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The following day was dull and foggy.The Hall was sur rounded by heavy,low clouds,which opened now and then to show the grim,cold moor and its wet,grey rocks.The weather made us miserable.It was difficult to be cheerful when we felt danger all around us.I thougth of Sir Charles'death,and the awful sound of the hound,which I had now heard twice.Holmes did not believe that there was a supernatural hound.But facts are facts,and I had heard a hound.Was there a huge hound living on the moor?If so,where could it hide?Where did it get its food?Why was it never seen by day? It was almost as difficult to accept a natural explanation as a su pernatural explanation.
That morning Sir Henry and Barrymore argued about Selden,the escaped prisoner.Barrymore said that it was wrong to try to catch Selden.
'But the man is dangerous,'said Sir Henry.'He'll do any thing.Nobody is safe until he is in prison again.We must tell the police.'
'I promise he won't break into any house,'said Barrymore,'and he won't cause any trouble.In a few days he will catch a boat for South America.Please don't tell the police about him.If you tell the police,my wife and I will be in serious trouble.'
'What do you say,Watson?' asked Sir Henry,turning to me.
'I don't think he will break into houses,or cause trouble.If he did,the police would know where to look for him and would catch him.He's not a stupid man.'
'I hope you're right,'said Sir Henry.'I'm sure we're breaking the law.But I don't want to get Barrymore and his wife into trouble,so I shall not tell the police.I shall leave Selden in peace.'
Barrymore could not find the words to thank Sir Henry enough.Then he said:'You have been so kind to us that I want to do something for you in return.I have never told any one else.I know something more about poor Sir Charles'death.'
Sir Henry and I jumped up at once.
'Do you know how he died?'Sir Henry asked.
'No,sir,I don't know that,but I know why he was waiting at the gate He was going to meet a woman.'
'Sir Charles was meeting a woman?Who was the woman?'
'I don't know her name,'Barrymore said,'but it begins with L.L.'
'How do you know this,Barrymore?'I asked.
'Well,Sir Charles got a letter on the morning of the day he died.It was from Newtown,and the address was in a woman's writing.I forgot all about it,but some time after Sir Charles died my wife was cleaning the fireplace in his study.She found a letter.Most of it was burned,but the bottom of one page was not burned.On it was written:“Please,please,burn this letter,and be at the gate by ten o'clock.L.L.”The paper fell into pieces as my wife went to move it.We don't know who L.L.is,but if you could find out,you might learn more about Sir Charles'death.We haven't told anyone else.We felt it would not be good for poor,kind Sir Charles.But we thought we ought to tell you,Sir Henry.'
The Barrymores left us and Sir Henry turned to me.'If we can find L.L.,the mystery may be at an end,'he said.'What do you think we should do,Watson?'
'I must write to Holmes at once,'I said,and I went straight to my room and wrote a letter to Holmes,which gave him all the details of Barrymore's story.
On the following day heavy rain fell without stopping.I put on my coat and went for a long walk on the moor.I thought of Selden out on the cold moor in this weather.And I thought of the other man,the mysterious watcher.
As I walked,Dr Mortimer drove past me.He stopped and said he would take me back to the Hall.
'I expect you know almost everybody living near here,'I said.'Do you know a woman whose names begin with the let ters L.L.?'
Dr Mortimer thought for a minute,and then he said:'Yes,Mrs Laura Lyons.She lives in Newtown.'
'Who is she?'I asked.
'She's Mr Frankland's daughter.'
'What,old Frankland who has the large telescope?'
'Yes,'said Dr Mortimer.'Laura married a painter called Lyons who came to paint pictures of the moor.But he was cruel to her,and after a while he left her.Her father will not speak to her,because she married against his wishes.So her husband and her father have made her life very unhappy.'
'How does she live?'I asked.
'Several people who knew her sad story have helped her.Stapleton and Sir Charles gave her some money.I gave a little myself.She used the money to start a typewriting business.'
Dr Mortimer wanted to know why I was asking about Mrs Lyons.However,I preferred to keep the reason secret,and we talked about other things for the rest of the journey.
Only one other thing of interest happened that day.In the evening after dinner I had a few words with Barrymore alone.I asked him whether Selden had left the country.
'I don't know,sir,'Barrymore replied.'I hope he has gone.But I've not heard anything of him since I last left food and some clothes for him,and that was three days ago.'
'Did you see him then?'
'No,sir,but the food and clothes were gone when I next went that way,'Barrymore told me.
'Then Selden was certainly there?'I asked.
'I think so,sir,unless the other man took everything.'
I sat very still and looked hard at Barrymore.'You know there is another man,then?Have you seen him?'
'No,sir,but Selden told me about him a week or more ago.He is hiding from someone,too,but he is not an escaped prisoner.I don't like it,sir.Something evil is going to happen,I'm sure.Sir Henry would be much safer in London.'
'Did Selden tell you anything more about the other man?'I asked.
'He looked like a gentleman.He was living in one of the old stone huts on the moor.A boy works for him and brings him all the food and things he needs.That's all Selden told me.'
I thanked him,and he left me.I went to the window and looked out at the rain and the clouds.It was a wild night.I knew the huts Barrymore had spoken about.There were many of them on the moor.They had been built many hundreds of years ago by the people who lived on the moor.They would not keep a man warm and dry in bad weather.Selden could not choose to live anywhere else,but why did the other man live in such conditions?
I sat and thought what I should do next.I decided I must try to find the man who had been watching us.Was he the en emy who had been following us since the very beginning in London? If he was,and I could catch him,perhaPS our diffi culties would be at an end.
I also decided to hunt the man on my own.Sir Henry was still shaken by the terrible cry we had heard on the moor.I did not want to add to his troubles or to lead him into more danger.
次日阴晦多雾。庄园被低沉的浓雾包围起来。它们时而散开，露出晦暗而又寒冷的沼地及其湿漉漉、灰蒙蒙的岩石。天气使得我们心情沉重。处于危险之中时很难高兴起来。我想起了查尔斯爵士的死，还有猎犬发出的可怕的吼声，这种声音我已听到过两次了。福尔摩斯不相信世上会有一只超乎自然的猎犬存在。但是，事实总归是事实，我本人也听到了猎犬的声音。沼地上确有一只巨大的猎犬吗？假如真有的话，那它藏在什么地方呢？它到哪里去找吃的呢？白天为何没人看到过它呢？合乎自然的解释几乎和超乎自然的解释一样难以叫人接受。
那天早晨，亨利爵士与白瑞摩就那个逃犯塞尔登而争辩了起来。白瑞摩说去抓塞尔登是件错事。
“可是此人很危险，”亨利说道。“他什么事情都干得出来。直到他被重新关押起来，大家才会获得安全。我们必须报告警方。”
“我保证他不会闯进任何人家，”白瑞摩说道，“他也不会惹任何麻烦。几天之后他将乘船去南美。请别向警方告发他。您若报告了警方，我和我妻子就会有很大的麻烦。”
“华生，您有何高见？”亨利爵士转身向我问道。
“我认为他不会闯进任何人家或惹任何麻烦。否则的话，警方就会知道该在何处搜寻并抓获他了。他并不是一个蠢货。”
“我希望您是对的，”亨利爵士说道。“我敢肯定我们现在是在犯法。可是我不想使白瑞摩及其太太陷于困境之中，所以我是不会向警方告发的。我将不再过问塞尔登的事情了。”
白瑞摩找不出足以用来感谢亨利爵士的话语。接着他说道：“您对我们真是太好了，我因此想报答您一番。有件事我从未对旁人讲过。关于不幸的查尔斯爵爷的死我还知道些别的情况。”
我和亨利爵士立刻跳起身来。
“你知道他是怎么死的吗？”亨利爵士问道。
“不知道，爵爷，那个我可不知道；不过我知道他站在门口等人的缘由。他是为了和一位女士会面。”
“查尔斯爵士要和一位女士会面？那个女人是谁？”
“我不知道她的姓名，”白瑞摩说道，“但是它是以L．L．开头的。”
“你是如何知道这个的，白瑞摩？”我问道。
“啊，查尔斯爵爷在他逝去的那天早上收到了一封来信。这封信发自纽顿，地址还是女人的笔迹。我已把这些忘得一干二净了。但在查尔斯爵爷死去之后过了一段时间时，我妻子去清理他书房内的壁炉。她发现了一封信。大部分信已烧焦了，只有一页信纸的底端还未被烧尽。上面写着：‘请您千万将此信烧掉，并在10点钟时到栅门那里去。L．L．’我妻子伸手去碰它时它就变成碎片了。我们不知道谁是L．L．，但是您若能找到那位女士的话，您就会多知道些关于查尔斯爵爷的死的情况了。我们从未把它告诉给别人。我们认为把这件事兜出来对我们的那位可怜的、好心的查尔斯爵爷并没有什么好处。但是我们已觉得应该告诉给您，亨利爵爷。”
白瑞摩夫妇离开了我们，亨利爵士向我转过身来。“要是我们能够查明L．L．这个人，整个疑团就真相大白了。”他说道，“您认为我们应该干什么呢，华生？”
“我必须马上给福尔摩斯写信，”我说道，于是便径自到房间里给福尔摩斯写信去了。那封信给他提供了白瑞摩所讲的故事的种种细节。
第二天大雨终日。我穿上外衣，到沼地上长途散步去了。我想到了在这种天气里身处寒冷的沼地的塞尔登。我还想到了另一个人，那个神秘的监视者。
我正走时，摩梯末医生从我身旁驱车而过。他停了下来，还说他将把我送回庄园。
“我觉得您认识住在这儿附近的几乎每个人。”我说道，“您认识姓名以L．L．字母开头的女士吗？”
摩梯末医生思考了片刻，然后说道：“认识，有一位劳拉·莱昂丝夫人。她住在纽顿。”
“她是谁啊？”我问道。
“她是弗兰克兰先生的女儿。”
“什么？就是那个有个大望远镜的老弗兰克兰吗？”
“是的，”摩梯末医生讲道。“劳拉曾和一位名叫莱昂丝的、到沼地写生的画家结了婚。但是他对她很残暴，不日之后还离开了她。她父亲坚决和她不讲话了，因为她当时是违背父亲的意愿而结的婚。因此，她的丈夫和她的父亲已使她的生活非常不幸福。”
“那她怎么生活呢？”我问道。
“知晓她那悲惨故事的几个人帮助着她。斯台普顿与查尔斯爵士给过她一些钱。我本人也给过一点。她用这些钱开始干打字的营生。”
摩梯末医生想知道我问这些问题的目的何在。然而，我还是喜欢把其中的原因保密起来，我们在余下的旅途中便谈了些别的事情。
那一天只发生了另一件有趣的事情。晚上，晚饭过后我私下与白瑞摩聊了几句。我问他塞尔登是否已经离开了这个国家。
“我不知道，先生，”白瑞摩应答道。“我希望他已走了。但是，自从上次给他送食物和衣物以来，我便再也没听到过关于他的情况。那已是三天之前的事了。”
“那一次你看到他了吗？”
“没有，先生，但是当我再到那里去时，食物和衣物已经不见了。”白瑞摩告诉我。
“那么说，他一定还在那里吗？”我问道。
“我是这么认为的，先生，除非是另外那个人拿走了一切东西。”
我静坐着，眼睛直盯着白瑞摩。“那么说，你是知道还有另外一个人的啰？你见过他吗？”
“没有，先生，但是塞尔登大约在一周之前或是更早些时告诉了我有关他的情况。他也在躲藏着呢，但是他并不是个逃犯。我并不喜欢这种局势，先生。我敢肯定，这儿将要发生一件邪恶的事情。亨利爵爷在伦敦则要安全得多。”
“塞尔登还就另外那个人对你讲了些什么？”我问道。
“他看起来像位绅士。他住在沼地上的一个古老的小石屋中。有个小男孩为他服务，给他送来他所需要的食物和其他东西。塞尔登就告诉了我这么多。”
我谢过了他，他就走开了。我走到窗前，望着屋外的雨和云彩。这是个暴风雨夜。我知道白瑞摩谈及的那些石屋。沼地上有许多石屋。它们是在数百年前由住在沼地上的那些人们修建的，天气恶劣时不可能不让里边的住户感到又冷又潮。塞尔登是别无他处可住才呆在那儿的，但是另外那个人为何要居住在那么恶劣的条件下呢？
我坐下来，思考着我下一步的举动。我已决定了，我一定要竭力找到一直监视着我们的那个人。他是那个从伦敦便开始跟踪着我们的敌人吗？如果是的话，如果我能将其抓获的话，那么我们的困境也许就到头了。
我还决定独自去搜寻那个人。亨利爵士依旧因我们在沼地上听到的那个可怕的吼声而心绪不宁。我不想再给他添什么麻烦或者把他引向更危险的处境。