully up, he placed it in his pocket-book.
　　
　　"This promises to be a most interesting and unusual case," said he. "You gave me a few particulars in your letter, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, but I should be very much obliged if you would kindly go over it all again for the benefit of my friend, Dr. Watson."
　　
　　"I'm not much of a story-teller," said our visitor, nervously clasping and unclasping his great, strong hands. "You'll just ask me anything that I don't make clear. I'll begin at the time of my marriage last year; but I want to say first of all that, though I'm not a rich man, my people have been at Ridling Thorpe for a matter of five centuries, and there is no better known family in the County of Norfolk. Last year I came up to London for the Jubilee, and I stopped at a boarding-house in Russell Square, because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying in it. There was an American young lady there -- Patrick was the name -- Elsie Patrick. In some way we became friends, until before my month was up I was as much in love as a man could be. We were quietly married at a registry office, and we returned to Norfolk a wedded couple. You'll think it very mad, Mr. Holmes, that a man of a good old family should marry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her past or of her people; but if you saw her and knew her it would help you to understand.
　　
　　"She was very straight about it, was Elsie. I can't say that she did not give me every chance of getting out of it if I wished to do so. `I have had some very disagreeable associations in my life,' said she; `I wish to forget all about them. I would rather never allude to the past, for it is very painful to me. If you take me, Hilton, you will take a woman who has nothing that she need be personally ashamed of; but you will have to be content with my word for it, and to allow me to be silent as to all that passed up to the time when I became yours. If these conditions are too hard, then go back to Norfolk and leave me to the lonely life in which you found me.' It was only the day before our wedding that she said those very words to me. I told her that I was content to take her on her own terms, and I have been as good as my word.
　　
　　"Well, we have been married now for a year, and very happy we have been. But about a month ago, at the end of June, I saw for the first time signs of trouble. One day my wife received a letter from America. I saw the American stamp. She turned deadly white, read the letter, and threw it into the fire. She made no allusion to it afterwards, and I made none, for a promise is a promise; but she has never known an easy hour from that moment. There is always a look of fear upon her face -- a look as if she were waiting and expecting. She would do better to trust me. She would find that I was her best friend. But until she speaks I can say nothing. Mind you, she is a truthful woman, Mr. Holmes, and whatever trouble there may have been in her past life it has been no fault of hers. I am only a simple Norfolk squire, but there is not a man in England who ranks his family honour more highly than I do. She knows it well, and she knew it well before she married me. She would never bring any stain upon it -- of that I am sure.
　　
　　"Well, now I come to the queer part of my story. About a week ago -- it was the Tuesday of last week -- I found on one of the window-sills a number of absurd little dancing figures, like these upon the paper. They were scrawled with chalk. I thought that it was the stable-boy who had drawn them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it. Anyhow, they had come there during the night. I had them washed out, and I only mentioned the matter to my wife afterwards. To my surprise she took it very seriously, and begged me if any more came to let her see them. None did come for a week, and then yesterday morning I found this paper lying on the sun-dial in the garden. I showed it to Elsie, and down she dropped in a dead faint. Since then she has looked like a woman in a dream, half dazed, and with terror always lurking in her eyes. It was then that I wrote and sent the paper to you, Mr. Holmes. It was not a thing that I could take to the police, for they would have laughed at me, but you will tell me what to do. I am not a rich man; but if there is any danger threatening my little woman I would spend my last copper to shield her."
　　
　　He was a fine creature, this man of the old English soil, simple, straight, and gentle, with his great, earnest blue eyes and broad, comely face. His love for his wife and his trust in her shone in his features. Holmes had listened to his story with the utmost attention, and now he sat for some time in silent thought.
　　
　　"Don't you think, Mr. Cubitt," said he, at last, "that your best plan would be to make a direct appeal to your wife, and to ask her to share her secret with you?"
　　
　　Hilton Cubitt shook his massive head.
　　
　　"A promise is a promise, Mr. Holmes. If Elsie wished to tell me she would. If not, it is not for me to force her confidence. But I am justified in taking my own line -- and I will."
　　
　　"Then I will help you with all my heart. In the first place, have you heard of any strangers being seen in your neighbourhood?"
　　
　　"No."
　　
　　"I presume that it is a very quiet place. Any fresh face would cause comment?"
　　
　　"In the immediate neighbourhood, yes. But we have several small watering-places not very far away. And the farmers take in lodgers."
　　
　　"These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. If it is a purely arbitrary one it may be impossible for us to solve it. If, on the other hand, it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall get to the bottom of it. But this particular sample is so short that I can do nothing, and the facts which you have brought me are so indefinite that we have no basis for an investigation. I would suggest that you return to Norfolk, that you keep a keen look-out, and that you take an exact copy of any fresh dancing men which may appear. It is a thousand pities that we have not a reproduction of those which were done in chalk upon the window-sill. Make a discreet inquiry also as to any strangers in the neighbourhood. When you have collected some fresh evidence come to me again. That is the best advice which I can give you, Mr. Hilton Cubitt. If there are any pressing fresh developments I shall be always ready to run down and see you in your Norfolk home."
　　
　　The interview left Sherlock Holmes very thoughtful, and several times in the next few days I saw him take his slip of paper from his note-book and look long and earnestly at the curious figures inscribed upon it. He made no allusion to the affair, however, until one afternoon a fortnight or so later. I was going out when he called me back.
　　
　　"You had better stay here, Watson."
　　
　　"Why?"
　　
　　"Because I had a wire from Hilton Cubitt this morning -- you remember Hilton Cubitt, of the dancing men? He was to reach Liverpool Street at one-twenty. He may be here at any moment. I gather from his wire that there have been some new incidents of importance."
　　
　　We had not long to wait, for our Norfolk squire came straight from the station as fast as a hansom could bring him. He was looking worried and depressed, with tired eyes and a lined forehead.
　　
　　"It's getting on my nerves, this business, Mr. Holmes," said he, as he sank, like a wearied man, into an arm-chair. "It's bad enough to feel that you are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk, who have some kind of design upon you; but when, in addition to that, you know that it is just killing your wife by inches, then it becomes as much as flesh and blood can endure. She's wearing away under it -- just wearing away before my eyes."
　　
　　"Has she said anything yet?"
　　
　　"No, Mr. Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been times when the poor girl has wanted to speak, and yet could not quite bring herself to take the plunge. I have tried to help her; but I dare say I did it clumsily, and scared her off from it. She has spoken about my old family, and our reputation in the county, and our pride in our unsullied honour, and I always felt it was leading to the point; but somehow it turned off before we got there."
　　
　　"But you have found out something for yourself?"
　　
　　"A good deal, Mr. Holmes. I have several fresh dancing men pictures for you to examine, and, what is more important, I have seen the fellow."
　　
　　"What, the man who draws them?"
　　
　　"Yes, I saw him at his work. But I will tell you everything in order. When I got back after my visit to you, the very first thing I saw next morning was a fresh crop of dancing men. They had been drawn in chalk upon the black wooden door of the tool-house, which stands beside the lawn in full view of the front windows. I took an exact copy, and here it is." He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table. Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics:--
　　
　　GRAPHIC
　　
　　"Excellent!" said Holmes. "Excellent! Pray continue."
　　
　　"When I had taken the copy I rubbed out the marks; but two mornings later a fresh inscription had appeared. I have a copy of it here":--
　　
　　GRAPHIC
　　
　　Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight.
　　
　　"Our material is rapidly accumulating," said he.
　　
　　"Three days later a message was left scrawled upon paper, and placed under a pebble upon the sun-dial. Here it is. The characters are, as you see, exactly the same as the last one. After that I determined to lie in wait; so I got out my revolver and I sat up in my study, which overlooks the lawn and garden. About two in the morning I was seated by the window, all being dark save for the moonlight outside, when I heard steps behind me, and there was my wife in her dressing-gown. She implored me to come to bed. I told her frankly that I wished to see who it was who played such absurd tricks upon us. She answered that it was some senseless practical joke, and that I should not take any notice of it.
　　
　　"`If it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel, you and I, and so avoid this nuisance.'
　　
　　"`What, be driven out of our own house by a practical joker?' said I. `Why, we should have the whole county laughing at us.'
　　
　　"`Well, come to bed,' said she, `and we can discuss it in the morning.'
　　
　　"Suddenly, as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter yet in the moonlight, and her hand tightened upon my shoulder. Something was moving in the shadow of the tool-house. I saw a dark, creeping figure which crawled round the corner and squatted in front of the door. Seizing my pistol I was rushing out, when my wife threw her arms round me and held me with convulsive strength. I tried to throw her off, but she clung to me most desperately. At last I got clear, but by the time I had opened the door and reached the house the creature was gone. He had left a trace of his presence, however, for there on the door was the very same arrangement of dancing men which had already twice appeared, and which I have copied on that paper. There was no other sign of the fellow anywhere, though I ran all over the grounds. And yet the amazing thing is that he must have been there all the time, for when I examined the door again in the morning he had scrawled some more of his pictures under the line which I had already seen."
　　
　　"Have you that fresh drawing?"
　　
　　"Yes; it is very short, but I made a copy of it, and here it is."
　　
　　Again he produced a paper. The new dance was in this form:--
　　
　　GRAPHIC
　　
　　"Tell me," said Holmes -- and I could see by his eyes that he was much excited -- "was this a mere addition to the first, or did it appear to be entirely separate?"
　　
　　"It was on a different panel of the door."
　　
　　"Excellent! This is far the most important of all for our purpose. It fills me with hopes. Now, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, please continue your most interesting statement."
　　
　　"I have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was angry with my wife that night for having held me back when I might have caught the skulking rascal. She said that she feared that I might come to harm. For an instant it had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared was that HE might come to harm, for I could not doubt that she knew who this man was and what he meant by these strange signals. But there is a tone in my wife's voice, Mr. Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbid doubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in her mind. There's the whole case, and now I want your advice as to what I ought to do. My own inclination is to put half-a-dozen of my farm lads in the shrubbery, and when this fellow comes again to give him such a hiding that he will leave us in peace for the future."
　　
　　"I fear it is too deep a case for such simple remedies," said Holmes. "How long can you stay in London?"
　　
　　"I must go back to-day. I would not leave my wife alone all night for anything. She is very nervous and begged me to come back."
　　
　　"I dare say you are right. But if you could have stopped I might possibly have been able to return with you in a day or two. Meanwhile you will leave me these papers, and I think that it is very likely that I shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and to throw some light upon your case."
　　
　　Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner until our visitor had left us, although it was easy for me, who knew him so well, to see that he was profoundly excited. The moment that Hilton Cubitt's broad back had disappeared through the door my comrade rushed to the table, laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing men in front of him, and threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation. For two hours I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of paper with figures and letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he had evidently forgotten my presence. Sometimes he was making progress and whistled and sang at his work; sometimes he was puzzled, and would sit for long spells with a furrowed brow and a vacant eye. Finally he sprang from his chair with a cry of satisfaction, and walked up and down the room rubbing his hands together. Then he wrote a long telegram upon a cable form. "If my answer to this is as I hope, you will have a very pretty case to add to your collection, Watson," said he. "I expect that we shall be able to go down to Norfolk to-morrow, and to take our friend some very definite news as to the secret of his annoyance."
　　
　　I confess that I was filled with curiosity, but I was aware that Holmes liked to make his disclosures at his own time and in his own way; so I waited until it should suit him to take me into his confidence.
　　
　　But there was a delay in that answering telegram, and two days of impatience followed, during which Holmes pricked up his ears at every ring of the bell. On the evening of the second there came a letter from Hilton Cubitt. All was quiet with him, save that a long inscription had appeared that morning upon the pedestal of the sun-dial. He inclosed a copy of it, which is here reproduced:--
　　
　　GRAPHIC
　　
　　Holmes bent over this grotesque frieze for some minutes, and then suddenly sprang to his feet with an exclamation of surprise and dismay. His face was haggard with anxiety.
　　
　　"We have let this affair go far enough," said he. "Is there a train to North Walsham to-night?"
　　
　　I turned up the time-table. The last had just gone.
　　
　　"Then we shall breakfast early and take the very first in the morning," said Holmes. "Our presence is most urgently needed. Ah! here is our expected cablegram. One moment, Mrs. Hudson; there may be an answer. No, that is quite as I expected. This message makes it even more essential that we should not lose an hour in letting Hilton Cubitt know how matters stand, for it is a singular and a dangerous web in which our simple Norfolk squire is entangled."
　　
　　So, indeed, it proved, and as I come to the dark conclusion of a story which had seemed to me to be only childish and bizarre I experience once again the dismay and horror with which I was filled. Would that I had some brighter ending to communicate to my readers, but these are the chronicles of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis the strange chain of events which for some days made Ridling Thorpe Manor a household word through the length and breadth of England.
　　
　　We had hardly alighted at North Walsham, and mentioned the name of our destination, when the station-master hurried towards us. "I suppose that you are the detectives from London?" said he.
　　
　　A look of annoyance passed over Holmes's face.
　　
　　"What makes you think such a thing?"
　　
　　"Because Inspector Martin from Norwich has just passed through. But maybe you are the surgeons. She's not dead -- or wasn't by last accounts. You may be in time to save her yet -- though it be for the gallows."
　　
　　Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety.
　　
　　"We are going to Ridling Thorpe Manor," said he, "but we have heard nothing of what has passed there."
　　
　　"It's a terrible business," said the station-master. "They are shot, both Mr. Hilton Cubitt and his wife. She shot him and then herself -- so the servants say. He's dead and her life is despaired of. Dear, dear, one of the oldest families in the County of Norfolk, and one of the most honoured."
　　
　　Without a word Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during the long seven miles' drive he never opened his mouth. Seldom have I seen him so utterly despondent. He had been uneasy during all our journey from town, and I had observed that he had turned over the morning papers with anxious attention; but now this sudden realization of his worst fears left him in a blank melancholy. He leaned back in his seat, lost in gloomy speculation. Yet there was much around to interest us, for we were passing through as singular a country-side as any in England, where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while on every hand enormous square-towered churches bristled up from the flat, green landscape and told of the glory and prosperity of old East Anglia. At last the violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edge of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip to two old brick and timber gables which projected from a grove of trees. "That's Ridling Thorpe Manor," said he.
　　
　　As we drove up to the porticoed front door I observed in front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the black tool-house and the pedestalled sun-dial with which we had such strange associations. A dapper little man, with a quick, alert manner and a waxed moustache, had just descended from a high dog-cart. He introduced himself as Inspector Martin, of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably astonished when he heard the name of my companion.
　　
　　"Why, Mr. Holmes, the crime was only committed at three this morning. How could you hear of it in London and get to the spot as soon as I?"
　　
　　"I anticipated it. I came in the hope of preventing it."
　　
　　"Then you must have important evidence of which we are ignorant, for they were said to be a most united couple."
　　
　　"I have only the evidence of the dancing men," said Holmes. "I will explain the matter to you later. Meanwhile, since it is too late to prevent this tragedy, I am very anxious that I should use the knowledge which I possess in order to ensure that justice be done. Will you associate me in your investigation, or will you prefer that I should act independently?"
　　
　　"I should be proud to feel that we were acting together, Mr. Holmes," said the inspector, earnestly.
　　
　　"In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine the premises without an instant of unnecessary delay."
　　
　　Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow my friend to do things in his own fashion, and contented himself with carefully noting the results. The local surgeon, an old, white-haired man, had just come down from Mrs. Hilton Cubitt's room, and he reported that her injuries were serious, but not necessarily fatal. The bullet had passed through the front of her brain, and it would probably be some time before she could regain consciousness. On the question of whether she had been shot or had shot herself he would not venture to express any decided opinion. Certainly the bullet had been discharged at very close quarters. There was only the one pistol found in the room, two barrels of which had been emptied. Mr. Hilton Cubitt had been shot through the heart. It was equally conceivable that he had shot her and then himself, or that she had been the criminal, for the revolver lay upon the floor midway between them.
　　
　　"Has he been moved?" asked Holmes.
　　
　　"We have moved nothing except the lady. We could not leave her lying wounded upon the floor."
　　
　　"How long have you been here, doctor?"
　　
　　"Since four o'clock."
　　
　　"Anyone else?"
　　
　　"Yes, the constable here."
　　
　　"And you have touched nothing?"
　　
　　"Nothing."
　　
　　"You have acted with great discretion. Who sent for you?"
　　
　　"The housemaid, Saunders."
　　
　　"Was it she who gave the alarm?"
　　
　　"She and Mrs. King, the cook."
　　
　　"Where are they now?"
　　
　　"In the kitchen, I believe."
　　
　　"Then I think we had better hear their story at once."
　　
　　The old hall, oak-panelled and high-windowed, had been turned into a court of investigation. Holmes sat in a great, old-fashioned chair, his inexorable eyes gleaming out of his haggard face. I could read in them a set purpose to devote his life to this quest until the client whom he had failed to save should at last be avenged. The trim Inspector Martin, the old, grey-headed country doctor, myself, and a stolid village policeman made up the rest of that strange company.
　　
　　The two women told their story clearly enough. They had been aroused from their sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been followed a minute later by a second one. They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs. King had rushed in to Saunders. Together they had descended the stairs. The door of the study was open and a candle was burning upon the table. Their master lay upon his face in the centre of the room. He was quite dead. Near the window his wife was crouching, her head leaning against the wall. She was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was red with blood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying anything. The passage, as well as the room, was full of smoke and the smell of powder. The window was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside. Both women were positive upon the point. They had at once sent for the doctor and for the constable. Then, with the aid of the groom and the stable-boy, they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Both she and her husband had occupied the bed. She was clad in her dress -- he in his dressing-gown, over his night clothes. Nothing had been moved in the study. So far as they knew there had never been any quarrel between husband and wife. They had always looked upon them as a very united couple.
　　
　　These were the main points of the servants' evidence. In answer to Inspector Martin they were clear that every door was fastened upon the inside, and that no one could have escaped from the house. In answer to Holmes they both remembered that they were conscious of the smell of powder from the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon the top floor. "I commend that fact very carefully to your attention," said Holmes to his professional colleague. "And now I think that we are in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the room."
　　
　　The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on three sides with books, and with a writing-table facing an ordinary window, which looked out upon the garden. Our first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room. His disordered dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep. The bullet had been fired at him from the front, and had remained in his body after penetrating the heart. His death had certainly been instantaneous and painless. There was no powder-marking either upon his dressing-gown or on his hands. According to the country surgeon the lady had stains upon her face, but none upon her hand.
　　
　　"The absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence may mean everything," said Holmes. "Unless the powder from a badly-fitting cartridge happens to spurt backwards, one may fire many shots without leaving a sign. I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt's body may now be removed. I suppose, doctor, you have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady?"
　　
　　"A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done. But there are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for."
　　
　　"So it would seem," said Holmes. "Perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window?"
　　
　　He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a hole which had been drilled right through the lower window-sash about an inch above the bottom.
　　
　　"By George!" cried the inspector. "How ever did you see that?"
　　
　　"Because I looked for it."
　　
　　"Wonderful!" said the country doctor. "You are certainly right, sir. Then a third shot has been fired, and therefore a third person must have been present. But who could that have been and how could he have got away?"
　　
　　"That is the problem which we are now about to solve," said Sherlock Holmes. "You remember, Inspector Martin, when the servants said that on leaving their room they were at once conscious of a smell of powder I remarked that the point was an extremely important one?"
　　
　　"Yes, sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you."
　　
　　"It suggested that at the time of the firing the window as well as the door of the room had been open. Otherwise the fumes of powder could not have been blown so rapidly through the house. A draught in the room was necessary for that. Both door and window were only open for a very short time, however."
　　
　　"How do you prove that?"
　　
　　"Because the candle has not guttered."
　　
　　"Capital!" cried the inspector. "Capital!"
　　
　　"Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of the tragedy I conceived that there might have been a third person in the affair, who stood outside this opening and fired through it. Any shot directed at this person might hit the sash. I looked, and there, sure enough, was the bullet mark!"
　　
　　"But how came the window to be shut and fastened?"
　　
　　"The woman's first instinct would be to shut and fasten the window. But, halloa! what is this?"
　　
　　It was a lady's hand-bag which stood upon the study table -- a trim little hand-bag of crocodile-skin and silver. Holmes opened it and turned the contents out. There were twenty fifty-pound notes of the Bank of England, held together by an india-rubber band -- nothing else.
　　
　　"This must be preserved, for it will figure in the trial," said Holmes, as he handed the bag with its contents to the inspector. "It is now necessary that we should try to throw some light upon this third bullet, which has clearly, from the splintering of the wood, been fired from inside the room. I should like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again. You said, Mrs. King, that you were awakened by a LOUD explosion. When you said that, did you mean that it seemed to you to be louder than the second one?"
　　
　　"Well, sir, it wakened me from my sleep, and so it is hard to judge. But it did seem very loud."
　　
　　"You don't think that it might have been two shots fired almost at the same instant?"
　　
　　"I am sure I couldn't say, sir."
　　
　　"I believe that it was undoubtedly so. I rather think, Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this room can teach us. If you will kindly step round with me, we shall see what fresh evidence the garden has to offer."
　　
　　A flower-bed extended up to the study window, and we all broke into an exclamation as we approached it. The flowers were trampled down, and the soft soil was imprinted all over with footmarks. Large, masculine feet they were, with peculiarly long, sharp toes. Holmes hunted about among the grass and leaves like a retriever after a wounded bird. Then, with a cry of satisfaction, he bent forward and picked up a little brazen cylinder.
　　
　　"I thought so," said he; "the revolver had an ejector, and here is the third cartridge. I really think, Inspector Martin, that our case is almost complete."
　　
　　The country inspector's face had shown his intense amazement at the rapid and masterful progress of Holmes's investigation. At first he had shown some disposition to assert his own position; but now he was overcome with admiration and ready to follow without question wherever Holmes led.
　　
　　"Whom do you suspect?" he asked.
　　
　　"I'll go into that later. There are several points in this problem which I have not been able to explain to you yet. Now that I have got so far I had best proceed on my own lines, and then clear the whole matter up once and for all."
　　
　　"Just as you wish, Mr. Holmes, so long as we get our man."
　　
　　"I have no desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible at the moment of action to enter into long and complex explanations. I have the threads of this affair all in my hand. Even if this lady should never recover consciousness we can still reconstruct the events of last night and ensure that justice be done. First of all I wish to know whether there is any inn in this neighbourhood known as `Elrige's'?"
　　
　　The servants were cross-questioned, but none of them had heard of such a place. The stable-boy threw a light upon the matter by remembering that a farmer of that name lived some miles off in the direction of East Ruston.
　　
　　"Is it a lonely farm?"
　　
　　"Very lonely, sir."
　　
　　"Perhaps they have not heard yet of all that happened here during the night?"
　　
　　"Maybe not, sir."
　　
　　Holmes thought for a little and then a curious smile played over his face.
　　
　　"Saddle a horse, my lad," said he. "I shall wish you to take a note to Elrige's Farm."
　　
　　He took from his pocket the various slips of the dancing men. With these in front of him he worked for some time at the study-table. Finally he handed a note to the boy, with directions to put it into the hands of the person to whom it was addressed, and especially to answer no questions of any sort which might be put to him. I saw the outside of the note, addressed in straggling, irregular characters, very unlike Holmes's usual precise hand. It was consigned to Mr. Abe Slaney, Elrige's Farm, East Ruston, Norfolk.
　　
　　"I think, inspector," Holmes remarked, "that you would do well to telegraph for an escort, as, if my calculations prove to be correct, you may have a particularly dangerous prisoner to convey to the county gaol. The boy who takes this note could no doubt forward your telegram. If there is an afternoon train to town, Watson, I think we should do well to take it, as I have a chemical analysis of some interest to finish, and this investigation draws rapidly to a close."
　　
　　When the youth had been dispatched with the note, Sherlock Holmes gave his instructions to the servants. If any visitor were to call asking for Mrs. Hilton Cubitt no information should be given as to her condition, but he was to be shown at once into the drawing-room. He impressed these points upon them with the utmost earnestness. Finally he led the way into the drawing-room with the remark that the business was now out of our hands, and that we must while away the time as best we might until we could see what was in store for us. The doctor had departed to his patients, and only the inspector and myself remained.
　　
　　"I think that I can help you to pass an hour in an interesting and profitable manner," said Holmes, drawing his chair up to the table and spreading out in front of him the various papers upon which were recorded the antics of the dancing men. "As to you, friend Watson, I owe you every atonement for having allowed your natural curiosity to remain so long unsatisfied. To you, inspector, the whole incident may appeal as a remarkable professional study. I must tell you first of all the interesting circumstances connected with the previous consultations which Mr. Hilton Cubitt has had with me in Baker Street." He then shortly recapitulated the facts which have already been recorded. "I have here in front of me these singular productions, at which one might smile had they not proved themselves to be the fore-runners of so terrible a tragedy. I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writings, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject, in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate ciphers; but I confess that this is entirely new to me. The object of those who invented the system has apparently been to conceal that these characters convey a message, and to give the idea that they are the mere random sketches of children.
　　
　　"Having once recognised, however, that the symbols stood for letters, and having applied the rules which guide us in all forms of secret writings, the solution was easy enough. The first message submitted to me was so short that it was impossible for me to do more than to say with some confidence that the symbol XXX stood for E. As you are aware, E is the most common letter in the English alphabet, and it predominates to so marked an extent that even in a short sentence one would expect to find it most often. Out of fifteen symbols in the first message four were the same, so it was reasonable to set this down as E. It is true that in some cases the figure was bearing a flag and in some cases not, but it was probable from the way in which the flags were distributed that they were used to break the sentence up into words. I accepted this as a hypothesis, and noted that E was represented by XXX.
　　
　　"But now came the real difficulty of the inquiry. The order of the English letters after E is by no means well marked, and any preponderance which may be shown in an average of a printed sheet may be reversed in a single short sentence. Speaking roughly, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, and L are the numerical order in which letters occur; but T, A, O, and I are very nearly abreast of each other, and it would be an endless task to try each combination until a meaning was arrived at. I, therefore, waited for fresh material. In my second interview with Mr. Hilton Cubitt he was able to give me two other short sentences and one message, which appeared -- since there was no flag -- to be a single word. Here are the symbols. Now, in the single word I have already got the two E's coming second and fourth in a word of five letters. It might be `sever,' or `lever,' or `never.' There can be no question that the latter as a reply to an appeal is far the most probable, and the circumstances pointed to its being a reply written by the lady. Accepting it as correct, we are now able to say that the symbols XXX stand respectively for N, V, and R.
　　
　　"Even now I was in considerable difficulty, but a happy thought put me in possession of several other letters. It occurred to me that if these appeals came, as I expected, from someone who had been intimate with the lady in her early life, a combination which contained two E's with three letters between might very well stand for the name `ELSIE.' On examination I found that such a combination formed the termination of the message which was three times repeated. It was certainly some appeal to `Elsie.' In this way I had got my L, S, and I. But what appeal could it be? There were only four letters in the word which preceded `Elsie,' and it ended in E. Surely the word must be `COME.' I tried all other four letters ending in E, but could find none to fit the case. So now I was in possession of C, O, and M, and I was in a position to attack the first message once more, dividing it into words and putting dots for each symbol which was still unknown. So treated it worked out in this fashion:--
　　
　　.M .ERE ..E SL.NE.
　　
　　"Now the first letter CAN only be A, which is a most useful discovery, since it occurs no fewer than three times in this short sentence, and the H is also apparent in the second word. Now it becomes:--
　　
　　AM HERE A.E SLANE.
　　
　　Or, filling in the obvious vacancies in the name:--
　　
　　AM HERE ABE SLANEY.
　　
　　I had so many letters now that I could proceed with considerable confidence to the second message, which worked out in this fashion:--
　　
　　A. ELRI.ES.
　　
　　Here I could only make sense by putting T and G for the missing letters, and supposing that the name was that of some house or inn at which the writer was staying."
　　
　　Inspector Martin and I had listened with the utmost interest to the full and clear account of how my friend had produced results which had led to so complete a command over our difficulties.
　　
　　"What did you do then, sir?" asked the inspector.
　　
　　"I had every reason to suppose that this Abe Slaney was an American, since Abe is an American contraction, and since a letter from America had been the starting-point of all the trouble. I had also every cause to think that there was some criminal secret in the matter. The lady's allusions to her past and her refusal to take her husband into her confidence both pointed in that direction. I therefore cabled to my friend, Wilson Hargreave, of the New York Police Bureau, who has more than once made use of my knowledge of London crime. I asked him whether the name of Abe Slaney was known to him. Here is his reply: `The most dangerous crook in Chicago.' On the very evening upon which I had his answer Hilton Cubitt sent me the last message from Slaney. Working with known letters it took this form:--
　　
　　ELSIE .RE.ARE TO MEET THY GO.
　　
　　The addition of a P and a D completed a message which showed me that the rascal was proceeding from persuasion to threats, and my knowledge of the crooks of Chicago prepared me to find that he might very rapidly put his words into action. I at once came to Norfolk with my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, but, unhappily, only in time to find that the worst had already occurred."
　　
　　"It is a privilege to be associated with you in the handling of a case," said the inspector, warmly. "You will excuse me, however, if I speak frankly to you. You are only answerable to yourself, but I have to answer to my superiors. If this Abe Slaney, living at Elrige's, is indeed the murderer, and if he has made his escape while I am seated here, I should certainly get into serious trouble."
　　
　　"You need not be uneasy. He will not try to escape."
　　
　　"How do you know?"
　　
　　"To fly would be a confession of guilt."
　　
　　"Then let us go to arrest him."
　　
　　"I expect him here every instant."
　　
　　"But why should he come?"
　　
　　"Because I have written and asked him."
　　
　　"But this is incredible, Mr. Holmes! Why should he come because you have asked him? Would not such a request rather rouse his suspicions and cause him to fly?"
　　
　　"I think I have known how to frame the letter," said Sherlock Holmes. "In fact, if I am not very much mistaken, here is the gentleman himself coming up the drive."
　　
　　A man was striding up the path which led to the door. He was a tall, handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of grey flannel, with a Panama hat, a bristling black beard, and a great, aggressive hooked nose, and flourishing a cane as he walked. He swaggered up the path as if the place belonged to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at the bell.
　　
　　"I think, gentlemen," said Holmes, quietly, "that we had best take up our position behind the door. Every precaution is necessary when dealing with such a fellow. You will need your handcuffs, inspector. You can leave the talking to me."
　　
　　We waited in silence for a minute -- one of those minutes which one can never forget. Then the door opened and the man stepped in. In an instant Holmes clapped a pistol to his head and Martin slipped the handcuffs over his wrists. It was all done so swiftly and deftly that the fellow was helpless before he knew that he was attacked. He glared from one to the other of us with a pair of blazing black eyes. Then he burst into a bitter laugh.
　　
　　"Well, gentlemen, you have the drop on me this time. I seem to have knocked up against something hard. But I came here in answer to a letter from Mrs. Hilton Cubitt. Don't tell me that she is in this? Don't tell me that she helped to set a trap for me?"
　　
　　"Mrs. Hilton Cubitt was seriously injured and is at death's door."
　　
　　The man gave a hoarse cry of grief which rang through the house.
　　
　　"You're crazy!" he cried, fiercely. "It was he that was hurt, not she. Who would have hurt little Elsie? I may have threatened her, God forgive me, but I would not have touched a hair of her pretty head. Take it back -- you! Say that she is not hurt!"
　　
　　"She was found badly wounded by the side of her dead husband."
　　
　　He sank with a deep groan on to the settee and buried his face in his manacled hands. For five minutes he was silent. Then he raised his face once more, and spoke with the cold composure of despair.
　　
　　"I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen," said he. "If I shot the man he had his shot at me, and there's no murder in that. But if you think I could have hurt that woman, then you don't know either me or her. I tell you there was never a man in this world loved a woman more than I loved her. I had a right to her. She was pledged to me years ago. Who was this Englishman that he should come between us? I tell you that I had the first right to her, and that I was only claiming my own."
　　
　　"She broke away from your influence when she found the man that you are," said Holmes, sternly. "She fled from America to avoid you, and she married an honourable gentleman in England. You dogged her and followed her and made her life a misery to her in order to induce her to abandon the husband whom she loved and respected in order to fly with you, whom she feared and hated. You have ended by bringing about the death of a noble man and driving his wife to suicide. That is your record in this business, Mr. Abe Slaney, and you will answer for it to the law."
　　
　　"If Elsie dies I care nothing what becomes of me," said the American. He opened one of his hands and looked at a note crumpled up in his palm. "See here, mister, he cried, with a gleam of suspicion in his eyes, "you're not trying to scare me over this, are you? If the lady is hurt as bad as you say, who was it that wrote this note?" He tossed it forwards on to the table.
　　
　　"I wrote it to bring you here."
　　
　　"You wrote it? There was no one on earth outside the Joint who knew the secret of the dancing men. How came you to write it?"
　　
　　"What one man can invent another can discover," said Holmes. There is a cab coming to convey you to Norwich, Mr. Slaney. But, meanwhile, you have time to make some small reparation for the injury you have wrought. Are you aware that Mrs. Hilton Cubitt has herself lain under grave suspicion of the murder of her husband, and that it was only my presence here and the knowledge which I happened to possess which has saved her from the accusation? The least that you owe her is to make it clear to the whole world that she was in no way, directly or indirectly, responsible for his tragic end."
　　
　　"I ask nothing better," said the American. "I guess the very best case I can make for myself is the absolute naked truth."
　　
　　"It is my duty to warn you that it will be used against you," cried the inspector, with the magnificent fair-play of the British criminal law.
　　
　　Slaney shrugged his shoulders.
　　
　　"I'll chance that," said he. "First of all, I want you gentlemen to understand that I have known this lady since she was a child. There were seven of us in a gang in Chicago, and Elsie's father was the boss of the Joint. He was a clever man, was old Patrick. It was he who invented that writing, which would pass as a child's scrawl unless you just happened to have the key to it. Well, Elsie learned some of our ways; but she couldn't stand the business, and she had a bit of honest money of her own, so she gave us all the slip and got away to London. She had been engaged to me, and she would have married me, I believe, if I had taken over another profession; but she would have nothing to do with anything on the cross. It was only after her marriage to this Englishman that I was able to find out where she was. I wrote to her, but got no answer. After that I came over, and, as letters were no use, I put my messages where she could read them.
　　
　　"Well, I have been here a month now. I lived in that farm, where I had a room down below, and could get in and out every night, and no one the wiser. I tried all I could to coax Elsie away. I knew that she read the messages, for once she wrote an answer under one of them. Then my temper got the better of me, and I began to threaten her. She sent me a letter then, imploring me to go away and saying that it would break her heart if any scandal should come upon her husband. She said that she would come down when her husband was asleep at three in the morning, and speak with me through the end window, if I would go away afterwards and leave her in peace. She came down and brought money with her, trying to bribe me to go. This made me mad, and I caught her arm and tried to pull her through the window. At that moment in rushed the husband with his revolver in his hand. Elsie had sunk down upon the floor, and we were face to face. I was heeled also, and I held up my gun to scare him off and let me get away. He fired and missed me. I pulled off almost at the same instant, and down he dropped. I made away across the garden, and as I went I heard the window shut behind me. That's God's truth, gentlemen, every word of it, and I heard no more about it until that lad came riding up with a note which made me walk in here, like a jay, and give myself into your hands."
　　
　　A cab had driven up whilst the American had been talking. Two uniformed policemen sat inside. Inspector Martin rose and touched his prisoner on the shoulder.
　　
　　"It is time for us to go."
　　
　　"Can I see her first?"
　　
　　"No, she is not conscious. Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I only hope that if ever again I have an important case I shall have the good fortune to have you by my side."
　　
　　We stood at the window and watched the cab drive away. As I turned back my eye caught the pellet of paper which the prisoner had tossed upon the table. It was the note with which Holmes had decoyed him.
　　
　　"See if you can read it, Watson," said he, with a smile.
　　
　　It contained no word, but this little line of dancing men:--
　　
　　GRAPHIC
　　
　　"If you use the code which I have explained," said Holmes, "you will find that it simply means `Come here at once.' I was convinced that it was an invitation which he would not refuse, since he could never imagine that it could come from anyone but the lady. And so, my dear Watson, we have ended by turning the dancing men to good when they have so often been the agents of evil, and I think that I have fulfilled my promise of giving you something unusual for your note-book. Three-forty is our train, and I fancy we should be back in Baker Street for dinner.
　　
　　Only one word of epilogue. The American, Abe Slaney, was condemned to death at the winter assizes at Norwich; but his penalty was changed to penal servitude in consideration of mitigating circumstances, and the certainty that Hilton Cubitt had fired the first shot. Of Mrs. Hilton Cubitt I only know that I have heard she recovered entirely, and that she still remains a widow, devoting her whole life to the care of the poor and to the administration of her husband's estate.