牛津書蟲《福爾摩斯和公爵的兒子》2、赫克斯特伯博士的故事

My school-the Priory School near Mackleton-is the best school for young boys in England,' began Dr Huxtable. 'We have the sons of Lord Soames, Lord Lever, and of many other important people. Three weeks ago Mr James Wilder, the Duke of Holdernesse's secretary, came to see me. The Duke, he said, wanted to send his son, the ten-year-old Lord Saltire, to my school.

On the 1st of May young Lord Saltire arrived. He's a nice boy, and he soon began to like school life and to make friends. His life at home, you see, was not very happy-we all know about the Duke and his wife. The Duchess, of course, now lives in the south of France. She left the Duke about three months ago, I think. But the boy loved his mother, and was very unhappy when she left. Because of this, the Duke sent him to my school. And after two weeks with us, he was much happier.

Then, on the night of the 13th of May, he disappeared. The way to his bedroom is through another, larger room. Two older boys sleep there. One of them never sleeps very well, and he heard and saw nothing that night. So young Arthur did not go out through that room. His window was open, and there is ivy all up the wall of the house. It is easy to get out of the window and down the ivy to the ground. So we think that he went out that way.

He was in his usual school things, we think-a short black coat and dark blue trousers. We looked all through his room very carefully, but we found nothing strange, nothing unusual.

When I learnt the news at seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, I called everybody into the big schoolroom. Then we learnt more bad news-Heidegger, the German teacher, was missing too. His room is not far from Arthur's room. Heidegger went down the ivy-we know this because we found his footprints on the ground under the window. We know, too, that he was only in his coat, trousers, and shoes, because we found his shirt and his socks on the floor of his room. And he took his bicycle with him.

Heidegger came to the school a year ago. He's a good teacher, but the boys don't like him because he isn't very friendly.

So, Mr Holmes, we have two missing people. It's now Thursday, and there's still no news of them.'

Holmes took out a little notebook, and began to write things down.

The boy didn't go home, of course,' he said.

No, no. We asked at Holdernesse Hall at once,' said Dr Huxtable. 'The Duke is very afraid for his son-and I am the unhappiest man in England. Mr Holmes, you are a famous detective-please help me!'

You make things very difficult for me,' Holmes said. 'How can I find marks in the ivy or on the ground after three days? Why didn't you come to me at once?'

Because of the Duke,' Dr Huxtable said. 'He doesn't like people talking about his unhappy family life.'

And what are the police doing?'

Well, they heard about a boy and a young man at the station early on Tuesday. They looked for them, and last night they found them in Liverpool-but it was a man and his son going to visit a friend. We lost three days because of that. And last night I couldn't sleep, so I took the first train down to London this morning.'

Well, Dr Huxtable, some more questions,' said Holmes. 'Did the boy take German lessons?'

No.'

So he didn't know the German teacher well, then.'

He probably never spoke to him,' said Dr Huxtable.

Mmm,' said Holmes. 'Does the boy have a bicycle?'

No.'

Was any other bicycle missing?'

No.'

So. Did the German teacher ride away on his bicycle in the night, with the boy on his back? I don't think so. But what happened to the bicycle? Now, what about visitors? Did the boy have any visitors the day before?'

No.'

Did he get any letters?'

Yes, one letter. From his father.'

Do you open the boys' letters, Dr Huxtable?'

No.'

Then how do you know that the letter was from the father?'

I know the Duke's handwriting. And he says that he wrote a letter to his son.'

Did the boy get any letters from France?'

No, I never saw any.'

Do you understand me, Dr Huxtable?' Holmes said. 'Did someone take the boy away, or did the boy go freely? -because he had a letter from France perhaps.'

I don't know,' said Dr Huxtable. 'He only had letters from his father, I think.'

Were father and son very friendly?'

The Duke is not... er... not a very friendly man, Mr Holmes. He's not a bad father, but he is a Government Minister and has a lot of things to do.'

So the boy felt more friendly to his mother?'

Yes.'

Did he say that?'

No.'

Did the Duke tell you, then?'

Oh no ! The Duke never talks about things like that.'

So how do you know?'

Mr James Wilder, the Duke's secretary, told me.'

I see,' said Holmes. 'That last letter of the Duke's-where is it now?'

The boy took it with him,' Dr Huxtable said. 'It's not in his room. Mr Holmes-our train leaves in half an hour.'

Right,' said Holmes. He looked at me. 'Watson, let's get ready and go off to the north with Dr Huxtable. Perhaps we can find some answers to this mystery.'


 

• secretary n. employee in an office, usu. working for another person, dealing with letters, typing, filing, etc. and making appointments and arrangements. 秘書。
• disappear v. no longer be visible; vanish. 消失，不見。
• ivy n. any of various types of climbing evergreen plant, esp. one with dark shiny five-pointed leaves. 常青藤。
• ground n. solid surface of the earth. 地面。
• strange adj. not previously known, seen, felt, heard of, etc. not familiar or of one's own. 陌生的；生疏的；不熟悉的。
• unusual adj. rare or exceptional. 不尋常的；奇異的。
• detective n. person, esp. police officer, whose job is to investigate and solve crimes. 偵探。
• mark n. stain, spot, line, etc., esp. one that spoils the appearance of sth. 痕跡，污點。
• station n. similar place where buses and coaches stop. 車站。
• early adv. near to the beginning of a period of time. 早，初。
• never adv. at no time, not ever. 從未，未曾。
• take...away remove sb. or sth. 拿走，帶走。
• freely adv. without any obstruction; in an uncontrolled manner. 自由地，不受阻擋地。
• see v. perceive (sth.) with the mind, understand. 領(lǐng)會，明白。
• mystery n. thing of which the cause or origin is hidden or impossible to explain. 神秘事物，秘密。