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adventure10-第2部分

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confidence in my ability and tact。



〃Nearly ten weeks agoto be more accurate; on the 23d

of Mayhe called me into his private room; and; after

complimenting me on the good work which I had done; he

informed me that he had a new commission of trust for

me to execute。



〃'This;' said he; taking a gray roll of paper from his

bureau; 'is the original of that secret treaty between

England and Italy of which; I regret to say; some

rumors have already got into the public press。  It is

of enormous importance that nothing further should

leak out。  The French or the Russian embassy would pay

an immense sum to learn the contents of these papers。 

They should not leave my bureau were it not that it is

absolutely necessary to have them copied。  You have a

desk in your office?〃



〃'Yes; sir。'



〃'Then take the treaty and lock it up there。  I shall

give directions that you may remain behind when the

others go; so that you may copy it at your leisure

without fear of being overlooked。  When you have

finished; relock both the original and the draft in

the desk; and hand them over to me personally

to…morrow morning。'



〃I took the papers and〃



〃Excuse me an instant;〃 said Holmes。  〃Were you alone

during this conversation?〃



〃Absolutely。〃



〃In a large room?〃



〃Thirty feet each way。〃



〃In the centre?〃



〃Yes; about it。〃



〃And speaking low?〃



〃My uncle's voice is always remarkably low。  I hardly

spoke at all。〃



〃Thank you;〃 said Holmes; shutting his eyes; 〃pray go

on。〃



〃I did exactly what he indicated; and waited until the

other clerks had departed。  One of them in my room;

Charles Gorot; had some arrears of work to make up; so

I left him there and went out to dine。  When I

returned he was gone。  I was anxious to hurry my work;

for I knew that Josephthe Mr。 Harrison whom you saw

just nowwas in town; and that he would travel down

to Woking by the eleven…o'clock train; and I wanted if

possible to catch it。



〃When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that

it was of such importance that my uncle had been

guilty of no exaggeration in what he had said。 

Without going into details; I may say that it defined

the position of Great Britain towards the Triple

Alliance; and fore…shadowed the policy which this

country would pursue in the event of the French fleet

gaining a complete ascendancy over that of Italy in

the Mediterranean。  The questions treated in it were

purely naval。  At the end were the signatures of the

high dignitaries who had signed it。  I glanced my eyes

over it; and then settled down to my task of copying。



〃It was a long document; written in the French

language; and containing twenty…six separate articles。 

I copied as quickly as I could; but at nine o'clock I

had only done nine articles; and it seemed hopeless

for me to attempt to catch my train。  I was feeling

drowsy and stupid; partly from my dinner and also from

the effects of a long day's work。  A cup of coffee

would clear my brain。  A commissionnaire remains all

night in a little lodge at the foot of the stairs; and

is in the habit of making coffee at his spirit…lamp

for any of the officials who may be working over time。 

I rang the bell; therefore; to summon him。



〃To my surprise; it was a woman who answered the

summons; a large; coarse…faced; elderly woman; in an

apron。  She explained that she was the

commissionnaire's wife; who did the charing; and I

gave her the order for the coffee。



〃I wrote two more articles and then; feeling more

drowsy than ever; I rose and walked up and down the

room to stretch my legs。  My coffee had not yet come;

and I wondered what was the cause of the delay could

be。  Opening the door; I started down the corridor to

find out。  There was a straight passage; dimly

lighted; which led from the room in which I had been

working; and was the only exit from it。  It ended in a

curving staircase; with the commissionnaire's lodge in

the passage at the bottom。  Half way down this

staircase is a small landing; with another passage

running into it at right angles。  This second one

leads by means of a second small stair to a side door;

used by servants; and also as a short cut by clerks

when coming from Charles Street。  Here is a rough

chart of the place。〃



〃Thank you。  I think that I quite follow you;〃 said

Sherlock Holmes。



〃It is of the utmost importance that you should notice

this point。  I went down the stairs and into the hall;

where I found the commissionnaire fast asleep in his

box; with the kettle boiling furiously upon the

spirit…lamp。  I took off the kettle and blew out the

lamp; for the water was spurting over the floor。  Then

I put out my hand and was about to shake the man; who

was still sleeping soundly; when a bell over his head

rang loudly; and he woke with a start。



〃'Mr。 Phelps; sir!' said he; looking at me in

bewilderment。



〃'I came down to see if my coffee was ready。'



〃'I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep; sir。' 

He looked at me and then up at the still quivering

bell with an ever…growing astonishment upon his face。



〃'If you was here; sir; then who rang the bell?' he

asked。



〃'The bell!' I cried。  'What bell is it?'



〃'It's the bell of the room you were working in。'



〃A cold hand seemed to close round my heart。  Some

one; then; was in that room where my precious treaty

lay upon the table。  I ran frantically up the stair

and along the passage。  There was no one in the

corridors; Mr。 Holmes。  There was no one in the room。 

All was exactly as I left it; save only that the

papers which had been committed to my care had been

taken from the desk on which they lay。  The copy was

there; and the original was gone。〃



Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands。  I

could see that the problem was entirely to his heart。 

〃Pray; what did you do then?〃 he murmured。



〃I recognized in an instant that the thief must have

come up the stairs from the side door。  Of course I

must have met him if he had come the other way。〃



〃You were satisfied that he could not have been

concealed in the room all the time; or in the corridor

which you have just described as dimly lighted?〃



〃It is absolutely impossible。  A rat could not conceal

himself either in the room or the corridor。  There is

no cover at all。〃



〃Thank you。  Pray proceed。〃



〃The commissionnaire; seeing by my pale face that

something was to be feared; had followed me upstairs。 

Now we both rushed along the corridor and down the

steep steps which led to Charles Street。  The door at

the bottom was closed; but unlocked。  We flung it open

and rushed out。  I can distinctly remember that as we

did so there came three chines from a neighboring

clock。  It was quarter to ten。〃



〃That is of enormous importance;〃 said Holmes; making

a note upon his shirt…cuff。



〃The night was very dark; and a thin; warm rain was

falling。  There was no one in Charles Street; but a

great traffic was going on; as usual; in Whitehall; at

the extremity。  We rushed along the pavement;

bare…headed as we were; and at the far corner we found

a policeman standing。



〃'A robbery has been committed;' I gasped。  'A

document of immense value has been stolen from the

Foreign Office。  Has any one passed this way?'



〃'I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour;

sir;' said he; 'only one person has passed during that

timea woman; tall and elderly; with a Paisley

shawl。'



〃'Ah; that is only my wife;' cried the

commissionnaire; 'has no one else passed?'



〃'No one。'



〃'Then it must be the other way that the thief took;'

cried the fellow; tugging at my sleeve。



〃'But I was not satisfied; and the attempts which he

made to draw me away increased my suspicions。



〃'Which way did the woman go?' I cried。



〃'I don't know; sir。  I noticed her pass; but I had no

special reason for watching her。  She seemed to be in

a hurry。'



〃'How long ago was it?'



〃'Oh; not very many minutes。'



〃'Within the last vie?'



〃'Well; it could not be more than five。'



〃'You're only wasting your time; sir; and every minute

now is of importance;' cried the commissionnaire;

'take my word for it that my old woman has nothing to

do with it; and come down to the other end of the

street。  Well; if you won't; I will。'  And with that

he rushed off in the other direction。



〃But I was after him in an instant and caught him by

the sleeve。



〃'Where do you live?' said I。



〃'16 Ivy Lane; Brixton;' he answered。  'But don't let

yourself be drawn away upon a false scent; Mr。 Phelps。 

Come to the other end of the street and let us see if

we can hear of anything。'



〃Nothing was to be lost by following his advice。  With

the policeman we both hurried down; but only to find

the street full of traffic; many people coming and

going; but all only too eager to get to a place of

safety upon so wet a night。  There was no lounger who

could tell us who had passed。



〃Then we returned to the office; and searched the

stairs and the passage without result。  The corridor

which led to the room was laid down with a kind of

creamy linoleum which shows an impression very easily。 

We examined it very carefully; but found no outline of

any footmark。〃



〃Had it been raining all evening?〃



〃Since about seven。〃



〃How is it; then; that the woman who came into the

room about nine left no traces with her muddy boots?〃



〃I am glad you raised the point。  It occurred to me at

the time。  The charwomen are in the habit of taking

off their boots at the commissionnaire's office; and

putting on list slippers。〃



〃That is very clear。  There were no marks; then;

though the night was a wet one?  The chain of events

is certainly one of extraordinary interest。  What di
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