福尔摩斯-恐怖谷 The Valley of Fear（11）

Chapter IV.,The Valley of Fear,When McMurdo awoke next morning he had good reason to remember his initiation ¹ into the lodge ². His head ached with the effect of the drink, and his arm, where he had been branded, was hot and swollen ³. Having his own peculiar ⁴ source of income, he was irregular in his attendance at his work; so he had a late breakfast, and remained at home for the morning writing a long letter to a friend. Afterwards he read the Daily Herald ⁵. In a special column put in at the last moment he read:,Outrage ⁶ at the herald office — Editor seriously injured,It was a short account of the facts with which he was himself more familiar than the writer could have been. It ended with the statement:,The matter is now in the hands of the police; but it can hardly be hoped that their exertions ⁷ will be attended by any better results than in the past. Some of the men were recognized, and there is hope that a conviction may be obtained. The source of the outrage was, it need hardly be said, that infamous ⁸ society which has held this community in bondage ⁹ for so long a period, and against which the Herald has taken so uncompromising a stand. Mr. Stanger's many friends will rejoice to hear that, though he has been cruelly and brutally ¹⁰ beaten, and though he has sustained severe injuries about the head, there is no immediate ¹¹ danger to his life.,McMurdo had laid down the paper, and was lighting ¹³ his pipe with a hand which was shaky from the excesses of the previous evening, when there was a knock outside, and his landlady ¹⁴ brought to him a note which had just been handed in by a lad. It was unsigned, and ran thus:,I should wish to speak to you, but would rather not do so in your house. You will find me beside the flagstaff upon Miller ¹⁵ Hill. If you will come there now, I have something which it is important for you to hear and for me to say.,McMurdo read the note twice with the utmost surprise; for he could not imagine what it meant or who was the author of it. Had it been in a feminine hand, he might have imagined that it was the beginning of one of those adventures which had been familiar enough in his past life. But it was the writing of a man, and of a well educated one, too. Finally, after some hesitation ¹⁶, he determined ¹⁷ to see the matter through.,Miller Hill is an ill-kept public park in the very centre of the town. In summer it is a favourite resort of the people; but in winter it is desolate ¹⁸ enough. From the top of it one has a view not only of the whole straggling, grimy town, but of the winding ¹⁹ valley beneath, with its scattered ²⁰ mines and factories blackening the snow on each side of it, and of the wooded and white-capped ranges flanking it.,McMurdo strolled up the winding path hedged in with evergreens ²¹ until he reached the deserted ²² restaurant which forms the centre of summer gaiety. Beside it was a bare flagstaff, and underneath ²³ it a man, his hat drawn ²⁴ down and the collar of his overcoat turned up. When he turned his face McMurdo saw that it was Brother Morris, he who had incurred ²⁵ the anger of the Bodymaster the night before. The lodge sign was given and exchanged as they met.,It was my initiation into the world of high fashion. 这是我初次涉足高级时装界。,Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？